Macron says France and Britain will ‘save Europe’ as he starts a state visit to the UK

Macron says France and Britain will ‘save Europe’ as he starts a state visit to the UK
France's President Emmanuel Macron (C) delivers a speech during a State Banquet at Windsor Castle, west of London, on July 8, 2025, on the first day of a three-day state visit of French President to Britain. (AFP)
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Updated 09 July 2025
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Macron says France and Britain will ‘save Europe’ as he starts a state visit to the UK

Macron says France and Britain will ‘save Europe’ as he starts a state visit to the UK
  • Macron’s three-day trip, at the invitation of King Charles III, is the first state visit to the UK by a European Union head of state since Brexit

LONDON: French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday urged Britain to stick close to its neighbors despite its exit from the European Union, saying France and the UK will “save Europe” by standing for democracy, law and international order in a dangerous world.

On a state visit that mixed royal pageantry with tough political talks on Ukraine and migration, Macron said Europe must strengthen its economy and defenses and reduce its dependence “on both the US and China.”

Macron’s three-day trip, at the invitation of King Charles III, is the first state visit to the UK by a European Union head of state since Brexit, and a symbol of the UK government’s desire to reset relations with the bloc after Britain acrimoniously left the EU in 2020.

Macron addressed members of both houses of Britain’s Parliament packed into the building’s ornate Royal Gallery. He said the two countries represent “a world order based on law, justice and respect for territorial integrity, an order that is today being attacked on a daily basis.”

“The United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference,” Macron said, adding that “we will save Europe by our example and our solidarity.”

He said that even though Britain has left the EU, “the United Kingdom cannot stay on the sidelines. Because defense and security, competitiveness, democracy — the very core of our identity — are connected across Europe as a continent.”

Pomp and politics

The French president and his wife, Brigitte Macron, were treated to the full force of British ceremonial charm, a far cry from the chilly relations of 2022, when then-Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that the “jury is out” on whether Macron was a friend or a foe.

The Macrons were greeted at London’s RAF Northolt air base by Prince William and his wife Catherine — wearing a dress by French design house Christian Dior — before being met by King Charles and Queen Camilla in Windsor, west of London. They were driven to the almost 1,000-year-old royal residence of Windsor Castle in horse-drawn carriages, through streets bedecked in Union Jacks and French tricolor flags.

The king and queen hosted a banquet for the Macrons at Windsor Castle on Tuesday evening, with 160 guests including politicians, diplomats and celebrities such as Mick Jagger and Elton John. They were served summer vegetables, chicken with asparagus and iced blackcurrant parfait, along with Champagne and a gin-infused cocktail called L’entente, after the “entente cordiale” struck between Britain and France in 1904.

As monarch, Charles is expected to be above politics, but he spoke about the support Britain and France give Ukraine “in defense of our shared values,” noted the challenge of “irregular migration across the English Channel” and said the two countries face “complex threats, emanating from multiple directions.

“As friends and as allies, we face them together,” Charles said.

New tactics to stop boats

Politics will take center stage on Wednesday, when Macron sits down for talks with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer on migration, defense and investment — including a 12.5 percent stake by French energy firm EDF in a new nuclear power plant planned for eastern England.

Macron also came bearing a tantalizing cultural gift: an agreement to send the Bayeux Tapestry to Britain for the first time in more than 900 years. The 70-meter (230-foot) tapestry showing the Norman conquest of England in 1066 will go on display at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027.

At talks Wednesday and a UK-France summit on Thursday, Macron and Starmer will discuss ways to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats and try to advance plans for a post-ceasefire security force for Ukraine, despite apparent US indifference to the idea and Russia’s refusal to halt the onslaught on its neighbor.

Britain receives fewer asylum-seekers than Mediterranean European countries, but thousands of migrants each year use northern France as a launching point to reach the UK, either by stowing away in trucks or — after a clampdown on that route — in small boats across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

The UK has struck a series of deals with France over the years to increase patrols of beaches and share intelligence in an attempt to disrupt the smuggling gangs.

