Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon paid tribute Wednesday to French President Jacques Chirac's efforts to combat anti-Semitism, as he greeted some 200 new Jewish immigrants from France.
"We have seen over the past few years a renewed outbreak of anti-Semitism and we greatly value the mobilization of Jacques Chirac and his government against anti-Semitism," he said in a welcoming speech at Ben Gurion airport outside Tel Aviv.
"I hope this example will be followed by other countries," Sharon said.
"The distinction must be made between the fight against anti-Semitism and encouraging immigration [to Israel]. The Jews should come and settle here because it is their homeland, not to flee anti-Semitism," he said.
The latest immigrant influx from France comes on the heels of a diplomatic spat between France and the Jewish state after Sharon urged all French Jews to leave immediately to avoid what he called "the wildest anti-Semitism."
France is home to Europe's biggest Jewish and Muslim communities, estimated at 600,000 and five million respectively. According to French interior ministry statistics, the number of racist incidents has soared this year.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS