Author: AFP
The Cannes film festival said Wednesday that the screening of a documentary about Gaza photojournalist Fatima Hassouna at the event next month would honour her work after the “horror” of her death in an Israeli air strike last week. “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” by Iranian director Sepideh Farsi is to be shown at ACID Cannes, at this year’s May 13-24 festival, which runs parallel to the main competition. The film features conversations between Farsi and Hassouna as the 25-year-old photographer documents the impact of Israel’s devastating war on the Palestinian territory. Hassouna was killed along with…
France’s foreign minister said on Wednesday that Iraq should not be pulled into conflicts in a turbulent Middle East during his first visit to the country, which has suffered from decades of instability. Jean-Noel Barrot will also visit Kuwait and Saudi Arabia as part of a regional tour to push for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Amid the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, Iraq, an ally to both Tehran and Washington, has been navigating a delicate balancing act not to be drawn into the fighting, after pro-Iran factions launched numerous attacks on US troops based in Iraq, as well…
A number of global leaders have announced they will travel to Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral on Saturday, which is likely to draw huge crowds in the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican. Here is a list of the expected VIP guests. Americas — US President Donald Trump said he and his wife Melania would attend the ceremony, adding in a social media post that “We look forward to being there!” “Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!” he said in another post. — President Javier Milei of Argentina,…
US President Donald Trump will visit the Middle East next month on a three-country tour, his spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday. “He will travel to Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from May 13 until May 16,” Leavitt told a White House press briefing.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday announced plans to stage a summit with the Arab League group of states later this year as Moscow searches for new partners after its three-year offensive on Ukraine. Slapped with sweeping Western sanctions after sending troops into Ukraine, Russia has turned towards Asian, African and Arab countries for political and economic ties. “We plan to hold a summit between Russia and Arab countries this year,” Putin told Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq, in the first-ever visit to Russia by an Omani head of state. “Many of our friends in the Arab world support…
The World Health Organization chief said Tuesday that operations and jobs would be slashed as US funding cuts had left the UN agency with a budget hole of several hundred million dollars. “The sudden drop in income has left us with a large salary gap and no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce,” Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told member states, according to a transcript of his remarks. The United Nations health agency has been bracing for President Donald Trump’s planned full withdrawal of the United States — by far its largest donor — next January. The…
Prince William will represent Britain’s royal family at the funeral of Pope Francis at the Vatican on Saturday, Kensington Palace said Tuesday. The heir to the throne will attend the service “on behalf” of King Charles III, the palace said, in a decision in keeping with modern tradition. Charles, when he was Prince of Wales, represented his late mother Queen Elizabeth II at the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005. Elizabeth never attended the funeral of a pontiff during her reign from 1952 to 2022. The British monarch is head of the Church of England, the mother church…
Israel’s government cancelled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and local officials two days before they were to start a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, the group said. The action came only days after Israel stopped two British members of parliament from the governing Labour party from entering the country. It also came amidst diplomatic tensions after President Emmanuel Macron said France would soon recognise a Palestinian state. Macron has in turn sought to pressure Netanyahu over conditions in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. Israel’s interior ministry said visas for the 27 had been cancelled under…
The death of Pope Francis silences arguably the most powerful moral voice on the world stage critical of Donald Trump, with the pontiff taking the lead against the US president’s mass deportations of migrants. When Trump first ran for president in 2016, Francis was unsparing on Trump’s signature promise to build a wall to seal off Mexico, telling reporters, “Anyone, whoever he is, who only wants to build walls and not bridges is not a Christian.” Trump fired back that the pope was “disgraceful.” After Trump’s stunning election win, most world leaders either embraced or found ways to accommodate him,…
Saudi Arabia’s rulers sent their condolences after Pope Francis died on Monday, the latest in a flood of messages from leaders across the world after the Catholic leader’s passing. “King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister sent cables of condolences on the death of Pope Francis, head of the Vatican State,” read a statement from the official Saudi Press Agency.