World
Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet
The extreme right’s surge in France’s European Parliament elections was largely expected. What occurred next was not.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced early parliamentary elections, saying he couldn’t ignore the new political reality after his pro-European party suffered a humiliating defeat and is expected to receive less than half the support of Marine Le Pen’s National Rally.
He expects people to work together to limit the far right in national elections, as in European ones.
However, Sunday’s decision to dissolve parliament and send voters who had recently shown dissatisfaction with Macron’s ideology to the polls was a hazardous move that could result in the French extreme right running a government for the first time since WWII.
Macron | AP News Image
Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet
Macron, who has three years left in his second and final presidential term, would have to find a way to collaborate with a prime minister from a party that strongly rejects most of his programs.
Here are the reasons for the shift.
How did French voters cast their votes?
The far-right National Rally, led by 28-year-old Jordan Bardella, is expected to gain the most French seats in the European Parliament, potentially 30 of France’s 81, according to a provisional count, with more than 30% of the vote.
That would be the culmination of a makeover campaign aimed at appealing to centrist voters in the wake of decades of racist and antisemitic sentiments made by National Front leaders.
According to the most recent projections, Macron’s Renaissance party has fewer than 15% of the vote, only ahead of the Socialists, whom the French president thought he had eliminated from the political landscape when he was elected president in 2017.
The communist France Unbowed party might come in fourth place with roughly 10% of the vote, while the conservative Républicains could get about 7%.
Why did Macron call the French election?
Macron’s centrist party was the largest in the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament, but it lost its majority in 2022, forcing parliamentarians to collaborate with politicians from both the left and right to pass legislation.
According to his aides, in the wake of the extreme right’s resounding success in the European elections, Macron called the election because he believed the results would lead to legislative stalemate and render him a lame duck leader three years before the next presidential election in 2027.
Yaël Braun-Pivet, president of the National Assembly, emphasized the president’s desire to demonstrate his responsiveness to voters. “We are told too often that we do not hear, that we are cut off from the people, and there, the president took a decision following a very clear vote by the French,” Braun-Pivet stated on Monday.
What are the risks?
French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné stated that Macron’s decision to call elections is not “a poker move.” However, with a bitterly fragmented left and millions of voters no longer afraid of National Rally’s agenda, counting on a popular uprising against the extreme right three weeks before the election appears to be a high-risk gamble.
Macron | AP News Image
Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet
The National Rally, with its anti-immigrant agenda, has grown to become the largest parliamentary opposition group in the lower chamber. Le Pen has advanced to the second round of the presidential election twice, following in the footsteps of her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 2002. The normalization campaign has paid effectively, and the party has become mainstream, with a solid network of officials throughout France.
The two-round system for general elections has historically made it difficult for extremist parties to gain traction since mainstream parties collaborate to isolate those on the periphery. But that method might not work this time. In the most recent general election, Le Pen’s National Rally gained more than ten times as many seats as it did five years before.
Francois Ruffin, a far-left politician, has called on all left-wing leaders, including the Greens, to unify under a single “Popular Front” banner. “To avoid the worse, to win,” he wrote on social media platform X. Others on the left proposed similar cooperation.
However, Raphaël Glucksmann, the lead Socialist candidate, accused Macron of giving in to the National Rally’s demands for the dissolution of the National Assembly. He stated that the action “will remain a stain on Emmanuel Macron’s five-year term, one more,” and criticized the French president for what he considers an “extremely dangerous” game.
Le Pen is riding high.
Le Pen stated she is “ready to turn the country around” after sending Macron into a tailspin.
“We are ready to exercise power if the French people place their trust in us in these future legislative elections,” she told party supporters in Paris.
For years, Le Pen has been the face of the National Rally. However, she stepped back before the European elections, making space for Bardella. The president of Le Pen’s party has now brought it to the threshold of power.
Macron | AP News Image
Macron Hopes To Contain Far Right In National Elections After It Surged In EU Vote. It’s A Risky Bet
Bardella rose quickly to the top after polishing his political talents as president of the party’s youth branch. Although he has been cautious about eclipsing Le Pen, his popularity is growing rapidly, particularly among young people.
On the campaign road, Bardella was frequently greeted like a rock star, with crowds of shouting admirers vying to kiss him or take a selfie.
What happens next?
If another party or alliance wins a majority of seats in the general election, Macron must select a prime minister from that new majority.
In this circumstance, known as “cohabitation” in France, the administration would enact domestic policies that differed from the president’s strategy. However, the French president would significantly influence the country’s foreign and defense policies. Such an arrangement may render France ungoverned.
