Reuters Oct 6, 08 5:12 PM CDT
(Newser)
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A slip of the "h" landed France's foreign minister in hot water yesterday, Reuters reports. Bernard Kouchner told an Israeli newspaper that a nuclear weapon would not protect Iran "because you will eat them before." France shot off a quick statement explaining that Kouchner, like many English speakers in France, dropped the "h" in "hit" and came up with "eat."
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'Talk, talk and more talk' to stop Iranian nuke program, Kouchner urges
Reuters Oct 5, 08 7:17 AM CDT
(Newser)
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The French foreign minister has urged Israel not to launch an attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, Reuters reports. "There are those" in Israel and the Israeli army "who are preparing for a military attack," Bernard Kouchner told an Israeli newspaper. "That's not the solution." Kouchner, in the Mideast to discuss peace, said the West should pursue "talk, talk," and consider further sanctions to persuade Iran to stop its nuclear program.
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Asian alliance, including China, condemns aggression
Guardian (UK) Aug 28, 08 8:21 AM CDT
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The European Union is considering sanctions against the Great Bear over its incursion into Georgia, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said today, as EU leaders head to an emergency summit. And a Russian plea for support from the East was strongly rebuffed by members of an Asian alliance that includes China, the Guardian reports.
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Kouchner brokers accord as new threats arise in Abkhazia
BBC Aug 11, 08 6:54 AM CDT
(Newser)
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Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili has signed a ceasefire agreement drafted by the European Union, which EU mediators will present to Moscow later today. Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, visited Tbilisi this morning and said that the Georgian leader was "determined to make peace." Kouchner will now try to convince Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president, to support the truce.
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Thumbs-down on Thursday would derail years of negotiations
Financial Times (UK) Jun 10, 08 11:00 AM CDT
(Newser)
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European Union reformers are aghast at the possibility that Irish voters could derail years of negotiations Thursday with a rejection of the constitution-like Lisbon Treaty, the Financial Times reports. Ireland is alone among the EU's 27 members in offering citizens a referendum on the treaty, which streamlines and consolidates EU power. The treaty must be ratified unanimously to take effect.
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Colombian rebels
block medical help
for Betancourt
BBC Apr 9, 08 5:35 AM CDT
(Newser)
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A French humanitarian team is leaving Colombia after being frustrated in its mission to aid failing hostage Ingrid Betancourt, reports the BBC. The leadership of the FARC rebels, who have held the French-Colombian presidential candidate hostage for six years, refused to allow the team to provide Betancourt with emergency medical aid. French President Nicolas Sarkozy had sent the aid workers after reports that Betancourt was seriously ill.
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German chancellor says she's not protesting, but Czech and Polish leaders are
Guardian (UK) Mar 29, 08 7:07 AM CDT
(Newser)
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German Chancellor Angela Merkel and other top German officials won't be going to the Beijing Olympics, the Guardian reports, joining Polish and Czech leaders who have pledged to stay away. But while Polish PM Donald Tusk and Czech President Vaclav Klaus said they'll be boycotting the opening ceremony to protest human rights abuses in Tibet, the Germans said their absence isn't political.
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Kouchner says new president can't undo
8 years of Bush
International Herald Tribune Mar 13, 08 10:46 AM CDT
(Newser)
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For Bernard Kouchner, the outspoken French foreign minister, George W. Bush's successor might be able to restore some of America's lost global prestige, but after 8 years "the magic is over." In a conversation with the International Herald Tribune , Kouchner—one of France's most staunchly pro-American politicians—offered a blunt assessment of the US's battered reputation, lamenting, "It will never be as it was before."
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Ex-socialist is now Sarko's buddy and France's star politician
New York Times Feb 3, 08 4:31 PM CST
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Bernard Kouchner was once a card-carrying socialist hurling red ink at the American Embassy in Paris. Now, as France’s foreign minister, he’s President Nicolas Sarkozy’s right-hand man, helping to rebuild long-strained ties with the US. He also may be France’s most popular politician. The New York Times takes an in-depth look at the man who is redefining France’s place in the world.
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Opposition calls
for new election as condemnation grows
Reuters Jan 4, 08 8:35 AM CST
(Newser)
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Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has said he is open to the possibility of a coalition government—if the opposition consents to his terms, Reuters reports. South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu said after a meeting with Kibaki that "there is a great deal of hope" in ongoing talks and that both sides appear willing to negotiate.
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French prez, Italian honey arrive on billionaire's jet, paparazzi in tow
BBC Dec 26, 07 9:58 AM CST
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Nicolas Sarkozy has flown to Egypt, where the French president will meet with his counterpart Hosni Mubarak after spending a few days on the Nile with new girlfriend Carla Bruni. Paparazzi staked out the airport before the arrival of the divorcé and the supermodel-turned-singer, who flew in on a private jet owned by a French billionaire.
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"Negotiate, negotiate," Kouchner now says after storm of criticism
New York Times Sep 18, 07 3:18 AM CDT
(Newser)
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner yesterday backpedaled on comments he'd made threatening war with Iran if it didn't drop development of its nuclear program. "The worst situation would be war, and to avoid the worst, the French position is very clear: negotiate, negotiate, negotiate," he said after criticism from his own government and stinging blasts from Iran.
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Kouchner pleases US with Iran rumblings,
but he's no sure thing
CNN Sep 17, 07 4:52 PM CDT
(Newser)
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The founder of Doctors Without Borders might seem a peculiar mouthpiece for the new law-and-order regime of Nicolas Sarkozy, but Bernard Kouchner actually fits right in with France’s more muscular foreign policy tone. The surprise choice for foreign minister, Kouchner is an anomaly, a Socialist who supports the Iraq war, CNN reports in a profile of the man Boutros Boutros-Ghali once called "an unguided missile."
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World should 'prepare for the worst," says foreign minister
BBC Sep 17, 07 4:24 AM CDT
(Newser)
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French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner yesterday threatened war with Iran to halt its nuclear weapons program. France favors negotiations and sanctions but the world should prepare for military action if all else fails, he said in an interview on French TV. Iranian nuclear weapons would pose "a real danger for the whole world," he warned.
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Sarko calls for
more sanctions
Times (UK) Aug 28, 07 4:50 AM CDT
(Newser)
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French President Nicolas Sarkozy took a bead on Iran in his first major foreign policy speech yesterday, suggesting that if Iran's nuclear weapons program wasn't halted, bombing could be the only alternative. He called Iran's atomic ambitions "without doubt the most serious crisis that weighs today on the international scene.”
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