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Polish nationalists stage anti-immigration demo ahead of polls

Polish nationalists stage anti-immigration demo ahead of polls
A picture of Karol Nawrocki, candidate for the 2025 Polish presidential election supported by Poland’s right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, is seen among polish national flags as right wing supporters take part in an anti-migration protest in Warsaw on May 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Updated 10 May 2025
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Polish nationalists stage anti-immigration demo ahead of polls

Polish nationalists stage anti-immigration demo ahead of polls
  • The protest, organized by the nationalist opposition, drew demonstrators from across Poland
  • Immigration is a central issue in the central European country ahead of the May 18 election
Updated 10 May 2025
AFP
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WARSAW: Several thousand people demonstrated in Warsaw on Saturday against illegal immigration and the pro-European government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a week before the EU member chooses a new president.

The protest, organized by the nationalist opposition, drew demonstrators from across Poland, who carried the red and white national flag and chanted slogans such as “no to immigration.”

Immigration is a central issue in the central European country ahead of the May 18 election.

Poland currently hosts around one million refugees from the war in neighboring Ukraine, and has accused Russia and Belarus of orchestrating a wave of immigration into the European Union member.

The protesters made their way toward the seat of government in central Warsaw, chanting the name of nationalist presidential candidate Karol Nawrocki.

The 42-year-old fan of US President Donald Trump has the backing of the right-wing opposition Law and Justice party and outgoing President Andrzej Duda.

He is polling second in the presidential race, with around 25 percent support.

The frontrunner, Warsaw’s pro-European Union Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, has the support of Tusk’s Civic Coalition and is polling on 32 percent.

“Poland has to defend itself against illegal immigration. These migrants have their own countries. They should stay there,” 66-year-old farmer Boguslaw Uchmanowicz told AFP.

Topics: Poland Warsaw anti-immigration protest

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Prince Harry cleared of ‘bullying’ in African charity row

Updated 9 sec ago
AFP
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Prince Harry cleared of ‘bullying’ in African charity row

Prince Harry cleared of ‘bullying’ in African charity row
  • The UK charity watchdog Wednesday cleared Prince Harry of accusations of bullying in a row with an African charity he founded, but deplored that the bitter internal dispute was played out in public
Updated 9 sec ago
AFP
LONDON: The UK charity watchdog Wednesday cleared Prince Harry of accusations of bullying in a row with an African charity he founded, but deplored that the bitter internal dispute was played out in public.
The charity Sentebale was at the center of an explosive boardroom dispute in March and April when chairperson Sophie Chandauka publicly accused Harry, the youngest son of King Charles III, of “bullying.”
Days earlier, Harry and co-founder Prince Seeiso of Lesotho had announced they were resigning from the charity they established in 2006, after the trustees quit when Chandauka refused their demand to step down.
Harry, also known as the Duke of Sussex, launched the charity in honor of his mother, Princess Diana, to help young people with HIV and AIDS in Lesotho and later Botswana.
After a months-long inquiry, the Charity Commission “found no evidence of widespread or systemic bullying or harassment, including misogyny or misogynoir at the charity,” it said in its conclusions published Wednesday.
But it “criticized all parties to the dispute for allowing it to play out publicly” saying the “damaging internal dispute” had “severely impacted the charity’s reputation.”
It found there was “a lack of clarity in delegations” and added this led to “mismanagement in the administration of the charity.”
It has issued the charity with a plan to “address governance weaknesses.”
Sentebale said it “welcomes” the findings in a statement.
Chandauka, who was appointed to the voluntary post in 2023 and remains the charity’s chair, said she “appreciated” the conclusions, saying that they “confirm the governance concerns I raised privately in February 2025.”
She did not address the fact that claims of systemic bullying were dismissed.
Harry said in an April statement that the events had “been heartbreaking to witness, especially when such blatant lies hurt those who have invested decades in this shared goal.”
Speaking to British media after accusing the prince of trying to force her out, Chandauka criticized Harry for his decision to bring a Netflix camera crew to a polo fundraiser last year, and an unplanned appearance by his wife Meghan at the event.
The accusations were a fresh blow for the prince, who kept up only a handful of his private patronages, including with Sentebale, after a dramatic split with the British royal family in 2020, leaving Britain to live in North America with his wife and children.
“Moving forward I urge all parties not to lose sight of those who rely on the charity’s services,” said the commission’s chief executive David Holdsworth, adding improvements should now be made.
Harry chose the name Sentebale as a tribute to Diana, who died in a Paris car crash in 1997 when the prince was just 12. It means “forget me not” in the Sesotho language and is also used to say goodbye.
In her statement, Chandauka added: “Despite the recent turbulence, we will always be inspired by the vision of our Founders, Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso.”

