SOUTHERN SECTION BOYS VOLLEYBALL PLAYOFFS

WEDNESDAY’S RESULTS

DIVISION 1
Pool Play
#6 Newport Harbor d. #3 Loyola, 21-25, 25-22, 26-24, 25-23

QUARTERFINALS
DIVISION 2
Mater Dei d. Edison, 25-17, 25-22, 23-25, 25-19
St. Francis d. El Segundo, 25-19, 25-17, 23-25, 24-26, 15-11
St. Margaret’s d. Burbank Burroughs, 3-1
Peninsula d. Santa Margarita, 3-2

DIVISION 3
Tesoro d. Los Alamitos, 25-13, 28-26, 20-25, 20-25, 15-8
North Torrance d. San Marino, 25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 20-25, 15-5
Warren d. Santa Monica, 3-1
Orange Lutheran d. Mission Viejo, 25-21, 27-25, 25-23

DIVISION 4
Corona Santiago d. Westlake, 3-2
Santa Barbara d. Sherman Oaks Notre Dame, 3-0
Crean Lutheran d. Dos Pueblos, 3-1
Sage Hill d. Royal, 25-17, 22-25, 25-16, 15-25, 15-10

DIVISION 5
Newbury Park d. Oak Park, 26-24, 25-23, 25-16
Esperanza d. Wiseburn Da Vinci, 3-0
Kennedy d. California, 25-17, 25-15, 25-21
Vista Murrieta d. Rancho Alamitos, 25-17, 25-13, 25-17

DIVISION 6
Quartz Hill d. Rio Hondo Prep, 19-25, 26-28, 25-21, 25-18, 15-13
Village Christian d. Oxford Academy, 28-26, 25-14, 25-22
Laguna Blanca d. OC Pacifica Christian, 3-1
El Toro d. Yucaipa, 18-25, 32-30, 25-16, 25-17

DIVISION 7
Brea Olinda d. Lakewood, 26-24, 25-17, 25-17
San Jacinto d. La Serna, 25-21, 25-20, 17-25, 25-15
San Gabriel Academy d. Jurupa Valley, 3-0
Brentwood d. Hawthorne MSA, 3-1

DIVISION 8
Lancaster Desert Christian d. Carpinteria, 3-1
Katella d. Southlands Christian, 3-2
Wildwood d. Channel Islands, 3-1
Avalon d. Alta Loma, 3-0

DIVISION 9
CAMS d. Heritage, 3-1
San Jacinto Valley d. Firebaugh, 25-19, 22-25, 25-22, 12-25, 15-13
Downey Calvary Chapel d. Whittier Christian, 3-1
Beverly Hills d. Yeshiva, 19-25, 9-25, 25-13, 25-21, 15-11

Note: Open Division pool play (third round), semifinals in Divisions 2-9 May 10; Finals in all divisions May 16 or 17.

Study authors argue progressive taxes on wealth and carbon-intensive investments could provide a solution.

The wealthiest 10 percent of the world’s people are responsible for two-thirds of the global warming since 1990, according to researchers.

The way in which the rich consume and invest has substantially increased the risk of heatwaves and droughts, wrote the researchers of a study published on Wednesday in the monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal Nature Climate Change.

This is the first study to quantify the impact of concentrated private wealth on extreme climate events.

“We link the carbon footprints of the wealthiest individuals directly to real-world climate impacts,” lead author Sarah Schoengart, a scientist at the public university of ETH Zurich, told the AFP news agency. “It’s a shift from carbon accounting toward climate accountability.”

Compared with the global average, for example, the richest 1 percent contributed 26 times more to once-a-century heatwaves and 17 times more to droughts in the Amazon, according to the study.

Emissions from the wealthiest 10 percent in China and the United States – which together account for nearly half of global carbon pollution – each led to a two- to threefold rise in heat extremes.

“If everyone had emitted like the bottom 50 percent of the global population, the world would have seen minimal additional warming since 1990,” co-author Carl-Friedrich Schleussner said. “Addressing this imbalance is crucial for fair and effective climate action.”

Burning fossil fuels and deforestation have heated Earth’s average surface by 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit), mostly during the past 30 years.

‘Wealthy emitters play a major role in driving climate extremes’

Schoengart and her colleagues combined economic data and climate simulations to trace emissions from different global income groups and assess their impact on specific types of climate-enhanced extreme weather.

The researchers also emphasised the role of emissions embedded in financial investment rather than just lifestyle and personal consumption. The impact of this consumption and investment is particularly severe in tropical regions such as the Amazon, Southeast Asia and Southern Africa – all areas of the world that have historically contributed the least to global emissions but have been disproportionately impacted by extreme weather.

“Our study shows that extreme climate impacts are not just the result of abstract global emissions. Instead we can directly link them to our lifestyle and investment choices, which in turn are linked to wealth,” Schoengart said. “We found that wealthy emitters play a major role in driving climate extremes, which provides strong support for climate policies that target the reduction of their emissions.”

The authors argued that targeting the financial activities and investment portfolios of high-income individuals could lead to significant climate gains.

“Climate action that doesn’t address the outsized responsibilities of the wealthiest members of society risk missing one of the most powerful levers we have to reduce future harm,” Schleussner said.

Owners of capital, he noted, could be held accountable for climate impacts through progressive taxes on wealth and carbon-intensive investments, thus providing much needed support for adaptation and damage in vulnerable countries.

Earlier research has shown that taxing asset-related emissions is more equitable than broad carbon taxes, which tend to burden those with lower incomes.

Recent initiatives to increase taxes on the superrich and multinationals have mostly stalled, especially since US President Donald Trump’s return to power in January.

In 2021, nearly 140 countries agreed to work towards a global corporate tax for multinational companies with nearly half endorsing a minimum rate of 15 percent, but those talks have stalled as well.

According to the antipoverty NGO Oxfam, the richest 1 percent have accumulated $42 trillion in new wealth over the past decade.

It says the richest 1 percent have more wealth than the lowest 95 percent combined.

Reports come after US president teased the announcement of agreement with an unnamed country.

United States President Donald Trump is set to announce a trade deal with the United Kingdom on Thursday, US media have reported, in what would be the first such agreement since he rolled out his sweeping tariffs.

