Europe's key leaders are rooting for the right in France's presidential contest, hoping that Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, as the new French president, will link up with them to reform the EU and reach swift agreement on a new rule book for the union.
Sarkozy has a reputation for protectionism and hostility to the European Commission, and has attacked the European central bank and indulged in electioneering euro-bashing. Nonetheless, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Manuel Barroso, the European commission president, all view him as the best hope for striking a new pact on how to run Europe.
Polls give him a lead of about five percentage points over his Socialist rival, Segolene Royal, in the run-up to next Sunday's vote. More surprising is his clear lead among the European elite, left and right. Officials in Brussels say Europe's key figures on the center-left and center-right agree that a Royal victory next Sunday would be a setback for the prospects of salvaging a slimmed-down EU constitution.
While mercurial and difficult, Sarkozy is expected to move quickly to seal a deal on a new constitution with Blair or British Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, and Merkel, who has made the constitutional project the centerpiece of her current EU presidency.
A French member of parliament and aide to Sarkozy, Axel Poniatowski, said, "Sarkozy has already discussed this issue with Blair, Merkel, and [Spanish prime minister] Zapatero."
"Our main partners are aware of what he would do if elected," he said.
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
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A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
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