It has all had only a limited impact. About 37,000 people were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats in 2024, and more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of 2025, up by about 50 percent from the same period last year. Dozens of people have died trying to cross.

British officials have been pushing for French police to intervene more forcefully to stop the boats, and welcomed the sight of officers slashing rubber dinghies with knives in recent days.

France is also considering a UK proposal for a “one-in, one-out” deal that would see France take back some migrants who reached Britain, in return for the UK accepting some of those in France.

Macron said the leaders would try “to fix today what is a burden for our two countries.”

“France and the UK have a shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness,” he said.

Keeping Ukraine in focus

Starmer and Macron have worked closely together to rally support for Ukraine, though they have taken contrasting approaches to US President Donald Trump, with Macron more willing to challenge the American president than the emollient Starmer.

Britain and France have led efforts to form an international peacekeeping force for Ukraine to reinforce a future ceasefire with European troops and equipment and US security guarantees.

Trump has shown little enthusiasm for the idea, however, and a ceasefire remains elusive. British officials say the “coalition of the willing” idea is alive and well, with Macron and Starmer due to join an international videoconference on Thursday to discuss planning for the force.

Macron said the coalition was a sign that “Europeans will never abandon Ukraine – never.”


Western aid cuts cede ground to China in Southeast Asia: study

Western aid cuts cede ground to China in Southeast Asia: study
Updated 3 sec ago
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Western aid cuts cede ground to China in Southeast Asia: study

Western aid cuts cede ground to China in Southeast Asia: study
  • Total official development finance to Southeast Asia grew ‘modestly’ to $29 billion in 2023
  • Higher-income countries already capture most of the region’s official development finance
SYDNEY: China is set to expand its influence over Southeast Asia’s development as the Trump administration and other Western donors slash aid, a study by an Australian think tank said Sunday.
The region is in an “uncertain moment,” facing cuts in official development finance from the West as well as “especially punitive” US trade tariffs, the Sydney-based Lowy Institute said.
“Declining Western aid risks ceding a greater role to China, though other Asian donors will also gain in importance,” it said.
Total official development finance to Southeast Asia – including grants, low-rate loans and other loans – grew “modestly” to $29 billion in 2023, the annual report said.
But US President Donald Trump has since halted about $60 billion in development assistance – most of the United States’ overseas aid program.
Seven European countries – including France and Germany – and the European Union have announced $17.2 billion in aid cuts to be implemented between 2025 and 2029, it said.
And the United Kingdom has said it is reducing annual aid by $7.6 billion, redirecting government money toward defense.
Based on recent announcements, overall official development finance to Southeast Asia will fall by more than $2 billion by 2026, the study projected.
“These cuts will hit Southeast Asia hard,” it said.
“Poorer countries and social sector priorities such as health, education, and civil society support that rely on bilateral aid funding are likely to lose out the most.”
Higher-income countries already capture most of the region’s official development finance, said the institute’s Southeast Asia Aid Map report.
Poorer countries such as East Timor, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are being left behind, creating a deepening divide that could undermine long-term stability, equity and resilience, it warned.
Despite substantial economic development across most of Southeast Asia, around 86 million people still live on less than $3.65 a day, it said.
“The center of gravity in Southeast Asia’s development finance landscape looks set to drift East, notably to Beijing but also Tokyo and Seoul,” the study said.
As trade ties with the United States have weakened, Southeast Asian countries’ development options could shrink, it said, leaving them with less leverage to negotiate favorable terms with Beijing.
“China’s relative importance as a development actor in the region will rise as Western development support recedes,” it said.
Beijing’s development finance to the region rose by $1.6 billion to $4.9 billion in 2023 – mostly through big infrastructure projects such as rail links in Indonesia and Malaysia, the report said.
At the same time, China’s infrastructure commitments to Southeast Asia surged fourfold to almost $10 billion, largely due to the revival of the Kyaukphyu Deep Sea Port project in Myanmar.
By contrast, Western alternative infrastructure projects had failed to materialize in recent years, the study said.
“Similarly, Western promises to support the region’s clean energy transition have yet to translate into more projects on the ground – of global concern given coal-dependent Southeast Asia is a major source of rapidly growing carbon emissions.”

