- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
- Norris quickest as Verstappen bounces back in Singapore practice
- Wallabies lament All Blacks' fast start
- Germany's Oktoberfest opens under tight security after attacks
- Environmental protesters block French cruise liner port
- No place like home: Biden hosts 'Quad' leaders
- Zelensky says no UK, US go-ahead to use long-range missiles
- New Zealand edge Australia 31-28 in Bledisloe Cup thriller
- Japan orders evacuations as heavy rains trigger floods in quake-hit area
- New Zealand pilot freed in Indonesia after 19 months in rebel captivity
- Hezbollah in disarray after Israeli air strike kills top commanders
- Leading climate activist released from Vietnam jail
- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
Macron to visit Netherlands amid row over China comments
French President Emmanuel Macron begins a state visit to the Netherlands on Tuesday featuring a speech on Europe that will be keenly watched after his controversial remarks on its ties with the US and China.
Macron, freshly returned from a visit to China last week, sparked criticism after saying in an interview published Sunday that Europe must not be a "follower" of either Washington or Beijing on Taiwan.
His comments threaten to overshadow a two-day visit to the Netherlands that is meant to highlight a new dynamic between Paris and The Hague after the turning point of Brexit.
Macron, who is accompanied by his wife Brigitte and seven ministers, will dine with Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Maxima, see the hot-ticket Johannes Vermeer exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and meet Prime Minister Mark Rutte on a canal boat.
But eyes will now be on the French president's speech on "European sovereignty" in security and economic matters on Tuesday afternoon at the Dutch Nexus institute in The Hague.
He will use the address to present "a doctrine of economic security" against China and the United States, amid European unease over US climate subsidies.
The speech comes after Macron said in an interview with media including French business daily Les Echos and Politico that "we don't want to depend on others on critical issues", citing energy, artificial intelligence and social networks.
Macron's comments in the same interview on Taiwan, that Europe risks entanglement in "crises that aren't ours" and should "depend less on the Americans" in matters of defence, have raised questions, like his past remarks on Ukraine.
- 'Brain death' -
"The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must be followers and adapt ourselves to the American rhythm and a Chinese overreaction," Macron said after his three-day state visit to Beijing.
"A brain death has occurred somewhere, no doubt," said the director of the Polish Institute of International Relations (PISM), Slawomir Debski, referring to the formulation used by the French president to describe NATO in 2019.
But the White House said Monday it was "confident" in the relationship with France despite Macron's comments.
In the wake of the speech, Paris and The Hague will sign a "pact for innovation" on Wednesday focusing on cooperation in semiconductors, quantum physics and energy.
France and the Netherlands will also work to finalise a defence pact by 2024.
The visit is also meant to seal the growing closeness between two countries that were once at opposite ends of the European spectrum on frugality and social spending.
"Since the start of the war in Ukraine, positions have converged," particularly on European sovereignty, noted the Elysee Palace.
The visit was the "expression of a Franco-Dutch rapprochement" that resulted from the Netherlands losing its traditional EU ally, Britain, due to Brexit, it added.
Macron's is the first state visit by a French leader to the Netherlands since 2000. The Dutch royals paid a state visit to France in 2016.
The French president's domestic political troubles also threaten to intrude on the visit, with a new day of strikes against his pension reform plans planned for Thursday.
Ferreira--PC