04-05 08:01 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The statue honours the late African giant pouched rat who sniffed out more than 100 landmines during his lifetime.
Cambodia unveils statue to honour famous landmine-sniffing rat
A famous mine-clearing rat, who was awarded a gold medal for his heroism, has been commemorated with the world's first statue dedicated to a landmine-detecting rat.
A statue of the rodent carved from local stone by artists was unveiled in Siem Reap, Cambodia on Friday, in time for the International Day for Mine Awareness on 4 April.
Magawa, an African giant pouched rat, was trained by the Belgian charity Apopo before moving to Cambodia to begin his bomb-sniffing career in 2016.
Using his acute sense of smell and training to detect a chemical compound within explosives, Magawa would then alert human handlers of mines that could be later safely removed.
During his time, Magawa cleared more than 141,000 square metres (1,517,711 sq ft) of land - the equivalent of 20 football pitches – and could search a field the size of a tennis court in just 20 minutes.
In 2020, Magawa was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal – known as the George Cross for animals – for his "life-saving devotion to duty". He was the first rat to be given the medal in the charity's 77-year history.
Apopo's Cambodia Programme Manager, Michael Raine, said on Friday the monument for Magawa "is a reminder to the international community that there's still a job to be done here".
Cambodia now has a target date of 2030 to become mine-free, he added.
The charity has been training its rodents, also known as HeroRATS, since the 1990s.
Because of their small size, the rats are not heavy enough to detonate mines, making them a safer option than humans.
They have also been trained to prevent illegal wildlife trafficking in Tanzania.
Ronin's impressive work in Cambodia's northern Preah Vihear province surpassed the previous record held Magawa.
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04-05 08:01 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Two men have been arrested over the shooting of a seven-month-old baby in Williamsburg.
Man charged over fatal shooting of baby in pram in New York
A man has been charged with murder after a seven-month-old baby died after being shot while sitting in her pushchair in New York.
Greene appeared in court on Friday where he pleaded not guilty, according to CBS News, the BBC's US partner. Officers believe the baby was the unintended victim of a gang-related shooting.
Police said a second suspect, Matthew Rodriguez, 18, had been arrested in connection with the shooting in Pennsylvania and charges were pending.
Footage from the incident appears to show two men on a motorcycle riding against the flow of traffic through the Williamsburg neighbourhood of Brooklyn, before a man on the back of the vehicle took out a gun and fired, police said.
Officers believe Greene carried out the shooting and was on the back of the scooter, CBS reported.
He was thrown from the vehicle following the incident and was taken to hospital for treatment where he was placed in police custody.
Greene also pleaded not guilty to charges of five counts of criminal possession of a weapon, two counts of attempted criminal possession of a weapon, and two counts of assault, CBS reported.
Rodriguez is believed to be the man seen driving the scooter the gunman was on during the shooting. The driver crashed into oncoming traffic after the gunfire and fled, police said.
Family and friends gathered on Friday night for a candlelight vigil at the corner where the shooting took place.
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04-05 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Chapal Bhaduri was Bengal’s biggest stage queen - until women arrived and the spotlight moved on.
The man who became one of India's greatest stage queens
In mid-20th Century Bengal in eastern India, some of the biggest female stars on stage were actually men.
Foremost among them was Chapal Bhaduri - better known as Chapal Rani - the reigning "queen" of jatra, a travelling theatre tradition that once drew vast, fervent crowds.
Male actors playing female roles were a familiar trope across global theatre, from Europe to Japan and China.
In Bengal, the form flourished in jatra - a rural, open-air spectacle of music, myth and melodrama that often rivalled cinema in reach, though not in rewards. Rooted in epic and devotional storytelling, it played out on all-sided stages, driven by heightened voice, gesture and costume.
In a new book, Chapal Rani: The Last Queen of Bengal, writer Sandip Roy traces Bhaduri's journey from stardom to obscurity - and, in doing so, captures a vanishing world where gender itself was an act.
For decades, female roles in jatra were played by men known as purush ranis, or male queens.
But even at its height, the form carried a certain stigma.
Colonial-era urban elites in Calcutta, influenced by European tastes, often dismissed jatra as rustic or unsophisticated. A 19th-Century Anglo-Indian journal derided the voices of boys playing women as "discordant", comparing them unfavourably to "howling jackals".
By the time Bhaduri entered the stage in the 1950s, that world was already shifting. Women had begun to take up acting roles. The space for female impersonators was narrowing. Still, Bhaduri stood out.
Born in 1939 in north Kolkata to stage actress Prabha Devi, Bhadhuri grew up around performers. He began acting at 16. "I had girlish manners, a girlish voice," he would later say.
On stage, he transformed. He played queens, courtesans, goddesses and brothel madams with a studied grace.
His costumes were carefully assembled and sometimes improvised. Early on, he used rags to shape the silhouette of his bosom. Later, he turned to sponge. His beauty routine included creams, small rituals in pursuit of an illusion he took seriously.
"Femininity was always a part of me," Bhaduri said.
His performances were not comic turns or caricatures. They were immersive, often deeply felt. In a theatrical culture where queer-coded characters were frequently played for ridicule, Bhaduri's work carried a different weight.
Roy writes, "In Indian performing art where playing gay or queer was in the form of characters who are ridiculed, Chapal morphed into a woman and played his roles with honesty and an act of bravery."
Off stage, Bhaduri's life was more complicated.
He did not openly identify as gay given the complication of social life in middle class Bengal in the times he lived in. Admiration was not lacking though. He received letters proffering affection and proposals for affairs and offers of relationships came from fans and lovers alike.
Bhaduri was picky and proud but emphatically said, "I refuse to apologise for love."
His one long relationship lasted over three decades, even as his partner married and had children.
Bhaduri remained on the margins, present, but never fully acknowledged and in the end more of a housekeeper.
The decline of his career came not with a single event, but a series of shifts.
As women became more common on stage, audiences began to reject male actors in female roles. The very convention that had once sustained jatra began to unravel.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the "moustachioed queens of jatra" were pushed out, writes Roy.
Bhaduri experienced that rejection first hand. In one performance, playing an older female role, he was booed off stage with a clay cup thrown at him. The audience, now accustomed to female performers, found his presence unsettling.
Many of Bhaduri's contemporaries faded into poverty. One former jatra star became a seamstress. Another ran a tea stall and sold peanuts. Some took to manual labour. One died by suicide. Their stories, for the most part, went unrecorded.
Bhaduri survived through odd jobs like cleaning and dusting in libraries and, at one point, performing as the Sitala - a Hindu folk goddess worshipped as the protector against infectious diseases - on the streets, part of a folk tradition where performers offered blessings in exchange for food or small change.
There were brief returns to visibility in the last decade. Bengali filmmaker Kaushik Ganguly cast Bhaduri in his films.
Earlier, in 1999, Naveen Kishore, theatre impresario and publisher of the Kolkata- based publishers Seagull Books, documented Bhaduri's life in a film and exhibition. A younger generation, encountering him through these works, began to see him differently.
For some, he became a queer elder; a figure who had lived a life outside easy definition.
As Roy writes, "The LGBTQ+ movement was young in India. Hungry for a queer history, it seemed to have seized on Chapal Bhaduri to be its fairy godmother."
Yet, Bhaduri himself resisted labels. He did not identify with t
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04-05 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
A Russian drone hit a busy spot in the southern Ukrainian town on Saturday morning, injuring another 21 people.
Russian attack on Ukraine market kills five
A Russian drone attack on a market in southern Ukraine has killed five people and injured 21, including a 14-year-old girl, the prosecutor general's office says.
The attack took place at 09:50 (06.50 GMT) in the town of Nikopol, across the Dnipro river from land occupied by Russia since their full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Pictures published by the regional prosecutor show smashed market kiosks strewn with metal and glass.
Meanwhile a drone and missile attack by Ukraine on the southern Russian city of Taganrog overnight killed at least one person and seriously injured four, Russia said.
Ukraine's Nikopol frequently comes under fire, and almost half of the town's 100,000 residents left long ago for safety.
But these drones hit in the middle of Saturday morning – in a busy spot – and the number of casualties is high.
Two men were injured in a second strike on the same location, the prosecutor said, adding that the attacks were being investigated as a war crime.
Russia launched almost 300 drones against Ukraine again overnight, the Ukrainian air force said, and casualties were also reported in the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northern Sumy region.
Meanwhile Moscow said it had shot down 85 Ukrainian drones.
Rostov regional governor Yuri Slyusar said the attack in Taganrog had caused a fire to break out in the premises of a logistics company in the city.
