Latest news with #VictoryinEuropeDay

22-07-2025
- Entertainment
Prince George turns 12: See the new video with Princess Charlotte, Prince Louis
Prince George, the heir to the British throne and the eldest child of Prince William and Kate, is 12. George was born on July 22, 2013, at St Mary's Hospital in London. On his 12th birthday Tuesday, William and Kate shared a new photo of George on social media, as well as a video of George playing with his two siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. The photo of George, taken by photographer Josh Shinner, shows the young prince dressed in a collared shirt and brown vest with his arms resting on a fence outside. The video shows more photos of George outside near the fence and laughing and playing wiht his siblings, whose gigles can be heard in the accompanying audio. "12 today! 🎉," the video's caption reads. Like his younger siblings, George attends Lambrook School, a prep school for children ages 3-13 that is located near the family's home in Windsor, England. George was most recently seen publicly attending the men's final at Wimbledon on July 13, alongside his parents and Charlotte. Earlier this summer, George was joined by Charlotte and Louis while attending commemorations in London for the 80th anniversary of VE Day -- Victory in Europe Day -- which marks the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. The Wales siblings joined their parents William and Kate and other members of Britain's royal family at the event.


Saba Yemen
20-07-2025
- Business
- Saba Yemen
Majority of French Citizens Want PM François Bayrou to Resign Over Austerity Budget Plan
Paris - Saba: A new opinion poll has revealed that over 59% of French citizens want Prime Minister François Bayrou to resign after he unveiled the 2026 draft budget this week, which includes sweeping austerity measures aimed at reducing the country's public deficit. The survey, conducted by Ipsos BVA for French radio station RTL and polling over 1,000 people between July 16–17, found that only 20% of respondents expressed support for Bayrou. Meanwhile, 44% favored dissolving the National Assembly, and 34% supported a motion of no confidence against the government. However, 41% said they were concerned about the potential collapse of the government. On Tuesday, Bayrou presented his plan to cut the public deficit by over €43 billion (approximately $49.8 billion) through a range of measures, including new taxes on the wealthy, decoupling pensions and social benefits from inflation rates, and cutting healthcare and local authority spending by more than €10 billion. He also proposed eliminating two public holidays, including Easter Monday and Victory in Europe Day (May 8). In response to the controversial proposal, both right- and left-wing opposition parties signaled the possibility of submitting a motion of no confidence that could bring down the government. In a separate poll conducted by Odoxa–Backbone Consulting for Le Figaro, 87% of respondents said the proposed budget would weaken their purchasing power, while 77% believed it would lead to a deterioration in the quality of public services. Whatsapp Telegram Email Print


