French President Emmanuel Macron and Pope Francis held nearly an hour of private talks on Monday, part of Macron’s trip to Italy to attend an international conference.

Macron, accompanied by his wife Brigitte, arrived at the Vatican and was greeted with an honour guard of Swiss Guards in the San Damaso courtyard before taking an elevator to the official papal study in the Apostolic Palace.

Francis, 85, was using a walking stick due to a painful knee, but looked cheerful as he chatted with Macron and posed for photographs with the French leader and his wife.

The two leaders then discussed “the conflict in Ukraine, with special attention to the humanitarian situation”, the Vatican said in a statement. “Particular consideration was given to the region of the Caucasus, the Middle East, and Africa,” it said. The Vatican said their private talks lasted 55 minutes.

Macron was escorted through ornate papal palace corridors by Swiss Guards, on his third visit to the Vatican since becoming president.

He gave Francis a 1796 first edition French-language copy of German philosopher Immanuel Kant’s “Perpetual Peace”.

He previously met Francis at the Vatican in June 2018 and less than a year ago, in November 2021.

Macron is in Italy to attend an international conference organised by Italy’s Sant’Egidio Community, a worldwide peace and charity group.

He and the pope will jointly close the conference at a special ceremony at the Colosseum in Rome on Tuesday.

Opening the conference on Rome’s outskirts on Sunday, Macron said he believed there was a chance for peace in Ukraine, even as Russia warned the conflict could escalate.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday visited a training centre for mobilised Russians for the first time since announcing a partial military call-up on September 21.

State television showed Putin visiting a shooting centre in the Ryazan region, southeast of Moscow, dressed in black, shooting a newly developed sniper rifle and hugging military men.

Wearing ear protectors and safety glasses, Putin fired several shots from a Russian SVD sniper rifle, lying under a camouflage net.

Putin then appeared to start leaving but turned back and asked one of the soldiers:

“What kind of family do you have?”

“A daughter. Five years old,” the mobilised soldier answered.

Putin hugged him and wished him “good luck.”

Military officials also showed Putin what mobilised men are equipped with, presenting him with a line of men, some of them with their rucksacks open to show what they are carrying.

“Turn around in a circle,” one commander said to a soldier to show the Russian leader the men were adequately equipped.

“These are exceptional boots,” he added, as Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu who accompanied Putin, inspected the footwear.

“Everything to fulfil the tasks,” the commander said.

The visit comes after reports that mobilised men are badly equipped, leading to some discontent.

Russian state-run news agencies said the commander-in-chief also “observed practical exercises” including fire drills, engineering and medical trainings.

Shoigu, by Putin’s side during the visit, gave him an update on the training of those called up in the draft, news agencies said.

More than 200,000 people have been conscripted into the Russian army since Putin announced the mobilisation drive, the defence ministry said.

Russia’s mobilisation is aimed at propping up Moscow’s forces in Ukraine after a series of military setbacks.

Source: AFP

French Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti will have to stand trial in a conflict of interest case that has been an embarrassment for President Emmanuel Macron’s government, his lawyers said Monday, adding they immediately appealed the move.

Eric Dupond-Moretti, who was one of France’s most famous criminal lawyers before President Emmanuel Macron made him justice minister, is accused of having used his position to act against personal rivals within the judiciary, which he denies.

The judicial body, the Court of Justice of the Republic, deals with suspected crimes or offences committed by members of the government during the exercise of their functions. Since its creation in 1993, it has only held eight formal trials.

Past defendants before the jury, which is composed of lawmakers and judges of France’s highest court, the Cour de Cassation, have included former finance minister and current head of the European Central Bank, Christine Lagarde. She was found guilty of negligence over a government payout.

Dupond-Moretti joined the French government in 2020 after being a vocal critic of what he said were France’s excessively lengthy criminal trial proceedings and its overcrowded prisons.

Source: AFP

Flags on government buildings returned to full mast and an epic clean-up operation was underway on Tuesday as British public life resumed after the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, although the royal family remains in mourning for another week.

Around a quarter of a million people queued round the clock to view the queen’s coffin as it lay in state in the days leading up to the funeral, the UK government said.

Liz Truss, appointed prime minister by the queen just two days before she died on September 8, flew to the UN General Assembly hours after delivering a biblical reading at the lavish funeral.