Modi to visit London this week as India-UK trade pact nears signing

Modi to visit London this week as India-UK trade pact nears signing
Updated 14 min 40 sec ago
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Modi to visit London this week as India-UK trade pact nears signing

Modi to visit London this week as India-UK trade pact nears signing
  • Deal-in-principle was announced by Modi and Starmer in May
  • India is also in talks with EU to conclude FTA by the end of 2025

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit the UK this week, the Indian government said on Sunday, as the countries prepare to formally sign a long-pending bilateral free trade agreement.

Modi’s two-day trip on the invitation of his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, will start on Wednesday.

“During the visit, the two sides will also review the progress of the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) with a specific focus on trade and economy, technology and innovation, defence and security, climate, health, education and people-to-people ties,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said on Sunday.

Launched in January 2022, the FTA negotiations between India and the UK were set to conclude the same year, but despite more than a dozen formal rounds, talks have stalled over issues like tariffs, rules of origin and mobility for services professionals.

A deal-in-principle was announced by Modi and Starmer in May, and India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal was in London last month, with his office saying the visit aimed at charting out a “clear, time-bound road map for its finalization and implementation.”

At the same time, India is in ongoing talks with the US, which is seeking broader access to several key sectors, including agriculture, automobiles, steel, and aluminum — a concession New Delhi resists. Without a deal, Indian exports could face a 26–27 percent “reciprocal” tariff imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration starting Aug. 1.

The FTA with the UK could offer India more predictability in economic matters, according to Prof. Harsh V. Pant, vice president of the Observer Research Foundation.

“This is going to be an important marker in the India-UK relationship, and India signaling to the world, particularly in the age of Trump — where there is so much unpredictability and volatility — that any kind of predictability that comes in with other partners is a benefit for every side,” he told Arab News.

“In this case, the UK and India would be hoping that this gives them greater predictability in their economic partnership, thereby reducing some of the challenges that continue to emanate from Washington.”

The pact would also signal to other partners that India is willing to engage on economic matters.

India is also in talks with the EU to conclude a comprehensive FTA by the end of 2025.

“This is a very important signal to other interlocutors, including the EU and US, that India will be willing to engage creatively on concluding these FTAs,” Pant said.

“This FTA is also crucial for a post-Brexit UK that is trying to retain its economic relevance around the world.”


Marcos flies to US to secure deal ahead of tariff policy

Marcos flies to US to secure deal ahead of tariff policy
Updated 41 min 26 sec ago
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Marcos flies to US to secure deal ahead of tariff policy

Marcos flies to US to secure deal ahead of tariff policy
  • He is the first ASEAN head of state to visit Washington since Trump took office in January
  • Trump raised tariffs on Philippine exports to 20% this month from 17% threatened in April

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. left for Washington, D.C. on Sunday for meetings with Donald Trump and his administration ahead of the implementation of US tariffs on Southeast Asian countries.

Trump raised reciprocal tariffs on Philippine exports to 20 percent this month, up from the 17 percent initially threatened in April.

Some other Southeast Asian nations, including Indonesia and Vietnam, were hit with over 30 percent rates, forcing them to step up negotiations. According to Trump’s announcements, both countries agreed to zero tariffs on American exports, while accepting rates of 19 percent and 20 percent on their own goods, respectively.

Marcos, whose visit will be the first by an ASEAN head of state since Trump took office in January, vowed to push for “greater economic engagement” and focus on security and defense.

“I intend to convey to President Trump and his cabinet officials that the Philippines is ready to negotiate a bilateral trade deal that will ensure strong, mutually beneficial, and future-oriented collaborations that only the United States and the Philippines will be able to take advantage of,” he told reporters ahead of his departure from the Villamor Air Base in Pasay City.

“During this visit, we will reaffirm our commitment to fostering our long-standing alliances as an instrument of peace and a catalyst of development in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world.”

Besides Trump, the Philippine president will also have a meeting with US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday.

Philippine businesses were hoping that the fact that Marcos was the only ASEAN leader to negotiate the tariffs in person could offer some concessions for Washington’s key security partner in Asia, which, under a decades-long alliance, allows the US to build and operate facilities on Philippine military bases.