A Ukrainian defence ministry official blamed the casualties on "Russian air defence operations".
Kyiv also reported two attacks on factories it said were used by the Russian military industrial complex.
The defence official said a "massive attack" was carried out on a plant in Togliatti that produced synthetic rubber and petrochemical raw materials.
Later Ukraine's Security Service said drone strikes had halted production at the Alchevsk metallurgical plant in a Russian-occupied area of Ukraine's Luhansk region.
As a result of the attack, the second in a month, blast furnaces, production shops and other key areas of the factory were damaged, the agency said.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has offered Russia a truce for the Easter holidays. But so far, Moscow is ignoring that.
Major daytime attacks by Russia, which were once rare, have been increasing.
On the other hand, a British intelligence assessment said that the situation on the frontline in the east was the "most favourable" for Ukraine in 10 months, as the advance of Russian troops appears to have slowed.
Last week, Zelensky visited Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar and Jordan - all of which have been targeted by Iranian aerial attacks.
He offered Ukraine's drone technology and expertise, while seeking assistance against Russian missile attacks and new sources of fuel.
Surging global oil prices threaten Ukraine's ability to fight, as Russia's attacks on its energy infrastructure have left the country heavily dependent on fuel imports.
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04-05 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Under the law, travel approvals must generally be granted and it remains unclear how the rule would be enforced if breached.
German males under 45 may need military approval for long stays abroad
German males aged between 17 and 45 may need to seek approval for lengthy stays abroad, under changes introduced as part of a new law which introduced voluntary military service.
The Military Service Modernisation Act, which came into force on 1 January, aims to boost defences following threats from Russian in the aftermath of its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
In a statement sent to the BBC, a defence ministry spokesman confirmed that males aged 17 and older were required to obtain prior approval for stays abroad lasting longer than three months.
Under the current law, travel approvals must generally be granted and it remains unclear how the rule would be enforced if breached.
The requirement to obtain permission had gone largely unnoticed until it was reported by the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper on Friday.
The defence ministry spokesman said that the regulation was intended to "ensure a reliable and meaningful military registration system", adding: "In the event of an emergency, we must know who may be staying abroad for an extended period."
The statement acknowledged that consequences for young people could be "far-reaching" and said that regulations on exemptions were being developed "in part to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy".
The legal basis for the requirement lies in Germany's 1956 Conscription Act, which has been amended several times, most recently last December.
Prior to the latest amendment, the obligation to report extended stays abroad applied only if Germany was in a state of national defence or mobilisation.
The defence ministry official said that a similar provision was "in effect during the Cold War and had no practical relevance".
The Military Service Modernisation Act sets out plans to expand the number of active personnel from around 180,000 to 260,000 by 2035.
In December, the German parliament voted to introduce voluntary military service, meaning that from January all 18-year-olds would be sent a questionnaire asking if they were interested in joining the armed forces.
From July 2027, they must also undergo a fitness assessment to determine whether they would be eligible for service should war break out.
Women may volunteer for military service but cannot be compelled to serve under Germany's constitution.
While the plan is for voluntary service, if the security situation worsens or if too few volunteers came forward, a form of compulsory military service could be considered.
When the law was approved by parliament, many young people joined protests against the change.
"We don't want to spend half a year of our lives locked up in barracks, being trained in drill and obedience and learning to kill," one organiser wrote on social media.
Like other European countries, Germany ran down its armed forces during the peacetime years of the 1990s. During the Cold War it had an army of almost half a million.
Compulsory military service in Germany was ended in 2011 under then-chancellor Angela Merkel.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to rebuild the Bundeswehr into Europe's strongest conventional army in response to what his government describes as a more dangerous security environment in Europe.
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04-05 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The niece and grand-niece of Qasem Soleimani are in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, officials said.
US says it has arrested relatives of late Iranian general Qasem Soleimani
The niece and grand-niece of the deceased commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, Gen Qasem Soleimani, have been arrested, the US state department has said.
Hamideh Soleimani Afshar and her daughter's lawful US permanent resident status was revoked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a statement released on Saturday said.
However, Soleimani's daughter has called the state department's claims false, saying the arrested individuals "have no connection whatsoever" to her father.
In a post on social media, Rubio said the two women were in the custody of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), pending removal from the country.
