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France’s top diplomat calls for foreign press access to Gaza

France’s foreign minister urged Israel on Tuesday to allow international journalists into the besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza to “bear witness” to the situation after 21 months of war.The United Nations and human rights groups say Gaza and its population of more than two million people face famine-like conditions, with near-daily deaths of people queueing for food aid.”I ask that the free and independent press be allowed to access Gaza to show what is happening there and to bear witness,” Barrot told France Inter radio.Jean-Noel Barrot spoke after the AFP news agency said it was concerned about “the appalling situation of its staff in the Gaza Strip”, warning that the lives of its freelancers were in danger and urging Israel to allow them and their families to leave the occupied coastal territory.Asked if France would help these journalists leave Gaza, Barrot said that France was “addressing the issue” and hoped to be able to evacuate some freelancers working with French journalists “in the coming weeks”.Israel accuses Hamas of exploiting civilian suffering in the war, which started after the Palestinian militant group carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.Israel’s foreign ministry on Monday accused Hamas of “deliberately acting to increase friction and harm to civilians who come to receive humanitarian aid”.It was responding after Britain, France, Australia, Canada and 21 other countries on Monday said that the war “must end now”, as the “suffering of civilians in Gaza” had “reached new depths”.- ‘No energy left’ -AFP journalists in the Gaza Strip said on Tuesday that chronic food shortages were affecting their ability to work.Palestinian text, photo and video journalists working for the international news agency said that desperate hunger and lack of clean water is making them ill and exhausted.”We have no energy left due to hunger and lack of food,” SAID Omar al-Qattaa, a 35-year-old photographer shortlisted for a Pulitzer Prize earlier this year.AFP contributor Khadr Al-Zanoun, 45, in Gaza City, said that he suffered from constant headaches and dizziness due to lack of food and water, and he had even collapsed because of it.”Since the war began, I’ve lost about 30 kilogrammes (66 pounds) and become skeletal compared to how I looked before the war,” he said.On Monday, a staff association at AFP called the Societe des Journalistes (Society of Journalists) sounded the alarm, urging “immediate intervention” to help reporters working with the agency in Gaza.The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Monday that it was “receiving desperate messages of starvation” from its Gaza staff, as the Palestinian territory experiences surging levels of hunger.With food scarce or unaffordable, doctors, the civil defence agency and medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) have reported a spike in malnutrition cases in recent weeks.The head of Gaza’s largest hospital, Al-Shifa Medical Complex, on Tuesday said that 21 children had died due to “malnutrition and starvation” in the Palestinian territory in the past three days.The civil defence agency on Sunday reported at least three infant deaths from “severe hunger and malnutrition” in the previous week.Israel on Monday said there was “no ban or restriction on the entry of baby formula or baby food into Gaza”.- ‘No longer any justification’ -AFP evacuated its eight staff members and their families from Gaza between January and April 2024.The agency said the situation of its freelancers had now also become “untenable”.”Since October 7, Israel has blocked access to the Gaza Strip for all international journalists. In this context, the work of our Palestinian freelancers is crucial to informing the world,” it said.”But their lives are in danger, so we urge the Israeli authorities to allow them to evacuate immediate along with their families.”Barrot said there was “no longer any justification for the Israeli army’s military operations in Gaza”.”This is an offensive that will exacerbate an already catastrophic situation and cause new forced displacements of populations, which we condemn in the strongest terms.”EU crisis management commissioner Hadja Lahbib on Tuesday also urged Israel to allow journalists into Gaza.”Israel must allow the press to do its work and guarantee its access. Journalists and civilians cannot, and must not, be targets,” she said.

France’s culture minister to be tried on corruption charges

France’s Culture Minister Rachida Dati is to go on trial accused of corruption and abuse of power while she was a member of European Parliament, a judicial source told AFP Tuesday.Dati, a 59-year-old who holds ambitions to become Paris mayor next year, was charged in 2019 on suspicions she lobbied for the Renault-Nissan carmaking group while at the European Union institution. She denies the allegations.Dati is accused of accepting 900,000 euros ($1.06 million at current rates) in lawyer’s fees between 2010 and 2012 from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, but not really working for them, while she was an MEP from 2009 to 2019.Investigations have sought to determine whether she was in fact lobbying in the European Parliament for the carmaker, an activity that is forbidden.French investigating magistrates also ordered that Carlos Ghosn, the ex-tycoon of Renault-Nissan, be tried, the judicial source said.The 71-year-old, who has been living in Lebanon for years after escaping arrest in Japan, has also rejected the charges against him.A hearing on September 29 will decide on the date of the trial, the source said.According to another source following the case, the trial could be held after the Paris municipal elections, which will be held in March next year.Dati, a daughter of working-class North African immigrants, has repeatedly sought without success to have the charges against her quashed.Ghosn, the former chairman and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on suspicion of financial misconduct, before being sacked by Nissan’s board in a unanimous decision.He jumped bail late the following year and made a dramatic escape from Japan hidden in an audio-equipment box, landing in Beirut, where he remains as an international fugitive.Both Japan and France have sought his arrest.

US Treasury chief eyes China tariff deadline extension in talks next week

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Tuesday that he would meet his Chinese counterparts in Stockholm next week for tariff talks, eyeing an extension to a mid-August deadline for levies to snap back to steeper levels.Bessent told Fox Business that he will be speaking with Chinese officials on Monday and Tuesday for a third round …

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Heatwave hits water, electricity supplies across much of Iran

A severe heatwave sweeping Iran has disrupted water and electricity supplies in much of the country, with reservoir levels falling to their lowest in a century, state media said Tuesday.Extreme temperatures, which began on Friday, are expected to ease gradually by Thursday, according to meteorological authorities cited by state television. Government offices in at least 15 of Iran’s 31 provinces, including the capital Tehran, have been ordered to close on Wednesday in a bid to conserve water and electricity.The measure come as temperatures in parts of southern and southwestern Iran topped 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit).Government spokeswoman Fatemeh Mohajerani said authorities would extend office closures “if it deems necessary”, while warning of the “critical situation” in Tehran regarding water supplies.At least 10 provincial capitals recorded temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius on Monday, including Tehran, the meteorological agency said.The heatwave has been accompanied by drought, with the capital experiencing its lowest rainfall in 60 year, according to the Tehran Provincial Water Supply Company.Water levels in the reservoirs which supply Tehran have fallen to “their lowest level in a century”, the company said, advising people to use a tank and pump to cope with mains disruption.Tehran provincial governor, Mohammad Sadegh Motamedian said the dams are only filled to 14 percent, adding that the capital is going through its fifth year of drought.- ‘Crisis’ -Many residents reported water supply cuts lasting several hours in the past few days.”It’s not just the heat — there’s also no electricity and no water,” said Ms. Moini, a 52-year-old housewife from Tehran, who only gave her family name.”Our whole lives have basically fallen apart.”President Masoud Pezeshkian warned on Sunday that “the water crisis is more serious than people are saying”.Many Iranian newspapers carried photographs of the low reservoir levels on their front pages on Tuesday. In Iran’s hottest provincial capital, Ahvaz in Khuzestan in the southwest, residents complained that scheduled power cuts had continued despite temperatures nearing 50°C on Monday.In Tehran, drivers were forced to stop to prevent their radiators overheating in temperatures exceeding 40°C.According to the Fars news agency, the Tehran Provincial Water Supply Company plans to distribute drinking water in plastic bags if the mains supply cuts continue.While heatwaves are not uncommon in Iran, last July the government ordered banks and public institutions to close amid soaring temperatures.At the time, officials said electricity consumption had reached a record high of over 79,000 megawatts.