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French pensioners rally against Macron austerity

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Pensioners rallied in hundreds of towns and cities in France against President Emmanuel Macron’s determination for even more austerity cuts amid the inflation crisis.

When campaigning in 2017 Macron promised he wouldn’t cut pensions and that their purchasing power relative to inflation would be preserved.

Seven years later, inflation has progressed by 17 percent while pensions have increased by just 8 percent.

The widely protested pension rollback and retirement age hike by decree in 2023 and the widening gap between inflation increases and pension increases may explain why no sector of society has turned against Macron more than retirees.

Think about it; how is an elderly pensioner who is largely stuck at home and unable to work is supposed to make up this gap?


Now add in the increases we all see in food, heating, and, electricity prices, and you can see why pensioners are so upset with Macron.


Protesting Pensioner 01

I’m active in senior citizen politics and several years back many pensioners would not be interested when we would distribute information leaflets to them.


They’d say things like ‘Oh, we’re not unhappy’ or ‘others are poorer than us’, but I can report that in recent months no pensioner is saying that or refusing our help.


That’s how bad it’s gotten in France, and especially in the quality of our health care.


Protesting Pensioner 02

Paris has warned there will soon be a second round of austerity cuts to the already austerity-driven 2024 budget.

There are so many retirees who live on less than €900 per month and everyone should be able to comprehend how difficult that is.


Many of us have also diseases like cancer and diabetes, and I can promise you that none of us asked for them.


We deserve dignity and not to be treated like we are some sort of lower class citizen just because we have finished our working career.


Protesting Pensioner 03

An alternative to public service cuts would be increased taxes on the rich or corporate shareholders.

But the Macron administration said it doesn’t want to go digging into the pockets of the French.

While the average household is still reeling from COVID-19 and the disastrous backfiring of European sanctions on Russia, an Oxfam report revealed that the billionaire families of France have gained €230 billion since 2020.

That would be sufficient to give €3,400 to every single French person.

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CSK Star Didn't Touch MS Dhoni's Feet. Fresh Video Reveals True Story

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Claims suggesting Chennai Super Kings star Matheesha Pathirana touched former captain MS Dhoni‘s feet during the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Gujarat Titans went viral on social media. While initial suggestions did look to be true, another video has surfaced from the incident, highlighting what exactly had happened. A side angle to the entire episode confirmed that the Sri Lankan pacer didn’t touch Dhoni’s feet but instead bent down to pick up the bowling marker which was placed not too far from Thala’s feet.

As for the match, the fortress at Chepauk stood untouched as the Chennai Super Kings registered a comprehensive 63-run win over the Gujarat Titans. After flying high in the first inning with the bat, Deepak Chahar provided the ideal start by picking up two wickets in the powerplay, dismissing Wriddhiman Saha (21) and skipper Shubman Gill (8).

GT never threatened to chase down the target in the final six overs, as CSK inflicted GT’s biggest defeat in terms of runs.

Earlier in the innings, put to bat, CSK got off to a flying start, despite losing Rachin Ravindra‘s wicket in the final over of the powerplay. The young New Zealand opener once again spread his wings in the powerplay and amassed 46 off just 20 deliveries.

He took the onus of scoring runs, while skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad provided the ideal support on the other end. Rachin’s fiery knock brought up the third successive 50-plus opening partnership for CSK against GT.

Rachin’s transition from strike rotation to effortlessly picking up boundaries was a sight to behold as he struck six fours and three maximums. Rashid Khan brought an end to Rachin’s onslaught but the left-handed batter’s effort helped CSK amass 69/1.

Ajinkya Rahane walked back before he could adjust to the surface. Shivam Dube came and wasted no time getting going as he sent the ball sailing into the stand on two consecutive deliveries. Gaikwad (46), who used a cautious approach, got nicked by Spencer Johnson before he could complete his 50.

