Category Archives: Emmanuel Macron

Covid: more EU states to restrict venue access for unvaccinated people

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Ireland and Italy among those joining France in requiring vaccine passes to enter bars and restaurants

An increasing number of European governments are planning to prevent unvaccinated people from being able to attend hospitality venues such as bars and restaurants this summer, as Emmanuel Macron celebrates the fruits of the recent announcement of the policy in France.

France on Monday passed the threshold of 40 million people having received at least one vaccine dose – close to 60% of the population. Macron tweeted: “Together we will defeat the virus. We continue!”

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Emmanuel Macron ‘pushes for Israeli inquiry’ into NSO spyware concerns

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French president reportedly spoke to Naftali Bennett to ensure ‘proper investigation’ after Pegasus project

Emmanuel Macron has reportedly spoken to the Israeli prime minister, Naftali Bennett, to ensure that the Israeli government is “properly investigating” allegations that the French president could have been targeted with Israeli-made spyware by Morocco’s security services.

In a phone call, Macron expressed concern that his phone and those of most of his cabinet could have been infected with Pegasus, hacking software developed by the Israeli surveillance firm NSO Group, which enables operators of the tool to extract messages, photos and emails, record calls and secretly activate microphones from infected devices.

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France achieves record Covid jabs with Macron’s ‘big stick’ approach

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800,000 vaccinations in single day follows announcement that visits to many public venues will require a health pass

Within 72 hours of the French learning they would soon need to be vaccinated or tested to go to the cafe, more than 3 million had booked appointments and France had broken its vaccination record, administering 800,000 shots in a single day.

At the same time, daily infections, driven by the more contagious Delta variant, continued to climb, reaching nearly 9,000 on Wednesday – and on Bastille Day, about 20,000 demonstrators nationwide protested against what some called a “dictatorship”.

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France mandates Covid health pass for restaurants and cafés

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The permits will also be required for entry to hospitals, shopping centres and to board long-distance trains

Anyone entering a restaurant, café, shopping centre, hospital or taking a long-distance train in France will have to show a special Covid health pass from August, Emmanuel Macron has announced, as France tightens restrictions to contain the surging Delta variant.

The same Covid health pass – which shows that a person has been vaccinated or had a recent negative Covid test – will be similarly required for anyone over the age of 12 to enter a cinema, theatre, museum, theme park or cultural centre from as early as 21 July, the president said, in a bid to pressure more French people to take up vaccines.

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Five key takeaways from France’s regional elections

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Analysis: record low turnout makes it difficult to draw clear lessons but both Macron and Le Pen did badly

France’s regional elections produced a humiliating defeat for Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN), stinging failure for Emmanuel Macron and thumping wins for incumbents from the country’s traditional centre-right and centre-left parties.

A record low turnout of less than 35% makes it hard, however, to draw clear lessons for next year’s presidential elections, in which Macron and Le Pen remain clear frontrunners – although the race has certainly got a lot more interesting.

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Macron and Le Pen face new test as France votes again in regional polls

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Second-round voting begins after record low turnout in first round left the two rivals disappointed

France has begun voting in the second round of regional elections after a first round that resulted in a drubbing for Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, disappointment for Marine Le Pen’s far right and a record low turnout.

For some observers, the outcome of the 20 June first round raised doubts over whether the 2022 presidential election would come down to a duel between the president and Le Pen in a runoff long seen as the most likely scenario.

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Fractious EU summit rejects Franco-German plan for Putin talks

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Bloc to explore sanctions instead, as gathering also holds ‘emotional’ debate over Hungary’s LGBT laws

A Franco-German plan to restart talks with Vladimir Putin has been rejected at a fractious EU summit that resulted in a decision to explore economic sanctions against Russia instead.

The two-day gathering in Brussels also included an “emotional” debate over LGBT rights in Hungary, as EU leaders confronted Viktor Orbán over a law that will ban gay people from being shown in educational and entertainment content for minors.

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‘Slap in the face’ for Macron as French voters shun local elections

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Abstention rate estimated at 68%, and exit polls suggest Le Pen’s National Rally failed to get expected support

Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party received what one of its own MPs called a “slap in the face” in regional and department elections on Sunday.

The president and his government failed to mobilise supporters, with an estimated 68% of voters shunning the polling stations – an unprecedented rate of abstention. If there was any consolation for the ruling party it was that exit polls suggested Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally had failed to garner its expected support.

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Marine Le Pen poised to make gains in France’s regional elections

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Sunday’s poll could help far right step further towards political mainstream ahead of 2022 presidential elections

France is voting in the first round of regional elections that could see Marine Le Pen‘s far-right party make gains and step further into the political mainstream.

In Sunday’s election, new assemblies will be elected for mainland France’s 13 regions and 96 departments, with Le Pen‘s National Rally (RN) tipped to win at least one region for the first time in what would be a major coup.

