France’s environment minister and former TV celebrity Nicolas Hulot unexpectedly announced his resignation on live radio on Tuesday, claiming he had felt “all alone” in advocating for the environment.
“I am taking the most difficult decision in my life, I don’t want to lie any more. I don’t want to give the impression that my presence in the government means we are facing up to the challenge [of global warming]. Therefore, decided to quit the government,” the former minister said on France Inter radio.
Mr Hulot made his frustrations clear at the beginning of the programme, when he described global warming as “a tragedy waiting to happen”.
Asked why he was still part of the government despite his frustration at France’s slow pace of progress on green issues, the long-time environmental advocate replied announcing his shock resignation.
The TV personality was lured into government last year as President Emmanuel Macron sought a high-profile figurehead for the environmental agenda. Mr Hulot’s announcement threatened to overshadow Mr Macron’s latest initiative to secure more European integration. The French leader was in Denmark to sell his EU ideas on Tuesday.
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Macron urges EU defence unity amid Trump crisis
Macron targets French welfare spending as deficit pressure rises
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The resignation also comes at a time in which the 40-year-old centrist leader is facing issues on several fronts, including slow economic growth and a failure to heal transatlantic rifts with US President Donald Trump.
Following the announcement, government spokesman Benjamin Griveaux reflected the shock in government circles. He said that “the most basic of courtesies would have been to warn the president of the republic and the prime minister”.
Mr Hulot said his admiration for Mr Macron was unchanged but that he chose to keep the decision from him in fear he might be persuaded to stay in office.
“This is a decision I took alone, no one was aware of it, not even my wife,” he said.
Asked what prompted it, Mr Hulot said that everything he had said in past years he did not believe in any more. “This is the gravity of the situation,” he added.
Formerly best known as the presenter of the Ushuaia Nature TV programme on French television, Mr Hulot was criticised as ineffective this month by former actress Brigitte Bardot, who described him in an interview as a "first-class coward … who is good for nothing".
The actress then said in a tweet that the environment minister had called “in rage”, accusing her of being “a coward” who aims to flatter the president.
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, second leg result:
Ajax 2-3 Tottenham
Tottenham advance on away goals rule after tie ends 3-3 on aggregate
Final: June 1, Madrid
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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The biog
Born: High Wycombe, England
Favourite vehicle: One with solid axels
Favourite camping spot: Anywhere I can get to.
Favourite road trip: My first trip to Kazakhstan-Kyrgyzstan. The desert they have over there is different and the language made it a bit more challenging.
Favourite spot in the UAE: Al Dhafra. It’s unique, natural, inaccessible, unspoilt.
Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
MATCH INFO
Liverpool v Manchester City, Sunday, 8.30pm UAE
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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