$1.5bn more US aid for Ukraine

Lucerne, SwitzerlandUS Vice-President Kamala Harris pledged America’s unwavering support for Ukraine and announced more than $1.5bn in aid for the country’s energy sector and its humanitarian situation as a result of Russia’s 27-month invasion.Harris made the announcement at the Ukraine peace summit in Lucerne, Switzerland, where she met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.“This war remains an utter failure for (Russian President Vladimir) Putin,” Harris said during a bilateral meeting with Zelensky. “It is in our interest to uphold international norms,” she added, pledging US support for the country.The $1.5bn includes $500mn in new funding for energy assistance and the redirecting of $324mn in previously announced funds toward emergency energy infrastructure repair and other needs in Ukraine, the vice-president’s office said.“These efforts will help Ukraine respond to Russia’s latest attacks on Ukraine energy infrastructure by supporting repair and recovery, improving Ukraine’s resilience to energy supply disruptions, and laying the groundwork to repair and expand Ukraine’s energy system,” Harris’ office said.She also announced more than $379mn in humanitarian assistance from the State Department and the US Agency for International Development to help refugees and other people impacted by the war. The money is to cover food assistance, health services, shelter, and water, sanitation and hygiene services for millions of Ukrainians.Harris, who will spend less than 24 hours at the gathering will be standing in for President Joe Biden at the event. The president will be just ending his participation at the G7 summit in Italy and returning to the United States to attend a fundraiser for his reelection campaign in Los Angeles.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684921/international/15bn-more-us-aid-for-ukraine

Pellegrini vows to pull Slovakia out of turbulence

Peter Pellegrini, the former Slovakia prime minister who was sworn in as the EU member’s sixth president on Saturday, is a fanatic of planes, trains and cars as well as an ally of the Russia-friendly government.Backed by populist Prime Minister Robert Fico, the 48-year-old pledged to “unite a divided Slovakia” during an electoral campaign dominated by divisions over the war in neighbouring Ukraine.He told AFP that Slovakia was “divided between those who are in favour of the continuation of the war (between Russia and Ukraine) at all costs, and those who demand the start of peace negotiations”.“I belong to the latter,” said Pellegrini, known as “Pelle” to his friends.Educated in finance, he joined Fico’s populist Smer-SD party and went on to serve in his ally’s previous governments, before succeeding him as prime minister.Pellegrini founded his own Hlas-SD party in 2020. The leftist party came third in last year’s general election and joined the ruling coalition with Smer-SD and the small far-right SNS to govern the European Union and Nato state.A Slovak with distant Italian roots, Pellegrini was born on October 6, 1975 in the central city of Banska Bystrica to a car mechanic father and a teacher mother.“We lived modestly, like many other families in those days,” Pellegrini, who has one sister, wrote in his CV.“I was fascinated by my father’s world, marked by the smell of motor oil and dismantled cars, tractors and motorbikes.”Pellegrini once said he wanted to work on trains, adding: “I’m extremely interested in railways in general.”He is also a licensed pilot for single-engine light aircraft.In 2015, he posted a Facebook video from inside a fighter jet with the comment that he got “an amazing birthday gift”.Pellegrini is also fond of music and was part of a dance ensemble and played the accordion in his youth.A bachelor, Pellegrini was also once dubbed “the sexiest politician in Slovakia” by women’s magazines.When announcing his candidacy, he said he lives alone, adding: “If elected president, I would not be accompanied by a first lady or anyone else.”He does however have a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog named Gery.After studying finance, he worked as an economist and later as an adviser to a lawmaker from Smer-SD.Pellegrini became an MP for the party in 2006 and was re-elected twice. Later he served as state secretary for finance, education minister and parliament speaker.Pellegrini was prime minister from 2018 to 2020 after Fico was toppled following the murders of journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee.The double murder sparked large rallies that forced Fico’s resignation as Kuciak had been working on links between the Italian mafia and Smer-SD.While head of government, Pellegrini also undertook stints as the acting minister of health, finance and interior.Pellegrini speaks Slovak, Russian, German and English.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684920/international/pellegrini-vows-to-pull-slovakia-out-of-turbulence

