PARIS: The last time French President Emmanuel Macron hosted Donald Trump in France, it turned into a diplomatic fiasco which underlined how once warm relations between the men had chilled to the point of freezing.
As the two men prepare to hold talks on Thursday on the sidelines of D-Day commemorations, Macron and French diplomats are hoping for a smoother run.
Trump’s trip in November last year for the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I culminated in a hail of bad-tempered tweeting caused by the US president’s bruised ego, a French diplomat told AFP.
During a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, with Trump seated among 70 leaders in the French capital, Macron delivered a speech that included an open rebuke of his brand of “America First” nationalism.
“Nationalism is a betrayal of patriotism,” the 41-year-old centrist French leader said in a 20-minute address that also criticized “saying our interests come first and others don’t matter.”
The diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the US real estate mogul had been angered by those lines and was also frustrated when a planned trip to an American military cemetery by helicopter was canceled due to bad weather.
“There was also the sense that he came and he was one among other leaders and not THE leader who would make the big speech,” the diplomat explained. “It was a difficult period to manage.”
Two days after leaving the French capital, Trump let his fury known, mocking Macron for his “very low approval ratings” and writing how the French “were starting to learn German in Paris before the US came along” in World War II.
The US role in liberating France will be commemorated on Thursday by Trump and Macron on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings when 150,000 Allied troops began an invasion of Nazi-ruled France.
The two leaders will meet at the Colleville-sur-Mer American cemetery in northern France and then sit down for a working lunch in the town of Caen.
Their wives Melania and Brigitte, who have reportedly struck up a warm relationship, are to lunch together separately.
The French diplomat said that after the open hostilities in November, Macron and Trump had held several phone calls during which they rebuilt a relationship that had started surprisingly well after Macron’s election in 2017.
The US president was made a guest of honor of France’s National Day in July of that year and the two men referred to each other as “friends” and repeatedly patted each other on the back. The visit ended with a 25-second-long handshake.
“The relationship is still warm and direct,” the diplomat said. “Our approach has stayed the same: we continue to try to persuade and at the same time to cushion the impact when we haven’t succeeded.”
The problem for Macron is that his successes in persuading Trump and changing his thinking are few and far between, while the policy disagreements and gap between their visions of the world are becoming ever more glaring.
“Macron is not shy about saying the problem in the world is the populist nationalist movement,” Trump’s one-time adviser and campaign manager Steve Bannon told AFP in a recent interview.
“Macron is always looking to take a shot at the nationalists and I think sometimes he’s done it in inappropriate situations,” he added, saying that Trump in his view had been “very magnanimous” given the criticism.
He also recalled Macron’s speech to the US Congress in Washington in April last year, which he said included “several nasty lines” about the dangers of nationalism and isolationism.
The French leader, sometimes described as an “anti-Trump” on the world stage, has been a vocal critic of unilateral US decisions to pull out of the 2015 deal governing Iran’s nuclear program and the Paris climate accord.
On Monday, he again condemned Trump’s trade policies, which have led to tariffs on European steel and aluminum imports and a growing trade war with China.
“With the US, we have discussions because they decide to put tariffs with unreasonable scenarios and argumentation,” Macron told global bankers in Paris in comments delivered in English.
Macron also knows that being critical of the American president plays well domestically in France where Trump is widely unpopular.
A poll by the YouGov survey group released on Wednesday showed that only 17 percent of French people had a positive view of the former reality TV star.
And only 24 percent thought Macron should take a more cooperative approach with him.
“With every American administration, there are things we disagree on, different interests, but we express ourselves clearly,” a second French diplomatic source said.
A sign of how far the Trump-Macron relationship has turned comes from the front garden of the White House.
When Macron visited for a state visit in April 2018, still hoping to persuade Trump to respect the Iran nuclear deal and drop tariffs on European steel imports, the two leaders planted an oak tree together.
The sapling, taken from a battlefield in France where US soldiers had fought in World War I, has since withered and died, Le Monde newspaper reported Wednesday.
Macron and Trump: ‘frenemies’ in open disagreement
Macron and Trump: ‘frenemies’ in open disagreement
- The two leaders will meet at the Colleville-sur-Mer American cemetery in northern France and then sit down for a working lunch in the town of Caen
- Macron and Trump had held several phone calls during which they rebuilt a relationship that had started surprisingly well after Macron’s election in 2017
China, Russia vow to strengthen cooperation on international law matters, state media reports
- China, Russia vow to strengthen cooperation on international law matters, state media reports
The two countries both stated their opposition to unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported the statement as saying, and will work together to defend the United Nations’ central role in international affairs.