The reports come after Trump on Wednesday teased the announcement of a deal with an unnamed country on social media.

“Big News Conference tomorrow morning at 10:00 A.M., The Oval Office, concerning a MAJOR TRADE DEAL WITH REPRESENTATIVES OF A BIG, AND HIGHLY RESPECTED, COUNTRY,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform. “THE FIRST OF MANY!!!”

The New York Times, which reported the news along with The Wall Street Journal, Politico and CNN, said that it was not clear whether the agreement had been finalised.

Investors have been anxiously waiting for signs of an easing of Trump’s trade war amid fears that prolonged uncertainty over tariffs could inflict serious damage to the global economy.

The International Monetary Fund last month lowered its global growth forecast for 2025 from 3.3 percent to 2.8 percent amid Trump’s trade salvoes.

On Tuesday, US and Chinese officials confirmed that they would hold their first round of trade talks in Switzerland this weekend, raising hopes of a breakthrough in the de facto mutual trade embargo between the world’s two largest economies.

The UK was spared from Trump’s “reciprocal” tariffs announced against dozens of countries last month, but its exports have been subject to a 10 percent “baseline” duty since April 9.

The US and UK did 314.6 billion pounds ($419bn) worth of trade in goods and services in 2024, an increase of 3.9 percent from the previous year, according to the UK’s Department for Business and Trade.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer earlier this week announced the finalisation of a “landmark” trade deal with India that he said would add 4.8 billion pounds ($6.4bn) a year to the economy.

Here is where things stand on Thursday, May 8:

Fighting

• A three-day ceasefire declared by Russia to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany came into effect at midnight, Moscow time (21:00 GMT, Wednesday). Ukraine has not committed to abide by the ceasefire, proposing a 30-day cessation in fighting instead.

• Russian aircraft launched guided bombs on the Sumy region of northern Ukraine in the early hours of Thursday morning despite the ceasefire, Ukraine’s air force said in a post on Telegram. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage.

• Apart from the Ukrainian air force’s statement about Russia launching guided bombs, there were no other reports of attacks on Ukrainian cities early on Thursday.

•  Russian forces shot down 12 Ukrainian drones approaching Moscow, the capital’s mayor, Sergei Sobyanin, said on Wednesday. Russia’s aviation watchdog said two airports – the Zhukovsky airport in the Moscow region and the main airport in Kaluga – were temporarily closed.

Politics and diplomacy

• Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Moscow had never opposed a ceasefire in Ukraine, Russian state-run news agencies reported on Wednesday, after United States envoy Keith Kellogg said Russian President Vladimir Putin may be obstructing a comprehensive peace deal.

• Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Wednesday that he stood by an offer to observe a 30-day ceasefire. “We are not withdrawing this proposal, which could give diplomacy a chance,” Zelenskyy said.
•  US Vice President JD Vance said during an appearance at the Munich Security Conference that Russia was “asking for too much” in its initial offer of a peace deal.

Economy

• In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Ukraine’s Central Bank governor, Andriy Pyshnyy, said Kyiv is considering a shift away from the US dollar. Potential accession to the European Union and “the probability of global-trade fragmentation”, among other reasons, are forcing the central bank to review whether the euro should be the reference currency for Ukraine’s hryvnia, Pyshnyy was quoted as saying.

Sacramento — Facebook executives and a New York developer are hoping that their major development projects could get built years sooner than planned under last-minute legislation at the state Capitol.

The tech company and Millennium Partners, which are each proposing large, mixed-use developments in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, respectively, are asking for relief under the California Environmental Quality Act, commonly known as CEQA, which forces developers to disclose and reduce a project’s effects on the environment. The measure, Senate Bill 699, would force any CEQA lawsuit against a project to wrap up within nine months — potentially saving years of costly litigation.

If it passes both houses of the Legislature before lawmakers adjourn for the year Sept. 15, the shortened court-decision timeline would be available to any developer with a project that costs more than $100 million to build, provides union-level wages for construction workers and meets strict targets for greenhouse gas emissions and renewable energy. Developers would apply to Gov. Jerry Brown, who decides if the projects qualify for the faster court decision.

In July, Facebook announced an expansion of its Menlo Park headquarters to include grocery, retail, office space and housing, an effort the company says is needed to address the state’s housing affordability problems as well as a lack of amenities surrounding its offices.

“Facebook supports extending the ability of the governor to ensure timely review of environmentally responsible projects that create economic opportunity and community benefits,” said Ann Blackwood, Facebook’s head of public policy for Western states, in a statement.

The Millennium Hollywood project, proposed by New York-based Millennium Partners, has a long history. The Los Angeles City Council approved the building in 2013, despite concerns over its proximity to an earthquake fault line. But a Los Angeles Superior Court judge tossed that approval in 2015 through a CEQA lawsuit from nearby residents upset over the traffic the development would generate. At the time, developers proposed 39- and 35-story towers. No representative of Millennium Partners was immediately available to comment on the legislation or whether the project had changed.

Lawmakers first authorized the shortened court-decision deadline for major projects in 2011 but included in the law a provision for it to expire. SB 699’s author is state Sen. Cathleen Galgiani (D-Stockton), who also wrote successful legislation last year extending the 2011 law through 2019. This year’s bill would continue the measure through 2021, and a spokesman for Galgiani confirmed Millennium Partners was pushing for the legislation.

In the past year, Brown has certified that two other large mixed-use projects in Hollywood, one at the corner of Yucca Street and Argyle Avenue and the redevelopment of the Crossroads of the World complex, can receive the shortened legal review.

Efforts to amend CEQA or exempt projects from its rules have spurred perpetual debate at the Capitol, though attempts at making wholesale changes have sputtered. Environmental and union interests are staunch CEQA supporters, crediting the law with preserving the state’s natural beauty and providing an avenue to push for higher worker pay and other labor rules.

What does ultimately get passed often is limited in scope, including the measure speeding court-decision deadlines. Of the eight projects that have qualified previously, none so far have resolved any lawsuits within the nine months prescribed in the bill. Still, developers have credited the legislation with quickening construction of their projects.

Galgiani’s bill comes after a CEQA exemption effort was unveiled last week to benefit Los Angeles’ 2028 Olympic bid and a proposed arena for the Los Angeles Clippers in Inglewood.

