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Mandelson and Sarkozy in EU trade fight
Europe's trade chief Peter Mandelson won the backing of his boss on Wednesday in a mounting war of words with French President Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of talks to try to salvage a world trade deal.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso continues to trust Mandelson, a Commission spokeswoman said, after Sarkozy's latest criticism of the British commissioner for offering too many concessions on agriculture in the WTO talks.
On Wednesday, Mandelson's spokesman said Sarkozy used "false assumptions" for claiming that a WTO deal would lead to a 20 percent cut in EU farming output and 100,000 job losses.
Europe's trade chief Peter Mandelson won the backing of his boss on Wednesday in a mounting war of words with French President Nicolas... more -
Sarkozy loses cool in leaked footage
Nicolas Sarkozy's attempts to get France's presidency of the EU off to a flying start with a carefully orchestrated television interview have been undermined since footage of him losing his cool in front of the camera became an instant internet hit.
France 3, the state TV station which broadcast Sarkozy's hour-long interview last night, said it had ordered an immediate internal investigation into the leaking of the tape, which by this afternoon had already been watched more than 440,000 times.
The footage, recorded in the minutes before the prime time interview, shows a visibly irritated Sarkozy struggling to maintain his calm as tensions between the President and state television employees erupt onto the set. Nicolas Sarkozy's attempts to get France's presidency of the EU off to a flying start with a carefully orchestrated television intervi... more -
Sarkozy in panne al suo primo giorno di presidenza europea.
La Polonia non firmerà a breve il Trattato di Riforma dell'Unione Europea. Lo ha annunciato il presidente polacco Lech Kaczynski in occasione dell'insediamento del presidente francese Nicolas Sarkozy alla presidenza semestrale dell'Unione Europea. La Polonia non firmerà a breve il Trattato di Riforma dell'Unione Europea. Lo ha annunciato il presidente polacco Lech Kaczynski in oc... more
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Eiffel Tower honors French Presidency of EU - photos
France will hold the Presidency of the European Union for the next six months. To honor this, special ornamentation and lights were installed on the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Check out the photos. France will hold the Presidency of the European Union for the next six months. To honor this, special ornamentation and lights were in... more
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned that Europe's citizens were losing faith i...
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said "something isn't right" with the European Union, as France took over the rotating presidency of the bloc.
Speaking on national French TV, Mr Sarkozy warned that Europe's citizens were losing faith in the project.
France set out plans on immigration, the environment, agriculture and defence for its six months at the helm.
But correspondents say that grandiose agenda is in doubt because of Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon reform treaty.
Taking over the presidency from Slovenia, Mr Sarkozy said his priority would be to get all the other EU states to approve the treaty and then see what could be done.
The treaty cannot come into effect until it has been approved by all 27 member states.
The document is meant to streamline EU decision-making following enlargement of the bloc. It is also meant to create a new EU president and foreign affairs chief, appointments which France is supposed to oversee at the end of its tenure.
But the BBC's Hugh Schofield in Paris says last month's Irish rejection of the treaty means once again it is the EU's institutional shape - rather than anything it can actually do - that is in the spotlight.
End Excerpt French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said "something isn't right" with the European Union, as France took over the rotating presidency... more -
Warning as France takes EU helm
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said "something isn't right" with the European Union, as France took over the rotating presidency of the bloc.
Speaking on national French TV, Mr Sarkozy warned that Europe's citizens were losing faith in the project.
France set out plans on immigration, the environment, agriculture and defence for its six months at the helm.
But correspondents say that grandiose agenda is in doubt because of Ireland's rejection of the Lisbon reform treaty.
Mr Sarkozy is to travel to Ireland next week to hear people's concerns
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said "something isn't right" with the European Union, as France took over the rotating presidency... more -
Sarkozy, da oggi "mediatore" europeo.
Nichlas Sarkozy alla presidenza europea. Un semestre dai contorni poco rosei quello che si prospetta al presidente francese dopo il "no" irlandese ed alle prese con un'economia europea in ribasso, l'euro forte e il caro-tassi, le incognite della crisi americana dei subprime, i rincari petroliferi e prezzi alimentari altissimi fino alle grane fuori dai confini dell'Unione come la questione sulla legittimità del partiti islamico Akp in Turchia ( inviso al governo di Parigi ) e la crisi libanese. Nichlas Sarkozy alla presidenza europea. Un semestre dai contorni poco rosei quello che si prospetta al presidente francese dopo il "n... more
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Gaypride Parigi. Fischi e forti contestazioni per i gay di centrodestra filo Sarko...
