France’s Macron accelerates efforts to break PM deadlock

France's Minister of Interior Bernard Cazeneuve (L) and French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron (R) leave the Hotel Matignon on May 28, 2017 in Paris following a meeting with French Prime and other members of the government and representatives of the oil sector. (File/AFP)
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Updated 02 September 2024
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France’s Macron accelerates efforts to break PM deadlock

  • France has been without a permanent government since the July 7 legislative polls where the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron's centrists and the far right comprising the other major groups

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday intensified efforts to find a new prime minister after almost two months of deadlock following inconclusive legislative elections, hosting two former presidents and two potential candidates.
France has been without a permanent government since the July 7 legislative polls where the left formed the largest faction in a hung parliament with Macron's centrists and the far right comprising the other major groups.
To the fury of the left, Macron has refused to accept the nomination a left-wing premier, arguing such a figure would have no chance of surviving a confidence motion in parliament.
Instead, the president, who has less than three years in power, has happily run down the clock as the Olympics and Paralympics took place, to the growing frustration of opponents.
But amid signs of an acceleration as France returns from holidays, Macron early Monday hosted Bernard Cazeneuve, a former leading Socialist who headed the government in the final months of Socialist Francois Hollande's 2012-17 presidential term, an AFP journalist said.
Cazeneuve is regarded by commentators as the figure most likely to be named by Macron, but his appointment is far from a foregone conclusion.
His appointment is "a possibility but it is not a certainty... an option but we must look closely," a source close to Macron told AFP, asking not to be named.
Cazeneuve, 61, spent years as interior minister, including during the traumatic 2015 Paris attacks, and enjoys respect from across the political spectrum.
He is "one of those who seem to me capable of bringing people together beyond his own camp," National Assembly speaker Yael Braun-Pivet, a Macron supporter, told broadcaster France Inter Sunday.
But the hard-left France Unbowed (LFI) was unimpressed. "I don't give him a chance. He belongs to the old world," said the head of its MPs Mathilde Panot.

Macron was also due to host Monday at the Elysee his two surviving predecessors -- right-winger Nicolas Sarkozy and Hollande -- for talks at the Elysee.
It is traditional for the French president to consult predecessors during moments of national importance. "Could there soon be white smoke?" asked left-wing daily Liberation, referring to the signal given when a new pope is elected.
But a sign of the potential uncertainty, Macron in the afternoon was also set to hold talks with Xavier Bertrand, the right-wing head of the northern Hauts-de-France region and a former minister.
Bertrand, 59, would be a much more palatable figure for the right as premier.
Sarkozy, who despite a string of graft convictions after leaving office on charges he denies remains an influential figure on the right and even within Macron's circle, has already made his preference clear.
"The centre of gravity of French politics is on the right", he argued in the Figaro daily on Saturday.
He said Bertrand would be a "good choice", while opposing Cazeneuve's nomination.
For a president who came to office in 2017 vowing radical change as to how France is ruled, naming a former prime minister from a previous administration could be seen as a negative throwback.
"For Emmanuel Macron, appointing Bernard Cazeneuve to the office of prime minister would implicitly acknowledge the fact that the 'new world' has failed," the Le Monde daily wrote in an editorial.
Whoever is named will face the most delicate of tasks in seeking to agree legislation in a highly polarised National Assembly at a time of immense challenges.
An October 1 deadline is now looming for a new government to file a draft budget law for 2025 -- something the caretaker administration under Gabriel Attal, in place since July, cannot oversee.
With debts piling up to 110 percent of annual output, France has this year suffered a credit rating cut from Standard and Poor's in June and been told off by the European Commission for excessive deficits.