He added in the statement on X that Soleimani Afshar and her daughter were "green card holders living lavishly in the United States".
After entering the US on a tourist visa in 2015, Soleimani Afshar was granted asylum in 2019 and became a green card holder in 2021, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in a statement to the BBC's US partner CBS News.
In filing for a naturalisation application in 2025, she revealed that she had visited Iran four times since receiving her green card, according to the DHS.
"Her trips to Iran illustrate her asylum claims were fraudulent," the DHS said.
The DHS added that Soleimani Afshar's daughter, Sarinasadat Hosseiny, came to the US in 2015 on a student visa and was later granted asylum in 2019 and a green card in 2023.
The state department said Soleimani Afshar was an "outspoken supporter of the totalitarian, terrorist regime in Iran" and had promoted "Iranian regime propaganda" on her social media account.
Soleimani Afshar's husband has also been barred from the US, the statement said. The state department did not name Soleimani Afshar's husband.
In a statement, Narjes Soleimani, Soleimani's daughter, said: "The individuals arrested in the US have no connection whatsoever to Martyr Soleimani and the claims made by the US State Department are false."
She added that the US had "become so weak and insignificant" and was "fabricating lies against a great figure".
The BBC has contacted the state department for comment.
Soleimani spearheaded Iranian military operations in the Middle East as head of Iran's elite Quds Force.
The 62-year-old was killed at Baghdad airport, along with other Iran-backed militia figures.
"I killed Gen Qasem Soleimani in my first term. He was an evil genius, brilliant person, a horrible human being however, the father of the roadside bomb, and he lived just horrible, what he did," Trump said.
He added that Iran would have been "perhaps in a far better, stronger position" in the war if Soleimani was still alive.
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04-05 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The stakes could rise further if the weapons system officer of the downed F15 Eagle plane is captured by Iran.
Search for missing airman presents serious test for US
President Donald Trump had said Iran couldn't "do a thing" about American aircraft operating over its territory, insisting its air defences had been significantly weakened.
His Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth also said the US had achieved "air superiority" over Iran.
So, Friday's downing of a F-15 Eagle is a significant blow to Washington DC.
It suggests Iran is still able to defend its skies, even if at a limited capacity.
The stakes could rise further, though, depending on who the missing weapons systems officer is captured, or rescued, by.
The BBC understands President Trump's national security team spent much of Thursday in the West Wing briefing him on a search-and-rescue mission that also came under Iranian fire. US media report the crew were wounded but managed to escape Iranian airspace.
Publicly, the president has played down this entire incident and suggested it won't affect negotiations with Tehran to end the war that began with US and Israeli strikes on 28 February. But privately, this is likely to be of serious concern - particularly as Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is said to have launched its own search for the missing American, reportedly using troops and locals, and offering them a reward of around $66,000 (£50,000) to capture him alive.
If the missing American is found by Iranian forces, the implications could be profound. At the very least, it would be a political embarrassment for Washington.
The US airman could be paraded as a propaganda tool, which would bring back grim reminders of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, when American diplomats were held for 444 days.
Following a failed military rescue, the US secured their release by lifting some sanctions and unfreezing nearly $8bn worth of Iranian assets. It was an event that left deep political scars in the US.
Successive administrations also went to great lengths to secure the release of detained Americans, at times through controversial means.
For example, in 2014, President Barack Obama's administration exchanged five Taliban detainees, held at Guantanamo Bay detention camp, for Bowe Bergdahl, a US Army soldier captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2009. Critics argued this swap incentivised future hostage-taking.
That history raises difficult questions for this White House.
The capture of a US service member could intensify pressure on President Trump to act decisively and escalate militarily in response, or, on the other hand, it could create an opening to pause operations and pursue backchannel efforts to secure the airman's return.
If the missing American is captured by the Iranians and used as a bargaining chip, it would be a serious test for Washington in this already volatile conflict.
For now, what's unfolding is a high-stakes race on the ground between the two adversaries to find him.
Lawmakers here in Washington have said prayers and expressed support. However, divisions are emerging. Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace said it was "far past time we bring troops home", while Democratic Senator Tim Kaine urged Iran to treat any captured airman in line with international law.
There is growing concern about the risk to US service personnel in this conflict, particularly amid talk of a possible ground invasion. Across the political spectrum, there is little appetite for another so-called "forever war", or for further American casualties.
