Turkey issues genocide arrest warrant against Netanyahu

Turkey announced Friday that it had issued arrest warrants for genocide against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior officials in his government over the war in Gaza.The announcement was met with a firm rebuttal from Israel. Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel “firmly rejects, with contempt” the charges, calling them “the latest PR stunt by the tyrant (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan”.The Istanbul prosecutor’s office said in a statement that a total of 37 suspects were targeted by the arrest warrants, without providing a full list.They include Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir.Turkey has accused the officials of “genocide and crimes against humanity” that Israel has “perpetrated systematically” in Gaza.The statement also refers to the “Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital”, built by Turkey in the Gaza Strip and bombed by Israel in March.Turkey, which has been one of the most vocal critics of the war in Gaza, last year joined South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).A fragile ceasefire has been in force in the devastated Palestinian territory since October 10 as part of US President Donald Trump’s regional peace plan.The Islamist militant group Hamas welcomed Turkey’s announcement, calling it a “commendable measure (confirming) the sincere positions of the Turkish people and their leaders, who are committed to the values of justice, humanity and fraternity that bind them to our oppressed Palestinian people”.- Stabilisation force -Saar said in his post in English on the social media platform X that “in Erdogan’s Turkey, the judiciary has long since become a tool for silencing political rivals and detaining journalists, judges and mayors”.He added that the Istanbul prosecutor’s office “recently orchestrated the arrest of the Mayor of Istanbul merely for daring to run against Erdogan”, referring to Ekrem Imamoglu, who was detained in March.Israel’s former foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman wrote on X that the arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials “clearly explain why Turkey should not be present in the Gaza Strip — directly or indirectly”.Turkey wants to take part in the international stabilisation force intended to play a role in post-war Gaza, according to Trump’s plan.But Ankara’s efforts, which include increasing diplomatic contacts in the region and seeking to influence the pro-Israel stance of the United States, are viewed unfavourably in Israel, which considers Turkey too close to Hamas.Israeli leaders have repeatedly expressed their opposition to any Turkish participation in the international stabilisation force in Gaza.Israel has rejected as “false” and “antisemitic” accusations of genocide from a UN-mandated commission, several NGOs and some countries.

James Watson, Nobel prize-winning DNA pioneer, dead at 97

James Watson — the Nobel laureate co-credited with the discovery of DNA’s double-helix structure, but whose reputation was tainted by his repeated racist remarks — has died aged 97.The eminent American biologist died Thursday in hospice care on Long Island in New York, said the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he was based for much of his career. Watson went down as among the 20th century’s most storied scientists for his 1953 discovery of the double helix, a breakthrough made with research partner Francis Crick.Along with Crick and Maurice Wilkins, Watson shared the 1962 Nobel Prize for their momentous work that gave rise to modern biology and opened the door to insights including on genetic code and protein synthesis.That ushered in a new era of modern life, allowing for revolutionary technologies in medicine, forensics and genetics, like criminal DNA testing or genetically manipulated plants.Watson was just 25 when he joined in on one of science’s greatest discoveries. He later went on to do groundbreaking work in cancer research and mapping the human genome. His 1968 memoir “The Double Helix” was a best-seller praised for its breezy writing about fierce competition in the name of scientific advancement. But on a personal level Watson was known as at best cantankerous and frank, at worst mean and bigoted.He routinely disparaged female scientists, including Rosalind Franklin, whose work on X-ray diffraction images of DNA offered the clue that made Watson and Crick’s modeling possible.Franklin, who worked with Wilkins, did not receive the Nobel. She died in 1958, and the prestigious prize is neither shared by more than three people nor given posthumously. Watson faced few consequences for his behavior until 2007 when he told a newspaper he was “inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa” because “all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours — whereas all the testing says not really.”He apologized — but was swiftly removed as his lab’s chancellor and his public image never recovered.- ‘Twisting ladder’ -Born on April 6, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, at the aqe of 15 James Dewey Watson won a scholarship to the University of Chicago.He received a Ph.D. in zoology in 1950 from Indiana University Bloomington, and embarked on an academic path that took him to European universities including Cambridge, where he met Crick and began a historic partnership.Working with X-ray images obtained by Franklin and Wilkins, researchers at King’s College in London, Watson and Crick started parsing out the double helix.Their first serious effort came up short.But their second attempt — an image of Franklin’s proved key, and the duo had it without her knowledge — resulted in Watson and Crick presenting the double-helical configuration.The now iconic depiction resembles a twisting ladder.Their model also showed how the DNA molecule could duplicate itself,  answering a fundamental question in the field of genetics.Watson and Crick published their findings in the British journal “Nature” in 1953 to great acclaim.Watson taught at Harvard for 15 years before becoming director of what today is known as the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, which he transformed into a global hub of molecular biology research.From 1988 to 1992, Watson was one of the directors of the Human Genome Project at the National Institutes of Health, where he oversaw the mapping of the genes in the human chromosomes.He shared two sons, Rufus and Duncan, with his wife Elizabeth.And he received honorary degrees from dozens of universities, wrote many books and was heavily decorated. Jeff Goldblum played him in a BBC-produced film about the double helix.On Friday his former lab commended his “extraordinary contributions.”But the institution had ultimately severed ties with the scientist, including stripping him of his emeritus status — in a PBS documentary that aired in 2019, Watson once again made “reprehensible” remarks.

