Tourists, fishermen hunker as Hurricane Erick pounds Mexican coast

Hurricane Erick slammed into Mexico’s Pacific coast as a powerful category three storm Thursday, prompting tourists and locals to seek shelter amid warnings of widespread flooding and landslides.In the southern state of Oaxaca, residents along the palm-fringed coast boarded up shops and sought refuge from winds of up to 205 kilometers (125 miles) an hour.”Better to make sure now rather than have any regrets later,” said 55-year-old fishman Adalberto Ruiz, as he tied up boats inland and stashed away loose items before the coming storm.The slow-rolling hurricane is expected to weaken significantly as it moves over land, but authorities are warning it could still cause significant damage.Heavy rainfall could cause “life-threatening flooding and mudslides, especially in areas of steep terrain”  the US National Hurricane Center said.A “life-threatening storm surge” was expected to cause coastal flooding near where the storm made landfall. “Erick is expected to rapidly weaken over the mountains of Mexico, and the system is likely to dissipate tonight or early Friday,” the center’s advisory added.Mexican authorities said they were also expecting heavy rain in the southernmost state of Chiapas.President Claudia Sheinbaum urged people to avoid going out and advised those living in low-lying areas or near rivers to move to shelters.”Contact is being maintained with the defense forces and the Navy, which are in the area” she said. “We will be able to report in a few hours what the effects on these populations are.”In Acapulco, a major port and resort city famous for its nightlife, police with bullhorns walked the beach and drove around town warning residents and holidaymakers of the storm’s arrival.Some shops boarded up their windows and operators of tourist boats brought their vessels ashore.Rainfall began in the late afternoon after a sunny day on Wednesday. About 250 miles (400 kilometers) south of Acapulco, the city of Puerto Escondido and its 30,000 inhabitants braced for the hurricane’s fury. Restaurants were already closed even though some tourists insisted on staying to enjoy their vacation, an AFP journalist observed.Laura Velazquez, national coordinator of civil protection, said the government was using patrols and social media to warn people.Some 2,000 temporary shelters have been set up in Chiapas, Guerrero and Oaxaca, and hundreds of troops and electricity workers have been deployed to help with any clean-up efforts.Local authorities have suspended classes and closed ports along the coast, including the port of Acapulco, to shipping.Mexico sees major storms every year, usually between May and November, on both its Pacific and Atlantic coasts.In October 2023, Acapulco was pummeled by Hurricane Otis, a powerful Category 5 storm that killed at least 50 people.Hurricane John, another Category 3 storm that hit Acapulco in September last year, caused about 15 deaths.

Gaza rescuers say Israeli fire kills 72

Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli forces killed at least 72 people on Thursday, including 21 who had gathered near aid distribution sites as famine looms after more than 20 months of war.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that six people were killed while waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip and 15 others in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.The Israeli army told AFP that its troops in Netzarim corridor — a strip of land militarised by Israel that bisects the Palestinian territory — had fired “warning shots” at “suspects” approaching them, but that it was “not aware of any injured individuals”.The army did not comment on the incident reported in the south.In northern Gaza, Bassal said that nine separate Israeli strikes killed another 51 people, updating earlier tolls provided by his agency.Bassam Abu Shaar, who witnessed the shooting incident in the Netzarim area, said thousands of people had gathered there overnight in the hope of receiving aid at the US- and Israeli-backed distribution site when it opened in the morning.”Around 1:00 am (2200 GMT Wednesday), they started shooting at us,” he told AFP by phone, reporting gunfire, tank shelling and bombs dropped by drones.Abu Shaar said that the size of the crowd had made it impossible for people to escape, with casualties left lying on the ground within walking distance of the distribution point, which is run by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.”We couldn’t help them or even escape ourselves,” he said.At least 300 Palestinians have been killed in recent weeks while trying to reach aid distribution points in Gaza, which is suffering from famine-like conditions, the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry has said.Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities in the Palestinian territory.In early March, Israel imposed an aid blockade on Gaza amid a deadlock in truce negotiations, only partially easing restrictions in late May.After Israel loosened its blockade, the privately run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid, but its operations have been marred by chaotic scenes.UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation — which has the support of Israel and its ally the United States — over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Décès du général Vidal, chef de l’opération de libération des otages à Ouvéa en 1988

