Macron’s political gamble casts shadow over Paris Olympics

Macron’s political gamble casts shadow over Paris Olympics
As he prepares to welcome more than 100 heads of state and tens of thousands of spectators for Friday’s opening ceremony along the Seine, Macron is a fragile force. (REUTERS)
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Updated 28 July 2024
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Macron’s political gamble casts shadow over Paris Olympics

Macron’s political gamble casts shadow over Paris Olympics
  • As he prepares to welcome more than 100 heads of state and tens of thousands of spectators for Friday’s opening ceremony along the Seine, Macron is a fragile force

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron hoped the Paris Olympics would cement his legacy. But a failed bet on a snap legislative election has left him politically stunted, casting a lingering shadow over Macron’s moment on the international stage.
As he prepares to welcome more than 100 heads of state and tens of thousands of spectators for Friday’s opening ceremony along the Seine, Macron is a fragile force — an unpopular president presiding over a caretaker government as it hosts the world’s largest sporting event amid heightened security fears.
“Macron expected to welcome the Games like an emperor,” said French historian Patrick Weil. “But now he’s a lame duck.”
Walking around the Olympic Village on Monday, Macron defended his decision to dissolve parliament and denied the ensuing political instability would overshadow the Games.
“It was me who decided,” he said, referring to his determination to call the election ahead of the Games.
“There is no bitter taste. On the contrary, we did the things that needed to be done before (the Olympics). Now we can fully focus on the Games.”
And in a bid to keep the crisis at bay for a few weeks, he appeared to suggest he was unlikely to name a prime minister until the Games were over.
“There is a sort of truce,” he said.
Macron called the legislative vote after a thumping by the far-right National Rally (RN) in last month’s EU election, saying he wanted the poll to provide clarity.
Instead, French voters delivered a hung parliament and no bloc has so far been able to form a government, leaving Macron’s previous cabinet to manage day-to-day affairs in a caretaker capacity.
“The Olympics are a great break, an extraordinary moment, a brilliant showcase for our country,” said far-right lawmaker Julien Odoul. “But the difficulties of our compatriots continue despite the Olympic Games. And this National Assembly is currently not in a position to provide a response.”
Macron aides, Olympics officials, lawmakers and public figures stressed to Reuters that the show would go on, with years of security and logistics planning unaffected by the politics. But some acknowledged the fallout from the political crisis would hang over the Games.
Socialist lawmaker Christine Pires-Beaune said Macron’s expedited vote had left many French bewildered and angry.
“We have never been in such a thick fog,” she said.
It was not supposed to be this way.
In his New Year’s Eve address to the nation last December, Macron spoke with pride and optimism about the year ahead.
“Only once in a century does one host the Olympic and Paralympic Games,” he said. “2024 will be a year of determination, of choices and of regeneration.”
But more than six months later, Macron’s hopes of regenerating his mandate have evaporated, while the political crisis provoked by his quickfire election has also contributed to weaker-than-expected tourist appetite for the Games.
Flight and hotel bookings to Paris during the Olympics have come in lower than expected, Reuters reported earlier this month, with experts pointing the finger at high travel and accommodation costs, security fears — and political tumult.
The ceaseless drama of the US election — which has so far included an assassination attempt against Republican candidate Donald Trump and President Joe Biden dropping out of the race — has also lured eyeballs away from Macron’s flagship event.
At the Olympic Village on Monday, Macron shook hands with volunteers, wearing a confident smile.
“We are ready,” the president told police officers before thanking Olympic Village staff for their work.
French Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera acknowledged that the last few weeks had been “difficult politically.”
But she rejected the idea that the political crisis had stained the Games. She said France could breathe a sigh of relief that the far-right had not won enough seats to form a government, as some polls had projected.
“I think that the Games will allow the country to come together more than ever this summer,” she told Reuters.
Arielle Dombasle, a US-born French singer and actor, recently set social media alight with her performance of a stomping, operatic Olympic number at Paris City Hall, in which she was dressed in a white, hooped, floor-length skirt and peroxide wig.
“There is a terrible bashing among the French of the Olympics, which are nevertheless an astonishing international gathering of the most extraordinary human specimens: the man who jumps the highest, the woman who swims the fastest,” she said.
“There is an atmosphere of anxiety. The world is in disorder, to say the least. But these Games are the occasion for the greatest celebrations.”


