Media-shy French President Emmanuel Macron is to sit for a prime-time interview on Thursday as he faces his biggest test abroad in Syria and labour unrest at home.
France is poised to join punitive strikes on Syria over the alleged use of chemical weapons. The president set a "red line" on the use of such weapons last May.
Mr Macron believes Syrian leader Bashar Al Assad was responsible for an attack on Saturday near Damascus that rescue workers say killed dozens of people.
"If France doesn't react now that the conditions are met, we would lose all credibility," Bruno Tertrais, a political scientist at the Foundation for Strategic Research told AFP.
US President Donald Trump is still weighing options for military action against Syria. Pentagon chief Jim Mattis and Mr Trump’s national security team met on Wednesday after the president warned Russia to expect a missile strike on Syria, tweeting missiles "will be coming."
British Prime Minister Theresa May summoned her Cabinet back from vacation to discuss military action against Syria. Mrs May has indicated she wants Britain to join in any US-led strikes as the use of chemical weapons "cannot go unchallenged."
The French president is scheduled to appear on a lunchtime news show on Thursday filmed in a primary school in the village of Berd'huis, which has a population of 1,079. Locals have been invited to the school and encouraged to ask questions.
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The chemical weapons attack is a critical moment to push for a political settlement in Syria
How might the West strike Syria?
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The French president will also be answering questions from Jean-Pierre Pernaut, the anchorman of private TV channel TF1’s lunchtime news programme, which has about five million viewers.
Mr Macron's intention is to shed his image as a Paris-centric metropolitan and reconnect with rural voters and the elderly, who have been irked by higher taxes on pensions and lower speed limits on country roads, analysts say.
"Emmanuel Macron wants to speak to the 'real France' and escape his image as the 'president of the rich', who is young glamorous and Parisian," political commentator Philippe Moreau-Chevrolet said.
Macron, 40, will also be keen to reiterate why he believes overhauling the debt-laden state railway operator SNCF is necessary as train staff press rolling strikes that have repeatedly crippled the network. Train workers, hospitals staff, students, retirees, lawyers and magistrates have all been protesting the way Mr Macron's government is changing France in an effort to make it more competitive.
Rail workers have threatened to ramp up their three-month rolling strike, students have been blocking a string of universities over educational reforms and French lawyers and judges have staged a “day of dead justice” in protest at moves to consolidate their profession.
More than 2,300 gendarmes have been engaged in violent battles with eco-warriors illegally occupying land in western France. Demonstrators fired a flare rocket at a police helicopter. Thirty six people have been injured.
Macron, who last gave a French television interview in December, will take to the airwaves again on Sunday evening for another two-hour grilling.
He will be interviewed by Edwy Plenel, a former Trotskyite and founder of Mediapart, a leftist investigative website.
Milestones on the road to union
1970
October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.
December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.
1971
March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.
July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.
July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.
August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.
August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.
September 3: Qatar becomes independent.
November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.
November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.
November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.
November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties
December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.
December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.
December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
THE NEW BATCH'S FOCUS SECTORS
AiFlux – renewables, oil and gas
DevisionX – manufacturing
Event Gates – security and manufacturing
Farmdar – agriculture
Farmin – smart cities
Greener Crop – agriculture
Ipera.ai – space digitisation
Lune Technologies – fibre-optics
Monak – delivery
NutzenTech – environment
Nybl – machine learning
Occicor – shelf management
Olymon Solutions – smart automation
Pivony – user-generated data
PowerDev – energy big data
Sav – finance
Searover – renewables
Swftbox – delivery
Trade Capital Partners – FinTech
Valorafutbol – sports and entertainment
Workfam – employee engagement
Tuesday's fixtures
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At Eternity’s Gate
Director: Julian Schnabel
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Oscar Isaacs, Mads Mikkelsen
Three stars
Company%20profile%20
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EName%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EElggo%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20August%202022%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Luma%20Makari%20and%20Mirna%20Mneimneh%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%2C%20UAE%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Education%20technology%20%2F%20health%20technology%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESize%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Four%20employees%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-seed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
Scorecard:
England 458 & 119/1 (51.0 ov)
South Africa 361
England lead by 216 runs with 9 wickets remaining
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
BULKWHIZ PROFILE
Date started: February 2017
Founders: Amira Rashad (CEO), Yusuf Saber (CTO), Mahmoud Sayedahmed (adviser), Reda Bouraoui (adviser)
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: E-commerce
Size: 50 employees
Funding: approximately $6m
Investors: Beco Capital, Enabling Future and Wain in the UAE; China's MSA Capital; 500 Startups; Faith Capital and Savour Ventures in Kuwait
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