Kenya is ‘in total disarray’: opposition candidate Martha Karua
- A spokesman for the presidency said abductions and killings were strictly a police matter
- Karua was justice minister in the mid-2000s under late president Mwai Kibaki
NAIROBI: Martha Karua, among the first to declare a run for the Kenyan presidency in 2027, told AFP the country is in “total disarray” due to corruption, police killings and economic decline.
Karua served in government in the 2000s and, as a lawyer, has lately represented jailed opposition figures in neighboring Tanzania and Uganda.
She hopes to harness the “anger and frustration” against Kenya’s President William Ruto, which spilt onto the streets last year in mass protests against tax rises and corruption.
“We are in total disarray. It’s as if our constitution has been suspended,” she told AFP in an interview in Nairobi.
“We have abductions, arbitrary arrests... extrajudicial killings... And the police and authorities fail to take responsibility.”
Rights groups say at least 60 people were killed during the protests in June and July, and at least 89 abducted since then, with 29 still missing.
Police deny involvement, but there has been limited progress in investigating the incidents.
“Ruto was a great mistake right from the start. Those of us who have worked with him and know him, knew that he would be a disaster,” said Karua.
A spokesman for the presidency said abductions and killings were strictly a police matter.
Karua ran against Ruto in the 2022 election as the vice presidential candidate on a ticket with veteran leader Raila Odinga.
She is now part of a broad grouping of opposition figures manoeuvring for the next vote in 2027.
Her first priority would be to “plug the leakages” and bring Kenya’s debt under control, she said.
Massive borrowing has left Kenya with some $85 billion in debt, forcing it to pay more in interest payments than it does on health and education.
“Fighting corruption is the only lifeline we have,” Karua told AFP.
“(Otherwise) whatever we collect, whatever we borrow, will still be lost and we will never be able to pull Kenyans out of their misery.”
Karua was justice minister in the mid-2000s under late president Mwai Kibaki.
She said that government had led a successful push against corruption, though admitted that it “did come back toward the end.”
Karua resigned from that government in 2009, accusing some of her colleagues of opposing reforms.
Now, Karua finds herself aligned with several opposition figures that have shady reputations.
When asked, she did not deny it, but said: “The task of dislodging a government that does not play by the rules is a mammoth task. We need all hands.”
She added it was up to the public to choose “the most competent and suitable” to lead the opposition into the election.
Karua worries about unrest and rigging in 2027, however. Previous elections have been marred by extreme violence.
Ruto himself was charged by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity over violence that erupted after the 2007 vote.
The case was eventually dropped for lack of evidence, with the court citing witness intimidation and political meddling.
Karua accused Ruto of hiring gangs of “thugs” for a recent rally in Nairobi — to “sort out anybody who appears to either boo or jeer” — which led to huge numbers of muggings and violent attacks on passers-by.
“I know it will get worse. They will use public coffers at the expense of vital services like health, education and security,” she said.
The presidency spokesman said Ruto “never hires or pays people to attend his public meetings.”
“Martha Karua and her team created a similar lie in the run up to the last election,” the spokesman said. “They lost it because they believed in their own lies. They are headed for a similar and more resounding defeat.”
But Karua claimed the president will make the upcoming election “nasty.”
“The only way we can overcome Ruto’s manipulation of the electoral system is to have a flood of votes, overwhelming numbers which no amount of manipulation can work on,” she said.
After Spain’s blackout, questions about renewable energy are back
- The European Union’s fourth-largest economy generated 56 percent of its electricity last year from renewables
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has stressed that his government would not deviate from its energy transition plans
MADRID: The massive power outage that hit the Iberian peninsula on April 28 has reignited a debate in Spain over the country’s plan to phase out its nuclear reactors as it generates more power with renewable energy.
As people wait for answers about what caused the historic power cut, which abruptly disrupted tens of millions of lives, some are questioning the wisdom of decommissioning nuclear reactors that provide a stable, if controversial, form of energy compared to renewables, whose output can be intermittent.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has rejected such criticism, asking for patience while the government investigates what caused the grid’s disconnection. He said that his government would not “deviate a single millimeter” from its energy transition plans.
Here’s what to know about the energy debate:
What is nuclear power and why is it controversial?
Nuclear power is a zero-carbon energy source formed from nuclear fission, when the nuclei of atoms are split into two or several parts, releasing energy.
