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WORLD NEWS Tuesday 7 July 2020
France: Macron ousts security chief after police protests

By SYLVIE CORBET and AN- been Assange; accom-
GELA CHARLTON plices to Mohamed Merah,
PARIS (AP) — French Presi- who killed Jewish children,
dent Emmanuel Macron a rabbi and paratroopers
ousted his top security of- in a 2012 rampage around
ficial Monday following Toulouse; and former
protests over police brutal- French government minis-
ity as part of a government ters accused of tax fraud or
shakeup aimed at focusing sexual harassment.
on France's post-pandemic Two other important
economic recovery for the changes are at the Labor
remaining two years of Ma- Ministry, whose new chief,
cron's term. Elisabeth Borne, will have to
In a surprise move, Ma- deal with a pending surge
cron named a provocative in unemployment, and the
lawyer who has defended Ministry for Ecological Tran-
WikiLeaks founder Julian sition, to be led by former
Assange and suspected Green Party legislator Bar-
terrorists as head of the bara Pompili.
Justice Ministry. A former Macron didn't change the
Green Party lawmaker finance or health ministers,
was appointed to lead the posts central to helping
powerful Ministry for Eco- In this May 19, 2020 file photo, French government coordinator for the end of lockdown Jean France through the virus cri-
logical Transition after Ma- Castex leaves after a videoconference with the French President and French mayors at the Elysee sis and recession, or the for-
cron came under criticism Palace in Paris. eign and defense ministers.
for lagging on promises to Associated Press The new government will
cut emissions. be led by Prime Minister
The 42-year-old centrist First among the priorities replace Interior Minister an experiment with ex- Jean Castex. who was ap-
leader, whose presidency that Macron listed is help- Christophe Castaner, who panded Taser use. pointed Friday. Macron
has been buffeted by pro- ing the world's sixth-largest had come under fire amid Darmanin, a member of last week ditched Edouard
tests and now the virus cri- economy recover from the widespread French protests Macron's young guard, is Philippe, who as prime min-
sis, promised that the new battering delivered by the against racial injustice and a former conservative who ister steered France through
government would be one coronavirus pandemic. His police violence spurred by joined Macron's centrist its coronavirus lockdown
of "purpose and unity." Ma- new lineup includes some the death of George Floyd party in 2017 and is seen as and the first three years of
cron tweeted that his 2017 new faces but also leans in the United States. outspoken but effective. Macron's presidency.
campaign promises to heavily on loyalists as Ma- In response, Castaner ini- The new government re- Castex is a career civil ser-
modernize France and free cron seeks to steady the tially announced a ban flects a balance of figures vant, and his low profile sug-
up its businesses remain country. on the use of chokeholds from the left and right and gests that Macron doesn't
central to his agenda, but One key change is at the in policing, but he then from outside politics alto- want to be overshadowed
he "must adapt to the inter- Interior Ministry, which is in backed down in the face gether -- like Eric Dupond- should he choose to seek
national upheavals and cri- charge of police. Former of counter-demonstrations Moretti, arguably France's reelection in 2022. Macron
ses we are experiencing. A budget minister Gerald and pressure by police most famous lawyer. has not yet said if he'll run
new path must be forged." Darmanin was named to unions. He also launched Among his clients have for a second term.q

Iran confirms damaged nuclear site was centrifuge facility

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran on center in 2013 and it was Iran has long maintained
Sunday confirmed that a inaugurated in 2018. its atomic program is for
damaged building at the "More advanced centri- peaceful purposes.
underground Natanz nu- fuge machines were in- An online video and mes-
clear site was a new centri- tended to be built there," sages purportedly claim-
fuge assembly center, the he said, adding that the ing responsibility for the fire
official IRNA news agency damage would "possibly were released Friday. The
reported. cause a delay in develop- multiple, different claims
Iranian officials had previ- ment and production of by a self-described group
ously sought to downplay advanced centrifuge ma- called the "Cheetahs of
the fire, which erupted ear- chines in the medium term." the Homeland," as well as
ly on Thursday, calling it only He said that the fire had the fact that Iran experts
an "incident" that affected damaged "precision and have never heard of the
an "industrial shed." How- measuring instruments," group before, raised ques-
ever, a released photo and and that the center had tions about whether Na- This photo released Thursday, July 2, 2020, by the Atomic Energy
video of the site broadcast not been operating at full tanz again had faced sab- Organization of Iran shows a building after it was damaged by
by Iranian state television capacity due to restrictions otage by a foreign nation, a fire at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, some 200 miles
showed a two-story brick imposed by Tehran's 2015 as it had during the Stuxnet (322 kilometers) south of the capital Tehran, Iran.
Associated Press
building with scorch marks nuclear deal with world computer virus outbreak
and its roof apparently de- powers. Iran began experi- believed to have been en- of Tehran that analysts be- ated Press on Friday, rely-
stroyed. menting with advanced gineered by the U.S. and lieve hides an underground ing on released pictures
A spokesman for Iran's nu- centrifuge models in the Israel. tunnel system and missile and satellite images, iden-
clear agency, Behrouz Ka- wake of the U.S. unilaterally The Natanz fire also came production sites. tified the affected building
malvandi, said Sunday that withdrawing from the deal less than a week after an Two U.S.-based analysts as Natanz's new Iran Cen-
work had begun on the two years ago. explosion in an area east who spoke to The Associ- trifuge Assembly Center.q