Foreign News
Scotland’s ruling SNP picks Humza Yousaf to succeed Sturgeon

Aljazeera reported that Scotland’s governing party has elected Humza Yousaf as its new leader after a bruising five-week contest that exposed deep fractures within the pro-independence movement.
Yousaf will lead the Scottish National Party as a successor to First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, who unexpectedly stepped down last month after eight years as leader of the party and of Scotland’s semi-autonomous government.
The 37-year-old Scot of Pakistani heritage was the favourite to win the leadership race.
He was recently the health secretary in charge of the crisis-hit National Health Service (NHS) during the coronavirus pandemic.
“From the Punjab to our parliament, this is a journey for our generations,” he said in an impassioned victory speech in Edinburgh, referencing his South Asian origins.
Yousaf also said he has a “passion” for Scottish independence.
Foreign News
King and Queen meet Pope Francis at Vatican on their anniversary

King Charles and Queen Camilla have had a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican where he wished them a happy 20th wedding anniversary.
In a statement released by Buckingham Palace, the King and Queen said they were “delighted the Pope was well enough to host them – and to have had the opportunity to share their best wishes in person”.
The meeting took place on the third day of their state visit to Italy and ahead of a state banquet in Rome on Wednesday evening.
It is understood the meeting was only confirmed on Wednesday morning. It came after previous plans for the couple to meet the pontiff in a state visit to the Vatican were postponed because of the Pope’s ill health.
(BBC)
Foreign News
Belgian prince loses bid for benefits on top of £300k royal allowance

A Belgian prince’s attempt to claim social security benefits on top of his six-figure royal allowance has been rejected by a court.
Prince Laurent – the younger brother of King Philippe – received €388,000 (£295,850; $376,000) from state funds last year but said that his work entitles him and his family to social security.
He had argued that he was partly self-employed because of the duties he carries out as a royal, as well as running an animal welfare charity for the past decade.
Laurent, 61, said he was acting out of “principle” rather than for money. The court disagreed.
“When a migrant comes here, he registers, he has a right to social security,” he told Belgian broadcaster RTBF.
“I may be a migrant too, but one whose family established the state in place.”
But on Monday a court in Brussels turned down Laurent’s request on the grounds that the prince can be considered neither self-employed nor an employee.
However, according to broadcaster VTM the judge acknowledged that the prince should actually be entitled to a pension – but said gaps in legislation made that impossible and called for the law to be amended.
His lawyer, Olivier Rijckaert, told Belgian newspaper Le Soir that Laurent’s request had not been based on a “whim” and insisted on its symbolism, saying that social security is “granted by Belgian law to all residents, from the most deprived to the richest”.
Mr Rijckaert also said that most of the prince’s allowance is spent on his assistant’s salary and various travel expenses.
This means Laurent is left with about €5000 (£4300; $5500) a month but no social security benefits, such as the right to claim back some medical expenses.
The prince – who has three adult children with British-born wife Claire Coombs – has also expressed his concerns over his family’s wellbeing since the royal allowance will be cut when he dies.
Laurent took legal action against the Belgian state after his application for social security was refused. A first hearing was held in November 2024.
According to RTBF, the prince and his legal counsel have not yet decided whether to appeal the court’s decision.
Laurentm who is the 15th in the Belgian line of succession, is no stranger to controversy and is sometimes termed the prince maudit – the “cursed prince” – in Belgium.
In 2018, the Belgian federal parliament voted to dock his monthly allowance for a year after he attended a Chinese embassy reception without government permission, in full naval uniform.
He has also racked up several speeding fines and has been criticised for attending meetings in Libya when the late Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.
[BBC]
Foreign News
Rains add to misery in quake-hit Myanmar as death toll rises to 3,471

Heavy rains have lashed parts of earthquake-hit Myanmar, complicating relief efforts and raising the risk of disease as the death toll from the powerful quakes that struck the country on March 28 rose to at least 3,471.
Aid workers in the hard-hit city of Mandalay, near the epicentre of the earthquake, said on Sunday that rains and winds hit tent camps in the area overnight and in the morning, soaking survivors and their belongings.
More bouts of rain were expected later in the day, while temperatures were also forecast to climb to 37 degrees Celsius (98 degrees Fahrenheit).
“The weather is very extreme,” Tun Tun, a specialist with the United Nations Development Programme, told the AFP news agency.
Aid agencies have warned the combination of unseasonable rains and extreme heat could cause outbreaks of disease, including cholera, among quake survivors, who are camping in the open.
The magnitude 7.7 earthquake hit a wide swath of Myanmar, home to 50 million people, causing significant damage to six regions and states, including the capital, Naypyidaw.
It left many areas without power, telephone or mobile phone connections, and damaged roads and bridges, making the full extent of the devastation hard to assess. It also worsened an already dire humanitarian crisis triggered by the country’s civil war that has internally displaced more than three million people and left nearly 20 million in need, according to the UN.
State media in the military-led country now say the earthquake has caused 3,471 deaths and injured 4,671 people, while 214 remain missing.
It has damaged some 5,223 buildings, 1,824 schools, 4,817 pagodas and temples, 167 hospitals and clinics, 169 bridges, 198 dams and 184 sections of the country’s main highway.

Damage has been particularly severe in the city of Sagaing near the epicentre, as well as in Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city.
UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, who is in Mandalay, described the scale of the damage as “epic” and said survivors, who are “traumatised and fearful”, need food, water, shelter and electricity urgently.
In a video posted to X, Fletcher noted the quake had brought devastation to communities that were already in crisis. “It’s a compounding crisis,” he said. “It’s earthquake, on top of conflict, on top of huge existing need.”
[Aljazeera]
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