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Europe Európa
France
09:15 BST, 6 July 2024 The fall of Macron. Since his entry into France's Elysée Palace in 2017, Macron has billed himself as the ultimate statesman - a quick-witted, slick-talking diplomat with a fierce political nous and a dab hand at economics thanks to a background in banking. But the murder and beheading of history teacher Paty in 2020, sparked national outrage. Immigrants constituted 5% of the population in 1946. This figure increased to 8.5% in 2010, After Macron came to power in 2017, now more than 10% of France’s population is made up of immigrants. But his detractors claim he's focused on building his rep in Europe at the expense of his own voters at home - and the results of recent votes appear to validate that criticism. Macron's first presidential term was blighted by the Yellow Vest protests - months of demonstrations by citizens enraged by fuel tax increases, among other policies. When Angela Merkel finally left office as German Chancellor in 2021, he picked up the baton as the most influential leader in Europe. But La Rotonde restaurant - one of Macron's favourite Parisian establishments – was attacked by protesters after the government pushed a pensions reform through parliament without a vote, using the article 49.3 of the constitution, in Paris on April 2023. France's retirement age will gradually rise from 62 to 64, with the age increased by three months each year starting from this September until 2030. From 2027, most workers will also have to make social security contributions over 43 years rather than 42 years in order to draw a full pension. The move prompted widespread riots, clashes with police, that endured for weeks, workers refusing to work. Macron's presidency has seen a litany of shockingly violent attacks authored by Islamic extremists. Late last year, another French schoolteacher was stabbed to death and several others injured by the 20-year-old Chechen Muslim refugee, Islamist knifeman in Arras in northern France. And a German tourist was killed by a 26-year-old man who had previously been sentenced to a four-year prison sentence for planning to join the islamic state in Syria. But the National Front’s National Rally (Rassemblement National - RN) party members see themselves as 'nationalists" and 'localists" who hold the interests of the French people above all others. This means cracking down on immigration. In December Macron's government passed a bill that made it harder for migrants to access state benefits that at the time was lauded by Le Pen as an 'ideological victory” for the RN. Unemployed immigrants must wait five years before they can get benefits - the previous stipulation was of just six months. Non-EU citizens working in France now have to prove they have been in the country for 30 months before they can receive welfare benefits such as child care. But these measures are seemingly too little, too late, with the RN promising a much tougher stance on immigration. And Macron's party was battered in European parliament elections last month - the catalyst behind his decision last month to call a snap election in France. The first round of the legislative elections last week saw Le Pen and Bardella's National Rally (RN) win some 33% of the vote ahead of a left-wing alliance on 28% - with Macron's centrists languishing in a distant third on just 20%. It seems to have been the final nail in the coffin. Is set to be slaughtered the 'Together' alliance - a coalition of centrists led by Macron's party - when the French electorate heads to the polls tomorrow? NR President Bardella himself has declared he will wage a 'cultural battle' against Islam if his party emerges victorious from parliamentary elections. If he is made Prime Minister in the case of an RN absolute majority, the party will seek to pass legislation to 'combat Islamist ideologies' in France that would grant the government enhanced powers to shutter mosques and deport imams suspected of being associated with extremist ideologies. The RN candidate also declared he would prevent dual citizens from accessing certain 'strategic' state jobs. France is also flouting the bloc's own regulations on debt and budget deficits. The EU stipulates that its members must not exceed a budget deficit of 3% of GDP. Public debt meanwhile must be held within 60% of GDP. Under Macron, France ran up a budget deficit of 5.5% of GDP last year - and the nation's debt now sits at well over €3 trillion. In December 2023, the public debt was put at 110.6% of GDP according to CEIC data. Last week, in an attempt to assuage the French people's concerns over the economy Prime Minister Gabriel Attal declared the government would lower energy bills, soften inheritance tax and link pensions to inflation to ease the strain on household finances if the Macron alliance remains in power after July 7. 