MONTREAL: Quebec legislators passed a religious neutrality bill Wednesday that will oblige citizens to uncover their faces while giving and receiving state services, triggering criticism that the law targets Muslim women.
Quebec’s two main opposition parties opposed the bill because they argued it didn’t go far enough in restricting the presence of conspicuous symbols of all religions in the public sphere.
The new law has two basic components: It bans the wearing of face coverings for people giving or receiving a service from the state and it offers a framework outlining how authorities should grant accommodation requests based on religious beliefs. While the bill doesn’t specifically mention specific clothing, it would prohibit the burka and niqab when people interact with the state, but it doesn’t extend to other religious symbols.
Premier Philippe Couillard said he expects some people to challenge the law, but he defended the legislation as necessary for reasons related to communication, identification and security.
“The principle to which I think a vast majority of Canadians by the way, not only Quebecers, would agree upon is that public services should be given and received with an open face,” he said. “I speak to you, you speak to me. I see your face. You see mine. As simple as that.”
Advocacy groups and academics have condemned the measure.
The National Council of Canadian Muslims said it is “studying its options” with regard to a possible court challenge.
The attorney general of Ontario province, Yasir Naqvi, said his province didn’t plan any similar measure and criticized Quebec’s action.
“We respect people’s right to express their religious beliefs and we disagree with the law Quebec has brought in and we will never introduce such a law in Ontario,” Naqvi said.
Quebec Justice Minister Stephanie Vallee said guidelines on how to apply the law — notably criteria touching on reasonable accommodation — would be phased in by next June 30 after consultations. Provisions regarding daycare workers will kick in by next summer to allow educators to get training, but the majority of the face-covering provisions will take effect immediately.
That means people who sit for an exam will have to do so with their faces uncovered. Asked specifically about someone getting on a bus, Vallee replied that all such services must be offered or received without a face covering.
Quebec lawmakers pass law obliging citizens to uncover faces
Quebec lawmakers pass law obliging citizens to uncover faces
France’s Macron calls talks on New Caledonia future
- New Caledonian elected officials, as well as political, economic and civil society leaders would be invited to the discussions to start on July 2
PARIS: President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday invited New Caledonia leaders to talks next week on the future of the French overseas territory, a year after deadly separatist violence in the Pacific archipelago.
New Caledonian elected officials, as well as political, economic and civil society leaders would be invited to the discussions to start on July 2, a source familiar with the matter said. It was not immediately clear where the meeting would be held.
The French president in an invitation letter obtained by AFP said discussions would last “as long as necessary” to address key issues “with all the seriousness they deserve.”
“Beyond major institutional topics, I would like for our discussions to touch on economic and societal matters,” Macron added.
Home to around 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometers (10,600 miles) from Paris, New Caledonia is one of several overseas territories that remain an integral part of France.
New Caledonia has been ruled from Paris since the 1800s, but many indigenous Kanaks still resent France’s power over their islands and want fuller autonomy or independence.
Unrest broke out in May 2024 after Paris planned to give voting rights to thousands of non-indigenous long-term residents, something Kanaks fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of winning independence.
The riots — the most violent since the 1980s — led to the death of 14 people and billions of dollars in damage.
The president’s decision to host talks alongside the Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls also comes after a French court freed independence leader Christian Tein in June.
Tein, who hails from the Kanak group, had been held in custody in eastern France since June 2024 over the rioting in the nickel-rich archipelago.
Investigating magistrates concluded there was no proof that Tein was preparing an armed uprising against the government, according to a source close to the case.
The last independence referendum in New Caledonia was held in 2021, and was boycotted by pro-independence groups over the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the Kanak population.
The referendum was the last of three since 2018, all of which rejected New Caledonian independence.
Since the 2021 referendum — which pro-independence campaigners had requested be rescheduled — the political situation in the archipelago has been in deadlock.
Valls led negotiations in May between pro-independence and anti-independence groups, but they did not “reach an agreement about the institutional future of the territory,” Macron said in the invitation letter.
The president in early June declared he wanted a “new project” for New Caledonia.
Major UK supermarket chain to stop sourcing Israeli products
- Co-op board committed to ‘upholding human rights and the rule of law to promote fair trading and peace’
- Palestine Solidarity Campaign: ‘This is a seismic victory for the solidarity movement in this country’
LONDON: One of Britain’s largest supermarket chains will stop sourcing Israeli products following a sustained Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign.
The Co-operative supermarket said the decision was made due to Israeli human rights abuses and violations of international law. It comes into effect this month.
