Category Archives: Emmanuel Macron

Global treaty needed to protect states from pandemics, say world leaders

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Joint letter signed by Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Angela Merkel and others warns ‘nobody is safe until everyone is safe’

The world needs a global treaty for pandemics to protect states in the wake of Covid-19, akin to the settlement forged after the second world war, Boris Johnson and other world leaders have urged.

In a joint article published in newspapers across the world, leaders including the UK prime minister, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, warn that a future global pandemic is an inevitability and that Covid has served as “a stark and painful reminder that nobody is safe until everyone is safe”.

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France not complicit in Rwanda genocide, says Macron commission

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Report says France did not do enough to halt the 1994 killings but found no evidence of complicity

France bears the burden of “heavy and damning responsibilities” in the Rwandan genocide but was not complicit in the slaughter, according to the findings of an official commission set up by Emmanuel Macron.

As many as 800,000 people, mainly from Rwanda’s minority Tutsi ethnic population, were massacred in a wave of killings in 1994. The report released on Friday confirmed long and persistent accusations that France did not do enough to halt the killings, but said there was no evidence of complicity in the massacres.

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France to declassify files on Algerian war

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Opening up of defence files from more than 50 years ago may also shed light on 1968 Air France crash

Emmanuel Macron is to allow access to classified national defence documents from more than 50 years ago, covering France’s war in Algeria and other files previously deemed to contain state secrets.

The Élysée said the move, a week after the admission that French troops tortured and killed the Algerian independence activist Ali Boumendjel in 1957, sought to balance “historical truth” with legitimate “national defence issues”.

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French billionaire politician Olivier Dassault dies in helicopter crash

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Emmanuel Macron pays tribute to tycoon, 69, who represented conservative Les Républicains party

The French billionaire and politician Olivier Dassault has died in a helicopter crash in Normandy. The 69-year-old rightwing MP was the grandson of Marcel Dassault, who founded the aircraft manufacturing company Dassault Aviation.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, paid tribute to Dassault, tweeting that he “loved France”. “As a business leader, MP, local councillor, a reserve commander in the air force, throughout his life he never ceased to serve our country, to promote what was great about it. His brutal death is a great loss. Our thoughts go to his family and his friends,” Macron wrote.

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Macron proposes vaccine sharing plan as UK prepares to host G7

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French proposal comes after accusations wealthier nations have ordered more than they need

As Britain prepares to host the G7 club of wealthy nations on Friday under the chairmanship of Boris Johnson, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has proposed that 5% of its vaccines are sent to poorer countries, especially in Africa.

Johnson is expected to advance a parallel plan to cut the amount of time it takes to create vaccines, and may be unimpressed it has been upstaged by Macron.

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Tens of thousands protest against new French security bill

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Demonstrators, including gilet jaunes activists, also protested against Covid restrictions

Tens of thousands of protesters turned out in dozens of French cities on Saturday to oppose a security bill they say will restrict the filming and publicising of images of police brutality.

Demonstrators also protested against the restrictions imposed to halt the spread of coronavirus and to stand up for the cultural sector, which has been especially hard-hit by the measures.

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‘Half-friends is not a concept’: UK should decide who its allies are, says Macron

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‘History and geography don’t change – I don’t think British destiny is different to ours,’ says French president

Emmanuel Macron has warned that Boris Johnson’s government has to decide who its allies are, insisting that “half-friends is not a concept”.

“What politics does Great Britain wish to choose? It cannot be the best ally of the US, the best ally of the EU and the new Singapore … It has to choose a model,” the French president said, in an interview with the Guardian and a small group of other media.

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‘We will go after aggressors’: France to tighten incest laws, vows Macron

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President promises legislative changes after book accuses top commentator of abusing stepson

France will tighten its laws on incest, the president, Emmanuel Macron, said in a series of tweets on Saturday, after the publication of a book accusing a top French political commentator of abusing his stepson sparked outrage across the country.

Macron said on his Twitter account that France needed to adapt its laws to better protect children from sexual violence and that he had asked the justice minister to chair a consultation aimed at quickly making legislative proposals. “We will go after the aggressors,” Macron said.

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Rimbaud’s remains will not be moved to Panthéon, rules Macron

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President decides against relocating remains of French poet to Parisian memorial

The remains of the famed French poet Arthur Rimbaud will not be moved to the Panthéon mausoleum despite a campaign to honour him as an artist and symbol of gay rights, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, has decided.

A petition last year backed by a number of celebrities as well as the culture minister, Roselyne Bachelot, called for Rimbaud to be reinterred alongside his lover and fellow poet Paul Verlaine at the monument in central Paris.

