Fierce fighting rocks north and south Gaza as hundreds of thousands flee
Thousands fled northern Gaza on Monday as renewed shelling pounded areas where Israel says Hamas militants have regrouped, despite having announced them cleared months ago.
Thousands fled northern Gaza on Monday as renewed shelling pounded areas where Israel says Hamas militants have regrouped, despite having announced them cleared months ago.
Donald Trump's fixer-turned-foe, Michael Cohen, directly implicated the former president in a hush money scheme Monday, telling jurors that his celebrity client approved hefty payouts to stifle stories about sex that he feared could be harmful to his 2016 White House campaign.
More than two million people have been affected by the flooding in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, where towns and part of the regional capital have been under water for about two weeks after being battered by heavy rains. Regional capital Porto Alegre's international airport remains under water, as do agricultural fields and roads, while more than 360,000 students were not in school. The latest official figures showed that 127 people were missing, while more than 600,000 had been forced to abandon their homes as rivers burst their banks. Читать дальше...
As ceasefire talks stall and Israel continued striking the southern city of Rafah, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan insisted that the responsibility for peace lay with militant group Hamas. "We believe Israel can and must do more to ensure the protection and wellbeing of innocent civilians. We do not believe what is happening in Gaza is a genocide," Sullivan told a briefing. The US was "using the internationally accepted term for genocide, which includes a focus on intent" to reach this assessment, Sullivan added. Читать дальше...
The star prosecution witness in Donald Trump's hush money trial, Michael Cohen, took the stand Monday, poised to offer testimony that could help shape the outcome of the first criminal case against an American president. Monte Francis has the details. Tom Burges Watson speaks to Philip Hackney, Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
News of director Mohammad Rasoulof’s escape from Iran adds a dramatic twist to the 77th Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on Tuesday against an already volatile backdrop of wars raging on Europe’s doorstep, potential worker strikes and the threat of sex abusers being outed even as they hit the red carpet.
The update to OpenAI's flagship product landed a day before Google is expected to make its own announcements about Gemini, the search engine giant's own AI tool that competes with ChatGPT head on. "We're very, very excited to bring GPT-4o to all of our free users out there," Chief Technology Officer Mira Murati said at the highly anticipated launch event in San Francisco. The new model GPT-4o -- the "O" stands for omni -- will be rolled out in OpenAI's products over the next weeks, the company said... Читать дальше...
After 18 years working as a diplomat, Hala Rharrit never expected she would resign. But a few weeks ago, she left her job in opposition to the US’s policy on the war in Gaza. “It was a very agonising decision,” she told FRANCE 24 in an interview. Hala Rharrit was also the Dubai Regional Media Hub's deputy director and joined the State Department almost two decades ago as a political and human rights officer. "I needed to get out of the system in order to be able to speak freely,” she said. ...
Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah's order, effectively halting political life, will be in place "for a period not exceeding four years", official media said on Friday. The 83-year-old has taken aim at the constant stand-offs between the elected parliament and the royal-appointed government since he came to the throne in December. What's behind the emir's order? Despite a parliament which has greater powers than any other elected body in the resource-rich Gulf, Kuwait's Al-Sabah royal family controls political life to a large degree... Читать дальше...
The signage collapsed at a petrol station in the city's east, trapping dozens of people underneath. "So far, 60 people have been rescued from the accident site and admitted to hospital. Four people have died," a statement issued by municipal authorities said. The collapsed billboard measured 70 by 50 metres, according to a post on social media platform X by Mumbai's police force. Mumbai was hit by strong winds accompanied by rain and dust storms on Thursday that uprooted trees and caused brief power outages in parts of the city... Читать дальше...
Iranian film director Mohammad Rasoulof said Monday he had left Iran after being sentenced to jail on national security charges, a day ahead of the opening of the Cannes Film Festival where his new film is in the main competition.
"I am grateful to my friends, acquaintances, and people who kindly, selflessly, and sometimes by risking their lives, helped me get out of the border and reach a safe place on the difficult and long path of this journey," Rasoulof, whose film "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" is to premiere at Cannes, wrote on his official Instagram page. Taking aim at the Islamic republic's theocratic leaders, Rasoulof said he was joining millions of Iranians across the world in the exile of a "cultural Iran" outside... Читать дальше...
Troops from various units, distinguished by their red, purple or green berets, stood with their heads bowed, while relatives and friends cried quietly. Yom hazikaron, or Memorial Day, pays tribute to soldiers killed in the line of duty and to victims of attacks in Israel. Commemoration events began at sunset on Sunday and last through sunset Monday. The steep paths twisting through the Mount Herzl cemetery -- named after the founder of political Zionism and home to the graves of figures like former... Читать дальше...
