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China on track to become top nuclear power generator by 2030
BEIJING -- China has approved plans for building 10 nuclear reactors for 200 billion yuan ($27.7 billion), putting the country on track to push its nuclear power generation capacity past the U.S. to become the world's largest by 2030.
The plan to build the reactors was approved at a State Council executive meeting last month. Eight will be third-generation Hualong One reactors, which China's state-owned China National Nuclear Corp. and China General Nuclear Power Group claim to have independently developed based on U.S. and French pressurized water reactors (PWR).
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Japan Today
an hour ago
- Japan Today
13 on trial in France over 'racist' stunt against Olympics singer
By Alain Jean-Robert Thirteen people went on trial in France on Wednesday over a "racist" insult targeting Franco-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, who faced criticism from the far right and harassment over her performance at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. The defendants, linked to extreme-right group Les Natifs (the Natives), are on trial for a stunt in March 2024 -- after reports the superstar singer would perform at the Olympics -- when they unveiled a banner reading: "No way, Aya, this is Paris, not the Bamako market". It was a reference to Mali's capital, where the 30-year-old singer was born, and her hit song "Djadja". Nakamura's performance at the July 2024 opening ceremony sparked a political firestorm among far-right politicians and conservatives, a reaction French President Emmanuel Macron at the time described as "racist" and "shocking". Les Natifs espouses the far-right, white-nationalist "Great Replacement" conspiracy theory, according to which white Europeans are being deliberately supplanted by non-white immigrants. The 13 defendants, aged between 20 and 31, face charges of publicly inciting hatred or violence -- or complicity in such incitement -- on the grounds of ethnicity, nationality, race or religion. Only three appeared in court, while the remaining 10 were represented by their lawyers. Nakamura was not present at the hearing. The defendants, including the spokesman for Les Natifs, Stanislas T., refused to answer questions, reading a statement to justify their actions. "What is at stake today is the issue of freedom of expression and the independence of the judicial system," said the 24-year-old spokesman, denying the group had insulted Nakamura or incited hatred. According to the activist, the aim was to denounce "a political choice that deliberately sought to promote the dissolution of our ancestral culture". Their lawyers, Mathieu Sassi and Pierre-Vincent Lambert, requested the acquittal of their clients, saying Nakamura had been targeted because of her "vulgarity". Prosecutors requested sentences of up to four months of prison. Nakamura responded to the group's stunt on social media at the time, writing: "You can be racist, but you're not deaf... and that's what really bothers you! I'm suddenly the number one topic of debate -- but what do I really owe you? Nothing." Nakamura is the world's most listened-to Francophone singer, and her performance on one of Paris's fabled bridges, the Pont des Arts, was among the most-watched moments of the opening ceremony. But when reports began circulating in early 2024 that the Mali-born, Paris-raised superstar was going to perform, far-right politicians and groups vehemently criticized the decision. An appearance by Nakamura, who mixes French with Arabic and Malian slang, would "humiliate" the country, far-right leader Marine Le Pen suggested, taking aim at her supposed "vulgarity" and "the fact that she doesn't sing in French". In March 2024, a dozen members of Les Natifs unfurled the banner targeting Nakamura along the River Seine. They posted a picture of the stunt on social media, and far-right outlets amplified the message. Les Natifs, which has 10,000 followers on Instagram and 19,000 on X, has staged other provocative stunts. In March, the group covered portraits of veiled women on display in a church in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis with black sheets. Two people including Stanislas T. were due to appear in court in connection with that case on Thursday. In February, the activists plastered an Air Algerie office in Paris with posters encouraging people with Algerian roots to "re-migrate". The goal for groups like Les Natifs is to "provoke massive reactions and shock public opinion so we have no choice but to talk about them", said Marion Jacquet-Vaillant, an expert on far-right movements in France. Capucine C., 22, who until March 2025 was a "parliamentary assistant" to three far-right National Rally MPs, was among the accused appearing in court. Nakamura's complaint is not the only one stemming from the opening ceremony to head to trial. A French court in May found seven people guilty of bullying Thomas Jolly, the ceremony's artistic director, who is openly gay. Five people are to stand trial in September over similar complaints from Barbara Butch, a French DJ and lesbian activist who starred in a controversial scene during the ceremony. © 2025 AFP
Yomiuri Shimbun
3 days ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Saudi Arabia Says Israel Shows ‘Extremism' by Blocking West Bank Visit
Reuters Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, attends the Ministerial Committee Assigned by the Joint Extraordinary Arab-Islamic Summit on Gaza as they meet in Amman, Jordan, June 1, 2025. AMMAN, June 1 (Reuters) – Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud said the Israeli government's refusal to allow a delegation of Arab ministers into the occupied West Bank showed its 'extremism and rejection of peace'. His statement came during a joint press conference in Amman with counterparts from Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain, after they met as part of an Arab contact group that was going to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. 'Israel's refusal of the committee's visit to the West Bank embodies and confirms its extremism and refusal of any serious attempts for (a) peaceful pathway .. It strengthens our will to double our diplomatic efforts within the international community to face this arrogance,' the Saudi minister said. On Saturday, Israel said it would not allow a planned meeting on Sunday that would have included ministers from Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, Palestinian Authority officials said. Bin Farhan's visit to the West Bank would have marked the first such visit by a top Saudi official in recent memory. An Israeli official said the ministers intended to take part in a 'provocative meeting' to discuss promoting the establishment of a Palestinian state. Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said blocking the trip was another example of how Israel was 'killing any chance of a just and comprehensive' Arab-Israeli settlement. An international conference, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, is due to be held in New York on June 17-20 to discuss the issue of Palestinian statehood. Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said the conference would cover security arrangements after a ceasefire in Gaza and reconstruction plans to ensure Palestinians would remain on their land and foil any Israeli plans to evict them. Commenting on blocking the visit, Israeli Arab lawmaker Ayman Odeh said the Arab foreign ministers' delegation aimed to end the Gaza war, enhance the Palestinian Authority's role, and support a Saudi-French U.N. initiative to set up a roadmap for a Palestinian state Odeh told Saudi state-owned Al Arabiya Television that the Saudi-French initiative could lead to broader international recognition of a Palestinian state, a move he said contradicts Israeli government policy. According to Odeh, the Israeli government seeks to undermine the Palestinian Authority because it views it as the 'nucleus of the Palestinian state.' He said Israel blocked the Arab foreign ministers' visit because it could have helped strengthen the Palestinian Authority. Israel has come under increasing pressure from the United Nations and European countries that favour a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, under which an independent Palestinian state would exist alongside Israel.