“For Manila, this development, along with President Marcos being the first ASEAN leader invited for a state visit under the current Trump administration, enhanced the country’s diplomatic profile and affirms its strategic relevance in the Indo-Pacific region,” Nunnatus Cortez, president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry-Makati, told Arab News.

“The Philippine delegation would probably push for a bilateral agreement with the US, particularly on food security and semiconductors … We could only negotiate for a lower tariff than 20 percent. Difficult to get a zero percent tariff, as the latest news showed revenues from tariffs added close to $90 billion to the US in the first six months.”


Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war

Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war
Updated 14 min 58 sec ago
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Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war

Pope Leo XIV urges immediate end to ‘barbarity’ of Gaza war
  • Pontiff: ‘I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict’

CASTEL GANDOLFO, Italy: Pope Leo XIV slammed the “barbarity” of the war in Gaza on Sunday and urged against the “indiscriminate use of force,” just days after a deadly strike by Israel’s military on a Catholic church.

“I once again ask for an immediate end to the barbarity of the war and for a peaceful resolution to the conflict,” Leo said at the end of the Angelus prayer at Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer residence near Rome.

The pope, who spoke by telephone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu the morning after Thursday’s strike, spoke of his “deep sorrow” for the attack on the Holy Family Church.

The church was sheltering around 600 displaced people, the majority of them children and including dozens of people with special needs.

Israel expressed “deep sorrow” over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating the strike.

“This act, unfortunately, adds to the ongoing military attacks against the civilian population and places of worship in Gaza,” Leo said on Sunday.

“I appeal to the international community to observe humanitarian law and respect the obligation to protect civilians, as well as the prohibition of collective punishment, the indiscriminate use of force, and the forced displacement of populations,” he added.

The Israeli military on Sunday issued an evacuation order for Palestinians in the central Gaza Strip, warning of imminent action against Hamas militants.

Most of Gaza’s population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which is now in its 22nd month.

The pope also expressed his “sympathy” for the plight of “beloved Middle Eastern Christians” and their “sense of being able to do little in the face of this dramatic situation.”


Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past

Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past
Updated 20 July 2025
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Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past

Hong Kong hit by strong winds, heavy rain as Typhoon Wipha skirts past
  • Neighboring casino hub Macau issued its own top-level typhoon warning shortly after noon
  • More than 250 people sought refuge at government-run temporary shelters

HONG KONG: Hong Kong was battered by strong winds and heavy rain on Sunday as Typhoon Wipha skirted along China’s southern coast, with fallen trees and collapsed scaffolding spotted across the city.

Wipha was located around 140 kilometers (87 miles) to Hong Kong’s southwest as of 5 p.m. (0900 GMT), according to the city’s weather observatory.

Hong Kong’s highest tropical cyclone warning, T10, was in effect for around seven hours but was downgraded to the third-highest T8 warning at 4:10 p.m. as Wipha departed the city.

“Gale to storm force southeasterly winds are still affecting parts of the territory occasionally,” the observatory said.

“The intense rainbands of Wipha are persistently affecting the vicinity of Pearl River Estuary.”

Neighboring casino hub Macau issued its own top-level typhoon warning shortly after noon, with authorities suspending all public transportation services.

China’s Hainan and Guangdong provinces were earlier put on high alert, according to state news agency Xinhua.

In Hong Kong, more than 250 people sought refuge at government-run temporary shelters.

Officials said they received more than 450 reports of fallen trees and a handful of flooding reports, including at a main thoroughfare in the Wong Tai Sin district.

A representative from Hong Kong’s Airport Authority earlier said that around 500 flights have been canceled due to the weather, while around 400 flights were scheduled to take off or land later in the day.

Authorities suspended Sunday’s classes at all day schools and daycare centers.

Local trains offered limited services while operations in open sections were suspended.

Wipha also brought heavy rains and flooding to the Philippines, where two people have been reported missing, according to the country’s National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

Hong Kong last hoisted the T10 warning signal for Super Typhoon Saola in 2023.