Macron Says Useful to 'Leave Path Open' for Dialogue with Putinhttps://english.aawsat.com/home/article/3495996/macron-says-useful-leave-path-open-dialogue-putin
Macron Says Useful to 'Leave Path Open' for Dialogue with Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media ahead of a Weimar Triangle meeting to discuss the ongoing Ukraine crisis, in Berlin, Germany, February 8, 2022. (Reuters)
Macron Says Useful to 'Leave Path Open' for Dialogue with Putin
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the media ahead of a Weimar Triangle meeting to discuss the ongoing Ukraine crisis, in Berlin, Germany, February 8, 2022. (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday it was useful to keep alive the chance of dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin after he launched an invasion of Ukraine.
Macron said after a summit of EU leaders that "while condemning, while sanctioning" it remained useful "to leave this path open so that the day when the conditions can be fulfilled, we can obtain a cessation of hostilities".
Macron on Thursday was the only Western leader to speak to Putin after he unleashed the Russian military on his pro-Western neighbor, AFP said.
The Kremlin said Putin held a "frank" conversation with the French leader.
The Elysee Palace said Macron called Putin to demand an end to Moscow's offensive in Ukraine.
"After having spoken with the Ukrainian president, and in coordination with him, the president (Macron) called Vladimir Putin to demand the immediate halt of Russian military operations, noting that Russia risked massive sanctions," the Elysee said.
Venezuelans Hunt for Survivors after Quakes Kill at Least 235https://english.aawsat.com/world/5288778-venezuelans-hunt-survivors-after-quakes-kill-least-235
Volunteers search for possible victims in a collapsed building following twin earthquakes in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, some 40 km northeast of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
Venezuelans Hunt for Survivors after Quakes Kill at Least 235
Volunteers search for possible victims in a collapsed building following twin earthquakes in Caraballeda, La Guaira state, some 40 km northeast of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)
Rescuers used heavy machinery and their bare hands on Friday in a race to save survivors of deadly twin earthquakes in Venezuela that killed at least 235 people, hurt thousands and flattened scores of buildings.
International rescuers and aid have begun arriving to help a nation struggling to respond two days after its strongest quake in well over a century struck west of Caracas.
Rubble from collapsed buildings had trapped more than 200 people under debris, National Assembly chief Jorge Rodriguez said Thursday.
At the site of one of those flattened buildings, workers used sledgehammers to break the debris and called for "absolute silence" in order to hear survivors, AFP footage showed.
Health Minister Carlos Alvarado reported the death toll had risen to at least 235, with around 4,300 people injured.
Rescue efforts have moved slowly, with bodies still visible under debris hours after the quakes, while time ran out for some of those who were trapped and injured.
But help has begun to arrive, with a senior American military official landing in Venezuela's capital Caracas to oversee US relief efforts.
Nations around the world have pledged send rescuers, money and aid, with the United States saying it was deploying two warships, transport planes and helicopters and mobilizing $150 million in aid.
A view shows a heavily damaged apartment building following an earthquake in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, about 30 km northwest of Caracas, on June 25, 2026. (Photo by Juan BARRETO / AFP)
In the worst-hit state of La Guaira, north of Caracas, Amparo del Giudice dug with her bare hands at a huge mound of concrete in search of her son.
"It is a lot of rock, and with bare hands it is impossible," she said, exasperated and flailing at the rubble.
Elsewhere, a young girl died after crying out for help for hours as onlookers listened helplessly, local residents told AFP.
"We need people... military personnel, to come and help so we can get her out," said resident Dani Rizo, 48.
The dead include foreigners, with Two Spaniards, one Portuguese national, two Brazilians, one Italian-Venezuelan, and two Chinese nationals are among those killed.
The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reported on Friday that 80 Spaniards remain unaccounted for.
A rescue worker, speaking off the record, told AFP conditions were precarious, with a shortage of trained personal and significant technical limitations.
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez visited La Guaira on Thursday after the area was declared a "disaster zone."
AFP reporters witnessed residents looting a local supermarket in the city.
Venezuela's director of the International Rescue Committee, Nicole Kast, described the situation as catastrophic.
Offers of support poured in from around the world, with Switzerland, Spain, France, Portugal and Mexico among those sending specialists and rescue teams to Venezuela.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio earlier promised a "whole-of-government response. It'll be big, it'll be fast, and it'll be effective."
Washington is closely involved in oil-rich Venezuela after US forces ousted and arrested president Nicolas Maduro in January.
China, India, Brazil and even war-battered Iran offered help, while Pope Leo XIV has sent an initial 100,000 euros in aid to the country.
UN chief Antonio Guterres said he was "deeply saddened" by the disaster as the global body vowed to assist Venezuela.
Venezuela's northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but has not experienced a significant quake since 1997, when 73 people died. Another quake in 1967 killed 236 people.
Wednesday's 7.5-magnitude earthquake was the most powerful since October 29, 1900, when a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore.
IAEA Head: 'Very Strong' Nuclear Verification Needed in Iran after Warhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288759-iaea-head-very-strong-nuclear-verification-needed-iran-after-war
26 June 2026, Japan, Tokio: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi addresses the media during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club. Photo: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
IAEA Head: 'Very Strong' Nuclear Verification Needed in Iran after War
26 June 2026, Japan, Tokio: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi addresses the media during a press conference at the Japan National Press Club. Photo: Rodrigo Reyes Marin/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
"Very strong" verification is needed in Iran following the Middle East conflict to ensure that it does not develop nuclear weapons, the UN atomic watchdog chief said on Friday.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Rafael Grossi's remarks come as the United States and Iran negotiate a broader agreement to end the war, with Tehran's nuclear program a key sticking point.
"I think the objective of this (recent US-Iran preliminary) agreement is to ensure that there is no development of nuclear weapons in Iran. The government of Iran has declared quite clearly that this is not their intention," Grossi told reporters in Japan.
"But of course intentions are not enough. We have to have a very strong verification system in place... as soon as is practicable," AFP quoted the IAEA chief as saying.
Grossi said the watchdog had also "barely initiated" talks with Iran following its preliminary agreement with the United States about what to do with Tehran's uranium stockpile.
"Initial conversations have taken place... We expect this work to pick up soon," Grossi said.
Before the conflict, the IAEA estimated that Iran had 440 kilograms (970 pounds) of uranium enriched to 60 percent.
That is close to the 90 percent needed to make a bomb and well above the 3.67-percent limit set by a now-defunct 2015 agreement with Iran.
Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA after Israel and the United States launched a previous wave of attacks in June 2025, and its inspectors have not seen the material since.
Under the terms of the preliminary agreement between Tehran and Washington, this stockpile is meant to be "downblended" under IAEA supervision.
Grossi said the "widespread impression" was that the stockpile remains where it was before June 2025 near Iran's Isfahan facility.
However, that facility was bombed and Iran said that it does not plan to allow the IAEA to inspect sites that were attacked.
Grossi also said on Friday that an alternative to diluting could be shipping the enriched uranium out of Iran.
"The memorandum of understanding, as you may have noted, includes the possibility of downblending as one alternative," Grossi said.
"It could also be shipped out directly. It would perhaps be more complicated, but there are a few technical alternatives to deal with the material," he said.
Iran has consistently denied seeking to acquire an atomic bomb, while remaining adamant about its right to operate a full-scale civilian nuclear program.
Before the 12-day war in 2025, Iran as a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty -- unlike Israel, which is widely assumed to have atomic weapons -- allowed the IAEA to inspect its nuclear sites under its safeguards deal with the Vienna-based body.
Iran agreed a landmark nuclear deal with six big powers in 2015 limiting its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief, but US President Donald Trump walked away from the agreement during his first term.
Report: Rate of People Dying in ICE Custody Highest in Over Decadehttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5288742-report-rate-people-dying-ice-custody-highest-over-decade
Report: Rate of People Dying in ICE Custody Highest in Over Decade
Federal agents detain an individual after exiting immigration court at the Jacob K Javits Federal Building in New York City on July 23, 2025 (AFP)
The rate of people dying in Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) custody has reached its highest level in over a decade, two rights groups said on Thursday.
According to a joint report by Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, at least 52 deaths have been reported in ICE holding facilities since US President Donald Trump's second term began in January 2025.
Trump has made combating illegal immigration a top priority of his second term.
“We have seen the death rate in ICE custody skyrocket,” Reagan Williams, a HRW researcher who co-authored the report, told AFP.
“Instead of taking action to address this crisis and protect the lives and health of those in custody, we’ve seen the administration pour its resources into subjecting more and more people to prolonged detention,” she said.
From January 2025 to January 2026, the annual mortality rate in ICE custody was up 140% compared with a year earlier – an increase disproportionate to the higher detainee population, the report said.
A spokesperson for the US Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, denied the reported spike in deaths.
“Consistent with data over the last decade, death rates in custody under the Trump administration are 0.009% of the detained population,” he said.
But June 25’s report found that, as immigration detention centers have grown, medical care has been lagging, partly due to crowding and people spending longer in custody.
“As bed space has rapidly expanded, we have maintained a higher standard of care than most prisons that hold US citizens – including providing access to proper medical care,” the spokesperson said. "For many illegal aliens, this is the best healthcare they have received their entire lives,” he added.
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