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Macron tells Idris Elba he will invite young Africans to summit, not leaders

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French president vows to overhaul France-Africa event to help mobilise Africa’s young people

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has pledged to invite young Africans rather than their political leaders to a key France-Africa summit in a video call with the actor Idris Elba.

The Élysée Palace said Elba, a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations’ international fund for agricultural development, had asked to speak to the French leader. The Guardian was the only newspaper invited to attend the discussion at the Élysée, which marked the start of the One Planet biodiversity summit in Paris.

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2021 – the story of a year in 12 leaders

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In 2021, the world will slowly begin to fight back against Covid. But what else will change as the vaccines are administered? Here are the figures who will shape a vital year

Joe Biden United States

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‘It can affect anyone’: Macron urges French to follow rules after contracting Covid – video

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Emmanuel Macron has blamed his coronavirus infection on a combination of negligence and bad luck and urged his compatriots to stay safe in a self-shot video. The French president was isolating with symptoms that included headaches, fatigue and a dry cough. 'Despite everything I caught this virus,' Macron said. 'Perhaps, doubtless, a moment of negligence, a moment of bad luck too.'

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Covid: Austrians who pass antigen test to be exempt from lockdown

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Italy prepares for national lockdown over Christmas; Spanish minister warns of third wave

Austria is to enter a third lockdown from Boxing Day but will stage mass coronavirus tests in mid-January to determine who will be exempt from certain restrictions, the government announced on Friday.

Italy is preparing to outline new measures that could lead to a complete lockdown over the Christmas and new year period, while the Spanish government has warned of a possible “third wave” of infections.

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French president Emmanuel Macron tests positive for coronavirus

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Macron and several other European leaders who recently met him go into self-isolation

Emmanuel Macron has been diagnosed with Covid-19 after developing symptoms, the Élysée Palace has announced, forcing several other European leaders who had recently met the French president into self-isolation.

In a brief statement on Thursday, the palace said Macron had a PCR test as soon as the symptoms had appeared and would “self-isolate for seven days in line with the health protocol applicable to everyone”.

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Emmanuel Macron announces police reform consultation

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French president responds to angry protests and concerns force is losing public confidence

Emmanuel Macron has announced a national consultation on reforming the police amid concerns the force is losing the confidence of the French public.

The move comes after multiple allegations of police violence – several captured on film – in recent weeks and angry protests over a new law giving officers powers that critics say threaten civil and press freedom.

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France far from isolated in tough Brexit stance

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Paris’s concerns about UK demands are widely shared, analysts, politicians and EU diplomats say

Emmanuel Macron may be talking tougher than the rest of the EU27 as Brexit talks reach their endgame, but despite claims to the contrary in London and by a UK media that always enjoys pointing fingers across the Channel, France is far from isolated.

Headlines such as “Le bust-up” and “France derails Brexit talks” do not reflect European reality, analysts, politicians and EU diplomats have insisted, saying Paris’s fundamental concerns are widely shared across the EU27.

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Macron ‘shocked’ by video of French police beating black man

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President condemns ‘shameful aggression’ amid growing anger over apparently unprovoked assault

The French government is scrambling to dampen rising anger over footage showing police beating a black music producer in Paris, the latest in a series of acts of alleged police violence to rock the country.

Emmanuel Macron said a video of officers beating Michel Zecler in his studio was “shameful” and said that government would have to find a way to restore public confidence in the police force.

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Europe at odds over plan to ban Christmas ski holidays amid pandemic

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Germany, Italy and France in favour of resort closures but Austria and Switzerland fear economic damage

Governments are at odds over a Europe-wide plan to bar ski holidays over Christmas and new year, with Germany, Italy and France in favour but Austria and Switzerland reluctant to damage a sector worth billions to their economies.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Thursday joined Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, in calling for a Europe-wide shutdown of winter sports until 10 January to avert a fresh coronavirus wave.

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Daniel Cordier, one of last heroes of French resistance, dies aged 100

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As secretary to the great resistance leader, Jean Moulin, he helped organise fight against Nazi occupation

One of France’s last remaining French resistance heroes Daniel Cordier, has died aged 100.

One of only two remaining Compagnons de la Libération, an honour awarded by France’s exiled wartime leader, Charles de Gaulle, to those who risked their lives to liberate France from Nazi occupation, Emmanuel Macron said there would be a national ceremony to honour his memory.

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Macron accuses English-language media of ‘legitimising’ violence in France

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  • French president says concept of laïcité is misunderstood
  • Macron accused of targeting Muslims in wake of terror attacks

Facing protests in the Muslim world over his response to terror attacks in France, President Emmanuel Macron phoned a New York Times media columnist to rail against “bias” in the English-language media and accuse some newspapers of “legitimising this violence”.

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