France’s European leaders rush into isolation after Macron tests positive for Covid-19
France’s European leaders rush into isolation after Macron tests positive for Covid-19
French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin was questioned by judges on Monday over rape allegations that prompted outcry from women's organisations when he was appointed the country's "top cop" in July.
Facebook said Tuesday that it had removed two networks based in Russia and one linked to the French military, accusing them of carrying out interference campaigns in Africa.
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A host of European leaders and top French officials rushed into isolation on Thursday after President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for Covid-19, upending political agendas across the continent.
Luxembourg's Prime Minister Xavier Bettel began isolating on Thursday pending a test result after he had attended the EU summit last week.
But a German government spokeswoman said Chancellor Angela Merkel took a test a few days after the EU summit and it was negative.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex will self-isolate after contact with Macron, his office said, adding that he was showing no symptoms and had tested negative.
He needs another confirmed negative result before he can come out of isolation next week, his office said.
Macron's wife Brigitte will also be self-isolating but also shows no symptoms.
Fellow world leaders rushed to wish Macron a speedy recovery.
"Sorry to hear my friend @EmmanuelMacron has tested positive for coronavirus. We are all wishing you a speedy recovery," tweeted Johnson, who has locked horns with Macron in recent months over the Brexit talks.
The right-winger's lawyers told AFP he had spoken to two investigating magistrates "at his own request" over accusations of rape, sexual harassment and abuse of trust.
Two networks running multiple Facebook accounts were assigned to people associated with the Russian Internet Research Agency, and the third had "links to individuals associated with French military," the social media platform said.
Darmanin has been the focus of protests against President Emmanuel Macron's centrist government in recent weeks, as the government introduced a bill that could criminalise sharing images of police -- even as video footage uncovered officers beating a black music producer and violently evicting migrants camped on a central Paris square.
All three were removed from the site for breaking its policy against foreign or government interference, Facebook said, adding that the networks targeted countries mainly in north Africa and some in the Middle East.
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The French military made no immediate comment on the allegations.
A woman has accused Darmanin of raping her in 2009 after she sought his help to have a criminal record expunged while he was a legal affairs adviser with the UMP, the predecessor of France's main right-wing party, the Republicans.
Nathaniel Gleicher, Facebook's head of security policy, and David Agranovich, head of global threat disruption, said in a blog that the campaigns dueled with each other online.
"This was the first time our team found two campaigns -- from France and Russia -- actively engage with one another, including by befriending, commenting and criticising the opposing side for being fake," they said.
The networks "used fake accounts as a central part of their operations to mislead people about who they are and what they are doing, and that was the basis for our action," Facebook said.
The French network targeted the Central African Republic and Mali, and, to a lesser extent, Niger, Burkina Faso, Algeria, Cote d'Ivoire and Chad.
It involved 84 Facebook accounts, 6 pages, 9 groups and 14 Instagram accounts that violated policy against "coordinated inauthentic behavior."
Some of the posts, in French and Arabic, were about France's policies in Francophone Africa, claims of Russian interference in CAR elections, supportive comments about the French military and criticism of Russia.
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"The Russian imperialists are a gangrene on Mali!" read a sample post shared by Facebook.
In disrupting the two Russian networks, the social network removed 274 Facebook accounts and 18 Instagram accounts, along with an array of groups and pages.
"We shared information about our findings with law enforcement and industry partners," Gleicher and Agranovich said.
"We are making progress rooting out this abuse, but as we've said before, it's an ongoing effort and we're committed to continually improving to stay ahead."
The research published on December 14 by Washington-based think tank the Center for Global Policy follows years of investigations by human rights activists showing that Xinjiang is home to a vast network of camps where at least 1 million people have been imprisoned.
The report – which used Chinese regime documents available online – said the total number involved in three majority-Uighur regions exceeds a 2018 estimate of 517,000 people forced to pick cotton as part of the scheme by tens of thousands.
“We have evidence from government documents that in 2018 the state transferred well over half a million Uighurs, and it’s a scheme that was set up by [Xinjiang] Party Secretary Chen Quanguo, the same person who set up a police state and mass internment of people in camps,” Zenz, a Senior Fellow in China Studies at the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, told FRANCE 24.
