Emmanuel Macron is paying a high price for his push on pension reform as a survey on Sunday showed the French president is facing a new low in popularity — as low as during the protests of the so-called Yellow Jackets.
As the French take to the streets to protest against Macron’s pension reform, 70 percent of respondents said they are dissatisfied with the president, according to the Ifop barometer published by Le Journal du Dimanche. Macron’s popularity rating fell by 4 points in one month, it showed.
Since December, Macron has suffered a substantial drop of 8 points, and he now sees only 28 percent satisfied and 70 percent dissatisfied, according to the poll carried out, Le Figaro emphasized, between March 9 and 16.
That is the same period as the negotiations that finally led the Elysée to shun parliament and impose the unpopular pension reforms via a special constitutional power, the so-called Article 49.3, which provides that the government can pass a bill without a vote at the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, after a deliberation at a Cabinet meeting.
The procedure has been used in the past by various governments. But this time it’s prompting a lot of criticism because of the massive public opposition to the proposed reform, which raises the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years. Some media stress that recent opinion polls have shown that a majority of the French are opposed to this type of procedure.
“You have to go back to the end of the Yellow Jackets crisis in early 2019 to find comparable levels of unpopularity,” writes Le Journal du Dimanche commenting the survey. The outlet also stresses that dissatisfaction with Macron crosses all categories, the younger generations as well as the blue- and white-collar workers.
A total of 169 people, including 122 in Paris, were taken in custody for questioning on Saturday evening in France during demonstrations marred by tensions between the police and the protesters, according to French media citing figures communicated on Sunday by the Ministry of the Interior.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
As he jets off for a state visit to Moscow this week, China’s President Xi Jinping is doing so in defiance of massive international pressure. Vladimir Putin, the man Xi once called his “best, most intimate friend,” has just become the world’s most wanted alleged war criminal.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Putin on March 17 for his alleged role in illegally transferring Ukrainian civilians into Russian territories. But that isn’t deterring Xi, who broke Communist Party norms and formally secured a third term as Chinese leader this month.
But why is China’s leader so determined to stand by Putin despite the inevitable backlash, at a time when the West is increasingly suspicious of Beijing’s military aims — and scrutinizing prized Chinese companies like TikTok — more closely than ever?
For a start, Beijing’s worldview requires it to stay strategically close to Russia: As Beijing’s leaders see it, the U.S. is blocking China’s path to global leadership, aided by European governments, while most of its own geographical neighbors — from Japan and South Korea to Vietnam and India — are increasingly skeptical rather than supportive.
“The Chinese people are not prone to threats. Paper tigers such as the U.S. would definitely not be able to threaten China,” declared a commentary on Chinese state news agency Xinhua previewing Xi’s trip to Russia. The same article slammed Washington for threatening to sanction China if it provided Russia with weapons for its invasion of Ukraine. “The more the U.S. wants to crush the two superpowers, China and Russia, together … the closer China and Russia lean on each other.”
It’s a view that chimes with the rhetoric from the Kremlin. “Washington does not want this war to end. Washington wants and is doing everything to continue this war. This is the visible hand,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier this month.
10-year bromance
To understand Xi’s preference for Putin even though China’s economy is so intertwined with the West, analysts say it’s not just important to factor in Beijing’s vision for the future, but also to grasp the history that the Chinese and Russian leaders share.
“They’re just six months apart in terms of age. Their fathers both fought in World War II … Both men had hardships in their youths. Both have daughters,” said Alexander Gabuev, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think tank and an expert on Russo-Chinese relations. “And they are both increasingly like an emperor and a tsar, equally obsessed with Color Revolutions.”
Their “bromance,” as Gabuev put it, began in 2013 when Xi met Putin toward the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Bali — on Putin’s birthday. Citing two people present at the impromptu birthday party, Gabuev said the occasion was “not a boozy night, but they opened up and there was a really functioning chemistry.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit in Nusa Dua in 2013 | Mast Irham/AFP via Getty Images
According to Putin himself, Xi presented him with a cake while the Russian leader pulled out a bottle of vodka for a toast. The pair then reminisced over shots and sandwiches. “I’ve never established such relations or made such arrangements with any other foreign colleague, but I did it with President Xi,” Putin told the Chinese CCTV broadcaster in 2018. “This might seem irrelevant, but to talk about President Xi, this is where I would like to start.”
Those remarks were followed by a trip to Beijing, where Xi presented Putin with China’s first friendship medal. “He is my best, most intimate friend,” Xi said. “No matter what fluctuations there are in the international situation, China and Russia have always firmly taken the development of relations as a priority.”