Britain anti-monarchists try to rain on King Charles’ birthday parade

Except for some torrential downpours, King Charles III’s highly choreographed official birthday parade passed off successfully yesterday, as Catherine, Princess of Wales, made a well-received partial return to public duties.But a small band of anti-monarchists did not keep to the meticulously planned script, booing the royals as they appeared on the Buckingham Palace balcony, waving their protest placards and aggravating royalists there.Graham Smith, who heads the Republic pressure group which campaigns for an elected UK head of state to replace the monarch, led the several dozen demonstrators determined to intrude on one of the highlights of the royal calendar. “The monarchy is undemocratic, it’s corrupt,” he told AFP, as they rallied near the palace with the organisation’s signature yellow placards and flags bearing slogans like “down with the crown”.“They misuse public office for personal gain, spending millions...on lifestyle, demanding secrecy, interfering in politics,” he added, in criticisms Smith regularly airs against the centuries-old British institution.Long a fringe group in the UK, Republic insists it has “momentum” on its side in its bid to persuade Britons to ditch the monarchy. The group has sought to capitalise on the end of Queen Elizabeth’s seven-decade reign — the biggest change to the monarchy in a generation — to make a fresh case for reform.It has increased its standing since Charles’s tenure on the throne started in September 2022, and now boasts 140,000 “supporters” and 10,000 paying members, according to Smith. He told AFP in February that Charles’ recently announced cancer diagnosis would not stop his organisation making its case.Just weeks later Kate, as the Princess of Wales is widely known, revealed she too had been diagnosed with the disease, prompting a wave of support from global leaders, family members, media and the public. Charles, 75, was given the green light to resume public duties in April, after doctors said they were “very encouraged” by his progress.Kate’s public appearance on Saturday, her first since last December, followed a statement on Friday that she was “making good progress” with her treatment, which is set to last for several more months. However, the 42-year-old princess added she was “not out of the woods yet”.“I wish them all the best and hope they make a full recovery and it’s very good they are apparently better and well enough to come out today,” Smith said on Saturday.“But that doesn’t change the fact that they shouldn’t be... doing what they’re doing.”Current polling shows senior royals currently have little to fear from Republic, with a wide margin preferring to retain them over switching to an elected head of state. But that support wanes among younger people, while Smith has noted that overall, backing for the institution is down on previous levels during Elizabeth II’s record-breaking reign.Smith intends to campaign for a referendum on the issue during the next parliamentary term, which could prove a struggle with none of the leading UK-wide parties supporting its stance. Unsurprisingly, flag-waving monarchy backers in attendance at yesterday’s Trooping the Colour military parade marking Charles’ official birthday were unimpressed by the noisy Republic contingent. Cries of “not my king” were met by counter-cries of “God save the king” - and “shut up” - as the two camps had brief heated exchanges.“I think it’s impertinent that they’re gathering so soon after the King’s cancer diagnosis,” said James Evans.“He’s trying his best to fulfil his obligations and his duties. And I gathered here to cheer him,” he added, vowing to “drown them out with our songs and our cheering”.“I hope the king sees us today — and he sees there are more of us than them.” But Gordon Alexander, a 72-year-old Republic member, was undeterred.“Britain doesn’t need to have a hereditary monarch as the head of state,” he told AFP. “It doesn’t make sense in this time we live in and yet we still have a structure that allows one person or one family to have huge influence in the country.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684901/international/britain-anti-monarchists-try-to-rain-on-king-charles-birthday-parade

