France’s new government meets first time to discuss budget, migrant issues

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and French Prime Minister Michel Barnier (R) meet with members of the new government during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on September 23, 2024. (AFP)
French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and French Prime Minister Michel Barnier (R) meet with members of the new government during the weekly cabinet meeting at the Elysee Palace, in Paris, on September 23, 2024. (AFP)
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Updated 19 December 2024
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France’s new government meets first time to discuss budget, migrant issues

France’s new government meets first  time to discuss budget, migrant issues
  • “I’m not going to further increase the tax burden on all French people,” Barnier promised, yet suggesting that “the wealthiest contribute to this national effort”

PARIS: France’s new government dominated by conservatives and centrists gathered for the first time Monday as Prime Minister Michel Barnier set budget and migrant issues as top priorities.
Barnier convened a meeting on Monday morning with newly appointed ministers ahead of a Cabinet session in the afternoon with centrist President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace.
The long-awaited list of government members was unveiled Saturday, more than two months after elections that produced a hung parliament and deepened political divisions as France grapples with growing financial and diplomatic challenges.
Speaking on Sunday evening in his first televised interview since the ministers’ appointment, Barnier acknowledged a key challenge for his government will be the 2025 budget bill to be debated at parliament starting from next month.
Barnier called on France 2 television for a “national effort required to redress the situation” after France was placed earlier this year by the European Union’s executive arm under a formal procedure for running up excessive debt.
“I’m not going to further increase the tax burden on all French people,” Barnier promised, yet suggesting that “the wealthiest contribute to this national effort.”
In June, the EU Commission recommended to seven nations, including France, that they start a so-called “excessive deficit procedure,” the first step in a long process before any member state can be hemmed in and moved to take corrective action.
Barnier also vowed to “control and limit immigration” in Sunday’s interview. He said numbers of migrants coming to France “has become unbearable.”
He referred to measures taken by neighboring countries like Germany, which this month ordered temporary controls at all land borders.
Barnier was appointed at the beginning of the month. His first major political test will come on Oct. 1, when he is set to deliver his general policy speech to the National Assembly, France’s powerful lower house of parliament.

 


Zelensky cancels part of South Africa trip, returns to Kyiv after Russian attack

Zelensky cancels part of South Africa trip, returns to Kyiv after Russian attack
Updated 23 sec ago
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Zelensky cancels part of South Africa trip, returns to Kyiv after Russian attack

Zelensky cancels part of South Africa trip, returns to Kyiv after Russian attack
KYIV: President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday he was canceling a part of his program in South Africa and returning to Ukraine after intense Russian missile and drone attacks on Kyiv. Zelensky said on the Telegram app that Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha would conduct all necessary meetings in South Africa to inform leaders about the situation in Ukraine.

Aid funding cuts disrupt child vaccinations almost as much as pandemic, says UN

Aid funding cuts disrupt child vaccinations almost as much as pandemic, says UN
Updated 24 min 58 sec ago
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Aid funding cuts disrupt child vaccinations almost as much as pandemic, says UN

Aid funding cuts disrupt child vaccinations almost as much as pandemic, says UN
  • Outbreaks of infectious diseases, including measles, meningitis and yellow fever, have been increasing globally
  • Cuts to funding also reduced vaccine supplies and hampered disease surveillance

LONDON: Global aid funding cuts, led by the United States, are disrupting efforts to vaccinate children against deadly diseases almost as much as the COVID-19 pandemic did, the United Nations said on Thursday.
Outbreaks of infectious diseases, including measles, meningitis and yellow fever, have been increasing globally.
Emergency and routine vaccinations meanwhile were significantly affected in nearly half of countries at the start of April due to the funding cuts, according to reports from World Health Organization offices in 108 largely low and lower-middle income countries.
Cuts to funding also reduced vaccine supplies and hampered disease surveillance, the WHO and UNICEF said in a joint release with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.
“Setbacks (are) at a similar level to what we saw during COVID-19. We cannot afford to lose ground in the fight against preventable disease,” said Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director. COVID-19 caused what was called the largest backslide in childhood vaccination in a generation, and aid funding cuts, led by the US – formerly the world’s largest donor – risked the same outcome, the joint release said.
They called for funding for childhood immunization to be maintained ahead of Gavi’s funding round, which will be launched in June. The group is seeking $9 billion for its work from 2026-2030.
Sania Nishtar, Gavi’s chief executive officer, said it was possible to fight the rise of infectious diseases but only if the group is fully funded.
Measles cases have increased year-on-year since 2021, while meningitis surged in Africa last year and yellow fever cases also rose after declines in the last decade, the agencies said. Last month, an internal US government document showed it would follow its cuts to UNICEF and the WHO, part of wider plans to streamline and focus foreign aid to align with the “America First” policy, by canceling its contribution of around $300 million annually to Gavi.
Last week, the US State Department told Reuters it had nominated Mark Lloyd, assistant administrator for global health, to Gavi’s 28-person board. The US seat had previously been vacant.
Both the US State Department and Gavi declined to comment about what this could mean for US funding.