Italy to approve world’s largest suspension bridge

Italy to approve world’s largest suspension bridge
Updated 4 min 38 sec ago
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Italy to approve world’s largest suspension bridge

Italy to approve world’s largest suspension bridge
  • Italy’s government is to give final approval Wednesday to a 13.5-billion-euro ($15.6-billion) project to build the world’s longest suspension bridge, connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland
Updated 4 min 38 sec ago
AFP

ROME: Italy’s government is to give final approval Wednesday to a 13.5-billion-euro ($15.6-billion) project to build the world’s longest suspension bridge, connecting the island of Sicily to the mainland.

Deputy Prime Minister and Infrastructure Minister Matteo Salvini said a ministerial committee will back the state-funded bridge over the Strait of Messina, marking a “page in history” following decades of planning.

The bridge has been designed with two railway lines in the middle and three lanes of traffic on either side, with a suspended span of 3.3 kilometers (2.05 miles) — a world record — stretching between two 400-meter (1,300 feet) high towers.

Due for completion by 2032, the government says the bridge is at the cutting edge of engineering, able to withstand high winds and earthquakes in a region that lies across two tectonic plates.

Ministers hope it will bring economic growth and jobs to two impoverished Italian regions — Sicily and Calabria on the mainland — with Salvini promising the project will create tens of thousands of jobs.

Yet it has sparked local protests, over the environmental impact and the cost that critics say could be better spent elsewhere.

Some critics believe it will never materialize, pointing to a long history of public works announced, financed and never completed in Italy.

The bridge has had several false starts, with the first plans drawn up more than 50 years ago.

Eurolink, a consortium led by Italian group Webuild, won the tender in 2006 only to see it canceled after the eurozone debt crisis. The consortium remains the contractor on the revived project.

This time, Rome has an added incentive to press ahead — by classifying the cost of the bridge as defense spending.

Debt-laden Italy has agreed along with other NATO allies to massively increase its defense expenditure to five percent of GDP, at the demand of US President Donald Trump.

Of this, 1.5 percent can be spent on “defense-related” areas such as cybersecurity and infrastructure. Rome is hoping the Messina bridge will qualify, particularly as Sicily hosts a NATO base.

Topics: Italy sicily bridge

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China tackles chikungunya virus outbreak with wide range of measures as thousands fall ill

China tackles chikungunya virus outbreak with wide range of measures as thousands fall ill
Updated 10 min 22 sec ago
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China tackles chikungunya virus outbreak with wide range of measures as thousands fall ill

China tackles chikungunya virus outbreak with wide range of measures as thousands fall ill
  • More than 7,000 cases of the disease have been reported as of Wednesday, focused largely on the manufacturing hub of Foshan near Hong Kong
  • State television has shown workers spraying clouds of disinfectant around city stree
Updated 10 min 22 sec ago
AP

TAIPEI: An outbreak of the chikungunya virus in China has prompted authorities to take preventive measures from mosquito nets and clouds of disinfectant, threatening fines for people who fail to disperse standing water and even deploying drones to hunt down insect breeding grounds.

More than 7,000 cases of the disease have been reported as of Wednesday, focused largely on the manufacturing hub of Foshan near Hong Kong, which has reported only one case. Numbers of new cases appear to be dropping slowly, according to authorities.

Chikungunya is spread by mosquitoes and causes fever and joint pain, similar to dengue fever, with the young, older people and those with pre-existing medical conditions most at risk.

Chinese state television has shown workers spraying clouds of disinfectant around city streets, residential areas, construction sites and other areas where people may come into contact with virus-bearing mosquitos that are born in standing water.

Workers sprayed some places before entering office buildings, a throwback to China’s controversial hard-line tactics used to battle the COVID-19 virus.

People who do not empty bottles, flower pots or other outdoor receptacles can be subject to fines of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,400) and have their electricity cut off.

The US has issued a travel advisory telling citizens not to visit China’s Guangdong province, the location of Donguan and several other business hubs, along with countries such as Bolivia and island nations in the Indian Ocean. Brazil is among the othe rcountries hit hard by the virus.

Heavy rains and high temperatures have worsened the crisis in China, which is generally common in tropical areas but came on unusually strong this year.

China has become adept at coercive measures that many nations consider over-the-top since the deadly 2003 SARS outbreak. This time, patients are being forced to stay in hospital in Foshan for a minimum of one week and authorities briefly enforced a two-week home quarantine, which was dropped since the disease cannot be transmitted between people.

