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France could recognize Palestinian state ‘in June’: Macron

France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks in front of humanitarian aid destined to Gaza, at the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse in Arish, Egypt, April 8, 2025. (Reuters)
France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks in front of humanitarian aid destined to Gaza, at the Egyptian Red Crescent warehouse in Arish, Egypt, April 8, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 09 April 2025

France could recognize Palestinian state ‘in June’: Macron

France’s President Emmanuel Macron speaks in front of humanitarian aid destined to Gaza.
  • “We must move toward recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron said
  • Formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy switch and risk antagonizing Israel

PARIS: France plans to recognize a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June on settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday.
“We must move toward recognition, and we will do so in the coming months,” Macron, who this week visited Egypt, told France 5 television.
“Our aim is to chair this conference with ֱ in June, where we could finalize this movement of mutual recognition (of a Palestinian state) by several parties,” he added.
“I will do it (...) because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognize Israel in turn, which many of them do not do,” he added.
Such recognition would allow France “to be clear in our fight against those who deny Israel’s right to exist — which is the case with Iran — and to commit ourselves to collective security in the region,” he added.
France has long championed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including after the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian militants Hamas on Israel.
But formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy switch and risk antagonizing Israel which insists such moves by foreign states are premature.
In Egypt, Macron held summit talks with President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.


US slams Iran over Houthi Red Sea attacks, calls on UN to hold accountable violators of arms embargo

US slams Iran over Houthi Red Sea attacks, calls on UN to hold accountable violators of arms embargo
Updated 11 August 2025

US slams Iran over Houthi Red Sea attacks, calls on UN to hold accountable violators of arms embargo

US slams Iran over Houthi Red Sea attacks, calls on UN to hold accountable violators of arms embargo
  • American envoy tells Security Council Tehran ‘poses a threat to maritime security through its support for the Houthis and … its seizure of vessels transiting international waters’
  • Council ‘must impose meaningful consequences for sanctions violations and seek additional ways to cut off the international funding’ of Houthi weapons programs, she says

NEW YORK CITY: The US on Monday accused Iran of fueling maritime insecurity in the Red Sea by supplying weapons and other materials to the Houthis in Yemen, following the latest deadly attacks on commercial vessels last month.

Speaking during a UN Security Council debate on maritime security, Washington’s acting ambassador, Dorothy Shea, condemned the Houthis for the recent attacks that resulted in the sinking of two commercial ships, the deaths of crew members and the taking of hostages.

Iran “poses a threat to maritime security through its support for the Houthis and other terrorist groups and its seizure of vessels transiting international waters,” Shea told council members.

“Just last month, the Houthis attacked and sank two commercial vessels, resulting in loss of life, injury to sailors, and the capture of hostages.”

She reiterated the US demand that Tehran releases all detained vessels, including the MSC Aries, a container ship linked to an Israeli billionaire. It was seized by Iranian forces in April 2024 while transiting the Gulf of Oman, in what Tehran described as retaliatory action following Israeli airstrikes in Syria.

The vessel, chartered by the Mediterranean Shipping Company, had a crew of 25, mostly Indian nationals. They were held for several weeks by Iranian authorities before being released but the ship remains impounded.

“The United States calls for Iran to release the vessels it still holds, including the MSC Aries,” Shea said, as she urged all UN member states to comply with the arms embargo on the Houthis.

She accused Iran and other countries of violating this embargo by supplying the group with rockets, munitions and other components used in attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.

“This council must impose meaningful consequences for sanctions violations and seek additional ways to cut off the international funding and resources fueling the Houthi weapons programs,” Shea said.

Under UN Security Council Resolution 2216, adopted in 2015, all member states are prohibited from supplying arms, ammunition and related materiel to Houthi forces. The embargo remains in place despite calls from some humanitarian groups for an easing of restrictions to meet civilian needs.

The UN Verification and Inspection Mechanism, established in 2016, is tasked with inspecting all commercial cargo entering Yemen through Red Sea ports to ensure compliance with the embargo.

