PARIS – Gérard Depardieu’s trial on charges of sexual assault has been postponed until March because the French actor is in poor health, a court in Paris has said.
Depardieu, 75, was absent when the trial opened earlier on Monday, with his lawyer asking for a delay to proceedings, citing his client’s health issues.
Depardieu is accused of attacking two women while shooting the 2021 film Les Volets Verts (The Green Shutters), in the highest profile #MeToo case to hit France.
Prosecutors say he made explicit sexual remarks to, and then aggressively “groped”, two members of the production team. If convicted, he could face five years in jail.
He denies the charges, saying that he has never “abused a woman”.
Proceedings opened at a criminal court in the French capital at about 13:30 local time (12:30 GMT). Depardieu’s lawyer, Jeremie Assous, told French media that the actor had been “deeply affected” by illness and was advised by his doctors not to attend the trial.
Assous added that his client had asked for the delay as he “wishes to come, wants to express himself” before the court, but proceedings continued in his absence.
The court’s president then decided to postpone the trial to 24-25 March, ordering a medical assessment of the actor.
The trial is seen as a major moment for France’s #MeToo movement, with Depardieu being the highest profile figure in French cinema to face accusations of sexual assault. The women – who have not been named – say Depardieu made sexual comments to them. They say he also “violently grabbed” and “groped” them.
Depardieu’s lawyer has accused the women of “false accusations”. He also claimed that one of the women was attempting to “make money” by claiming 30,000 euro (USD 32,500; £25,000) in compensation, Le Monde reported.
Since the allegations surfaced, Depardieu has become a virtual pariah. He has not appeared in a film since 2022, and he faces a second trial next year on charges of raping the actress Charlotte Arnould twice at his home in Paris. He denies the allegations.
Depardieu has also been accused of sexual assault by more than a dozen other women. (BBC)…[+]

Photo: Gérard Depardieu. (Getty Images)

JOHANNESBURG – While South African legal researchers were in an undisclosed location last week, racing against time to finalise hundreds of pages of evidence proving Israel’s intent to commit genocide in Gaza, in Israel, leaders gathering near the Gaza border were calling for the besieged and bombarded Strip to be emptied of Palestinians.
During the “preparing to settle Gaza” conference, held at a restricted military zone in Be’eri last Monday, Israeli Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was recorded calling for the “migration” of Gaza’s current inhabitants, and the possibility of future Israeli settlement expansion there – something considered illegal under international law.
“[We will] tell them, ‘we are giving you the chance, leave from here to other countries’,” Ben-Gvir said, while Israeli forces continued their more than yearlong bombardment of Gaza. “The Land of Israel is ours.”
South African diplomats assert that statements like these offer undeniable evidence of Israel’s genocidal intent – something they must prove before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in an ongoing case.
Monday (October 28) is the deadline for South Africa to submit a detailed memorial against Israel to the ICJ, lawyers and diplomats told Al Jazeera. Its legal submission aims to definitively establish that Israel’s military actions in Gaza amount to genocide.
Despite new evidence emerging daily, senior South African officials instructed the legal team to stick to what they had already collected to meet the approaching deadline.
The legal team is however confident that the hundreds of pages of evidence are more than enough to sustain their case.
“The problem we have is that we have too much evidence,” Ambassador Vusimuzi Madonsela, South Africa’s representative to The Hague, explained to Al Jazeera.
Zane Dangor, the director-general of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said: “The legal team will always say we need more time, there’s more facts coming. But we have to say you have to stop now. You [have] got to focus on what you have.”
The 500-page South African legal submission aims to expose a pattern of mass casualties in Gaza, where almost 43,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 2023, which South African officials argue exceeds any proportional military response to Hamas’s attacks on October 7 last year. (Al Jazeera)…[+]

Photo: Director-General of South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation Zane Dangor and South African Ambassador to the Netherlands Vusimuzi Madonsela at the ICJ. (Reuters)

