Emmanuel Macron - The African Mirror

Jun

11

2024

Political turmoil won’t derail Games, IOC and Paris 2024 say

SPORT

POLITICAL upheaval in France won't affect preparations for the Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach and Paris 2024 organisers said after President Emmanuel Macron shocked France with his call for new parliamentary elections. Macron called the snap election to try to reassert his authority after the far-right National Rally (RN) trounced his own party in Sunday's European Parliament vote. Voting rounds will be held on June 30 and July 7, the latter coming less than three weeks before the July 26-Aug 11 Olympics begin in Paris. "France is used to holding elections, they will do it one more time, there will be…

Jun

11

2024

By ELIZABETH PINEAU and MICHEL ROSE

French parties scramble to prepare for snap ballot, weigh prospect of far-right rule

WORLD

FRENCH political parties were racing to field candidates and discuss possible alliances following President Emmanuel Macron's shock decision to call a snap election after a bruising loss in Sunday's vote for the European Parliament. They have little time to do so, and to convince voters to back them, with the first round scheduled for June 30, less than three weeks away, and the run-off on July 7. There is no certainty Marine Le Pen's far-right National Rally will end up with enough seats to run the government, after trouncing Macron's party in Sunday's EU vote. Other scenarios include a wide-ranging coalition of mainstream…

Jun

07

2024

By JEFF MASON, ELIZABETH PINEAU and JOHN IRISH

D-Day anniversary 2024: World leaders, veterans, commemorate Normandy landings

WORLD

U.S. President Joe Biden made an impassioned call for the defence of freedom and democracy at the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in Normandy, urging Western powers to stay the course with Ukraine and not surrender to Russian tyranny. At a joint ceremony with French President Emmanuel Macron and U.S. veterans at the Normandy American Cemetery, Biden said it was "simply unthinkable" to surrender to Russian aggression and he promised no let-up in support for Ukraine. He urged Western and NATO allies to recapture the spirit of D-Day and work together at a time when he said democracy was under greater threat than…

Apr

17

2024

By ELIZABETH PINEAU and NAFISA ELTAHIR

Donors raise more than 2 billion euros for Sudan aid a year into war

NEWS

DONORS pledged more than 2 billion euros ($2.13 billion) for war-torn Sudan at a conference in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron said, on the first anniversary of what aid workers describe as a neglected but devastating conflict. Efforts to help millions of people driven to the verge of famine by the war have been held up by continued fighting between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), restrictions imposed by the warring sides, and demands on donors from other global crises including in Gaza and Ukraine. Conflict in Sudan is threatening to expand, with fighting heating up in and around al-Fashir, a…

Mar

26

2024

By The African Mirror

Macron says intelligence shows Islamic State was behind Russia concert attack

WORLD

FRANCE joined the United States in saying intelligence indicated Islamic State was responsible for an attack on a concert hall outside Moscow that killed 137 people, while Russia continued to suggest that Ukraine was to blame. In the deadliest attack inside Russia for two decades, four men burst into the Crocus City Hall on Friday night, spraying bullets during a concert by the Soviet-era rock group Picnic. Alongside the dead, 182 people were wounded. Four men, at least one a Tajik, were remanded in custody on terrorism charges. They were led separately into a cage at Moscow's Basmanny district court. Islamic State…

Feb

25

2024

By STEPHANIE LECOCQ and MANUEL AUSLOOS

Angry French farmers storm into agriculture fair in Paris

WORLD

A group of French farmers stormed into a major Paris farm fair ahead of a planned visit by President Emmanuel Macron amid anger over costs, red tape and green regulations. Facing dozens of police officers inside the trade fair, the farmers were shouting and booing, calling for the resignation of Macron and using expletives aimed at the French leader. "This is our home!", they shouted, as lines of French CRS riot police sought to contain the demonstration. There were some clashes with demonstrators and the police arrested at least one of them, a Reuters witness saw. Pascal Beteille, one of…

Jan

10

2024

By ELIZABETH PINEAU and YIMING WOO

Gabriel Attal becomes France’s youngest prime minister as Macron seeks reset

WORLD

GABRIEL Attal promised to be bold and act fast to help the middle class weather the rising cost of living, after President Emmanuel Macron, seeking to breathe new life into his second term, on Tuesday made him France's youngest-ever prime minister. The appointment of Attal, 34, a popular and media-savvy rising star of French politics, signals a desire by Macron to move beyond divisive reforms and improve his centrist party's chances in the European Parliament elections in June. "Dear @GabrielAttal, I know I can count on your energy and your commitment to implement the project of revitalisation and regeneration that I announced,"…

Dec

23

2023

By The African Mirror

France plans to close embassy in Niger following coup, letter shows

NEWS

FRANCE is planning to close its embassy in Niger for an indefinite period as it is unable to carry out diplomatic tasks due to restrictions imposed by the ruling junta, a French embassy letter to its Niger staff dated Tuesday and seen by Reuters showed. Relations between Niger and France, its former colonial ruler, have broken down since army officers toppled President Mohamed Bazoum and seized power in a coup in July. Following the strategy of juntas in neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso, they ordered police to expel France's ambassador Sylvain Itte and called for the departure of French troops from its territory. France…

Dec

04

2023

By DOMINIQUE VIDALON and GILLES GUILLAUME

Paris attack near Eiffel Tower leaves German tourist dead and two hurt

WORLD

A German tourist died and two other people, including a British citizen, were hurt after an attack by a man armed with a knife and hammer near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, in what President Emmanuel Macron described as "a terrorist attack". Police quickly arrested the 26-year-old man, a French national, after subduing him with a Taser stun gun, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters on Saturday. The suspect had in 2016 been sentenced to four years in prison for planning another attack, and had been on the French security services' watch list, the minister said, adding that he was…

Nov

20

2023

By SARAH MARSH and ANDREAS RINKE

G20-led summit for Africa highlights renewed interest in fast-growing continent

NEWS

LEADERS from more than a dozen African countries are heading to Germany for the G20 Compact with Africa conference, which aims to help bolster private investment in the world's poorest, but fast-growing, continent. Underscoring renewed interest in Africa, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte will be among those attending the summit in Berlin, hosted by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, according to German government officials. Scholz, who has visited Africa several times since taking office in late 2021, will hold bilateral talks with several African countries on Sunday, before hosting a German-African investment summit…