French papers divided over PM Bayrou's 'shock treatment' budget
Left-wing papers have a different opinion, though. Communist daily L'Humanité calls it "the purge budget", saying that the proposition only spares the richest people and the biggest companies. "Bayrou in debt", reads the headline of left-wing Libération. The paper calls the budget "a bitter prescription", turning all the opposition parties against him. A similar tone is seen in centre-left daily Le Monde which says that the plan, including the proposed elimination of two public holidays, "has been strongly criticised by the left" but also by the far-right National Rally party.
We turn next to the UK, a major data leak has put thousands of Afghans in danger and triggered their evacuation to Britain. British paper The Independent calls it a "catastrophic data breach", adding that the official behind the leak hasn't been fired for his blunder. The Financial Times says this is "one of the gravest security lapses in history". The whole leak had to be kept secret for two years by officials and the media who knew about the case. The Independent explains that this was done because of superjunctions used by the British Ministry of Defence. These are legal or so-called gagging orders that prevent a person or publication from reporting information. This means that anyone who shared any information about the case could be found in contempt of court. The gagging order was without precedent and a first in English legal history. The Telegraph reports that the British government said the secrecy was needed to keep the data from the Taliban. But the paper interviewed a senior Taliban official who said they had the "kill list" shortly after the original leak and they've been "hunting down" the people on it ever since. An analysis in the left-wing paper The Guardian says that the UK "let down Afghans who believed in Britain's promises". Hiding the leak means that they couldn't even make an "informed decision about their security".
Turning to Africa, Doctors Without Borders has accused Ethiopia of brutal violence against humanitarian workers during its civil war. The New York Times reports that three aid workers were "intentionally killed" in 2021. Their bodies pierced by bullets were found on a remote road in June 2021, during the peak of the brutal civil war in the Tigray region. Meanwhile, French centre-left paper Le Monde writes that there's a "silence around the mass rapes" committed during the war in Ethiopia. Between 2020 and 2022, 120,000 women were raped, it says.
Finally, emerging child stars have been making headlines. Vanity Fair gives us a first look at HBO's new Harry Potter. His name is Dominic McLaughlin. The 11-year-old was chosen among 30,000 other children who wanted to become "The Boy Who Lived". Another child star, Owen Cooper from the hit TV show "Adolescence", has been nominated in the outstanding supporting actor category at the Emmys, making him the youngest actor ever nominated in the category, according to The New York Times. He is only 15 years old. The show got 13 nominations in total after it resonated with audiences around the world.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
34 minutes ago
- France 24
France and Saudi Arabia to lead UN push for two-state solution
France and Saudi Arabia will lead the charge starting Monday to revive the moribund push for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians at a UN conference in New York. Days before the July 28-30 conference, to be co-chaired by Riyadh and Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he would formally recognise the State of Palestine in September. Paris's decision "will breathe new life into a conference that seemed destined to irrelevance," said Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group. "Macron's announcement changes the game. Other participants will be scrabbling to decide if they should also declare an intent to recognize Palestine." In an interview with French weekly La Tribune Dimanche, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said that other European countries will confirm "their intention to recognise the State of Palestine" during the conference, without detailing which ones. France is hoping that Britain will take this step, and more than 200 British MPs on Friday pushed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to do so, but he reiterated that recognition of a Palestinian state "must be part of a wider plan." 05:32 According to an AFP database, at least 142 of the 193 UN member states -- including France -- now recognise the Palestinian state proclaimed by the Palestinian leadership in exile in 1988. In 1947, a resolution of the UN General Assembly decided on the partition of Palestine, then under a British mandate, into two independent states -- one Jewish and the other Arab. The following year, the state of Israel was proclaimed. For several decades, the vast majority of UN member states have supported the idea of a two-state solution, Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side peacefully and securely. But after more than 21 months of war in Gaza, the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and Israeli officials declaring designs to annex occupied territory, it is feared a Palestinian state could be geographically impossible. The war in Gaza started following a deadly attack by Hamas on Israel, which responded with a large-scale military response that has claimed tens of thousands of Palestinian lives. The conference is a response to the crisis, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa and several dozen ministers from around the world expected to attend. It is coming at a moment when "the prospect of a Palestinian state has never been so threatened, or so necessary," Barrot said. 02:09 Call for courage Beyond facilitating conditions for the recognition of a Palestinian state, the meeting will have three other focusses -- reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarmament of Hamas and its exclusion from Palestinian public life, and normalisation of relations with Israel by Arab states that have not yet done so. No new normalisation deals are expected to be announced at the meeting, according to a French diplomatic source. But "for the first time, Arab countries will condemn Hamas and call for its disarmament," Barrot said. The conference "offers a unique opportunity to transform international law and the international consensus into an achievable plan and to demonstrate resolve to end the occupation and conflict once and for all, for the benefit of all peoples," said Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour, calling for "courage" from participants. Israel and the United States will not take part in the meeting, while international pressure continues to mount on Israel to end nearly two years of war in Gaza. Despite "tactical pauses" in some military operations announced by Israel, the humanitarian catastrophe in the ravaged coastal territory is expected to dominate speeches by representatives of more than 100 countries as they take the podium from Monday to Wednesday.