Reports also have emerged of attempts to stop the virus spread with fish that eat mosquito larvae and even larger mosquitos to eat the insects carrying the virus.

Meetings have been held and protocols adopted at the national level in a sign of China’s determination to eliminate the outbreak and avoid public and international criticism.

Topics: China

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Two killed in Russian attack on holiday camp, Kyiv says

Two killed in Russian attack on holiday camp, Kyiv says
Updated 14 min 33 sec ago
AFP
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Two killed in Russian attack on holiday camp, Kyiv says

Two killed in Russian attack on holiday camp, Kyiv says
  • The Kremlin claims that the central Zaporizhzhia region is part of Russia
Updated 14 min 33 sec ago
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KYIV: A Russian attack on Wednesday that set ablaze a holiday camp in central Ukraine killed two people and wounded another dozen, local authorities said.

The central Zaporizhzhia region, which the Kremlin claims is part of Russia and is cut through by the front line, has been targeted in increasingly frequent and deadly Russian attacks.

The emergency services posted images showing firefighters putting out flames in single-story cottages and the bodies of those killed and hurt in the attack on the blood-stained ground.

The regional governor said two people were killed and that 12 were wounded, including four children.

“There’s no military sense in this attack. It’s just cruelty to scare people,” President Volodymyr Zelensky said on social media, adding that hundreds had been left without electricity after Russian attacks further south.

Russian forces separately killed a man born in 1959 in the embattled town of Pokrovsk, an important logistics hub in the Donetsk region that Russia also said it annexed, according to local authorities.

There was no immediate comment on the strikes from Moscow, which launched the invasion of Ukraine early 2022 and denies its forces target civilians.

Topics: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

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Cuba activists say detained on anniversary of 1994 anti-Castro protest

Cuba activists say detained on anniversary of 1994 anti-Castro protest
Updated 17 min 49 sec ago
AFP
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Cuba activists say detained on anniversary of 1994 anti-Castro protest

Cuba activists say detained on anniversary of 1994 anti-Castro protest
  • Nearly five years after Castro’s death, historic protests shook the island on July 11, 2021, when thousands took to the streets, resulting in one death, dozens injured and hundreds arrested
  • The government claims those marches were also orchestrated by Washington
Updated 17 min 49 sec ago
AFP

HAVANA: Activists, journalists and relatives of jailed dissidents say they were briefly detained or prevented from leaving their homes by state security agents Tuesday on the anniversary of the “Maleconazo,” the largest protest Fidel Castro faced during his rule.

On August 5, 1994, hundreds of people took to the streets of Havana’s Malecon waterfront to protest, an event that triggered the rafter crisis during which many Cubans fled by sea to the United States.

The government attributed the protests to incitement by Radio Marti, a Washington-funded station that broadcasts news into Cuba.

Nearly five years after Castro’s death, historic protests shook the island on July 11, 2021, when thousands took to the streets, resulting in one death, dozens injured and hundreds arrested. Many protesters remain behind bars.

The government claims those marches were also orchestrated by Washington.

President Miguel Diaz-Canel said the “Maleconazo” anniversary was a reminder that “there will always be dark forces lurking against a genuine Revolution in difficult moments,” posting a photograph on X of Castro confronting protesters in 1994.

Tuesday saw “surveillance, house arrests, arbitrary detention, and selective Internet shutdowns,” according to Cubalex, a Miami-based NGO.

Manuel Cuesta Morua, a dissident who promotes democratic transition in Cuba, told AFP via WhatsApp that since early morning he had been “besieged by the police” in a “type of house arrest, without a court order.”

The government “activated its repressive apparatus” following the “police pattern” applied on sensitive dates, said Yoani Sanchez, director of independent newspaper 14ymedio.

She said her husband, Reinaldo Escobar, also a journalist for the outlet, “was detained for a couple of hours in Havana.”

Independent journalist Camila Acosta told AFP that a state security officer had been stationed at the entrance of her house early in the morning.

Among others in similar situations reported by Cubalex were representatives of the Ladies in White rights group and the father of a young man imprisoned for participating in the July 2021 protests.

Topics: cuba

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Latest updates

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Italy to approve world’s largest suspension bridge
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Two killed in Russian attack on holiday camp, Kyiv says
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Cuba activists say detained on anniversary of 1994 anti-Castro protest
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UK regulator says no evidence of bullying at Prince Harry charity
UK regulator says no evidence of bullying at Prince Harry charity

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