French police win plaudits after high-risk Olympics

French police win plaudits after high-risk Olympics
General view of police officers on horses outside the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, France, before the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics on August 11, 2024. (REUTERS)
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Updated 12 August 2024
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French police win plaudits after high-risk Olympics

French police win plaudits after high-risk Olympics
  • There were incidents over the last fortnight but nothing that marred the event overall to the widespread relief of organizers
  • Two weeks of competition saw packed stadiums, with 743,000 people attending sports venues on a single day on July 30

PARIS: The vaulting ambition of the Paris Olympics made them risky and hard to police, but French security forces kept thousands of athletes and millions of fans safe — a “gold medal” performance according to Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.
The two-week sporting extravaganza which finished on Sunday led to a security operation like no other in recent French history, with the mobilization of around 75,000 police, soldiers and private security guards on the opening night on July 26.
There were incidents over the last fortnight — an attack on the French railways, a pitch invader at the 100m men’s final — but nothing that marred the event overall to the widespread relief of organizers.
“These Olympic Games involve both great French medals and a great gold medal for the ministry of the interior and the security forces,” Darmanin said last week as he visited officers on duty in Marseille in southern France.
The sense of satisfaction and self-congratulatory tone of his remarks reflected the immense pressure and doubts raised in the run-up to the Games over whether France’s already stretched resources would be up to the task.

Their first test was securing the Olympic torch relay, a journey through 450 French towns and cities as well as overseas territories.
Then came unexpected parliamentary elections in July, followed by the unprecedented opening ceremony along a six-kilometer (four-mile) stretch of the River Seine which had been giving planners sleepless nights since it was unveiled in 2021.




Police officers stand guard over the Seine River prior to the opening ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 26, 2024, in Paris. (AP)

In the end, the 300,000 ticketed spectators who watched from the river banks were troubled by nothing more than torrential rain, with the streets of the capital flooded with uniformed officers.
“For those of us that have been here on the ground, we’ve seen the security footprint here. It is impressive,” Nicole Deal, chief of security for Team USA, said on the day of the ceremony. “I have never seen (one) quite like this in any other Games.”
Two weeks of competition saw packed stadiums, with 743,000 people attending sports venues on a single day on July 30.
Other events from the triathlon to the marathon took place through the streets of the capital.
Around a million people lined the course of the men’s and women’s cycling road races on August 3-4.
“Without any doubt, French security services deserve a gold medal,” French criminologist and university professor Alain Bauer, a vocal critic of the open-air opening ceremony format, told AFP.

He said it was down to “exceptional investment” and “essential changes” which saw organizers notably scale down the size of the opening ceremony crowd under pressure from the interior ministry.

Having been excluded from the Games, Russia was said by French officials to be plotting to destabilize them, with France’s cyber-security agency on high alert for attacks that could disrupt the organizing committee, ticketing or transport.
The arrest of a 40-year-old suspected member of Russian secret services on the eve of the Games set nerves jangling.
The war in Gaza, threats from the Daesh group, and France’s history of home-grown Islamist terror plots and far-right extremism also raised fears about the possibility of an attack that would ruin the party.
Not everyone has found the security operation something to celebrate, however.
Charities complained loudly about repressive policing of the homeless, sex workers and migrants ahead of the Games, while anti-Olympics protest groups say they have been prevented from exercising their democratic rights.
Around 45 activists from the Extinction Rebellion climate change protest group were detained by police the day after the opening ceremony as they prepared to occupy a bridge over the River Seine in central Paris.
The “Saccage 2024” group, which has been running so-called “Toxic Tours” highlighting the downsides of the Games, said it had been prevented from guiding a group of around 20 people to sites in northern Paris last week.
Around 30 riot police and four police cars prevented the tour and three members of the collective were taken to a local police station for questioning.
“No charges were pressed against any of the arrested people at the end of the police custody, further proof that this was in reality an attempt at intimidation,” the group wrote on Instagram.
 