'There will be no tax hikes, no matter what,' he said. Bardella attacked Attal, claiming the centrist Prime Minister had zero credibility on public finances, adding France was now in a state of 'near bankruptcy'. The RN's leading finance expert, Tanguy, was claiming the RN's economic programme would be entirely financed by closing tax loopholes, reducing red tape, and spending cuts - especially on welfare for immigrants as part of the crackdown on immigration. Bardella has also declared the RN would demand a huge cut of between €2 billion and €3 billion in France's contributions to Europe. Concerns over immigration and extremism, the state of the economy and the rehabilitation of the RN's image have all hastened the tilt of the French public to the right. Most French people simply do not like their president anymore. A week before Sunday's first round elections, Macron's approval rating was mired at just 26% - a historic low equal only to the weeks following the introduction of his detested pension reforms. Macron's party is fully aware of the nation's perception of their leader. His face has been removed from election posters and flyers. MPs from his party have implored him to allow his prime minister Gabriel Attal to take the lead in running the legislative campaign. Yet Macron still appears ubiquitous, giving regular speeches, interviews and even appearing on podcasts. Much of the French electorate sees the president as pig-headed and arrogant - a man who is convinced he knows best and simply cannot satiate his lust for the limelight. But subsequent comments made by Macron, in which he said a far-right or far-left victory in the elections could lead to 'civil war', saw him lambasted for stoking fear among voters and trying to paint himself and his party as the only stable choice, with the alternative being chaos. (Source: dailymail *)
* The Daily Mail, a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper. Headquarters London, United Kingdom
Szlovákia
(Szombat), 2024. július 6. 10:19 Robert Fico szlovák miniszterelnök az ellene végrehajtott májusi merényletkísérlet óta első nyilvános fellépésében Orbán Viktor magyar kormányfő közvetítői erőfeszítéseit méltatta az ukrajnai konfliktusban. A Szent Cirill és Metód szláv apostolok tiszteletére a dévényi várban rendezett pénteki ünnepélyes rendezvényen Robert Fico élesen bírálta ’a liberális ideológiát’ és nagyra méltatta a magyar kormányfő azon erőfeszítését, hogy közvetíteni próbál az ukrajnai konfliktusban. "Ha egészséges lennék, csatlakoztam volna hozzá" - utalt a szlovák miniszterelnök Orbán Viktor moszkvai útjára. "Nem lehet elegendő békekezdeményezés" annak érdekében, hogy megakadályozzák az ukrajnai háború elmérgesedését és egy jóval szélesebb katonai konfliktussá terebélyesedését - hangsúlyozta Robert Fico. Mint mondta, "csodálattal adózik" Orbán Viktornak, amiért Kijevbe és Moszkvába is elutazott, hogy Zelenszkij elnökkel, illetve Putyin orosz államfővel is találkozzon. Fico úgy fogalmazott, hogy a béke ugyan nem minden, de "a béke nélkül minden semmis". (Forrás: infostart * / MTI **)
* Az Infostart tárgyilagos online közéleti hírportál, az InfoRádióval együttműködve.
** Magyar Távirati Iroda: magyar állami hírügynökség 1880 óta. 2015. július 1-jén a hírügynökség a Magyar Televízióval, a Duna Televízióval és a Magyar Rádióval egyesült Duna Médiaszolgáltató Nonprofit Zrt. néven
Slovakia
6 July 2024 Slovak PM in first public appearance since shooting. Yesterday, at Devin Castle, during a ceremony to mark Saints Cyril and Methodius Day, a public holiday in Slovakia, Mr Fico, 59, the Slovakian prime minister has made his first public appearance since being wounded in an assassination attempt on 15 May. Mr Fico used a speech at the commemoration to criticise the expansion of progressive ideologies and the West's stance towards Russia over the war in Ukraine. He said 'meaningless' liberal ideas were "spreading like cancer", and that there were 'not enough peace talks" with Russia over Ukraine. (Source: bbc *) by 'Philips'
* British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the oldest and largest local and global British public service broadcaster, founded in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company. Headquartered in London, England.
