UN nuclear watchdog demands Iran open up bombed nuclear sites

The International Atomic Energy Agency board on Thursday passed a resolution demanding that Iran provide “full and prompt” cooperation including access to sensitive nuclear sites, but Tehran immediately rejected the measure.Long-simmering tensions with the UN nuclear watchdog flared anew after Israeli and US strikes on Iranian sites in June. UN inspectors have not had access to any of the damaged complex.IAEA chief Rafael Grossi on Wednesday renewed a call for Tehran to let inspectors into the key nuclear sites and the agency’s governing board passed a resolution proposed by the United States, Britain, France and Germany by 19 votes to three with 12 abstentions.The resolution “urges Iran to comply fully and without delay with its legal obligations” under existing UN Security Council resolutions “and to extend full and prompt cooperation to the IAEA, including by providing such information and access that the agency requests”.Iran’s foreign minister Abbas Araghchi condemned the vote.”With this action and disregard for Iran’s interactions and good will, these countries have tarnished the IAEA’s credibility and independence and are disrupting the process of interactions and cooperation between the agency and Iran,” said Araghchi in a foreign ministry statement.Araghchi on Wednesday refused to allow UN visits to the bombed sites, including the Natanz uranium enrichment plant and Fordo underground enrichment complex. “We only cooperate regarding nuclear facilities that have not been affected, in compliance with IAEA regulations,” he stated on Telegram.- Negative impact -Speaking after the vote, Iran’s envoy to the IAEA, Reza Najafi, also told AFP the resolution would have a “negative impact” on relations with the UN agency.”This resolution will not add anything to the current situation, will not be helpful, it is counter-productive,” Najafi said.Grossi said on Wednesday it would not be “logical” for a resolution to prompt less cooperation with his agency.The IAEA has called on Iran to let it verify its enriched uranium inventories, especially a study of the sensitive stockpile of highly enriched uranium that was “long overdue”, according to a confidential report seen by AFP.The IAEA has said Iran had some 44.9 kilogrammes of 60 percent enriched uranium when the Israel-Iran war began on June 13 — close to the 90 percent needed for a nuclear bomb and an increase of 32.3kg on May 17.According to the agency, Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons that enriches uranium to 60 percent. Western powers and Israel have long accused Iran of seeking to build a bomb. Iran denies the charge.”The stockpile of enriched uranium is still there, so we need to check on that,” Grossi said Wednesday.”We have performed a number of inspections, but we have not been able to go to the attack sites. I hope we will be able. Indeed, we have to go because this is part of Iran’s commitments,” Grossi added. “I hope we’ll be able to move in a constructive manner.” 

No bullying, Ramaphosa says as US snubs S.Africa’s G20

No country can be allowed to bully another, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday in a jab at the United States which is boycotting the G20 summit of leading economies in South Africa this weekend.Washington has also demanded that South Africa does not issue the traditional joint leaders’ statement after the meeting, where around 40 countries will be present.”It cannot be that a country’s geographical location or income or army determines who has a voice and who is spoken down to,” Ramaphosa told delegates at a curtain-raiser event in a clear reference to Washington.”It basically means there should be no bullying of one nation by another,” he said in an address to a gathering of civil society groups ahead of the November 22-23 summit in Johannesburg.Relations between South Africa and the United States have plummeted this year over a number of foreign and domestic differences.The US embassy confirmed it would not attend the summit in a note to South Africa, saying Pretoria’s G20 priorities “run counter to the US policy views and we cannot support consensus on any documents negotiated under your presidency.”South Africa replied that the United States’ absence from the event negated its role.Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said Pretoria would press ahead with a leaders’ declaration. “We will not be told by anyone who is absent that we cannot adopt a declaration or make any decisions at the summit,” he said in an address after Ramaphosa had spoken.”If we do not end up with a declaration, it will not be on the basis that someone who is absent told us,” he said.South Africa chose “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability” as the theme of its presidency of the G20, which comprises 19 countries and two regional bodies, the European Union and the African Union. Its members account for 85 percent of global GDP and around two-thirds of the world’s population.Its agenda focuses on strengthening disaster resilience, improving debt sustainability for low-income countries, financing a “just energy transition”, and harnessing “critical minerals for inclusive growth and sustainable development”.This is the first G20 summit to be held in Africa.

Greenpeace says clothes sold by Shein break EU chemicals rules

Clothing items sold by Asian e-commerce giant Shein contain dangerous chemicals at levels well in excess of EU rules, Greenpeace charged in a report published on Thursday.A spokesman for Shein told AFP that “as a precaution we will withdraw the articles that we can identify from our marketplace worldwide”.Greenpeace Germany said 18 clothing items out of 56 that it sent for testing “contained dangerous chemicals that exceed the limits in the EU’s REACH chemical regulation, sometimes severely”.Among the products was a children’s mermaid costume which exceeded the REACH limits on formaldehyde, the group said.It also said adult jackets had high amounts of phthalates, chemicals used to make plastics more flexible which have been linked to numerous health problems.Greenpeace said in a statement that the substances “especially affected workers and the environment in the countries of production”.”However consumers are also exposed to the chemicals through skin contact, sweat or breathing in fibres,” the campaign group said.When the garments are “washed or disposed of, the substances enter rivers, soils and the food chain”.The spokesman for Shein said the company “takes product safety very seriously and is committed to offering customers safe products that meet the relevant rules”.”As Greenpeace did not provide the test results in advance, we have not yet been able to evaluate them,” he said, adding that the company was investigating Greenpeace’s claims.Shein has faced various controversies over its business model and products.Earlier this month France moved to suspend Shein’s online platform following outrage over its sale of childlike sex dolls.European retailers say they face unfair competition from overseas platforms, such as Shein, AliExpress and Temu, which they claim often do not comply with the EU’s stringent rules on products.The European Commission has said it will propose a draft law next year to tackle these issues.Last week EU states also agreed to scrap a bloc-wide duty exemption on low-value orders from the likes of Shein to help tackle a flood of cheap imports into the bloc.In October a German consumer organisation said its tests of a selection of products sold by Temu and Shein found that most of them did not conform to EU safety standards, with some of them potentially “poisonous” and others posing fire risks.At the time Shein said the products in question had been withdrawn.

