Tag: President Emmanuel Macron

France braces for new strikes against Macron’s pension reform

PARIS, France (AFP) – France braced Monday for another day of mass protests and strikes over proposed pension overhauls being pushed by President Emmanuel Macron, with the government and its left-wing opponents trading blame for the expected disruptions. Around 1.1 million people took to the streets for the first strike day on January 19, according to official statistics, the biggest demonstrations since the last major round of pension reform under right-wing president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010. […]

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Macron says France to build up to 14 new nuclear reactors

BELFORT, France (AFP) – President Emmanuel Macron called Thursday for a “renaissance” for the French nuclear industry, saying he wanted up to 14 new reactors to power the country’s transition away from fossil fuels. “What we have to build today, because it’s the right moment, is the renaissance of the French nuclear industry,” Macron said at a strategic turbine factory in Belfort, northeast France. “I want six EPR2s to be built and we will launch […]

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France summit seeks action on ocean protection

PARIS, France (AFP) – World leaders, scientists and major companies gather in France this week to boost efforts to protect the oceans, which cover 70 percent of the planet but receive far less attention than land ecosystems. The One Ocean Summit in the northwestern port city of Brest on February 9-11 seeks to raise the international community’s ambitions to protect sealife, cut plastic pollution and tackle the impact of climate change. The world’s five connected […]

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French state liable for climate inaction, court rules

by Stéphane ORJOLLET Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A French court on Wednesday held the state responsible for its failure to take sufficient measures to halt climate change, a first in the country hailed as a victory by NGOs who brought the case with the backing of over two million citizens. The administrative court in Paris ruled that the government’s failure to convert its commitments on reducing greenhouse gas emissions into policy made it […]

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French aid workers among eight killed by gunmen in Niger

by Boureima Hama Agence France-Presse KOURE, Niger (AFP) — Gunmen on motorcycles killed eight people including a group of French aid workers as they visited a part of Niger popular with tourists for its wildlife, officials said. “There are eight dead: two Nigeriens including a guide and a driver, while the other six are French,” the governor of the Tillaberi region told AFP on Sunday. France confirmed its nationals were among the dead, without giving […]

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Top French historian slams Macron’s statue stance as another is attacked

by Fiachra GIBBONS Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — A top French historian slammed President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday for trying to shut down debate on the country’s colonial past as a prominent statue linked to slavery was attacked in Paris. Macron all but ignored the wave of Black Lives Matter protests in a major television address last week except to warn that France would not take down statues of controversial historical figures. “The Republic […]

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Russia holds grand WWII parade ahead of vote on Putin reforms

by Jonathan BROWN Agence France-Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Columns of tanks and troops will parade through Red Square on Wednesday as President Vladimir Putin oversees grand World War II commemorations to stir up patriotic fervour ahead of a vote on extending his rule. Forced to postpone the country’s traditional May 9 Victory Day celebrations by the coronavirus pandemic, Putin rescheduled the parade for just a week ahead of a July 1 public vote on […]

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France cracks down on plastic waste, destruction of unsold clothes

PARIS, France (AFP) — The French parliament on Thursday passed a law forbidding retailers from destroying unsold clothes and banning single-use plastic containers by 2040, part of the government’s efforts to reduce waste. The bill adopted by the Senate, after being cleared by the lower house National Assembly last week, bans fast-food restaurants from serving food that is not for takeaway in plastic containers beyond 2023. All single-use plastic packaging will be banned 17 years […]

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Paris shops, monuments to close as fears of protest violence mount

The Eiffel Tower, the Louvre museum and scores of shops on the Champs-Elysees are set to close as authorities warned Thursday of fresh violence this weekend during protests which have ballooned into the biggest crisis of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency. The government is scrambling to stave off another Saturday of burned cars and running street battles with police by “yellow vest” protesters furious over rising costs of living they blame on high taxes. An interior ministry […]

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Macron sticks by plan for compulsory national service

PARIS, France (AFP) – Two decades after it scrapped its compulsory military service France will introduce a mandatory “national service” for all young people, the government said Tuesday, confirming a campaign pledge by President Emmanuel Macron. Macron took the country by surprise a year ago when he announced that, if elected, he would make all young people spend a month getting “a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands.” He billed it as a […]

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France hikes defense spending to hit NATO target

by Daphné Benoit Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – France on Wednesday announced plans to boost defense spending by more than 40 percent, bringing it into line with NATO targets after complaints from US President Donald Trump that Europe is not pulling its weight. European NATO members have come under pressure from Trump to relieve the burden on the US, which currently accounts for about 70 percent of combined NATO defense spending. The French government unveiled a bill […]

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Macron ‘completely changed’ France’s image, says tech billionaire

by Clare Byrne Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) m– President Emmanuel Macron has “completely changed” France’s image, telecoms billionaire Xavier Niel said Wednesday, crediting the youthful, pro-business politician with attracting an influx of tech talent. “He has given France a pro-startup, pro-entrepreneur image abroad that we did not really have before,” said Niel, who bankrolled a giant startup incubator on the banks of the Seine river in Paris that opened a month after Macron’s election […]

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