En route to New York, Truss praised the “huge outpouring of love and affection” shown towards the late monarch, as well as the “huge amount of warmth towards” her successor, King Charles III.

Charles, 73, and his family will remain in mourning for another seven days.

That means no official engagements after he spent an exhausting week touring his new kingdom and attending to the ornate pageantry of a role that he has spent a lifetime preparing to take on.

The royal Twitter account published a picture of the queen hiking in 1971 at her Scottish retreat of Balmoral, where she died at the age of 96 as Britain’s longest-reigning monarch.

The photograph was accompanied with the words: “May flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest. In loving memory of Her Majesty The Queen.”

The quotation is from the tragic conclusion of Shakespeare’s play “Hamlet” and was said by Charles in his first national broadcast as king the day after his mother passed away.

Dramas old and new

Members of parliament were taking an oath of allegiance to their new sovereign on Tuesday, as political life resumed after 10 days of government mourning.

Following a public holiday for the funeral, business life was also resuming, and workers were busy clearing up the debris left by an estimated million-plus people who lined the streets of London on Monday.

The queen’s coffin was on display from Wednesday to early Monday inside parliament’s cavernous Westminster Hall, and the waiting time for public mourners at one point reached 25 hours.

Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan told Sky News her government department was still “crunching the numbers”, but she believed that around 250,000 people had passed through the hall in total.

Donelan said she did not know the final cost of the state funeral at Westminster Abbey, which entailed a vast security operation for hundreds of foreign dignitaries.

But she said the British public would agree that it “was money well spent”.

“You saw so many thousands out there and I don’t think anybody can suggest that our late monarch didn’t deserve that send-off, given the duty and the selfless service that she committed to over 70 years.”

National Grid said there was a drop-off of two gigawatts in usage on Britain’s power network — the equivalent of 200 million lightbulbs being switched off — from 10:30 am to 11:00 am (0930 to 1000 GMT) on Monday.

Disunited kingdom

“This was because people were stopping their usual activities in time for the funeral,” a spokesman told AFP.

Usage picked up again by 500 megawatts during the funeral but dropped off again by the same amount during the two minutes’ silence just before noon.

With the departure of the only monarch most Britons had ever known, attention was turning back to the country’s soaring inflation problem and the crisis stemming from Russia’s war in Ukraine.

There are also deeper fissures over the very future of the United Kingdom, as Scotland’s nationalist government agitates for another referendum on independence, and as Northern Ireland turns majority-Catholic for the first time.

“Is it possible that in the Windsor vault now lies buried the person who, more than any other, served to cohere these islands?” commentator Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Guardian newspaper.

“The last 10 days have been a holiday from the usual political polarisation: admiration for the queen was one of the few things most people could agree on,” he said.

For most UK media, the focus remained on the unquestionable grandeur with which the country and the world bade adieu to Elizabeth.

“An outpouring of love,” the Daily Telegraph headlined, above a picture of Charles draping military colours held in life by his mother over her coffin in Windsor Castle.

Source: AFP

A stream of mourners laid flowers and tributes outside Buckingham Palace on Friday, as it became the focal point of a country grieving the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Stony-faced soldiers in red coats and bearskin hats stood guard by the palace, the late queen’s London headquarters during her 70-year reign.

Mourners stood silently and watched, while some placed bouquets in the black railings of the landmark residence.

“We just wanted to pay tribute to the queen,” said Natalie Vehring, a violinist who has performed at concerts attended by the queen.

She was at the palace with her husband and two sons in school uniform, while on a video call with her mother in Australia.

“My mum says she remembers the king dying,” added the 46-year-old, referring to the queen’s father, George VI, who died in 1952.

“I grew up in Australia, the monarchy was a very huge part of our childhood, we sang the national anthem every day at school.

“It’s amazing how she was working a day before her passing,” she added.

People left candles in glass jars, rain-sodden Union Jack flags, newspapers bearing the late queen’s image and personal notes.

“Thank you. You served our country to the end. Faithful in God,” said one message.

“Thank you for your service Ma’am. You were a guiding light in dark times, the foundation of a nation, our strength and stay. Rest in peace,” read another.

One note, signed by “the coffee ladies”, said: “Beautiful Queen. Thank you, thank you for your constancy, your loyalty and long reign”.