Philippines’ Marcos tells cabinet to resign after polls setback

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during campaign rally of senatorial candidates under his party in Metro Manila
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during campaign rally of senatorial candidates under his party in Metro Manila
Updated 12 sec ago
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Philippines’ Marcos tells cabinet to resign after polls setback

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. speaks during campaign rally of senatorial candidates under his party in Metro Manila
  • Marcos’ allies failed to win majority of Senate seats contested in midterm elections 
  • Majority of Filipinos expressed disapproval of his govt over economy and corruption

MANILA: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. called on his cabinet members on Thursday to render their resignations in a move seen as an attempt to address the public’s dissatisfaction over his administration’s performance.

Marcos, the son of a late Philippine dictator overthrown in 1986, won the presidency by a landslide in 2022 after campaigning on a vision of national unity and portraying himself as a candidate for change.

But public support for the 67-year-old leader has faced a steep decline this year, with surveys by Pulse Asia showing his approval rating with voters dropping to 25 percent in March from 42 percent in February.

Marcos’ latest move comes after his allies failed to secure a majority of contested Senate seats at the May 12 midterm elections, raising questions over the president’s weakened mandate in the remaining three years of his term, which ends in 2028.

“It’s time to realign government with the people’s expectations,” Marcos said in a statement issued by his office on Thursday.

“This is not business as usual … The people have spoken, and they expect results — not politics, not excuses. We hear them, and we will act.”

The call for courtesy resignations — described as a “bold reset” — marks “a clear transition” to a “more focused and performance-driven approach,” the statement reads.

At least 21 cabinet secretaries have either immediately submitted their resignations or expressed their readiness to do so.

The midterm elections were “reflective of the true desire and sentiments of the people on the ground,” said Froilan Calilung, political science professor at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila.

“There was a massive decrease in his numbers, and this could be attributed to the fact that there are no concrete measures, programs, or policies that can be attributed to his government for at least the past two or three years,” he told Arab News.

Pulse Asia’s survey in March also showed the majority of Filipinos expressing disapproval of the Marcos administration on issues seen as most urgent, including controlling inflation and fighting corruption, which stood at 79 percent and 53 percent, respectively.

“I think what the president is trying to do right now is to salvage whatever is left of his political capital before he enters the lame-duck phase of his administration, which could happen anywhere between the fourth and the fifth year of his term of office,” Calilung said. 

By calling for the resignations of his cabinet secretaries, Marcos may also be seeking to “shake off the stigma” of himself as a weak and indecisive leader and trying to project an “image of somebody who is in charge or is in control” of the situation, he added. 

Though it will be hard to recover after the “wasted” first three years of his presidency, there was still a chance that Marcos could make a comeback.

“The president should come up with better legislation, more well-meaning policies and programs that will directly address the current conditions of the current problems of inflation, job security, food security, agrarian self-sufficiency, among others,” Calilung said.

“If the president will be able to do these things, then I think there’s still some time to recover.”


UK net migration in 2024 fell by half to 431,000

UK net migration in 2024 fell by half to 431,000
Updated 5 min 7 sec ago
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UK net migration in 2024 fell by half to 431,000

UK net migration in 2024 fell by half to 431,000
  • Rule changes led to big drops in the numbers of people arriving on work- and study-related visas
  • PM Keir Starmer unveiled tough new policies this month vowing to 'take back control' of Britain’s borders

LONDON: Net migration to the UK dropped by half in 2024, the latest official figures showed on Thursday, in what will be a welcome boost for under-fire Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated the figure for last year stood at 431,000, a dramatic drop from the 860,000 recorded in the year to December 2023.
It was the biggest fall in net migration since the Covid pandemic.
“Long-term net migration is down by almost 50 percent,” the ONS said in its latest report.
“We are seeing reductions in people arriving on work- and study-related visas,” it added.
It had also recorded “an increase in emigration over the 12 months to December 2024,” especially by those on work and study visas.
The previous Conservative government had toughed the rules for people applying for such visas, setting higher caps on salaries and refusing permission for people to bring their families with them.