On Saturday, President Trump reiterated his deadline for Iran to agree to a deal and reopen the Strait of Hormuz by Monday, 6 April, or face "hell", including strikes on its energy infrastructure. His deadlines have shifted repeatedly, alongside claims that ongoing talks are "very good" and "productive" - talks Tehran denies have taken place.
With promises of further US strikes in the coming weeks, a steady US military build-up in the Gulf, and forewarnings by Trump of further US casualties, the signs increasingly point to an escalation that is already under way.
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04-05 00:00 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Donald Trump wants Iran to strike a deal and to open the strategic Strait of Hormuz whose closure has led to a spike in oil prices.
US and Iran trade threats to unleash 'hell' as search for missing US airman continues
US President Donald Trump has threatened that "all hell would rain down on" Iran if it did not make a deal, prompting Tehran to respond with similar rhetoric.
An Iranian military spokesman warned that the entire region would become "hell" if the US and Israel continued to escalate the conflict.
On Saturday Iran fired more missiles at the Gulf States, Iraq and Israel, with falling debris from intercepted missiles causing damage.
Meanwhile, US and Iranian forces are searching for a missing American crew member after a US F-15 fighter jet was shot down over southern Iran on Friday. The pilot has been rescued, according to US media.
Iranian officials are urging citizens to find the missing American "alive" and are offering rewards for his capture.
A US A-10 Warthog aircraft that was part of the search-and-rescue mission for the downed jet was also shot and damaged, but its pilot was rescued.
On 27 March Trump announced he was pausing attacks on energy plants for 10 days for Iran to "make a deal".
On Saturday he reiterated his threat on Truth Social that "all Hell will reign down on them" if they failed to do this, or to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours.
Later Ebrahim Zolfaghari, spokesperson for Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, says: "If hostility escalates, the entire region will turn into hell for you; the illusion of defeating the Islamic Republic of Iran will become a quagmire into which you will sink."
It has been more than a month since the start of the war effectively closed off the Strait of Hormuz – a vital transport route through which about a fifth of the world's oil and gas usually passes.
Global fuel prices haver soared due to energy export disruptions.
While Iran has said "non-hostile vessels" can use the waterway, the ongoing conflict - in which several ships have been attacked - has halted normal transport activity.
US and Israel continued its bombardment of Iranian military, energy and other industrial sites on Saturday.
Trump shared a video on his Truth Social platform which he says shows a "massive strike" on the capital Tehran. However, the video appeared to be 24 hours old.
Trump claimed in his post that "many of Iran's Military Leaders, who have led them poorly and unwisely, are terminated, along with much else", following the strike.
There has been no response from Tehran to Trump's claims, nor have the US provided further details to the post.
Israel said explosions have been heard over Jerusalem. Meanwhile Iran has continued to fire missiles at Gulf States and Iraq.
Iran said the area around its Bushehr nuclear power plant had been attacked for the fourth time during the war.
One of the plant's employees was killed in the attack, Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation said. It blamed the US and Israel for the attack, but neither country has confirmed carrying it out.
Bushehr is Iran's only operational nuclear power plant and was completed with Russia's help.
The International Atomic Energy Agency - the UN's nuclear watchdog - said it had been informed of the strike and had expressed "deep concern".
"No increase in radiation levels was reported," it wrote on X.
It said nuclear power plant sites and nearby areas "must never be attacked" and called for "maximum military restraint" to avoid a nuclear accident.
The Iranian statement on the Bushehr attack said the main parts of the plant did not appear to be damaged and its operation had not been "not affected".
Moscow has evacuated many of its staff from the plant. The head of Russia's state nuclear corporation, Rosatom, Alexei Likhachev, said on Saturday that the evacuation of 198 people remaining in the plant had started that morning.
Iran's nuclear programme has long been a point of contention, leading to extensive international sanctions. The US-Israeli war with Iran began on 28 February, two days after a third round of indirect US-Iran nuclear talks in Geneva
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
Officials say the hip-hop star was forced to sign papers releasing a rapper known as Pooh Shiesty from his record contract.
Rapper Gucci Mane kidnapped and robbed by fellow artist, prosecutors say
Rapper Gucci Mane was allegedly kidnapped at gunpoint in Dallas earlier this year, leading to the arrests of eight men, including a fellow artist signed to his label, officials say.
Prosecutors allege rapper Pooh Shiesty, born Lontrell Williams Jr, led the ambush under the guise of a meeting, holding Mane captive inside a recording studio and forcing him to sign papers releasing him from his contract.
Mane is an Atlanta-based artist who has collaborated with Usher, Doja Cat, Drake and other stars. He founded his label, 1017 Records, in 2007 and Williams Jr signed as an artist in 2020.
The defendants, who are yet to enter their pleas, could face life in prison if convicted.
Eight of the nine defendants were arrested on Wednesday in Dallas, Memphis and Nashville, and charged in federal court with kidnapping and armed robbery.
One suspect remains at large, and investigators are working with authorities in the state of Georgia to locate him, US Attorney Ryan Raybould told a news conference on Thursday.
The incident took place on 10 January, a federal complaint says, when Williams Jr was supposed to be under house arrest for a previous firearms conspiracy conviction.
He was allegedly joined by eight co-defendants, including his father, Lontrell Williams Sr, all of whom are accused of participating in the crime.
A sworn statement from the FBI says Williams Jr pointed a "black AK-style pistol" at Mane and forced him to sign the papers. He also allegedly stole Mane's wedding ring, watch, earrings and cash.
The other suspects allegedly brandished pistols as well, demanding property from additional victims in the room, identified in the complaint only by initials.
One of the victims was choked and injured, and had his Rolex watch, Louis Vuitton bag, AirPods and wallet stolen from him, according to the complaint.
"Within hours of leaving the Dallas studio, a number of the defendants were on social media displaying some of the items that appeared to be the jewellery that had been robbed from the victims," Raybould said.
Prosecutors say the rapper and the other victims believed "they were going to be executed" before the defendants ordered them to leave the building and go to their cars.
Representatives for Williams Jr and Mane did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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04-04 00:02 · 国际,新闻,BBC,国际
The Paris police department had argued that the four-day gathering was a security threat because it could be a target of terrorism.
France's Muslim gathering ban overturned by courts
A major gathering of Muslims in northern Paris is going ahead as planned after a French court overturned a government bid to ban it.
The Paris police department argued that the four-day Annual Encounter of Muslims of France was a security threat because it could be a target of terrorism.
But the organisers – the Muslims of France (MF) association – sought an emergency injunction to let the event go ahead, arguing that a ban would be a breach of basic liberties.
The administrative court agreed and overturned the government decree, just two hours before the planned 14:00 (13:00 BST) opening.
The court said in its ruling that elements provided by police "did not establish the risk of counter-demonstrations, or that the gathering would be targeted by far-right groups".
It also dismissed the argument that the event would pose an unacceptable strain on police resources, noting that the organisers had themselves assured extra security.
Part cultural and religious conference, part trade fair, the gathering used to be an annual event, but has not been held since 2019. Before that it regularly drew tens of thousands of people from across Europe.
The Muslims of France association - France's biggest Muslim body - is said by critics to be close to the international Muslim Brotherhood, though it denies that.
Earlier, in justifying the ban, the Paris police department said that in "an international and national context which is particularly tense", the gathering was "exposed to an important terrorist risk toward the Muslim community".
"In a context of political agitation and a heavy polarisation of debate" it was possible that "small far-right groups could mobilise with a view to disrupting the event", it said.
It also claimed that actions against the gathering could be "conducted remotely by foreign influences".
France has regularly accused Russia, as well as Iran, of stirring up dissension by paying proxies to carry out small-scale acts of provocation or sabotage.
The ban came as France announced plans for a new "anti-separatism" law, aimed mainly at Muslim structures promoting ideas deemed contrary to the principles of the republic.
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the aim was to complement a previous similar law, passed five years ago, which allowed the government to close associations accused of promoting Islamic separatism.
"There are still some structures which we have been unable to reach," he told a radio station. "One issue is how we control collective childcare. We need to be able to control it, but right now we can't.
"More generally, we want to be able to ban publications which carry appeals to hate, violence or discrimination."
The MF's lawyer Sefen Guez Guez told the injunction hearing that banning the event was a "manifest breach of the right to assemble" and clearly aimed at "promoting the [government's] new law".
But a police lawyer said the sole reason was to preserve public order. "This is not an anti-Muslim or anti-Islam decree," he said.
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