French President Emmanuel Macron opened a Gaza aid conference on Thursday with an appeal for Israel to protect civilians as it fights Hamas, saying “all lives have equal worth” and that fighting terrorism “can never be carried out without rules.”
The gathering in Paris brought together officials from Western and Arab nations, the United Nations and nongovernmental organizations, with the aim of providing urgent aid to civilians in the Gaza Strip that is being pounded by Israel in its war against Hamas. Israeli authorities weren’t invited but have been informed of the talks, Macron’s office said.
More than 1.5 million people — or about 70% of Gaza’s population — have fled their homes, and an estimated $1.2 billion is needed to respond to the crisis in Palestinian areas.
On Thursday, for the first time in more than six months, neither Hollywood’s actors nor its writers will be on strike.
The long-awaited clearing in the industry’s stormiest season in decades comes as a deal was reached late Wednesday to end what was, at nearly four months, the longest strike ever for film and television actors.
The three-year contract must be approved by the board of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists and its members in the coming days. But union leadership declared that the strike will end at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday, putting all of the parts of production back into action for the first time since spring.
Veteran Spanish right-wing politician Alejandro Vidal-Quadras has been taken to a hospital in Madrid after being shot on a street in the capital, police said Thursday.
Police said he was shot in the face on a central street at around 1:30 p.m. local time and was conscious when taken to a hospital.
According to Spanish state news agency EFE, police believe the shooter was a person who escaped the scene on a motorbike wearing a black helmet.
Vidal-Quadras, 78, was a long-time member of Spain’s conservative Popular Party, its regional leader in Catalonia, and a European Parliament member before leaving after three decades when he fell out with then Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.
Madeline Mussay can be reached at mcmussay@stthomas.edu.