‘Devastated’

Joan Russell, 55, a project manager from east London, had tears running down her cheeks as she looked at the flowers.

“I came to say a prayer,” she told AFP.

“Charles has had such a great example to follow. I believe he will do his very utmost to continue the legacy of his parents.”

There were similar scenes in Windsor, west of London, as well-wishers, many crying, left hundreds of bouquets and lit candles outside the gates of the late queen’s beloved castle.

One of those in tears was Marina Flynn, 79, whose husband used to work with the queen’s husband, the Duke of Edinburgh.

“She was wonderful, she’s done nothing wrong. I met her a couple of times with the Duke and they were always really nice. I just feel devastated,” said Flynn, dressed in black.

Others expressed concern about the new King Charles III.

“Oh I’m worried about what he would do,” said Estrella Linch, 78.

“He is not a decisive man, he doesn’t know how to take big decisions,” she added.

In Scotland, the former queen’s residence at Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh, which will house Elizabeth’s coffin before it travels to London, also became a focus of tributes.

Locals and curious tourists came to contemplate silently and lay flowers, as preparations began to welcome the queen’s coffin.

“All this pomp and glory is going to be a nice thing and a very sad thing,” said Rebecca Evans, 44, who works for a climate change think-tank.

“It’s going be an interesting few days.”

Source: AFP

Firefighters battled to contain wildfires sweeping across southwest Europe on Sunday as a heatwave showed no sign of abating, with Britain poised to set new temperature records this coming week.

Blazes raging in France, Greece, Portugal and Spain have destroyed thousands of hectares of land and forced thousands of residents and holidaymakers to flee.

It is the second heatwave to engulf parts of southwest Europe in weeks. Scientists blame climate change and predict more frequent and intense episodes of extreme weather such as heatwaves and drought.

Spanish authorities reported around 20 wildfires still raging out of control in different parts of the country from the south to Galicia in the far northwest, where blazes have destroyed around 4,500 hectares of land.

The fires have already killed several emergency personnel since last week, most recently a fireman who died late on Sunday while battling a blaze in northwestern Spain.

In France, the situation deteriorated in the southwestern Gironde region where firefighters were fighting to control forest blazes that have devoured nearly 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) since Tuesday.

‘A heat apocalypse’

The wildfires in France forced more than 16,000 people—residents and tourists combined—to decamp. Seven emergency shelters have been set up for evacuees.

France’s interior ministry announced it would send an extra three firefighting planes, 200 firefighters and more trucks.

Meteo France forecast temperatures of up to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) in parts of southern France on Sunday, with new heat records expected on Monday.

“In some southwestern areas, it will be a heat apocalypse,” meteorologist Francois Gourand told AFP.

France placed 15 departments, mainly down its western seaboard, on red alert—the highest on the scale—on Sunday while 51 were on orange high alert.

The chapel of a historic hospital in the southeastern city of Lyon, Grand Hotel Dieu, offered refuge to tourists on Sunday including Jean-Marc, 51, who was visiting from Alsace.

“We came back to admire the place, but we can’t leave, it’s too hot outside. We say a prayer before the fire!” he quipped.

French cyclist Mikael Cherel, taking part in the Tour de France’s 15th stage between Rodez and Carcassonne in southern France on Sunday, described “very, very difficult conditions”.

“I’ve never known such a hot day on a bike. It really was no picnic.”

Deaths

In Spain, firefighters managed to stabilise a wildfire that ravaged 2,000 hectares of woods and bushes in the southern region of Andalusia, regional leader Juan Manuel Moreno said.

The blaze started on Friday in the Mijas mountain range inland from the southern coastal city of Malaga and it spurred the evacuation of about 3,000 people.

Around 2,000 people had since returned home and now that the blaze has stabilised, Moreno said the remaining evacuees may do the same.

A fireman died from burns on Sunday while battling a blaze in Spain’s northwestern province of Zamora, the regional government said.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed his “condolences and affection” to the man’s family and colleagues.

“There are no words to express thanks to those who fight fires without rest for their immense work. RIP,” he added in a tweet.

Sanchez is due to visit the hard-hit eastern region of Extremadura on Monday where various fires have been raging for days.

The fireman’s death comes after a pilot was killed last week when his plane crashed in northern Portugal, and two crew members died in Greece when their helicopter fell into the sea.

