A welcome return to normality: how France sees the Macron-Sunak summit

Élysée sees moment as a turning of the page after a nightmare chapter in cross-Channel relations

As Emmanuel Macron prepares to welcomes Rishi Sunak to Paris’s Franco-British summit on Friday, the Élysée sees it as a “turning of the page” – the end of a nightmare chapter in cross-Channel relations.

The mood between France and the UK had in recent years plummeted to its worst state in decades with bitter rows over submarine contracts, fishing rights and who was to blame for the catastrophic deaths of people trying to reach the UK coast on small boats.

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Ukraine war ‘over’ unless EU boosts military support, says top diplomat

Foreign affairs chief tells Munich security conference provision of ammunition has to be solved quickly

The war with Ukraine will be over unless the EU finds a way in weeks to speed up the provision of ammunition to Ukraine, Josep Borrell, the EU foreign affairs chief, warned on the final day of the Munich security conference.

He said a special meeting of EU defence ministers slated for 8-9 March will provide a chance for countries to offer ammunition from their existing stocks, adding it is taking up to 10 months for European armies to order and receive a single bullet.

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Marina Ovsyannikova says she still fears for her life after ‘chaotic’ escape to France

Former Russian TV editor, who was under house arrest, described her journey across Europe last October

Marina Ovsyannikova, the former Russian state TV editor who famously interrupted a live news broadcast to protest against the start of the Ukraine war, has described her “chaotic” escape from house arrest in Moscow and how she fled across Europe to seek asylum in France.

“I didn’t want to emigrate until the very last moment,” Ovsyannikova said at a Paris press conference with the journalists’ organisation Reporters without Borders. “Russia is still my country, even if war criminals have power there. But I had no choice – it was either prison or exile. I’m very grateful to France, a free country, to have welcomed me.”

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Russia-Ukraine war: ‘no indication’ of direct military threat to Moldova or Romania, says US – as it happened

This live blog has now closed, you can read more of our Russia-Ukraine war coverage here

The latest inteligence briefing on the situation in Ukraine from the UK’s Ministry of Defence suggests that “Russian forces have likely made tactical gains in two key sectors” since 7 February. It states:

On the northern outskirts of the Donbas town of Bakhmut, Wagner Group forces have pushed 2-3km further west, controlling countryside near the M-03 main route into the town. Russian forces increasingly dominate the northern approaches to Bakhmut.

To the south, Russian units have made advances around the western edge of the town of Vuhledar, where they re-launched offensive operations in late January 2023.

At 4am, the enemy launched rocket attacks on the city of Kharkiv and the region with S-300 missiles. Critical and infrastructure facilities were targeted. Fires broke out, which the rescuers managed to quickly put out. However, some areas of the city remain without electricity. Specialists are working to eliminate the consequences of the impact. Fortunately, there were no casualties.

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Zelenskiy meets Macron and Scholz and repeats appeal for aircraft and arms for Ukraine

Ukrainian president urges Europe to send ‘long-range heavy weaponry’ as Macron says Europe’s future at stake

Volodymyr Zelenskiy has used a visit to Paris to urge Europe to deliver combat aircraft and heavy arms to Ukraine as soon as possible.

“The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” the Ukrainian president said as he arrived at the Elysée Palace on Wednesday after a day of diplomacy in London.

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Third day of strikes and protests in France over Macron pension plans

Hundreds of thousands expected to take part in more than 200 street demonstrations across country

France is facing a third day of strikes and mass street demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the pension age to 64, after the government faced shouting and booing in parliament as lawmakers began debating the bill.

Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take part in more than 200 street demonstrations across France on Tuesday, from cities to small towns. Trains and urban transport will be severely disrupted, and one in five flights at Paris’s Orly airport will be cancelled. Some schools will close as teachers strike. Students are also blocking several university buildings across France.

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Macron’s credibility on the line amid protests over pension changes

President’s centrist group is without a majority as parliament begins debating proposal to raise retirement age to 64

As hundreds of thousands of people prepare to protest again this week against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the pension age to 64, the French president’s domestic standing is at stake.

Macron, who came to power in 2017 promising a pro-business transformation of France to cut taxes and overhaul the social model and welfare system, has for months been under pressure to give some impetus to his second term in office.

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Strike action over Macron’s pensions plan brings major disruption to France

Hundreds of thousands across transport, school and energy sectors rally against government scheme to raise retirement age to 64

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in street demonstrations across France in a second round of coordinated strike action against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64.

Transport, schools and the energy sector were hit by strike action on Tuesday. Local buses, trains and trams in cities from Paris to Nice, as well as regional and high-speed trains across the country, were “very significantly disrupted”, according to rail operators.

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France protests: man lost testicle after clashes with police – lawyer

French law enforcement facing renewed accusations of excessive force in aftermath of widespread protests against pension reform

Doctors had to amputate the testicle of a young man who got clubbed in the groin by a police officer during demonstrations in Paris last week, according the man’s lawyer.

Images and footage from Thursday’s demonstrations circulating online show a policeman hitting a man on the ground between the legs, and then leaving. The man is seen holding a camera.

