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France will suspend its programme to receive Palestinians from conflict-torn Gaza pending the outcome of an investigation into how a student accused of sharing antisemitic posts was allowed into the country, the French foreign minister said Friday.The move comes after officials said the female student from Gaza will have to leave France after the Sciences Po university in the northern city of Lille revoked her accreditation over the online posts.”No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn conclusions from this investigation,” Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo radio.All Gazans who have entered France will undergo a second screening, he added.France has helped more than 500 people leave Gaza since the latest war between Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel started, including wounded children, journalists, students and artists.The conflict, triggered by Hamas’s murderous October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, has seen Israel retaliate with a deadly military campaign and an aid blockade in Gaza that some rights groups have qualified as “genocide”.Lille’s chief prosecutor told AFP on Thursday a probe had been opened against the student for allegedly trying to “justify terrorism” and “justify a crime against humanity”.Screenshots of posts the student allegedly shared in September — published by pro-Israel accounts on X — include an image of Adolf Hitler and words appearing to call for the death of Jews.The account attributed to the student has been taken offline, after French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau demanded it be closed down. A French diplomatic source said the student arrived in France on July 11 on a scholarship based on “academic excellence” and after “security checks”.AFP was not immediately able to reach the student for comment. The news agency is not identifying her at this stage of the investigation.”She must leave the country”, the foreign minister confirmed, adding that discussions were ongoing to determine her destination.

Nintendo on Friday said quarterly revenue had more than doubled year-on-year thanks to the Switch 2, which became the world’s fastest-selling console after its launch in early June.Pent-up demand for the new gadget from the “Super Mario” gamemaker fuelled fan excitement at the release that saw sold-out pre-orders and midnight store openings.Like the hugely popular …

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President Donald Trump ordered the reimposition of tariffs on dozens of trading partners Thursday — his cornerstone strategy for reshaping global trade to benefit the US economy.However, in a minor reprieve that opens the door to further negotiations, the White House said these measures will take effect in a week, not Friday as previously expected.The …

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A senior leader of Turkey’s beleaguered main opposition party accused the government of fabricating enemies in a politically motivated crackdown to reassert control after its election defeat last year, in an interview with AFP.President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s AKP party “politically named the new enemy on March 19 — (and) the new enemy is the CHP,” said Burhanettin Bulut, a deputy leader of the Republican People’s Party (CHP).Bulut, in charge of the party’s public relations and media, said Erdogan was threatening the country’s democratic foundations through his government’s campaign of arrests and lawsuits.Turkish authorities have detained a string of elected officials on charges ranging from graft to terror-related offences, including, on March 19, Istanbul’s powerful mayor Ekrem Imamoglu — Erdogan’s main rival.”This government keeps itself alive by constantly defining an enemy,” Bulut told AFP in an interview at the party’s headquarters in the capital Ankara.The government “sustains its political strategy through polarisation — manufacturing a foe and launching relentless perception campaigns in a bid to consolidate its voter base”, he said.A year after Erdogan’s allies suffered heavy losses in local elections, Imamoglu’s detention triggered the country’s largest street protests in over a decade.”This isn’t just about the CHP,” Bulut added.”From the grocery store clerk to the apprentice, from businesspeople to artists and journalists — people across this country are afraid.”- ‘Dynamite’ for republic -Since Imamoglu’s arrest, Turkish authorities have detained 16 CHP mayors, including ones in key districts of Istanbul, and replaced elected officials in at least three municipalities with government-appointed trustees.Among those detained is the acting mayor of Istanbul’s Buyukcekmece district, a party source told AFP.CHP leader Ozgur Ozel, re-elected at an emergency party congress a month after Imamoglu was jailed, has come under mounting legal pressure meanwhile.He faces lawsuits on alleged offences including “insulting the president” and vote-buying at a party congress.Media reports have suggested efforts were under way to lift Ozel’s parliamentary immunity so he could face prison.Bulut alleged the crackdown “creates a smokescreen for the real issues facing society — poverty, injustice, the erosion of democracy and individual rights — that are pushed out of the public agenda”.Arresting Ozel, he said, would be “like planting dynamite under the foundations of the Republic” — but he played down concerns for its impact on the CHP, which he said was “not a leader-centred party”.He dismissed government claims of a crisis in the CHP as “political theatre”.”It’s a founding party, with a deep-rooted history, led by some of the most important figures in Turkish political life — starting with Mustafa Kemal Ataturk,” founder of the modern Turkish republic, he said.”That’s why interfering with the leadership of this party is not something that can be done easily.”- Turkish democracy and justice -The government’s crackdown started with a key arrest seven months after the March 2024 local elections.Authorities detained the CHP mayor of Istanbul’s working-class district of Esenyurt, Ahmet Ozer, accusing him of membership of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).They have since removed CHP mayors in three districts in Ovacik in the east as well as in Esenyurt and Sisli and replaced them with trustees.The government has insisted the arrests have judicial legitimacy but critics say they are aimed at neutralising dissent in big cities where the opposition won in the elections.The government recently claimed a historic breakthrough by overseeing the disarmament of the PKK, ending its decades-long campaign of attacks.In that context, Bulut argued: “You can’t claim to support democracy and justice while appointing trustees at the same time.”If you’re serious about democracy, then local consensus must be part of the process.”Despite pressure and fear tactics, he insisted the CHP would “be the clear winner” in the next election, expected by 2028.

Nvidia chips do not contain “backdoors” allowing remote access, the US tech giant has said, after Beijing summoned company representatives to discuss “serious security issues”.The California-based company is a world-leading producer of AI semiconductors, and this month became the first company to hit $4 trillion in market value.But it has become entangled in trade tensions …

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