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Boris Johnson doesn’t quite get his big moment in the Cornish sunshine

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Analysis: an unseemly spat over Brexit derailed the UK prime minister’s chance to impress on the global stage

Delivering his closing press conference in the Carbis Bay hotel on Sunday, pale golden sand and azure sea visible behind him, Boris Johnson sought to play down the unseemly diplomatic spat that had marred his moment on the world stage.

“Actually, what happened at this summit was that there was a colossal amount of work on subjects that had absolutely nothing to do with Brexit,” he insisted.

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G7 leaders seek right balance in dealing with their China dilemma

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Analysis: can the west confront Beijing on trade and human rights and cooperate on the climate crisis?

• G7 summit: latest news and reaction

In an extra-secure, 90-minute session, with the phones and wifi cut off, all designed to block any eavesdropping by a prying foreign state, leaders of the G7, with glorious St Ives sunshine outside, wrestled with an issue that will probably dominate the rest of their political lives – China and the right balance between extreme competition and necessary cooperative coexistence.

Kurt Campbell, Joe Biden’s Indo-Pacific policy director, describes the dilemma as presenting “complex coexistence paradigms”, something of which he says the US has had little previous experience.

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‘America is back’: Biden gets thumbs up from Macron at G7 – video

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French President Emmanuel Macron has said that Joe Biden has convinced allies that the US is back, as the two leaders met at the G7 summit on Saturday. Biden, asked by a reporter if America was back, turned to Macron and gestured with his sunglasses towards the French president that he should answer that question. 'Yes, definitely,' Macron said. 'It's great to have a US president who's part of the club and very willing to cooperate'

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Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden share a moment after G7 leaders’ photo – video

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Emmanuel Macron made a beeline for Joe Biden after the G7 summit photo call in Cornwall. Biden, on whom Boris Johnson expended considerable energy attempting to politically woo ahead of the summit, warmly embraced the French president. Johnson was left lingering with Angela Merkel as he waited for the pair to catch up.

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G7: taste of laid-back Cornwall on the menu for leaders

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Boris Johnson’s guests are set to enjoy buttered rum, an indoor rainforest and a beach barbecue with local sea shanties

Sea shanties, buttered rum and toasted marshmallows on the beach: away from the tense negotiations at this weekend’s G7 summit, Boris Johnson is hoping to give the assembled leaders a taste of Cornwall at its laid-back best.

Emmanuel Macron hosted the 2019 G7 summit in Biarritz, but Johnson’s team believe the dramatic Cornish scenery can match the glitzy riviera resort – although not necessarily the balmy sunshine of the south of France.

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Man who slapped Emmanuel Macron to appear at fast-track trial

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Medieval martial arts enthusiast and ultra-rightwinger Damien Tarel claims act was not premeditated

A medieval martial arts enthusiast who slapped the French president, Emmanuel Macron, across the face will appear before a judge in a fast-track trial on Thursday.

Damien Tarel had acknowledged striking Macron while the president was on a visit to a professional training college, but told investigators it was not premeditated, the prosecutor Alex Perrin said in a statement.

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G7 leaders in the UK: what are their agendas?

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Joe Biden wants alternative to Chinese belt and road offer while Japanese PM’s interests are more domestic

Leaders of the world’s seven leading industrialised nations will meet in Cornwall this weekend to agree a communique on how to redraw the world post-Covid, but also to pursue their own agendas and try to forge new personal relations after nearly 18 months apart.

1. Joe Biden has restored order, calm and direction to US international alliances, but now has to show what he will do with that goodwill.

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Emmanuel Macron will continue to meet public despite assault

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French president shrugs off security fears after he is slapped on walkabout in run-up to elections

Emmanuel Macron has insisted he will continue to meet the public despite security fears after he was assaulted on a walkabout.

The French president was speaking as an opinion poll suggested his popularity is increasing. The latest survey by Ifop showed Macron gained 7 percentage points over the last month and was considered favourably by 50% of people.

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Emmanuel Macron slapped in the face during walkabout

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Two arrested after man shouted ‘down with Macronism’ before assaulting French president

Emmanuel Macron was slapped in the face by a man during a walkabout in southern France.

The president’s security detail immediately pulled the man to the ground and moved Macron away from the crowd, though the president appeared unhurt and determined to continue meeting the public.

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Macron aims to take pulse of nation on political tour de France

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President begins pre-election meet-the-people exercise with visit to Lot department in south-west

Emmanuel Macron has set off on his six-week political tour de France aimed at “taking the pulse” of the country as it emerges from the coronavirus crisis.

In the run-up to regional elections this month and, more importantly, the presidential battle next year, the French leader will make two regional visits a week until mid-July.

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