Japan Today
3 days ago
- Japan Today
Macron navigates rocky path to recognizing Palestinian state
By John Irish French President Emmanuel Macron is leaning towards recognizing a Palestinian state, but diplomats and experts say such a move may prove a premature and ineffective way to pressure Israel into moving towards a peace deal with the Palestinians. They say it could deepen Western splits, not only within the already-divided European Union, but also with the United States, Israel's staunchest ally, and would need to be accompanied by other measures such as sanctions and trade bans if recognition were to be anything more than a symbolic gesture. French officials are weighing up the move ahead of a United Nations conference, which France and Saudi Arabia are co-hosting between June 17-20, to lay out the parameters for a roadmap to a Palestinian state, while ensuring Israel's security. If Macron went ahead, France, home to Europe's largest Jewish and Muslim communities, would become the first Western heavyweight to recognize a Palestinian state, potentially giving greater momentum to a movement hitherto dominated by smaller nations that are generally more critical of Israel. "If France moves, several (European) countries will follow," Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide told Reuters. Macron's stance has shifted amid Israel's intensified Gaza offensive and escalating violence by Israeli settlers in the West Bank, and there is a growing sense of urgency in Paris to act now before the idea of a two-state solution vanishes forever. "We must move from words to deeds. Faced with facts on the ground, the prospect of a Palestinian state must be maintained. Irreversible and concrete measures are necessary," Macron's Middle East adviser Anne-Claire Legendre told delegates at a preparatory meeting in New York on May 23. Diplomats caution that while Macron now favors the move, he has yet to make a final decision, and things could change - including a potential Gaza ceasefire accord - before mid-June. However, his diplomats are scrambling to ensure the best conditions are in place for him to make the decision, including full assessments at the U.N. conference on the reform of the Palestinian Authority, disarming Hamas or future reconstruction. ISRAELI LOBBYING Israeli officials have spent months lobbying to prevent what some have described as "a nuclear bomb" for bilateral relations. The idea that France, one of Israel's closest allies and a G7 member, could recognize a Palestinian state, would certainly infuriate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. When Britain and Canada joined France this month to say they could impose concrete measures on Israel and commit to recognizing a Palestinian state, Netanyahu issued a firm rebuke, accusing the leaders of the three countries of antisemitism. Diplomats say Canada and Britain remain lukewarm for now about recognition, suggesting the priority is to make a difference on the ground, something that may dampen Macron's ambitions. According to two sources familiar with the matter, Israel's warnings to France have ranged from scaling back intelligence sharing to complicating Paris' regional initiatives - even hinting at possible annexation of parts of the West Bank. Whether that would materialize seems unlikely, given the likely international fallout fueling one of Israel's greatest fears: deepening isolation, particularly with regard to Europe, its key trade partner. "(But) the reaction will be negative across the board (in Israel)," Tamir Hayman, Executive Director at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) told Reuters, adding it would feed an ultra-right narrative in Israel that the world is against it. "It would be useless and a waste of time." SHIFTING FRENCH VIEWS Macron strongly backed Israel after Hamas' October 7, 2023 attack, which killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostages. But he has steadily sharpened his language against Israel over its actions in Gaza, where the death toll among Palestinians has risen to more than 50,000, according to Palestinian health officials. "We need to move toward recognition. Over the next few months, we will," Macron said during an interview on April 9. Even then, he hedged, setting vague conditions and saying he aimed to build momentum with a coalition backing France while nudging Muslim states toward recognizing Israel. However, there are no indications for now that any new Muslim or Arab states are ready to move towards normalizing ties with Israel. Saudi Arabia, the ultimate prize for Israeli normalization, is in no position for any rapprochement given the anger in many Muslim countries over events in Gaza. "Regional peace begins with recognizing the state of Palestine, not as a symbolic gesture, but as a strategic necessity," Manal Radwan, an adviser to the Saudi foreign minister, said in New York on Friday. She did not mention the possibility of recognizing Israel. Macron's critics argue that recognition should come as part of negotiations towards a two-state solution - not before - and warning that an early move could weaken incentives for Palestinians to engage. Underlining divisions within the EU, one European diplomat said: "It is our view that this recognition would not be helpful now or encourage more action within the member states." Others say recognition must be twinned with other measures such as a Europe-wide ban on trade with illegal Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories and specific sanctions on Israeli officials. French officials say they will not be swayed by such criticism or by the Israeli pressure. "If there is a moment in history to recognize a Palestinian state even if it's just symbolic then I would say that moment has probably come," said a senior French official, adding that Macron may also want to leave a trace in history before his presidential mandate expires in 2027. © Thomson Reuters 2025.