SOURCE – AP
World
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Hurricane Beryl roared toward Jamaica on Wednesday, leaving islanders rushing to prepare after the devastating Category 4 storm killed at least six people and inflicted substantial damage in the southeast Caribbean.
People in Kingston boarded up their windows, fishermen withdrew their boats from the sea, and workers demolished roadside advertising boards to safeguard them from the fierce winds.
Pauline Lynch, a Kingston resident, said she had prepared for the storm by stockpiling food and water. With the wind already whipping up a light rain, Lynch stated, “I have no control over what is coming, so all I can do is pray that all Jamaicans are safe and that there are no deaths or losses.”
Beryl | AP News Image
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
A hurricane warning was issued for Jamaica, Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac. Beryl was expected to decrease slightly over the next day or two but remain at or near major hurricane strength when it passes near or over Jamaica on Wednesday, near the Cayman Islands on Thursday, and into Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on Friday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness announced that the disaster zone declaration will stay in effect for seven days. He also declared an island-wide curfew from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday.
Security personnel “will be fully mobilized to maintain public order and aid in disaster relief.” As soon as the cyclone passed, the security forces devised strategic preparations to prevent any potential threat of looting or other opportunistic crimes,” Holness stated.
An evacuation order was also issued for Jamaica villages vulnerable to flooding and landslides. Holness warned Jamaicans to avoid low-lying regions.
A hurricane watch was issued for Haiti’s southern and Yucatan east coast. Belize issued a tropical storm watch extending south from its Mexico border to Belize City.
Late Monday, Beryl became the Atlantic’s first Category 5 hurricane, reaching 165 mph (270 kph) on Tuesday before falling to a still-destructive Category 4. On Wednesday, the storm was approximately 75 miles (125 kilometers) southeast of Kingston. It had maximum sustained winds of 145 mph (230 kph) and was traveling west-northwest at 18 mph (30 kph).
Michael Brennan, Director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, stated that Jamaica appears in Beryl’s direct path. He asked citizens to locate a secure shelter and stay there until Wednesday.
“We are most concerned about Jamaica, where we are expecting the core of a major hurricane to pass near or over the island,” according to a briefing he gave online.
Jamaica is expected to see a storm surge of 6-9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) over normal tidal levels and severe rains.
On Wednesday, Mexico’s Caribbean coast prepared for Beryl. The government has issued a hurricane warning for the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, from Puerto Costa Maya to Cancun.
The head of Mexico’s civil defense agency stated that Beryl is expected to launch a rare twin blow on the country. According to Laura Velázquez, the hurricane is forecast to land between late Thursday and early Friday on a rather unpopulated stretch of the Caribbean coast between Tulum and the inland town of Felipe Carrillo Puerto. Because the coast is primarily made up of lagoons and mangroves, there are few resorts or hotels south of Tulum.
As it traverses the Yucatan peninsula, the hurricane is anticipated to diminish to a tropical storm before reemerging as a storm in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend. According to Velázquez, Beryl is likely to impact Mexican territory again, this time on the Gulf Coast states of Veracruz or Tamaulipas, close to the Texas border.
As Beryl plowed into the Caribbean Sea, rescue personnel in the southeastern islands spread out to assess the extent of the hurricane’s destruction to Carriacou, Grenada.
Officials confirmed three deaths in Grenada and Carriacou, as well as one in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Two further deaths were confirmed in northern Venezuela, while five people are missing, officials said. Beryl’s torrential downpour also affected approximately 25,000 people in the area.
Beryl | AP News Image
Hurricane Beryl Roars Toward Jamaica After Killing At Least 6 People In The Southeast Caribbean
The environment minister, Kerryne James, told The Associated Press that a tree fell on a house in Grenada, killing one. She claimed that Carriacou and Petit Martinique suffered the worst damage, with Carriacou losing hundreds of homes and businesses.
Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell stated on Tuesday that there is no power, roads are impassable, and the possibility of an increase in the death toll “remains a grim reality.”
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves has pledged to reconstruct the archipelago. He stated that 90% of homes on Union Island had been demolished and that “similar levels of devastation” were expected on the islands of Myreau and Canouan.
The most recent powerful hurricane to reach the southeast Caribbean was Hurricane Ivan, which killed scores of people in Grenada 20 years ago.
Grenada nicknamed the “spice isle,” is a major supplier of nutmeg. Mitchell stated that most of the spices are planted in the northern portion of the island, which Beryl most damaged.
SOURCE – (AP)
NBC is bringing a version of legendary sportscaster Al Michaels back to the Olympics this summer, but with an unexpected twist: his voice will be powered by artificial intelligence.
