Briefly

FRANCE

Farmers meet PM, threaten protests

France's powerful farming unions on Monday met with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, after threatening the government with a week or more of protest action if their demands were not met. The unions have demanded concrete government action to address their grievances, which they say include excessive financial charges and environmental protection rules, as well as insufficient prices for their produce. The growing anger of farmers, some of whom have already taken direct action to express their frustration, is shaping up to be the first major challenge of President Emmanuel Macron's newly appointed government.

UNITED STATES

Fake 'Biden' robocall tells Democrats to stay home

As New Hampshire voters prepared to cast their votes in the state's first-in-the-nation primary on Tuesday, a robocall is circulating in the state urging Democrats to stay home－using a fake audio clip of US President Joe Biden. "It's important that you save your vote for the November election … voting this Tuesday only enables the Republicans in their quest to elect Donald Trump again," the call says. The White House confirmed Monday that the call was not recorded by Biden and said the incident highlights the challenges emerging technologies present, especially ahead of the November presidential election.

Suspect in killing of 8 people shoots himself

A man suspected of shooting and killing eight people in suburban Chicago fatally shot himself after a confrontation with law enforcement officials in Texas, police said late on Monday. Police in Joliet, Illinois, said on Facebook that at about 8:30 pm 23-year-old Romeo Nance was located by US Marshals near Natalia, Texas, and that Nance shot himself after a confrontation. The Medina County Sheriff's Office in Texas said that the agency received a call about a person suspected in the Chicago killings heading into the county on Interstate 35. A standoff then occurred between Nance and police from multiple agencies at a gas station, where Nance shot himself, the sheriff's office said.

UNITED KINGDOM

Sunak suffers blow over Rwanda treaty

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suffered a setback to his plans to deport some asylum-seekers to Rwanda after parliament's upper house backed a largely symbolic motion to delay ratification of a treaty aimed at overcoming a legal block. Under the Rwanda plan, which has yet to be carried out, asylum-seekers who arrive at England's southern coast in small, inflatable boats would be sent to Rwanda. In an effort to overcome resistance from the courts who have ruled the plan unlawful, Britain signed a treaty last year with Rwanda, in which it agreed to address safety concerns. The government is trying to pass legislation through parliament that would block legal challenges to deportations.

CAMEROON

Malaria vaccine program for children kicks off

Cameroon will be the first country to routinely give children a new malaria vaccine as the shots are rolled out in Africa. The campaign due to start Monday was described by officials as a milestone in the decadeslong effort to curb the mosquito-spread disease on the continent, which accounts for 95 percent of the world's malaria deaths. The Central African nation hopes to vaccinate about 250,000 children this year and next year. In Africa, there are about 250 million cases of the parasitic disease each year, including 600,000 deaths, mostly in young children.

Agencies - Xinhua