Dube continued his onslaught on one end while Daryl Mitchell took his time to get his innings going. The left-handed batter picked up Mohit Sharma’s back-of-the-hand delivery and smoked it straight into the stands. He picked up a double in the final ball of his over to raise his bat for 50 in 22 deliveries.

In the final over, he tried to pick Mohit Sharma’s undercooked yorker but failed to get the elevation, with David Miller taking the catch comfortably. CSK ended the innings with a score of 206/6.

With ANI inputs

Topics mentioned in this article

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'Racist' Cartoon Targets Indian Crew On Ship After US Bridge Collapse

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'Racist' Cartoon Targets Indian Crew On Ship After Baltimore Bridge Collapse

The illustration was shared on X by Foxford Comics.

New Delhi:

Six people are presumed dead after an out-of-control cargo ship smashed into Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge. While several, including US President Joe Biden, are praising the Indian crew on the ship a ‘racist’ cartoon depicting the incident has stirred a storm.

The Singapore-flagged container ship Dali lost power and crashed into a concrete pier supporting the bridge on Tuesday. Within seconds almost the entire bridge collapsed and plunged into what officials said was roughly 50 feet of frigid water below.

Biden praised the ship’s crew, most of whom were Indians for their prompt Mayday call which prompted authorities to scramble to shut down traffic to the bridge, potentially saving lives.

A day later, a US-based webcomic shared a cartoon depicting the incident. The animated video shows unkempt men dressed only in loincloths preparing for the impending crash and was directed at the crew on the ship.

“Last known recording from inside the Dali moments before impact,” Foxford Comics wrote on X (formerly Twitter) while sharing the video. The cartoon also had the audio of people swearing at each other in English but with a strong Indian accent.

The graphic has gone viral garnering 4.2 million views and 2k comments.

The account is being criticised not just for its racist depiction of Indians, but also for undermining the ship’s crew.

Sharing the cartoon, Indian economist Sanjeev Sanyal wrote that the ship was likely being steered by a local pilot at the time of the incident.

“At the time that the ship hit the bridge, it would have had a local pilot. In any case, the crew had warned the authorities which is why the casualties were relatively few (for such a disaster). The mayor in fact thanked the Indian crew as “heroes” for raising an alarm that limited casualties,” he said.

Another X user, Pooja Sangwan, echoed the sentiment and said, “It’s shameful that people are mocking Indian crew for the tragic incident. Meanwhile the governor himself praised the crew.”

The bridge collapse is expected to have a major impact on the US economy as Baltimore is the biggest vehicle-handling port in the country, including cars and heavy farm equipment, according to US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. About $100 to $200 million in value comes through the port daily.

Up the coast from Baltimore, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey will plan to take on additional cargo to help blunt the supply chain impacts, the governors of those states pledged in a joint statement Thursday.

World

45 dead as bus plunges from bridge into ravine in S Africa

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The child, who has not been named, was taken to hospital with serious injuries, the transport ministry said in a statement late on Thursday, The Guardian Newspaper reported.

“It is alleged that the driver lost control, colliding with barriers on the bridge causing the bus to go over the bridge and hit the ground, where it caught fire,” a government statement said.

Some bodies were burnt beyond recognition and others were trapped by the debris or scattered over the crash scene, in the country’s northeast about 190 miles (300km) north of Johannesburg, the department said, with rescue efforts continuing into the night.

The bus plunged off the Mmamatlakala bridge linking two hillsides between Mokopane and Marken in Limpopo province, the state’s transport department said. The vehicle fell 50 meters (164ft) onto rocky ground below, it said.

The transport minister, Sindisiwe Chikunga, who was already in the area as part of a road safety campaign, went to the scene of the crash and said the South African government would help repatriate the bodies and conduct a full inquiry into the cause of the crash.

SD/PR

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"When Government Changes…": Rahul Gandhi After Rs 1,800 Crore Tax Notice

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Rahul Gandhi said when the government changes, the Congress will act against destroyers of democracy

New Delhi:

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today promised the party will take exemplary action against those who have destroyed democracy – “when the government changes” – after the party received a Rs 1,800 crore income tax notice which it called “tax terrorism”.

