PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron held a major campaign rally Saturday in Marseille, touting his environmental and climate actions and plans in a bid to draw in young voters who supported more politically extreme candidates in the first round of France’s presidential election.
Citizens and especially millennials in Marseille, a multicultural southern French city on the Mediterranean, favored hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon over the centrist Macron in the April 10 first round of voting.
Marseille’s young voters, who leaned mainly to the far right and the far left last Sunday, are particularly engaged with climate issues — a point which Macron hoped to capitalize on in a rousing speech on the edge of the glistening sea.
Macron is facing off against far-right challenger Marine Le Pen in France’s April 24 presidential runoff after 10 other candidates, including Melenchon, were eliminated in the first round.
Macron has mixed green credentials, something he hopes to improve on. Although he was associated with the slogan “Make The Planet Great Again,” in his first five-year term he capitulated to angry yellow vest protesters by scrapping a tax hike on fuel prices.
To cheers on Saturday, Macron said his next prime minister would be placed in charge of “ecological planning” ahead of a plan for France to become carbon neutral by 2050. He also promised more public transport nationwide to wean people off being dependent on cars.
Even though Macron come out on top in the first round of voting, the 44-year-old incumbent has publicly acknowledged that “nothing is decided” in the increasingly tight race to become France’s next leader. In Marseille, he targeted his rival Le Pen, who has gained increasing support in recent weeks.
“The far-right represents a danger for our country. Don’t just hiss at it, knock it out,” he said, citing the danger of over-confident voters abstaining from a ballot in the vital runoff vote.
Le Pen spent Saturday reaching out to voters in Saint-Rémy-sur-Avre, a village in the northwestern France, where she visited an antiques market.
While campaigning Friday, both candidates were grilled over their differing stances on Muslim religious dress in public spaces — Le Pen wants to ban headscarves in France, a country that has Europe’s largest Muslim population. Both Le Pen and Macron were confronted by women in headscarves who asked why their clothing choices should be caught up in politics.
Across France, protesters are railing against a host of issues ahead of the second and final presidential vote.
In the center of Paris on Saturday, environmental group Extinction Rebellion launched a three-day demonstration against what they call France’s inaction on climate issues. The activists say their objective is “to put climate issues back at the center of the presidential debate.”
Hundreds of activists from the environmental group XR are also asking both presidential candidates to make commitments to protect the environment.
Macron courts Marseille voters; Climate activists in Paris
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Macron courts Marseille voters; Climate activists in Paris
- Marseille's young voters are particularly engaged with climate issues — a point which Macron hoped to capitalize on in a rousing speech on the edge of the glistening sea
- To cheers on Saturday, Macron said his next prime minister would be placed in charge of “ecological planning” ahead of a plan for France to become carbon neutral by 2050
Trump says it could be worth keeping TikTok in US ‘for a little while’
- Senate passed law in April requiring TikTok’s parent company to divest the app, citing national security concerns
- TikTok’s owners have sought to have the law struck down and the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case
President-elect Donald Trump indicated on Sunday that he favored allowing TikTok to keep operating in the United States for at least “a little while,” saying he had received billions of views on the social media platform during his presidential campaign.
Trump’s comments before a crowd of conservative supporters in Phoenix, Arizona, were one of the strongest signals yet that he opposes a potential exit of TikTok from the US market.
The US Senate passed a law in April requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to divest the app, citing national security concerns.
TikTok’s owners have sought to have the law struck down, and the US Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case. But if the court does not rule in ByteDance’s favor and no divestment occurs, the app could be effectively banned in the United States on Jan. 19, one day before Trump takes office.
It is unclear how Trump would go about undoing the TikTok divestiture order, which passed overwhelmingly in the Senate.
“I think we’re going to have to start thinking because, you know, we did go on TikTok, and we had a great response with billions of views, billions and billions of views,” Trump told the crowd at AmericaFest, an annual gathering organized by conservative group Turning Point.
“They brought me a chart, and it was a record, and it was so beautiful to see, and as I looked at it, I said, ‘Maybe we gotta keep this sucker around for a little while’,” he said.
Trump met with TikTok’s CEO on Monday. Trump said at a news conference the same day that he had a “warm spot” for TikTok thanks to his campaign’s success on the app.