France 24
an hour ago
- France 24
US-China set to meet with extension of tariff pause on the cards
Talks between the world's top two economies are slated to happen over two days in the Swedish capital Stockholm, and they come as other countries are also rushing to finalise deals with Washington. For dozens of trading partners, failing to strike an agreement in the coming days means they could face significant tariff hikes on exports to the United States come Friday, August 1. The steeper rates, threatened against partners like Brazil and India, would raise the duties their products face from a "baseline" of 10 percent now to levels up to 50 percent. Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have already effectively raised duties on US imports to levels not seen since the 1930s, according to data from The Budget Lab research centre at Yale University. For now, all eyes are on discussions between Washington and Beijing as a delegation including US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent meets a Chinese team led by Vice Premier He Lifeng in Sweden. While both countries in April imposed tariffs on each other's products that reached triple-digit levels, US duties this year have temporarily been lowered to 30 percent and China's countermeasures slashed to 10 percent. But the 90-day truce, instituted after talks in Geneva in May, is set to expire on August 12. Since the Geneva meeting, the two sides have convened in London to iron out disagreements. China progress? "There seems to have been a fairly significant shift in (US) administration thinking on China since particularly the London talks," said Emily Benson, head of strategy at Minerva Technology Futures. "The mood now is much more focused on what's possible to achieve, on warming relations where possible and restraining any factors that could increase tensions," she told AFP. Talks with China have not produced a deal but Benson said both countries have made progress, with certain rare earth and semiconductor flows restarting. "Secretary Bessent has also signalled that he thinks a concrete outcome will be to delay the 90-day tariff pause," she said. "That's also promising, because it indicates that something potentially more substantive is on the horizon." The South China Morning Post, citing sources on both sides, reported Sunday that Washington and Beijing are expected to extend their tariff pause by another 90 days. Trump has announced pacts so far with the European Union, Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines, although details have been sparse. An extension of the US-China deal to keep tariffs at reduced levels "would show that both sides see value in continuing talks", said Thibault Denamiel, a fellow at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies. US-China Business Council President Sean Stein said the market is not anticipating a detailed readout from Stockholm: "What's more important is the atmosphere coming out." "The business community is optimistic that the two presidents will meet later this year, hopefully in Beijing," he told AFP. "It's clear that on both sides, the final decision-maker is going to be the president." Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said both countries' willingness to meet was a "positive development". Far from ideal For others, the prospect of higher US tariffs and few details from fresh trade deals mark "a far cry from the ideal scenario", said Denamiel. But they show some progress, particularly with partners Washington has signalled are on its priority list like the EU, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea. The EU unveiled a pact with Washington on Sunday while Seoul is rushing to strike an agreement, after Japan and the Philippines already reached the outlines of deals. Breakthroughs have been patchy since Washington promised a flurry of agreements after unveiling, and then swiftly postponing, tariff hikes targeting dozens of economies in April. Denamiel warned of overlooking countries that fall outside Washington's priority list. Solid partnerships are needed, he said, if Washington wants to diversify supply chains, enforce advanced technology controls, and tackle excess Chinese capacity. © 2025 AFP
France 24
8 hours ago
- France 24
Hundreds demonstrate in protest-hit UK town
It was the latest in a series of demonstrations in Epping, northeast of London, after an asylum seeker was charged earlier in July with three counts of sexual assault, including allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. But only about 400 people from rival groups demonstrated in the town, as police put in place a tight security operation, erecting barricades to keep them apart and banning the wearing of masks. Essex police said they had "a robust policing operation in place to protect our community and to deal swiftly with anyone intent on causing crime or violent disorder". Protestors gathered outside the Bell Hotel in the town, which has been used to house asylum seekers and refugees, despite pleas from the local council to close it down. "They're a threat. They don't know who they are, who they're allowing in these hotels, and basically they're putting everybody at danger", one protester, who identified herself only as Cathy, told AFP. There was also a counter-protest by the organisation Stand Up To Racism, who chanted "refugees are welcome here' and "Whose streets? Our streets". Three people were arrested Sunday but the protest went off "peacefully," Essex police said in a statement. The issue of thousands of irregular migrants arriving in small boats across the Channel, coupled with the UK's worsening economy, has triggered rising anger among some Britons. Such sentiments have been amplified by inflammatory messaging on social networks, fuelled by far-right activists. Almost exactly a year ago on July 29, 2024, three young girls were stabbed to death in a frenzied attack in northwestern Southport. Nearly 24,000 migrants have made the perilous journey across the Channel so far in 2025, the highest-ever tally at this point in a year. © 2025 AFP
