World

Paris, Sep 7 (IANS) France's energy tariff shield will remain the same for all households in 2023, Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced.

On Tuesday, Le Maire told French daily RMC/BFMTV that without the energy tariff shield, energy bills would soar on January 1, 2023, reports Xinhua news agency.

For electricity, the increase would be on average 120 euros ($119) per month, while gas bills would rise by 180 euros per month, he said.

However, although the price of energy will still increase, it will be "as contained as possible", by the tariffs, Le Maire added, and for low-income households, "there will be an energy check."

Six million people will receive up to 150 euros each, he said.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the tariff shield on electricity and gas, and state-financed rebate on fuel have already cost 24 billion euros.

Last week, the country's National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) said that the energy tariff shield introduced by the government has helped to put the brakes on inflation.

INSEE said that the measure had stopped inflation in France from rising by 3.1 percentage points between the second quarter of 2021 (Q2 2021) and the second quarter of 2022 (Q2 2022).

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Beirut, Sep 7 (IANS) Lebanese Deputy Parliament Speaker Elias Bou Saab said that September could be a decisive month in the indirect border demarcation negotiations between Beirut and Israel.

"Things are going in the right direction, and we should remain hopeful that this file will end soon," Bou Saab said following his meeting with President Michel Aoun at Baabda Palace on Tuesday.

The Deputy Speaker added that an expected visit this week by US mediator Amos Hochstein would "not bring a definitive solution" to Lebanon's maritime border dispute with Israeli authorities but that it would be "another positive step towards one".

He added that the ongoing communications with Hochstein will "intensify" in September.

"There are many complications, but they are being solved one after the other, and for that reason, we are saying that things are on the right path."

Lebanese authorities are trying to end a dispute with Israel over maritime borders, which has escalated after the Jewish state on June 5 sent a vessel to the Karish field, which Tel Aviv says as being within its economic zone, while Beirut claims as in the disputed waters.

Israel previously announced that it plans to extract gas from the disputed area with Lebanon as early as September, prompting the Hezbollah in Lebanon to threaten attacks if Israel proceeds without first resolving the maritime border dispute with Beirut.

Lebanon and Israel are demarcated by the Blue Line published by the UN on June 7, 2000 for the purposes of determining whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon.

It has been described as:"temporary" and "not a border, but a "line of withdrawal".

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Seoul, Sep 7 (IANS) North Korea on Wednesday slammed the US having taken issue with its human rights situation, calling the move a "grave provocation."

In July, a US State Department spokesperson expressed concerns over the North's rights situation following Seoul's appointment of a new envoy for Pyongyang's human rights, reports Yonhap News Agency.

A researcher at the North's Korea Association for Human Rights Studies dismissed the remarks and accused Washington of using the issue to strengthen its "hostile policy", according to Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

"This is another grave provocation violating sovereignty of our dignified state under the pretext of 'human rights'," Ri Jin, the researcher, was quoted as saying in an English-language KCNA report.

"It is a revelation of its attempt at stronger and more open enforcement of its hostile policy toward the DPRK over the 'human rights issue,'" Ri added.

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Ri repeated Pyongyang's claims that Washington has committed human rights violations through its foreign intervention.

--IANS
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Los Angeles, Sep 7 (IANS) The US has confirmed more than 20,000 monkeypox cases, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

A total of 20,733 known monkeypox cases had been reported nationwide as of Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the CDC data.

California had the most cases with 3,833, followed by New York with 3,526 and Florida with 2,126, the data showed.

So far the US has the world's highest tally of monkeypox cases.

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Los Angeles, Sep 7 (IANS) A wildfire in Southern California that killed two people and injured a third has exploded to over 2,400 acres (9.71 square km) within 24 hours as of Tuesday morning, authorities said.

The Fairview fire started Monday afternoon near the city of Hemet in Riverside County amid a brutal heat wave that has scorched Southern California for days. It was only 5 per cent contained to date and the evacuation order and warning remain in place, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the Riverside County Fire Department.

The department said at least seven structures had been destroyed and several more damaged. officials estimated that thousands of structures in the area remain threatened by the fire.

The two victims of the fire appeared to be attempting to flee before being overcome by the blaze, officials said in a media briefing Tuesday morning.

Due to the blaze, all schools in Hemet Unified School District will be closed on Tuesday.

School district officials said in a statement that the decision "was not made lightly." After considering local authorities' advisement and evacuation orders, transportation impacts, the current level of fire containment, and the possibility of power outages with anticipated high temperatures, they felt that closing schools on Tuesday is necessary to ensure the safety of students, staff, and families.

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Rome, Sep 7 (IANS) The Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA) gave its approval to the distribution of two coronavirus vaccines specifically tailored to confront the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.

The approval from AIFA came on Tuesday after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) last week endorsed the use of the updated Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccines and concluded the Comirnaty and Spikevax vaccines were safe for use in individuals over the age of 12, Xinhua news agency reported.

Italy began distributing Covid-19 vaccines in December 2020, but the new boosters represent the first time the country has approved a coronavirus vaccine dose engineered for a specific variant of the virus.

As in the past, priority will be given to those aged over 60 or other residents with health conditions that make them specifically vulnerable to Covid-19.

"The AIFA-continuous booster dose is available to all subjects under the authorised indication and may be administered at least three months after completion of the primary vaccination cycle or any booster dose already received," said the agency in a press release.

The development comes amid a lull in the spread of Covid-19 in Italy. On Tuesday, the country recorded nearly 25,000 new infections and 80 new deaths, a decline from recent peaks surpassing 100,000 daily infections in mid-July.