US Air Force in UK says a small number of drones spotted flying over bases in eastern England

Updated 21 sec ago
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US Air Force in UK says a small number of drones spotted flying over bases in eastern England

The Air Force hasn’t identified who is believed to be behind the incursions
Unspecified mitigation measures are underway

LONDON: The US Air Force says a number of small drones have been detected near three bases in eastern England that are used by American forces.
Tuesday’s ongoing incident comes just days after drones were spotted near RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall and RAF Feltwell. They were actively monitored after they were seen in the vicinity of and over the three bases, US Air Forces Europe said in a statement on Sunday.
The Air Force hasn’t identified who is believed to be behind the incursions. Unspecified mitigation measures are underway.
Lakenheath is home to the 48th Fighter Wing, which the US Air Force describes as the foundation of its combat capability in Europe. Mildenhall hosts the 100th Air Refueling Wing, and Feltwell is a hub for housing, schools and other services.
Lakenheath, Mildenhall and Feltwell, located close to one another in the counties of Suffolk and Norfolk, are Royal Air Force bases used primarily by the US Air Force

Death toll from Hindu-Muslim clashes sparked by mosque survey rises to six in India

Updated 37 min 46 sec ago
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Death toll from Hindu-Muslim clashes sparked by mosque survey rises to six in India

  • Street battles broke out in a bid to block a team of surveyors from the government from entering the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal
  • Hindu activist groups have laid claim to several mosques they say were built over Hindu temples during Muslim Mughal rule 

Lucknow, India: The death toll from violent protests in India sparked by a survey into whether a centuries-old mosque was built on a Hindu temple has risen to six, an official said Tuesday.
Around 20 police officers were also wounded during the violence on Sunday in Sambhal in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh, district magistrate Chirag Goyal told AFP.
Street battles broke out in a bid to block a team of surveyors from the government’s Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) from entering the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal.
The six Muslim men were killed by gunfire — with Goyal saying they were shot by fellow protesters.
“The six killed were caught in crossfire by rioters using homemade pistols,” he said. “The police only fired tear gas and rubber bullets.”
Two people were initially reported dead on Sunday, but more details emerged later, while others later died of their wounds.
Goyal said 25 people had been arrested following the violence.
Hindu activist groups have laid claim to several mosques they say were built over Hindu temples during the Muslim Mughal empire centuries ago.
The survey in Sambhal was ordered by a local court, after a petition from a Hindu priest this month claimed it was built on the site of a Hindu temple.
Within hours the court ordered a survey of the mosque, a decision protested by local Muslim residents.
The first survey was undertaken on November 19. A second survey four days later, which included taking photos and video of the mosque’s features, triggered the violence.
The hilltop Shahi Jama Masjid was built in 1526 during the rule of Mughal emperors Babur and Humayun, according to historians, with renovations during the 17th century.
Hindu nationalist activists were emboldened earlier this year when Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a grand new Hindu temple in the northern city of Ayodhya, built on grounds once home to the centuries-old Babri mosque.
That mosque was torn down in 1992 in a campaign spearheaded by members of Modi’s party, sparking sectarian riots that killed 2,000 people nationwide, most of them Muslims.
Some Hindu campaigners see an ideological patron in Modi.
Calls for India to more closely align the country’s officially secular political system with its majority Hindu faith have rapidly grown louder since Modi was swept to office in 2014.
It has made the country’s roughly 210-million-strong Muslim minority increasingly anxious about their future.


Philippines, UAE pledge stronger economic ties as Marcos marks first visit

Updated 26 November 2024
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Philippines, UAE pledge stronger economic ties as Marcos marks first visit

  • Marcos is the first Philippine president to visit Abu Dhabi in more than 15 years
  • UAE president says he looks forward to talks on a free trade deal with the Philippines

Manila: The Philippines and the UAE on Tuesday committed to boosting economic relations as Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. marked his first official trip to Abu Dhabi.

On his one-day trip, Marcos was received by UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed.

He is the first Philippine president to visit the UAE since Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2008.

During the meeting, the two leaders committed “to deepening cooperation in various areas, including economy, trade and sustainability,” Marcos’ office said in a statement.

“The two leaders emphasized their dedication to strengthening bilateral ties and delivering lasting benefits to their peoples, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of friendship and collaboration between their nations.”

The Philippines and the UAE celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations on Aug. 19.

Emirati state news agency WAM cited Sheikh Mohammed as saying that he hoped the visit “would herald a new and significant chapter” in UAE-Philippine ties and that the UAE “looks forward to continuing discussions toward reaching a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the Philippines to elevate trade and investment relations to new heights of mutual economic growth.”

Negotiations on the free trade deal have been underway between Philippine and UAE officials since the beginning of this year.

The UAE is a key trading partner of the Philippines in the region and home to the second-largest Filipino diaspora after Saudi Arabia.