Earth cannot ‘sustain’ intensive fossil fuel use, Lula tells COP30

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Friday that Earth can no longer sustain humanity’s dependence on fossil fuels, and warned the climate fight could be lost without a rapid transition to cleaner energy.The leftist leader spoke at a summit in the Brazilian Amazon where heads of state and government implored nations to start weaning themselves off the coal, oil and gas responsible for most planet-warming emissions.Evidence of dangerous warming has never been clearer: the last decade has been the hottest on record, marked by intensifying hurricanes, heatwaves and wildfires.Lula said tackling the urgent question over the future of energy would determine “success or failure in the battle against climate change.””Earth can no longer sustain the development model based on the intensive use of fossil fuels that has prevailed over the past 200 years,” he said in Belem, where an annual UN climate conference dubbed COP 30 kicks off next week.It comes two years after the world’s nations agreed to “transition away from fossil fuels.”Brazil is hoping for a roadmap towards this goal, but has faced resistance.Mexico’s Environment Secretary Alicia Barcena told AFP that “setting a specific date for the elimination of fossil fuels is always problematic because there are still many oil-producing countries.”It is very difficult to get everyone to agree to eliminate them by 2030, for example. But it can be proposed as a long-term goal,” she said.Lula is presiding over the climate negotiations just weeks after his government approved new oil drilling in the Amazon region.Rwanda’s environment minister Bernadette Arakwiye stressed that countries face a stark choice.”We can continue with incremental progress while the planet burns, or we can rise to meet the scale of this crisis,” she said.- Luxury flight tax -A shadow has been cast over the talks by the absence of leaders of the world’s biggest polluters — including the United States, whose President Donald Trump has dismissed climate science as a “con job” — but it has also catalyzed calls for greater mobilization.France, Spain and Kenya are among a group of countries spearheading a drive for a new tax on luxury air travel, rooted in the idea that premium flyers should pay more for their outsized contribution to global warming.”It is only fair that those who have more and pollute more should pay their fair share,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the summit. The initiative is sure to face headwinds from the aviation sector, responsible for about 2.5 percent of the world’s carbon emissions.- Roadmap support -Climate change has slipped down the agenda as nations grapple with economic pressures, trade disputes, wars, and the Trump administration’s aggressive push for more fossil fuels.Brazil has won support for a new fund to save the world’s forests, quickly raking in over $5 billion in pledges to reward tropical countries for not chopping down carbon-absorbing trees.The world remains off track to keep end-of-century global warming below 1.5C compared to pre-industrial levels. It is the primary target of the Paris Agreement struck in 2015, and deemed necessary to avert the worst catastrophes of climate destabilization.A coalition of hundreds of NGOs representing the interests of women, Indigenous peoples, workers, small-scale farmers and other disadvantaged communities was unimpressed by what world leaders brought to the two-day summit.”The national plans of rich countries are not talking at all about a commitment they made two years ago… to move away from this brutal and cannibalistic fossil fuel economy,” said Jacobo Ocharan of Climate Action Network International, an NGO network that is part of an alternative so-called People’s Summit.”Nor have we seen absolutely anything regarding climate financing, financing that reaches the populations suffering from this climate crisis,” he told reporters in Belem.UN climate chief Simon Stiell stressed that, 10 years on from the Paris deal, global cooperation was delivering results.”Without that act of collective courage, we would still be heading for an impossible future of unchecked heating, of up to five degrees,” he said. “Because of it, the curve has bent below 3C — still perilous, but proof that climate cooperation works.”burs-np/ia/des/mlr/des