The extreme heat also claimed the lives of two men in Spain over the weekend.

A 50-year-old man in Torrejon de Ardoz just outside of Madrid died on Sunday after suffering heat stroke while out for a walk, local emergency services said.

And on Saturday, a 60-year-old street cleaner in Madrid died after suffering heat stroke while working the previous day.

‘Risk to life’ in UK

In Portugal, almost the entire country remained on high alert for wildfires despite a slight drop in temperatures, after hitting 47C—a record for the month of July—on Thursday.

Only one major fire was burning on Sunday in the north.

The fires have killed two, injured around 60 and destroyed between 12,000 and 15,000 hectares of land in Portugal.

In the United Kingdom, the weather office issued a first-ever “red” warning for extreme heat, cautioning there was a “risk to life”.

The Met Office said temperatures in southern England could exceed 40C on Monday or Tuesday for the first time, leading some schools to say they would stay closed next week.

Organisers of a four-day march in the Netherlands cancelled the first day of the mass event due to start on Tuesday because of extreme heat.

The mercury is set to reach 38C in parts of the Netherlands on Tuesday.

Source: AFP

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

‘Greatest challenge’

As G20 ministers prepare to start talks in Indonesia, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says Russia’s war in Ukraine poses the “greatest challenge” to the global economy.

Moscow’s invasion has sent inflation soaring, threatening widespread hunger and poverty.

“We are seeing negative spillover effects from that war in every corner of the world, particularly with respect to higher energy prices, and rising food insecurity,” she says.

High-stake grain talks eye deal

Russia and Ukraine make substantive progress in their first direct talks since March on a deal to relieve a global food crisis caused by blocked Black Sea grain exports.

The high-stakes meeting involving UN and Turkish officials in Istanbul last just over three hours and break off with an agreement to meet again in Turkey next week.

Strike kills at 12, Zelensky slams ‘act of terrorism’

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky lashes out at Russia for carrying out missile strikes that kill at least 12 people, including a child, on Vinnytsia in the centre of the country.

“Every day, Russia kills civilians, kills Ukrainian children, carries out missile attack on civilian facilities where there is no military target. What is this if not an open act of terrorism?” he says.

The strike on the central Ukrainian town also sparks a large blaze being fought by dozens of rescue workers and emergency services say 90 personnel are on the scene.

Global outlook darkened’

Yellen’s comments ahead of the G20 meeting echoes earlier ones made by the head of the International Monetary Fund, who said the global economic outlook had “darkened significantly”.

This was due to Moscow’s invasion and comes just months after the IMF revised down its global growth forecast for 2022 and 2023.

The IMF is “projecting a further downgrade to global growth” in 2022 and 2023, the fund’s chief Kristalina Georgieva says in a blog post.

Nod to Ukraine on Bastille Day

The war in Ukraine makes its mark on Paris’s traditional Bastille Day military parade as France honours its eastern European NATO allies.

“The parade is marked by, and takes account of, the strategic context,” says an official in Macron’s office.

“The idea is to highlight the strategic solidarity with our allies.”

Source: AFP

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Ukraine claims arms depot hit

Kyiv says it has destroyed an arms depot as part of a barrage of rockets and missiles on Russian military targets in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian military officials say the strikes in the Kherson region destroyed artillery, armoured vehicles “and a warehouse with ammunition in Nova Kakhovka”.

Russian authorities in the city say Ukrainian strikes damaged civilian infrastructure and left at least seven people dead, a toll that could not be independently verified.

EU approves one billion euros in aid

European Union finance ministers approve one billion euros ($1 billion) in financial aid to Ukraine, a first instalment of a promised nine-billion-euro package for Kyiv agreed in May.

“This will give Ukraine the necessary funds to cover urgent needs and ensure the operation of critical infrastructure,” says Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura, whose country holds the EU’s rotating presidency.

‘Massive’ strikes on southern city

Russian forces launch “massive” strikes on the southern Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv, with missiles hitting two medical facilities and residential buildings, the city’s mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych says.

The regional head, Vitaliy Kim, says 12 people have been wounded in the attacks.

Netherlands pledges weapons

During a visit to Kyiv, Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte says the Netherlands will join other Western allies and send more advanced artillery to the front lines.