The Justice Department has argued that Chinese control of TikTok poses a continuing threat to national security, a position supported by most US lawmakers.
TikTok says the Justice Department has misstated the social media app’s ties to China, arguing that its content recommendation engine and user data are stored in the United States on cloud servers operated by Oracle Corp, while content moderation decisions that affect US users are made in the United States.
Indian brothers seek to preserve fading Urdu with app-based learning
- Urdu has faced multiple threats from communal politics, economic issues
- New app seeks to provide a platform for people to explore the language
NEW DELHI: Part-time musician Aniruddha Pratim was always interested in learning Urdu, believing that it was key to better understanding the range of music from the subcontinent.
For the past few weeks, the Delhi-based consultant has been spending his free time and coffee breaks glued to an app called Humzaaban, which allows him to learn the language that was for centuries used prominently in Indian culture and poetry.
“I’ve always been a little keen about Urdu. I feel like it sounds very poetic, sounds very soulful,” Pratim told Arab News.
“I open (the app) whenever I get a chance to … It has got a very interactive user interface with a lot of audio-visual cues and everything, so it’s a fun app to use,” he said. “Maybe someday I can write a poem of my own in Urdu.”
Humzaaban is the brainchild of Tausif and Tanzil Rahman, who set out to preserve and promote the language they grew up with at a time when interest in speaking Urdu was waning among people in India.
Despite Urdu’s prominent role throughout Indian history, the language has been facing multiple threats from communal politics and the quest for economic prosperity in more recent decades.
Urdu has been stigmatized as foreign, the language of India’s archrival Pakistan, while families increasingly choose to enroll their children in schools that teach English or other Indian languages to better equip them for the job market.
While millions still speak Urdu today, they make up less than 5 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population. The language is also no longer taught in the majority of schools across the country.
“There has been a consistent decline in Urdu (following the independence) of India,” Tausif told Arab News, adding that the economic value of learning English has naturally led it to become preferred over Urdu.
“Urdu has lost its economic value; none of the business transactions are being done in Urdu.”
Yet the language still holds significance for many people across India, the wider subcontinent and the diaspora, who grew up humming songs from Bollywood musicals that draw heavily on Urdu poetry.
For Tausif, the motivation to create an app dedicated to learning Urdu stemmed out of his own passion for Urdu poetry.
“We speak Urdu at home, and we were discussing the future of Urdu in India and outside India,” he said.
“We decided to create a beautiful learning app, which will enable you to read and write Urdu, to understand what is happening in the Urdu world … and with this idea and with this vision, we started our journey.”
After five years of research, trial and error, the brothers, whose day jobs are in the corporate world, launched Humzaaban in October to reach a wider audience.
Tanzil said interest in Urdu transcended generations, as he saw diverse participation at an offline Urdu learning program he teaches on the weekends.
“The program participation from across generations, communities and professions gave us confidence that there is a yearning to explore this language,” he said.
The Rahman brothers believe that Urdu has the potential to flourish and made a dedicated app that they claim is more comprehensive than others in the market.
With around 3,000 Humzaaban users and counting, many said they were drawn to the app because of its interactive features and user-friendly design.
“There are very few platforms that focus on Urdu learning … but after looking into the Humzaaban app, I am very impressed,” Mohd. Azam, a Delhi-based marketing professional, told Arab News.
“I am very interested in poetry, (and) Urdu has very beautiful words … which inspire me a lot, so I want to learn from this app and maybe write some poetry.”
For Sahar Rizvi, who is based in London, the app has served as a bridge to reconnect with her roots. After learning Urdu as a child, she lost touch with the language as she grew up and forgot the basics.
“My father mentioned the Humzaaban app, and it has been awesome to catch up again. It teaches right from the beginning! I often play around with it during my time on the train,” Rizvi said.
“I’m re-learning to read Urdu … It’s a beautiful language, and I do want to incorporate it in my daily usage.”
Indian brothers seek to preserve Urdu language with learning app
- Humzaaban is the brainchild of Tausif and Tanzil Rahman, who set out to preserve and promote Urdu
- Urdu has faced multiple threats from communal politics, more families choosing English-medium schools
NEW DELHI: Part-time musician Aniruddha Pratim was always interested in learning Urdu, believing that it was key to better understand the range of music from the subcontinent.