Ligue 1: Rennes éloigne la crise en s’imposant au Paris FC 1-0

Le Stade Rennais, sérieux mais heureux, a enchaîné une deuxième victoire consécutive en championnat en terrassant, en fin de match, le Paris FC 1-0 en ouverture de la 11e journée de Ligue 1 au stade Jean-Bouin.Alors que la rencontre se dirigeait vers un match nul plutôt logique, Breel Embolo, rentré en jeu quelques minutes plus tôt à la place de Kader Meïté, a profité d’une contre-attaque rennaise, d’un ballon donné par son capitaine Valentin Rongier, pour prendre de vitesse Otavio et tromper du gauche Obed Nkambadio (1-0, 81e).Une efficacité implacable qui a donc permis à Rennes d’obtenir sa deuxième victoire après le carton infligé à Strasbourg (4-1) à domicile le week-end dernier, d’écarter un peu plus loin encore la crise qui couvait dans la capitale bretonne, et de se positionner enfin dans la première moitié du classement du championnat, à la 8e place, avant les autres rencontres du week-end. Sa victoire, Rennes la doit beaucoup également à son gardien international: pourtant prolifique en attaque cette saison, avec 18 buts inscrits en 11 rencontres, le Paris FC a buté tout au long de la partie sur un grand Brice Samba. L’ambitieux promu, bien contenu dans son camp par un solide pressing rennais, s’est pourtant créé les plus belles occasions de la partie. A la 35e minute notamment, quand son virtuose, Ilan Kebbal, a trouvé, côté droit, son capitaine Maxime Lopez qui en une touche, a placé Pierre Lees-Melou seul face à Samba. Mais le gardien international a repoussé de la jambe la lourde frappe du milieu parisien. Comme ses coéquipiers dans le champ, plus solides dans les duels, Samba a remporté un nouveau face-à-face cette fois face à Jean-Philippe Krasso, lancé à la limite du hors-jeu par Adama Camara (39e). Et lorsqu’il n’a pas pu écarter les offensives adverses tout seul, le portier breton a été sauvé par ses montants, d’abord sur une frappe de Samir Chergui (65e), puis la barre transversale après un tir lointain de Thibault de Smet (76e).En face, avant d’être terrassé par Embolo, Nkambadio avait été plus sollicité, sur les corners de Djaoui Cissé surtout, mais moins mis en danger.L’ancien international espoir s’était notamment illustré en repoussant une frappe puissante de Kader Meïté après une contre-attaque initiée par Mahdi Camara (44e), puis s’était à nouveau déployé pour repousser un coup franc direct de Cissé après une faute de Krasso à trente mètres du but du Paris FC (56e).Il n’a rien pu faire face à l’international suisse, la défaite laissant son équipe à la 11e place du classement avant la trêve internationale. 