Le général Jacques Vidal, qui avait commandé l’opération controversée de libération des otages de la grotte d’Ouvéa, en Nouvelle-Calédonie en 1988, est décédé, a-t-on appris jeudi dans les pages nécrologie du quotidien Le Figaro.Une cérémonie religieuse se tiendra le 26 juin 2025, en l’église Saint-Germain, à Saint-Germain-en-Laye (Yvelines). L’officier des troupes de marine, mort à l’âge de 88 ans, avait été au coeur d’une vaste polémique sur les conditions de l’assaut lancé le 5 mai 1988 entre le premier et le deuxième tour de l’élection présidentielle, qui opposait le président François Mitterrand à son Premier ministre Jacques Chirac.Au cours d’une opération baptisée “Victor”, les militaires avaient libéré 24 otages (dont 22 gendarmes) détenus par les indépendantistes dans une grotte de l’île d’Ouvéa. L’intervention s’était soldée par un très lourd bilan de 21 morts, deux militaires et 19 indépendantistes, ouvrant une vaste polémique politique et militaire. Les indépendantistes avaient accusé l’armée d’avoir exécuté sommairement des indépendantistes après l’assaut. Dans une interview à Paris-Match six jours après l’opération, le général Vidal avait démenti “absolument” que des militaires ou des gendarmes aient exécuté sommairement des ravisseurs a l’issue du combat.”Je suis formel. Il n’y a pas eu de coups de feu après la fin de l’assaut”, avait-il affirmé.Le 30 mai, le ministre de la Défense, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, avait rendu publiques les conclusions de “l’enquête de commandement” indiquant que rien ne faisait apparaître “des exécutions sommaires”.Toutefois, “des actes contraires au devoir militaire ont été commis” et “des sanctions sévères” seront prises, avait-il ajouté.Le quotidien Le Monde avait publié un rapport attribué à un militaire selon lequel le général Vidal avait été partisan “d’une solution de force, quelles qu’en soient les conséquences”.L’hebdomadaire Paris-Match avait pour sa part révélé que le général Vidal et l’ancien ministre Bernard Pons avaient envisagé l’usage d’une bombe de 250 kg et de napalm contre la grotte et que les officiers avaient refusé. Dans l’article consacré au décès de l’officier jeudi, l’Essor de la gendarmerie a fait état “des exactions meurtrières commises sur des Kanaks après leur reddition. Des exactions longtemps contestées, mais reconnues progressivement ensuite”.La Nouvelle-Calédonie demeure un dossier brûlant pour la France, notamment après les émeutes qui y ont fait 14 morts au printemps 2024.

Tony Parker a-t-il été évincé d’un marché public dans les Alpes? La justice en débat