Russia
7:15 PM CEST, July 6, 2024 Two civilians were wounded after Ukrainian forces overnight shelled a border town in the southern Belgorod region, Gov. Gladkov reported. The Russian Defense Ministry said its troops overnight shot down a total of eight drones over the Kursk and Belgorod regions in the south. In Krasnodar province next to Crimea, local authorities reported damage caused during the night by falling drone debris. Debris sparked a fire at an oil depot, set fuel tanks ablaze in a separate location and damaged a cellphone tower, the reports said. There were no immediate reports of casualties. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russian forces on yesterday and overnight launched six rocket strikes and 55 airstrikes across Ukraine, and used more than 70 “glide bombs”. Late yesterday Russian strikes damaged energy infrastructure, overnight left over 100,000 households without power in the northern Sumy region, which borders Russia. Russian drones hit the provincial capital, also called Sumy, which had a pre-war population of over 256,000, cutting off water by hitting power lines that feed its system of pumps. Moscow’s forces overnight hit a plant producing rocket ammunition in the city, Explosions rocked the city during an air raid warning early today. A funeral ceremony for the 49-year old British combat medic Fouché, a native of west London took place in the center of Kyiv today. Since 2022 he ferried drones, vehicles, uniforms and food to Ukrainian soldiers in the east at the volunteer group Project Konstantin. Fouché helped build a field hospital in Kyiv and later enlisted in the Ukrainian army. At least five other Britons have been killed while volunteering in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. In the Donetsk region in the east, Russian shelling yesterday and overnight killed 11 civilians and wounded 43, local Gov. Filashkin reported today. Five people died in the town of Selydove southeast of Pokrovsk city, that has emerged as a front-line hotspot. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced its troops had captured a village some 30 kilometers east of the city. According to Filashkin, three more civilians died in Chasiv Yar, a town in Donetsk that has been reduced to rubble under a monthlong Russian assault. The town’s elevated location gives it strategic importance, and military analysts say its fall would put nearby cities in jeopardy. It could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and bring Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region. A Ukrainian military spokesperson on July 4 told that Ukrainian forces had retreated from a neighborhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar. (Source: apnews)
(Saturday), 18:54, 06-Jul-2024 Yesterday Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met Russian President Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow to discuss peace in Ukraine. Before leaving Budapest or announcing the Moscow trip, Orbán had said he was on a mission for peace: "Hungary does not have the mandate or the international political weight (...) but we can be an instrument in the service of God and of those who want peace." According to the Kremlin, Budapest proposed the visit on Wednesday, the day after the Hungarian Prime Minister's visit to Ukraine, a country with which he maintains difficult relations, not least because of 'his' willingness to reach out to Russia. "I understand that this time you have come not only as a long-standing partner, but also as the President of the Council" of the EU, Putin told Orbán during a press conference in the Kremlin. "I expect you to tell me your position (on Ukraine) and that of the European partners", he added. In turn, Orbán told Putin that "the number of countries that can talk to both sides of the war is shrinking. Hungary is gradually becoming the only country in Europe that can talk to everyone." NATO member Hungary assumed the six-month rotating presidency of the EU on Monday. Five days in and Orbán has visited President Zelenskyy in Kyiv and formed the "Patriots for Europe" alliance with other right-wing 'nationalists". During his visit to Kyiv, Orbán had said that Ukraine should accept a ceasefire. He then chose to go to Moscow on what he called a "peace mission," days before a NATO summit that will address further military aid for Ukraine as the conflict with Russia continues. "You were in Kyiv recently. You came here to discuss all the nuances of the Ukrainian issue," noted Putin in his meeting with Orbán. The Russian president recalled during the meeting that in June he had set out his conditions for peace in Ukraine: complete withdrawal of all Ukrainian troops from the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, as well as from the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Ukraine is calling for a ’just peace" that includes the withdrawal of Russian troops and respect for its territorial integrity. For the EU, which has cut ties with Moscow and imposed tough sanctions on Russia, Orbán is not its representative in Moscow for this visit, and is not authorized to speak about Ukraine on its behalf. 