France moves to suspend Shein website as first store opens in Paris

Shein opened its first physical store worldwide in Paris under the eye of riot police, as the French government said it was suspending the Asian e-commerce giant’s online platform following outrage over its sale of childlike sex dolls.Hundreds of shoppers streamed into Shein’s permanent physical store on the sixth floor of the BHV department store, a landmark that has stood across from Paris City Hall since 1856.Police patrolled the street and put up barriers, keeping nearby protesters from approaching the waiting shoppers. Soon after the launch of the shop, the French government said it was suspending the Shein digital platform until the company complied with French legislation.Despite an uproar in the couture capital over the Asian brand’s fast fashion business model and its environmental impact, the first shoppers queued for hours outside the luxury department store.Some of the crowd — ranging from older couples to mothers with young kids and trendy 20-somethings — said they arrived out of curiosity, while others pointed to the brand’s affordability.”Times have changed, generations have changed,” Mohamed Joullanar, a 30-year-old who already buys from Shein online, told AFP.”I’d never thought of going to BHV before,” the Moroccan masters student told AFP. “I always heard it was expensive, luxury products. But now, thanks to Shein, I’m here.”Hammani Souhaila bought a 16.49-euro ($18.93) T-shirt for her 17-year-old daughter at the store but expressed regret that the Shein items sold at BHV were “more expensive than online”.- ‘Crimes against children’ -Nearby children’s rights activists staged a protest.”We protect Shein and the culture of crimes against children while survivors of childhood sexual violence with their signs are pushed aside,” protester Caroline Di Ruzza from Mouv’Enfants, an association for the protection of children, told AFP.Leftist political groups gave speeches and distributed flyers, including one denouncing “suspected forced labour” and “pollution”, and urging passersby to sign a petition against Shein’s presence in the Paris store.Shein, which was founded in China in 2012 but is now based in Singapore, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model, among other concerns.Its arrival in France has been opposed by politicians, unions and top fashion brands.Just days before the planned opening, a new controversy erupted over the sale of childlike sex dolls on Shein’s platform. The discovery triggered a new political outcry and the opening of a judicial investigation against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of the sex dolls.But the queues still formed despite the uproar. “The dolls didn’t stop me from coming,” said Fatima Mriouch, a 48-year-old education worker.  On Wednesday, the government said it was moving to suspend the Shein website in France “for the time necessary for the platform to demonstrate to the public authorities that all of its content is finally in compliance with our laws”.The retailer said it wanted dialogue with the French authorities, and separately said it was suspending products from third-party sellers in France.- Man arrested over childlike doll -In a new development, prosecutors said a man was arrested in southern France after ordering a childlike sex doll from China.The parcel did not come from Shein, prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told AFP.The man, who was taken into custody, had previously been convicted of sexual assault and “admitted to having ordered the doll for sexual purposes”, prosecutors said.Shein has already pledged to “fully cooperate” with French authorities over the probe into the retailer, and announced it was imposing a ban on all sex dolls.Frederic Merlin, the 34-year-old director of the SGM company that operates BHV, has said he considered pulling the plug on the partnership with Shein but later changed his mind.Merlin, who expressed hope that Shein will help increase footfall at the department store, made an appearance at the entrance shortly before the official opening. Shein is also scheduled to open five shops in other French cities, including Dijon, Grenoble and Reims.ole-hrc-sw-as/sjw/phz/jhb

