PARIS: France warned Sunday that “fits of anger” could not dictate international cooperation after US President Donald Trump abruptly rejected a joint statement agreed following a bad-tempered G7 summit in Canada.
“International cooperation cannot be dictated by fits of anger and throwaway remarks,” President Emmanuel Macron’s office said in a statement to AFP.
“We spend two days working out a (joint) statement and commitments. We are sticking to them and whoever reneges on them is showing incoherence and inconsistency.
“Let’s be serious and worthy of our people. We make commitments and keep them,” the presidency said, adding that “France and Europe maintain their support for this (G7) statement.”
Minutes after the publication of a joint communique that was approved by Trump and other Group of Seven leaders at a summit in the city of Quebec, the US leader announced on Twitter that he was retracting his support.
In a flurry of tweets from Air Force One, en route to Singapore for a historic nuclear summit with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Trump accused the summit host, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of being “very dishonest.”
He was reacting to Trudeau’s declaration that Canadians would “not be pushed around” and would hit back at punishing US tariffs on metal imports with “equivalent tariffs.”
“Based on Justin’s false statements at his news conference, and the fact that Canada is charging massive Tariffs to our US farmers, workers and companies, I have instructed our US Reps not to endorse the Communique as we look at Tariffs on automobiles flooding the US Market!” Trump tweeted.
“PM Justin Trudeau of Canada acted so meek and mild during our @G7 meetings only to give a news conference after I left saying that ... he ‘will not be pushed around.’ Very dishonest & weak.”
France on G7: ‘Fits of anger’ cannot dictate international cooperation
France on G7: ‘Fits of anger’ cannot dictate international cooperation
- Minutes after the publication of a joint communique that was approved by Trump and other Group of Seven leaders at a summit in the city of Quebec, the US leader announced on Twitter that he was retracting his support
- In a flurry of tweets from Air Force One Trump accused the Canadian PM of being “very dishonest”
Louvre official says fraud ‘inevitable’ at large museums
- Among the suspects are two Chinese tour guides accused of bringing groups of tourists into the museum
PARIS: For the Louvre, the world’s most visited museum, it is “statistically inevitable” that fraud would come up at some point, the museum’s No. 2 said in the wake of a decade-long, $11.8 million suspected ticket-fraud scheme revealed last week.
Kim Pham, the Louvre’s general administrator, told The Associated Press that the museum’s unique scale makes it particularly vulnerable. However, pressed to name other institutions with similar problems, he declined to single out peers.
“Which museum in the world, with this level of attendance, would not at certain moments have some issues of fraud,” wondered Pham, who oversees day-to-day operations, including administration and internal management.
And that’s no easy task, with 86,000 square meters of space presenting 35,000 works of art to nine million visitors a year.
Last week, Paris prosecutors said that nine people were being detained in connection to the ticket scheme. The nine have been formally charged and brought before investigating judges.
Among the suspects are two Chinese tour guides accused of bringing groups of tourists into the museum by fraudulently reusing the same tickets multiple times for different visitors, allegedly with the help of Louvre employees.
The Louvre had filed a complaint back in December 2024, prosecutors said. Investigators estimate losses of more than $11.8 million over a decade, with the alleged criminal network suspected of bringing in up to 20 guided groups a day.