Under that measure, Senate Bill 789, any transit project related to the Olympic bid would be exempt from CEQA entirely, meaning the projects wouldn’t be at risk for a lawsuit, and the Clippers arena would get the same shortened court-decision deadline outlined in SB 699. The arena would also receive help from an additional provision that would halt a judge’s ability to block the project, even if the judge found its environmental review didn’tadequately study traffic problems or had other flaws.

The provision related to Olympics transit projects, however, might be short-lived. Organizers behind the city’s 2028 bid have said they don’t need the CEQA exemption and have asked for anything about the Olympics to be removed from the bill.

[email protected]

@dillonliam

ALSO

California lawmakers pitch a break from a key environmental law to help L.A. Olympic bid, Clippers arena

Hollywood skyscrapers are in line for environmental fast-tracking

Judge halts Millennium Hollywood skyscraper project

Updates on California politics

Maro Itoje is set to be confirmed on Thursday as the British and Irish Lions captain for the tour of Australia.

The 30-year-old will become the first Englishman since Martin Johnson in 2001 to be named Lions captain, and will lead a party of around 40 players.

Itoje, who will tour with the Lions for the third time, took over the England captaincy before the 2025 Six Nations, leading them to second after four straight wins.

With Ireland skipper Caelan Doris having shoulder surgery this week, Itoje has emerged as the outstanding candidate for the role.

He will be confirmed formally in front of a live audience at the O2 Arena on Thursday afternoon, along with the rest of the Lions squad.

Itoje’s credentials have been endorsed by a string of former Lions, including three-times tourist Matt Dawson.

“Maro has blossomed beautifully this season for England,” Dawson told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“He has gone from being a player who was a certainty to be in the team, but was a bit short of the form of his early 20s and a little bit too ill-disciplined, to being right in the groove.

“The captaincy has given him a new lease of life and he is ready to step into the role for the Lions.”

Itoje will be the only member of Andy Farrell’s touring party present at the announcement, with the rest of the squad finding out at the time.

Farrell’s team face Argentina in Dublin on Friday, 20 June, before their first game on Australian soil against Western Force on Saturday, 28 June.

The three-Test series against the Wallabies starts on 19 July in Brisbane.

A Mississippi man faces up to three years in prison after he allegedly stalked and harassed Jennifer Aniston for more than two years, culminating in a dramatic incident this week where he crashed his car through her gate while she was home, authorities said.

Jimmy Wayne Carwyle, 48, of New Albany, Miss., was charged Wednesday with one count each of felony stalking and felony vandalism, the L.A. County district attorney’s office announced. He is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

Carwyle drove his car into the gate of Aniston’s Bel-Air home at 12:20 p.m. Monday and was held at gunpoint by one of Aniston’s private security guards until police arrived, authorities said. He sustained minor injuries in the crash and was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department.

Carwyle has been harassing the “Friends” actor since March 2023, sending her unwanted messages over social media, voicemail and email, prosecutors allege.

In addition to the felony charges, he faces an aggravating circumstance of the threat of great bodily harm. Carwyle faces up to three years in prison if convicted as charged.

Prosecutors intend to request that his bail be set at $150,000.

“Stalking is a crime that can quickly escalate from harassment to dangerous, violent actions, threatening the safety of victims and our communities,” Dist. Atty. Nathan Hochman said in a statement. “My office is committed to aggressively prosecuting those who stalk and terrorize others, ensuring they are held accountable.”

Aniston bought her midcentury mansion on a 3.4-acre Bel-Air lot for just under $21 million in 2012, according to reporting by Architectural Digest.

Set on a promontory, the parcel has unobstructed ocean and city views, The Times reported in 2012. When the 56-year-old “Morning Show” actor bought it, the grounds included a guesthouse, swimming pool and vineyards.

Reporting from Sacramento — Ricardo Lara was in college when California voters approved a law that required public school students to speak and learn only in English. It was a debate, the now-state-senator remembers, that was tainted with racial undertones.

“There was a lot of shame cast on us,” said Lara (D-Bell Gardens). “There was a clear sentiment that we were somehow different and un-American because we were Spanish speakers.”

For the children of Mexican immigrants such as him, who had gone through bilingual education programs and valued their immersion in two languages and cultures, Lara said it was upsetting.

Now on the Nov. 8 ballot, almost two decades later, is a measure that seeks to overhaul that law. Proposition 58, the product of 2014 legislation written by Lara, would repeal English-only instruction in public schools, giving local parents and teachers the control to develop their own multilingual programs.

Opponents of the measure, most notably Silicon Valley multimillionaire Ron Unz, who wrote the original English-only Proposition 227 in 1998, contend there is nothing to fix with the current system, saying the debate over bilingual education has long been “dead and forgotten.”

But supporters argue the bureaucratic red tape on bilingual and multilingual education is harmful to students in a global economy, where the most-sought-after employees speak more than one language.

“Prop. 58 is long overdue,” said Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Assn. “We are really a diverse state now, and we are participating in a worldwide economy. For our students to only know one language puts them at a disadvantage, and the research bears that out.”

Researchers say interest in multilingual education is reemerging across the country. The issue is no longer as racially or politically charged, they said, and among the upper middle class is a growing recognition that knowing multiple languages is an asset.

But in California, teachers and school officials said the development of new programs has been hampered by the 1998 edict, which requires all children to learn in English unless parents request otherwise. Less than 5% of California public schools now offer multilingual programs, even as there are now 1.4 million English learners — about 80% of whom speak only Spanish.

Proposition 58 has received the endorsement of more than 20 school districts, nearly 100 elected officials, including Gov. Jerry Brown, and more than 55 diverse community and education organizations, including the California Chamber of Commerce and the California School Boards Assn.

The support has gradually translated into some campaign cash, about $2 million this year, largely from the California Teachers Assn./Issues PAC. Its opposition has raised none.

But the latest survey in September, conducted by the Field Poll and the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley, has so far found starkly different levels of support for Proposition 58 among 1,800 registered voters statewide.

