France Stayed Out Of Strikes Against Yemen Houthis to Avoid Escalation, Says Macronhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/4795001-france-stayed-out-strikes-against-yemen-houthis-avoid-escalation-says-macron
France Stayed Out Of Strikes Against Yemen Houthis to Avoid Escalation, Says Macron
French President Emmanuel Macron. (Reuters)
France stayed out of a Britain-US coalition that carried out air strikes against Iran-backed Houthis who have attacked shipping in the Red Sea as Paris feared an escalation, President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday.
"France has decided not to join a coalition that has carried out pre-emptive strikes against the Houthis on their soil. Why? Precisely because we have a position that seeks to avoid any escalation," Macron told reporters, emphasising that the subject was not "military" but "diplomatic".
This came as the US military carried out new strikes in Yemen on Tuesday against anti-ship ballistic missiles in a Houthi-controlled part of the country as a missile struck a Greek-owned vessel in the Red Sea.
Attacks by the Iran-allied Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have affected companies and alarmed major powers - an escalation of Israel's more than three-month-old war with Palestinian Hamas in Gaza. The Houthis say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians and have threatened to expand attacks to include US ships in response to American and British strikes on their sites in Yemen.
United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese was slapped with US sanctions for her work. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File
US Court Suspends Sanctions on UN Expert on Palestinians
United Nations special rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories Francesca Albanese was slapped with US sanctions for her work. Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP/File
A US judge on Wednesday imposed a temporary injunction on sanctions imposed last year by Washington on a United Nations expert on the occupied Palestinian territories.
UN Human Rights Council Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese was sanctioned in July 2025 after she publicly criticized Washington's policy on Gaza.
In announcing the sanctions, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio slammed the UN expert's criticism of the United States and said she recommended to the International Criminal Court that arrest warrants be issued against Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, AFP reported.
The Italian-born expert, who assumed her mandate in 2022, has faced harsh criticism by Israel and some of its allies over her relentless criticism and long-standing accusations that Israel is committing "genocide" in Gaza.
In his court order Wednesday, US District Judge Richard Leon granted a preliminary injunction against the sanctions, according to a court filing seen by AFP.
"Protecting the freedom of speech is 'always' in the public interest," Leon wrote in an opinion accompanying the order.
Albanese, who said the US sanctions were "calculated to weaken my mission" when they were first imposed, and celebrated the ruling on social media.
"Thanks to my daughter and my husband for stepping up to defend me, and everyone who has helped so far," Albanese said in a statement on X. "Together we are One."
UN special rapporteurs like Albanese are independent experts who are appointed by the UN rights council but do not speak on behalf of the United Nations.
Six Hantavirus Cruise Passengers Head to Australiahttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5273021-six-hantavirus-cruise-passengers-head-australia
Six Hantavirus Cruise Passengers Head to Australia
Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise are set to fly to Australia in protective gear. JORGE GUERRERO / AFP/File
Six passengers who sailed on a hantavirus-affected cruise will fly to Australia from the Netherlands on Thursday while dressed in full protective gear, the Australian government said.
The six -- four Australians, a Briton who lives in Australia, and a New Zealander -- were in "good health", showed no symptoms, and recently tested negative for the virus, Health Minister Mark Butler told a news conference in Canberra.
The Australian government has secured a plane and crew, due to leave the Netherlands at 0730 GMT on Thursday, with all aboard required to wear personal protective equipment (PPE), said AFP.
The plane is expected to arrive on Friday at an air force base in the Western Australian capital, Perth, located next to a 500-bed quarantine facility where the six will be required to stay for at least three weeks, Butler said.
"This is one of the strongest quarantine arrangements in response to this hantavirus outbreak you will find anywhere in the world," Butler said.
"They will be subject to testing when they arrive in Australia, and they will be in full PPE during the duration of the flight, so there is no risk of transmission."
He did not provide further details about the passengers or say where the plane would refuel -- a question that had reportedly complicated flight arrangements.
The government has yet to determine how to handle the passengers' isolation after the initial three-week quarantine, given the virus' potential incubation period of 42 days, the minister said.
Russia Hits Kyiv with Drones and Ballistic Missiles, 1 Dead and 31 Woundedhttps://english.aawsat.com/world/5273010-russia-hits-kyiv-drones-and-ballistic-missiles-1-dead-and-31-wounded
Rescuers work at a residential building partially destroyed following Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv on May 14, 2026, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
Russia Hits Kyiv with Drones and Ballistic Missiles, 1 Dead and 31 Wounded
Rescuers work at a residential building partially destroyed following Russian drone and missile strikes in Kyiv on May 14, 2026, amid the Russian invasion in Ukraine. (Photo by Roman PILIPEY / AFP)
Russia attacked Ukraine's capital with a mass drone and missile attack early Thursday morning that killed at least one and injured 31 people, local authorities said.
The attack struck civilian infrastructure and residential buildings across multiple cities, Ukrainian Prime Minister Yuliia Svyrydenko said, with Kyiv enduring the heaviest losses.
Damage was recorded across six districts of the capital, according to head of Kyiv's Military Administration Tymur Tkachenko. He warned Russia was attacking the city with ballistic missiles and drones. Residential buildings and civilian infrastructure was damaged.
The cities of Kremenchuk, Bila Tserkva, Kharkiv, Sumy and Odesa also were targeted in the attack, which involved both ballistic and cruise missiles, she said.
Russia's overnight air strikes targeted civilian infrastructure including ports in the southern Odesa region and railways, Deputy Prime Minister Oleksiy Kuleba said.
In the Darnytsia district of Kyiv, a multistory residential building partially collapsed, burying people under the rubble. At least 27 people were rescued from the rubble, according to Ukraine's Emergency Service.
Kyiv's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said 18 apartments were destroyed. He added that there were problems with water supply on the left bank of Kyiv as a result of the attack.
At the scene, emergency workers searched for survivors as smoke from the attack continued to smolder beneath the pile of rubble.
Rescuers evacuate an injured woman from an apartment building damaged during Russian missile and drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kyiv, Ukraine, May 14, 2026. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
Emergency operations also were ongoing in the Obolonskyi and Holosiivskyi districts of Kyiv, the service said.
In the Dnieper district, a drone hit the roof of a five-story residential building, Tkachenko said. Another building in the Dniprovskyi district was also damaged.
People shelter in a metro station during a Russian attack, in Kyiv, Ukraine May 14, 2026. REUTERS/Thomas Peter
The attack came hours after a rare daytime attack on Kyiv that killed at least six people, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The assault, which involved 800 drones, struck about 20 regions of Ukraine and was among the longest such attacks during the war.
Zelenskyy said the attack that lasted hours Wednesday aimed to cause as much “pain and grief” as possible.
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