Russia launched 215 drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian air force says

Russia launched 215 drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian air force says
Ukrainian rescuers operate at the site of a Russian missile attack in Kyiv on April 24, 2025. (AFP)
Updated 32 min 53 sec ago
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Russia launched 215 drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian air force says

Russia launched 215 drones and missiles against Ukraine overnight, Ukrainian air force says

DUBAI: Russia launched 215 drones and missiles in an overnight attack on Ukraine, Ukraine’s air force said.
Air force units shot down 48 missiles and 64 drones, while 68 drones were redirected by electronic warfare, the air force said in a post on Telegram.


Tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following deadly attack in disputed Kashmir

Tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following deadly attack in disputed Kashmir
An Indian Border Security Force (BSF) personnel (L) checks passports of Pakistan citizens returning to their country through the
Updated 24 April 2025
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Tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following deadly attack in disputed Kashmir

Tensions escalate between India and Pakistan following deadly attack in disputed Kashmir
  • Pakistan has denied the accusation and a previously unknown militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance has claimed responsibility for the attack.
  • India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety.

SRINAGAR: Tensions between arch rivals India and Pakistan were high on Thursday as New Delhi mounted a diplomatic offensive against Islamabad, blaming it for a deadly attack that killed 26 people, mostly tourists, in disputed Kashmir.
India accused Islamabad of supporting “cross-border terrorism” Wednesday night and imposed diplomatic measures, including downgrading diplomatic ties, suspending of a key water-sharing treaty and closing the main land border crossing with Pakistan.
Pakistan has denied the accusation and a previously unknown militant group calling itself Kashmir Resistance has claimed responsibility for the attack. Islamabad said it would respond to India’s actions on Thursday and convene its National Security Committee, which is composed of senior civil and military officials.
“India has taken irresponsible steps and leveled allegations,” Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar told local Dunya News TV channel. Dar said India’s steps had so far been “non-kinetic,” and added that “any kinetic step by India will see a tit-to-tat kinetic response” from Pakistan.
Diplomatic ties between the two countries were already weak, particularly after New Delhi after India revoked Kashmir’s semiautonomous status in 2019.
India and Pakistan each administer a part of Kashmir, but both claim the territory in its entirety. The two sides have long accused each other of backing forces to destabilize one another, and New Delhi describes all militancy in Kashmir as Pakistan-backed terrorism. Pakistan denies this, and many Muslim Kashmiris consider the militants to be part of a home-grown freedom struggle.
India said a number of Pakistani diplomats were asked to leave New Delhi and Indian diplomats were recalled from Pakistan. Diplomatic missions in both countries will reduce their staff from 55 to 30 as of May 1, India’s foreign secretary, Vikram Misri, announced Wednesday night.
Misri also said the only functional land border crossing between the countries would be closed, adding that India was also suspending a landmark water-sharing treaty.
The Indus Water Treaty, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allows for sharing the waters of a river system that is a lifeline for both countries, particularly for Pakistan’s agriculture. The treaty has survived two wars between the countries, in 1965 and 1971, and a major border skirmish in 1999.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for an all-party meeting with opposition parties to brief them on the government’s response to the attack.
Some fear New Delhi may India may move beyond diplomatic sanctions as the country’s media and leaders from Modi’s Hindu nationalist ruling party call for military action.
Praveen Donthi, senior analyst with the International Crisis Group, said framing the Kashmir conflict as a security crisis of Pakistan’s creation, “which can be resolved only through harsh talk and actions,” brings political dividends to Modi’s government but could also leave it with few options in times of crises.
“The immense public pressure on the Modi government to retaliate strongly and militarily is self-created,” said Donthi. ”Soon, there will be no options left unless New Delhi starts looking to address the roots of political unrest in Kashmir,” Donthi said.
In 2019, when insurgents rammed a car packed with explosives into a paramilitary convoy, killing 40 soldiers, India claimed to strike a militant training camp inside Pakistan. Pakistan responded with air raids, downed an Indian military aircraft and captured an Indian pilot who was later released.
Two years later, in 2021, the two countries renewed a previous ceasefire agreement along their border, which has largely held since despite attacks on Indian forces by insurgents in Kashmir.
The attack shocked residents of Kashmir, where militants fighting against Indian rule have rarely targeted tourists and have mainly mounted their attacks against Indian forces.
In Kashmir, locals shut down markets, businesses and schools on Wednesday in protest amidst worries that the attack would hurt the region’s tourism economy.
Funerals of several of those killed were also held across some Indian cities and people participated in candle-lit vigils at some places, including in Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir.