Sri Lanka looks to attract Saudi travelers to diversify tourist influx

Sri Lanka looks to attract Saudi travelers to diversify tourist influx
Updated 43 sec ago
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Sri Lanka looks to attract Saudi travelers to diversify tourist influx

Sri Lanka looks to attract Saudi travelers to diversify tourist influx
  • Sri Lanka held tourism roadshows in Riyadh, Dammam last week after years-long hiatus
  • Island nation has prepared special packages for Kingdom’s tourists, official tells Arab News

COLOMBO: Saudi Arabia is one of Sri Lanka’s priority markets for tourism, authorities have told Arab News, as the island nation seeks to attract more visitors from the Kingdom to diversify its tourist base.

Tourism has been on the mend in Sri Lanka as the island nation recovers from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and its worst economic crisis in decades.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

In 2024, the sector that is traditionally one of key sources of foreign reserves welcomed more than 2 million tourists and earned about $3 billion.

To further boost its hospitality sector, Sri Lankan officials are planning to lessen its reliance on conventional tourist markets and target new visitors, especially those from Saudi Arabia.

“Recognizing the immense potential of the Saudi market, Sri Lanka has positioned Saudi Arabia as a key priority in its tourism promotion efforts,” Madusha Perera, assistant director for marketing at the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau, told Arab News recently.

“The country aims to tap into the growing outbound travel market in Saudi Arabia, which has shown an increasing interest in international destinations. By focusing on this market, Sri Lanka seeks to diversify its tourist base and reduce its dependency on traditional source markets.”

In October, the Sri Lankan government began issuing free tourist visas to visitors from 35 countries, including Saudi Arabia.

Last week, the SLTPB and Sri Lankan Embassy in Riyadh hosted a special roadshow in the Saudi capital and Dammam to showcase its tourism offerings and forge new partnerships with key players in the Kingdom’s travel industry.

To attract more Saudi tourists, Sri Lankan officials have prepared special packages that cater to the market.

“Sri Lanka offers a culturally rich experience that resonates with Saudi tourists,” Perera said. “The country is enhancing its offerings by including halal-friendly services and Arabic-language resources.

“These initiatives are designed to provide a comfortable and familiar environment for visitors from Saudi Arabia.”

These recent efforts built upon Sri Lanka’s historical ties with Saudi Arabia, which has been rooted in people-to-people relations, said Sri Lanka Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ameer Ajwad.

The roadshows last week were held after a years-long hiatus, he added.

“The events were immensely productive and helped to forge business collaborations in the tourism industry,” he told Arab News.

With its famous palm-fringed white beaches, seaside resorts offering water sports, and UNESCO cultural sites, Sri Lanka is a destination that fits well with the preferences of Saudi tourists.

“Sri Lanka offers a wide array of facilities from luxury family getaways and wellness retreats to wildlife safaris, cultural experiences, natural beauty, family-friendly activities and halal-friendly travel which are mostly preferred by Saudi tourists,” Ajwad said.

“We shall continue to organize roadshows in all major cities of Saudi Arabia to strengthen ties with Saudi Arabia’s outbound travel partners and other tourism promotional activities,” said Ajwad.

The aim is to position the island nation as a “premier, year-round destination for (the) Saudi family, luxury, and experiential tourism.”


Human rights attacks accelerated by Trump second term: Amnesty

Human rights attacks accelerated by Trump second term: Amnesty
Updated 38 min 48 sec ago
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Human rights attacks accelerated by Trump second term: Amnesty

Human rights attacks accelerated by Trump second term: Amnesty
  • The lives of millions of people had been “devastated” in 2024 as a result of conflicts and abuses committed in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine and Afghanistan
  • “Powerful governments have repeatedly blocked attempts to take meaningful action to end atrocities,” Amnesty said

