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PARIS (AP) — France’s president and prime minister managed to just in time for the holidays. Now comes the hard part. , intensifying pressure from the nationalist far right, wars in Europe and the Mideast: Challenges abound for President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Francois Bayrou after an already tumultuous 2024. What’s wrong with French finances? The most urgent order of business is passing a 2025 budget. Financial markets, ratings agencies and the European Commission are pushing France to bring down its deficit, to comply with EU rules limiting debt and keep France’s borrowing costs from spiraling. That would that share the euro currency. France’s debt is currently estimated at a staggering 112% of gross domestic product. It grew further after the government gave aid payments to businesses and workers during COVID-19 lockdowns even as the pandemic depressed growth, and capped household energy prices after Russia invaded Ukraine. The bill is now coming due. But France’s this month because Marine Le Pen’s far-right party and left-wing lawmakers opposed 60 billion euros in spending cuts and tax hikes in the original 2025 budget plan. Bayrou and new Finance Minister Eric Lombard are expected to scale back some of those promises, but the calculations are tough. “The political situation is difficult. The international situation is dangerous, and the economic context is fragile,” Lombard, a low-profile banker who advised a Socialist government in the 1990s, said upon taking office. “The environmental emergency, the social emergency, developing our businesses — these innumerable challenges require us to treat our endemic illness: the deficit,” he said. “The more we are indebted, the more the debt costs, and the more it suffocates the country.” How long will this government last? This is France’s fourth government in the past year. No party has a parliamentary majority and the new Cabinet can only survive with the support of lawmakers on the center-right and center-left. Le Pen — Macron’s fiercest rival — was instrumental in ousting the previous government by joining left-wing forces in a no-confidence vote. Bayrou consulted her when forming the new government and Le Pen remains a powerful force. That angers left-wing groups, who had expected more influence in the new Cabinet, and who say promised spending cuts will hurt working-class families and small businesses hardest. Left-wing voters, meanwhile, feel betrayed ever since a coalition from the left won the most seats in the summer’s snap legislative elections but failed to secure a government. The possibility of a new no-confidence vote looms, though it’s not clear how many parties would support it. What about Macron? Macron has repeatedly said until his term expires in 2027. But France’s constitution and current structure, dating from 1958 and called the Fifth Republic, were designed to ensure stability after a period of turmoil. If this new government collapses within months and the country remains in political paralysis, pressure will mount for Macron to step down and call early elections. Le Pen’s ascendant National Rally is intent on bringing Macron down. But Le Pen faces her own headaches: A March court ruling over alleged illegal party financing could see her What else is on the agenda? The National Rally and hard-right Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau want tougher immigration rules. But Bayrou wants to focus on making existing rules work. “There are plenty of (immigration) laws that exist. None is being applied,” he said Monday on broadcaster BFM-TV, to criticism from conservatives. Military spending is a key issue amid fears about European security and pressure from U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for Europe to spend more on its own defense. French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who champions and ramping up weapons production, kept his job and stressed in a statement Tuesday the need to face down ‘’accumulating threats” against France. More immediately, Macron wants an emergency law in early January to allow sped-up reconstruction of the in the Indian Ocean off Africa. Thousands of people are in emergency shelters and authorities are still counting the dead more than a week after the devastation. Meanwhile the government in the restive French South Pacific territory of New Caledonia collapsed Tuesday in a wave of resignations by pro-independence figures — another challenge for the new overseas affairs minister, Manuel Valls, and the incoming Cabinet. ___ Associated Press writer David McHugh in Frankfurt contributed. Angela Charlton, The Associated Press
In the midst of this political crisis, questions have arisen about the strength and resilience of South Korea's democratic institutions. The arrest of a sitting president has tested the country's legal system and its commitment to upholding the rule of law. The coming days and weeks will be crucial in determining how South Korea navigates through this challenging period and emerges stronger on the other side.In a surprising turn of events, the National Security football club has appointed Quique Setien as their new head coach. Setien, who previously managed Barcelona, had a tumultuous time at the Spanish giants, with one particular incident involving a confrontation with defender Gerard Pique making headlines.
