Macron Says Subsidy for Energy Efficient Homes Should Continue
French President Emmanuel Macron called on his government to continue a home renovation subsidy program after the finance ministry said it would temporarily halt the grants.
The program, known as MaPrimeRénov, offers financial support to homeowners to improve the energy efficiency of their homes. Access to the system was frozen when the 2025 budget was delayed after the government collapsed last December, leading to an avalanche of requests when it reopened, Finance Minister Eric Lombard said.
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Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Moscow continues to retaliate for Kyiv's drone strike
At least four people were killed in eastern Ukraine and more than two dozen were injured, including a baby and a 14-year-old, after Russia launched drone-and-missile and bomb attacks Saturday, Ukraine officials said. Russia launched 215 missiles and drones on Kharkiv, the war-torn nation's second-largest city, in the early hours of Saturday, killing three people and wounding more than 40 others, Ukrainian officials said. Later in the day, Russia dropped bombs on Kharkiv's city center, killing at least one more person and injuring five. "What the Russians want is the complete destruction of life," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday after the attacks. Trump Suggests Taking A Step Back From Ukraine Peace Talks "In more than 11 years of Russia's war against Ukraine, they have brought only one new thing to our land, the most widespread Russian 'legacy,' ruins and death," Zelenskyy added. "We must continue resisting this. I thank everyone around the world who is helping. The Russians are preparing to continue the war and are ignoring all peace proposals. They must be held accountable." Read On The Fox News App Zelenskyy said Ukraine would work to strengthen its air defense, adding, "We urgently need positive signals from the United States regarding air defense systems. We are still waiting for a response to our request to purchase systems that can help." He also thanked other European countries for sending supplies. "We must also achieve results in joint production of air defense systems and missiles. This is absolutely essential for our whole Europe," he added. "Only time separates us from that result, and what matters most is shortening that time." "This is another savage killing," he wrote on X along with graphic photos of some of the injured. "Aerial bombs were dropped on civilians in the city — there is even a children's railway nearby. This makes no military sense." He called the attack "pure terrorism. And this has been going on for more than three years of the full-scale war. This cannot be ignored. This cannot be turned a blind eye to. And this is not some kind of game. Every day, we lose our people only because Russia feels it can act with impunity. Russia must be firmly forced into peace." Russia Launches Largest Aerial Attack Of Ukraine War, Killing At Least 12 Last Sunday, Ukraine launched a surprise drone attack on Russian territory that destroyed 40 Russian planes, according to Kyiv. In his evening address, Zelenskyy said 117 drones had been used in the operation. He claimed the operation was headquartered out of an office next to the local FSB, the Russian intelligence agency. On Friday, Russia launched another drone attack on six territories in Ukraine that killed six people, including a baby, and injured 80, according to Ukraine officials. The attack came after President Donald Trump had a call with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which the Russian leader said he planned to retaliate. Trump responded to the attacks Friday, telling reporters on Air Force One, "Well, they gave Putin a reason to go in and bomb the hell out of them last night. … When I saw it, I said, 'Here we go, now it's going to be a strike.'" On Thursday, Trump also compared the Russia-Ukraine war to children. "Sometimes you see two young children fighting like crazy. They hate each other, and they're fighting in a park, and you try and pull them apart, they don't want to be pulled," Trump said in the Oval Office. "Sometimes you're better off letting them fight for a while and then pulling them apart." Ukraine and Russia have so far held two rounds of peace talks with few tangible article source: Four killed in Russian attacks on Ukraine as Moscow continues to retaliate for Kyiv's drone strike
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Rep. Adam Smith: The President is 'doing this parade so people can kiss up to him'
Democratic Congressman Adam Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, weighs in on the Russia-Ukraine war and the military parade scheduled for next Saturday.