Le gel et la neige arrivent, les pneus hiver aussi dans 34 départements

Depuis le 1er novembre, les véhicules circulant dans des communes montagneuses de 34 départements doivent être équipés de pneus hiver, de chaînes à neige ou de chaussettes à neige, rappelle jeudi le ministère des Transports, alors que la France connaît sa première semaine de conditions hivernales.Les pneus hiver sont marqués de la norme 3PMSF (“three peak mountain snow flake”), et leur obligation s’impose jusqu’au 31 mars pour tous les véhicules légers, véhicules utilitaires, poids lourds, autocars, autobus et camping-cars dans ces zones, indique le ministère dans la présentation de son dispositif 2025 de viabilité hivernale.Les pneus 3PMSF sont identifiables par la présence du marquage d’un “symbole alpin”, illustré par une montagne à 3 pics contenant un flocon de neige.Les communes des zones montagneuses concernées par cette obligation, situées en Corse, dans les Alpes, le Massif central, le Jura, les Vosges et les Pyrénées, sont définies par arrêté préfectoral et signalées par des panneaux de signalisation. Elles sont aussi accessibles sur le site internet de la sécurité routière.Selon Météo-France, l’arrivée d’une masse d’air polaire avec des températures inférieures aux normales de saison conduit à une accentuation des phénomènes hivernaux cette semaine, avec un risque de neige et de verglas.Samedi devrait être la journée la plus froide avec -1°C à Paris, -4°C au Mans et à Clermont-Ferrand, -6°C à Nancy.La Chaîne Météo prévient de son côté que la neige pourra descendre jusqu’en plaine, tandis que les massifs connaîtront un “nouvel apport conséquent, en particulier les Pyrénées”.”Cette séquence hivernale, classique mais marquée pour un mois de novembre, impose une vigilance accrue sur l’ensemble du quart sud-est et des zones de montagne, où le froid, la neige et le vent se combineront pour produire des conditions de circulation parfois difficiles”, ajoute la chaîne info.Lors d’un épisode neigeux, les gestionnaires d’autoroutes et de routes nationales sont en capacité d’agir 24 heures sur 24, mais sur les autres axes routiers, les interventions de déneigement ne peuvent avoir lieu que de 06H00 à 21H00, rappelle le ministère.L’Etat dispose de 7.500 agents pour le service hivernal, plus de 6.000 camions équipés de lames et de saleuses ou d’engins spéciaux et entre 400.000 et 800.000 tonnes de sel sont mobilisées chaque année.

A close-up of a stack of newspapers resting on a desk, symbolizing information and media.

Grèce: découverte d’une toile géante avec 111.000 araignées dans une grotte

Des scientifiques ont récemment découvert une toile d’araignée géante de plus de 100 m2 avec quelque 111.000 araignées dans une grotte à la frontière entre la Grèce et l’Albanie, selon une étude publiée dans la revue Subterranean Biology.Appelée la “Sulfur cave”, exceptionnellement riche en soufre, la grotte est située dans les gorges de Vromoner, une zone géologique à la frontière entre l’Albanie et la Grèce (nord-ouest), à 450km d’Athènes.La toile d’araignée découverte couvre quelque 106 m2 et comprend “69.000 individus de tégénaires domestiques (Tegenaria domestica) et plus de 42.000 de Prinerigone vagans (Linyphiidae)”.Des images, reçues mercredi par l’AFP, montrent des pans de cette immense toile, pendant sur la paroi comme un lourd rideau de velours noir, dans les profondeurs de cette grotte sous le regard fasciné d’un scientifique équipé comme un spéléologue.”Mon dieu, incroyable! Quelle texture!”, s’exclame en anglais ce scientifique touchant la toile avec ses doigts.Selon lui, dans chacun de ces trous il y a une arachnide à l’origine de ces “mégapoles” d’araignées. On voit ensuite un membre de l’équipe réussir à attraper une araignée et la poser dans une tube à essai. Dans la revue, les chercheurs évoquent “la découverte (…) d’un assemblage extraordinaire d’araignées coloniales” alors que ces deux espèces sont normalement solitaires.Il s’agit du “premier cas documenté de formation de toile coloniale chez ces espèces”, notent d’ailleurs les experts qui précisent que cette immense toile est formée “de nombreuses toiles individuelles, (…) chacune étant stratégiquement placée à un endroit où les ressources trophiques (la nourriture disponible, ndlr) sont abondantes”. “Certaines sections de la toile peuvent se détacher de la paroi sous leur propre poids”, expliquent-ils.Des sources d’eau situées dans les recoins profonds de la grotte alimentent un ruisseau sulfuré qui traverse toute la longueur du passage principal de la grotte, selon l’étude.Les araignées partagent la grotte avec de nombreux autres insectes, notamment des mille-pattes, des scorpions et des coléoptères.La découverte de cette immense toile a été rapportée pour la première fois par des membres de la Société spéléologique tchèque, selon l’étude.