French culture minister and former Renault CEO will be tried for corruption
In their order, in line with the indictment of France's National Financial Prosecutor's Office (PNF) delivered in November 2024, the judges determined that Dati should appear in court for "passive corruption and influence peddling by a person holding an elected public office within an international organization (in this case, the European Parliament)" and "concealment of abuse of power and breach of trust." As for Ghosn, he is to be tried for "abuse of power by a company executive," "breach of trust" and "active corruption and influence peddling."
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Euronews
4 hours ago
- Euronews
Israel intercepts Gaza-bound boat Handala carrying food aid
The Israeli military intercepted a Gaza-bound aid ship seeking to provide aid to the Palestinian enclave, detaining 21 international activists and journalists, the Freedom Flotilla Coalition said on Sunday. The Flotilla Coalition said the Israeli military 'violently intercepted' the ship in international waters about 40 nautical miles from Gaza, cutting the cameras and communication just before midnight Saturday. 'All cargo was non-military, civilian, and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation and medical collapse under Israel's illegal blockade,'' the group said in a statement. According to the operators of the Handala vessel, the aid ship's cargo, intercepted by the Israeli military, contained baby formula, food, and medicine, and it sailed towards the port of Ashdod on Sunday, accompanied by an Israeli navy vessel. The cargo 'was non-military... and intended for direct distribution to a population facing deliberate starvation... under Israel's illegal blockade,'' it added. The Israeli military had no immediate comment, but Israel's Foreign Ministry posted that the navy stopped the vessel and was bringing it to shore. The Handala is the second ship operated by the coalition that Israel has prevented in recent months from delivering aid to Gaza. Greta Thunberg was among 12 activists on board the ship Madleen when the Israeli military seized it in June. The Swedish climate activist, alongside others, was later deported. French left-wing lawmakers among crew This time around, the ship carried what the Freedom Flotilla Coalition called a "diverse crew of activists, scholars, workers, artists, members of parliament, elected officials, and journalists from 12 countries." Among them are Gabrielle Cathala, a French MP representing Val-de-Marne and Emma Fourreau, a French-Swedish Member of the European Parliament (MEP), environmentalist, and pro-Palestinian activist. "They carry the dreams of millions of people across the world and bring with them a powerful message of international solidarity—that we will break Israel's illegal siege of Gaza," the group said. The latest interception comes as Israel faces mounting international criticism over the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza, with concern growing over rising hunger deaths in the Palestinian enclave. Italian and Spanish governments react Reacting to the development, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said he had spoken this morning (Sunday) with Israeli Minister Gideon Sa'ar. The Handala had two Italian activists aboard before it was intercepted. They were detained on the Freedom Flotilla ship and have arrived in the port of Ashdod, where they will be assisted by staff from the Italian Embassy in Tel Aviv, an Italian government statement said. With one of its citizens aboard the intercepted Handala vessel, Spain's foreign affairs ministry said it had tasked its cooperation agency, the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation, "to send everything needed to Gaza." The Spanish government said it planned to advocate for the State of Palestine and the 2-state solution at the UN General Assembly on Monday, describing what it called the "induced famine" in Gaza as "a disgrace". "Daily starvation deaths: 100,000 children and 40,000 babies are at risk of death. Israel must allow permanent, uninterrupted, and free passage of all necessary humanitarian aid", the Spanish government statement said. Meanwhile, a regional human rights group, Adalah, denounced Israel's interception of the Handala ship, saying the raid on the vessel violated international law. 'The flotilla never entered Israeli territorial waters, nor was it intended to do so; it was headed toward the territorial waters of the State of Palestine, as recognised under international law,' Adalah said in a statement. 'Israel has no legal jurisdiction or authority over the international waters in which the vessel was sailing,' its statement added. On Sunday, the Israeli military announced it had begun a limited pause in fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day, after its announcement Saturday night that airdrops of aid would begin in Gaza, with humanitarian corridors opened for United Nations convoys.
