Headlines

It is expected that the new French President will have to form a coalition with major parties in the legislative elections called to elect the 577 members of the 15th National Assembly by mid June

Macron got 66% of the vote against 34% for le Pen, a much better result that ever expected   

Paris, May 6 (DP.net).─ Macron won by promoting a program of fiscal, social and environmental clauses in trade agreements with the European Union. He promised to demand a full integration in all trade agreements with the European Union of clauses including tax cooperation, as well as binding social and environmental clauses, such as the lowering of tariffs on goods and services and establishing trade sanctions in case of violation of those clauses.

Defeated Marine Le Pen is now positioning herself as “the first opposition force” ahead of the traditional major parties against president-elect Emmanuel Macron’s policies. “France has voted for continuity,” she noted during her concession speech in a tone that implied her defeat was clearly no surprise. Having established that, Le Pen was quick to set the stage for her next political act.

Washington DC, May 4 (CNA).─ Religious freedom advocates credited President Donald Trump with taking a “first step” toward protecting religious freedom with an executive order he signed on Thursday, but stressed that there is still more work to be done.

“I thought the executive order was a great step forward,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. told CNA. “[Trump] himself says this is the first step. But it’s the beginning, and we’ve waited a long time for it.”

President Donald Trump signed a religious freedom executive order on Thursday in the White House Rose Garden, on the National Day of Prayer, with religious leaders – including Cardinal Wuerl – standing around him.

A visit by Pope Francis will not solve the problems plaguing Egypt’s Christians

Cairo, Apr.28.─ "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached.” So said Manuel II Palaiologos, a Byzantine emperor, of Islam’s founder. Some six centuries later, in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI used the quotation in a speech about reason and religion. The Muslim world was not pleased.

Jorge Bergoglio, then a cardinal in Argentina, criticised Benedict’s comments. In 2013, when Father Bergoglio succeeded Pope Benedict, taking the name of Francis, he immediately called for more interfaith dialogue. Two weeks later, when the new pope washed the feet of prisoners in Rome, a Christian ritual, he included two Muslims. In 2014 he toured Jordan, Israel and Palestine, further mending the Vatican’s relations with Islam.

Canberra, Apr.29.─ A community forum will brainstorm new ways of engaging the public on major developments, due to Canberrans' growing unease about how planning decisions are being made in the city.

The Canberra Alliance for Participatory Democracy's (CAPaD) public discussion about community engagement in Canberra will unite community councils and residents groups this Sunday to find practical solutions to one of the most fraught areas of public policy in the ACT.

The group said the adverse reaction to redevelopments at Manuka Oval, Yarralumla Brickworks, West Basin, Currong Flats and public housing in Weston Creek showed the current method of consultation was little more than "lip service".