Amir Of Kuwait Receives Invitation From French President Macron
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Arab Times
2 days ago
- Arab Times
Amir Of Kuwait Receives Invitation From French President Macron
KUWAIT CITY, June 29: His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshaal Al-Ahmad has received a written message from French President Emmanuel Macron, focusing on enhancing bilateral relations between Kuwait and France, as well as discussing recent regional and international developments. The message also included an official invitation for His Highness to visit the French Republic. The letter was delivered to Deputy Foreign Minister Sheikh Jarrah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during his meeting today with the French Ambassador to Kuwait, Olivier Govin.
Kuwait Times
3 days ago
- Kuwait Times
Ethiopia, an unlikely outpost for France's beloved ‘petanque' game
In an unlikely Ethiopian outpost of one the most French of pastimes, four men are leaning over their petanque balls, arguing over who is winning. Petanque, the bowling game also known as boules, is more readily associated with French village squares where locals launch metal balls at a jack while enjoying an afternoon drink. But for decades, it has also been a beloved pastime for members of a club near the iconic Meskel Square in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa. It was founded in the early 20th century to cater to French railway workers, who built a line connecting Addis Ababa to the French colony of Djibouti. With around 150 members, it still bears the name Le Club des Cheminots (The Railway Club), though the line stopped operating in 2008. But a new threat has emerged from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's vast demolition and construction program in the city. 'We're worried because we've been told the area will be demolished and the whole neighborhood will be relocated,' said Daniel Bewektu, 38, who has played daily for nearly seven years. 'I don't think anyone will preserve the place,' he added. The players gather daily under the club's corrugated metal roof, playing in sand imported from Dire Dawa, a city about 350 km east of the capital. On a recent Saturday, speakers blared local music while men sat around plastic tables, reading, playing dominoes and drinking. On the courts, familiar scenes played out: minor arguments over disputed points, the sound of metal balls clinking and shouts of 'gobez' ('well played' in Amharic). A group of petanque players discuss the score as they examine the distance between the boules and the jack during a match at the Club des Cheminots in Addis Ababa on June 21, 2025. - AFP photos A club member measures the distance between a boule and the jack with a tape measure during a petanque match. A club member looks at his boules after taking them out of his locker at the club. Club members chat and share drinks beside walls adorned with drawings of trains from the historic Ethio-Djibouti Railway at the Club des Cheminots in Addis Ababa. A club member walks past a wall sculpture shaped like a locomotive, a tribute to the club founding by employees of the Ethio-Djibouti Railway, at the Club des Cheminots. Club members gather to chat and play dominoes at the Club des Cheminots. A club member arranges a set of boules and the jack. Nowhere to go Assefaw Geremew retrieved his boules from an old locker, an almost daily ritual for the 68-year-old, a retired railway worker like many of his fellow members. 'I started playing petanque when the French were in charge. When they completed the railway work and left Ethiopia, we Ethiopians took over and continued the game,' he said. He has witnessed many changes in the neighborhood, including the demolition of the nearby Buffet de la Gare, a famous hotel and restaurant dating back to 1924 that was replaced by an apartment block in 2019. 'If this place didn't exist, the workers and retired people wouldn't have anywhere to go,' Geremew said. 'Here, you can stay as long as you want. You meet your old friends, and you meet new people,' he added, highlighting the extremely modest membership fee of just 6 birrs (five US cents) per month for retirees. Club president Alemneh Abebe hopes the authorities will come to their rescue. 'If possible, with government support, we'd like to be given another space,' he said. But Bewektu is worried: 'If this place is taken away, petanque will disappear.' – AFP
Arab Times
6 days ago
- Arab Times
Iran's leader issues warning to US in first post-war remarks
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 26, (AP): Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Thursday his country had delivered a "slap to America's face' with its strike on an American base in Qatar, and warned against any further U.S. attacks in his first public comments since a ceasefire was declared with Israel after 12 days of war. Khamenei spoke in a recorded video broadcast on Iranian state television, his first appearance since June 19. The 86-year-old looked and sounded more tired than he did only a week ago, speaking in a hoarse voice and occasionally stumbling over his words. The more-than 10 minute speech by the supreme leader was filled with warnings and threats directed toward the United States and Israel. He downplayed Sunday's U.S. strikes on three Iranian nuclear sites using bunker-buster bombs and cruise missiles, saying that U.S. President Donald Trump - who said the attack "completely and fully obliterated Iran's nuclear program - had "exaggerated' its impact. "They could not achieve anything significant,' he said. The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency Director Rafael Grossi, reiterated on Thursday that the damage done by Israeli and U.S. strikes at Iranian nuclear facilities "is very, very, very considerable.' "I think annihilated is too much but it suffered enormous damage,' Grossi told French broadcaster RFI. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Esmail Baghaei, on Wednesday also conceded that "our nuclear installations have been badly damaged, that's for sure.' Khamenei has not been seen in public since taking shelter in a secret location after the outbreak of the war June 13 when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities and targeted top military commanders and scientists. Following Sunday's U.S. attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, Trump was able to help negotiate a ceasefire that came into effect on Tuesday. Khamenei claimed the U.S. had only intervened in the war because "it felt that if it did not intervene, the Zionist regime would be utterly destroyed.' "It entered the war to save them, yet it gained nothing,' he said. He said his country's attack on the U.S. base in Qatar on Monday was significant, since it shows Iran "has access to important U.S. centers in the region and can act against them whenever it deems necessary.' "The Islamic Republic was victorious and, in retaliation, delivered a hand slap to America's face,' he said, adding "this action can be repeated in the future." "Should any aggression occur, the enemy will definitely pay a heavy price,' he said. Since the ceasefire, life has been gradually returning to normal in Iran. On Thursday, Iran partially reopened its airspace, which had been shut down since the war broke out, and shops in the capital of Tehran began to reopen, with traffic returning to the streets. Majid Akhavan, spokesperson for the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development, said Iran had reopened the airspace for the eastern half of the country to domestic and international flights, including those transiting Iranian airspace. Earlier this week, Tehran said 606 people had been killed in the conflict in Iran, with 5,332 people wounded. The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group released figures Wednesday suggesting Israeli strikes on Iran had killed at least 1,054 and wounded 4,476. The group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, said 417 of those killed were civilians and 318 were security forces. At least 28 people were killed in Israel and more than 1,000 wounded, according to officials there. During the 12-day war, Iran fired more than 550 missiles at Israel with a 90% interception rate, according to new statistics released by Israeli authorities on Thursday. Israel, meantime, hit more than 720 Iranian military infrastructure targets and eight nuclear-related sites, Israel said. Trump has also asserted that American and Iranian officials will talk next week, giving rise to cautious hope for longer-term peace. Iran has not acknowledged any such talks would take place, though U.S. Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff has said there has been direct and indirect communication between the countries. A sixth round of U.S.-Iran negotiations was scheduled for earlier this month in Oman but was canceled after Israel attacked Iran on June 13. Iran has insisted that it will not give up its nuclear program. In a vote underscoring the tough path ahead, its parliament agreed Wednesday to fast-track a proposal that would effectively stop the country's cooperation with the IAEA, which has monitored the program for years.