Despite this measure, several reports by the UN’s Panel of Experts have documented the continuing flow of arms to the Houthis, including missile components and drones believed to originate in Iran.

This year, the US and the UK launched limited airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen following a string of maritime attacks. The group’s campaign has continued, however, demonstrating access to a growing arsenal of anti-ship ballistic and cruise missiles.

Shea said the US has “overwhelmingly borne the costs” of defending freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and called for greater sharing of this burden, including financial support for the Verification and Inspection Mechanism.


Kuwaiti FM holds meeting with outgoing British ambassador

Kuwaiti FM holds meeting with outgoing British ambassador
Updated 11 August 2025

Kuwaiti FM holds meeting with outgoing British ambassador

Kuwaiti FM holds meeting with outgoing British ambassador
  • Abdullah Al-Yahya highlighted Lewis’ efforts to strengthen Kuwaiti-British ties

LONDON: Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya discussed relations with Britain during a meeting on Monday with Ambassador Belinda Lewis, marking the conclusion of her tenure.

Al-Yahya highlighted Lewis’ efforts and contributions to strengthening Kuwaiti-British ties. She has served as ambassador to Kuwait since April 2021.

In September, Qudsi Rasheed will become the new British ambassador to the Gulf country.


Turkiye detains contractor after building collapses in earthquake

Turkiye detains contractor after building collapses in earthquake
Updated 11 August 2025

Turkiye detains contractor after building collapses in earthquake

Turkiye detains contractor after building collapses in earthquake
  • In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkiye and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces

ANKARA: Authorities on Monday detained the owner and the constructor of a residential building that collapsed during a magnitude 6.1 earthquake in northwestern Turkiye, as part of an investigation into possible negligence, an official said.
The quake struck the town of Sindirgi in Balikesir province on Sunday. It claimed the life of one elderly resident who died in the three-story apartment block that crumbled, and injured 29 other people throughout the region.
The tremor was felt as far away as Istanbul, nearly 200 km to the north, raising fears in the city of over 16 million people, which experts say is at high risk for a major earthquake.
Sunday’s quake caused 16 structures to collapse, most of them abandoned village homes, according to Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya.
The apartment building in Sindirgi was among the few inhabited structures to fall, prompting authorities to detain the owner and the constructor for questioning on suspicion of “causing death and injury by negligence,” Justice Minister Yilmaz Tunc said.
Of the 29 people who were hospitalized, 19 were discharged as of Monday, Health Minister Kemal Memisoglu said. Those still hospitalized were not in serious condition, he added.
Meanwhile, more than 200 aftershocks have struck the region, the strongest measuring 4.6. 
They forced many residents to spend the night outdoors and sleep in cars out of fear that their homes might collapse, the national TV broadcaster HaberTurk reported.
Turkiye sits on top of major fault lines, and earthquakes are frequent.
In 2023, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake killed more than 53,000 people in Turkiye and destroyed or damaged hundreds of thousands of buildings in 11 southern and southeastern provinces. 
Another 6,000 people were killed in the northern parts of neighboring Syria. 
The high death toll was blamed on widespread use of substandard construction methods, weak oversight and institutional failures.

 


West Bank killing captured in new footage

West Bank killing captured in new footage
Updated 11 August 2025

West Bank killing captured in new footage

West Bank killing captured in new footage
  • The shooting occurred in Umm Al-Khair, a village that has long weathered settler violence in an area profiled in the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land”