Muslim countries’ silence on China’s repression of Uighurs
“The problem is very deep because the Chinese state is trying to put the Uighurs to labour; they need to be busy and preoccupied,” Zenz continued. “Children are being separated from their parents in boarding schools; parents are being put full-time work because if you work full-time in a factory or in a cotton field you can’t go to a mosque and you can’t participate in traditional religious or community activities.”
“Evidence shows that government work teams – 70,000 officials each year – are descending on Uighur villages; they’re asking in advance how many people are needed to pick cotton in the fields,” Zenz said. “They go to every household and perform a short indoctrination. Accounts show that lots of elderly Uighurs are lined up to pick cotton because so many of the younger ones are in internment camps.”
Breaking the silence on China’s ‘two-faced’ campaign against Uighurs
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The report puts pressure on major companies such as Nike, Gap and Adidas, which have been accused of using Uighur forced labour in their textile supply chains.
“This is a huge game-changer,” Zenz said. “Anybody who cares or who claims to have anything ethical in their business and supply chains has to divest.”
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin dismissed the allegations.
“Helping people of all ethnic groups secure stable employment is entirely different from forced labour,” he told a media briefing in Beijing, saying that nearly 3 million people had been lifted out of poverty in Xinjiang.
France emerges from its second Covid-19 lockdown on Tuesday. But with new daily coronavirus infections still high above the government's 5,000-a-day objective, the easing will not look like it did in May. An 8pm-to-6am curfew goes into effect, except for Christmas Eve, and cultural venues remain closed, sparking anger in the sector.
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As the second lockdown lifts, theatres, concert halls, cinemas, museums and sporting venues remain closed, at least until January 7 – after a holiday season that, while normally lucrative for the culture sector, has authorities concerned festive gatherings this year will spur further the spread of the novel coronavirus.
French authorities justified keeping the venues shuttered in order to "avoid increasing public crowd flows, concentrations, and intermingling", but the decision has irked the culture sector in France after a difficult year.
Culture professionals and labour unions say the continued closures are a death blow for the sector, calling for all cultural venues to be allowed to reopen. To get the message across, they organised demonstrations across France on Tuesday.
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In Paris, several hundred culture professionals descended on the Place de la Bastille following a call from the CGT Spectacle union, denouncing the government’s “contempt” towards the sector.
"Open the theatres", "open the cinemas", "let's bring culture out of lockdown", they shouted in the crowded square and on the steps of the Bastille Opera House.
Demonstrators brandished placards that read "Culture, essential food", "We're going to die and not even on stage", "The show brings people to life" and "Art is a weapon of mass construction".
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"It's a disaster, I haven't worked for six months," Martin, 27, told AFP. "The theatre is also reluctant to make us work because the government’s decisions are constantly changing. They are putting a death sentence on culture.”
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Another demonstration organised by actors Jacques Weber, Audrey Bonnet and François Morel is slated for Paris late in the day in front of the Théâtre de l'Atelier in Montmartre.
Somalia cut diplomatic relations with neighbouring Kenya on Tuesday, accusing it ofmeddling in politics as protests and gunfire erupted in the capital Mogadishu over delayedelections.
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The dispute could undermine cooperation in the fight against the Islamist group al Shabaab in Somalia, where Kenya provides 3,600 troops to an African Union peacekeeping force.
"Somalia calls back all its diplomats from Kenya and orders Kenyan diplomats to leave Somalia within seven days," Somali Information Minister Osman Dube told the state news agency.
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Dube added in a statement read on Radio Mogadishu that Nairobi was interfering, but did not give more details.
"This is an answer to the constant political violation and Kenya's open interference in Somalia's independence," he said.
The Kenyan government did not immediately respond.
Mogadishu's move to cut ties followed a two-day visit to Kenya by Muse Bihi Abdi, president of Somalia's breakaway region of Somaliland, that ended on Monday.
During the visit, Abdi and Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta pledged "unwavering commitment to deepen the cordial bilateral relations" between Kenya and Somaliland, according to a Kenyan presidency statement.
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Mogadishu regards Somaliland as an integral part of Somalia.
Last month, Somalia expelled Nairobi's ambassador and recalled its own envoy after alleging interference in the electoral process in Jubbaland.
Jubbaland, which borders Kenya, is one of Somalia's five semi-autonomous states.
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Also last year, Kenya recalled its ambassador after Mogadishu decided to auction disputed oil and gas exploration blocks at sea. Ties were restored a few months later.
Gunfire in Mogadishu
The diplomatic flare-up came as anti-government protests broke out in Mogadishu. Demonstrators denounced President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed - usually known by his nickname "Farmaajo" (cheese) - over delayed votes for both houses of parliament.
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The polls were due early this month but became snagged on disagreements over the composition of the electoral board.
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The opposition accuses the government of packing it with sympathisers, which officials deny.
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"We do not want a dictator, we do not want Farmaajo," hundreds of protesters chanted, calling for him to quit. Some carried placards with "Farmaajo is a curse" written on them.
Armed men in plain clothes guarded the protesters but soon started exchanging gunfire with police, prompting the protesters to scamper for safety. One witness, Halima Farah, told Reuters she saw two people injured.
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Guinean President Alpha Conde appealed for national unity on Tuesday after taking the oath of office following violently disputed elections.
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"I urge every one of you to forget the divisive past and turn towards a future of unity and hope," said Conde at ceremonies attended by African heads of state.
A flurry of contact-tracing followed France's confirmation that Macron had become the latest world leader to contract Covid-19, following the likes of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Donald Trump.
Macron, 42, was tested after the "onset of the first symptoms" and will now self-isolate for seven days in accordance with national regulations, his office said in a statement.
"He will continue to work and carry out his activities remotely," the statement said.
The timing is awkward for Macron, who is trying to handle the pandemic crisis in his own country while keeping a close eye on Brexit talks and a host of other international issues.
Officials emphasised he was still working and was taking part in a conference on economic development on Thursday afternoon.
Macron attended an EU summit in Brussels last week and on Monday went to a conference in Paris organised by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
European Council president Charles Michel and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were both at the Paris conference and are isolating.
Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa has also gone into self-isolation and cancelled all immediate events on his agenda after having lunch with Macron on Wednesday.
Macron has cancelled a scheduled trip to Lebanon, where he had been pressing for far-reaching political change after a giant explosion at Beirut's port in August.
'Defeat pandemic together'
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was with Macron "with all my heart".
"We are going to defeat this pandemic together," she said on Twitter. "We will continue to work hand in hand to immunise and protect our citizens."
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had learnt of Maron's positive test "with alarm" and wished his French counterpart a "speedy recovery and good health for many years to come".
Infections still high
Macron had repeatedly urged caution against the spread of the virus and in public he always wears a face mask covering his mouth and nose.
France earlier this week eased restrictions imposed to battle the second wave of the coronavirus but infection rates remain high.
There is still a nationwide overnight curfew from 8:00 pm to halt the spread of the virus while restaurants and cafes as well as theatres and cinemas remain closed.
Over 59,300 people have died in France since the start of the pandemic.
More than 17,000 new cases were registered on Wednesday alone, generating concern as people shop and travel ahead of the Christmas holidays.
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Like other EU countries, France is pinning its hopes on a vaccine and Castex said on Wednesday the country will receive 1.16 million doses by the end of the year.
Castex said the start of the vaccine campaign was conditional on approval from the European Medicines Agency, expected on December 21.
Von der Leyen said on Thursday that the EU would start inoculations on December 27.
Another problem for the French authorities is that according to an opinion poll, only 53 percent of people want to be vaccinated, among the lowest rates in the world.
https://www.thewyco.com/general/frances-european-leaders-rush-into-isolation-after-macron-tests-positive-for-covid-19-17-12-2020
https://www.guest-articles.com/art-culture/covid-19-european-leaders-rush-into-isolation-after-macron-tests-positive-for-covid-19-17-12-2020