When provided with the official ballot language, 69% of respondents said they would back the measure, 14% were opposed and 17% undecided. The results sharply declined when voters were told the measure would repeal part of Proposition 227, with 51% opposing, 30% supporting and 19% undecided.

It’s still a shift in conversation from 20 years ago, when debate over bilingual education raged in California. Bilingual programs had long been the accepted response to the “sink-or-swim” mentality schools had previously taken toward English learners, causing many students to fall behind.

But by the late 1990s, many Latino parents had grown frustrated with schools that forced children into Spanish-only classes and failed to teach them English.

Those concerns helped Unz rally support for Proposition 227, which required all children to be taught in English unless parents signed a waiver to place their children in bilingual education.

Proposition 227 passed with more than 60% of the vote in 1998, despite broad opposition from bilingual associations and Latino civil rights organizations, and a $2.7-million TV advertising budget against the measure.

Research on whether the law worked and how success should be measured has been mixed. The proposition was lauded as successful after standardized test scores improved among students learning English months after the vote.

But further studies have shown bilingual and multilingual programs also can achieve results with more and better trained teachers and accountability measures in place. And they help students not only learn English, educators said, but also retain their native language.

Ilana Umansky, an assistant professor at the University of Oregon, found that while it takes most students slightly longer to reach English proficiency in multilingual programs, more students overall reach the goal.

Using 12 years of data from a large school district in California, the results suggested that bilingual education may be able to reach and effectively serve more students than English-only programs, Umansky said. But whether taking slightly longer to learn English is harmful in the long term “depends on what children have access to as English learners,” she said.

“If an English-learner program prevents students from enrolling in honors classes or a full course load, then the longer you remain an English learner, the more you miss out on,” she said. “But if you are in a school where English learners have access to the full range of educational opportunities, then it really doesn’t matter if it takes slightly longer to acquire English.”

Unz, who fiercely defends Propoisition 227, says its outcomes have been positive. He argues politicians have been “hoodwinked” by a few stubborn activists and the parents of white, upper-class families who want Latinos to enroll in bilingual education.

“A very negative interpretation of the programs is they want to make sure there is a sufficient supply of Latino children to act as unpaid tutors to help their children learn Spanish,” Unz said. “The programs are not necessarily that popular with the Latino families.”

State Senate panel advances bill to restore bilingual education »

Students, parents and teachers opposed to Proposition 227 march toward a rally in Santa Ana in 1998.

(Glenn Koenig / Los Angeles Times )

But Proposition 58 supporters remember what they called the racial undertones of the 1998 law. Proposition 227 came just four years after Proposition 187, which sought to prohibit immigrants who were illegally in the country from access to public benefits. (The measure passed but was ultimately deemed unconstitutional.) In between the two contentious campaigns was the 1996 passage of Proposition 209, which outlawed affirmative action programs.

Public opinion on legislation affecting immigrant families and their children was likely influenced by fear, as the state’s population was undergoing a vast transformation, bilingual teachers and multilingual program researchers said.

As chairman of the Latino Legislative Caucus, Lara has worked with other lawmakers to reverse that legislation. He said his bill to rescind English-only education came as more parents are pushing for waivers to enroll their children in popular language-immersion programs and the waiting lists at multilingual academies and programs have grown.

“Attitudes are changing,” Lara said. “We have a much more diverse electorate, we have really turned away from our divisive policies … and we are in a much better place as a state.”

To Heins, it’s more than an overhaul of the old law.

“In essence, it is more about our future than it is about the past,” he said.

[email protected]

Twitter: @jazmineulloa

ALSO:

Controversial English-only crusader sets his sights on California’s Senate race

Lawmakers move to scrap English-only instruction

Editorial: Proposition 58 would bring back bilingual education in California. And that’s a good thing.

Updates on California politics

Rams coach Sean McVay typically rewards players for their dedicated voluntary offseason work by not holding a mandatory minicamp.

This year, players are apt to welcome one.

The Rams and the Hawaii Tourism Authority announced on Wednesday that the Rams will hold a minicamp and other events on Maui from June 16-18.

Rams President Kevin Demoff and Hawaii Gov. Josh Green made the announcement at the Rams’ facility in Woodland Hills.

The Rams will conduct football activity workouts at War Memorial Stadium in Wailuku, including one open to the public on June 18, and will also participate in girls’ flag football and tackle football clinics as well as community events. Rams staff and some players will also work with Habitat for Humanity to assist in the rebuilding of four homes in Lahaina that were affected by the devastating wildfire in 2023.

Green noted the Rams’ contribution to aid relief efforts in Maui immediately after the fire.

“The Rams stepped up and … brought incredible resources to help us heal,” Green said.

Demoff said the Rams and the HTA began working on the one-year agreement last fall, before the Palisades and Eaton fires ravaged Southern California.

“At that time we didn’t know how tied together we would be,” Demoff said, adding, “but I think that strengthened the bond.”

The Rams last visited Hawaii in 2019. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, where the Rams played while SoFi Stadium was being built, was under renovation so the Rams played the Dallas Cowboys in a preseason game at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu.

They are returning six years later with a roster that includes star receiver Puka Nacua, who is of Hawaiian and Samoan descent.

The Rams view the trip as an opportunity to further expand their brand.

The NFL awarded the Rams marketing rights to Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Mexico, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.

The Rams will be the home team for a 2026 regular-season game in Melbourne, Australia. The opponent for the game has not been announced.

The trip to Maui makes sense from a marketing perspective, Demoff said.

“Hawaii fits right into that very well as we try to grow in the Pacific Rim,” Demoff said, “and so it checks every box and it brings our players a little bit of fun too.”

The central bank will hold steady amid economic uncertainty driven by tariffs.

The US Federal Reserve has kept interest rates unchanged, brushing off President Donald Trump’s demands to lower borrowing costs, and said that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.

The Central Bank kept its benchmark rate at 4.25 percent to 4.5 percent, where it has been since December, after cutting it three times in a row at the end of last year. Its vote to hold rates steady was unanimous.

In a statement, the Fed said that “uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further”, as it justified keeping rates consistent despite pressure from the White House.

Many economists and Wall Street investors still expect the Fed will reduce rates two or three times this year, but the sweeping tariffs imposed by Trump have injected a tremendous amount of uncertainty into the US economy and the Fed’s policies.

