On his second day of visit to France, the British King, Charles III, gave a speech in the Senate in which he said that France and the United Kingdom will continue to stand by the Ukrainian people in an “unwavering” manner.. “Our alliance is more important than ever. Together we will stand by the Ukrainian people with resolute solidarity. “Together we are unwavering in our determination that Ukraine will triumph and our cherished freedoms will prevail,” said the monarch, in a speech half in English and half in French.

His words in the Senate, before some 300 parliamentarians from both assemblies, were the only ones during his three-day visit to the country.. It is also the first time that a monarch speaks in the Chamber of one of the two French chambers.. 19 years ago it was his mother, Queen Isabell II, accompanied by Prince Philip, who spoke before the senators, but she did so in the conference room.

It was precisely in 2004, when the anniversary of the entente cordiale was celebrated, the alliance that put an end to Franco-British hostilities and opened a new peaceful and friendly stage, which continues today and which will be commemorated again in 2024.. In his speech, Carlos III highlighted the need to continue nurturing this historic alliance.

“During my time as King, I commit to doing everything in my power to strengthen the indispensable relationship between the United Kingdom and France, and today, I invite you to join me in this effort.. Together, our potential is limitless. That is why we must appreciate and maintain our entente cordiale,” said the monarch, who was applauded both upon his arrival and at the end of his speech.

This has been preceded by those of the two presidents of the chambers, who have highlighted the legacy of the United Kingdom in the construction of democracy and the creation of Parliament. The monarch, in addition to insisting on the shared history between both countries, has urged the creation of a new entente cordiale for “sustainability, to respond more effectively to the global climate emergency.”

“Jacques Cousteau wisely said: 'For most of history, man has had to fight nature in order to survive.. In this century, he begins to understand that, to survive, he must protect it,” he recalled, quoting the famous French explorer and biologist.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his wife, Brigitte, received Charles III and Camilla yesterday. It was a day full of symbols and nods to the ally: monarch and president took a car ride along the Champs-Élysées, met at the Presidential Palace and even walked together on foot the stretch to the British embassy.. They dined at the Palace of Versailles, an event attended by more than 150 guests and in which both gave speeches in which they highlighted the friendship and strong ties that unite both countries.. This visit reinforces those ties, which had been strained after the United Kingdom left the EU in 2020.

Today will be the last day in Paris. While Charles III addressed parliamentarians this morning, Carmila and Brigitte Macron participated in the launch of literary awards at the Library of France. Afterwards, a visit is planned to Saint-Denis, on the outskirts of Paris, also to the works of the Notre Dame cathedral, in the process of rehabilitation after the fire of 2019.. On Friday, Carlos III and Camilla will go to Bordeaux, where this state trip will end.

In Japan there are more 70-year-old gangsters than 20-year-olds. The famous yakuza is getting older and the vast majority of its members are in their fifties. More and more programs are being broadcast on television aimed at grandparents, and advertisements abound with offers for funeral services or medicines to relieve joint pain.. Even in Japanese porn there is a booming market with actors who are past retirement age and consumers who are increasingly wrinkled.. The local star within that niche in the industry is Maori Tezuka, an octogenarian former opera singer who, although she recently retired from the spotlight, her videos remain among the most viewed on the platforms.

Japan's population is aging at an unprecedented rate and that is shaking almost all fronts of society, from porn to depopulation, including medical centers, saturated in some prefectures, which have had to reinvent themselves by promoting telematic assistance to older patients who do not suffer from serious illnesses.

One in 10 Japanese is 80 years old or older. And those are many (12.59 million) in a country where more than 125 million people live. Japan, in proportion, is the nation with the most elderly people in the world. The latest official data published this week says so.

There is a lot of concern in the third and grayest world economy. They recently announced that the population will fall in 2022: 1.56 million deaths for just 771,000 births. It was the fifteenth consecutive year on this descending ramp. Now, on top of that, it comes to light that 29.1% of Japanese people are already above retirement age, although the elderly still support 13% of the national workforce.. By 2040, those over 65 years old are expected to represent 34.8% of the census. It is an unprecedented demographic disaster.

The island nation, which has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, is grappling with a plummeting birth rate and a deflating workforce, which may have significant implications for funding pensions and health services, especially as the demands of an aging population continue to increase.

“Our nation is about to know whether it will be able to maintain its social functions,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned at the beginning of the year, desperate because measures to revive the birth rate are not working, such as the promise to double spending on child care. and allocate up to 4% of GDP to support young couples who want to have children. Or the program that offers houses and jobs to families with children in exchange for them moving to rural areas that are losing neighbors.. But the families have not expanded and the towns are just as empty.

