Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy today vowed to ‘go all the way’ to clear his name, two days after being handed a three-year prison sentence for corruption. A Paris court ruled that Sarkozy had formed a ‘corruption pact’ with his lawyer Thierry Herzog to convince a judge to obtain and share information about an inquiry … Read more
People in Germany, France and Sweden blame their own governments and the EU for their stuttering vaccine programmes while Britons are happy with the UK’s rapid progress, a new poll shows. The survey by Kekst CNC found 77 per cent of Britons saying their country has handled the vaccine roll-out well – compared to 23 … Read more
Austria and Denmark will produce new Covid vaccines without help from the EU after the bloc’s jab roll-out descended into a slow-paced shambles. Sebastian Kurz, Austria’s prime minister, and Danish leader Mette Frederiksen announced today that they will travel to Israel to discuss development of a second generation of coronavirus vaccines with health authorities there. Israel … Read more
France will start giving Britain’s AstraZeneca vaccine to over-65s in an humiliating U-turn for President Macron after he personally cast doubt on its effectiveness. Olivier Veran, the French health minister, said today that the jab will soon be made available to people over the age of 50 with underlying health issues that make them vulnerable … Read more
French president Macron tells nation that curfew must stay for at least another month as health chief says 6pm lock-in rule is ‘working very well’ Macron had been speaking during official trip to Seine-Saint-Denis earlier today He stressed curfew would need to remain in place for another four to six weeks It comes as France’s top … Read more
Germany and France look set to approve the AstraZeneca Covid jab for the over 65s in a major U-turn aimed at speeding up their stuttering vaccine drives. In an ignominious climb-down, health chiefs in both countries have now suggested they could update their policies for the Oxford University researched jab – after initially refusing to … Read more
Emmanuel Macron said last night he would take the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine despite previously rubbishing the jab – although he will likely have to wait until the summer under a faltering roll-out which has left France vulnerable to a third wave. Macron, 43, said that ‘in view of the latest scientific studies, the efficacy of the … Read more
France could ban ‘confusing’ gender neutral words that ‘endanger the language’ under law proposed by 60 MPs 60 MPs are pushing for a ban on ‘confusing’ gender inclusive words They argue the changes make learning proper French more difficult The proposed law will be debated in the national assembly in the coming weeks By Sophie … Read more
The pace of France’s Covid-19 vaccination programme is too slow to prevent new lockdown measures being needed to halt a third wave of hospitalisations, top scientists say. Experts at the prestigious Institut Pasteur say the current pace of around 100,000 jabs a day is ‘insufficient’ to rein in the effects of the highly contagious UK … Read more
Consulting giant McKinsey has attracted criticism over France’s slow vaccine rollout after Emmanuel Macron gave the firm £2.83 million to handle logistics. The president signed contracts totalling £9.46 million with four large consulting firms, despite France’s traditional pride for the quality of its vast civil service. Within weeks of those deals, Mr Macron was receiving flak … Read more