New York Post
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Kate Beckinsale announces her mom's death after cancer battle: ‘Died in my arms'
Kate Beckinsale's mother, Judy Loe, has passed away at age 78. The actress, 51, revealed the news in a heartbreaking social media post on Thursday. 'I don't want to post this. I am only posting this because I have had to register my mother's death certificate and it will soon become public record,' Beckinsale began. 'She died the night of July 15th in my arms after immeasurable suffering. I have not picked all the best photos, nor the best videos, because I cannot bear to go through my camera roll yet.' 8 Judy Loe with her daughter Katie Beckinsale. Getty Images 'I deeply apologise to any of her friends who are finding out this way or through the press, but I cannot go through her phone. I am paralysed,' the 'Underworld' alum added. Beckinsale went on to praise her mother and point out the late star's best qualities. 'The vastness and huge heart of this tiny woman has touched so many people who love her dearly,' she continued. 'She has been brave in so many ways, forgiving sometimes too much, believing in the ultimate good in people and the world is so dim without her that it is nearly impossible to bear.' 8 Judy Loe in 1996. Getty Images Beckinsale concluded her post with a touching message to her mother, penning, 'Mama, I love you so much. This has been my greatest fear since finding my father dead at five and I am here. Oh my Mama.. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. I am so sorry.' Her father, actor Richard Beckinsale, died of a heart attack in 1979. He was 31 years old. 'I remember confusing when John Lennon died and when my dad died because people were standing in the street with the evening paper sobbing on both occasions and I can't remember which version of that is which because they were very similar,' Beckinsale told Howard Stern in 2021. 8 Kate Beckinsale poses with her mom. Kate Beckinsale/Instagram The news of Loe's death comes after the 'Much Ado About Nothing' vet revealed her mom had stage 4 cancer in July 2024. At the time, Beckinsale was responding to 'a–holes' who said that her 'ass ran away.' 'No, actually. I watched my stepfather die quite shockingly, my mother has stage 4 cancer, and I lost a lot of weight from stress and grief, quite quickly,' she replied. Beckinsale's stepfather, British TV director Roy Battersby, died in January 2024 after suffering 'a massive stroke' while battling two types of cancer, per Sky News. 8 Kate Beckinsale and her mother Judy Loe. Kate Beckinsale/Instagram She reposted a fan-made video on Instagram after Battersby's death, which showed him recalling how he celebrated Victory in Europe Day in 1945. 'I have no words yet,' she said beneath the tribute. 'I fought for you with everything I had. Oh Roy I am so sorry I lost.' In February, after a social media break, Beckinsale returned to Instagram to ask followers for prayers for her mom. 8 Judy Loe poses for a picture on a couch. Kate Beckinsale/Instagram 'I wasn't going to come back to Instagram,' she captioned the post, 'but anyone who has a spare prayer or magic or miracle or sunbeam please send it to my mama, my most extraordinary, warrior, generous, humble, loving, unique, irreplaceable Mama.' Beckinsale noted, 'Thank you 🙏🏼 -Lord, keep her safe this night, secure from all her fears, may angels guard her while she sleeps till morning light appears 🤍🤍🤍 amen.' Just a week before Loe's death, Beckinsale took to Instagram to share a video of herself singing The Everly Brothers' 1958 hit 'Bye Bye Love' by her mom's hospital bed. 8 Kate Beckinsale with her mother Judy Loe during a visit to College House Junior School. PA Images via Getty Images She belted out the tune in honor of a harmony group that Loe used to be in with her three best friends, Mary, Sylvia and Chris, at age 14. 'I am a very poor substitute not being a very good singer,' Beckinsale wrote beneath the clip. 'But I want my mum's dearest and oldest friends in her hospital room with her.' '[Sylvia] and Chris, please know I'm trying to keep the Four Teens going as best as I can from a distance and I love you both,' she shared before explaining, 'It is a mark of my mother's extraordinary capacity for love and deep respect for relationship history that her friendships with her early school friends are still so very current.' 8 Kate Beckinsale sings to her mom in the hospital. Instagram/@katebeckinsale Earlier this month, Beckinsale referenced a difficult situation while responding to fans who criticized her physical appearance. Followers commented beneath bikini pictures she had shared, writing, 'You don't look good. I think you honestly need help,' and 'Oh sweetheart, I honestly think you have a problem!!!' Beckinsale clapped back, stating, 'Yes, I do. I'm going through one of the most deeply painful times of my life. The body keeps the score.' The 'Pearl Harbor' actress was also hospitalized due to a hole in her esophagus last year. 8 Beckinsale with her award for Best Film Actress and her mother Judy Loe during the Glamour Women Of The Year Awards. WireImage In May 2024, Beckinsale revealed she has a condition called mast cell activation syndrome, which occurs when the mast cells in the body release too much of a substance that causes allergy-like symptoms. 'I actually can't. I have a condition called mast cell activation syndrome which is actually a massive daily struggle and means I react to hundreds of things badly,' she fired back at trolls who accused her of having Botox and fillers. 'Can't take the risk.'


CNBC
16-07-2025
- Business
- CNBC
France flirts with cutting two public holidays to save money
France is flirting with the idea of cutting two public holidays as the government targets more spending cuts to plug a budget black hole. French Prime Minister François Bayrou announced plans for spending cuts on Tuesday as the government targets 43.8 billion euros' ($50.9 billion) worth of savings in a bid to reach a budget deficit level of 4.6% in 2026, down from the 5.4% budget hole seen this year. Among the proposals were suggestions that two public holidays be scrapped, 3,000 civil service jobs eliminated and the limitation of tax breaks for the wealthy. The French government suggested that the public holidays that could face the axe are Easter Monday, which it said "no longer has any religious significances," and May 8, also known as 'Victory in Europe Day,' marking Nazi Germany's surrender that brought an end to World War II. Those holidays occurred "in a month full of long weekends," the government said, and abolishing them would "increase economic activity in businesses, shops, and the civil service, thus improving our productivity." The government also said a "special effort" would be required of those "who have the capacity to contribute more," proposing a "solidarity contribution" from the wealthiest. "Today we are experiencing a moment of truth, one of those moments in the history of a nation where everyone must ask themselves: what part am I willing to play in our collective future?" Bayrou told a press conference late Tuesday. "The threat of being crushed by debt has become real: it now represents 114% of gross domestic product (GDP), and its repayment continues to weigh more and more heavily on our budget. Every second, the debt increases by 5,000 euros. This is the last stop before the cliff," the prime minister said. As part of his "Stop the Debt" plan, Bayrou said the government would look look to curb government spending except for in the realm of defense, with President Emmanuel Macron announcing plans on Monday to ramp up spending in that department. The president called to raise defense spending by 3.5 billion euros ($4.09 billion) next year and by another 3 billion in 2027. That would take the total amount spent on security that year to 64 billion euros — double the defense budget the French armed forces had in 2017, when Macron first became president. French lawmakers must approve the increases before they can be enacted. France's parliament, the National Assembly, has already endured months of wrangling over the wider 2025 national budget and cost savings, with arguments leading to a previous government collapse late last year. Bayrou's premiership is precarious, with the prime minister surviving no less than eight no-confidence motions against him since taking office last December, with the last vote being on July 1. He's facing the threat of another vote of no-confidence, with both the far-Left Communist Party and far-right National Rally both indicating they will not back the new budget cuts. Fabien Roussel, the national secretary of the Communist Party, described the government's spending cut plans as an "organized robbery," stating on X that the government was "eliminating two public holidays to make us work for free." While National Rally's President Jordan Bardella said any abolition of Easter Monday and May 8 would be "a direct attack on our history, our roots, and the France of work." CNBC has contacted the government's press office for a response to the comments and is awaiting a reply.