More pessimism in recent data: all 47 prefectures in the country are registering a population decline, without exceptions. Not even a record increase in foreign residents (more than 10% in 2022) is stemming the dramatic trend – Japan's population is expected to fall to 87 million in 2070 – that threatens to deplete the fuel of the ever-vibrating locomotive of the economy. Asian power.

In its past days as a pedestrian zone, part of Friedrichstraße, a shopping street that runs through the center of Berlin, has probably been the best reflection of the particular fight against car use that has been seen in the German capital..

That's it

In Japan there are more 70-year-old gangsters than 20-year-olds. The famous yakuza is getting older and the vast majority of its members are in their fifties. More and more programs are being broadcast on television aimed at grandparents, and advertisements abound with offers of funeral services or medicines to relieve joint pain.. Even in Japanese porn there is a booming market with actors who are past retirement age and consumers who are increasingly wrinkled.. The local star within that niche in the industry is Maori Tezuka, an octogenarian former opera singer who, although she recently retired from the spotlight, her videos remain among the most viewed on the platforms.

Japan's population is aging at an unprecedented rate and that is shaking almost all fronts of society, from porn to depopulation, including medical centers, saturated in some prefectures, which have had to reinvent themselves by promoting telematic assistance to older patients who do not suffer from serious illnesses.

One in 10 Japanese is 80 years old or older. And those are many (12.59 million) in a country where more than 125 million people live. Japan, in proportion, is the nation with the most elderly people in the world. The latest official data published this week says so.

There is a lot of concern in the third and grayest world economy. They recently announced that the population will fall in 2022: 1.56 million deaths for just 771,000 births. It was the fifteenth consecutive year on this descending ramp. Now, on top of that, it comes to light that 29.1% of Japanese people are already above retirement age, although the elderly still support 13% of the national workforce.. By 2040, those over 65 years old are expected to represent 34.8% of the census. It is an unprecedented demographic disaster.

The island nation, which has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, is grappling with a plummeting birth rate and a deflating workforce, which may have significant implications for funding pensions and health services, especially as the demands of an aging population continue to increase.

“Our nation is about to know whether it will be able to maintain its social functions,” Prime Minister Fumio Kishida warned at the beginning of the year, desperate because measures to revive the birth rate are not working, such as the promise to double spending on child care. and allocate up to 4% of GDP to support young couples who want to have children. Or the program that offers houses and jobs to families with children in exchange for them moving to rural areas that are losing neighbors.. But the families have not expanded and the towns are just as empty.

More pessimism in recent data: all 47 prefectures in the country are registering a population decline, without exceptions. Not even a record increase in foreign residents (more than 10% in 2022) is stemming the dramatic trend – Japan's population is expected to fall to 87 million in 2070 – that threatens to deplete the fuel of the ever-vibrating locomotive of the economy. Asian power.

In its past days as a pedestrian zone, part of Friedrichstraße, a shopping street that runs through the center of Berlin, has probably been the best reflection of the particular fight against car use that has been seen in the German capital..

That's it

In 1957, the Queen of England, Elizabeth II, went to France on her first official visit, four years after being crowned.. It was received by the then president, René Coty. The Palace of Versailles, where they dined and where he later returned years later, he described as follows: “It is a charming mixture of what is both similar and different in our countries.”

All that pomp and circumstance, so French and British at the same time, was repeated this Wednesday, including dinner at Versailles, in a sequence in which the protagonists changed, but not the substance of the visit: reinforcing the historical alliance between both countries.

The King of England, Charles III, and Camilla, were received with full honors by Emmanuel Macron and the first lady, Brigitte Macron, at the start of a visit that will last three days. It is the first that Carlos III makes to the country as King, after the death of his mother just a year ago. It should have been held last March, but France was experiencing violent demonstrations against Macron's pension reform at that time and it had to be suspended for security reasons.. For this occasion there was a deployment to match: 30,000 agents.

The objective is to polish the Franco-British union, which has been somewhat weakened after the departure of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The timing for both countries is perfect. In 2024, 120 years of the entente cordiale will be celebrated, which marked the end of hostilities between London and Paris and the beginning of a peaceful and friendly relationship. Also that year the anniversary of the Normandy landings is celebrated, when the Allies crossed from England to France and liberated the country (and Europe) from Nazi occupation.. The former British minister Denis Mcshane defined this love-hate relationship in the following way: «France and England are like an old married couple.. Sometimes they want to kill each other, but they would never consider a divorce.

The royal sequence began with an event at the Arc de Triomphe, where the King of England lit the flame of the unknown soldier, the anthems of both countries were heard and the fighters paraded.. A car tour of the Champs-Elysées followed (Macron and Charles III, in one car; Camilla and Brigitte, in another).

A 25-meter red carpet awaited them at the Elysée. President and monarch held a meeting, lasting approximately one hour, the content of which has not been revealed.. According to the Elysée, it was planned to address issues of international interest such as the situation in the Sahel, after the latest coups in Niger and Gabon, and the war in Ukraine.. In principle, migratory tensions between both countries would be left out.

