French president picks new CEO for EDF in unexpected shakeup
Macron proposed Bernard Fontana, currently head of nuclear engineering group Framatome, take over, the statement said, without offering details on why Remont was being replaced.
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Macron decries ‘abject' Netanyahu claim of antisemitic surge in France
Emmanuel Macron has hit out at Benjamin Netanyahu for his 'abject' and 'erroneous' remarks after Israel's prime minister claimed that antisemitism had 'surged' in France after the country's decision to recognise a Palestinian state in September. In a statement released late on Tuesday, the office of the French president pushed back against Netanyahu's claim. 'The analysis suggesting that France's decision to recognise the state of Palestine in September is behind the rise in antisemitic violence in France is erroneous, abject, and will not go unanswered,' it said. 'The current period calls for seriousness and responsibility, not generalisation and manipulation.' Relations between the two leaders have been strained since July, when Macron announced that France would become the first major western power to recognise a Palestinian state at next month's UN general assembly, in hopes of bringing peace to the region. At the time, Netanyahu, who is wanted by the international criminal court over allegations of war crimes in Gaza, criticised the decision, saying that France 'rewards terror'. He added: 'A Palestinian state in these conditions would be a launch pad to annihilate Israel – not to live in peace beside it.' The move would see France join the group of UN members – at least 145 out of 193 – who now recognise or plan to recognise a Palestinian state, according to a tally by the news agency Agence France-Presse. In a letter sent to Macron earlier this week, Netanyahu accused the French president of not doing enough to confront the alarming rise of antisemitism in France. 'Your call for a Palestinian state pour fuels on this antisemitism fire,' Netanyahu wrote. A similar letter, with almost identical wording, was reportedly also sent to Australia's prime minister earlier this week. Responding to the allegations, Macron's office said that France 'protects and will always protect its Jewish citizens' and said that, since 2017, the president had systematically required the government to 'take the strongest possible action against the perpetrators of antisemitic acts'. According to the latest figures from France's interior ministry, 504 antisemitic acts were reported across the country between January and May this year, suggesting a 24% decrease from the previous year. The numbers, however, remain high, at double the number of reported incidents from the same time period in 2013. Members of France's Jewish community, one of the largest in the world, have repeatedly warned that antisemitic acts have surged since Israel launched its war in Gaza in response to the attack by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Most recently, the felling of an olive tree planted in memory of a young French Jewish man tortured to death in 2006 prompted outrage across the country, with Macron vowing to punish an act of 'antisemitic hatred'. Tensions between Israel and its traditional allies have been mounting in recent weeks following Macron's promise to recognise a Palestinian state – a move that elicited similar signals from Britain, Canada and Australia. This week, after sending Australia's prime minister a letter accusing him of fuelling antisemitism with his decision to recognise a Palestinian state, Netanyahu doubled down on his criticism of Anthony Albanese on Tuesday, saying he was a 'weak politician who had betrayed Israel'. Albanese brushed off the claims. 'I don't take these things personally,' he told reporters on Wednesday. 'I treat leaders of other countries with respect. I engage with them in a diplomatic way.' Hours after his office had sparred with Netanyahu, Macron highlighted plans to co-chair a conference on a two-state solution with Saudi Arabia in New York in September. Macron made the announcement as he criticised Israel's plans for a 'military offensive in Gaza', writing on social media that it 'can only lead to disaster for both peoples and risks plunging the entire region into a cycle of permanent war'. Global pressure has been mounting on Israel to address the situation in Gaza, where at least 62,000 people have been killed and a complete blockade on aid entering the Palestinian territory has led to widespread conditions of starvation. In July, two of Israel's most respected human rights organisations, B'Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights, said Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, and said the country's western allies had a legal and moral duty to stop it. The accusation echoes earlier positions taken by global human rights organisations such as Médecins Sans Frontières and Amnesty International. Israel denies is it carrying out a genocide, and says the war in Gaza is one of self-defence in response to the cross-border attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023, in which about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Wall Street tech selloff deepens, European shares steady
MUMBAI/SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Wall Street shares dropped on Wednesday, with a tech selloff extending into a second day, while a key meeting of central bankers later this week remained in focus for currency and rates traders. The S&P 500 (.SPX), opens new tab declined 0.5% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC), opens new tab dropped 1.1%, adding to a steep decline on Tuesday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI), opens new tab was down 0.1%. Analysts blamed a confluence of factors for the weakness in tech stocks, including concerns over steep valuations, investors exiting profitable positions, and risk aversion. "To me, tech was overbought," said Seth Hickle, managing partner at Mindset Wealth Management. "We had really good earnings, and now it's kind of natural for the market just to sell some of that good news." Wariness over U.S. President Donald Trump's growing influence over tech companies has also been in focus for investors. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the government taking equity stakes in Intel (INTC.O), opens new tab and other chip companies, two sources told Reuters. That follows other unusual revenue-sharing deals Washington recently struck with artificial intelligence chip giant Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD.O), opens new tab. While the individual developments may be brushed aside by markets, they fall into the broader bucket of concerns over the institutional framework in the United States, Laidler said. AI heavyweights Nvidia, Broadcom (AVGO.O), opens new tab, Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab, Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab and Alphabet (GOOGL.O), opens new tab were all down more than 1%. The Nasdaq is down about 2.5% over the past two sessions. European shares rose, with the pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab up 0.25%. Britain's FTSE 100 (.FTSE), opens new tab rallied 1.17% to a record high, boosted by gains in consumer and healthcare companies. The U.S. dollar weakened slightly against a basket of peers after Trump called on Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook to resign. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield eased to 3.29%, while the 2-year Treasury yield slipped to 3.74%. The focus is now on the Federal Reserve's August 21-23 Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on Friday on the economic outlook and the U.S. central bank's policy framework. Powell's remarks on the near-term outlook for interest rates will be keenly watched as traders are almost fully pricing in a rate cut next month. "Even if Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell emphasises muted unemployment over sharply revised payrolls, that would be a hard sell to both the White House and a market that is pricing in 21 bp of rate cuts for September," analysts at ING said in a note. The minutes of the Fed's July policy meeting due later on Wednesday are unlikely to spur meaningful market reactions as they predate weak U.S. labor market data that firmed rate cut expectations. Elsewhere, Sweden's central bank kept its key interest rate on hold as expected, while the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut policy rates to a three-year low and signaled further easing, sending the kiwi down by more than 1%. Consumer prices in Britain climbed 3.8% in July, data showed, the fastest annual rise for a Group of Seven economy. The data nudged sterling higher but it quickly pared gains, while the fact that inflation was not even higher prompted a rally in government bonds. The benchmark 10-year gilt yield was last down 7 basis points at 4.68% . Oil prices climbed about 1% on a bigger-than-expected weekly drop in U.S. crude inventories as investors awaited the next steps in talks to end the Ukraine war, with sanctions on Russian crude remaining in place for now. Spot gold rose 0.8% to $3,339.69 an ounce.
Metro
an hour ago
- Metro
Suranne Jones: ‘My son cringed at one part of my new Netflix thriller'
Let's set the scene: it's a sunny day on Downing Street and the press corps is waiting, cameras poised, for the Prime Minister, when out from Number 10 steps Suranne Jones. Except, it isn't Suranne Jones. This is our latest elected leader Abigail Dalton. (Albeit an unlikely name for a British PM.) With a sharply cropped new hairdo – more on that later – and a plum power suit, Jones stars in Netflix's new political thriller Hostage, across from Julie Delpy's visiting French president. The two world leaders are locked in tense negotiations over Channel boat crossings and NHS medication supplies when disaster, right on cue, strikes. Abigail's do-gooder husband Alex (Bashy) is in French Guiana on a Doctors Without Borders project, when his entire cohort is kidnapped by a masked gang. Their ransom request? Abigail must resign, or they'll start picking off doctors one by one. Given that he's been snatched in French territory and it turns out the kidnappers have dirt on the French pres too, what unfolds is a gripping, if somewhat unlikely, political thriller with two frenemy female leaders going head-to-head. Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro's TV Newsletter. Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we'll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you. Ahead of the five-part show's release on Netflix this Thursday (August 21), Suranne spoke to Metro about working with writer Matt Charman on what type of 'strong female character' she had yet to tackle, when she noticed a politically-themed role was missing from her head count. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Doing double duty as both the show's star and an executive producer meant Suranne was part of the decision-making process on elements like makeup and costume, which real-world female politicians have said is always being carefully managed to ensure it's on brand. Delpy's president Vivienne Toussaint first emerges from a car with all the sleek menace of a knife, wearing a white coat with a slash of red lipstick (the type of thing the Before Sunrise star tells us is the complete opposite of her 'sloppy' norm). 'Abigail matches [Vivienne] in a way,' says Suranne. 'She gets a little bit more put together as her life starts falling apart, which is interesting. You're adding layers, you're adding armour, because you need to be perceived as in control.' With a knowing smile, she adds: 'Also it's a Netflix show. At a very base level, I want to watch and go, 'I want to wear her coat'.' The 46-year-old has become one of British TV's most bankable terrestrial stars – with shows like Vigil and Gentleman Jack on the BBC – but Hostage marks her first foray into the gleaming, glossy-coat world of Netflix. While making TV is by no means an easy feat, Suranne and Julie do point out all the ways their lives are not like their Hostage counterparts. For one thing, Suranne says, she gets more sleep. The stars researched real-life politicians who have walked the corridors of power and remarked upon the 'instant' changes in their hair and pallor when they take office – as if the weight of responsibilities has dawned and taken a psychical toll. Part of that is why Abigail undergoes a drastic hair transformation from the brief scene we see before the election, to the moment she later approaches the despatch box in Parliament. It's a she-means-business cropped 'do. 'Chopping her hair off is something less to worry about,' says Suranne. 'It's taken me a long time to grow it back. My son hated it. He said, 'Mummy, please don't pick me up at the school gates'.' More Trending This makes it sound a much worse trim than it actually is. 'I liked it,' Suranne adds. 'But he was just like 'Oh, cringe'.' It is the case that with the fast-paced twists and turns Hostage takes us on, Abigail's hair is likely the last thing she wants to be thinking about. There are far more important matters at hand. As Julie puts it: 'Usually there's one woman and all men around managing her. Here, it's like women managing everything else.' View More » Hostage is available on Netflix from August 21. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: These are the greatest films of all time you need to stream right now MORE: TV fans defend 'unbelievably stupid' crime thriller that's streaming for free MORE: Netflix viewers race to watch 'mesmerising' drama based on jaw-dropping true story