Huge crowds expected for second day of Pope Francis lying in state

Huge crowds expected for second day of Pope Francis lying in state
Updated 24 April 2025
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Huge crowds expected for second day of Pope Francis lying in state

Huge crowds expected for second day of Pope Francis lying in state
  • Close to 20,000 people filtered past the Catholic leader’s coffin in the first eight hours of the lying in state
  • Pope Francis died on Monday after 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics

VATICAN CITY: Huge crowds were expected on Thursday for a glimpse of Pope Francis’s body on the second day of public tributes, after St. Peter’s Basilica stayed open almost all night to accommodate the crowds.
Close to 20,000 people filtered past the Catholic leader’s red-lined wooden coffin in the first eight hours of the lying in state on Wednesday.
Instead of closing at midnight, it allowed people in until 5:30 a.m. (0330 GMT) on Thursday morning, before reopening at 7:00am, the Vatican said.
Italy is preparing a massive security operation for the funeral in front of St. Peter’s, with world leaders including US President Donald Trump and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky due to join hundreds of thousands of mourners.
Francis died on Monday after 12 years as head of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, during which time he made a name for himself as a pope of the marginalized.
Mourners queued for up to four hours on Wednesday to say their goodbyes to Francis, who was dressed in his papal vestments – a red chasuble, white mitre and black shoes – and held a rosary.
Each mourner was ushered past the casket within seconds, many hurriedly catching the moment on their smartphones.
Argentine Federico Rueda, 46, said that despite the rush, he would not have missed the opportunity.
“It is worth missing out on other places to say goodbye to an Argentine: a very worthy pope,” he said as he stood proudly wearing the jersey of Argentina’s national football team, the current world champions.
Mexican Leobardo Guevara, 24, draped in his country’s flag, said he felt “a sense of peace” as he filed past the body of the first pope from the Americas.
Francis, an energetic reformer who became pope in 2013, died on Monday aged 88 after suffering a stroke.
His death at his residence in the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican came less than a month after he was released from five weeks in hospital with double pneumonia.
Francis’s casket was initially put on display for Vatican officials and clergy in the Santa Marta chapel, before being transferred to St. Peter’s Wednesday in a procession including cardinals, clergy and Swiss Guards.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni was among those who paid respects on Wednesday, and scores of world leaders and dignitaries plan to attend the funeral.
They include Argentine President Javier Milei and Britain’s Prince William, although Russia – which has for centuries had icy ties with the Vatican – said it would send its culture minister.
Authorities, who expect up to 170 foreign delegations, have ramped up security for the funeral.
Italy’s civil protection agency estimates that “several hundred thousand” people will descend on Rome on what was already set to be a busy weekend due to a public holiday.
After the funeral, Francis’s coffin will be taken to his favorite church, Rome’s papal basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.
His will requested that he be interred in the ground, his simple tomb marked with just one word: Franciscus.
Following that, all eyes will turn to the process to choose Francis’s successor.
Cardinals from around the world are returning to Rome for the conclave, which will begin no fewer than 15 days and no more than 20 days after a pope’s death.
Only those under the age of 80 – currently some 135 cardinals – are eligible to vote.
Cardinals have agreed that the traditional nine days of mourning for the pope, the so-called “novemdiales,” will begin on Saturday and conclude on May 4.
Another meeting of cardinals of all ages was set for Thursday at 9:00am (0700 GMT).
However, the Vatican brushed aside hopes of an announcement of the conclave date, insisting the focus is on the funeral.
At the time of his death, Francis was under doctors’ orders to rest for two months.
But the headstrong pope continued to make public appearances despite appearing tired and short of breath.
On Easter Sunday, one day before he died, he circled St. Peter’s Square in his popemobile to greet the crowds, stopping to kiss babies along the way.