It is unusual for the Fed to say that the risk of both prices and unemployment have increased. But economists say that is the threat created by Trump’s sweeping tariffs. The import taxes could both lift inflation by making imported parts and finished goods more expensive, while also raising unemployment by causing companies to cut jobs as their costs rise.

The economy overall has “continued to expand at a solid pace”, the Fed said in a policy statement, attributing a drop in first-quarter output to record imports as businesses and households rushed to front-run new import taxes.

The Fed said that it was also “strongly committed to supporting maximum employment and returning inflation to its 2 percent objective.”

The Fed said that one of the driving factors behind its decision is the state of the labour market, as well as “inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and financial and international developments.”

The US Labor Department in the jobs report published last week showed 177,000 jobs were added to the US economy consistent with growth levels over the last 12 months. The report, however, was on employment before “liberation day”, when Trump announced his sweeping tariff policy, which has since driven global economic uncertainty. The ADP jobs report, which is a more immediate metric, showed job growth at 62,000.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell said in a news conference after the interest rate decision that leaving rates unchanged keeps the central bank in a good position to respond.

“For the time being, we are well-positioned to wait for greater clarity before considering any adjustments to our policy stance,” Powell told reporters. “It’s still a healthy economy, albeit one that is shrouded in some very downbeat sentiment on the part of people and businesses,” he added.

“The Fed statement was a statement of the obvious. They gave roughly equal airtime to the threats to growth and inflation, so that tells us we need to wait and see how the data shake out between now and the June meeting before deciding whether they’re going to prioritise keeping inflation expectations contained or to address any hit to growth,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

The unchanged rates come despite increased pressure from Trump to lower rates. Powell has long stressed the importance of an independent central bank. He said the pressure from the president has not changed their decision-making process. When asked why he has not sought a discussion with the president amid Trump’s public rebukes, Powell said, “I’ve never asked for a meeting with any president and I never will.”

Pro-Palestinian student group says it staged demonstration to protest against university profiting from ‘imperialist violence’.

Dozens of pro-Palestinian activists have staged a protest at Columbia University in the United States.

Footage posted on social media showed demonstrators standing on tables, chanting and beating drums inside the university’s main library.

Columbia University Apartheid Divest, a pro-Palestinian student group, said it had occupied the library to protest the university’s links to Israel.

“Over 100 people have just flooded Butler Library and renamed it the Basel Al-Araj Popular University,” the group said on Substack, referring to the Palestinian activist and writer who was killed by Israeli forces in 2017.

“The flood shows that as long as Columbia funds and profits from imperialist violence, the people will continue to disrupt Columbia’s profits and legitimacy. Repression breeds resistance – if Columbia escalates repression, the people will continue to escalate disruptions on this campus.”

Columbia University’s acting president, Claire Shipman, condemned the demonstration as “completely unacceptable”.

University officials called police after demonstrators refused requests to provide identification and leave the building, Shipman said.

“Disruptions to our academic activities will not be tolerated and are violations of our rules and policies; this is especially unacceptable while our students study and prepare for final exams,” Shipman said in a statement.

“Columbia strongly condemns violence on our campus, antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination, some of which we witnessed today.”

Shipman said two Columbia Public Safety Officers sustained injuries when individuals attempted to force their way into the building.

The New York Police Department said in a statement that “multiple individuals who did not comply with verbal warnings” to disperse were taken into custody.

New York radio station 1010 WINS reported that around 80 demonstrators were arrested.

Columbia University, one of the top-ranked US universities, was the site of large demonstrations last year when student protests against Israel’s war in Gaza erupted on more than 100 campuses across the US.

A Sky comedy show featuring two huge comedians – Nish Kumar and Josh Widdicombe – has reportedly been axed after two seasons following low ratings

A huge Sky comedy show, featuring stars Nish Kumar and Josh Widdicombe, has reportedly been axed following low ratings.

Hold the Front Page, which began in 2022 and has two series saw the comedic duo leap into the unique and often sensational world of local news.

The pair were seen travelling across the UK working for a different newspaper each week, fulfilling a mission to find local stories strong enough to make the front page.

However, it looks like the pair failed to create a story engaging enough for viewers, as the show has reportedly been shelved, and won’t be coming back for a third season, The Sun reports.

“The irony of the scenario is not lost on the creative team behind the show, because as a comedian involved in satire Josh is often making swipes at the media,” a source told the publication.

“But he got a taste of what its like to have to report on what’s going on and realised just what a tough job it can be – particularly when you have to start out in the local press.”

The Mirror has contacted Sky for comment.

Throughout their time filming for the show, the pair visited a number of cities to get the latest scoop. During the first episode, they headed to the Isle of Wight to work for the County Press, where they met Princess Anne.

During the same series, they also took a trip to Benidorm to lead the region’s weekly British newspaper, the Euro Weekly News.

Despite their best journalistic efforts, the duo failed to impress audiences, reportedly receiving low ratings as well as poor reviews for the show.

It’s not the only stroke of bad luck Josh has had on TV recently. At the end of last year, the star appeared on Saturday Kitchen where he narrowly avoided a painful experience. During the episode in November, Matt Tebbutt was busy whipping up fondue for the comic when Josh decided to get adventurous with the equipment.

He cheekily tested the cheese-melting burner, even after host Matt had cautiously used garlic to anoint the pot before setting it beside the roaring blue flame.

The comedian and Strictly Come Dancing Christmas 2024 star couldn’t resist placing his hand directly above the flame and immediately recoiled, letting out a scream, to which Matt quickly warned, “Yeah, yeah, watch your hand!”

Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok, Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Threads.

On Wednesday morning, India carried out multiple missile attacks on parts of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, in which at least 26 people were killed, including a three-year-old child.

India has claimed its Operation Sindoor targeted nine sites with “terrorist infrastructure”.

In response, Pakistan has claimed it has brought down five Indian planes – but India has not commented on this claim. At least 10 civilians have been killed in Indian-administered Kashmir due to Pakistani fire since Wednesday morning, according to local officials.

Al Jazeera visualises what has happened so far and the military capabilities of both countries.

Why did India attack Pakistan?

