News in Brief(2024-03-30)

Meloni-Le Pen rift mars far right's
prospects of wielding EU power
PARIS/ROME, Mar 29: When a French minister compared Italy's nationalist Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni last year to the leader of the French far right, the Italian premier rang French President Emmanuel Macron to complain. Meloni was so incensed that the French leader felt compelled to send an emissary to Rome to appease her, said two sources with knowledge of the conversations. The Italian premier's message to Macron was clear, according to one of the sources: she was no Italian version of Marine Le Pen. Both Macron's and Meloni's office declined to comment on the incident, which has not been previously reported. — Reuters
Latin America, Caribbean set
for record dengue season
WASHINGTON, Mar 29: Latin America and the Caribbean should prepare for their worst dengue season ever, as global warming and the El Nino climate phenomenon fuel the mosquito-borne epidemic, a UN health agency warned Thursday. In less than three months in 2024, regional health authorities have already tallied more than 3.5 million cases and a thousand deaths due to the virus, which is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. — AFP
Illness, scandal and discord leave UK royal family looking depleted
LONDON, March 29: King Charles is due to make his first public appearance at a royal event since his cancer diagnosis on Sunday, but the likely absence of son Prince William and the heir's wife Kate will spotlight how depleted the monarchy has become. Buckingham Palace said the 75-year-old monarch would attend the traditional Easter Sunday church service at Windsor Castle alongside his wife Queen Camilla, one of the annual engagements usually attended by all the senior royals. — Reuters