Eid al-Adha in Qatar: a journey of faith and humanity

We have always admired the traditions of a nation that with faith, good customs, education, and solid social and family values have formed a good community that transcends globally.The teachings for a better life of a community that has managed to overcome itself are millennial results of a permanence of generations and generations that knew how to enrich the human essence by doing good.These values that are permanently rooted are linked to beautiful festivities, determined by the Islamic lunar calendar, and in which Eid al-Adha stands out these days.These religious festivals based on an unshakeable belief in one God enrich and strengthen the soul with unconditional faith.The festivities in Qatar, a country that welcomes us generously and even in a familiar way, have always filled us with joy with genuine details such as helping others spontaneously, with love and respect to lead this life, a divine gift, in harmony and peace.As Eid al-Adha approaches, we feel a suggestive atmosphere of joy, family union, consolidating our human relationships that are so essential in all human societies.Likewise, we will be able to see unique exhibitions and taste the culinary wealth of these Middle Eastern lands, with their music and their sung prayers that become sweet companions of our daily coexistence, so necessary in a world that demands peaceful coexistence among all our nations.We will dialogue with people who, with testimonies of past years, will transport us to other times and spaces that will transmit messages of good and peace to us; and they will also do so with their families; among them the children and grandchildren.These are also opportunities to follow the example of all those innumerable qualities of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him): belief, justice, truth, respect, disinterestedness, simplicity, modesty, humility, help for the needy and forgiveness.I reiterate that this Eid is a reason to commemorate the remembered “Feast of the Sacrifice”, which was a test of the loyalty and obedience of the Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) to the one God, who commands and orders our lives.Following tradition, it is a privilege to extend our greetings and sincere wishes of happiness to His Highness the Amir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, his family and the people of Qatar.May Eid be filled with blessings, joy and unity!

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684857/international/eid-al-adha-in-qatar-a-journey-of-faith-and-humanity

Meta announces improved video calling features in WhatsApp

WhatsApp announced several feature improvements related to video calling for mobile and desktop users.The Meta-owned instant messaging platform explained that the latest update will bring improvements to screen sharing on the app. When watching videos with other participants while sharing their screen, a user will also be able to share the audio playing, according to the company.WhatsApp also revealed an increase in the number of participants who can join video calls together. While up to 32 mobile users could join the calls, the number was previously limited to eight for users on the desktop apps. It has now been made uniform across all devices and up to 32 participants can be part of a video, call irrespective of which platform a user is joining from.A new 'speaker spotlight' feature will also be introduced, highlighting the current speaker on a video call. In theory, it could prove to be useful when attending video calls in large groups, enabling users to easily identify the speaker without requiring them to go through the participant list.In addition to the video calling features, Meta Platforms also introduced a new tool which aims to improve the call quality. The feature - known as Meta Low Bitrate (MLow) codec - helps compress the audio/video captured for efficient transfer over the internet, according to Meta.Although compression often comes at a cost of quality, Meta says the MLow codec is an upgrade over the previous open source Opus codec and can improve the audio quality, especially on slow-speed connections. This codec was already available on other Meta platforms such as Instagram and Messenger, and is now being rolled out to WhatsApp.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684811/international/meta-announces-improved-video-calling-features-in-whatsapp

France working with US, Israeli entity on roadmap to defuse escalation in Southern Lebanon

French President Emmanuel Macron announced Friday the formation of a trilateral group with the United States and the Israeli entity to push forward a roadmap presented by Paris earlier this year to defuse the escalation in southern Lebanon.'With the United States we agreed on the principle of a trilateral contact group, Israel, the United States and France to advance on the roadmap that we proposed and we will do the same with the Lebanese authorities,' Macron tells reporters on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Rome.France has been trying since January to ease the tensions in southern Lebanon

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684808/international/france-working-with-us-israeli-entity-on-roadmap-to-defuse-escalation-in-southern-lebanon