Nel corso del pride parigino che diversamente da quello bolognese ha visto la partecipazione di centinaia di migliaia di francesi, il carro di GayLib, associazione di gay e lesbiche dell’UMP (il partito del presidente Sarkozy), è stato bloccato per più di un’ora da militanti delle Panthères Roses, di ActUp e di Aides e da un centinaio di partecipanti, che protestavano contro la politica del governo Fillon-Sarkozy che a gran voce chiedevano la parità tra omosessuali ed eterosessuali... continua Nel corso del pride parigino che diversamente da quello bolognese ha visto la partecipazione di centinaia di migliaia di francesi, il ... more
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Soldier Commits Suicide as Sarkozy is Leaving Israel
French President Nicolas Sarkozy was boarding a plane with his wife when body guards rushed to his side to hurry him onto the plane when word of a soldier blasting off a shot nearby came through. French President Nicolas Sarkozy was boarding a plane with his wife when body guards rushed to his side to hurry him onto the plane wh... more
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Time for French people to "roll up their sleeves"
While the average American workers' union was vying for higher wages, European unions were fighting for shorter hours. Americans now work an average of 25 hours a week, while our French counterparts work 18. The average American takes off 6 weeks of vacation time each year, compared to the 12 Frenchmen take. And Americans' happiness and health clearly reflect that. But now France's Finance Minister Christine Lagarde plans to instill a more American-inspired work-ethic in the French people. While the average American workers' union was vying for higher wages, European unions were fighting for shorter hours. Americans now ... more
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France's Sarkozy Pledges Support for Lebanon's New President
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged support for Lebanon's new president and for efforts to promote national unity, following the country's deadly political crisis.
Sarkozy spoke after arriving in Beirut Saturday for a one-day visit aimed at supporting the country's peace efforts. He said Lebanese President Michel Suleiman has a big responsibility to achieve national reconciliation.
Sarkozy is leading a French delegation that includes Prime Minister Francois Fillon, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and the leaders of all of France's major political parties.
The delegation is expected to hold talks with Mr. Suleiman and representatives from 14 Lebanese political factions, including the Shi'ite opposition group Hezbollah.
President Sarkozy is the first Western head of state to visit Lebanon-a former French colony- since Mr. Suleiman took office May 25, following an Arab-mediated agreement to end the crisis. Lebanon is trying to recover from recent deadly sectarian violence that nearly resulted in a civil war. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged support for Lebanon's new president and for efforts to promote national unity, following ... more -
Ooh la la: Sarkozy's aide publishes voyeurs' guide on the best spots to leer at Fr...
An oglers' guide to the sexual charms of France's "magnificent women" has been produced - by a senior aide to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The controversial book lists numerous districts of Paris and what men can expect to find there.
Menilmontant, for example, is full of "perfectly shameless cleavages, radiant breasts often uncluttered by a bra."
An oglers' guide to the sexual charms of France's "magnificent women" has been produced - by a senior aide to President Nicolas Sarkoz... more -
Barricades of May ’68 Still Divide the French
Forty years ago, French students demanded that the system change. Today, French students, worried about losing state benefits, are demanding that nothing change at all.
For the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, May 1968 represents anarchy and moral relativism, a destruction of social and patriotic values that, he has said in harsh terms, “must be liquidated.”
But according to Alain Geismar, a former 68-er, both the vivid personal life and political success of Mr. Sarkozy, with foreign and Jewish roots, “are unimaginable without 1968,” he said. “The neo-conservatives are unimaginable without ’68.” Forty years ago, French students demanded that the system change. Today, French students, worried about losing state benefits, are de... more -
Turnaround: China rallying against France
"Some placards went further, depicting Nazi swastikas on the French flag".
In what I call a turnaround, a country that often strikes, France, is being rallied against by a country which we know as not liking rallies, China.