Xi has stuck to those words, even after Putin launched his invasion of Ukraine just over a year ago. Less than three weeks beforehand, Putin visited Beijing and signed what China once referred to as a “no limits” partnership. Chinese officials have steered clear of criticizing Russia — and they wouldn’t even call it a war — while echoing Putin’s narrative that NATO expansion was to blame.
Close but not equal
Concerns are mounting over Beijing’s potential to provide Russia with weapons. Last week, POLITICO reported that Chinese companies, including one connected to the government in Beijing, have sent Russian entities 1,000 assault rifles and other equipment that could be used for military purposes, including drone parts and body armor, according to customs data.
Chinese and Russian armed forces have also teamed up for joint exercises outside Europe. Most recently, they held naval drills together with Iran in the Gulf of Oman.
During Xi’s visit this week, the two leaders are expected to conclude up to a dozen agreements, according to Russian media TASS. Experts say Xi and Putin are likely to sign further agreements to boost trade — especially in energy — as well as make more efforts to trade in their own currencies.
Xi is also expected to reiterate China’s “position paper” with a view to settling what it calls the “Ukraine crisis.” The paper, released last month, mentions the need to respect sovereignty and resume peace talks, but also includes Russian talking points such as dissuading “expanding military blocs” — a veiled criticism of U.S. support for Ukraine to potentially join NATO. There are also reports that Xi could be talking by phone with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after the Moscow visit.
But Beijing’s overall top priority is to “lock Russia in for the long term as China’s junior partner,” wrote Ryan Hass, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, a think tank. “For Xi, cementing Russia as China’s junior partner is fundamental to his vision of national rejuvenation.”
To achieve this, Putin’s stay in power is non-negotiable for Beijing, he wrote: “China’s … objective is to guard against Russia failing and Putin falling.”
What better way, then, to show support than attending a state banquet when your notorious friend needs you most?
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( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )
After BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation)’s sports coverage was disrupted for the second consecutive day on Sunday, its director-general Tim Davie said that its star sports presenter Gary Lineker will be back on air with his Match of the Day program this weekend.
In a statement released on Monday, Davie announced an independent committee will be formed to review the channel’s existing social media guidance with full transparency.
“Impartiality is important to BBC. It is also important to the public. The BBC has a commitment to impartiality in its Character and a commitment to freedom of expression. That is a difficult balancing act. The BBC’s social media guidance is designed to help manage these sometimes difficult challenges and I am aware there is a need to ensure that the guidance is up to its task. It should be clear, proportionate and appropriate,” the statement read.
Davie also stated that Lineker is a valued part of the BBC and he is looking forward to working with him this weekend.
Responding to the statement, Gary Lineker appreciated BBC’s decision and looked forward to getting back on air.
BREAKING: Statement from Tim Davie and Gary Lineker.
Lineker will return to MOTD this weekend and Davie has commissioned an independent review of the BBC’s social media guidelines. pic.twitter.com/T0ZF0z2CUn
Gary Lineker is a former English football captain. After retirement, he joined the BBC as a sports broadcaster and ran the show Match of the Day which covered international football matches.
Gary is known for his strong political views that often land him in trouble with the government. On March 7 Lineker criticized the UK’s Home Secretary Suella Braverman’s immigration policy about stopping immigrants, on social media.
In his tweet, the 62-year-old described the policy as ‘awful’ and compared it to the Nazi regime. “Good heavens, this is beyond awful” to a video posted on Twitter by the British Home Office announcing the government’s asylum seeker policy. There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?”
There is no huge influx. We take far fewer refugees than other major European countries. This is just an immeasurably cruel policy directed at the most vulnerable people in language that is not dissimilar to that used by Germany in the 30s, and I’m out of order?
His tweet led to many coming heavily on him who said it was inappropriate and unacceptable. In order to control the storm, BBC suspended Match of the Day triggering massive walkouts by staff in solidarity.
There is mounting pressure on the top team to resolve the crisis after the BBC, which operates through a taxpayer-funded license fee, said it considered Lineker posting such views on social media as a breach of its impartiality guidelines.
UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt told Sky News that he “profoundly” disagrees with Lineker’s comments, but stopped short of demanding an apology.
“The central thing that people want to know is that there isn’t any kind of political agenda in the way the BBC goes about its business, which I’m not saying there is, but that is the confidence people need to have,” he said.
In her latest six-page ruling, Howell said revealing any of the records publicly would invade grand jury secrecy.
“Responding to petitioners’ request would be infeasible without disclosing grand jury material because, if the government asked to hold the former president in contempt, as petitioners allege, that request would have been part of an effort to secure compliance with the grand jury Subpoena,” wrote Howell, taking care not to confirm any details of the battle. “The requested filings would invariably and consistently touch on ‘matters occurring before the grand jury.’”
Howell noted news reports about prosecutors’ efforts to seek contempt proceedings over allegedly inadequate efforts by Trump lawyers to locate documents with classification markings related to the ongoing probe headed by special counsel Jack Smith.
