NICE, France: Empowered by a stunning triumph at the European elections, France’s far-right National Rally on Tuesday hit the national campaign trail with its star leader, Jordan Bardella, promising supporters “the largest possible majority” at the upcoming parliamentary vote.
Opposition parties on the left and right have been scrambling to form alliances and field candidates in the snap national elections called by President Emmanuel Macron after his party suffered a crushing defeat by the far right in the European Parliament vote on Sunday.
A win for the National Rally in the national elections could result in the French far right leading a government for the first time since World War II.
While sharp differences between parties remain on either side of the political spectrum, prominent figures calling for a united front appear to have one thing in common: They don’t want to cooperate with Macron.
Despite their divisions, left-wing parties agreed late Monday to form an alliance that includes the Greens, the Socialists, the Communists and the far-left France Unbowed of Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Leaders have not agreed on who will head the coalition nor on its program.
In light of the European polls, politicians on the left are focused on closing ranks to prevent a win for the National Rally. For now, they have also vowed not to join forces with Macron’s centrists.
In a joint statement, the alliance called on all forces on the left, including the influential labor unions, to unite behind a “new popular front” to form an “alternative to Emmanuel Macron and to fight against the racist project of the far right.”
National Rally leader Marine Le Pen is working to consolidate power on the right ahead of the two-round elections on June 30 and July 7. Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, who won a seat in the European Parliament on Sunday as a member of the rival Reconquer! party of Eric Zemmour, on Monday visited National Rally headquarters in Paris to negotiate a far-right alliance.
Family ties aside, Maréchal said Tuesday that Bardella informed her of a change of heart in the National Rally regarding a pact with the Reconquer! party. Bardella offered “a regrettable explanation against an agreement by saying that (Le Pen’s party) does not want to be associated directly or indirectly with Eric Zemmour,” Maréchal said in a statement.
Le Pen also met with members of the conservative Republicans party to discuss a united front. Some conservative lawmakers have supported some of Macron’s bills in the National Assembly since the president lost a majority in the lower house of the French parliament following the 2022 general election.
“We have a historic chance to allow the national camp to put France back on track,” Le Pen said in an interview with the French public broadcaster on Monday evening. She said the National Rally and the conservatives could agree on several policy goals, including an economic recovery plan, boosting purchasing power and curbing immigration.
The Republicans’ President Éric Ciotti said he wants an agreement with Le Pen, prompting several prominent members of his party to call for his resignation. Ciotti insisted the conservatives need the alliance for their political survival.
“I want my political family to move in this direction,” he said in an interview with the French public broadcaster on Tuesday. He blasted what he said was Macron’s bloc within the conservative party, “which has led the country to where it is today — with more violence, more insecurity.”
“A right-wing bloc, a national bloc … is what the vast majority of our voters want,” Ciotti said.
Bardella, Le Pen’s 28-year-old protégé and the face of the far right’s European triumph, also urged French conservatives to ride the wave of popularity with the National Rally. He urged the conservatives to “stop being Emmanuel Macron’s political crutch” and ”come and work alongside us.”
French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire called on Macron’s Renaissance party members to “make room” in their ranks for those conservatives who refuse to cooperate with the far right at the election.
Earlier Tuesday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal met with the outgoing Renaissance lawmakers still reeling from their defeat by the far right and the president’s decision to dissolve the National Assembly.
Attal acknowledged that the dissolution was “a brutal decision” for the lawmakers, but he urged them to prepare for “the new fight.”
“You embody stability against chaos … courage against populism,” Attal said.
Macron is expected to discuss the upcoming election in a news conference scheduled for Wednesday.
French opposition parties on the left and right seek alliances ahead of snap elections
https://arab.news/4cxpn
French opposition parties on the left and right seek alliances ahead of snap elections
- A win for the National Rally in the national elections could result in the French far right leading a government for the first time since World War II
Ukraine says seized cargo ship used for Crimea grain exports
- Kyiv has accused Moscow of illegally harvesting and shipping grain produced on occupied territory to third countries
- Prosecutors say 12 other foreign crew members were on board at the time of the vessel’s seizure
Since Russia’s capture of swaths of agricultural land in Ukraine in early 2022, Kyiv has accused Moscow of illegally harvesting and shipping grain produced on occupied territory to third countries.
The Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office said it had “seized” a foreign vessel in the Odesa region that had earlier exported agricultural products via the Crimean port of Sevastopol — a key military hub for Russia in the Black Sea.