It accounts for about 10 percent of electricity generation worldwide, according to the International Energy Association.
Many countries consider nuclear power critical to reaching their net-zero goals. But while nuclear reactors do not emit planet-warming greenhouse gases like gas- or coal-fired power plants, they produce radioactive waste that even advanced economies have struggled to dispose.
Why does Spain want to decommission its nuclear reactors?
Spain generated nearly 57 percent of its electricity in 2024 from renewable energy sources like wind, hydropower and solar, according to Red Eléctrica, the country’s grid operator. About 20 percent came from nuclear power plants.
In 2019, Sánchez’s government approved a plan to decommission the country’s remaining nuclear reactors between 2027 and 2035 as it expands its share of renewable energy even further. The country aims to generate 81 percent of its electricity by 2030 from renewable sources.
Sánchez on Wednesday said that the four nuclear facilities that were online the day of the blackout did not help re-power the grid.
Batteries and other methods help regulate changes in electricity supply from wind and solar.
Why is Spain’s renewables push being questioned now?
While the cause of the sudden outage on April 28 is still unknown, the event has raised questions about the technical challenges facing electricity grids running on high levels of solar and wind.
Solar and wind provided roughly 70 percent of the electricity on the grid moments before Spain lost 15 gigawatts of electricity — about 60 percent of its supply — in just five seconds.
Electricity grids were designed for a different era, according to Gilles Thonet, deputy secretary general of the International Electrotechnical Commission, an industry group.
“Traditionally, power flowed in one direction: from large coal, gas or nuclear plants to homes and businesses,” Thonet said. “These plants provided not only electricity, but also stability. Their spinning turbines acted like shock absorbers, smoothing out fluctuations in supply and demand.”
In the days following the blackout, Google searches in Spain for “nuclear” spiked, according to data from Google Trends.
Spain’s nuclear lobby group Foro Nuclear said this week that the government should rethink its plan to decommission its nuclear reactors after the outage. Ignacio Araluce, its president, said the nuclear plants online before the outage “provide firmness and stability.”
Would more nuclear power have prevented a blackout?
Others say it is too soon to draw conclusions about what role nuclear energy should play.
“We do not know the cause of the oscillations,” said Pedro Fresco, director general of Avaesen, an association of renewable energy and clean technology firms in Valencia. “Therefore, we do not know what would have allowed them to be controlled.”
Spain’s grid operator last week narrowed down the source of the outage to two separate incidents in which substations in southwestern Spain failed.
Environment Minister Sara Aagesen said earlier this week that the grid had initially withstood another power generation outage in southern Spain 19 seconds before the blackout.
Sánchez in his speech to Parliament said there was “no empirical evidence” to show that more nuclear power on the grid could have prevented a blackout or allowed the country to get back online faster. In fact, the four nuclear facilities online on April 28 before the blackout were taken offline after the outage as part of emergency protocol to avoid overheating.
He said that nuclear energy “has not been shown to be an effective solution in situations like what we experienced on April 28,” and called the debate surrounding his government’s nuclear phase-out plan “a gigantic manipulation.”
Gas and hydropower, as well as electricity transfers from Morocco and France, were used to get the country’s grid back online.
Putin gears up to host world leaders at lavish army parade
- The two most important guests this year are China’s Xi Jinping and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
- The period between 1939 and 1941, when the Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, is glossed over in official history books
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin will host a lavish World War II Victory Day parade in Moscow on Friday, an event the Kremlin hopes will rally patriotism at home and project strength abroad as its troops fight in Ukraine.
More than 20 foreign dignitaries, including China’s Xi Jinping and Slovakia’s Robert Fico, are scheduled to attend the annual parade this year, the fourth since Moscow launched a full-scale military assault on its neighbor in 2022.
Officials promise that commemorations this year — the 80th anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany — will be the “biggest” ever, with Putin ordering a “humanitarian” truce with Ukraine over the holiday.
Ukraine, which has dismissed the truce as a farce, has called the events in Russia a “parade of cynicism” and warned that it cannot guarantee the safety of world leaders attending.
The festival will be marked with a massive parade of military equipment and soldiers through Red Square, culminating in an address by Putin.
Since sending troops into Ukraine, Putin has frequently drawn parallels between Russia’s modern-day army and the Soviet soldiers who fought Nazi Germany.
At a dinner in honor of visiting foreign leaders, Putin proposed a toast to “victory.”