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Italian citizenship referendum polarises country
Sonny Olumati was born in Rome and has lived in Italy all his life but the country he calls home does not recognise him as its own. To Italy, Sonny is Nigerian, like his passport, and the 39-year-old is only welcome as long as his latest residence permit. "I've been born here. I will live here. I will die here," the dancer and activist tells me in what he calls "macaroni" Italian-English beneath the palm trees of a scruffy Roman park. "But not having citizenship is like... being rejected from your country. And I don't think this is a feeling we should have". That is why Sonny and others have been campaigning for a "Yes" vote in a national referendum on Sunday and Monday that proposes halving the time required to apply for Italian citizenship. Cutting the wait from 10 years to five would bring this country in line with most others in Europe. Giorgia Meloni, Italy's hard-right prime minister, has announced she will boycott the vote, declaring the citizenship law already "excellent" and "very open". Other parties allied to her are calling on Italians to go to the beach instead of the polling station. Sonny will not be taking part either. Without citizenship, he is not entitled to vote. The question of who gets to be Italian is a sensitive one. Large numbers of migrants and refugees arrive in the country each year helped across the Mediterranean from North Africa by smuggling gangs. Meloni's populist government has made a big deal about cutting the number of arrivals. But this referendum is aimed at those who have travelled legally for work to a country with a rapidly shrinking and ageing population. The aim is limited: to speed up the process for getting citizenship, not ease the strict criteria. "Knowledge of the Italian language, not having criminal charges, continuous residence et cetera - all the various requirements remain the same," explains Carla Taibi of the liberal party More Europe, one of several backers of the referendum. The reform would affect long-term foreign residents already employed in Italy: from those on factory production lines in the north to those caring for pensioners in plush Rome neighbourhoods. Their children aged under 18 would also be naturalised. Up to 1.4 million people could qualify for citizenship immediately, with some estimates ranging higher. "These people live in Italy, study and work and contribute. This is about changing the perception of them so they are not strangers anymore - but Italian," argues Taibi. The reform would also have practical implications. As a non-Italian, Sonny cannot apply for a public sector job, and even struggled to get a driving license. When he was booked for hit reality TV show Fame Island last year, he ended up arriving two weeks late on set in Honduras because he had had so many problems getting the right paperwork. For a long time, Meloni ignored the referendum entirely. Italy's publicly owned media, run by a close Meloni ally, have also paid scant attention to the vote. There is no substantive "No" campaign, making it hard to have a balanced debate. But the real reason appears strategic: for a referendum to be valid, more than half of all voters need to turn out. "They don't want to raise awareness of the significance of the referendum," Professor Roberto D'Alimonte of Luis University in Rome explains. "That's rational, to make sure that the 50% threshold won't be reached." The prime minister eventually announced she would turn up at a polling station "to show respect for the ballot box" - but refuse to cast a vote. "When you disagree, you also have the option of abstaining," Meloni told a TV chat show this week, after critics accused her of disrespecting democracy. Italy's citizenship system was "excellent", she argued, already granting citizenship to more foreign nationals than most countries in Europe: 217,000 last year, according to the national statistics agency, Istat. But about 30,000 of those were Argentines with Italian ancestry on the other side of the world, unlikely even to visit. Meanwhile, Meloni's coalition partner, Roberto Vannacci of the far-right League, accused those behind the referendum of "selling off our citizenship and erasing our identity". I ask Sonny why he thinks his own application for citizenship has taken over two decades. "It's racism," he replies immediately. At one point his file was lost completely, and he has now been told his case is "pending". "We have ministers who talk about white supremacy - racial replacement of Italy," the activist recalls a 2023 comment by the agriculture minister from Meloni's own party. "They don't want black immigration and we know it. I was born here 39 years ago so I know what I say." It is an accusation the prime minister has denied repeatedly. Insaf Dimassi defines herself as "Italian without citizenship". "Italy let me grow up and become the person I am today, so not being seen as a citizen is extremely painful and frustrating," she explains from the northern city of Bologna where she is studying for a PhD. Insaf's father travelled to Italy for work when she was a baby, and she and her mother then joined him. Her parents finally got Italian citizenship 20 days after Insaf turned 18. That meant she had to apply for herself from scratch, including proving a steady income. Insaf chose to study instead. "I arrived here at nine months old, and maybe at 33 or 34 - if all goes well - I can finally be an Italian citizen," she says, exasperated. She remembers exactly when the significance of her "outsider" status hit home: it was when she was asked to run for election alongside a candidate for mayor in her hometown. When she shared the news with her parents, full of excitement, they had to remind her she was not Italian and was not eligible. "They say it's a matter of meritocracy to be a citizen, that you have to earn it. But more than being myself, what do I have to demonstrate?" Insaf wants to know. "Not being allowed to vote, or be represented, is being invisible." On the eve of the referendum, students in Rome wrote a call to the polls on the cobbles of a city square. "Vote 'YES' on the 8th and 9th [of June]," they spelled out in giant cardboard letters. With a government boycott and such meagre publicity, the chances of hitting the 50% turnout threshold seem slim. But Sonny argues that this vote is just the beginning. "Even if they vote 'No', we will stay here - and think about the next step," he says. "We have to start to talk about the place of our community in this country." Additional reporting by Giulia Tommasi Italy tightens rules for Italian descendants to become citizens Italy faces big setback over migrant camps in Albania