Shein vows to cooperate with France in probe over childlike sex dolls

Asian e-commerce giant Shein Tuesday pledged to “cooperate fully” with French judicial authorities after an uproar over it selling childlike sex dolls, and said it was prepared to disclose the names of people who bought them.The controversy comes as the ultra-fast fashion giant is set to open its first bricks and mortar store in the world, in the prestigious BHV department store in central Paris on Wednesday.”We will cooperate fully with the judicial authorities,” Shein’s spokesman in France, Quentin Ruffat, told RMC radio, adding the company was prepared to share the names of those who have bought such dolls.”We will be completely transparent with the authorities,” he said.”We will put the necessary safeguards in place to ensure that this does not happen again,” Ruffat added.The Paris prosecutor’s office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of sex dolls.The probes were also for distributing “messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, and accessible to minors”, the office told AFP.The investigations were launched after France’s anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, was selling childlike sex dolls.French media published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.The pictured doll measured around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height and held a teddy bear.Ruffat described what had happened as “serious, unacceptable, intolerable.”He chalked up the sale of the dolls to “a malfunction in our processes and governance”.- ‘Who can stop it?’ -On Monday, Shein announced it was imposing a “total ban on sex-doll-type products” and had deleted all listings and images linked to them.  Shein’s meteoric rise has been a bane for traditional retail fashion companies and, even before the uproar over the dolls, the arrival of Shein in the fashion capital had sparked controversy.Critics fear that Shein will further hurt stores in France that have had to lay off staff or close.”Shein in France. Who can stop it?” left-leaning French daily Liberation said on its front page.Frederic Merlin, the 34-year-old director of the SGM company that operates BHV, has been criticised for partnering up with Shein, which has been accused of unfair competition, environmental pollution and poor working conditions.Merlin admitted on Tuesday that he considered pulling the plug on the partnership with Shein after the latest uproar.”It’s despicable,” he told broadcaster RTL.”I find it sickening to know that we can freely sell this kind of stuff on the internet,” Merlin added.But he said he had reconsidered, adding that Shein’s stance and readiness to cooperate with the French authorities “convinced me to continue”.He said he was confident about the Shein products that will be sold at the department store, and denounced a “general hypocrisy” surrounding Shein and its “25 million French customers”.He expressed hope that the Asian giant would help increase footfall at the department store.- ‘Shein has to pay’ -Shein is also scheduled to open several shops in Galeries Lafayette department stores run by SGM in other parts of France.But the Galeries Lafayette group has refused to be associated with Shein.On Tuesday, it ended a partnership with SGM, likely meaning it will withdraw its name from seven such department stores in France, including in the cities of Dijon and Grenoble, the group and SGM said.The mayor of Dijon, Nathalie Koenders, deplored Shein’s upcoming arrival in her city, calling on legislators and European institutions to take action.On Monday, an association fighting to protect children from all forms of violence staged a protest in front of the BHV department store in Paris.”Shame on Shein,” one of the signs read.”Shein has to pay, politically speaking,” said Arnaud Gallais, co-founder and president of the Mouv’Enfants association.egu-ac-jul-as/ah/rl/jhb