On Wednesday morning, Pakistan’s armed forces said Indian missiles struck six locations, including four places in Punjab province – the first time that India has hit Pakistan’s most populous state since the 1971 war between the neighbours.

The remaining two places targeted were Muzaffarabad and Kotli, both in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

India claims that it also struck a seventh location – Bhimber, also located in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The attacks are India’s response to a deadly attack on tourists on April 22, in which gunmen killed 25 tourists and a local pony rider in the scenic town of Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir. According to multiple witness accounts, the attackers separated the men from the women and tried to pick non-Muslims as their targets. The gunmen subsequently escaped, and Indian security forces are yet to find them 16 days later.

India and Pakistan tensions at a glance

In 1947, the British colonial rulers drew a line of partition, dividing the Indian subcontinent into Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India. What followed was one of the largest – and, perhaps, bloodiest – migrations in human history.

Seventy-eight years on, the two nations remain bitter foes. But now they have nuclear arms.

The tension between India and Pakistan has escalated sharply once again after the Pahalgam attack.

The Muslim-majority Kashmir region, a former princely state, has been in dispute since the partition of India. India, Pakistan and China each control a part of Kashmir. India claims all of it, while Pakistan claims the part administered by India.

The two countries have gone to war four times, and there have been numerous cross-border skirmishes and escalations, including one in 2019 after at least 40 Indian soldiers were killed in a suicide attack claimed by the Pakistan-based armed group, Jaish-e-Muhammad.

In retaliation, India launched air strikes in Balakot, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa later that month, claiming that its jets had struck “terrorist” bases, killing many fighters. Many independent analysts have questioned whether India actually struck bases of armed groups and whether it killed as many fighters as it claims it did.

What are the military capabilities of India and Pakistan?

According to Global Firepower’s 2025 military strength rankings, India is the fourth-strongest military power in the world, and Pakistan is ranked as the 12th strongest.

India is the fifth-largest spender in the world on military. In 2024, it spent $86bn on its military, or 2.3 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP), according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a leading defence and armaments think tank.

In comparison, Pakistan spent $10.2bn, or 2.7 percent of its GDP, on the military in 2024.

India’s total military strength is 5,137,550 personnel, which is almost three times larger than Pakistan’s 1,704,000. Neither country has mandatory conscription.

India possesses 2,229 military aircraft, compared with Pakistan’s 1,399.

India has 3,151 combat tanks, compared with Pakistan’s 1,839.

Pakistan’s navy covers its 1,046 kilometre-long (650-mile) southern coastal borders in the Arabian Sea and possesses 121 naval assets, while India’s mainland coast covers nearly 6,100km (3,800 miles) with 293 naval assets.

India and Pakistan’s nuclear arms race

According to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICANW), a global coalition to ban nuclear weapons, in 2023, countries spent an estimated $91.4bn on nuclear weapons, with India spending $2.7bn and Pakistan $1bn.

India carried out its first nuclear test in May 1974, and in May 1998, conducted another five tests, declaring itself a nuclear weapons state.

Pakistan carried out its first nuclear tests shortly after India’s in 1998, officially becoming a nuclear weapons state.

Since then, the two born together, star-crossed nations have been engaged in an arms race that has cost them billions of dollars.

According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ (CSIS) Missile Defence Project, New Delhi nuclear deterrents are mainly aimed at rivals Pakistan and China. India has developed longer range missiles and mobile land-based missiles. In conjunction with Russia, it is in the developing stages for ship and submarine missiles.

The CSIS also states that Pakistan’s arsenal consists primarily of mobile short- and medium-range ballistic missiles, which have enough of a range to target India. China’s significant technical assistance on its nuclear and missile programmes has helped Pakistan in recent years.

Who supplies arms to India and Pakistan?

According to SIPRI, the cross-border tensions between the two nations fuel arms imports by both countries.

India was the second-largest arms importer from 2020-2024, after Ukraine, bearing an 8.3 percent share of global imports. The majority of India’s imports come from Russia, although it has been shifting its arms sourcing to France, Israel and the United States.

Across the border, Pakistan’s arms and weapons imports increased by 61 percent between 2015–19 and 2020–24 as it started to receive deliveries, including combat aircraft and warships. On a global scale, Pakistan is the fifth-largest arms importer with 4.6 percent imports in 2020–24.

Since 1990, Pakistan’s main supplier has been China. China supplied 81 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2020–24; Russia supplied 36 percent of India’s arms during the same period.

NEW ORLEANS — The Clinton Administration knows what it doesn’t want in the Balkans: It doesn’t want to surrender and it doesn’t want to shoot–at least not on the ground. Another tumultuous week in Bosnia has brought it closer to both.

With even Lord Owen calling for Western air strikes, the United States is inching closer to a shooting war in the former Yugoslavia. Meanwhile, the Vance-Owen plan, once denounced by the Clinton Administration as a sellout to Serbian rapists, now looks too good to be true.

Unfortunately, this is only the start–of both the surrenders and the shots. One hundred days into his Administration, President Bill Clinton is stuck with the nastiest foreign-policy problem that the nation has faced since Vietnam, and the White House can’t make up its mind what to do.

It’s not hard to see why. The only choices left are ugly ones. The Clinton Administration would love to wash its hands of the whole filthy mess, but that is the one thing it can’t do. The Yugoslav war is too serious. If Serbia widens the war to Kosovo and Macedonia–the next items on its shopping list–Greece, Turkey and Albania could well be drawn into a war that would wreck the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; destabilize the whole Middle East, and rip up the delicate system of international cooperation that the West has painfully pieced together in the 50 years since World War II. These are risks no President can ignore.

If we can’t just forget it, what can we do? Air strikes, say the optimists. Superior U.S. and allied air power can block Serbian supply lines and force the Serbs to accept the Vance-Owen plan.

Wrong answer. Air strikes against supply lines cannot make the Serbs retreat from their conquests. A few bombs might make the West feel less guilty about abandoning the Bosnian Muslims, but they won’t change things on the ground.

If we don’t send in the Marines–and, at this point, we can’t and we won’t–there is only one realistic thing to do: cave and run up the white flag. The Serbs have won the Bosnian war, there is nothing we can say or do that can change that. This will be particularly humiliating for a Clinton team that attacked George Bush’s timidity and vacillation. They were sure they knew better. The new Democratic team–moral and courageous unlike the evil Republicans–would teach those child-murdering Serbian rapists a thing or two.