La commune des Gets (Haute-Savoie) a-t-elle cherché à évincer une société de Tony Parker d’un juteux contrat de gestion de son domaine skiable? Le procès pour favoritisme de deux de ses responsables s’est ouvert jeudi devant le tribunal de Bonneville.Les faits remontent à mai 2023, quand la commune lance une procédure pour renouveler sa délégation de service public (DSP) pour l’exploitation du domaine skiable de cette station familiale de moyenne montagne. La société Infinity Nine Mountain (INM), propriété de l’ancien basketteur star devenu homme d’affaires, se porte candidate face à son exploitant historique, la Sagets, dont la commune des Gets est actionnaire majoritaire. Mais en janvier 2024, la municipalité tourne casaque et déclare finalement la procédure “sans suite” pour lui préférer la création avec la commune voisine de Verchaix d’une société publique locale (SPL) qui reprendrait la gestion des remontées mécaniques. Ce sont les motivations à l’origine de ce changement de direction que le procès vise à décrypter.L’ancien maire des Gets, Henri Anthonioz, qui faisait initialement partie des prévenus, est décédé en novembre 2024. À la barre, il y a son premier adjoint Simon Bergoend, ainsi que le directeur général des services de la commune, Kevin Fournier. Tous deux sont soupçonnés de faits de favoritisme dans les marchés publics et d’immixtion dans une fonction publique.Sur les bancs des parties civiles figurent l’association Anticor 74, à l’origine de plusieurs signalements relatifs à ce dossier, et la société Infinity Nine Mountain (INM), représentée par un avocat.Pourquoi y a-t-il eu un revirement? Est-ce parce que la commune a eu peur de “confier les clés du camion” à un poids lourd privé comme Tony Parker, interroge la présidente. “Non”, répond le premier adjoint, M. Bergoend, tout en dénonçant la “forte pression exercée tout au long de la procédure” par le groupe du basketteur. “On savait que le modèle de SPL est meilleur pour notre station, les stations en général. Tout nous pousse vers cela”, a-t-il argué, niant toute violation des règles d’attribution des marchés publics.Les avocats des prévenus, Me Valérie Sanossian et Me Bernard Plahuta ont pour leur part dénoncé une “instruction univoque” dans laquelle “les droits de la défense ne sont pas respectés” et réclamé l’annulation pure et simple de la procédure. Pour le procureur Boris Duffau, elle relève au contraire d’une “application pure et stricte de la loi”.

French court to rule on freeing Lebanese militant

A French court is set to deliver a long-awaited ruling in July on the release of pro-Palestinian Lebanese militant Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, who has been imprisoned for 40 years for the 1982 killings of two foreign diplomats.The Paris appeals court, initially set to deliver its verdict in February before postponing, will now announce its decision on July 17 after re-examining the request on Thursday.”I told the judges, either you release him or you sentence him to death,” his lawyer Jean-Louis Chalanset told the media after the closed-door hearing.Abdallah, 74, was sentenced to life in prison for his involvement in the murders of US military attache Charles Robert Ray and Israeli diplomat Yacov Barsimantov.He has been eligible for release for 25 years, but has seen multiple requests for his freedom denied.The United States, a civil party to the case, has consistently opposed his release but Lebanese authorities have repeatedly said he should be freed from jail.In November 2024, a French court ordered his release conditional on Abdallah leaving France.But France’s anti-terror prosecutors, arguing that he had not changed his political views, appealed the decision which was consequently suspended.Abdallah has always insisted he is a “fighter” who battled for the rights of Palestinians and not a “criminal”. The appeals court said in February the decision to postpone was prompted by the unresolved question of whether Abdallah had proof that he had paid compensation to the plaintiffs, something he has consistently refused to do.His lawyer said on Thursday he presented documents showing some 16,000 euros ($18,360) in Abdallah’s prison account “at the disposal of civil parties”.First detained in 1984 and convicted in 1987 over the murders, the 74-year-old is one of the longest serving prisoners in France — most convicts serving life sentences are freed after less than 30 years. 