But a top US official cautions that Moscow is also receiving a weapons boost, with Iran planning to supply hundreds of drones with combat weapon capabilities to Russia for use in Ukraine.

Fast-tracking passports

After Russian President Vladimir Putin passed a decree fast-tracking Russian passports for all Ukrainians, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is expected to open a representative office for separatist authorities in Moscow.

Source: AFP

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday offered to upgrade Belarus’ warplanes to make them capable of carrying nuclear weapons, amid soaring tensions with the West over Ukraine.

“Many Su-25 (aircrafts) are in service with the Belarusian military. They could be upgraded in an appropriate way. This modernisation should be carried out in aircraft factories in Russia and the training of personnel should start in accordance with this,” Putin said after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko asked him to “adapt” the planes in a televised interview.

Source France 24

Here are the latest developments in the war in Ukraine:

Dozens of Polish fighters killed: Russia

Russia’s defence ministry says its troops have killed “up to 80” Polish fighters in “precision strikes” on the Megatex zinc factory in Konstantinovka (Kostyantynivka in Ukrainian), in the eastern Donetsk region.

The region, claimed by Russia, has been the theatre of combat since Moscow began its offensive in Ukraine in late February.

Russia trying to drag Belarus into war: Kyiv

Ukraine’s intelligence service says Russia is aiming to drag Belarus into the war, after missiles were fired from Belarusian territory into a northern border region.

“Today’s strike is directly linked to Kremlin efforts to pull Belarus as a co-belligerent into the war in Ukraine,” Ukrainian intelligence says on Telegram.

Ukraine says it suffered a “massive bombardment” from inside neighbouring Belarus, a Russian ally not officially involved in the conflict.

– Ukrainian forces to withdraw from Severodonetsk –

Ukrainian forces are preparing to retreat from the strategic city of Severodonetsk after weeks of fierce fighting, a setback that could pave the way for Russia to seize a larger swath of eastern Ukraine.

Sergiy Gaiday, the governor of the Lugansk region, also says Russian forces are advancing on the twin city of Lysychansk, which has been facing increasingly heavy Russian bombardment as Moscow pursues its offensive on eastern Ukraine.

“Remaining in positions that have been relentlessly shelled for months just doesn’t make sense,” says Gaiday, with 90 percent of the city damaged.

Capturing Severodonetsk and Lysychansk would give the Russians control of Lugansk, and allow them to push further into Ukraine’s industrial heartland of Donbas.

US sees Severodonetsk as ‘small gain’ for Russia

The United States is playing down the importance of Ukraine’s retreat from Severodonetsk, with the Pentagon saying it means a “very small, very incremental gain” for Russia.

“What (the Ukrainian troops) are doing is putting themselves in a position where they can better defend themselves,” a senior Pentagon official tells reporters.

– Russia stance on EU candidacy shows ‘weakness’-

Russia’s protests over the EU giving Ukraine and Moldova candidate status show Moscow’s weakness, Ukraine’s top diplomat says.

“After decades of lost policies based on aggression, coercion and lack of respect, all that Russia can do now is to spit threats against other states,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweets. “All it does is show Russia’s weakness.”

President Volodymyr Zelensky has hailed a “historic” decision by European Union leaders to grant candidate status to Ukraine, a decision the Kremlin has dismissed as “domestic European affairs”.

– Rebuilding Black Sea ports will take decade: Kyiv –

It will take Ukraine a decade to build infrastructure to replace its Black Sea ports, whose blockade by Russia is preventing grain exports around the world, Ukraine’s deputy agriculture minister says.

Millions of tonnes of wheat and other grain have been stuck in Ukrainian ports since Russia invaded in February, sparking global concern about hunger and food prices.

“For alternative routes, it would take 10 years of investment to try to build the necessary infrastructure to replace this Black Sea port infrastructure, which we spent about 20 years building, starting in 2000,” Taras Vysotskiy tells AFP.

BRICS calls for Ukraine-Russia talks

The BRICS group of nations says it backs talks between Moscow and Kyiv, after a virtual summit held against the backdrop of the Ukraine conflict.

The group comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa accounts for more than 40 percent of the global population and nearly a quarter of the world’s gross domestic product.

Three members — China, India and South Africa — have abstained from voting on a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged the group to snub Western countries who have imposed drastic sanctions on Moscow.

Source: AFP