Greece closes more ancient tourist attractions as heatwave persists

The Athens Acropolis, Greece’s most visited tourist attraction, was closed to the public during the hottest hours yesterday for the second day running, as tourists sweltered under the country’s earliest-ever heatwave.Tourists were unable to visit the Parthenon and other ancient masterpieces atop the Unesco-listed archaeological site between noon and 5pm local time (0900 to 1400 GMT).Many primary schools and nurseries across the country were closed to protect students from the heat, which was expected to recede tomorrow.In Athens, tourists stopped at drinking fountains to cool their heads and necks. Locals sat in air conditioned rooms set up by the city, using handheld fans to create a breeze.Firefighters who put out several wildfires on Wednesday remained on high alert as strong winds were expected to hit several parts of the country.Meteorologists have noted it is the earliest heatwave – which for Greece means temperatures exceeding 38° Celsius (100° Fahrenheit) for at least three days – on record.In central Athens, the mercury climbed to 42C, with the forecast heat prompting health warnings and school closures.Still hotter temperatures were recorded on the island of Crete – 44.5C – and on the Peloponnese peninsula – 43.9C – according to the meteo.gr website of the Athens National Observatory.Several other Greek archaeological sites in Crete, the Dodecanese, the Cyclades and the Peloponnese were also shut as a precaution against the heat.Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection minister, Vassilis Kikilias, warned of the risk of fire due to strong winds that could blow across the country. Civil protection was on “high alert”, he added.The risk of fire will be “very high” today in ten regions, including in Attica, which surrounds Athens, his ministry also warned.Temperatures are expected to ease from today.The Acropolis was forced to close in July last year during a two-week heatwave that was unprecedented in its duration.It was followed by fires that, according to the National Observatory of Athens, consumed nearly 175,000 hectares (432,000 acres) of forest and farmland.A record number of almost 4mn visitors flocked to the Acropolis in 2023, its popularity boosted in part due to tourists arriving on cruise ships calling in at the nearby port of Piraeus.Greece is one of the most hard-hit countries by global warming in Europe, with rising temperatures fuelling deadly fires and erratic rains in recent years.Athens, a city of 5mn people which sits in a coastal bowl jammed with apartment blocks and flanked by mountains, is one of the hottest cities in Europe.Scientists warn that summer temperatures there could rise by an average of 2C by 2050.Athens mayor Haris Doukas has tried to create more shade by planting 2,000 trees.“Our first goal shall be to lower the median temperature, the felt-air temperature,” he told Reuters. “There are areas where the temperature is 15 or 20 times higher on cement or a city road, compared to a shady area.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684789/international/greece-closes-more-ancient-tourist-attractions-as-heatwave-persists

Incensed Conservatives oust leader over RN alliance bid

French conservatives on Wednesday said they had removed their leader Eric Ciotti for trying to strike an electoral alliance with the far-right National Rally (RN), although he insisted he was still in the post. The Republicans’ political committee had voted unanimously to oust Ciotti, MP Annie Genevard said, adding that the party “will present candidates to the French public with clarity and independence” at snap polls called by President Emmanuel Macron for June 30 and July 7. “I am and remain the president” of the party, Ciotti retorted in a post on X, calling the committee’s decision “a flagrant violation of our statutes” that was illegal and void. A mass revolt broke out among Republican heavyweights after Ciotti announced his deal with the RN on TV on Tuesday. He closed the party headquarters near the National Assembly lower house for the day after the political committee called an emergency meeting, saying there had “never been any meeting planned at the HQ this afternoon”. Ciotti claimed the move was for staff safety “after receiving threats”. The politician from Nice in southeast France “was no longer president from the second he made this insane decision” to announce an alliance with the RN, senior lawmaker Aurelien Pradie had earlier told broadcaster France 2. Long a “party of government” bringing presidents like Nicolas Sarkozy and Jacques Chirac to power, the Republicans have been squeezed between President Emmanuel Macron’s centrists and the far right since 2017. Leaders have struggled to chart an independent course, at times allying with Macron’s minority government to pass key laws and at others threatening censure motions. After Macron on Sunday announced snap elections in the wake of his own European vote battering, Ciotti on Tuesday declared he had made an electoral deal with the RN — taking much of his own party by surprise. “In politics, the answer isn’t coalition deals, little pacts made behind closed doors to secure constituencies,” said Laurent Wauquiez, Republican president of the Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region. “We try to convince people, we may fail to convince people. But we do it clearly and with a spine,” he added. “The Republicans have to communicate their ideas simply but clearly in this legislative battle.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684740/international/incensed-conservatives-oust-leader-over-rn-alliance-bid