Migration has become a hot-button issue in UK politics and Starmer unveiled tough new policies on May 12 vowing to “finally take back control” of Britain’s borders.
The measures included cutting overseas care workers, doubling the length of time before migrants can qualify for settlement and new powers to deport foreign criminals.
Starmer, a former human rights lawyer who voted for the UK to remain part of the European Union, is under renewed pressure to tackle immigration following surprise gains by the anti-immigration Reform UK party in May local elections.
He said in his speech that Britain risked becoming “an island of strangers,” triggering sharp criticism from within his own Labour party for his toughened rhetoric.
The aim of the new measures is to “reduce net migration substantially, with visa numbers falling by up to 100,000 a year by the end of this parliament” in 2029, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Interior minister Yvette Cooper said: “The 300,000 drop in net migration since the election is important and welcome after the figures quadrupled to nearly a million in the last parliament.”
She added that nearly 30,000 unsuccessful asylum seekers, many arriving on UK shores in small boats, had been returned to their countries of origin since the general election in July.
It marked a 12-period increase compared to the same period 12 months ago.
But opposition Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch argued on X: “Numbers are still too high and Starmer STILL keeps voting against every plan to bring them down further.”
She alleged that as soon as Labour took power after winning the July election they had scrapped “the tough measures we took to get these numbers down.”
Conservative former home secretary James Cleverly said while Labour “will try to claim credit,” the changes were a result of policies enacted by his government.
“This drop is because of the visa rule changes that I put in place,” he argued on X.
According to the latest poll of voting intentions by YouGov, the Reform party of hard-liner Nigel Farage is ahead in the polls, with 29 percent support, compared to 22 percent for Labour.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats edged ahead of the Conservatives with 17 percent, who were relegated to fourth place on 16 percent.


Hooting not shooting across the India-Pakistan frontier

Hooting not shooting across the India-Pakistan frontier
Updated 24 min 31 sec ago
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Hooting not shooting across the India-Pakistan frontier

Hooting not shooting across the India-Pakistan frontier
  • “There is obviously no interaction with the enemy,” an Indian officer told AFP
  • Troops along the LoC began exchanging nightly gunfire two days after the attack, rattling off shots into the dark without causing casualties

INDIA: Sometimes the only outsiders that Indian troops posted along the contested frontier in Kashmir see are Pakistani soldiers eyeballing them across the remote valley high in the rugged Himalayan mountains.

Contact between them extends to what Indian soldiers posted to the fortified concrete bunkers call “hooting” — an occasional taunting shout or whistle echoing across the divide, which can be as little as 30 meters (100 feet) at its narrowest point.

That’s close enough to hurl a hand grenade or, perhaps more hopefully for the arch-rivals who share a sporting passion, a well-thrown cricket ball.

“There is obviously no interaction with the enemy,” an Indian officer deployed along the de facto border, dubbed the Line of Control (LoC), told AFP in a visit to positions organized by the army.

Troops on each side are settling back down to an uneasy standoff a month after the deadly April 22 attack on tourists in Kashmir sent relations spiralling toward a war between nuclear-armed India and Pakistan.

New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing the Islamist militants it said were behind the killing of 26 men in the deadliest attack on civilians in Muslim-majority Kashmir in decades.

Pakistan denies the charge.

Troops along the LoC began exchanging nightly gunfire two days after the attack, rattling off shots into the dark without causing casualties.

India then launched strikes deep into Pakistan’s territory on May 7, triggering four days of intense drone, missile, aerial combat and artillery exchanges.

More than 70 people were killed on both sides, the worst conflict since 1999, before a ceasefire
was agreed on May 10.

It is still holding and the LoC is again quiet.

Diplomatically, New Delhi and Islamabad seem back to an uneasy peace, trading long-standing accusations that the other supports militant groups operating in their territory.

Islamabad blamed India on Wednesday for a bomb attack on a school bus that killed six people, which New Delhi called a “baseless” allegation and said it was “second nature for Pakistan to blame India for all its internal issues.”

India expelled a Pakistani diplomat on Wednesday, the second since the ceasefire deal.

Soldiers from either side eye each other warily across the razor’s edge of the LoC that slices through the territory, home to some 17 million people and which each side claims in full.

The Indian officer pointed to a green ridge where he said Indian and Pakistani posts were about 30-40 meters apart.

“There are many such places across the frontline,” he said.

“Our soldiers can see and hear the other side at such posts,” said the officer, who could not be identified because he did not have official clearance to speak to the media.

“There is even hooting at times, but no conversations.”

