Headline

French War Photographer Marie-Laure de Decker Is Dead

Published

3 years ago

July 15, 2023

Marie-Laure de Decker, the French model who stepped behind the camera to become an internationally recognised war photographer, has died at the age of 75, her family said Saturday.

She died in hospital on Saturday following a long illness, her family said.

Born in Algeria — when it was still a French colony — she started her career as a model before deciding to branch out into photography.

In the late 1960s, she took memorable shots of the artists Man Ray and Marcel Duchamp and the writer Philippe Soupault.

She covered the Vietnam War early in her career and met with success despite her relative lack of experience.

“I said to myself: people are going to see that I’m not a real photographer,” she wrote in a 1985 memoir. She only had an old Leica camera with her, she recalled.

“In fact, I realised afterwards, this old Leica was a marvel.”

She faced particular challenges working as a female war photographer, she said. “If you’re a woman, you’re never taken seriously.”

On the other hand, she added: “There is an advantage to being a woman, as was the case in South Africa — they don’t kill you right away, they give you a chance.”

Chad Moussa Faki, current chair of the African Union Commission, paid tribute to her Saturday, speaking of his “great sadness” at the news of her death.

Her images, he wrote on Twitter, “immortalised part of the history of Chad”.

De Decker spent much of her career at the Gamma photo agency: from 1971 until it closed down in 2009.

Their association ended on bad terms. When she asked to get her photos back, she only got the black-and-white shots and not the colour ones and she lost a subsequent legal bid to recover them and have her copyright recognised for their digital versions of the photos.

Marie-Laure de Decker is also known for her photos of celebrities such as French singer Serge Gainsbourg, Caroline of Monaco and France’s former president, Valery Giscard d’Estaing.

She had two sons with lawyer Thierry Levy.

Headline

Indian Court Denies Bail To Nigerian Man Over Drug Charges

Published

29 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

A court in India has denied bail to a 44-year-old Nigerian national, Cristian Soporuchukwu, who is currently facing drug trafficking charges in the country.

Cristian Soporuchukwu initially entered India on a business visa but was later arrested over allegations of involvement in the sale of hard drugs.

Reports indicated that after arriving in India, Soporuchukwu travelled through Goa, Delhi, and Mumbai, where he allegedly established links with suspected drug traffickers.

He was accused of purchasing MDMA crystals and distributing them to college students and information technology workers.

According to reports, operatives of the Beguru Police arrested Cristian Soporuchukwu in April 2025 for allegedly selling MDMA crystals around Begur Lake and the AECS Layout Road area.

The New Indian Express reported that the High Court of Karnataka subsequently dismissed the Nigerian’s bail application.

“The anti-narcotics wing seized about 1 kg of MDMA crystals, a pocket weighing machine, 10 zip-lock covers, a mobile phone and a scooter from him,” the report stated.

Justice V. Srishananda, while ruling on the bail application, reportedly held that errors relating to the grounds of arrest could not automatically justify bail in serious narcotics-related offences under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, NDPS, Act.

The court further noted that Cristian Soporuchukwu had allegedly overstayed his visa in India, according to the report.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

58 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

1 hour ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.