Former US president Barack Obama on Saturday took a new swipe at his successor, Donald Trump, over the Paris climate accord at a meeting with business leaders in the French capital.
Obama also vouched for the superiority of female leadership as “men seem to be having some problems these days,” alluding to the sexual assault and harassment scandals currently engulfing the US.
Speaking to a group of communications and media leaders as well as financiers and academics known as Les Napoleons, Obama regretted what he called a “temporary absence of American leadership” on climate change.
Photo: AFP
He was referring to Trump’s threat to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate accord, the day after making similar remarks during a visit to New Delhi.
Trump has said the accord is crippling US business and has called for the agreement to be renegotiated.
Asked to list leadership qualities for the future, Obama advocated “more focus on putting women in power, because men seem to be having some problems these days.”
“Not to generalize, but women seem to have a better capacity than men do, partly because of their socialization,” said the 56-year-old Democrat, who left office in January.
Obama also used the occasion to hone his post-presidential vision of hope and change as he seeks to build support for the foundation he launched in September.
“If we can adapt to change, we can make extraordinary progress. Hope is not being blind to problems,” Obama said. “Hope is facing problems and then still believing that we can work them out.”
The world is “healthier, wealthier and less violent than at any time in human history,” with “only a few things that are irreversible,” he said, but also warning of the dangers of “deeply embedded inequality.”
“Going forward we need to modernize our economies in a way that is inclusive,” he said.
Obama earlier on Saturday lunched with French President Emmanuel Macron, meeting him for the first time after backing his presidential campaign.
Obama also on Saturday met with former French president Francois Hollande and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo.
“We discussed the big challenges of the planet and especially the subject of the climate. We are confident the accord will be implemented,” Hollande tweeted afterward.
Hidalgo said the C40, an international network of mayors that she heads, would build ties with the Obama Foundation focusing on climate change.
Obama was seen as a major catch for Les Napoleons, a relatively unknown networking group set up in 2014 and claiming a membership of about 3,000. His has not been disclosed, but a rampant rumor mill suggested the figure of US$400,000.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number