For the past few weeks, the Delhi-based consultant has been spending his free time and coffee breaks glued to an app called Humzaaban, which allows him to learn the language that was for centuries used prominently in Indian culture and poetry.
“I’ve always been a little keen about Urdu, I feel like it sounds very poetic, sounds very soulful,” Pratim told Arab News.
“I open (the app) whenever I get a chance to … It has got a very interactive user interface with a lot of audio visual cues and everything, so it’s a fun app to use,” he said. “Maybe someday I can write a poem of my own in Urdu.”
Humzaaban is the brainchild of Tausif and Tanzil Rahman, who set out to preserve and promote the language they grew up with at a time when interest in speaking Urdu was waning among people in India.
Despite Urdu’s prominent role throughout Indian history, the language has been facing multiple threats from communal politics and the quest for economic prosperity in more recent decades.
Urdu has been stigmatized as foreign, the language of India’s archrival Pakistan, while families increasingly choose to enroll their children in schools that teach English or other Indian languages to better equip them for the job market.
While millions still speak Urdu today, they make up less than 5 percent of India’s 1.4 billion population. The language is also no longer taught in the majority of schools across the country.
“There has been a consistent decline in Urdu post-independence of India and also if you look at the you know (how) English is having all the economic value and it is you know thriving in the world,” Tausif told Arab News.
“Urdu has lost its economic value, none of the business transactions are being done in Urdu language and because of the same reasons there are not enough jobs available, people are not choosing Urdu as a language.”
Yet the language still holds a special place for many people across India, the wider subcontinent and in the diaspora, who grew up humming songs from Bollywood musicals that draw heavily on Urdu poetry.
For Tausif, the motivation to create an app dedicated for learning Urdu stemmed out of his own passion for Urdu poetries.
“We speak Urdu at home and we were discussing about the future of Urdu in India and outside India,” he said.
“We decided to create a beautiful learning app which will enable you to read and write Urdu, which will enable you to understand what is happening in the Urdu world, what are the trends that are going on, and with this idea and with this vision we started our journey.”
After five years of research, trial and error, the brothers whose day jobs are in the corporate world launched Humzaaban in October to reach a wider audience.
Tanzil said interest in Urdu transcended generations, as he saw diverse participation at an offline Urdu learning program he teaches on the weekends.
“The program participation from across generations, communities and professions gave us confidence that there is a yearning to explore this language that is born out of a long process of fusion and yet is essentially Indian,” he said.
The Rahman brothers believe that Urdu has a potential to flourish, and made a dedicated app that they claim is more comprehensive than others in the market.
With around 3,000 Humzaaban users and counting, many said they were drawn to the app because of its interactive features and user-friendly design.
“There are very few platforms that focus on Urdu learning … but after looking into Humzaaban app I am very much impressed that someone is taking the effort to increase the availability of Urdu from end to end and (through a) step-by-step journey,” Mohd. Azam, a Delhi-based marketing professional, told Arab News.
“I am very much interested in poetry and all, (and) Urdu has very beautiful words … which inspire me a lot so I want to learn from this app and maybe write some poetry.”
For Sahar Rizvi, who is based in London, the app has been a bridge to reconnect with her roots. After learning Urdu as a child, she lost touch with the language while growing up and had forgotten the basics.
“My father mentioned about the Humzaaban app and it has been awesome to catch up again. It teaches right from the beginning! I often play around with it during my time on the train,” Rizvi said.
“I’m re-learning to read Urdu … It’s a beautiful language and I do want to incorporate it in my daily usage.”
Taliban eye boost in Saudi ties as Kingdom reopens embassy in Kabul
- Saudi Arabia keen to ‘provide all services’ to Afghans, embassy said on Sunday
- Afghanistan’s Taliban government is not recognized by any country in the world
KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government is hoping to boost cooperation with Saudi Arabia as the Kingdom reopens its embassy in Kabul, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
Saudi Arabia was among a host of nations that withdrew its diplomats from Kabul in August 2021, following the Taliban’s return to power and the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan.