In May, a motion at the Co-op annual general meeting calling for an end to trade with Israel received overwhelming support. The supermarket board’s decision covers 17 “countries of concern,” including Israel.
Co-op will now launch a phased approach to begin removing products sourced from the 17 countries.
The BDS campaign, led by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, saw the Co-op board commit to a “sourcing policy aligned with established co-operative values, upholding human rights and the rule of law to promote fair trading and peace.”
The supermarket will now avoid sourcing products from countries where “there is consistent behavior which would constitute community-wide human rights abuses or violations of international law.”
Through the new policy, Co-op believes it “can make a difference directly or indirectly to those affected and would alleviate suffering.”
Israel is a major exporter of fruit and vegetables to the UK, and its products are widely stocked at British supermarkets, including as ingredients in larger items.
A number of Israeli farms operate facilities in the occupied West Bank, in settlements that are illegal under international law.
PSC hailed Co-op’s decision as a “major victory.” It follows the “Don’t Buy Apartheid” campaign that the organization conducted this year, urging a widespread boycott of Israeli products in British shops, restaurants and venues.
Ben Jamal, PSC director, said: “This is a seismic victory for the Palestinian solidarity movement in this country, which demands that the government, institutions and corporations end all economic, political and military support for the state of Israel, which is conducting a live streamed genocide in Gaza after decades of military occupation and imposing a system of apartheid on Palestinians.
“The Co-op, as befits its history, has shown great moral courage and ethical principle in deciding that it cannot ignore voices from the British public calling out Israel’s gross human rights abuses and violations of international law — and even more importantly, it cannot economically support that regime through doing business in Israel.
“This beacon of leadership must now be taken up by all other supermarket chains which continue to sell Israeli goods, despite knowing they are supporting its war crimes.”
UK government says Chinese spying on the rise
- Prime Minister Keir Starmer commissioned an “audit” of Britain’s relations with Beijing
- The report, published on Tuesday, recommended high-level engagement with China but also building “resilience” against threats
LONDON: Chinese spying and attempts by Beijing to undermine Britain’s democracy and economy have risen in recent years, the UK government said Tuesday in a report on the Asian giant.
Foreign minister David Lammy told parliament the Labour administration would invest £600 million ($818 million) in its intelligence services as a result of the findings.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer commissioned an “audit” of Britain’s relations with Beijing after he swept to power in landslide general election win last July.
The report, published on Tuesday, recommended high-level engagement with China for a “trade and investment relationship” but also building “resilience” against threats posed by Beijing.
“We understand that China is a sophisticated and persistent threat,” but “not engaging with China is therefore no choice at all,” Lammy told MPs.
“Like our closest allies, we will co-operate where we can and we will challenge where we must,” he said, vowing that meant “never compromising on our national security.”
Starmer has vowed to pursue a “consistent” relationship after the previous Conservative government first trumpeted a “golden era” of close diplomatic ties before relations became increasingly strained.
The British PM hopes Chinese investment can help him achieve his main mission of firing up Britain’s economy.
But differences over Russia’s war in Ukraine, Beijing’s treatment of Uyghurs and Hong Kong — including the imprisonment of media mogul Jimmy Lai — pose hurdles to repairing relations.
In a joint letter coordinated by Reporters Without Borders, 33 organizations around the globe wrote to Starmer on Tuesday asking him to meet Lai’s son Sebastian.
“As a British citizen facing an unthinkable ordeal, Sebastien Lai deserves to hear first-hand from the Prime Minister what the UK is doing to secure his father’s release,” said the letter, which was signed by groups including Amnesty International UK and Human Rights Foundation.
Espionage allegations have also blighted the relationship in recent years, including claims that a Chinese businessman used his links with Britain’s Prince Andrew to spy for the Communist Party.The report noted that “instances of China’s espionage, interference in our democracy and the undermining of our economic security have increased in recent years.”
“Our national security response will therefore continue to be threat-driven, bolstering our defenses and responding with strong counter-measures,” the government said.
Starmer’s administration is due to rule on whether to approve Beijing’s controversial plans to open the biggest embassy in Britain at a new London location.
Residents, rights groups and China hawks oppose the development, fearing it could be used for the surveillance and harassment of dissidents.