But so far, it is the Serbs who have been teaching the Democrats, and the course is Humiliation 101. First, the Clinton team had to climb off its high horse and tamely fall into line behind Vance-Owen; now the Administration is scrambling to save the peace plan it once denounced.

Even this won’t work. New Serbian advances in eastern Bosnia have made the original Vance-Owen plan a dead letter. With the fall of Srebrenica, the Muslims have lost much of the territory Vance-Owen would have saved them, and a new and sorry era in U.S. diplomacy is beginning. The Administration will end by supporting a territorial settlement less favorable to the Muslims than the one it originally denounced as a capitulation to Serbian aggression and ethnic cleansing.

So far, so bad. But worse is to come. The Clinton Administration still hasn’t learned the lessons of Bosnia, and it is making a bad situation worse. U.S. envoy Reginald Bartholomew was in the former Yugoslavia last week, breathing new threats against the Serbs. The Serbs had better accept Vance-Owen or else. Or else what? Or else, in essence says the United States, “I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll blow your house down.”

The Serbs don’t believe it–and are right. The cavalry isn’t coming and they know it. Empty threats make appalling diplomacy. They make the United States look ridiculous and inflame the Serbs. They are also bad for the Muslims: Without inflated rhetoric from the United States, the Muslims might have accepted Vance-Owen last fall, when there was still time to save Srebrenica. Bosnia’s children are dying today in part because their parents trusted Washington.

This all plays badly in Russia. The hard-line nationalists hear Washington’s threats against the Serbs and draw the conclusion that Washington is part of a Western plot against Slavs. They see Washington’s bluff and evasions, and conclude the West is divided and weak. We are teaching Russia’s fascists to hate us and to hold us in contempt; we could hardly do worse if we tried.

Now the Administration must eat some more crow and get behind a realistic new peace proposal for Bosnia. This will be more painful for the Muslims–and for America’s self respect–than the original Vance-Owen plan. It means recognizing most–though not necessarily all–of the new Serbian conquests and accepting the right of the Bosnian Serbs to rejoin Yugoslavia. It also means lifting all international sanctions against Belgrade and supporting a program of reconstruction and reconciliation in the region–assuming the Serbs are willing to rejoin the peaceful international community. There is no point in fooling ourselves–this means ratifying the results of military attacks and ethnic cleansing. But all the alternatives are worse.

So much for the surrenders, now for the shots. Surrendering over Bosnia may stop the war in Sarajevo, but if anything it encourages more Serb aggression down the line in Kosovo and Macedonia. The Administration must begin to act now to ward off another miserable round of war in the Balkans. There is only one way to do this: to threaten war if Serbia initiates new attacks; to mean it, and to have the forces in place to make the threat real.

This means preparing an international coalition against fresh Serbian aggression, one that involves as many NATO countries as possible. It means doing everything possible to sweeten the Russians, and it means deploying enough U.S. forces close enough to the front lines to make even the skeptical Serbians believe we are serious. In a worse-case scenario, it means a ground war in the Balkans.

Domestically, Clinton will have to undertake the hardest task any U.S. President ever faces: building the domestic support in Congress and public opinion for, if worst comes to worst, a foreign war. While promising to work for a peaceful solution, he must secure the congressional and public support necessary to persuade the Serbs that the United States finally means business in the Balkans.

These options are so ugly that the Administration is tempted to postpone any decisions–like a consumer who sticks a too-big bill away in a drawer. This never helps; unpaid bills, and crises like this one, just fester and worsen when shoved out of sight.

Surrender and war are the ugliest words in the American political vocabulary, but they are likely to dominate public debate over Administration policy in this ugly and deepening crisis. The rap on Clinton has always been that he is so eager to please and to compromise that he cannot make the truly tough decisions. The unfolding horrors in Yugoslavia are giving him a chance to prove these critics wrong. No one can welcome this test–Clinton least of all–but the more he tries to dodge this issue, the worse it will hurt him in the end.

PSG were chasing history of their own, as indicated by the giant tifo unfurled during the spectacular light and sound show before kick-off along the Virage Auteuil, where their Ultras gather,. It read: “55 years of memory behind you to write history.”

Goals from Fabian Ruiz and Achraf Hakimi either side of half-time set the platform for victory, punishing Arsenal for the blunt instrument that is their attack. Saka eventually beat Donnarumma but it was all very little very late.

PSG can now chase that history in the shape of their first Champions League triumph, while Arsenal are left to ponder a fourth successive failure in a semi-final and a season that will be looked back on as an anti-climax.

For Arsenal, it is a case of what might have been and another season when Arteta’s team have been unable to bridge the elusive gap between also-rans and winners.

This was their 201st match in the Champions League, the most of any side who have failed to lift the trophy. And it was another semi-final defeat to set alongside those in the 2020-21 Europa League, 2021-22 EFL Cup, 2024-25 EFL Cup, and this exit here. It is their longest-ever run of exits at this stage.

Close but not close enough. Again.

Arsenal and England midfield man Declan Rice said: “We’re all desperate for it. That’s why we play football. We want to win trophies. We want to be at the pinnacle, winning stuff.

“For whatever reason, it hasn’t been meant to be. We’ve been really close and it’s not good enough.

“Arsenal deserve to be pushing for trophies and winning things but there’s not a lot more we can be doing. A lot of superstars have suffered defeats to come out on top. It hurts, you see the boys, the manager. We wanted to be in Munich but this doesn’t define us and we’ll be back.”

The task for Arteta now is to also prove he is a winner after a Premier League title pursuit that never got off the ground and the promise of the Champions League, including a superb win over holder Real Madrid in the quarter-final, coming to nothing.

In his pre-match news conference, Arteta bizarrely said: “Winning trophies is about being in the right moment in the right place. Liverpool have won the title with less points than we have in the last two seasons. With the points of the past two seasons, we have two Premier Leagues.”

It was a flawed argument that conveniently ignored the fact Arsenal have been in the same place at the same time as Arne Slot’s newly crowned champions this season and did not deliver.