Le Libanais Georges Abdallah fixé sur sa demande de libération le 17 juillet

Le Libanais Georges Abdallah pourra-t-il rentrer chez lui, après 40 ans de prison en France ? La cour d’appel de Paris, qui a examiné jeudi une énième demande de libération du militant propalestinen condamné pour complicité d’assassinats de diplomates israélien et américain en 1982, se prononce le 17 juillet.”J’ai dit aux juges +soit vous le libérez, soit vous le condamnez à mort+”, a déclaré son avocat Jean-Louis Chalanset aux médias à la sortie de l’audience, non publique.Condamné en 1987 à la réclusion à perpétuité pour complicité d’assassinats de diplomates américain et israélien en 1982, Georges Ibrahim Abdallah, 74 ans aujourd’hui, est libérable depuis 25 ans mais a vu sa dizaine de demandes de remises en liberté échouer. Emprisonné depuis octobre 1984, il est considéré comme le plus ancien détenu des prisons françaises. Pour sa demande de libération, la cour avait reporté en février et à la dernière minute sa décision, expliquant qu’avant toute libération il était nécessaire “au préalable” qu’il fasse un “effort conséquent” d’indemnisation des parties civiles, ce qu’il a toujours refusé de faire.Sans reconnaître son implication dans les assassinats, Georges Abdallah les a toujours qualifiés d'”actes de résistance” contre “l’oppression israélienne et américaine” dans le contexte de la guerre civile libanaise et l’invasion israélienne au sud-Liban en 1978.A l’audience, son avocat a cependant donné à la cour des documents indiquant la présence sur le compte de Georges Abdallah en prison d’une somme “d’environ 16.000 euros”, “à la disposition des parties civiles si celles-ci sollicitent le versement”. Sans préciser d’où venait l’argent ni s’épancher sur la position de son client.Selon Me Chalanset, le parquet général, ainsi que l’avocat des Etats-Unis qui se sont vigoureusement opposés à toutes ses demandes de libération, ont jugés qu’il n’y avait “aucun effort” puisque “ce n’est pas son argent” et qu’il n’y avait pas de “repentir”. “J’ai rappelé que la notion de repentir n’existait pas dans le droit français”, a poursuivi Me Chalanset, qui a eu son client au téléphone depuis le palais de justice pour lui raconter l’audience.- “Détenu âgé” -La décision sera rendue à 09H00 le 17 juillet, également lors d’une audience non publique, a indiqué une source judiciaire.Dans son arrêt de février, au delà de la question de l’argent, la cour s’était dite favorable à sa remise en liberté avec départ immédiat pour le Liban (prêt à l’accueillir), dans la lignée de la décision rendue en novembre par le tribunal de l’application des peines, immédiatement suspendue par un appel du parquet antiterroriste.”Détenu âgé”, Georges Abdallah ne présente plus de “risque grave” de récidive, ni de “trouble à l’ordre public” en cas de libération, avait estimé la cour.Côté parties civiles, les Etats-Unis ont signalé une décision récente de la Cour de cassation concernant les conditions de la libération conditionnelle, espérant qu’elle pousse les magistrats à revoir leur arrêt de février. Leur avocat Me Thierry Marembert n’a pas souhaité s’exprimer après l’audience.Selon une source proche du dossier, le ministère de l’Intérieur a contacté ces derniers jours l’ambassade du Liban à Paris pour s’assurer qu’en cas de feu vert, les autorités locales prévoyaient un laissez-passer et prendraient en charge son billet d’avion Paris-Beyrouth, ce que l’ambassade a confirmé.Avant cela, son transfert depuis sa prison de Lannemezan (Hautes-Pyrénées) vers la capitale serait assuré par les forces de l’ordre françaises.Georges Abdallah, tombé dans l’oubli au fil des ans alors qu’il était au moment de sa condamnation l’un des plus célèbres prisonniers de France, est un “symbole passé de la lutte palestinienne”, estimait la cour dans son arrêt de février, soulignant que son groupuscule de chrétiens libanais laïcs, marxistes et propalestiniens nommé FARL (Fraction armée révolutionnaire libanaise), dissous depuis longtemps, “n’a pas commis d’action violente depuis 1984”.