Russian attacks kill 18 civilians in Ukraine as Zelensky seeks more Western help
- Zelensky is keen to lock in additional military support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s bigger army
- A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites, killing nine people and injuring more than 100
KYIV: Russian drones, missiles and artillery killed at least 18 civilians and injured more than 100 others in Ukraine, officials said Tuesday, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky sought guarantees of further Western military aid for his country’s efforts to repel Russia’s invasion.
Russian forces have relentlessly blasted civilian areas of Ukraine throughout the war, which is now in its fourth year. More than 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, according to the United Nations. Ukraine has also launched long-range drones against Russia, hitting residential areas.
Zelensky was set to meet Tuesday with Western leaders attending a NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands. He is keen to lock in additional military support for Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s bigger army, as recent direct peace talks have delivered no progress on a possible settlement.
Key US military commitments to Ukraine left over from the Biden administration are expected to run out within months, according to analysts, and there is uncertainty over whether US President Donald Trump is willing to provide more.
A Russian ballistic missile attack on Dnipro hit multiple civilian sites in the central Ukrainian city around midday on Tuesday, killing nine people and injuring more than 100, local officials said.
In the nearby town of Samar, an attack killed two people and injured 11, Dnipro’s regional administration head Serhii Lysak wrote on Telegram.
The barrage damaged 19 schools, 10 kindergartens, a vocational school, a music school and a social welfare office, as well as eight medical facilities, according to Dnipro Mayor Borys Filatov. One of the blasts blew out the windows of a passenger train.
Russia also shelled residential neighborhoods and critical infrastructure across Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, killing four civilians and wounding at least eleven others, according to Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the regional military administration.
In the Sumy region of northeastern Ukraine, a drone attack late Monday killed three civilians, including a 5-year-old boy, and injured six others, local authorities said.
Among the injured were two 17-year-old girls and a 12-year-old boy, according to officials.
Russian air defense forces overnight shot down 20 Ukrainian drones, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Tuesday morning. It said 14 were downed over the Kursk region, which borders Ukraine, while two had been flying over the Moscow province.
One drone slammed into a tower block on the outskirts of the Russian capital, sparking a fire on its 17th floor, local Gov. Andrei Vorobyov said Tuesday. He said a 34-year-old resident suffered shrapnel wounds to his arm and leg. Two other drones were shot down on the approach to Moscow, according to Mayor Sergei Sobyanin.
Air traffic was briefly halted as a precaution at two major Moscow airports, Vnukovo and Sheremetyevo, a representative of Russia’s aviation authority Rosaviatsiya said.
Merz says NATO spending boost to counter Russia — not please Trump
- Merz has been racing to build up Germany’s long-neglected armed forces, with the aim of turning them into the ‘strongest conventional army’ in Europe
BERLIN: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz insisted a pledge by NATO allies to boost defense spending at a “historic” summit starting on Tuesday would not just aim to please US President Donald Trump.
“We are not doing this, as some claim, to do the United States and its president a favor,” he told the German parliament before setting off for the gathering in The Hague.
“We are doing this based on our own observations and convictions. Russia, above all, is actively and aggressively threatening security and freedom” across Europe, he added.
“We have to fear that Russia will continue its war beyond Ukraine.”
The summit has been viewed as heavily focused on keeping Trump happy after he made comments that sparked concern about Washington’s commitment to NATO and insisted that other member states spend at least five percent of their GDP on defense.
NATO’s 32 countries have thrashed out a compromise deal to dedicate 3.5 percent to core military spending by 2035, and 1.5 percent to broader security-related areas such as cybersecurity and infrastructure.
On Monday, Europe’s biggest economy revealed plans to reach the 3.5 percent level for core spending six years early — in 2029 — with the vast extra outlays necessary made possible after Germany eased its rules on taking on debt.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on Tuesday that he would head to the NATO summit with the message that “external security and defense capability are once again an absolute priority in (German) government policy.”
“We are bringing about a historic turnaround in defense spending.”
On the summit, he said there were “good signs” about “the broad consensus on how to proceed... I see no reason to assume that we will be given the cold shoulder.”
Since taking office in May, Merz has been racing to build up Germany’s long-neglected armed forces, with the aim of turning them into the “strongest conventional army” in Europe — a radical shift in a country with strong pacifist traditions due to its dark wartime past.
A drive has been launched to boost military personnel, which aims to attract 11,000 fresh recruits this year alone — and Pistorius has suggested conscription, which was halted in Germany in 2011, could be reintroduced if too few people sign up voluntarily.
Germany is also building up a permanent military brigade in Lithuania — the country’s first such overseas deployment since World War II — to bolster NATO’s eastern flank against Russia.
