The UN said Wednesday it had "dispatched" around 90 trucks carrying aid into Gaza, as international pressure intensified over Israel's renewed offensive and blockade of the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
The first aid distribution in Gaza since early March came as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was open to a "temporary ceasefire", but reaffirmed the military aimed to bring the entire territory under its control.
Back in Cannes for the first time in 15 years, dissident Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi spoke to AFP about how he feels "alive" thanks to filmmaking and the danger of continuing to work in the Islamic republic.
Imprisoned twice and until recently subjected to a travel ban, Panahi also said he was not afraid of the consequences of showing "It Was Just an Accident" in Cannes.
The answers have been translated by AFP from the original Persian and edited for clarity:
The EU on Tuesday ordered a review of its cooperation deal with Israel and Britain halted trade talks with it as European nations took a tougher line over the Gaza war.
France renewed its commitment to recognise a Palestinian state, a day after Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu angrily hit back at Britain, France and Canada for threatening action over his country's military offensive and blockade of Gaza.
EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said "a strong majority" of the 27 member states at a foreign ministers' meeting backed the move in a bid to pressure Israel.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned Tuesday that Syria could be weeks away from a fresh civil war of "epic proportions," as he called for support to the transitional leadership.
The top American diplomat blamed a resurgence of the Islamic State extremist group in areas outside of the transitional government's control, as well as Iran.
He told a US Senate hearing that the government, "given the challenges they're facing, are maybe weeks -- not many months -- away from potential collapse and a full-scale civil war of epic proportions, basically the country splitting up."
The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has said Turkey should ease prison conditions for its founder Abdullah Ocalan, declaring him the group's "chief negotiator" for any future talks after a decision to disband.
A spokesman for the Kurdish group, blacklisted as a "terrorist" organisation by Ankara and its Western allies, told AFP in an interview on Monday that Turkey has not yet provided guarantees for a peace process, and expressed objection to exiling PKK members.
The mother of jailed Egyptian-British activist Alaa Abdel Fattah announced on Tuesday that she was returning to a full hunger strike to protest against her son's lengthy imprisonment in Egypt.
Laila Soueif, 69, eased her strike in March after UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he had "pressed" for Fattah's release in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
She began consuming 300 calories a day through a liquid nutritional supplement but still went without food.
Twin Gazan filmmakers Arab and Tarzan Nasser said they never thought the title of their new film "Once Upon A Time In Gaza" would have such heartbreaking resonance.
"Right now there is nothing left of Gaza," Tarzan said when it premiered Monday at the Cannes film festival.
Since militants from the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel's retaliatory offensive in Gaza has ravaged large swathes of the Palestinian territory and killed tens of thousands of people.
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that nuclear talks with the United States were unlikely to yield any results, amid a diplomatic standoff over the Islamic republic's enrichment activities.
"We don't think it will lead to any outcome. We don't know what will happen," said Khamenei during a speech, adding that denying Iran's right to enrich uranium was "a big mistake".
Or Sinai didn't have to go far to find the subject of her acclaimed debut film about the secret lives of the millions of women who support their families back home by being domestic workers abroad.
She was chatting to the "wonderful Ukrainian woman" who looks after her mother, who has Parkinson's Disease, when the housekeeper started telling her about the lover she had taken.
"I realised that our view of migrant women is so wrong," she told AFP at the Cannes film festival, where "Mama" is being shown in the official selection.
France is "determined" to recognise a Palestinian state, its foreign minister said on Tuesday, condemning Israel for the "indefensible" situation in Gaza created by its military campaign and humanitarian blockade.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot also reaffirmed that Paris backed a Netherlands-led initiative for a review of the cooperation agreement between the European Union and Israel, which could affect political and economic ties.