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The allure of Wen Yongshan's face on film is further accentuated by the timeless charm of Hong Kong's iconic cityscape. The neon lights, bustling streets, and towering skyscrapers provide the perfect backdrop for her classic beauty to shine. The smoky alleyways, crowded markets, and old-fashioned trams all add to the sense of nostalgia and romance that permeates every frame.
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There are many differences compared to the UK and the USA with many hilarious social media videos highlighting these. An American gave his thoughts on things you could not find in US supermarkets - with one difference being a real shock to him. TikTok user kjordyyy explained in his video how living in London has impacted him particularly when it comes to grocery shopping. In the video, kjordyy began with Sainsbury’s Smart Shopper and marvelled at the amount of trust involved in such a set up. The second difference he mentions relates to drinks. He described how soft drinks in the UK are much paler looking compared to the US, joking that they are not “radioactive like ours”. In the video he also marvelled at how Sainsbury's supermarkets often have a Argos , calling it the “GOAT”. He described UK Argos’s as being a “mini Amazon”, saying: “If there’s anything you need, it's 90% in Argos”. The craziest aspect he encountered in British supermarkets, however, and the one that grossed him out the most, was the pastry sections. He said: “If you want to, you can just grab one by yourself and put it in a bag. “The fact that these pastries are exposed to the elements always grossed me out a bit”, adding: “You do get used to it though”. And when it comes to products in UK supermarkets, the Brits' love for sausages continues to stump him with the amount of selection of peas available also being an unusual notion for an American. In the video he asked a fellow American also living in the UK what she thought was the weirdest thing at British grocery stores, to which she answered, squash and how much Brits are obsessed with it. She added: “The obsession with sausages, there’s like a whole section just for sausages”. User kjordyyy strongly agreed with this even ending the video asking: “Why do ya’ll like sausages so much?”The Darnold-Jefferson connection is thriving for the surging VikingsHow Is The Market Feeling About Chemed?
One of the key factors that set Nantong Development Zone apart from other regions was its focus on creating a supportive ecosystem for e-commerce businesses. By providing a range of services and resources tailored to the needs of cross-border traders, the development zone was able to attract a diverse range of companies looking to tap into the global market. From streamlined customs procedures to warehousing and logistics support, Nantong Development Zone became a one-stop destination for businesses looking to expand their reach internationally.
It looked like a recipe for disaster. So, when his country's swimmers were being accused of doping earlier this year, one Chinese official cooked up something fast. He blamed it on contaminated noodles. In fact, he argued, it could have been a culinary conspiracy concocted by criminals, whose actions led to the cooking wine used to prepare the noodles being laced with a banned heart drug that found its way into an athlete's system. This theory was spelled out to international anti-doping officials during a meeting and, after weeks of wrangling, finally made it into the thousands of pages of data handed over to the lawyer who investigated the case involving 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for that same drug. The attorney, appointed by the World Anti-Doping Agency, refused to consider that scenario as he sifted through the evidence. In spelling out his reasoning, lawyer Eric Cottier paid heed to the half-baked nature of the theory. “The Investigator considers this scenario, which he has described in the conditional tense, to be possible, no less, no more,” Cottier wrote. Even without the contaminated-noodles theory, Cottier found problems with the way WADA and the Chinese handled the case but ultimately determined WADA had acted reasonably in not appealing China's conclusion that its athletes had been inadvertently contaminated. Critics of the way the China case was handled can't help but wonder if a wider exploration of the noodle theory, details of which were discovered by The Associated Press via notes and emails from after the meeting where it was delivered, might have lent a different flavor to Cottier's conclusions. “There are more story twists to the ways the Chinese explain the TMZ case than a James Bond movie,” said Rob Koehler, the director general of the advocacy group Global Athlete. "And all of it is complete fiction.” In April, reporting