'The rotating presidency of the EU has no mandate to engage in dialogue with Russia on behalf of the EU,' wrote Michel, President of the European Council on X, who had already reacted on Thursday evening to the unofficial announcement of the trip. "Appeasement will not stop Putin,’ European Commission President von der Leyen said on X. amid Orbán's trip. According to the EU's top diplomat, Borrell, Orbán ’does not represent the EU in any way’. A few days ahead of a NATO summit in Washington where Ukraine will be a major topic of discussion, and with this visit likely to blur positions, Secretary General Soltenberg insisted that "Viktor Orbán does not represent NATO at these meetings, he represents his own country", stressing however, without further details, that NATO had been "informed" of the trip. (Source: cgtn *)
* China Global Television Network (CGTN), a state-run international division of China Central Television (CCTV). Headquartered in Beijing, China
(Saturday), 6 July 2024 7:02 Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán travelled to Moscow on Thursday (4 July) to meet Russian President Putin, only a few days after his surprise visit to Kyiv, where he urged Ukraine’s leadership to work towards a rapid ceasefire with Russia. Russian President Putin was hosting Orbán - the friendliest leader in the EU to Moscow - for talks at the Kremlin, described by the Russian president as a “really useful, frank conversation” on the conflict in Ukraine. Putin said at the start of the talks that he wanted to “discuss the nuances that have developed” over the conflict in Ukraine with Orbán, who visited Kyiv earlier this week. Putin told Viktor Orbán on Friday (5 July) that Ukraine must effectively capitulate if it wants peace. The pair “talked about the possible ways of resolving” the Ukraine conflict, Putin said in remarks after a bilateral meeting. The Kremlin leader repeated his demand that Ukraine withdraw all its troops from regions that Moscow has annexed and said Kyiv was 'not ready to drop the idea of waging war until a victorious end'. Orbán in turn said he had realised “positions are far apart' between the two sides. “The number of steps needed to end the war and bring about peace is many,” he said. The visit came days after Hungary took over the EU’s rotating presidency and Putin told Orbán he expected him to outline “the position of European partners” on Ukraine. The visit had been Orbán’s idea and Russian officials only heard about the trip on Wednesday - a day after Orbán had visited Kyiv, Kremlin spokesman Peskov told. EU foreign policy chief Borrell said that Orbán’s “visit to Moscow takes place, exclusively, in the framework of the bilateral relations between Hungary and Russia'. 'If we just sit in Brussels, we won’t be able to get any closer to peace. Action must be taken,” Orbán said on 2 July during his regular interview on Hungarian state radio. Orbán and Putin last met in October 2023 in Beijing, where they discussed energy cooperation. Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who appeared in public yesterday for the first time since a May assassination attempt, backed Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán’s visit to Moscow, saying that he would have joined his Hungarian colleague on his visit if health allowed. Hungary’s six-month EU presidency gives the central European country sway over the bloc’s agenda and priorities for the next six months. The Hungarian leader yesterday insisted that peace cannot be achieved without dialogue. The visit is the first to Moscow by a European leader since a trip by Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer in April 2022. NATO head Stoltenberg said Orbán had informed the alliance of his trip but stressed the Hungarian leader was “not representing NATO at these meetings. He’s representing his own country”. (Source: euractiv * "with AFP')
* Euractiv, a European news website. Its headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.
United Kingdom
3:30 PM CEST, (Saturday), July 6, 2024 New UK Prime Minister Starmer says controversial Rwanda deportation plan is ‘dead and buried’. It’s unclear what Starmer will do differently to tackle the same crisis with a record number of people coming ashore in the first six months of this year. “Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,” Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace Sunak as party leader, said today. “There are big problems on the horizon which will be I’m afraid caused by Starmer,” she criticized Starmer’s plan to end the Rwanda pact. Foreign Secretary Lammy was to begin his first international trip today to meet counterparts in Germany, Poland and Sweden to reinforce the importance of their relationship. (Source: apnews)
1:17 PM CEST, July 6, 2024 Britain’s new Prime Minister Starmer has appointed a Cabinet of Labour Party lawmakers and a few outside experts as he tries to tackle priorities including boosting a sluggish economy, building more homes and fixing the creaking state-funded health service. Labour has spent 14 years in opposition, so few have held government office before. (Source: apnews *)
* The Associated Press, an American news agency headquartered in New York City, U.S.
