The red carpet has been rolled out at the 79th Cannes Film Festival in the South of France.

The French Riviera festival beginning Tuesday will include 12 days of nonstop world premieres before culminating May 23 with the presentation of the Palme d'Or, the festival's top honor and one of the film industry's most prestigious awards.

Calls for mutual respect dominated the Africa Forward Summit on Tuesday as French President Emmanuel Macron announced new investments and said sovereignty will be key in the new partnership that France hopes to build with Africa.

Investments worth 23 billion euros ($27 billion) will fund various sectors in Africa including, energy, AI and agriculture, Macron said, adding that 14 billion euros ($16.4 billion) will come from French companies and 9 billion euros ($10.5 billion) from African entities.

U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer told members of his Cabinet on Tuesday that he has no intention to resign as calls within his Labour Party for him to step down grew louder.

Starmer is trying to shore up support within his Cabinet following a febrile few days in the wake of hefty losses for the Labour Party in local elections last week, which if repeated in a national election would see it overwhelmingly ejected from power.

Israel sent Iron Dome anti-missile batteries and personnel to operate them to the United Arab Emirates to defend the country during the Iran war, the U.S. ambassador to the country said Tuesday.

Mike Huckabee made the comment on stage at an event in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Ship operators rely on a sludgelike substance known as bunker fuel to keep vessels running. The Iran war 's closure of the Strait of Hormuz has choked off the supply of this fuel that powers the global maritime industry and its largest refueling hub in Asia.

Bunker fuel is a literal bottom of the barrel product — heavier and dirtier than the more expensive kinds of refined crude oil used by other vehicles like cars and airplanes — it sinks to the bottom of storage containers.

The last remaining passengers on a cruise ship hit by a deadly hantavirus outbreak disembarked Monday and boarded flights to more than 20 countries to enter quarantine. A French woman was the latest to be confirmed as infected, while an American was suspected of infection after initial testing.

Passengers began flying home aboard military and government planes Sunday after the MV Hondius anchored in the Canary Islands. Personnel in full-body protective gear and breathing masks escorted the travelers from ship to shore in Tenerife, an effort that concluded Monday.

President Donald Trump has said he expects a "big, fat hug" from China's Xi Jinping when they meet in Beijing this week, despite multiple thorny issues between the two sides.

Trump on Tuesday is set to leave for Beijing to meet with Xi after weeks of trying, and failing, to persuade the Chinese government to use its considerable leverage to prod Iran to agree to U.S. terms to end the two-month old war — or at the very least, reopen the critical Strait of Hormuz.

Two regional diplomats familiar with the ongoing talks said that Pakistan was continuing its efforts to broker a compromise.

World shares were mixed Monday after Wall Street set more records, and oil rose more than 2% following U.S. President Donald Trump's rejection of Tehran's response to the latest U.S. proposal on ending the war in Iran.

U.S. futures edged less than 0.1% lower.

Trump quickly rejected a new Iranian proposal sent Sunday to him via Pakistan. In it, Iran demanded war reparations from the U.S., full Iranian sovereignty over the Strait of Hormuz, an end to sanctions and the release of its seized assets abroad, Iranian state television reported.

Iran also called for an immediate end to the war, including the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah — which have repeatedly exchanged fire though technically in a ceasefire. That conflict has seen Israeli strikes in Lebanon, its occupation of Lebanese territory and deadly Hezbollah attacks, including one that killed another Israeli soldier, the Israeli military said Monday.