Shein bans sex dolls after France outrage over ‘childlike’ ones

Asian e-commerce giant Shein said Monday it was banning sex dolls from sale on its sites globally after French authorities condemned it for featuring ones resembling children.France’s finance minister had threatened to ban the retailer from the country if it resumed selling the childlike dolls, just days before it opens its first physical store in Paris.The Paris prosecutors’ office said it had opened investigations against Shein, and also rival online retailer AliExpress, over the sale of sex dolls.The probes were also for distributing “messages that are violent, pornographic or improper, (and) accessible to minors”, the office told AFP.The investigations were launched after France’s anti-fraud unit reported on Saturday that Shein was selling “childlike” dolls of a likely pornographic nature.French daily Le Parisien published a photo of one of the dolls sold on the platform, accompanied by an explicitly sexual caption.The pictured doll measured around 80 centimetres (30 inches) in height and held a teddy bear.Shortly after the fraud watchdog’s statement, Shein announced the dolls had been withdrawn from its platform and it had launched an internal inquiry.It later announced, in a statement on Monday, that it was imposing a “total ban on sex-doll-type products” and had deleted all listings and images linked to them. A spokesperson told AFP the ban applied globally.”These publications came from third-party vendors, but I take personal responsibility,” said Shein’s chief executive Donald Tang.- French warning -France’s finance Minister Roland Lescure had warned Monday he would move to ban the company from the French market if the items returned online.”These horrible items are illegal,” he told the BFMTV broadcaster, promising a judicial investigation.Shein said it was setting up a dedicated team to ensure the “integrity” of content on the sales platform.France’s high commissioner for childhood, Sarah El Hairy, said several websites were being investigated, after French media reported Chinese shopping platform AliExpress sold the same dolls.AliExpress said it had immediately removed the items from its website.The anti-fraud office said in a statement later Monday that it was taking legal action against AliExpress for selling “child-porn-style dolls”.- Shein store in Paris -Shein is due on Wednesday to open its first physical store in the world inside the prestigious BHV Marais department store in central Paris, a move that has sparked outrage in France.Frederic Merlin, the director of the company that owns BHV, said selling the childlike dolls was “unacceptable”, but on Monday defended his decision to allow Shein into the department store.”Only clothes and items conceived directly by Shein for BHV will be sold in store,” he said.Shein, a Singapore-based company which was originally founded in China, has faced criticism over working conditions at its factories and the environmental impact of its ultra-fast fashion business model.Some brands have pulled their products from BHV Marais since the announcement.France has already fined Shein three times in 2025 for a total of 191 million euros ($220 million).Those sanctions were imposed for failing to comply with online cookie legislation, false advertising, misleading information and not declaring the presence of plastic microfibres in its products.The European Commission is also investigating Shein over risks linked to illegal products, while EU lawmakers have approved legislation aimed at curbing the environmental impact of fast fashion.

Tunisian opponents go on collective hunger strike to support jailed figure

Prominent Tunisian opposition figures including Rached Ghannouchi said Friday they would go on hunger strike in solidarity with a jailed politician whose health they say has severely deteriorated after nine days without food.Jawhar Ben Mbarek, co-founder of the National Salvation Front, Tunisia’s main opposition alliance, launched a hunger strike last week to protest his detention since February 2023.In April, he was sentenced to 18 years behind bars on charges of “conspiracy against state security” and “belonging to a terrorist group” in a mass trial criticised by rights groups.Members of Ben Mbarek’s family and leaders from opposition Ennahdha and Al Joumhouri parties said they would join the strike.”Jawhar is in a worrisome condition, and his health is deteriorating,” said Ezzeddine Hazgui, his father and a veteran activist, during a press conference in Tunis.Hazgui said “the family would also launch a hunger strike beginning tomorrow”, without specifying which relatives would take part.”We will not forgive (President) Kais Saied,” he said.Rights groups have warned of a sharp decline in civil liberties in the North African country since a sweeping power grab by Saied in July 2021. Many of his critics are currently behind bars.Ghannouchi, the 84-year-old leader of the Islamist-inspired Ennahdha party who is also serving hefty prison sentences, said he joined the protest on Friday, according to a post on his official Facebook page.Ghannouchi said his hunger strike sought to support Ben Mbarek, but also to “defend freedoms in the country”.Centrist Al Joumhouri party leader Issam Chebbi, who is also behind bars, announced he launched a hunger strike on Friday as well.Wissam Sghaier, another leader in Al Joumhouri, said some members of the party would follow suit.Sghaier said the party’s headquarters in the capital would serve as a gathering point for anyone willing to join.Relatives and a delegation from the Tunisian League for Human Rights (LTDH) visited Ben Mbarek at the Belli Civil Prison where he is held southeast of Tunis and reported a “serious deterioration of his state”.Many gathered near the prison to demand Ben Mbarek’s release.The LTDH said there have been “numerous attempts” to persuade Ben Mbarek to suspend the hunger strike, but “he refused and said he was committed to maintain it until the injustice inflicted upon him is lifted”.On Wednesday, prison authorities denied in a statement that the health of any prisoners had deteriorated because of a hunger strike, without naming Ben Mbarek.