Protests erupt in Paris over pro-Israel gala organized by far-right figures

Protests erupt in Paris over pro-Israel gala organized by far-right figures
Protestors and police clash during a rally against the "Israel is Forever" gala organized by far-right Franco-Israeli figures, in Paris, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, on the eve of the UEFA Nations League 2025 soccer match between France and Israel. (AP)
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Updated 14 November 2024
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Protests erupt in Paris over pro-Israel gala organized by far-right figures

Protests erupt in Paris over pro-Israel gala organized by far-right figures
  • On Wednesday night, several hundred protesters marched through central Paris, denouncing the event as a “gala of hatred and shame”

PARIS: Protests erupted in Paris on Wednesday against a controversial gala organized by far-right figures in support of Israel. The event, intended to raise funds for the Israeli military, included Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich among its invited guests.
The demonstrations came on the eve of a high-stakes soccer match at France’s national stadium against the Israeli national team, overshadowed by tensions around the wars in the Middle East. Authorities in Paris announced that more than 4,000 police officers and 1,600 stadium staff will be deployed for the game.
Smotrich, a vocal advocate of Israeli settlements, had been expected to attend Wednesday’s gala, dubbed “Israel is Forever,” which was planned by an association of the same name. The group’s stated goal is to “mobilize French-speaking Zionist forces.”
After days of growing criticism of the event, Smotrich’s office confirmed Wednesday that the minister would not travel to Paris to participate.
But the invitation to Smotrich drew sharp criticism from local associations, unions and left-wing political parties, prompting two protests in the French capital. The minister, a hard-line settler leader, has been accused of inflaming tensions in the West Bank and drew international condemnations this week by saying he hopes the election of Donald Trump will clear the way for Israeli annexation of the West Bank — a step that would extinguish Palestinian statehood dreams.
The French Foreign Ministry called Smotrich’s remarks “contrary to international law” and counterproductive to efforts to reduce regional tensions.
“France reiterates its commitment to the implementation of the two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security, which is the only prospect for a just and lasting settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the ministry said in a statement.
Critics also pointed at Nili Kupfer-Naouri, president of the “Israel is Forever” association, who sparked outrage in 2023, after the Israel-Hamas war started, when she tweeted that “no civilian in Gaza was innocent.”
On Wednesday night, several hundred protesters marched through central Paris, denouncing the event as a “gala of hatred and shame.”
“Imagine if an association were hosting a gala for Hezbollah or Hamas — there’s no way the police would allow that,” said Melkir Saib, a 30-year-old protester. “The situation is just unfair.”
The march was largely peaceful, but some demonstrators broke windows at a McDonald’s along the route.
A separate group, including Jewish leftist organizations opposed to racism and antisemitism, gathered near the Arc de Triomphe chanting slogans against the gala and Smotrich.
French authorities defended the event, with Paris police chief Laurent Nunez stating that the gala posed “no major threat to public order.”
The protests came days after tensions flared in Paris and Amsterdam related to the conflicts in the Mideast. A massive “Free Palestine” banner was displayed during a Paris Saint-Germain Champions League match against Atletico Madrid, while violence broke out in Amsterdam last week targeting fans of an Israeli soccer club.


Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms

Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms
Updated 32 sec ago
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Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms

Zelensky huddles with European leaders as Trump looms
  • “Europe needs a strong, united position to ensure lasting peace,” Zelensky stressed as he arrived in the Belgian capital