The Security Services of Ukraine (SBU) said in a separate statement that it had detained the ship’s captain, accusing him of violating rules on entering occupied territory.
It also claimed that the grain exported by the vessel — Usko Mfu — had been produced in southern Ukraine.
The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, the SBU said, while prosecutors identified the captain as a citizen of Azerbaijan, an ex-Soviet country in the South Caucasus.
Prosecutors said 12 other foreign crew members were also on board at the time of the vessel’s seizure, without elaborating on their nationality or whether they too would face charges.
The Cameroonian-flagged vessel illegally docked at Sevastopol in November 2023 and was loaded with more than 3,000 tons of agricultural products “intended for a Turkish company,” prosecutors said.
“To conceal the illegal activity, the ship’s Automatic Identification System (AIS) was turned off before entering the port of Sevastopol, which is a gross violation of maritime safety requirements,” their statement added.
Prosecutors said the ship returned to Sevastopol a second time in May this year.
It was seized at the Ukrainian port of Reni, they added, where they discovered documents issued by Sevastopol port authorities.
Igor Delanoe — deputy director of the Franco-Russian Observatory — said this was the first time Ukraine had seized an internationally-flagged vessel over the shipments.
“The signal is that they want to make third countries face up to their responsibilities,” he said.
“From the Ukrainian point of view, these countries are supporting Russia by their silence, while at the same time benefiting from grain that Ukrainians consider stolen,” he added.
The European Union in May imposed “prohibitive” duties on grain imports from Russia in a bid to cut off revenues to Moscow for its war on Ukraine.
The bloc’s trade commissioner said the measure would “tackle illegal Russian exports of stolen Ukraine grain into EU markets.”
The head of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia, said Thursday that Russian forces caused fires on dozens of hectares of Ukrainian land growing grain.
He also said that Russian forces had struck a grain storage facility in the region and attacked firefighters who arrived to extinguish the fire with drones.
Turkiye’s Erdogan voices worries of NATO, Russia clash
- Turkish leader’s comments come as NATO leaders huddled in Washington
ISTANBUL: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Thursday that any possibility of a direct confrontation between Russia and NATO was “worrying,” the official Anadolu news agency reported.
Erdogan’s comments came as NATO leaders huddled in Washington and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia was planning “response measures” to contain the “very serious threat” from the alliance.
“The possibility of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia is undoubtedly worrying,” said Erdogan, who is in Washington for a NATO summit. “Any steps that could lead to this outcome should be consciously avoided.”
Erdogan spoke a day after NATO allies announced they had started transferring F-16 jets to Ukraine while stepping up promises to Kyiv on eventual membership in the alliance, at a 75th anniversary summit clouded by political uncertainties in the United States.
On the eve of the summit, Russia fired a barrage of missiles on Ukraine, killing dozens, including in Kyiv where a children’s hospital was heavily damaged.
Peskov, in comments published by Russian news agencies also said the Western military alliance, which is holding a summit in Washington this week, was now “fully involved in the conflict over Ukraine.”
A member of NATO, Turkiye has sought to balance ties between its two Black Sea neighbors Russia and Ukraine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
Ankara has sent drones to Ukraine while shying away from Western-led sanctions on Moscow.
Arab League, Japan officials discuss cooperation, Mideast stability
- End war on Gaza and release all hostages, urges FM Yoko Kamikawa
- Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit seeks to boost economic ties
TOKYO: Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and the Arab League’s Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit held talks late Wednesday on boosting economic ties, and the security and stability of Middle East nations.
At a working dinner on the sidelines of the 5th Japan-Arab Economic Forum in Tokyo, Kamikawa urged all parties involved in the war on Gaza to abide by international human rights laws.
Tokyo wants the release of all hostages and a ceasefire as soon as possible, she said.
Kamikawa added that Japan was encouraging Southeast Asian nations to support the work of the UN’s Conference on Cooperation among East Asian Countries for Palestinian Development.
Aboul Gheit said he wants to deepen economic relations between the parties at the forum, which he is currently attending for the first time as Arab League secretary-general.
Kamikawa echoed this view and said cooperation was “steadily developing.”
The two sides agreed to continue cooperation on the culture and education fronts.
On security, they emphasized the importance of secure and open maritime corridors.
They also discussed events in Syria and Libya and pledged to continue working together for Middle East peace and stability.
In addition, they discussed the progress of women’s empowerment in society.
Aboul Gheit also held talks with Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi on Wednesday, which included cooperation on education.