Athens Acropolis shut after earliest heatwave

The Athens Acropolis, Greece’s most visited tourist site, was closed to the public during the hottest hours of on Wednesday as the season’s earliest-ever heatwave swept the country, prompting school closures and health warnings.The Unesco-listed archaeological site closed from midday to 5pm, with temperatures topping 43 degrees Celsius in central Greece. Temperatures of up to 44 degrees Celsius are expected today as the phenomenon peaks, with up to 43 degrees Celsius forecast in the capital. Meteorologists have noted this is the earliest heatwave — which for Greece is temperatures exceeding 38 degrees Celsius for at least three days — on record. “This heatwave will go down in history,” meteorologist Panos Giannopoulos said on state TV ERT. “In the 20th century we never had a heatwave before June 19. We have had several in the 21st century, but none before June 15,” he said. The climate crisis and civil protection ministry has warned of a very high risk of fires in the Attica region around Athens. Schools stayed closed in several regions of the country on Wednesday and will do so again on Thursday, including in the capital, while the labour ministry has advised public-sector employees to work from home.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684738/international/athens-acropolis-shut-after-earliest-heatwave

Biden’s son convicted on all charges in gun case

A jury found Hunter Biden guilty on Tuesday of federal gun charges in a historic first criminal prosecution of the child of a sitting US president.The 54-year-old son of President Joe Biden was convicted on all three of the felony counts stemming from his 2018 purchase of a handgun while addicted to drugs.The verdict comes as his father is seeking re-election and on a day when the Democratic president is scheduled to give a speech in Washington about gun violence.The president expressed his “love and support” for his son in a statement released by the White House following the conclusion of the trial held in the Biden hometown of Wilmington, Delaware.“I am the President, but I am also a Dad,” Biden said. “Jill and I love our son, and we are so proud of the man he is today.”“So many families who have had loved ones battle addiction understand the feeling of pride seeing someone you love come out the other side and be so strong and resilient in recovery,” he said.“I will accept the outcome of this case and will continue to respect the judicial process as Hunter considers an appeal,” Biden added.The 12-member jury deliberated for about three hours over two days before reaching a verdict. Hunter Biden did not take the stand during the one-week trial. First Lady Jill Biden attended several days.Hunter Biden could face up to 25 years in prison, although as a first-time offender jail time is unlikely.The verdict comes less than two weeks after the conviction on business fraud charges of Donald Trump, Joe Biden’s likely Republican opponent in the November presidential election. The proceedings, along with another case in which Hunter Biden faces tax evasion charges in California, have complicated Democrats’ efforts to keep the election focus on Trump, the first former president ever to be convicted of a crime.In addition to being a political distraction, Hunter Biden’s legal woes have reopened painful emotional wounds for the family from his time as a drug addict.His brother Beau died from cancer in 2015, and his sister Naomi died as an infant in a 1972 car crash that also killed their mother, Neilia, Joe Biden’s first wife.The Yale-trained lawyer and lobbyist-turned-artist was charged with falsely stating when buying a .38 calibre revolver in 2018 that he was not using drugs illegally.He was also charged with illegal possession of the firearm, which he had for just 11 days in October of that year.The president’s son, who has written unsparingly about his addiction, claimed that at the time he bought the revolver he did not consider himself to be an addict.He has long been the target of hard-right Republicans, and Trump allies have investigated him at length in Congress on allegations of corruption and influence-peddling. No charges have ever been brought.