Russia began its assault on Ukraine in February 2022, hoping to take the country in days, but has since become embroiled in a huge, bloody conflict that has killed tens of thousands.
Security has been tight in Moscow, where organizers have banned attendees from bringing vape pens, electric scooters or “any animals” to the Victory Parade.
Authorities have also jammed mobile Internet connections in the capital, citing the threat of Ukrainian attacks.
Putin unilaterally ordered a three-day truce for the duration of the holiday, starting Thursday, but Ukraine has accused Russia of breaking it hundreds of times.
Ukrainian authorities reported strikes in the southern city of Kherson and the central Dnipropetrovsk region overnight, with two people wounded.
Kyiv argues the parade has “nothing to do with the victory over Nazism” and that those marching on Red Square were “quite likely” implicit in crimes against Ukrainians.
The two most important guests this year are China’s Xi Jinping and Brazil’s Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Despite warnings from Brussels, Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico will also attend — the only leader from the European Union taking part.
Aleksandar Vucic, president of Serbia, a country with historically strong ties to Moscow, will also join.
The day before the parade, Xi and Putin met in the Kremlin, where the two held talks for more than three hours.
After their meeting, Putin addressed the Chinese leader as his “dear friend,” while the two issued messages of defiance toward the West.
World War II is officially remembered in Russia as the “Great Patriotic War,” beginning with Germany’s surprise invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and ending with Germany’s capitulation in 1945.
The period between 1939 and 1941, when the Soviet Union had a non-aggression pact with Nazi Germany, is glossed over in official history books.
The war had a devastating impact on the Soviet Union, resulting in more than 20 million civilian and military deaths.
Throughout his quarter-century in power, Putin has tapped into this national trauma, making May 9 Russia’s most important public holiday and championing his army as defenders against fascism.
Authorities banned criticism of the military weeks after the Ukraine offensive began, and have since charged thousands in the biggest domestic crackdown in Russia’s post-Soviet history.
School textbooks introduced since the offensive refer to Ukraine as an “ultra-nationalist state,” likening it to the Nazi occupation government that ruled the country between 1941 and 1944.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has called Putin’s claims that Russia needs to “de-Nazify” Ukraine “incomprehensible.”
In a symbolic show of support for Kyiv to coincide with the parade, Ukraine’s Western backers are expected on Friday to sign off on the creation of a special tribunal to try Russia’s top leadership over its military offensive at a meeting in Lviv.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also announced new sanctions targeting Russia’s so-called shadow fleet ahead of a meeting of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) in Norway on Friday, with support for Ukraine set to be on the agenda.
Leo XIV’s brother recalls feeling of ‘disbelief’ over his sibling becoming pope
- John Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice
- That makes the Chicago-born missionary the first US pope
NEW LENOX, Ill: When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother’s name was announced.
“She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it’s too far from what we thought would happen,” Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.
Next, he said he felt an intense sense of pride that his brother, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, making the Chicago-born missionary the first US pope.
“It’s quite an honor; it’s quite a once in a lifetime,” he said. “But I think it’s quite a responsibility and I think it’s going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he’s doing.”
Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.
John Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice. He said he expects him to be a “second Pope Francis.”
“He’s not going to be real far left and he’s not going to be real far right,” he added. “Kind of right down the middle.”
At one point during the interview, John Prevost realized he had missed several calls from his brother, so he gave the new pope a call back.
Leo told him he wasn’t interested in being part of the interview and after a brief message of congratulations and discussion in which they talked like any two brothers about travel arrangements, they hung up.
The new pope grew up the youngest of three boys. John Prevost, who was only a year older than him, said he remembers Robert Prevost being very good in school as a kid and enjoying playing tag, Monopoly and Risk.
From a young age, he said he knew his brother was going to be a priest. Although he didn’t expect him to become pope, he recalled a neighbor predicting that very thing when Robert Prevost was only a first grader.
“She sensed that at 6 years old,” he said. “How she did that, who knows. It took this long, but here he is, first American pope.”
When Robert Prevost graduated eighth grade, he left for seminary school, his brother said.
“There’s a whole period there where we didn’t really grow up together,” he said. “It was just on vacations that we had contact together.”
These days, the brothers talk on the phone every day, John Prevost said. Robert Prevost will call him and they’ll discuss everything from politics to religion and even play the day’s Wordle.
John Prevost said he’s not sure how much time his brother will have to talk as the new pope and how they’ll handle staying in touch in the future.
“It’s already strange not having someone to talk to,” he said.
