BRICS nations slam Trump tariffs, condemn strikes on Iran
07/07/2025
Neighbour makes daring rescue of family trapped in burning Paris flat
07/07/2025
Spotlight on Arabic performances as Avignon festival gets underway
07/07/2025
Poland reinstates border controls with Germany, Lithuania amid migration fears
07/07/2025
Netanyahu heads to Washington but will 'victory lap' be overshadowed by Gaza?
07/07/2025
Texas flood death toll mounts as questions asked over warning system
07/07/2025
'Netanyahu wants to perpetuate status quo: No agreement, no political framework, no Gaza withdrawal'
Middle East
06/07/2025
Oasis: What's the story? "A man with a fork in a world of soup"
UK
06/07/2025
San Fermin bull-running festival kicks off in Spain
Europe
06/07/2025
Brics countries meet in Brazil and focus to moderate agenda
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France 24
39 minutes ago
- France 24
Macron wraps up UK state visit with defence pact 'reboot'
Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer are also expected to discuss maintaining support for Ukraine and curbing undocumented cross-Channel immigration. Ahead of the summit, which follows two days of events spanning pomp and politics, trade and culture, France and Britain announced their "defence relationship" will be "refreshed". They will order more Storm Shadow cruise missiles -- long-range, air-launched weapons jointly developed by the allies -- while stepping up work on a replacement system. The missiles have been shipped to Ukraine in significant numbers to help Kyiv in its war with Russia since 2022. Starmer and Macron will also agree to deepen nuclear cooperation and "work more closely than ever before on nuclear deterrence", according to Britain's defence ministry. A new declaration will for the first time state that the British and French deterrents are independent but can be coordinated, and that an "extreme threat to Europe" could "prompt a response by both nations", the ministry said. Threats 'multiplying' The partnerships -- to be developed under a refreshed Lancaster House agreement first struck in 2010 -- herald a new "entente industrielle", making "defence an engine for growth", it added. "From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks -- the threats we face are multiplying," Starmer said in a statement. "As close partners and NATO allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today's agreements take our partnership to the next level. "We stand ready to use our shared might to advance our joint capabilities -- equipping us for the decades to come while supporting thousands of UK jobs and keeping our people safe." Late Wednesday, at a speech to London's financial community, Macron said the two countries were "stronger together". Starmer and Macron will also on Thursday dial into a meeting of the so-called "coalition of the willing" on Ukraine. Britain and France are spearheading talks among the 30-nation coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces. Starmer's office said this week that the call would "discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia". They will speak with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency. 'Innovative solutions' Macron's visit, the first by an EU head of state since Brexit, has been loaded with Anglo-French bonhomie and unifying rhetoric, alongside the usual pageantry of such occasions. Macron and his wife Brigitte received a particularly warm welcome Tuesday from the Francophile King Charles III and Queen Camilla. The pair toasted a new "entente amicale" at a lavish state banquet at Windsor Castle, hailing the importance of cross-Channel relations amid various emergent threats. Wednesday saw the French president's visit turn to politics, with a Downing Street meeting with Starmer focused on migrant small boat crossings -- a potent political issue in Britain. It is set to feature again at Thursday's summit. Downing Street said the two leaders had "agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model" of cross-Channel people smugglers. Macron also met with Anglo-French business representatives during the visit, while joining Starmer at the British Museum to formally announce a landmark cultural exchange. France will loan the famous Bayeux Tapestry, depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, to the British Museum for 10 months from September 2026. In return, London will lend French museums the collection from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site, one of England's most important archaeological sites, as well as other medieval "treasures".
