by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paris: French railway workers announced the launch of a general strike Saturday evening after airline pilots walked off the job earlier in the day in the latest protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms.
According to information gathered by Anadolu Agency correspondents from French trade union representatives and transport sector officials, a week-long strike is set to disrupt the country’s transport system.
A strike by railway workers that began last week and is already causing transport chaos will continue until Monday.
The French Railways Administration (SNCF) said railway transportation would be seriously hampered Sunday and Monday, while it was not clear how many employees would take part.
As railway workers announced another strike for April 13 and 14, there was concern of further transportation chaos, especially with the start of a school holiday.
Railway access between France and its neighbors Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain will also be affected.
Negotiations Friday between four labor unions representing SNCF employees and Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne were inconclusive.
– Air France cancels flights
National airline Air France launched a new strike Saturday, its fifth since February.
The company announced the cancelation of 25 percent of its long-distance flights, 35 percent of its short-haul flights and 30 percent of its domestic flights.
Following a decision taken by 11 unions, Air France pilots, cabin crews and ground service employees will also go on strike Tuesday and Wednesday.
The airline is losing an estimated €20 million per day.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Washington : US President Donald Trump on Tuesday spoke with leaders of France and Germany on the expulsion of Russian diplomats.
Earlier on Monday, he also spoke with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to coordinate stances on the issue.
The White House said Trump spoke with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier on Tuesday, Xinhua reported.
The three nations on Monday announced to expel Russian diplomats over the poisoning attack of former Russian double agent Skripal and his daughter in Britain’s southwestern city of Salisbury on March 4.
In his call with Macron, Trump and the French top leader expressed support for the West’s “strong response” to the Russia-related incident, including the expulsion of a large number of Russian intelligence officers on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the call, Trump also stressed the need to intensify cooperation with Turkey with respect to shared strategic challenges in Syria.
In a separate call with Merkel, Trump reaffirmed with her the cooperative relationship between the two countries.
Both leaders praised the joint announcements from North Atlantic Treaty Organization Allies, EU member states and other countries to expel “undeclared Russian intelligence officers” in solidarity with Britain and in response to Russia’s alleged use of chemical weapons, said the White House.
Russia has denied any involvement in the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.
Earlier on Monday, Trump spoke with Trudeau to affirm the solidarity of both countries with the UK and discuss the joint expulsions of Russian intelligence officers in response to Russia’s alleged use of a military-grade chemical weapon on the United Kingdom’s soil.
The White House said in a separate statement that Russia’s behavior “is the latest in its ongoing pattern of destabilizing activities around the world.”
On Monday, at least 137 Russian diplomats were ordered out by 24 governments, including 60 Russians from the US.
William Courtney, adjunct senior fellow of RAND Corporation, said that West-Russia relations will become more strained, but the West is willing to run this risk.
In his protest, Russia Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov said that Moscow will give adequate response with regard to each case in the coming days.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also said later that the West’s expulsion of its diplomats is an unfriendly step, and vowed to react accordingly.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Corporate, Corporate Governance
New Delhi : With China’s increasing presence in the Indian Ocean Region, India and France on Saturday announced broadbasing of their ties through a joint strategic vision for cooperation in the region that agreed on the need to establish an open, inclusive and transparent cooperation architecture for peace, security and prosperity there.
After talks between visiting French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the two sides also signed 14 agreements, including one that prescribes the way forward for the implementation of the Jaitapur nuclear power plant.
In a nine-page joint statement issued after the talks, the two countries reiterated their strong condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism and terror incidents in France and India.
They also called upon all countries to work towards rooting out terrorist safe havens and infrastructure, disrupting terrorist networks and their financing channels and halting cross-border movement of terrorists like Al Qaeda, Daesh/ISIS, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-eTayabba and their affliates as well as terrorist groups threatening peace and security in South Asia and the Sahel region.
With Modi by his side, Macron told media persons that both France and India are giving a new momentum to their strategic partnership against terror. “We will fight together radicalism and terrorism,” he said.
According to the joint strategic vision document, India and France shared concerns over the emerging challenges in the Indian Ocean Region that include maritime traffic security in the face of the threats of terrorism and piracy, especially in the Horn of Africa, and respect of international law by all states, in particular freedom of navigation and overflight, among others.
This can be seen as a strong signal to China given its attempts to increase its footprint in the region.
“Both of us agree that the Indian Ocean region will play a significant role in the future for the peace, prosperity and development of the world,” Modi said while addressing the media along with Macron after the talks.
“Whether it be environment, maritime security and resources, freedom of navigation or overflight, we are committed to strengthening our cooperation,” he stated.
Though France is not against the recently revived quad of India, the US, Japan and Australia that seeks to work for peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region, Paris would rather like to work with New Delhi bilaterally in the Indian Ocean Region given that there are around two million French citizens in its territories in the region.
According to the joint strategic vision document, such cooperation between the two sides will help in harnessing the opportunities and meeting the challenges together in the Indian Ocean Region.