Last month, Howell denied a similar access request from POLITICO and The New York Times for information about privilege battles relating to prosecutors’ efforts to call former White House aides before a grand jury investigating attempts to interfere with the certification of the 2020 presidential election.
But last month, Howell also opted to unseal several significant filings in a grand jury matter connected to Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a key ally in Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election. Howell said the grand jury materials in that case could be released in part because the court of appeals held public arguments about the matter that revealed details that had previously been public.
Howell, an appointee of President Barack Obama, is set to end her seven-year term as chief judge next week. Grand jury-related matters not resolved by then are expected to be transferred to her successor, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, also an Obama appointee.
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( With inputs from : www.politico.com )
SRINAGAR: The de-induction of the Army from the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir has been put on hold for the time being as the move has faced opposition from different security agencies. Quoting a top officer in the Unified Command, The Tribune reported that the reduction of troops would happen but not at least until next year.
“It has been made clear that there won’t be any talk on the withdrawal as of now,” he said while referring to a security review meeting held by Home Minister Amit Shah in the first week of December.
“We want it to happen but we have told the government that let’s not do it in a hurry. There is a growing militancy threat in Srinagar,” he added.
Srinagar has become a hub of militancy and around 10 foreign militants are active in the city, he said while adding that they are lying low on the directions of their handlers across the border but they certainly are a big threat.
He rejected the notion that the troops would be removed from J&K and shifted to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) to reinforce the Indian position against China.
“We have sufficient forces along the LAC. We are improving the capabilities now,” he said.
Quoting another senior defense officer, The Tribune reported, “There is certainly a pressure on the LAC due to the Chinese aggression. The security situation in Kashmir is under control. Infiltration from Pakistan has also gone down. If the counter-insurgency is handled by the CRPF and the police in Kashmir, I don’t think there is any harm in withdrawing the Army.”
He also said that the Army had been engaged in counter-insurgency operations in J&K for over three decades, having no experience of war.
However, the Unified Command officer said soldiers were involved in live situational training in J&K.
Pertinent to mention, The Central Government has been discussing the proposal to withdraw the Army from hinterland in J&K and hand over the counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations to the CRPF and the police.
The government has not provided figures that indicate a draw-down but there is the possibility of removing the Army’s nearly 60,000 Rashtriya Rifles soldiers, who are mainly engaged in counter-insurgency operations since mid 1990s, from J&K.
Nearly 1.3 lakh soldiers are deployed in J&K of which around 80,000 are deployed on the Line of Control (LoC).
As per the proposal, the Army would continue to dominate the LoC with Pakistan but would be withdrawn in a phased manner, starting from the relatively peaceful districts.
SRINAGAR: Police on Thursday said that a government employee was arrested for ‘posting hateful posts and comments’ on his Facebook account.
In a statement, police said that the employee Amrik Singh, son of late Ranbir Singh, a resident of Beoli Doda, posted as a Class-IV employee in the office of Chief Education officer Doda, was found to have uploaded hateful post/comments on his Facebook account and in consequence of which, there were every apprehension of eruption of law and order problem in the district.
“Sensing the sensitivity of the matter and to prevent the situation from turning into law and order problem, police arrested the said person and after preparing a detailed report, he was produced before Executive Magistrate Class 1st Doda. He was sent to district jail Bhaderwah under preventive detention,” police said.
Mumbai: Bollywood actor-director Satish Kaushik, who passed away aged 67 late on Wednesday, had attended a Holi party hosted by Javed Akhtar and his wife-actor Shabana Azmi at their home in Mumbai.
On Tuesday, Satish Kaushik had shared a series of pictures on Instagram as he celebrated the occasion with his friends from the Hindi film industry. In the pictures, the actor is posed with Ali Fazal, Richa Chadha and Javed Akhtar. He was seen posing for the pictures in an orange coloured T-shirt and white pants.
He captioned the image: “Colourful Happy Fun Holi party at Janki Kutir Juhu by @jaduakhtar @babaazmi @azmishabana18 @tanviazmiofficial.. met the newly wed beautiful couple @alifazal9 @therichachadha @mahimachaudhry1 wishing Happy Holi to everyone #friendship #festival #colours #swipe left.”
According to reports, the actor, who has given memorable characters such as ‘Calendar’ from ‘Mr. India’, ‘Pappu Pager’ in ‘Deewana Mastana’ among many others, died due to heart attack.
Muslims in the US are suffering from marginalization in the media and cinema. This is found out by Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, a leading think tank in the US.
The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative develops targeted, research-based solutions to tackle inequality. It does original research and sponsored projects, studying diversity and inclusion in the media and entertainment industry.