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
Jewish Australians feel unsafe after rise in attacks: antisemitism envoy
A year after being appointed to her role, Segal released a string of recommendations for combating antisemitism while decrying an upswing in violence against the Jewish community in Australia. Since Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, which sparked the war in Gaza, she reported a "deeply troubling" increase in antisemitism, citing a 300-percent rise in incidents in one year. "We've seen cars being torched, synagogues being torched, individual Jews harassed and attacked, and that is completely unacceptable," she told a news conference. Segal, who was named as a special envoy to combat antisemitism by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, pointed to an alleged arson attempt against a Melbourne synagogue on Friday. In other incidents on the same day in Melbourne, about 20 protesters reportedly swarmed an Israeli-owned restaurant, and cars were set on fire and daubed with antisemitic graffiti in another part of the city. "These are not isolated events, and they form part of a broader pattern of intimidation and violence that is making Jewish Australians feel very unsafe," Segal said. "This should concern every Australian, because the safety and dignity of one community affects us all." Among a broad set of recommendations, she called for hate and intimidation laws to be strengthened where needed, and for improved education, including about the Holocaust. In a 16-page report, she called for universities to be made accountable for antisemitism and for creating a climate free of intimidation. She also urged efforts to crack down on the spread of hate and antisemitism online. "Antisemitism in Australia has reached a tipping point that threatens social harmony, undermines trust in institutions and marginalises Jewish Australian citizens," the report warned. "As the world's oldest hatred, antisemitism will never be totally defeated but, with resolve, unity, leadership and purpose, it can be marginalised and returned to the fringes of society." © 2025 AFP
France 24
5 hours ago
- France 24
AI giant Nvidia becomes first company to reach $4 tn in value
Shortly after the stock market opened, Nvidia vaulted as high as $164.42, giving it a valuation above $4 trillion. The stock subsequently edged lower, ending just under the record threshold. "The market has an incredible certainty that AI is the future," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "Nvidia is certainly the company most positioned to benefit from that gold rush." Nvidia, led by electrical engineer Jensen Huang, now has a market value greater than the GDP of France, Britain or India, a testament to investor confidence that AI will spur a new era of robotics and automation. The California chip company's latest surge is helping drive a recovery in the broader stock market, as Nvidia itself outperforms major indices. Part of this is due to relief that President Donald Trump has walked back his most draconian tariffs, which pummeled global markets in early April. Even as Trump announced new tariff actions in recent days, US stocks have stayed at lofty levels, with the tech-centered Nasdaq ending at a fresh record on Wednesday. "You've seen the markets walk us back from a worst-case scenario in terms of tariffs," said Angelo Zino, technology analyst at CFRA Research. While Nvidia still faces US export controls to China as well as broader tariff uncertainty, the company's deal to build AI infrastructure in Saudi Arabia during a Trump state visit in May showed a potential upside in the US president's trade policy. "We've seen the administration using Nvidia chips as a bargaining chip," Zino said. New advances Nvidia's surge to $4 trillion marks a new benchmark in a fairly consistent rise over the last two years as AI enthusiasm has built. In 2025 so far, the company's shares have risen more than 21 percent, whereas the Nasdaq has gained 6.7 percent. Taiwan-born Huang has wowed investors with a series of advances, including its core product: graphics processing units (GPUs), key to many of the generative AI programs behind autonomous driving, robotics and other cutting-edge domains. The company has also unveiled its Blackwell next-generation technology allowing more super processing capacity. One of its advances is "real-time digital twins," significantly speeding production development time in manufacturing, aerospace and myriad other sectors. However, Nvidia's winning streak was challenged early in 2025 when China-based DeepSeek shook up the world of generative AI with a low-cost, high-performance model that challenged the hegemony of OpenAI and other big-spending behemoths. Nvidia's lost some $600 billion in market valuation in a single session during this period. Huang has welcomed DeepSeek's presence, while arguing against US export constraints. AI race In the most recent quarter, Nvidia reported earnings of nearly $19 billion despite a $4.5 billion hit from US export controls limiting sales of cutting-edge technology to China. The first-quarter earnings period also revealed that momentum for AI remained strong. Many of the biggest tech companies -- Microsoft, Google, Amazon and Meta -- are jostling to come out on top in the multi-billion-dollar AI race. A recent UBS survey of technology executives showed Nvidia widening its lead over rivals. Zino said Nvidia's latest surge reflected a fuller understanding of DeepSeek, which has ultimately stimulated investment in complex reasoning models but not threatened Nvidia's business. Nvidia is at the forefront of "AI agents," the current focus in generative AI in which machines are able to reason and infer more than in the past, he said. "Overall the demand landscape has improved for 2026 for these more complex reasoning models," Zino said. But the speedy growth of AI will also be a source of disruption. Executives at Ford, JPMorgan Chase and Amazon are among those who have begun to say the "quiet part out loud," according to a Wall Street Journal report recounting recent public acknowledgment of white-collar job loss due to AI. Shares of Nvidia closed the day at $162.88, up 1.8 percent, finishing at just under $4 trillion in market value.