Nissanka’s 187 leads Sri Lanka fightback in first Bangladesh Test

Pathum Nissanka’s career-best 187 helped Sri Lanka finish the third day of the first Test against Bangladesh in a strong position Thursday, only 127 runs off the Tigers’ first innings score.The 27-year-old opener anchored the Sri Lanka innings before they finished on 368-4 at the close of play, behind Bangladesh’s 495.He struck several key partnerships before he was bowled by Hasan Mahmud towards the end of the day’s play.Nissanka, who had been under pressure before the match with only one half-century in nine innings, hit 23 fours and a six in his marathon 256-ball innings.Nissanka looked set for his maiden double-ton when he was bowled by Mahmud, who was bowling with the second new ball.”This is my first Test hundred at home so I was very happy to get there,” Nissanka said after the day’s play.”It is important that we get a decent lead and put them under pressure.”But Sri Lanka’s top-scorer said he was “disappointed” with the way he got out. He acknowledged he had failed to score big since his century in England last year and said that he was “trying to make the most of today”.Kamindu Mendis (37) and skipper Dhananjaya de Silva (17) will take charge of Sri Lanka’s first innings on the fourth day, with the Galle wicket still playing well for the batters. Besides Mahmud, Taijul Islam, Nayeem Hasan and Mominul Haque finished the third day with one wicket each in a largely uneventful session for Bangladesh’s bowlers.  Nissanka lost his opening partner Lahiru Udara (29) early in the day to the slow left-arm orthodox bowling of Islam. Dinesh Chandimal came in and took a solid 54 runs before he was removed by Hasan after an important 157-run partnership with Nissanka. Veteran Angelo Matthews, walking out to bat in his farewell Test with a guard of honour from the opposition, hit 39 runs in a key cameo that took the hosts to 293 before he fell to Haque.- ‘Toiled hard’ -Earlier, the third day started with Sri Lanka wrapping up Bangladesh’s innings in just three overs after their overnight score of 484-9.Bangladesh’s last man Nahid Rana feathered a short ball to wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis as fast bowler Asitha Fernando completed a return of 4-86 from his 29.4 overs.The visitors had been cruising at 458-4 on Wednesday before losing five wickets for 26 runs in the final hour of the rain-hit second day.Bangladesh’s bowling coach Shaun Tait said it was “a good batting wicket” in Galle.”It was difficult conditions for the fast bowlers today, they toiled hard,” he said after play Thursday. He acknowledged the Bangladesh “lower order didn’t contribute much”, but said they would have taken the score before the game.”I am not going to be critical of our batters,” he said.Brief scores:Bangladesh: 495 all out (Najmul Hossain Shanto 148, Mushfiqur Rahim 163)Sri Lanka: 368-4 (Pathum Nissanka 187, Dinesh Chandimal 54)Toss: Bangladesh

Israel minister says Khamenei ‘can no longer be allowed to exist’

Israel’s defence minister said Thursday that Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei “can no longer be allowed to exist”, just days after reports that Washington vetoed Israeli plans to assassinate him.The comments from Defence Minister Israel Katz came after the Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba reported 40 people injured following a fresh salvo of Iranian missiles.”Khamenei openly declares that he wants Israel destroyed — he personally gives the order to fire on hospitals,” Katz told journalists in the city of Holon near Tel Aviv.”Such a man can no longer be allowed to exist.”When asked about Khamenei on a visit to Beersheba on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “I have made it clear that no one is immune.But he added: “In war, I believe one must choose words carefully and execute actions with precision.”A senior US official told AFP on Sunday that President Donald Trump had “found out that the Israelis had plans to hit Iran’s supreme leader”.”President Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to,” said the US official, speaking on condition of anonymity.Netanyahu has neither confirmed nor denied the claim.In a television interview on Monday, he did not rule it out, saying that killing the 86-year-old cleric who has ruled Iran since 1989 would “end the conflict” between the two countries. Trump wrote on Tuesday that the United States knew Khamenei’s location but would not kill him “for now”.Israel launched strikes on Iran last Friday in what it said was an 11th-hour move to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons.It has since hit hundreds of targets, including military commanders, top nuclear scientists and military and nuclear facilities.- ‘Regime change’ -The movements of the supreme leader, who has not left Iran since he took power, are subject to the tightest security and secrecy.Netanyahu has not said publicly that Israel is trying to topple him, only that regime change could be a result of its military action. Iranians “understand that the regime is much weaker than they thought — they realise it, and that could lead to results,” he told a press conference on Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron has said that any attempt at forcing change through military action would result in “chaos”, while both China and Russia have demanded that Israel cease fire.Iran denies seeking to develop a nuclear weapon and reports citing US intelligence officials this week have cast doubt on Israeli claims that it has accelerated efforts to produce one.Iran has been enriching uranium to 60 percent — far above the 3.67-percent limit set in a 2015 nuclear deal, which Trump abandoned, but still short of the 90-percent threshold needed for a nuclear warhead.Israel has maintained ambiguity on its own nuclear arsenal, but the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute says it has 90 nuclear warheads.