Arteta’s maths also failed to take into account Liverpool could yet surpass the 89 points Arsenal achieved last season, and tally of 84 in 2022-23.

This may seem a harsh assessment given the quality of Arsenal’s performance in Paris, but no amount of “what ifs” can disguise the fact that they are once again empty-handed.

May 7 (UPI) — Two Columbia University Public Safety officers were injured and dozens of people were in custody Wednesday after 100 pro-Palestinian protesters forced their way into the New York City campus’ library in “actions that are outrageous,” the university president said.

Acting University President Claire Shipman said the officers were hurt during a crowd surge.

“The individuals who disrupted activities in Butler Reading Room 301 still refuse to identify themselves and leave the building,” she said in a statement.

Protesters started peacefully outside, the Daily News reported, but then some entered Butler Library’s Reading Room 301 around 3:15 p.m.

Activists wearing masks pushed through security at the entrance of the library, as shown in videos on social media. One person pulled a fire alarm inside the library.

After protesters were physically removed from the library, clashes broke out between demonstrators and New York Police Department and campus security in other parts of the campus.

About 60 to 70 were in custody, Deputy Mayor Kaz Daughtry told WABC-TV.

NBC News shared video of several dozen people pushing up against NYPD barricades just outside the university’s campus at 114th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.

At least three protesters were taken out of the library by Columbia security in handcuffs. A fourth person was on a gurney and put into a Columbia ambulance.

“While this is isolated to one room in the library, it is completely unacceptable that some individuals are choosing to disrupt academic activities as our students are studying and preparing for final exams,” the university said in a statement. “These disruptions of our campus and academic activities will not be tolerated. Individuals found to be in violation of University Rules and policies will face disciplinary consequences.”

Shipman asked for assistance with NYPD to secure the building after the demonstrators refused to identify themselves and leave the building.

“Due to the number of individuals participating in the disruption inside and outside of the building, a large group of people attempting to force their way into Butler Library creating a safety hazard, and what we believe to be the significant presence of individuals not affiliated with the university, Columbia has taken the necessary step of requesting the presence of NYPD to assist in securing the building and the safety of our community,” she said.

New York Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement that the NYPD was entering the campus at the “written request” of the university to remove trespassing individuals.

NYPD officers had originally stayed off campus.

“As I’ve said repeatedly, New York City will always defend the right to peaceful protest, but we will never tolerate lawlessness,” Adams said. “To our Jewish New Yorkers, especially the students at Columbia who feel threatened or unsafe attending class because of these events: Know that your mayor stands with you and will always work to keep you safe.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, who was briefed on the situation, said in a statement to WABC-TV: “Everyone has the right to peacefully protest. But violence, vandalism or destruction of property are completely unacceptable.”

Outside the library, activists played drums, and people posted signs and stickers seeking to free Mahmoud Khalil, a recent Columbia grad who has been detained by federal immigration authorities.

This has been the third takeover of a campus building this semester.

“Disruptions to our academic activities will not be tolerated and are violations of our rules and policies; this is especially unacceptable while our students study and prepare for final exams,” the university president said. “Columbia strongly condemns violence on our campus, antisemitism and all forms of hate and discrimination, some of which we witnessed today. We are resolute that calls for violence or harm have no place at our University. We will continue to keep our community apprised as the situation evolves.

In March, the Trump administration in March paused $400 million in federal funding, saying the Ivy League school did not do enough to protect Jewish students from harassment during the protests.

“Once again, protesters violated many University rules and infringed on the rights of Jewish students to study for exams without being screamed at and harassed,” Hillel executive director Brian Cohen posted on X. “We are grateful to the public safety officers who, at great risk to themselves, tried to stop the protesters from storming the library. The University must act quickly and decisively to discipline every student involved in today’s takeover, and the local authorities must do the same for non-students involved.”

Finals begin Friday.

Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa says Syria holding indirect talks with Israel ‘through mediators’.

Syrian’s interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa says his government has engaged in indirect talks with Israel in an attempt to ease escalating tensions between the two nations.

The announcement comes after an escalation in Israeli attacks on Syria last week, including a strike that landed just 500 metres (1,640 feet) from the presidential palace in Damascus on Friday.

Israel claimed its most recent air strikes were a response to what it described as threats to the country’s minority Druze community.

“There are indirect talks with Israel through mediators to calm and attempt to absorb the situation so that it does not reach a level that both sides lose control over,” al-Sharaa said, reiterating blame on Israel over what he described as its “random interventions” in Syria.

He also said Damascus was talking to states that communicate with Israel to “pressure them to stop intervening in Syrian affairs and bomb some of its infrastructure.”

There was no immediate comment from Israeli authorities.

Al-Sharaa’s remarks come during a landmark visit to Paris, his first trip to a European country since assuming office after he led opposition fighters in a lightning offensive that toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

The visit required a special exemption from the United Nations, as al-Sharaa remains under international sanctions due to his previous role as leader of the armed group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a former al-Qaeda affiliate.

Lifting sanctions

Speaking in Paris after meeting President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee Palace, al-Sharaa called for the lifting of economic restrictions on Syria, stating: “Nothing justifies maintaining sanctions imposed on the previous regimes.”

President Macron said France would consider gradually lifting European Union sanctions if Syria continued along its current path.

“I told the president that if he continues on his path, we would do the same, namely by first progressively lifting European sanctions, and then we would also lobby our American partners to follow suit on this matter,” Macron said.

The European Union has already lifted some restrictions, while other measures targeting individuals and entities are set to expire on 1 June. Sanctions relief in sectors such as oil, gas, electricity and transport remain crucial for Syria, where the World Bank estimates reconstruction of the country could cost more than $250bn.

Despite some easing of sanctions by European countries, the Trump administration has been more reserved in its approach to the new Syrian administration.

Macron revealed that he is urging the United States to delay its planned military withdrawal from Syria, arguing that lifting sanctions should be prioritised as a step towards ensuring long-term stability.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said, “In return, Macron expects Syria’s new government to protect minorities, ensure stability and crack down on what he called terrorist organisations, including ISIS.”

“Sharaa is here to project a reassuring image to France’s Western allies, who have been a little bit wary and are looking to see what direction the new leadership takes,” Butler added.