from the New York Times and the German broadcaster ARD revealed that the 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, also known as TMZ. China's anti-doping agency determined the athletes had been contaminated, and so, did not sanction them. WADA accepted that explanation , did not press the case further, and China was never made to deliver a public notice about the “no-fault findings,” as is often seen in similar cases. The stock explanation for the contamination was that traces of TMZ were found in the kitchen of a hotel where the swimmers were staying. In his 58-page report , Cottier relayed some suspicions about the feasibility of that chain of events — noting that WADA's chief scientist “saw no other solution than to accept it, even if he continued to have doubts about the reality of contamination as described by the Chinese authorities.” But without evidence to support pursuing the case, and with the chance of winning an appeal at almost nil, Cottier determined WADA's “decision not to appeal appears indisputably reasonable.” A mystery remained: How did those traces of TMZ get into the kitchen? Shortly after the doping positives were revealed, the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations held a meeting on April 30 where it heard from the leader of China's agency, Li Zhiquan. Li's presentation was mostly filled with the same talking points that have been delivered throughout the saga — that the positive tests resulted from contamination from the kitchen. But he expanded on one way the kitchen might have become contaminated, harkening to another case in China involving a low-level TMZ positive. A pharmaceutical factory, he explained, had used industrial alcohol in the distillation process for producing TMZ. The industrial alcohol laced with the drug “then entered the market through illegal channels,” he said. The alcohol "was re-used by the perpetrators to process and produce cooking wine, which is an important seasoning used locally to make beef noodles,” Li said. “The contaminated beef noodles were consumed by that athlete, resulting in an extremely low concentration of TMZ in the positive sample. "The wrongdoers involved have been brought to justice.” This new information raised eyebrows among the anti-doping leaders listening to Li's report. So much so that over the next month, several emails ensued to make sure the details about the noodles and wine made their way to WADA lawyers, who could then pass it onto Cottier. Eventually, Li did pass on the information to WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel and, just to be sure, one of the anti-doping leaders forwarded it, as well, according to the emails seen by the AP. All this came with Li's request that the noodles story be kept confidential. Turns out, it made it into Cottier's report, though he took the information with a grain of salt. “Indeed, giving it more attention would have required it to be documented, then scientifically verified and validated,” he wrote. Neither Wenzel nor officials at the Chinese anti-doping agency returned messages from AP asking about the noodles conspiracy and the other athlete who Li suggested had been contaminated by them. Meanwhile, 11 of the swimmers who originally tested positive competed at the Paris Games earlier this year in a meet held under the cloud of the Chinese doping case. Though WADA considers the case closed, Koehler and others point to situations like this as one of many reasons that an investigation by someone other than Cottier, who was hired by WADA, is still needed. “It gives the appearance that people are just making things up as they go along on this, and hoping the story just goes away," Koehler said. “Which clearly it has not.” AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games当地卫生部门建议公众在前往澡堂等类似设施时要小心,特别是在气温或湿度较高的时候。建议保持充足的水分摄入,适时休息降温,并在使用这类设施时出现不适时及时寻求医疗援助。Title: The Inspiration behind Sony: A Bathroom Heater Resembling the PS5 Pro Console
In a surprising move that has sent shockwaves through financial markets, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) has announced that it will hold a rare speech and press conference, leading to speculations that a rate hike may be on the horizon. This unexpected development has sparked a flurry of discussions among analysts, investors, and policymakers, with market expectations heating up as anticipation grows ahead of the scheduled event.The inclusion of rare disease drugs in the medical insurance coverage is a positive development that will benefit patients, families, healthcare providers, and society as a whole. It represents a milestone in the efforts to improve the treatment and management of rare diseases in China and underscores the importance of ensuring that all patients have access to the care they need.
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