Newsweek
15-07-2025
- Politics
- Newsweek
NATO Spy Planes Make Pincer Move Over Russia
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. American and British reconnaissance aircraft flew from England toward Russia, approaching the country from two sides on the same day, according to flight data. A Newsweek map shows the planes' route amid tensions between NATO and Moscow. On Monday, the Boeing Royal Air Force (RAF) aircraft RC-135W flew from its base in the U.K. and circled off the coast of the Russian city of Murmansk before heading back. It happened the same day as the U.S. Air Force (USAF) aircraft RC-135V left a different U.K. base and circled the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad that borders NATO's eastern flank members, Lithuania and Poland. There is no suggestion that Russian airspace was breached. Why It Matters The Boeing-built aircraft gather signals intelligence and are crewed by more than 30 people, including electronic warfare officers and intelligence operators. The latest sorties come amid growing tensions between Moscow and the bloc following Russian aircraft buzzing NATO airspace and pledges by the U.S. and the alliance to provide more military help for Ukraine to fight Russian President Vladimir Putin's aggression. What To Know Data from Flightradar24, mapped by Newsweek, shows that the RAF RC-135W took off from the RAF base at Waddington, Lincolnshire, England at 8:11 a.m. on Monday. The aircraft headed past Norway, Sweden and Finland before turning southeast toward Russia. Its route took it across the Barents Sea and almost parallel with Murmansk, Russia's Arctic port city, before it returned to the U.K. along the Scandinavian coast and landed at Waddington at 6:38 p.m. Also on Monday, the USAF RC-135V Rivet Joint, identified by the call sign "JAKE17," took off at 7:08 a.m. from Mildenhall, Suffolk, located further south in England. The aircraft went on a seven-hour flight that took it across the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Lithuania before it circled Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave that would be the front line of any hostilities between Moscow and the alliance. This image from May 5 shows an RC-135W Rivet Joint and two F-35 Lightnings flying over The Mall during a flypast on Victory in Europe Day in London. This image from May 5 shows an RC-135W Rivet Joint and two F-35 Lightnings flying over The Mall during a flypast on Victory in Europe Day in days ago, the USAF reconnaissance and intelligence-gathering aircraft skirted around Kaliningrad after it crossed Europe and the three Baltic states. The Rivet Joint usually flies around NATO's eastern flank and also on the edge of the Black Sea near Russian-controlled Crimea, which Moscow seized from Ukraine in 2014. Olli Suorsa, an assistant professor in homeland security at the Rabdan Academy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, previously told Newsweek that the USAF's fleet of RC-135s were "hard pressed of late" because of demands for signals intelligence collection at the U.S.-Mexico border, East Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. The U.K.'s RAF operates its own Rivet Joint fleet, often sending its reconnaissance aircraft around Kaliningrad and the broader eastern flank of NATO. At the end of last month, the aircraft traveled to and from the Black Sea after circling Kaliningrad. What People Are Saying User @MeNMyRC1, a security analyst, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, next to the map of the RAF RC-135W: "All the way up into the Barents Sea. This area used to get a lot more attention when the Soviet Union had a Navy and Air Force." What Happens Next NATO continues to conduct regular aerial surveillance of Russia's western border regions, and Russia is likely to continue facing accusations that it is buzzing alliance airspace as part of hybrid measures that add to security concerns for the region known as the "NATO lake."