Asia
Iran
(Saturday), July 06, 2024 18:29 IST Following the historically low turnout in the presidential election on June 28, a runoff election was declared. There was a voter turnout of almost 50 per cent in Friday’s vote. The recent security crackdowns that restrained any public dissent from Islamic orthodox had widely affected the people of Iran. With the support of the urban middle class and the young, Pezeshkian emerged victorious. During the row over Amini's death in 2022, Pezeshkian demanded clarification from authorities about her death. Amini had died in custody after she was arrested for allegedly violating the law restricting women's dress. "We will respect the hijab law, but there should never be any intrusive or inhumane behaviour toward women," Pezeshkian said after casting his vote in the first round. Iran's next president defeated hardliner Jalili. Pezeshkian, 69, a cardiac surgeon, is known to be a reformist and a moderate. His views offer a contrast to that of former Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash in May. Iran's ultimate authority is Supreme Leader Khamenei. Though the president's role is limited as shots are called by the Supreme Leader on matters regarding top affairs, Pezeshkian vowed to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Pezeshkian, a combatant and physician, was tasked with the deployment of medical teams to the front lines. He lost his wife and one of his children in a car accident in 1994 and raised his surviving two sons and a daughter alone. Pezeshkian was health minister from 2001-5 in former president Khatami's second term. Pezeshkian is likely to be welcomed by world leaders as he is believed to pursue peaceful ways amid tensions in the Middle East. (Source: theweek *)
* The Week, the largest circulated English news magazine in India, based in Kochi
July 6, 2024 Iranian markets reacted positively to the outcome of the second round of snap elections held on July 5, which saw Pezeshkian emerge as the victor with 53.7% of the votes, becoming the 14th President of Iran. According to the final tally released by the election committee, the election saw a voter turnout of 30,530,157, with Pezeshkian garnering 16,384,403 votes. His main rival, Jalili, received 13,538,179 votes, accounting for 44.3% of the total, while spoiled ballots constituted 2%. The election commenced at 8 AM on July 5 and continued until midnight. Pezeshkian's victory represents an increase from the previous round, where he had secured over 10,415,000 votes with a 39.9% turnout. The overall participation rate in the final round stood at 49.75%, with 30,573,931 ballots cast out of 61,452,351 eligible voters. (Source: intelliNews *)
* bne IntelliNews, a news wire agency and media company. Headquarters Berlin, Germany
North America
United States
July 6, 2024, 2:52 AM "If you can be convinced that you cannot defeat Trump, will you stand down?" Stephanopoulos asked. "It depends on - on if the Lord Almighty comes down and tells me that, I might do that,' Biden said. (Source: abcnews *)
* ABC News, the news division of the American television network ABC. Headquarters New York City
Space
July 6, 2024 Back in 1962, the United States exploded a 1.4-megaton nuclear weapon in space in a test known as Starfish Prime. The bomb blast created a powerful electromagnetic pulse and unleashed a belt of radiation that lingered for months circling the Earth. It crippled one-third of the 24 satellites in orbit at that time, knocking out streetlights in Hawaii and damaging the electric grid. A Defense Department report noted its “intense' burst phenomena illuminated “a very large area of the Pacific.” Today, low Earth orbit is infinitely more crowded. Hundreds of satellites might lose the ability to correct their positioning, sending them careening into one another. That could create fields of debris moving at more than 10,000 miles per hour, slamming into thousands of other satellites and creating a theoretical cascade effect known as Kessler Syndrome. (Source: msn */ The Washington Post)
* MSN (Microsoft Network), an American web portal
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