LeMonde
19 hours ago
- LeMonde
Vichy's antisemitism: A dispute between historians heads to court
On July 17, 2022, French President Emmanuel Macron gave a speech to mark the 80 th anniversary of the Vel' d'Hiv roundup, the mass arrest of Jews by French police in Paris in July 1942. Without mentioning the obvious context of the German occupation, he underscored, emphasizing French responsibility, that "not a single soldier of Nazi Germany took part in the roundup of July 16 and 17, 1942. All of this stemmed from a will and a policy poisoned by antisemitism, initiated as early as July 1940." Faced with what they called the "silence" of the "official historians" in the face of this "manipulation of history," three historians, including two amateurs, decided to use this speech as the starting point for a book published the following year. Written by Jean-Marc Berlière, a respected historian of the French police, along with René Fiévet, an economist, and Emmanuel de Chambost, an engineer, Histoire d'une falsification: Vichy et la Shoah dans l'histoire officielle et le discours commémoratif ("History of a Falsification: Vichy and the Holocaust in Official History and Commemorative Discourse") took aim at "these 'court historians' and presidents of the Republic, all busy making the French feel guilty," and aimed to "restore the complexity to a question that cannot be reduced to a purely Vichyite initiative." In July 2023, historian Laurent Joly, a specialist in the Vichy regime who also found the memorial discourse riddled with approximations and anachronisms, published a lengthy, detailed critique of the book in the Revue d'histoire Moderne et Contemporaine, tracing its "intellectual genealogy." "(...) Such a book does not come out of nowhere. It is part of a history of the historiography of Vichy and the crimes of collaboration, which for decades have inspired a whole literature seeking to minimize their gravity, up to the recent provocations of [far-right politician] Eric Zemmour." The Comité de vigilance face aux usages publics de l'histoire (CVUH), a non-profit organization fighting against the misuse of history in the public sphere, also published a note signed by feminist historian Michèle Riot-Sarcey, which referenced Joly's article.
Local France
21 hours ago
- Local France
French left urges Macron to act over US plan to destroy contraceptives
A State Department spokesperson told AFP this week that "a preliminary decision was made to destroy certain" birth control products from "terminated Biden-era USAID contracts." The US Agency for International Development, the country's foreign aid arm, was dismantled by Donald Trump's administration when he returned to office in January, replacing former president Joe Biden. Under the plan, some $9.7 million worth of implant and IUD contraceptives stored in Belgium are reportedly set to be incinerated in France. An open letter signed by French Green leader Marine Tondelier and several female lawmakers called the US decision "an affront to the fundamental principles of solidarity, public health and sexual and reproductive rights that France is committed to defending." In the letter, they urged the French president "not to be complicit, even indirectly, in retrograde policies," saying women's contraception products such as IUDs and implants were intended for "low- and middle-income countries." "Cutting aid for contraception is shameful, destroying products that have already been manufactured and financed is even more mind-boggling," Tondelier told AFP. The Greens urged Macron to request the suspension of the plan "as part of a joint initiative with the European Commission." They also called on him to back humanitarian organisations that say they are ready to redistribute the contraception products. Separately, Mathilde Panot, parliamentary leader of the hard left France Unbowed (LFI) party, also urged Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou to take action. "You have a responsibility to act to prevent this destruction, which will cost lives," she said on X. Advertisement "These resources are vital, particularly for the 218 million women who do not have access to contraceptive care." The US plan has sparked outrage from global health NGOs, with Doctors Without Borders denouncing the "callous waste." "It is unconscionable to think of these health products being burned when the demand for them globally is so great," said Rachel Milkovich of the medical charity's US office. The State Department spokesperson said the destruction will cost $167,000 and "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed." Doctors Without Borders says that other organisations have offered to cover the shipping and distribution costs of the supplies, but the US government declined to sign off. US lawmakers have approved slashing some $9 billion in aid primarily destined for foreign countries.
