Keyword: Barack Obama

Row over sale of warships to Russia and US fine for French bank have cooled relations ahead of presidential meeting on Normandy beach.

During his recent visit to Washington French president François Hollande surprised many observers by calling for a speeding up of the negotiations for a EU-US free trade agreement, the biggest deal of its kind in the world. The president's demands are in sharp contrast with France's earlier caution over the free trade zone, an issue which has provoked concern and opposition across Europe. For some, it also seems a curious stance to adopt just weeks before important European elections at which the proposed deal is set to be a controversial issue. Ludovic Lamant reports.

As François Hollande continues his state visit to the US, the American president says the two see eye-to-eye on global security issues.

Three-day state visit this week gives president chance to improve country’s image, with morale among American investors in France at new low.

Interior Minister Manuel Valls says France will await the U.S. Congress's decision on military action in Syria before making any move itself.

President Hollande backs Obama decision to get green light from Congress but now faces pressure to put the issue to French parliament.

After days of hesitation, the United States finally seems poised to intervene militarily following Syria's use of chemical weapons against its own people. But until then, faced with the enduring crises in Syria and Egypt, the White House had sometimes given the impression that the entire administration was on its summer holiday. More generally, during the first five years of his presidency Barack Obama has shown indecision and muddle in his handling of international issues. To the point, argues Thomas Cantaloube, that the United States is in danger of slipping towards insignificance on the world stage.

The game of diplomatic bluff played out in the row between the Unites States and Russia over the asylum offered to former NSA computer analyst-turned-whistleblower Edward Snowden disguises an essential issue that concerns all of us, writes Mediapart editor-in-chief Edwy Plenel. That issue, he argues here, is how a ‘state of exception’, symbolized by the US Patriot Act and which cites supposed security concerns above the just rule of law, is surreptitiously extending its already vast power amid hitherto widespread indifference. A battle is on to force its retreat, and it is being fought here, on the internet.

Obama's re-election to a second term of office is applauded across the French political divide.

Talks before G8 and NATO summits between presidents Obama and Hollande at the White House focussed on Europe's economy and Afghanistan.

In an unprecedented move in French diplomacy, TV channels were given a video link-up between Nicolas Sarkozy and US President Barack Obama.