TEL AVIV: New video footage appears to show the moment a Palestinian activist was killed as an Israeli settler fired toward him during a confrontation with unarmed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank last month.
The video released on Sunday by B’Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, shows Israeli settler Yinon Levi firing a gun toward the person filming. 
The footage cuts, but the camera keeps rolling as the person moans in pain.
B’Tselem says it obtained the video from the family of Awdah Hathaleen, 31, an activist, English teacher, and father of three who was shot dead on July 28, and who they said had filmed it. 
Levi, who was shown firing his gun twice in a video shot by another witness and obtained by The Associated Press, was briefly detained and then released from house arrest by an Israeli court, which cited a lack of evidence.
The shooting occurred in Umm Al-Khair, a village that has long weathered settler violence in an area profiled in the Oscar-winning film “No Other Land.” 
Settler attacks on Palestinians have spiked since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war.
“Awdah’s killing is another horrific example of how Palestinians, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, are currently living without any sort of protection, fully exposed to Israeli violence, while Israeli soldiers or settlers can kill them in broad daylight and enjoy full impunity while the world watches,” said Sarit Michaeli, the international outreach director for B’Tselem.
Levi was previously under US sanctions, which the US administration has since lifted.
Both videos appear to show the same confrontation between Levi and a group of Palestinians. 
The earlier video showed him firing two shots from a pistol, but did not show where the bullets struck. Several witnesses told the AP they saw Levi shoot Hathaleen.
Avichai Hajjbi, a lawyer representing Levi, said that Levi acted in self-defense — without specifying what his actions were. 
Hajjbi pointed to a court’s decision earlier this month that released Levi from house arrest, citing insufficient evidence. 
The judge said Levi did not pose a danger justifying continued house arrest, but barred him from contact with the villagers for a month.
B’Tselem said Levi was with a crew that brought an excavator from a nearby settlement into Umm Al-Khair. Residents, fearing it would cut the village’s main water line, gathered on a dirt road to try to block its path, and at least one individual threw a stone at the vehicle’s front window.
Levi then confronted the crowd while waving a handgun.
The new video shows Levi arguing heatedly with three men before firing the gun in the direction of the person filming. Hathaleen was standing at the village community center about 40 meters from the confrontation, said B’Tselem. 
The bullet hit him in the chest, and he collapsed on the spot, it said.
Eitan Peleg, a lawyer for Hathaleen’s family, said they told him Hathaleen had shot the footage on his phone. He said the police asked him for the video, which they had not seen. Peleg said he was urging the district court to investigate Levi for more serious crimes.
Levi helped establish a settler outpost near Umm Al-Khair that anti-settlement activists say is a bastion for violent settlers who have displaced hundreds since the start of the war. 
Palestinians and rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of turning a blind eye to settler violence.
In a 2024 interview, Levi told the AP he was protecting his land and denied using violence.
After Hathaleen’s killing, Israel’s army initially refused to return his body for burial unless conditions were met for the funeral, including limiting the number of people and the location. 
After an agreement was made with the police about a week later, Hathaleen’s body was returned and buried.
Hathaleen had written and spoken out against settler violence and had helped produce the Oscar-winning film. Supporters have erected murals in his honor in Rome, held vigils in New York, and have held signs bearing his name at anti-war protests in Tel Aviv.

 


Saudi and Jordanian charities help Syrian and Palestinian refugees with food coupons

Saudi and Jordanian charities help Syrian and Palestinian refugees with food coupons
Updated 11 August 2025

Saudi and Jordanian charities help Syrian and Palestinian refugees with food coupons

Saudi and Jordanian charities help Syrian and Palestinian refugees with food coupons
  • Vulnerable Jordanian families also benefit from initiative that provides assistance to more than 25,000 people
  • It operates through 103 accredited stores nationwide, providing beneficiaries with lower-cost access to essential food items

LONDON: Charitable agencies from ֱ and Jordan on Monday launched the latest phase of an ongoing food aid project that provides assistance for thousands of people in Jordan in an attempt to tackle growing economic and cost-of-living challenges.

The initiative, organized by Saudi aid agency KSrelief in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, benefits more 25,000 people, including Syrian and Palestinian refugees and vulnerable Jordanian families, the Jordan News Agency reported.

JHCO is distributing food coupons to thousands of families in vulnerable groups with the aim of alleviating financial burdens and helping to meet their essential food needs. The project operates through 103 accredited stores nationwide, providing beneficiaries with with lower-cost access to essential food items.

Beneficiaries have expressed gratitude for the initiative, describing it as a “timely intervention” that has met their urgent food needs amid current challenges, the news agency said.

The initiative is one of a series of humanitarian programs provided by the two aid organizations as part of the humanitarian partnership between Jordan and ֱ.