But health officials have urged prudence going forward amid fears of a new wave of the virus in winter -- a period that has seen spikes in Covid-19 cases and deaths since the virus became widespread in Italy in 2020.

--IANS
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Peshawar, Sep 6 (IANS) With PTI Chairman Imran Khan to address a rally in Peshawar, reports have emerged that YouTube has been shut down in Pakistan, media reports said.

Ahead of the former Prime Minister's address, multiple users had started complaining on Twitter that the streaming website was not working for them. #YouTubeDown also emerged as a top trend on the microblogging website Twitter, Geo News reported.

The disruption in YouTube service was also confirmed by internet tracker, NetBlocks, in a tweet.

In response to the reported blockage, PTI said that it will air its Chairman's speech on Twitter Space.

The blockage comes after the PTI Chairman, earlier on Tuesday, said he'd had enough of the Pakistan Democratic Movement's (PDM) "cabal of crooks" maligning him, Geo News reported.

PDM — the ruling parties who have formed the government after ousting Khan from the Prime Minister's office in April — severely criticised Khan's recent comments against the military and its top brass.

The armed forces were also livid following the PTI chairman's Faisalabad speech, where he said that if a "patriotic" army chief were appointed, he would not spare the incumbent rulers.

In response, Khan tweeted that he was following the "intense propaganda" launched by the PDM's "cabal of crooks" against him, which stems from them being "petrified of PTI's soaring popularity".

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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) India and Bangladesh will soon begin discussions on a bilateral economic partnership agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday after holding talks with his visiting Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina.

Addressing a joint press conference after the bilateral discussions, Modi in the presence of Hasina, said that through expansion of connectivity infrastructure economies of both the nations will be strengthened.

The Prime Minister further said that India is the biggest development and trade partner of Bangladesh in the region.

For Bangladesh's exports too, India is a significant market, he added.

The Prime Minister further elaborated that in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the prevailing geo-political situation, both India and Bangladesh need to further strengthen their economies.

The two leaders also decided to further increase cooperation in the IT, nuclear and space sectors and it was also decided to take further the ongoing efforts to conserve the joint ecological heritage of the Sundarbans.

The inauguration of the first unit of Maitree thermal plant will go a long way in meeting the need for affordable power of Bangladesh, Modi added.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANS) Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday. Before her ceremonial welcome, she was received by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan where the duo shook hands and posed for the photograph.

After her welcome, Hasina said, "India is our friend. Whenever I come to India, it is a matter of happiness for me, especially because we always remember India's contribution during our liberation struggle. We have a friendly relationship, we are cooperating with each other."

The leaders of the two countries are expected to hold extensive talks, after which the two sides are likely to unveil measures to boost cooperation in the areas of defence, trade and river-water sharing.

Hasina will also call on President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar.

On Thursday, Hasina is scheduled to visit Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Dargah in Ajmer, Rajasthan.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who arrived here on Monday on four-day visit to India, was received by Union Minister Darshan Zardosh at the airport.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi said, "PM Sheikh Hasina of Bangladesh has been warmly received by Minister of State for Railways and Textiles Darshan Jardosh on her arrival in New Delhi. The visit will further strengthen the multi-faceted ties between the two countries.

Hasina's delegation includes Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, Railway Minister Mohd Nurul Islam Suzanne, Liberation War Minister AKM Mozammel Haque and Economic Affairs Adviser to the Prime Minister Masiur AKM Rahman.

She had last visited New Delhi in October 2019.

India and Bangladesh finalised the text of the agreement on the interim sharing of waters of the Kushiyara river only last month. The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is likely to be signed on Tuesday, the text of which was finalised at the 38th ministerial meeting of the India-Bangladesh Joint Rivers Commission (JRC) held in New Delhi on August 25.

In March last year, Prime Minister Modi visited Bangladesh to attend events organised to mark the birth centenary of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and 50 years of Bangladesh's liberation struggle.

--IANS
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New Delhi, Sep 6 (IANSlife) Multi-platinum singer-songwriter Ananya Birla, is preparing for her debut in the international fashion world. She is well-known for her eclectic sense of style and will be walking the runway for celebrated Indian couturiere, Archana Kochhar.

The designer will be showcasing for the first time at prestigious London Fashion Week.

Ananya Birla states: "I'm looking forward to being a part of the London Fashion Week and supporting the Make In India campaign on the world stage. Archana Kochhar is a talented designer and I can't wait to walk for her."

The show, in collaboration with the British Fashion Council, will take place on September 17, 2022, at the Hyatt Regency, London - The Churchill. Kochhar, who has worked with Bollywood stars, is also the first Indian designer to be designated to propel the Make In India campaign, which was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2014 on global territories.

Alongside Kochhar, Elizabeth Emanuel, a British designer best known for designing late Princess Diana's wedding gown, currently on display at Kensington Palace London, will appear during the nightfall slot.

Kochhar's collection 'Le Gehna', focuses on emerging bridal trends from the modern world. The collection will be a vibrant showcase of royal hues, avant-garde cuts, and seamless textures, with a striking medley of artisanal Indian embroidery and western silhouettes. Birla is expected to dazzle in a bespoke emerald saree gown, with an emphasis on promoting Indian heritage on the global stage.

Archana Kochhar states: "Craft and handiwork are at the core of my work and I'm pleased to associate with Ananya Birla who enjoys a distinct cultural and artistic lineage. My collection's overall theme is all about inclusivity and consciousness and to inspire forward-thinking fashion conversations in the bridal fashion circuits."

(IANSlife can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)

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