The fresh tax notice is for the assessment years 2017-18 to 2020-21, and includes penalty and interest.

“When the government changes, action will definitely be taken against those who are destroying democracy. And the action will be taken in such a manner that no one will have the courage to do all this again. This is my guarantee,” Mr Gandhi said in a post on the microblogging platform X.

The Congress is already facing a funds crunch after the Income Tax authorities imposed a penalty of Rs 200 crore and froze its funds. It has not got any relief from the high court. The Congress is likely to go to the Supreme Court next, just weeks before the Lok Sabha elections.

Mr Gandhi alleged central departments such as the income tax are working at the behest of the BJP. The Congress is preparing to fight a long legal war to scrap the tax demands. Congress leader Ajay Maken said the BJP has in the past few years got donations from thousands of people, and their income tax should also be calculated.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh told reporters the BJP is also in serious violation of income tax laws, and requested the tax department to raise a demand of Rs 4,617.58 crore from the BJP.

Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said political parties have to fill up Form 24A, in which two basic and important pieces of information have to be given — the names and addresses of donors.

“We have analysed all the submissions of the BJP to the Election Commission. The party has faltered every year,” Mr Maken alleged.

Mr Ramesh alleged the BJP has collected Rs 8,200 crore through the “electoral bonds scam” by using “prepaid, postpaid, post-raid bribes and shell companies”.

“Efforts are being made to financially cripple the Congress, but we are not going to be cowed down,” Mr Ramesh said.

World

Israeli airstrikes kill 36 military personnel in Syria

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The strikes hit a Hezbollah warehouse in the Jibrin area near Aleppo International Airport, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Published Date – 29 March 2024, 05:42 PM


Israeli airstrikes kill 36 military personnel in Syria


Damascus: Thirty-six Syrian military personnel were killed in multiple Israeli airstrikes that targeted military bases in Syria‘s northern city of Aleppo early Friday.

The strikes hit a Hezbollah warehouse in the Jibrin area near Aleppo International Airport, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The Britain-based watchdog group said the attacks, which reverberated across the northern Aleppo countryside for about three hours, resulted in the most deaths of Syrian military personnel due to Israeli airstrikes, Xinhua news agency reported.

Defence factories in the Safira area were also targeted, the watchdog added.

A statement from the Syrian Defense Ministry said that around 1.45 a.m. local time on Friday (2245 GMT Thursday), the Israeli military launched aerial attacks from the direction of Athria, southeast of Aleppo, targeting multiple locations in the Aleppo countryside.

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"In Training Now": Elon Musk's Grok-1.5 AI Chatbot To Be Available Next Week

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'In Training Now': Elon Musk's Grok-1.5 AI Chatbot To Be Available Next Week

Elon Musk’s AI start-up xAI today unveiled an upgraded version of its chatbot Grok, Grok-1.5 (File)

Washington:

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI’s latest Grok-1.5 chatbot will be available on his social media platform X next week, the billionaire said in a post on X on Friday.

“Grok 2 should exceed current AI on all metrics. In training now,” Musk added.

Grok-1.5, the enhanced version of its chatbot Grok, will be made available to early testers and existing Grok users on X in the coming days, xAI said in a statement on Thursday.

Earlier this month, Musk said xAI would open-source Grok, days after the billionaire sued Microsoft-backed OpenAI for allegedly abandoning its original mission in favour of a for-profit model.

Looking to compete against OpenAI and Alphabet’s Google, Musk had launched xAI last year.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

India

TDP announces list of candidates for 9 Assembly seats, 4 Lok Sabha seats

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Former minister Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao was fielded from Cheepururpalli to fight Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana of the YSR Congress. Another former minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, will be contesting from Bhimili.

Published Date – 29 March 2024, 04:53 PM


TDP announces list of candidates for 9 Assembly seats, 4 Lok Sabha seats


Amaravati:  The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has announced its final list of candidates for nine Assembly seats (MLA), and four Lok Sabha seats (MP) on Friday.

Former minister Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao was fielded from Cheepururpalli to fight Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana of the YSR Congress. Another former minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, will be contesting from Bhimili.

The canididates for other Assembly seats were also anounced that includes Killu Venkata Ramesh has been fielded from Paderu (ST), Dr. Gottipati Lakshmi from Darsi, Sugavasi Subrahmanyam from Rajampet, Veerabhadra Goud from Alur, Gummanur Jairam from Guntakal, Daggupati Venkateshwara Prasad from Anantapur Urban and Kandikunta Venkata Prasad from Kadiri.

Meanwhile for the Lok Sabha elections, the party has fielded Kalisetty Appala Naidu from Vizianagaram, Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy from Ongole, Ambika Lakshminarayana from Anantapur and Chadipiralla Bhupesh Reddy from Kadapa.

Earlier, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and Jana Sena Party (JSP) sealed a seat-sharing pact in Andhra Pradesh, which has 25 Lok Sabha seats and 175 Assembly seats.

In the assembly elections, the BJP will contest from 10 seats, the TDP from 144 seats and the Jana Sena Party (JSP) from 21 seats, as per the statement.

Earlier, the TDP was part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance until 2018.

Last month, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and Jana Sena Party (JSP) declared the first list of their candidates for the forthcoming Andhra Pradesh assembly elections.The state of Andhra Pradesh is set to hold elections on May 13 for the 175-member Assembly and 25 Lok Sabha seats. The vote counting is scheduled for June 4.

The election for 543 Lok Sabha seats in the country will be held in seven phases starting April 19.

Top News

Illness, Scandal And Discord Leave UK Royal Family Looking Depleted

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Double Cancer Blow To Prince Charles, Kate Leaves UK Royal Family Depleted

King Charles is currently undergoing treatment for cancer (File)

London:

King Charles is due to make his first public appearance at a royal event since his cancer diagnosis on Sunday, but the likely absence of son Prince William and the heir’s wife Kate will spotlight how depleted the monarchy has become.

Buckingham Palace said the 75-year-old monarch would attend the traditional Easter Sunday church service at Windsor Castle alongside his wife Queen Camilla, one of the annual engagements usually attended by all the senior royals.

However, William, Kate, and their children George, 10, Charlotte, 8, and Louis, 5, will not attend after the Princess of Wales revealed last week that she had begun preventative chemotherapy for cancer following abdominal surgery in January.

“King Charles really wanted to have a slimmed-down monarchy when he took on the throne but he never could have anticipated slimming down to where it is now,” said Erin Hill, People magazine’s senior royal editor. “This is going to definitely be a complicated time for the royal family.”

Charles’ desire for a ‘slimmed-down’ institution was designed to counter accusations it was bloated, with distant relatives living off taxpayer-funded handouts.

But there are now gaping holes in his immediate circle – most dramatically, with the departure of his younger son Prince Harry, 39, and wife Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, to the U.S. three years ago.

Meanwhile, Charles’ younger brother Prince Andrew, 64, was banished from public life in 2019 over his friendship with the late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Not a good idea

“Well, I think the ‘slimmed-down’ was said in a day when there were a few more people around to make that seem like a justifiable comment,” the king’s younger sister Princess Anne said in an interview last year.

“It doesn’t sound like a good idea from where I’m standing, I have to say. I’m not quite sure what else … we can do.”

Of the remaining official working royals – those that carry out duties for the king, such as opening new buildings, giving out honours and meeting foreign dignitaries – many are now from the late Queen Elizabeth’s generation.

Princess Alexandra, 87, her cousin and long-time friend, is rarely seen in public nowadays, while Elizabeth’s other cousins Prince Edward, the Duke of Kent, and Prince Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, are 88 and 79 respectively.

