By Gwynne Dyer - With the sole exception of the 50 people on Pitcairn Island, the United Kingdom (once known as the British Empire) liquidated its holdings in the Pacific Ocean long ago. France, by contrast, has a half million citizens in the Pacific (and another 2 million living in other bits of its former empire on islands in all the world’s major oceans).
The 73-year-old Barnier has served four times as a cabinet minister and as the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator. On July 16, Macron accepted Gabriel Attal's resignation but asked him to stay in office on a caretaker basis until a replacement could be found.
A joint statement from the leaders of United Kingdom, Germany and France called for an immediate end to fighting Gaza, the release of Israeli hostages and the prevention of further escalation, especially on the part of Iran and its allies.
Presidents Javier Milei of Argentina and Emmanuel Macron of France got together Friday at the Elysee Palace ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to discuss ongoing world affairs and bilateral issues. It is the South American leader's 12th trip abroad since his inauguration on Dec. 10, 2023.
A surprising result in Sunday's second round of France's snap elections averted the arrival of Marine Le Pen's rightwing Rassemblement National (RN) to government but left the country wondering about its nearest future under the leftwing alliance of socialists, leftists, communists and greens known as the New Popular Front (NFP) which was glued together in less than a week to avoid “the worst.” Turnout was historically high, reaching 67%.
French President Emmanuel Macron called on all non-rightwing supporters to rally against the Rassemblement National party of Marine LePen winning Sunday's snap first-round parliamentary elections. In any case, the head of state announced he would not be resigning. These political events unfold just days before the start of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Even before the final results were in from all of the 27 European Union countries that voted in the EU elections last weekend, French President Emmanuel Macron had called for national elections in France for the end of this month.
After contradicting rumors circulating in Buenos Aires over the past few days, it was reported that President Javier Milei would attend the G7 Summit in Italy, in addition to a trip to Spain.
More than 400 multinational paratroopers jumped into Normandy on Wednesday 5 June in a unique tribute to the soldiers who parachuted in on D-Day.
French President Emmanuel Macron is currently in the Overseas Territory of New Caledonia where he flew urgently for a political solution to ending street killings, riots and arson after a recent change in voting rights infuriated the indigenous population of Kanaks, many groups of whom are seeking independence.