BBC Article "Anti-French rallies across China" "Some placards went further, depicting Nazi swastikas on the French flag". ... more -
Doc says no to money from Bruni`s pic
Geneva, Apr 14 : A doctor running hospitals in Cambodia said on Sunday he had refused a donation raised by selling a picture of France`s first lady in the nude, because Cambodians disapproved of exploiting female flesh for money.
Swiss pediatrician Beat Richner, head of a Children`s Medical Care Group, said he had turned down an offer of $91,000 (57,000 Euros) raised at a New York auction last week of the 1993 picture of Italian ex-model Carla Bruni, now married to President Nicolas Sarkozy.
“My decision was taken out of respect for our patients and their mothers,” he said in an interview with the weekly Le Matin Dimanche. “Accepting money obtained from exploitation of the female body would be perceived as an insult.”
In Cambodia “use of nudity is not understood in the way it is in the west.”
He did not wish his institution, the Kantha Bopha Children`s Hospital Association, “to be involved in the media exploitation of Madame Bruni.”
“The idea behind this gift was to get publicity for the auction and the photographer,” Richner was also quoted as saying. “It was a way of using us.” Geneva, Apr 14 : A doctor running hospitals in Cambodia said on Sunday he had refused a donation raised by selling a picture of France... more -
Paris.Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni
Love in Paris.Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni
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France debates Beijing boycott as Olympic torch reaches London
The prospect of one of the world's leading political figures boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games over Chinese actions in Tibet was raised and then seriously qualified yesterday in a sign that the invitation to China in August is causing severe differences within Western governments.
The French minister for human rights, Rama Yade, was quoted in Le Monde newspaper as saying that President Nicolas Sarkozy will boycott the opening of the games unless China agreed to two conditions: releasing political prisoners and holding talks with the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet.
The prospect of one of the world's leading political figures boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games over Chinese actions in Tibet was ra... more -
France's Sarkozy may boycott Bejing Olympics
For the first time, a world leader is talking about boycotting the Olympics because of China's actions in Tibet. Will any other leaders follow?
Check out more at the associated link. For the first time, a world leader is talking about boycotting the Olympics because of China's actions in Tibet. Will any other leade... more -
France and England sitting in a tree
So it's the first State visit that any French President has been on in 12 years. I hadn't realised that things had gotten so bad, apparently France has tried to call but we've not been answering. It's been going straight onto the answer phone for more than a decade before Nicolas Sarkozy finally came over personally to deliver his message of reconciliation.
He wants England and France to "move from being cordial to being friendly," a bold move indeed, but I for one like his style... and his wife.
"It has been long enough now that we have not been at war, that we are not wrangling...this friendship shouldn't simply be a matter of principle. I want [it] fleshed out by concrete projects on the economy, immigration, security, defence."
Sarkozy will meet with our very own Gordon Brown in an event that will no doubt set in stone so many stereotypes about the French and English; where they have style, we have Gordon Brown.
With France always distancing itself from the United States, is this the beginnings of a diplomatic tug of war in which England is pulled into a stronger relationship with Europe or remaining locked in policy with the States? If so, which way should we be heading? So it's the first State visit that any French President has been on in 12 years. I hadn't realised that things had gotten so bad, appa... more -
First "American" French President trys to lay low to not make his party lose
Right-winged French President Nicholas Sarkozy, seen very friendly to President Bush in the picture above, is being forced to act as did the American President in the last congressional elections, staying out of his usual limelight for fear his current unpopularity will bring his party down.
France's youngest president to date, "Sarko" enjoyed "popstar" like celebrity when he came into office and he acted on it: remarrying Italian pop star/model Carla Bruni, going on extravagent vacations in the U.S. of A., and asking the French to work well beyond their famed 35 hour work week for no other reason than to simply make more money.
His perceived lack of "Frenchness" earned him the reputation as "the American" or the "bling-bling" President. It is costing his party in the polls this week; as France's political left is set to take back many important cities in the country's municipal elections.
Still, some see him and his party as the only hope France has to implement the much needed structural reform the country will need to compete in the 21st century. Right-winged French President Nicholas Sarkozy, seen very friendly to President Bush in the picture above, is being forced to act as d... more
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Nicolas Sarkozy