When the hooting does happen, it is sometimes to taunt the other during rare cricket matches between the rival nations.

For the Indian forces, the Pakistani soldiers can be the only other humans they see outside their unit for weeks when snow cuts them off in the winter months.

The border camp had multiple well-insulated bunkers, artillery pieces covered in camouflage tarpaulins and there were several radar and air defense systems on the hills.

The 770-kilometer (478-mile) LoC — the route of a ceasefire line dating back to 1949 — snakes down from icy high-altitude outposts to greener foothills in the south.

A senior officer in charge of multiple artillery pieces said that, for many of the men, the four days of heavy barrages had been their “first experience” of such conflict.

“It was really intense,” he said, adding that “at least 100 to 150 artillery shells fell around here.”

Outposts dot the picturesque but hard-to-reach terrain of snow-clad peaks, dense forests, icy
streams and ridges.

A small, seemingly tranquil village in Pakistani-run Kashmir surrounded by green hills was visible across the valley.

“We’ve been preparing for years — and were ready,” the artillery officer said, adding that none
of his men were wounded or killed and that they “gave a befitting reply to the enemy.”

Indian army officers at another frontier post pointed to a damaged Pakistani post they’d targeted.

Another officer showed the long rolls of concertina razor wire along their side of the frontier, a formidable barrier to protect their mountain-top outposts.

“Who holds the higher position in the Himalayas is critical in any conflict,” he said.


Russia says it captures a village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Russia says it captures a village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region
Updated 37 min 52 sec ago
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Russia says it captures a village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region

Russia says it captures a village in Ukraine’s Donetsk region
  • Air defenses had shot down 317 Ukrainian drones over the territory of Russia

MOSCOW: Russian forces have captured the settlement of Nova Poltavka in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, the Russian defense ministry said on Thursday.

Russian news agencies, citing the defense ministry, separately reported that air defenses had shot down 317 Ukrainian drones over the territory of Russia in the past 24 hours and 485 drones in total since the evening of May 20.


China and Philippines trade blame over South China Sea confrontation

China and Philippines trade blame over South China Sea confrontation
Updated 41 min 26 sec ago
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China and Philippines trade blame over South China Sea confrontation

China and Philippines trade blame over South China Sea confrontation
  • Chinese Coast Guard fire water cannons and sideswipe a Filipino vessel as it conducted marine research around a disputed South China Sea reef

MANILA/BEIJING: China and the Philippines traded accusations on Thursday following a confrontation between two of their vessels in contested waters of the South China Sea, the latest incident in a long-running maritime standoff in the strategic waterway.
The Philippines’ fisheries bureau said the lives of a civilian crew were put at risk when the Chinese Coast Guard fired water cannons and sideswiped a vessel as it conducted marine research around a disputed South China Sea reef.
The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources condemned what it said was the “aggressive interference” of the Chinese Coast Guard against the Datu Sanday and a second ship in Wednesday’s incident, saying its vessels had not previously been subjected to water cannons in the area.
The Chinese Coast Guard said two Philippine vessels had illegally entered waters near Subi Reef and Sandy Cay and organized personnel to land on Sandy Cay.

 


The Coast Guard responded with what it described as professional and lawful control measures and went ashore to verify and handle the situation, it said in a statement.
A collision occurred after one of the Philippine vessels ignored multiple warnings and approached a Chinese vessel dangerously, the Coast Guard said, placing full responsibility for the incident on the Philippine side. The Chinese statement did not mention any use of water cannons. The US ambassador to Manila, MaryKay Carlson described China’s actions as aggressive and, in a post on X, said they “recklessly endangered lives and threaten regional stability.”
Sandy Cay is close to Thitu Island, the largest and most strategically important of the nine features the Philippines occupies in the Spratly archipelago, where China, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam also have a presence.
Last month, China said its Coast Guard had landed on Sandy Cay as part of operations to exercise its sovereignty. The Philippines has denied Beijing has seized control of the disputed reef.
China claims sovereignty over nearly all the South China Sea, including areas claimed by Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
A 2016 ruling by an international arbitral tribunal found Beijing’s sweeping claims had no basis under international law, a decision China rejects.