In this palatial pomp, full of protocols and monarchical nods, monarch and sovereign found their point of union.. Charles III had visited France on other occasions, but as prince. Yesterday's sequence was full of symbols and details: from the car ride through the Elysée, the dinner menu, to the gifts: Macron offered Charles III a novel by Romain Gary, Goncourt Prize winner: The Roots of Heaven, one of his favorite works. Brigitte presented Camila with a bottle of champagne from the year of her birth.

The day culminated with a dinner at the Palace of Versailles, in the Hall of Mirrors, attended by more than a hundred select guests, including Mick Jagger, Ken Follet, Hugh Grant, Charlotte Gainsbourg. Also the prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, and ministers from both delegations. On the menu: seafood, poultry and a dessert from the famous pâtissier Pierre Hermé.

Hours before, when they were leaving the Elysée, Macron and Charles III did something unusual: they walked together on foot the few meters that separate the presidential palace from the British embassy.. They took the opportunity to shake some hands and say hello. “Long live the King,” was heard in the street. On one of her visits, Queen Elizabeth II had said of the two countries, monarchy and republic: “Although it is true that we do not drive on the same side, it is also true that we circulate on the same road.”

Ukraine and Poland have staged at the highest level and in public the deep disagreement that exists between both countries over the export of Ukrainian grain, an issue that goes beyond the solidarity that Warsaw has shown since the war and that Kiev has decided to take to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Tensions between President Vladimir Zelenski and his Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda have reached such an extreme that the bilateral meeting they had scheduled to hold this Wednesday on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly has been cancelled, according to the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.. They allude to “scheduling problems.”

But the decision may have been made in the heat of the moment, after Poland and other countries in the area decided at the beginning of the week to maintain the embargo on Ukrainian grain, ignoring the European Union.. In statements reported by the Polish press in New York, Zelensky accused Russia of taking advantage of the food crisis caused by itself to force territorial concessions, but also criticized “the apparent solidarity of some European allies of Ukraine, whose policies, however, , they support Russia,” he said.

“It is disturbing to see how some in Europe pretend to support us, but in the process turn the grain issue into a political thriller. “They may think they are playing an independent role, but in reality they are paving the way for Russia's plans,” Zelensky said, without naming specific countries.

The Polish delegation, however, took the hint and, after his intervention in the General Assembly, President Duda openly criticized Ukraine, underlining the need to protect Polish interests.. He explained that Poland had not closed the borders to Ukrainian grain, but had instead established special transport corridors that had been coordinated in consultation with kyiv.. “These corridors allowed twice as much grain to be transported through Poland as in February or March of this year,” he highlighted.. In doing so, he metaphorically compared Ukraine's performance to the desperation of a drowning man.

“Anyone who has ever been involved in rescuing a drowning person knows that someone like that is extremely dangerous; they can drag you down to the deep end.”

Duda added that no one can blame Ukraine, in its difficult situation, for “grabbing at everything it can,” but, continuing the simile, he added that it is “legitimate to protect oneself from harm while rescuing someone who is drowning.” “. He also recalled that the transport of weapons and humanitarian aid to Ukraine passes through Polish territory, which he said, “President Zelensky should never forget.”

Following these comments, Poland has summoned the Ukrainian ambassador “urgently.”

Slovakia, Hungary and Poland have stopped participating in the work of the European Commission's coordination platform on the supply of Ukrainian grains in response to Ukraine's threats to report to the WTO the embargo imposed by these countries.. Representatives of the European Commission, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine participated in the platform.. Given the Commission's refusal to extend the embargo after September 15, Budapest, Bratislava and Warsaw extended the ban on imports of Ukrainian agricultural products nationwide.

According to the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, Yulia Svyrydenko, threats to go to the WTO have materialized with the presentation of complaints about the ban on imports of their agricultural products.. The Geneva-based WTO announced on Tuesday that it had received Ukraine's request to hold “dispute settlement talks on blocking grain exports” with Hungary, Poland and Slovakia.

These countries, however, remain firm. The embargo on Ukrainian grain, of poorer quality, but much cheaper than that produced by its farmers, stems from the need to protect its national markets and avoid major distortions.

For his part, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki threatened Ukraine this Wednesday with “adding more products” to the list of blocked Ukrainian imports if kyiv “intensifies the conflict” over this issue.

In statements to the Polish channel Polsat, Morawiecki formulated this warning as part of the verbal confrontation that the Governments of both countries have maintained in recent days.

The Polish head of the Executive also published a video on his social networks in which he recalled that his country “was the first to do a lot for Ukraine and that is why we hope that our interests are understood and we will defend them with all determination.”