LONDON: The global system of law and human rights is under threat from a “multiplicity of assaults” which have accelerated since US President Donald Trump’s return to power, Amnesty International said Tuesday in its annual report.
“Unprecedented forces are hunting down the ideals of human rights for all, seeking to destroy an international system forged in the blood and grief of World War Two and its Holocaust,” said the rights group’s Secretary General Agnes Callamard.
The lives of millions of people had been “devastated” in 2024 as a result of conflicts and abuses committed in the Middle East, Sudan, Ukraine and Afghanistan where women’s freedoms continue to be curtailed.
The report singled out some of the world’s biggest powers such as the US, Russia and China for “undermining” the achievements of international law, as well as the fight against poverty and discrimination.
While these “reckless and punishing offensives” had been underway for several years, according to Amnesty, Trump had served as a “super-accelerator” of those trends.
The new administration has frozen US international aid and reduced its funding to several UN organizations.
The start of Trump’s second term had been marked by a “multiplicity of assaults — against human rights accountability, against international law, and against the UN,” Callamard said, calling for “concerted resistance.”
“While international justice mechanisms have taken important steps toward accountability in some cases, powerful governments have repeatedly blocked attempts to take meaningful action to end atrocities,” Amnesty said.
In particular, it took aim at countries that had challenged decisions by the International Court of Justice in The Hague against Israel, following a complaint of “genocide” against the Palestinians in Gaza filed by South Africa.
Others, like Hungary, were criticized for refusing to enforce arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court against several Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The year would be remembered for how “Israel’s military occupation grew ever more brazen and deadly” and how “the USA, Germany and a handful of other European states supported Israel,” the report added.
Amnesty accused Israel of committing a “live-streamed genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza by forcibly displacing most of the population and deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe.
It said Israel had acted with “specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide.” Israel has repeatedly denied such charges.
The war in Gaza began on October 7, 2023 with an unprecedented attack on Israel by Hamas militants from Gaza resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.
Hamas also kidnapped 251 people, 58 of whom remain in the hands of the Islamist group, although the Israeli military says 34 are dead.
In response, Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas and is conducting a military offensive that has left more than 52,000 dead, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
In December, Amnesty condemned the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza, an accusation since echoed by other NGOs such as HRW and Doctors Without Borders, but strongly rejected by Israel.
Amnesty also highlighted the suffering in Sudan from famine and a conflict between the regular army and the RSF paramilitaries.
The conflict had led to the “largest forced displacement crisis in the world” today, uprooting some 12 million people but had been met with “near-complete global indifference,” Amnesty said.
On another front, the rights body said violence and discrimination against women had “soared” in 2024, both in conflicts, such as in Sudan, and in Afghanistan.
Women in the south Asian country are subject to draconian legislation restricting their freedoms under the Taliban.
Finally, the report highlighted an “urgent need” for governments to do more to regulate AI technologies to safeguard human rights.
It warned also that a growing number of governments were abusing spyware and other surveillance tools against opponents.


Grand Egyptian Museum CEO thanks Japan for its cooperation

Grand Egyptian Museum CEO thanks Japan for its cooperation
Updated 58 min 56 sec ago
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Grand Egyptian Museum CEO thanks Japan for its cooperation

Grand Egyptian Museum CEO thanks Japan for its cooperation
  • Japan is providing financial cooperation in the form of $585m for the construction of the museum
  • Matsumoto welcomed Ghoneim and looked forward to the upcoming opening

TOKYO: Dr. Ahmed Ghoneim, CEO of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, paid a courtesy call on Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Matsumoto Hisashi on Friday to thank the Japanese government for its cooperation in financing the museum and to look forward to its opening in July, Japan’s Foreign Ministry reported.
Japan is providing financial cooperation in the form of yen loans totaling 84.247 billion yen ($585 million) for the construction of the museum, as well as technical cooperation aimed at preserving and restoring artifacts at the adjacent conservation and restoration center.
Cultural assets such as Tutankhamun’s golden mask are scheduled to be transferred to and exhibited at the museum, and it is expected that the museum will contribute to strengthening the preservation, restoration and research of Egypt’s historical and cultural heritage, as well as promoting tourism.
Matsumoto welcomed Ghoneim and looked forward to the upcoming opening of the museum, which is seen as a symbol of development cooperation between Japan and Egypt.
Director Ghoneim expressed his gratitude for the cooperation that the Japanese government has extended and also hoped that high-level Japanese officials would be able to attend the official opening ceremony in July.
The Grand Egyptian Museum is set to be the world’s largest museum and is located in the Giza region near the three Great Pyramids.


