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Added on the 01/03/2024 13:15:39 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
The EU demands an "urgent" audit of the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA and says it is reviewing funding, following Israeli allegations that some staff participated in Hamas's October 7 attack. The audit should be led by European Commission-appointed experts and be conducted alongside a UN investigation into the claims, commission spokesman Eric Mamer tells journalists. SOUNDBITE
The EU dishes out a 337.5 million euro ($366 million) fine to Mondelez, the US confectioner formerly known as Kraft behind major brands including Toblerone and Oreo, for restricting sales of products within the 27-country bloc. The giant "illegally restricted retailers from sourcing these products from member states where prices are lower" explains European Commission VP Margrethe Vestage, "and this allowed Mondelez to maintain higher prices." SOUNDBITE
Vedant Patel, the US Department of State deputy spokesperson, says that Israel should let the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA into Gaza, after he was denied entry. SOUNDBITE
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urges the UN agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) to address allegations its staff were involved in attacking Israel, but distanced himself from calls for its end. "UNRWA has played and continues to play an absolutely indispensable role in trying to make sure that men, women and children who so desperately need assistance in Gaza actually get it," Blinken tells reporters. "That only underscores the importance of UNRWA tackling this as quickly as effectively and as thoroughly as possible," he says after the United States suspended funding. SOUNDBITE
Smoke billows and gunshots ring out during renewed clashes between members of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah movement and Islamist militants in the Ain al-Helweh Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the coastal Lebanese city of Sidon. IMAGES