The USC Annenberg’s inclusion initiative indicated that Muslims make up 25 percent of the world’s population, but their presence as characters in popular TV series does not exceed 1.1 percent.
The study stated that images of Muslims are often linked to terrorism or violence. It found that “more than 30% of the 98 Muslim personalities assessed were vulnerable to perpetrators of violence, while nearly 40% were the target of violent attacks.”
There are two significant pointers about the portrayal of Muslims in popular culture, tells the study. One, there is a common trope that Muslim men are portrayed in a bad light. Second is the portrayal of Muslim women in their veil.
A deliberate stereotype is built which makes the public assume that the ‘veil is a symbol of oppression’. The stereotypes built relate to “the feeling of the liberation of Muslim women when they take off the veil.”
Muslim women in popular culture are commonly portrayed as submissive and fearful of their male counterparts. This is another serotype that is deliberately built to reinforce the idea that Muslim women are vulnerable to oppression by their menfolk.
The study says that the media focus is often placed on the faith of the Muslim personalities interviewed. This makes the public believe that religion is the focus of every Muslim’s life. Such a stereotype reduces the chances of showing some other aspects of Muslim men/women’s personalities.
“These kinds of stereotypes are the cause of Muslims being isolated and not getting integrated as productive members of American societies”, says the study.
The study revealed that among the 98 Muslim personalities interviewed, almost half of them referred to their faith in some way or other, while 23.5 percent of them revealed that they were portrayed non-verbally on the grounds that they are Muslims.
‘Los Angeles Times’ has published a detailed article on Muslims in the US, based on Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The newspaper has indicated that Muslim immigrants in America suffer from abuse in media and Cinema in the US.
New York: People who share news items extensively on social media often tend to discern less over their accuracy, according to a study.
Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conducted an experiment to understand a core tension between the impulse to share news and to think about whether it is true.
The results showed that even considering whether or not to share news items on social media reduces people’s ability to tell truths from falsehoods.
The study involved asking more than 3,000 people to assess whether various news headlines were accurate.
But if participants were first asked whether they would share that content, they were 35 per cent worse at telling truths from falsehoods. Participants were also 18 per cent less successful at discerning truth when asked about sharing right after evaluating them.
“Just asking people whether they want to share things makes them more likely to believe headlines they wouldn’t otherwise have believed, and less likely to believe headlines they would have believed,” David Rand, Professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management said.
“Thinking about sharing just mixes them up,” he added.
While people’s willingness to share news content and their ability to judge it accurately can both be bolstered separately, the study suggests the two things do not positively reinforce each other when considered at the same time.
“The second you ask people about accuracy, you’re prompting them, and the second you ask about sharing, you’re prompting them,” Ziv Epstein, a doctoral student in the Human Dynamics group at the MIT Media Lab said.
“If you ask about sharing and accuracy at the same time, it can undermine people’s capacity for truth discernment.”
The paper will be published in the journal Science Advances.
Lahore: Seventy-five years after they separated during the Partition in 1947, the families of two Sikh brothers met at the Kartarpur Corridor, singing songs and showering flowers on each other in an emotional reunuion made possible through social media.
The families of Gurdev Singh and Daya Singh arrived at the Kartarpur Corridor on Thursday for a reunion.
Emotional scenes of the family reunion were witnessed at Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, Kartarpur Sahib where they sang songs to express their joy and showered flowers on each other.
Both the brothers hailed from Haryana and used to live in Gomla village in Mahendragarh district with their late father’s friend, Karim Bakhsh, at the time of the Partition.
Bakhsh migrated to Pakistan along with elder Gurdev Singh while younger Daya Singh remained in Haryana with his maternal uncle.
After reaching Pakistan, Bakhsh moved to Jhang district of Punjab province, some 200 kms from Lahore, and gave a Muslim name (Ghulam Muhammad) to Gurdev Singh. Gurdev Singh passed away a few years ago.
Muhammad Sharif, son of Gurdev, told the media that over the years his father had written letters to the government of India to find the whereabouts of his brother Daya Singh.
“Six months ago, we managed to find uncle Daya Singh through social media,” he said, adding that both families decided to reach Kartarpur Sahib for the reunion.
He urged the Indian government to give visas to his family members here so that they could visit their ancestral house in Haryana.
Last year, two brothers who separated during the Partition reunited at Kartarpur Corridor.
Muhammad Siddique, 80, from Pakistan and Habib, 78, from India, met in January 2022 at the Kartarpur Corridor. They were also reunited with the help of social media.
The Kartarpur Corridor links Gurdwara Darbar Sahib in Pakistan’s Punjab province, the final resting place of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, with the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in Gurdaspur district in India’s Punjab state.
The 4 km-long corridor provides visa-free access to Indian Sikh pilgrims to visit the Darbar Sahib.