Astronauts stuck on space station ‘confident’ Boeing Starliner will bring them home
- Their return was pushed back because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey
- In 2014, both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts by NASA to develop crewed spaceships
WASHINGTON: A pair of US astronauts stuck waiting to leave the International Space Station said Wednesday they were confident that the problem-plagued Boeing Starliner they rode up on would soon bring them home, even as significant uncertainties remain.
Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams blasted off on June 5 aboard the brand new spaceship that NASA is hoping to certify to ferry crews to-and-from the orbital outpost.
They docked the following day for what was meant to be roughly a week-long stay, but their return was pushed back because of thruster malfunctions and helium leaks that came to light during the journey.
No date has been set for the return, but NASA officials said Wednesday they were eying “late July.”
Asked during a live press call from the station whether they still had faith in the Starliner team and the spaceship, mission commander Wilmore replied: “We’re absolutely confident.”
“I have a real good feeling in my heart that the spacecraft will bring us home, no problem,” added Williams.
She said they were continuing to enjoy their time aboard the ISS, performing tasks like changing out the pump on a machine that processes urine back into drinking water, and carrying out science experiments such as gene sequencing in the microgravity environment.
They have also tested Starliner as a “safe haven” vehicle in case of problems aboard the ISS, and checked out how its life support performs when four people are inside.
Before Wilmore and Williams can come home, however, engineering teams need to run more simulations of similar thrusters and helium seals on the ground, to better understand the root causes of some of the technical issues Starliner experienced — and modify the way it will fly down, if necessary.
It was known there was one helium leak affecting the spaceship before the launch, but more leaks emerged during the flight. Helium, while non-combustible, provides pressure to the propulsion system.
What’s more, some of Starliner’s thrusters that provide fine maneuvering initially failed to kick in during its approach to the station, delaying docking.
Engineers are not sure why the craft’s computer “deselected” these thrusters, though they were able to restart all but one of them.
In a subsequent press call, Boeing executive Mark Nappi told reporters that the “working theory” for the thruster malfunction was overheating due to excessive firing.
Theories on the cause of the helium leaks ranged from debris entering the propulsion system to Boeing possibly installing seals that were undersized for the task.
NASA and Boeing insist Starliner could fly home in case of an emergency, particularly since the problems affected only certain thrusters that control orientation.
They have no concerns over any of the more powerful thrusters responsible for the “deorbit burn” that will bring the spaceship back.
But much remains unclear — including whether the orientation control thrusters that malfunctioned have become degraded, which would make it necessary to rely on other thrusters during descent, NASA official Steve Stich said.
He insisted that NASA wasn’t yet considering bringing Williams and Wilmore back on a SpaceX Crew Dragon, in what would amount to a major humiliation for the aerospace giant Boeing, whose reputation has taken a hit in recent years over the safety crisis affecting its commercial jets.
“The prime option today is to return Butch and Suni on Starliner,” said Stich, while conceding that a return flight on a SpaceX spaceship can’t be ruled out.
In 2014, both SpaceX and Boeing were awarded multibillion-dollar contracts by NASA to develop crewed spaceships after the retirement of the Space Shuttle program. SpaceX carried out a successful crewed test in 2020 and has flown dozens of people since.
Biden welcomed Starmer’s desire for closer EU ties, UK government says
- Starmer met Biden in the White House’s Oval Office on Wednesday where the two men discussed UK and US ties
US President Joe Biden told Britain’s new Prime Minister Keir Starmer that he welcomed his desire for closer ties with European counterparts, according to a UK government statement on Thursday.
Starmer met Biden in the White House’s Oval Office on Wednesday where the two men discussed UK and US ties, the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, and England’s soccer win in the semifinals of Euro 2024.
“The President welcomed the prime minister’s recent comments on establishing closer relationships with our European counterparts, as well as the UK’s commitment to AUKUS,” the British government said in a statement, referring to the security pact between Britain, the US and Australia.
“They reflected that at a time when we face growing challenges across the world, we are at our strongest when we unite and work together.”
Starmer was in Washington for the NATO summit, where he also met European leaders including Germany’s Olaf Scholz.
Starmer has said he wants Britain to reset relations with the European Union to improve cooperation in areas such as security and trade, seeking to dampen the rancour that stemmed from Britain’s 2016 referendum to leave the bloc.
However he has ruled out any move to rejoin the European Union’s single market or customs union.
The two leaders also agreed they must do whatever it takes to support Ukraine in its war with Russia, and discussed their joint desire for a ceasefire in Gaza to get hostages out, aid in and make progress toward a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