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684651/international/bidens-son-convicted-on-all-charges-in-gun-case

Macron poll gamble: Blindsided PM offered to become ‘fall guy’

When French President Emmanuel Macron told his young prime minister of his decision to call a snap election just hours before announcing it on television, Gabriel Attal tried to dissuade his boss, asking him to accept his resignation instead, two sources told Reuters.“I can be the fall guy,” Attal implored Macron, after his efforts at dissuasion went nowhere, according to a minister and another government source who spoke on condition of anonymity.Macron declined Attal’s offer, and a few hours later, as exit polls showed Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) trouncing his ticket, he dissolved parliament.The resignation bid by Attal, initially reported by Le Monde newspaper and other French media, underlines how Macron’s shock decision to bet the house on snap elections was not universally applauded by his camp and threatened to prematurely curtail their political project. Attal’s office did not respond to a request for comment.The 34-year-old Attal, France’s youngest ever prime minister when he took office in January, has been mooted as a potential Macron successor in 2027, but now risks losing his job to the RN’s 28-year-old party president Jordan Bardella.Attal was unaware of Macron’s plans, which he had kept from all but a tiny circle of advisors, the sources said.Among them was Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, another potential successor and snap vote advocate, and Bruno Roger-Petit, an ex-journalist-turned-strategist who has masterminded Macron’s rightward shift over the last few years.Macron’s calculation, which he had arrived at with close advisors over several weeks before Sunday’s announcement, was that it was better to blindside his opponents with an immediate election than wait for inevitable conservative no-confidence motions later in the year when he would be weaker.At a hastily convened cabinet meeting on Sunday night, shortly after announcing the snap vote, stunned ministers listened in silence as Macron said he wanted to give the French people a chance to “take back control” of their parliament, and reinstate order in an increasingly chaotic chamber, sources said.“There was surprise, a bit of perplexity, some combativeness from those who were favourable to the option, such as Gerald,” one source present at the Elysee palace meeting said.Attal, meanwhile, has been tasked by Macron with leading his ticket in the lightening, three-week campaign, the two sources said. Attal has yet to make any public comment since tendering his resignation, although he told lawmakers behind closed doors on Tuesday that the “die was not cast” and that he would do everything to “avoid the worst.”There was also wide concern across Europe.“The problem is what his decision will mean for the rest of us,” one EU diplomat said.Macron has long been frustrated by the fractious lower house that resulted from the previous parliamentary elections in 2022, when he lost his governing majority, with hard-left lawmakers in particular often using spectacular filibustering tactics.His entourage said the president made his decision after last week’s 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, when he met people out and about who said they were tired of endless political infighting in parliament. But the plan came into sharper focus as it became clear Le Pen would inflict a humiliating defeat in Sunday’s vote.One source with knowledge of Macron’s battle plan said he is convinced he can win, betting that the short campaign — the minimum allowed by the constitution — will wrong-foot his foes.The source said Macron also expects the left to fail to unite this time round, unlike in 2022 when Greens, Socialists and the radical left France Unbowed agreed on a common platform that did well in the two-round voting system.Another source close to Macron said the possibility of giving the RN a platform to display incompetence ahead of the 2027 presidential election for which Le Pen is the frontrunner was also on his mind.“He has no certainty, but he looks at probabilities,” the source said. “The top one is that the RN doesn’t win. And there is also the possibility the RN wins a simple majority, in which case yes...a show of incompetence.”However, among the Macronistas in the empty corridors of the now-dissolved National Assembly, there was little excitement.“It’s never pleasant to campaign,” said Emmanuel Pellerin, a lawmaker in Macron’s camp. “The times are tough. I can’t say we’re having fun.”

source https://www.gulf-times.com/article/684653/international/macron-poll-gamble-blindsided-pm-offered-to-become-fall-guy