Late on Sunday, the Saudi Embassy in Afghanistan announced that the diplomatic mission in Kabul would resume its work.
“Based on the keenness of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide all services to the brotherly Afghan people, it has been decided to resume the activities of the Kingdom’s mission in Kabul as of December 22, 2024,” it said on X.
As the Taliban are not officially recognized by any country in the world, the reopening of the Saudi Embassy was welcomed by Afghanistan’s new rulers.
“I consider the resumption of the activities of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Kabul as a step towards further strengthening and expanding bilateral relations between the governments and peoples of the two countries,” Zakir Jalaly, director of the second political division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News on Monday.
Jalaly highlighted the historical background of Afghan-Saudi ties, as the Kingdom was one of three countries — including the UAE and Pakistan — to recognize the Taliban government during its first rule, until it was overthrown by the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
“Since Saudi Arabia is an important country at the regional and international levels, the resumption of the embassy’s activities in Kabul will provide ground for expansion of cooperation in various fields,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has continued to provide consular services in Afghanistan since November 2021 and provided humanitarian aid through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.
“I think the resumption of the Saudi Embassy’s activities in Kabul is a big announcement for the government of the Islamic Emirate facing international isolation as well as for the people of Afghanistan who have been experiencing the negative effects of the political isolation in different aspects of social life,” Naseer Ahmad Nawidy, political science professor at Salam University in Kabul, told Arab News.
The resumption of diplomatic activities will be helpful for Afghans who are living in Saudi Arabia, which number at around 132,000 people.
“It will also help Afghan traders to do exports and imports from the country. It will also have benefits for Saudi Arabia as it will extend its influence in the region,” Nawidy said.
“I hope other Islamic countries continue to engage with the Afghan government and reopen (their) diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, which will provide ground for cooperation in different areas.”
Taliban eye boost in Saudi ties as Kingdom reopens embassy in Kabul
- Saudi Arabia keen to ‘provide all services’ to Afghans, embassy said on Sunday
- Afghanistan’s Taliban government is not recognized by any country in the world
KABUL: Afghanistan’s Taliban government is hoping to boost cooperation with Saudi Arabia as the Kingdom reopened its embassy in Kabul, its Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Monday.
Saudi Arabia was among a host of nations that withdrew its diplomats from Kabul in August 2021, following the Taliban’s return to power and the withdrawal of US-led forces from Afghanistan. The Taliban are not officially recognized by any country in the world.
Late on Sunday, the Saudi Embassy in Afghanistan announced that the diplomatic mission in Kabul would resume its work.
“Based on the keenness of the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to provide all services to the brotherly Afghan people, it has been decided to resume the activities of the Kingdom’s mission in Kabul as of December 22, 2024,” it said on X.
The reopening of the Saudi Embassy was welcomed by Afghanistan’s new rulers.
“I consider the resumption of the activities of the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Kabul as a step toward further strengthening and expanding bilateral relations between the governments and peoples of the two countries,” Zakir Jalaly, director of the second political division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News on Monday.
Jalaly said the Kingdom was one of three countries, including the UAE and Pakistan, to recognize the Taliban government during its first rule from 1996 until it was overthrown by the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
“Since Saudi Arabia is an important country at the regional and international levels, the resumption of the embassy’s activities in Kabul will provide ground for expansion of cooperation in various fields,” he added.
Saudi Arabia has continued to provide consular services in Afghanistan since November 2021 and provided humanitarian aid through the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center.
“I think the resumption of the Saudi Embassy’s activities in Kabul is a big announcement for the government of the Islamic Emirate facing international isolation as well as for the people of Afghanistan who have been experiencing the negative effects of the political isolation in different aspects of social life,” Naseer Ahmad Nawidy, political science professor at Salam University in Kabul, told Arab News.
The resumption of diplomatic activities will also be helpful for Afghans who are living in Saudi Arabia, which number at around 132,000 people.
“It will also help Afghan traders to do exports and imports from the country. It will also have benefits for Saudi Arabia as it will extend its influence in the region,” Nawidy said.
“I hope other Islamic countries continue to engage with the Afghan government and reopen (their) diplomatic missions in Afghanistan, which will provide ground for cooperation in different areas.”