Georgia’s parliament is set to pass a highly controversial so-called “foreign agents” bill that has triggered widespread protests across the former Soviet republic nestled in the Caucasus Mountains. The vote comes after tens of thousands of people came out to protest the legislation in the capital, Tbilisi. The protests have been repressed by the police and around 20 people are detained.
France's all-time top scorer Giroud is expected to sign for Los Angeles FC, where his former Les Bleus teammate Hugo Lloris already plays, after three years with Serie A giants Milan. "I will be playing my final two matches with Milan and will continue my career in the MLS," Giroud said in an interview published on social media by the club. "I'm very proud of what I've achieved at Milan in the last three years. My time with Milan might be finishing this year but the club will remain in my heart."... Читать дальше...
Michael Cohen's testimony followed last week's court proceedings in which adult film star Stormy Daniels gave toe-curling detail about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump which is at the heart of the case. Trump, 77, is accused of falsifying business records to reimburse his lawyer Cohen for a hush-money payment to Daniels on the eve of the 2016 presidential election, when the story could have proved politically fatal. Here is the analysis of Kethevane Gorjestani, international affairs editor... Читать дальше...
The presidency said that the trip would no longer take place as scheduled on May 17 and 18, due to the "need to monitor the situation linked to flooding in Rio Grande do Sul and coordinate aid to the affected population and reconstruction efforts." Torrential rains since the beginning of the month in the southern state have caused rivers to burst their banks, leaving towns and parts of the bustling state capital Porto Alegre under water. Around two million people have been affected, more than 600,000... Читать дальше...
A decisive vote on Tuesday could see the final adoption of a law, dubbed the “Russian law” by critics, that targets civil society organisations and independent media in Georgia that receive foreign funding. For ten days now, the pro-Russian government in power in Tbilisi has made no secret of its intention to use force to impose the law as a means to silence opponents.
Israel’s leaders commemorated Memorial Day on Monday, a usually somber holiday that this year was almost entirely absorbed by the ongoing war in Gaza. At 11:00 A.M., sirens announced two minutes of silence, and a formation of four fighter planes then flew over Jerusalem and the surrounding areas. At a ceremony, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed once again to defeat Hamas, a promise he has made repeatedly during Israel’s brutal seven month war with the militant group.
"The army dropped leaflets and sent a message on mobile phones warning everyone to leave Jabalia," said Umm Odai Nassar, after reaching Gaza City from nearby Jabalia refugee camp in the far north of the Gaza Strip. She is one among many Palestinians who had remained in northern Gaza despite the vast devastation to civilian infrastructure inflicted during the early months of Israel's military campaign against Hamas in the territory. Israel said on Saturday it was operating again in the Jabalia camp... Читать дальше...
Stars including Meryl Streep, Greta Gerwig, Kevin Costner and Francis Ford Coppola are among the invitees for the film industry's biggest annual event on the Cote d'Azur. And the organisers announced Monday that the Olympic torch will have its moment on the red carpet on May 21. On the city's famous seafront Croisette, businesses were preparing for the arrival of some 35,000 festival-goers. "There's a lot of excitement on the beaches. Restaurant owners are preparing to welcome the VIPs and, in the boutiques... Читать дальше...
Mikel Arteta's Arsenal are one point above City at the top of the table, but Pep Guardiola's team crucially have a game in hand. Arsenal, on 86 points, host Everton in their final match of the season on Sunday while City play West Ham at home. It means if City win their final two games, they will secure an unprecedented fourth consecutive English top-flight title. Much of the talk ahead of Tuesday's game has centred around whether Tottenham fans will want their team to lose in order to deny Arsenal... Читать дальше...
Selected 29 times for the French national team, six as captain, 'Doctor Pack' as Mias was known because of his other role as a general practitioner, began his international career in 1951. A 1.89 metre lock forward, Mias captained Les Bleus on their historic winning tour of South Africa in 1958 and closed his international career after leading them to their Five Nations triumph the following year, retiring at the age of just 29. He also helped France to their first wins at Twickenham in 1951 and Cardiff seven years later... Читать дальше...
"The strike was observed 100 percent," Laroussi Zguir, head of the bar association's Tunis division, told journalists at the Tunis court of first instance. Several rallied outside the court against the arrest of commentator and lawyer Sonia Dahmani, demanding her immediate release and chanting that the judiciary is working "under orders". Masked police on Saturday raided the bar association headquarters in the capital Tunis, where Dahmani had sought refuge after she refused to appear in court over comments she had made on television. Читать дальше...
France won a record 15 billion euros ($16.17 billion) in foreign investment pledges on Monday, allowing President Emmanuel Macron to bask in the limelight with global CEOs and forget about strained public finances and weak polls for a while.