BRUSSELS, Belgium: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met with NATO chief Mark Rutte and key European leaders in Brussels Wednesday to strategize over Russia’s war ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Addressing reporters alongside Rutte, Zelensky called it a “very good opportunity to speak about security guarantees for Ukraine, for today and for tomorrow.”
The pair were to be joined later in the evening at the NATO’s chief’s official residence by leaders from Germany, Poland, Italy, Denmark, The Netherlands and the European Union’s main institutions.
French President Emmanuel Macron and British premier Keir Starmer were to miss the gathering due to schedule clashes — sending their foreign ministers instead — but Macron met Zelensky for bilateral talks just beforehand.
The huddle came just over a month before Trump reclaims the US presidency, having pledged to bring a swift end to a conflict that NATO says has left more than one million dead and wounded since Russia’s 2022 invasion.
There are fears that Trump could pull US support for Kyiv and force it to make painful concessions to Moscow. European leaders, keen not to be left on the sidelines, are scrambling to come up with their own plans.
“Europe needs a strong, united position to ensure lasting peace,” Zelensky stressed as he arrived in the Belgian capital.
European leaders insist that only Ukraine should decide when it is ready to negotiate with Russia.
The meeting’s top focus, Rutte said, was to make sure that Ukraine was “in the best possible position one day, when they decide to start the peace talks.”
Likewise German Chancellor Olaf Scholz told reporters earlier in Brussels the priority was to secure the “sovereignty of Ukraine — and that it will not be forced to submit to a dictated peace.”
But discussions have begun between some capitals over the potential deployment of European troops to Ukraine to secure any eventual ceasefire.
While this was raised at a recent meeting between Macron and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, diplomats say it remains too early to draw up concrete proposals.
Scholz told reporters that discussing boots on the ground was premature, saying it “does not make sense” at this stage.
Rutte instead said Kyiv’s allies should focus on ramping up arms supplies — and urged them not to debate possible peace conditions in public as it risks playing into Moscow’s hands.
“If we now start to discuss among ourselves what a deal could look like, we make it so easy for the Russians,” he said.
Western backers are seeking to shore up Ukraine’s forces as Kyiv’s fatigued troops are losing ground across the frontline and Moscow has deployed North Koreans to the battlefield.
Zelensky — who will also attend an EU summit on Thursday — said he wanted to discuss “how to urgently strengthen Ukraine on the battlefield, politically and geopolitically.”
Most immediately Zelensky is pleading for over a dozen more air defense systems to try to help stave off Russian barrages against Ukraine’s power grid.
But Ukraine’s leader has said Trump’s arrival could mean the war ends next year, and has called for allies to help secure a peace deal that Moscow cannot violate.
As the change of guard approached in the US, Zelensky has appeared to soften his stance on any potential peace push.
He has said that if Ukraine is given firm security guarantees by NATO and enough weaponry it could agree to a ceasefire along current lines and look to regain the rest of its territory through diplomatic means.
But NATO members have rebuffed Kyiv’s calls for an invitation to join their alliance right away, sparking speculation that sending peacekeepers could be an alternative.
“Officially that is not on the agenda, but since there will be a lot of important people in the same room, it cannot entirely be ruled out,” a NATO diplomat said.
The meeting is “basically about Zelensky asking for more military aid,” the diplomat added.


France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting

This aerial view shows traffic around the Old Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the Hamidiyah district of Homs on December 16.
This aerial view shows traffic around the Old Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the Hamidiyah district of Homs on December 16.
Updated 18 December 2024
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France to host Syria meeting, cautious on aid, sanctions lifting

This aerial view shows traffic around the Old Clock Tower along Quwatli Street in the Hamidiyah district of Homs on December 16.
  • “We will not judge them by their words but by their actions, and over time,” Barrot said
  • January meeting would be a follow-up to a meeting in Jordan last week that included Turkiye, Arab and Western states

PARIS: France said on Wednesday it would host an international meeting on Syria in January and that the lifting of sanctions and reconstruction aid would be conditional on clear political and security commitments by the transitional authority.
A team of French diplomats met an official from the Syrian transition team on Tuesday in Damascus and raised the flag over the French embassy there 12 years after cutting ties with Syria’s Bashar Assad amid the country’s civil war.
Acting Foreign Minister Jan-Noel Barrot told parliament that the diplomats had seen positive signals from the transitional authority and that in the capital, at least, Syrians appeared to be resuming their normal life without being impeded.
“We will not judge them by their words but by their actions, and over time,” Barrot said.
The January meeting would be a follow-up to a meeting in Jordan last week that included Turkiye, Arab and Western states. It was not immediately clear whether Syrians would attend or what the precise objective of the conference would be.
Western nations have welcomed Assad’s fall but are weighing whether they can work with the militants who ousted him, including Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham (HTS), an extremist group that is designated a terrorist organization by the EU.
Barrot said an inclusive transition would be vital and that Western powers had many tools at their disposal to ease the situation, notably the lifting of international sanctions and aid reconstruction.
“But we are making this support conditional on clear commitments on the political and security front,” he said.
Kurds
Since cutting ties with Assad in 2012, France has backed a broadly secular exiled opposition and Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in northeastern Syria, for which it has given military support in the past.
The SDF is the main ally in a US coalition against Daesh militants in Syria. It is spearheaded by the YPG militia, a group that Turkiye, a NATO ally, sees as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), whose militants have battled the Turkish state for 40 years.
France’s ties with the SDF persist. Barrot stressed that the political transition needed to ensure they were represented, especially given they had been at the forefront in the fight against Daesh, and were currently guarding thousands of hardened militants in prisons and camps.
“We know of Ankara’s security concerns toward the PKK, but we are convinced that it’s possible to find an arrangement that satisfies the interests of everyone. We are working on it,” Barrot said.
“This stabilization also means including the SDF in the Syrian political process,” he said, adding that President Emmanuel Macron had made this point in talks with his Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday.


French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election

French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election
Updated 18 December 2024
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French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election

French far-right leader Le Pen eyes early presidential election

PARIS: French far-right leader Marine Le Pen said on Wednesday that she was preparing for an early presidential election, saying President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office was all but over.