On Wednesday, NBC said that it will utilize AI software to reproduce Michaels’ voice to offer daily Summer Games summaries to users of its Peacock streaming platform. This marks a significant milestone in the application of AI by a major media firm.
NBC | CTV Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
The employment of an artificial intelligence voice for the Olympics comes at a time when technology has advanced dramatically, particularly in its ability to generate images, sounds, and text. This has sparked concerns in creative industries, such as journalism, regarding how artificial intelligence may—or should—be utilized.
A new tool, “Your Daily Olympic Recap on Peacock,” will allow subscribers to create 10-minute highlights packages incorporating event updates, athlete back stories, and other related content based on their preferences.
The company stated that the highlights could be packaged in approximately 7 million distinct ways, based on 5,000 hours of live coverage in Paris, thereby making AI (artificial intelligence, not the guy) a far more efficient way to give individualized summaries.
“When I was approached about this, I was skeptical but obviously curious,” Michaels stated in a press statement. “Then I saw a demonstration of what they had in mind. I replied, ‘I’m in.'”
An NBC representative told CNN that Michaels is being rewarded for his participation.
A veteran broadcaster, Michaels is now the play-by-play sportscaster for Thursday Night Football on Amazon Prime. He is well noted for his work on earlier Olympic Games broadcasts for NBC and ABC and for announcing the Miracle on Ice Game at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York.
NBC | Fox Image
NBC To Use AI Version Of Announcer Al Michaels’ Voice For Olympics Recaps
NBC stated that the AI system was trained using previous NBC broadcast audio from Michaels.
The business stated that a team of NBC Sports editors will evaluate all of the content, including audio and footage, to ensure that it is factually correct and that names are pronounced correctly.
Beginning July 27, the highlights tool will be available on Peacock in web browsers and iOS and iPad apps.
SOURCE – CNN
Mount Fuji, a UNESCO World Heritage site and Japanese icon, has implemented new climbing limits in response to concerns about overpopulation.
Beginning July 1, climbers must pay 2,000 yen ($12.40) per person, and there is a daily limit of 4,000 climbers.
Mount Fuji | Japan Times
Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns
“By strongly promoting comprehensive safety measures for climbing Mount Fuji, we will ensure that Mount Fuji, a world treasure, is passed down to future generations,” stated Koutaro Nagasaki, governor of Yamanashi Prefecture, when he announced the new laws earlier this year.
“To revitalize traditional mountain climbing from the foot of Mount Fuji, we shall get a thorough grasp of the Fuji-ko and Oshi cultures that fostered Mount Fuji worship. We hope to connect different civilizations through mountain climbing, which is steeped in religious cultural values.”
Fuji-ko is a religion unique to the mountains.
Human traffic bottlenecks, garbage-strewn hillsides, and poorly dressed hikers – some attempting the trip in sandals – are among the challenges afflicting the renowned Japanese destination.
In addition, new guides will oversee trail safety and notify climbers if they violate mountain etiquette, such as sleeping along the trail, making a fire, or wearing inappropriate attire.
According to prefectural data, five million people hiked Mount Fuji in 2019, up three million from 2012.
“Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions, and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji,” Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, told CNN Travel last year.
In 2023, a volunteer named Tomoyo Takahashi told CNN that she planned to ask tourists to donate 1,000 yen ($6.20) to help maintain the mountain.
“Not everyone pays the 1,000 yen, which makes me sad. “There should be a much higher mandatory entrance fee so that only visitors who truly value Mount Fuji’s heritage come,” she stated.
Takahashi will finally achieve her wish.
Mount Fuji | CNN Image
Japan’s Mount Fuji Implements Tourist Tax In Response To Overcrowding Concerns
The new limitations, however, only apply to Yamanashi prefecture, which has the most popular hiking trails. Fuji is also located in Shizuoka prefecture, which has yet to have any tariffs or visiting restrictions. Governor Nagasaki told reporters that he and Shizuoka’s governor will meet at the end of the climbing season to swap notes.
Overtourism has become a major issue in Japan since the country reopened during the pandemic.
Locals in Kyoto’s historic Gion area have expressed concern over tourists flocking to photograph and sometimes harass the geisha who live and work there, giving them the term “geisha paparazzi.”
While the city has posted signs and boards urging visitors not to photograph geisha, several locals told CNN Travel that more is needed. The neighborhood council proposed issuing fines or penalties.
Hatsukaichi, in Hiroshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan, has also been hit. The little hamlet is notable for its orange “floating shrine” torii gate, part of a 1,400-year-old Shinto complex.
In October 2023, the town started charging 100 yen (62 cents) for visitors to the temple. The “tourist tax” funds the site’s maintenance and infrastructure.
SOURCE – (CNN)
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