TOKYO – Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to continue ruling the country despite a bruising loss suffered by his party at the general election.
The country now faces an uncertain political future as the coalition led by the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has lost its majority in parliament, its worst result in over a decade.
Ishiba was sworn in as prime minister just this month after winning the leadership of his party. He had called a snap election to seal his mandate.
But in a speech on Monday, he admitted the LDP received “severe judgement” from voters, and added his party would “humbly accept” this.
“The Japanese people expressed their strong desire for the LDP to do some reflection and become a party that acts in line with the people’s will,” Ishiba told national broadcaster NHK.
The LDP and its much smaller coalition partner Komeito, have altogether taken 215 seats, falling short of the 233-seat majority needed to govern.
It is the first time the LDP has lost its parliamentary majority since 2009. The party has ruled Japan almost continuously since 1955.
The result comes after a tumultuous few years for the LDP which saw a cascade of scandals, widespread voter apathy and record-low approval ratings.
The party had seen approval ratings of below 20 percent earlier in the year, in the wake of a political fundraising corruption scandal.
Ishiba on Monday pledged to “enact fundamental reform regarding the issue of money and politics”.
“We need to answer to the people’s criticism. That is how I will take responsibility for the loss of the election,” he said.
He also promised to revitalise rural Japan and tackle inflation.
Japan’s parliament now has 30 days to convene and choose a prime minister. The chosen PM’s party or coalition, will form the government and can do so even without a majority of seats.
Ishiba said there are no plans to expand his political coalition at this stage. This raises the likely possibility that he will retain his premiership and his coalition will continue to rule Japan without a majority. But it also means they will no longer have the power to pass laws unilaterally.
Another possibility is that the opposition parties unite to form the government – the largest one, the Constitutional Democratic Party (CDP), won 148 seats up from 98 previously.
But that is a more unlikely scenario as Japan’s opposition parties historically have faced difficulty in uniting or convincing voters they are a viable option to govern.
The CDP had an approval rating of just 6.6 percent before parliament was dissolved. (BBC)…[+]

Photo: Japan’s prime minister Shigeru Ishiba. (Getty Images)

NEW DELHI  –  Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Spanish counterpart Pedro Sanchez have inaugurated India’s first private military aircraft plant, boosting New Delhi’s ambitions of growing local manufacturing in its defense and aerospace industries.

Sanchez was welcomed to India on Monday with a flower-filled open-top parade alongside Modi, as Madrid seeks to boost investment in the world’s fifth-largest economy.

The duo waved to crowds in a vehicle covered with flowers as they made their way to inaugurate the aircraft factory, a collaboration between Tata Advanced Systems and Airbus, in Vadodara city of Modi’s home state of Gujarat, where crowds of hundreds cheered and waved banners.

It is the first visit by a Spanish premier to India in 18 years. Modi visited Spain in 2017 and held talks with Sanchez at the G20 summits in 2018 and 2021.

India’s Ministry of Defense has agreed to a USD 2.5bn deal for 56 cargo and troop-carrying C-295 aircraft from Airbus Defense and Space in 2021. While 16 will be assembled in Seville in Spain – with the first deliveries made last year – the 40 remaining will be built in India.

The Indian plant in Vadodara will complete the first “Made in India” C-295 aircraft in 2026.

The aircraft is capable of transporting up to 71 soldiers or 50 paratroopers and will be able to access remote locations. It can additionally be used for medical evacuations and aid in disaster response and maritime patrol duties.

“This factory will not only strengthen India-Spain relations, but also the ‘Make in India and Made for the World’ mission,” Modi said at the inauguration. “It also reinforces India’s position as a trusted partner in global aerospace manufacturing.”

Sanchez said Airbus had opened a new chapter in India’s defense and space industry.

“This project strengthens our industrial ties while underlying our country’s deep commitment as a reliable and strategic partner,” he said, speaking in English. “It shows, as well, the capabilities of the Spanish defense industry.”

The chairman of the Tata conglomerate, Natarajan Chandrasekaran, lauded the launch as a historic day for India’s defense sector and credited the late Ratan Tata, the “titan” of Indian business and former chairman who died earlier this month, for conceiving the idea more than a decade ago.

Spain, the 16th-largest foreign investor in India with more than 280 Spanish companies in the country, sees opportunities including in construction, pharmacy, energy, and the railways industry.

India says trade between the two nations is “robust and growing”, totaling USD 9.9bn in 2023, with India exporting USD 7.17bn and importing USD 2.74bn.

On Tuesday, Sanchez will travel to Mumbai, India’s financial capital and home to Bollywood, to meet trade and industry leaders, and will also visit film studios to grow collaboration between the Indian and Spanish entertainment industries. (Al Jazeera)

Photo: Modi and Sanchez wave to people from a flower-filled vehicle in Vadodara. (AP)