Some 700,000 overseas Filipino workers live and work in the UAE. Many are employed in the construction, healthcare and hospitality sectors.

Marcos was initially expected to meet representatives of the Filipino community, but his visit was shortened, with the Philippine Presidential Communications Office saying he would “immediately fly back to Manila to resume his personal supervision and inspection of the relief and reconstruction activities in communities devastated by six successive typhoons.”


India seizes 5,500 kg of methamphetamine in biggest drug bust

Updated 26 November 2024
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India seizes 5,500 kg of methamphetamine in biggest drug bust

  • Myanmar-flagged boat was seized when it entered Indian waters in the Andaman Sea
  • 70 percent of illegal drugs are nowadays smuggled into India via sea routes, expert says

NEW DELHI: India’s coast guard has seized a Myanmar vessel carrying 5,500 kg of methamphetamine in the Andaman Sea, marking its biggest haul of illegal drugs.

The Myanmar-flagged fishing boat Soe Wai Yan Htoo was spotted by an Indian Coast Guard reconnaissance air patrol in the Andaman Sea on Monday, as it was “operating in a suspicious manner,” the Indian Ministry of Defense said in a statement.

Officers boarded the boat for investigation when it entered Indian territorial waters.

“The six crew onboard the boat were identified as Myanmarese nationals,” the ministry said. “During rummaging, the boarding party found approx. 5,500 kgs of prohibited drug methamphetamine.”

The vessel and its crew have been taken for further investigation to an Indian naval base in Sri Vijaya Puram, the capital of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

“The seizure is the largest-ever drug haul by the Indian Coast Guard in maritime history, highlighting the growing threat of transnational maritime narcotics,” the ICG said.

The trafficking of illicit drugs from Myanmar through the Andaman Sea has been on the rise as drug cartels try to evade land controls, according to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime. The UNODC identifies Myanmar’s Shan state as “the epicenter” of methamphetamine production in the region.

Shan state is part of the Golden Triangle — a mountainous area in the northern part of the Mekong River basin, where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet. The region has long been associated with illegal drug production and was a major source of opium in the 1970s and 1980s. In recent years, it has seen a shift toward the production of synthetic drugs.

“Myanmar’s political instability adds to this challenge since many insurgent groups operate between the border regions,” said Dr. Sreeparna Banerjee, associate fellow at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi.

She estimated that some 70 percent of illegal drugs smuggled into India currently enter the country through the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal, with Monday’s haul raising concerns over the scale of criminal networks operating at sea.

“While this seizure highlights the success of coordinated operations by the ICG and other agencies, it also raises concerns about the gaps traffickers exploit. The use of unregistered vessels and vast stretches of unmonitored waters make the Andaman Sea a challenging zone for law enforcement,” Banerjee told Arab News.

“The size of the haul also indicates the potential involvement of transnational organized crime syndicates, further complicating efforts to dismantle these networks.”


Indonesia’s Supreme Court reverses acquittal of former official in slavery case

Updated 26 November 2024
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Indonesia’s Supreme Court reverses acquittal of former official in slavery case

  • A police investigation found 665 people had been held in cells on his property since 2010

JAKARTA: Indonesia’s Supreme Court jailed a former government official accused of human trafficking for four years, reversing a lower court decision to acquit him after people were found in cages in his palm oil plantation.
Condemned internationally and at home, the senior official in the provincial government in North Sumatra, Terbit Rencana Perangin-angin, had been accused of human trafficking, torture, forced labor, and slavery.
Prosecutors launched an appeal after a lower court acquitted him of the charges in July.
Indonesia’s Supreme Court said he would serve four years in jail, without specifying reasons, in a ruling dated Nov. 15 and seen on the court’s website on Tuesday.
The Supreme Court and prosecutors did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Reuters has sought comment from Terbit’s lawyer.
The macabre case came to light in 2022, when a police corruption investigation into Terbit found people detained in cages on his property, drawing condemnation from rights groups.
A police investigation found 665 people had been held in cells on his property since 2010, court documents showed.
Terbit, who was jailed for nine years for corruption in 2022, had previously claimed the detained individuals were participating in a drug rehabilitation program.
Prosecutors said they had been tortured and forced to work on his plantation. Six had died in captivity, Indonesia’s rights body found.