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More than 1m march in France amid strikes over plan to raise retirement age

Arrests at biggest march in Paris while train services halted and many primary schools close for the day

More than 1 million people have taken part in demonstrations across France as transport, schools and refineries were hit by strikes in protest at Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plans to raise the retirement age by two years to 64.

The interior ministry said 1.12 million people protested nationwide on Thursday, with 80,000 taking part in the biggest rally in Paris. Trade unions said the figure was even higher.

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1m people gather on Champs-Élysées in Paris to see in new year

Parisians and tourists from France and abroad celebrate start of 2023 on famous avenue near Arc de Triomphe

An unexpectedly large crowd of 1 million people crammed on to the Champs-Élysées to celebrate the start of 2023, after two years of Covid cancellations – with Paris officials calling it a “renaissance” in people wanting to get together again and a taster for future big gatherings for the 2024 Olympics.

French authorities had expected about 500,000 Parisians and tourists to flock to the avenue, where a vast display of 340kg of fireworks was set off around the Arc de Triomphe at midnight during a special musical medley.

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Cop15 negotiators close to agreeing nature deal as talks draw to end

Final agreement could bring better protection for vital ecosystems and big reforms to agriculture

A potentially transformational agreement for nature is close to being reached at Cop15 in Montreal, which could bring better protection for Earth’s vital ecosystems such as the Amazon and Congo basin rainforests, big reforms to agriculture, and better protection of indigenous territories and rightsbut there are concerns that key issues are being overlooked.

After four years of negotiations and 12 years since the last biodiversity targets were agreed in Japan, the Chinese president of Cop15 put forward its recommendations for a final agreement after two weeks of intense negotiations at the UN biodiversity summit in Canada.

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Generators ‘as important as armour’ to Ukraine surviving winter, says Zelenskiy

Ukraine president calls for more infrastructure aid to counter Putin’s ‘blackout and energy terror’

Generators are as important as armour in helping Ukraine survive Vladimir Putin’s energy terror this winter, Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told an emergency conference in Paris convened to coordinate infrastructure and humanitarian aid to the country over the next four months.

The Ukrainian president said the country needed an additional €800m (£686m) to survive the winter and €1.5bn to restore the long-term damage to the energy grid.

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Macron announces free condoms for 18- to 25-year-olds in France

President hails ‘revolution for contraception’ as government seeks to curb STIs and unwanted pregnancies

The French president has said condoms will be made available for free in pharmacies for 18- to 25-year-olds in an attempt to reduce unwanted pregnancies among young people.

“It’s a small revolution for contraception,” Emmanuel Macron announced during a health debate with young people in Fontaine-le-Comte, a suburb of Poitiers in western France.

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Macron says he had ‘clear and honest’ discussion with Musk on Twitter policy

The French president had flagged concerns over the platform’s content moderation just a day before

Emmanuel Macron said he had a “clear and honest” discussion with Elon Musk about Twitter’s content moderation policies, just a day after the French president had flagged his concerns on the issue.

“Transparent user policies, significant reinforcement of content moderation and protection of freedom of speech: efforts have to be made by Twitter to comply with European regulations,” Macron said in a tweet after his meeting with Musk on Friday afternoon.

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Biden ‘working with Macron’ to hold Russia accountable for ‘brutal’ Ukraine war – as it happened

We’re still waiting for Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron to appear for their press conference at the White House.

Elsewhere in Washington, the Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz might be a little uneasy today, as a former tax collector whose arrest led to a wide-ranging sex-trafficking investigation faces sentencing.

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Putin’s grip on regional allies loosens again after Armenia snub

Damaging optics of ‘family’ photo at CSTO summit highlights fragility of Russia’s influence in wake of war in Ukraine

Armenia has asked the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to chair peace talks with Azerbaijan in a fresh challenge to Vladimir Putin’s increasingly loose grip on Russia’s regional allies in the wake of the war in Ukraine.

The snub from a traditional ally to Putin, who had hosted an inconsequential meeting of the warring countries’ leaders last month, comes immediately on the back of his disastrous summit with six former Soviet states.

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Emmanuel Macron accuses Russia of feeding disinformation in Africa

French president says Moscow is pursuing ‘predatory project’ to spread influence in African countries

Emmanuel Macron has accused Russia of feeding disinformation to further its “predatory project” in Africa, where France has had military setbacks.

In an interview with TV5 Monde on the sidelines of a conference of Francophone nations in Tunisia, he said there was a “predatory project” pushing disinformation into African countries, which was “a political project financed by Russia, sometimes others”.

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‘China can play mediating role’: Macron to visit Xi Jinping over war in Ukraine

French president believes China can help push Russia to de-escalate Ukraine war

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has said he intends to visit Beijing in the new year and believes his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, can play a mediating role that prevents a resumption of large-scale land fighting in Ukraine in February.

Speaking at the close of the G20 in Bali, a summit dominated by the Russian attack on Ukraine and its implications for the world economy, he said he believed China could take a mediating role in the conflict.

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France to require all large car parks to be covered by solar panels

Legislation approved by Senate will apply to existing and new car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles

All large car parks in France will be covered by solar panels under new legislation approved as part of president Emmanuel Macron’s renewable energy drive.

Legislation approved by the French Senate this week requires existing and new car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles to be covered by solar panels.

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