Le Pen, who has brought her anti-immigrant National Rally party from fringe status into the political spotlight, is seen as a leading presidential contender. She faced off against Macron in 2017 and captured an even greater share of the vote in 2022, when Macron won another five-year term.

“I am preparing for an early presidential election, out of precaution, taking into account Emmanuel Macron’s fragility, what little institutional levers he has left,” she said in an interview with Le Parisien newspaper.

“Emmanuel Macron is finished or almost finished,” she said, adding that Macron was diminished both domestically and internationally. “He has angered everyone. He has no more influence in the European Union,” she said.

Macron has repeatedly said he would not resign. Asked for reaction, the Elysee said: “The president has already expressed himself on this matter.”

Le Pen faces her own political challenges. She and other members of her party have been accused of using funds from the European Union to pay party workers in France.

She has denounced the case as a political witch hunt. If convicted, she could be banned from seeking public office for five years. The trial is expected to close in March.


Thirteen dead after naval vessel hits passenger boat off Mumbai

Passengers who were rescued after an Indian Navy speedboat lost control and crashed into a ferry carrying 100 passengers.
Passengers who were rescued after an Indian Navy speedboat lost control and crashed into a ferry carrying 100 passengers.
Updated 18 December 2024
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Thirteen dead after naval vessel hits passenger boat off Mumbai

Passengers who were rescued after an Indian Navy speedboat lost control and crashed into a ferry carrying 100 passengers.
  • The navy said 99 people were rescued with efforts ongoing for others
  • Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident

MUMBAI: At least 13 people died when a boat with more than 100 passengers capsized off the coast of India’s financial capital Mumbai after colliding with an Indian Navy boat on Wednesday, officials said.
The navy said 99 people were rescued with efforts ongoing for others.
“An Indian Navy craft lost control while undertaking engine trials in Mumbai Harbor due to engine malfunction. As a result, the boat collided with a passenger ferry which subsequently capsized,” the Navy said in a statement on X.
Local TV channels showed a boat carrying at least five people hitting the passenger vehicle, causing the accident.
“The speedboat crashed into our boat and water started entering our boat and it overturned. The driver asked us to wear lifejackets,” a passenger on board the vessel told ABP Majha news channel.
“I swam for fifteen minutes before I was rescued by another boat,” said the passenger, who did not identify himself.
The privately-owned passenger boat, called Neelkamal, was heading toward the Elephanta caves, a popular tourist destination off the coast of Mumbai, when it capsized, BMC said.
The caves, which see a steady stream of tourists through the year, are a UNESCO heritage site and were constructed in the 5th-6th centuries A.D.
Boats from the Gateway of India, Mumbai’s southernmost point, make regular trips to ferry tourists to the site, an hour away.


Teenager pleads not guilty to murder of 3 girls that sparked UK riots

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northern England i
Alice Dasilva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northern England i
Updated 18 December 2024
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Teenager pleads not guilty to murder of 3 girls that sparked UK riots

Alice Dasilva Aguiar, Bebe King and Elsie Dot Stancombe were murdered at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in northern England i
  • Axel Rudakubanais accused of murdering Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event
  • The crime horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting

LONDON: A British teenager on Wednesday had not guilty pleas entered on his behalf to charges of murdering three young girls in a knife attack in northern England in July, a crime that horrified the nation and was followed by days of nationwide rioting.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, did not speak when asked at Liverpool Crown Court if he was guilty or not guilty of killing Bebe King, 6, Elsie Dot Stancombe, 7, and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, 9, who were at a Taylor Swift-themed dance event in the town of Southport.
Not guilty pleas were also entered over charges of 10 attempted murders, producing the deadly poison ricin and the possession of an Al-Qaeda training manual, under a procedure known as mute of malice where a defendant refuses to speak.
His trial is due to start on Jan. 20 and last for four weeks. Judge Julian Goose confirmed with Rudakubana’s lawyer Stan Reiz that “there will be no positive case advanced” on Rudakubana’s behalf.
During Wednesday’s short hearing, British-born Rudakubana, who appeared by videolink from prison, showed no emotion, staring straight ahead and occasionally rocking from side to side.
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the incident, was arrested shortly after the attack on the summer vacation event for children in the quiet seaside town north of the city of Liverpool. Police have said the incident was not being treated as terrorist-related.
Large disturbances broke out in Southport after false reports spread on social media that the suspected killer was a radical Islamist migrant.
The disturbances spread across Britain with attacks on mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer blaming the riots on far-right thuggery.
More than 1,500 people were arrested, with prosecutors bringing over 1,000 charges as the authorities took tough action to curb the disorder.
A report by the police watchdog, His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS), said on Wednesday that officers had displayed immense bravery in the face of extreme violence.
But it added that intelligence failure meant the scale of the disorder was not predicted and forces needed to be better prepared to deal with serious violence.