Princess Anne often tops the list for being the hardest-working royal but she herself will turn 74 this year. Her son Peter Phillips said this week she was probably working a lot harder than she had expected.

“She’s still doing overseas trips and turning around in 24 hours which is pretty hard on most people … but when you’re in your 70s and doing that it’s pretty remarkable,” he told Sky News in Australia.

He said there was “definitely a short-term pressure on certain members of the family to continue to be out and about”. As well as his mother, he noted the amount being done by Camilla and Charles’ younger brother Prince Edward and wife Sophie, now the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh.

Royal biographer Claudia Joseph said while Camilla and William had done a “sterling job” in the absence of Charles, it would not have been easy.

“On a personal level, it’s going to be awful for the royals,” she said. “Obviously, on a practical level, it makes things difficult.”

Although polls show most Britons remain generally supportive of the monarchy, they also suggest that majority is shrinking, with a growing gap between enthusiastic older people and indifferent younger generations.

Apart from William and Kate, the next youngest working royals are Edward, who this month turned 60, and Sophie who will reach that same milestone next year.

It will then be at least a decade until the ranks are swelled by the children of William and Kate.

Royal author Tina Brown said the monarchy was looking very lean indeed, putting “unmanageable pressure” on William and Kate.

“Catherine is the most popular member of the royal family after William,” she wrote in the New York Times this week. “The future of the monarchy hangs by a thread, and that thread is her.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Middle East

Satellite pictures show airstrip on Yemen’s Socotra amid Red Sea tensions

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Satellite pictures have unveiled a new airstrip which is being built on a strategic island in Yemen’s Socotra Archipelago, amid tensions in the Red Sea over Israel’s war on Gaza.

The pictures, released on Thursday, showed several vehicles leveling the surface of the alleged runway on the strategic island of Abd al-Kuri.

The Associated Press news agency, which obtained the images via Planet Labs from the past few days, said the runway measures nearly three kilometers.

“A runway of that length can accommodate attack, surveillance, and transport aircraft, even some of the heaviest bombers,” the AP analysis said.

One of the satellite images showed sand carvings with the sign “I love the UAE”. Abu Dhabi, however, has yet to claim ownership of the construction works.  

The purpose and details of the new structure are unclear, and no country has confirmed it was building an airstrip in the area.

AP reported that construction in the area started in January 2022, with images from Planet Labs showing what appeared to be a diagonal, shorter runway being carved out of the ground.

According to the report, there were other signs of construction of a longer north-south runway in July 2022, but work stopped later.

Abd al-Kuri is one of four islands in the Socotra Archipelago in the northwest Indian Ocean near the Gulf of Aden. It is the nearest to the Horn of Africa and lies at the entrance of the strategic maritime route of the Gulf of Aden and the Red Sea.

UAE-backed separatists of the so-called Southern Transitional Council (STC) took control of Socotra in the aftermath of the 2015 Saudi-led war on Yemen.

In November 2021, the Arabic-language ‘September Net’ news website, which is affiliated with the Yemeni Defense Ministry, reported that the United Arab Emirates is constructing a military base, under the supervision of Israeli military experts. The report said an Emirati ship laden with heavy military equipment and munitions anchored off the coast of Abd al-Kuri island.

Back in August 2020, the French-language news outlet JForum also reported that Israel, in cooperation with the UAE, was planning to build intelligence-gathering bases on Socotra.

The report said Israel and the UAE were making all logistical preparations to establish intelligence bases to collect information from across the Gulf of Aden, including Bab el-Mandeb and south of Yemen, which is under the control of forces backed by the UAE.

The newly released photos come as tensions have been heightened in the Red Sea due to Israel’s war in Gaza that killed over 32,500 people.

In solidarity with the Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip, the Yemeni armed forces have targeted ships in the Red Sea with owners linked to Israel or those going to and from ports in the occupied territories.

The US and the UK have also been carrying out numerous attacks against Yemen as a means of trying to pressure the country into stopping a series of operations that it has been conducting in support of Gazans.