“The two leaders are desirous of associating other strategic partners in the growing cooperation between India and France, as and when required and, in this regard, would establish trilateral dialogues,” the document stated.
“They also agreed on the need to establish an open, inclusive and transparent cooperation architecture, with the aim of delivering to all associated with the region, peace, security and prosperity.”
Modi and Macron decided that both countries would strengthen coordination in existing regional and international bodies to carry out this objective.
“India welcomes the prospect of France’s enhanced participation at the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA). France congratulates India on its leadership at IORA and the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS),” document said.
It stated that both countries will be open to inviting strategic partner countries in the region to participate in Indo-French exercises.
Among the agreements signed was a memorandum of understanding between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) of France aimed at co-developing a maritime surveillance satellite system focused on the Indian Ocean and related data fusion mechanisms. This system would significantly strengthen maritime domain awareness in the Indian Ocean region.
The two countries also released a joint vision on space cooperation which envisages, among others, addressing global challenges, including climate change and exploring the solar system and beyond.
According to the joint statement, both sides “agreed to enhance operational cooperation between the Indian and French counter-terrorism agencies and launch a new cooperation effort to prevent and fight radicalisation, in particular online”.
With the Nuclear Power Corporation of India and French firm EDF signing the agreement on the way forward for implementation of the Jaitapur nuclear power plant, the joint statement said that the two leaders welcomed the understanding shared by the two parties on the enforcement of India’s rules and regulations on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages applicable to the Jaitapur project.
Stating that there is a long history of cooperation in defence, security, space and high technology, Modi, in his address to the media, said there is bipartisan support in both countries on the bilateral relationship.
“We share a deep defence relationship and we see France as one of our most trusted partners in this area,” he said.
“All services of our defence forces regularly hold discussions and conduct joint exercises. We have strong ties in defence equipment and production. We welcome France’s commitment to Make in India in the defence sector.”
Modi also said that people-to-people ties, especially among the youth, are the most important dimension for the bright future of the bilateral relationship.
“We want our youth to know, see, understand, live, and work in each other’s countries so that thousands of ambassadors emerge in the process,” he said.
For this, he said, two agreements were signed following Saturday’s talks — one on mutual recognition of academic qualifications and the other on mobility and migration partnership.
Among the other agreements signed were those on cooperation on high speed and semi-high speed rail, sustainable urban development and credit facility of 100 million euros for funding of smart city projects.
Earlier on Saturday, Macron was accorded a ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan here following which he told the assembled media that France should be the best partner for India and the entry point to Europe.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also called on the visiting dignitary and discussed ways to deepen the Startegic Partnership the two countries share.
Following the bilateral talks, Modi and Macron interacted with CEOs of India and France to take the partnership forward at the CEO’s Forum.
There are around 1,000 French companies operating in India with over $7 billion in investments.
Macron, who arrived here on Friday on a four-day visit to India, will on Sunday co-chair with Modi the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) that was launched by the Indian Prime Minister and then French President Francois Hollande during the Paris climate summit in 2015
The ISA is conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and provide a platform to collaborate on dealing with the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | Commodities, Commodities News, World
By Hajer M’tiri,
Paris: Nearly three quarters of fruits and 41 percent of non-organic vegetables consumed in France bear traces of pesticide residues, with grape and celery having the highest amounts, a report said on Tuesday.
The report is published by the French NGO Generations Futures, which campaigns against pesticides.
It is based on data from the General Directorate for Competition Policy, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF), which analyzed representative samples of 19 fruits and 33 vegetables.
“For fruits, we found, on average, the presence of pesticide residues in 72.6 percent of the samples analyzed,” according to the report.
In 2.7 percent of cases, these residues were above the authorized limits by the European Union.
On average, 89 percent of the grape samples had pesticide brands, 88.4 percent for clementines or mandarins and 87.7 percent for cherries.
As for vegetables, 41.1 percent had traces of pesticides and 3.5 percent of the samples showed residues above the maximum limits.
The samples of celery had the most traces of pesticides (84.6 percent), followed by fresh herbs (74.5 percent) and endives (72.7 percent).
The report also warned of the presence of several pesticides in the same product known as “the cocktail effect”, under which the toxicity of pesticides increases when combined than alone.
In 2016, nearly 40 percent of the examined fruit and vegetable samples contained more than two pesticides, according to the report.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
By Yusuf Ozcan,
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron said Tuesday he would order a military strike if any evidence emerges that the Bashar al-Assad regime used chemical weapons against civilians in Syria.
Speaking to reporters at Elysee Palace, Macron said the use of chemical weapons against civilians in Syria is France’s “red line”.
He said French security forces have so far not obtained any evidence on the use of chemical weapons against the civilian population, adding they are “seriously following” the matter.
Macron spoke by phone to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday and urged him to call on the Assad regime to “put an end to the unsustainable deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ghouta and Idlib”.
Syria has been locked in a devastating civil war since March 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. While UN officials say hundreds of thousands of people have been killed in the conflict, Syrian regime officials say the death toll is closer to 10,000.
—AA