In Asia’s Catholic heartland, Filipinos remember ‘compassionate’ Pope who renewed their faith

Pope Francis wears a plastic poncho as he waves to well wishers after a mass in Tacloban on Jan. 17, 2015. (AFP)
Pope Francis wears a plastic poncho as he waves to well wishers after a mass in Tacloban on Jan. 17, 2015. (AFP)
Updated 29 April 2025
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In Asia’s Catholic heartland, Filipinos remember ‘compassionate’ Pope who renewed their faith

Pope Francis wears a plastic poncho as he waves to well wishers after a mass in Tacloban on Jan. 17, 2015. (AFP)
  • Pontiff visited Philippines in 2015, in aftermath of deadly Super Typhoon Haiyan
  • His Manila mass that drew more than 6 million people was largest papal gathering in history

MANILA: The death of Pope Francis has stirred an outpouring of grief across the Philippines, as many remember his compassionate leadership during one of the nation’s darkest times.

The Argentine pontiff, leader of the Catholic Church since March 2013, died at his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican on April 21. He was 88 years old.

In the Philippines, home to Asia’s largest Catholic population, the pope is adoringly referred to as “Lolo Kiko,” or Grandpa Kiko.

He left an indelible mark in the country after a historic four-day visit in January 2015, when he celebrated an open-air mass in Manila that drew more than 6 million devotees, making it the largest papal gathering in history.

But many among the Philippines’ 85 million Catholics were deeply moved by his visit to Tacloban City in central Philippines during the same trip, braving heavy rain to conduct a mass in memory of the more than 6,000 people who perished in Super Typhoon Haiyan in 2013.

“When he visited Manila and Tacloban, especially after the devastation of (the) typhoon, it deeply touched the hearts of so many. He didn’t come as a distant leader, but as a father who wanted to personally console and strengthen us,” Alfredo Navarro III, a seminarian from the diocese of Balanga, told Arab News.

“Filipinos love Lolo Kiko so much because he has shown real concern for us. Not just in words, but in action. He has made it clear that he understands our struggles and is familiar with our culture.”

For Navarro, Pope Francis was a beacon of hope “in a world where it sometimes feels like God is absent because of wars, conflicts and so many struggles.”

“Watching Pope Francis live out the Gospel in such a simple yet powerful way made me realize even more deeply that God is truly present, even in the most broken parts of our world. Through him, I felt God’s love reaching out to me and to everyone,” he said.

“Because of Pope Francis, I feel a stronger calling to be a sign of that same love — to be more present to others, especially to those who are last, the least and the lost.”

World leaders and hundreds of thousands of people bade farewell to Pope Francis in a funeral at the Vatican on Saturday, where he was eulogized as a pope of the people.

Many young Filipinos took to social media to mourn his passing, honoring him as an inspiration and a figure who renewed their faith.

“I do not claim to be a model Catholic. I never was and I do not think I will ever be. But his words, his actions, the way he saw Christ in the last, the least and the lost was fuel to my faith. It was grace made real, alive and living,” Marion Bais Guerrero wrote on Facebook.

Filipino sociologist Athena Charanne Presto said on X that Pope Francis “made being Catholic less morally suffocating, less burdened by contradiction.”

“This is heartbreaking news for the faithful and for those like me who only slowly found their way to faith because someone at the helm reminded us that the Church could also be a place to breathe.”

In Pope Francis, Raymond Zabala saw a leader who touched the lives of many, even those who are not Catholics.

“He respects all people regardless of their religion or status and in the same manner people from other religions respect him as well. I know of some friends who are non-practicing Catholics who are deeply saddened by his passing,” he told Arab News.

“His passing reminded us of the values of kindness and compassion.”


Two cardinals to miss conclave for health reasons: Vatican

Two cardinals to miss conclave for health reasons: Vatican
Updated 29 April 2025
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Two cardinals to miss conclave for health reasons: Vatican

Two cardinals to miss conclave for health reasons: Vatican
  • A total of 135 cardinals are eligible to vote in the secret ceremony in the Sistine Chapel
  • The winner to succeed Pope Francis will require at least a two-thirds majority

VATICAN CITY: Two Catholic cardinals will miss next week’s conclave to elect a new pope because of health issues, bringing the number of electors expected to 133, the Vatican said on Tuesday.
The Vatican did not name them but a source at the archdiocese of Valencia confirmed that its archbishop emeritus, Cardinal Antonio Canizares, would not be attending the conclave due to health reasons.
A total of 135 cardinals are eligible to vote in the secret ceremony in the Sistine Chapel, which begins on May 7 and is expected to last for several days.
If all the others attend, there will be 133 cardinals present.
The winner to succeed Pope Francis will require at least a two-thirds majority, a figure that now falls to 89.