Depuis sa séparation d’avec , Marie-Laure se consacre à nouvelle vie d’artiste. Sous le pseudo de Viebel, elle sculpte tous les jours, réfugiée dans son atelier d’artiste, un décor qui la change des palais de la République.
Gala: Comment est née chez vous cette envie de sculpture?
Marie-Laure de Villepin: Tout est parti du Christ que vous voyez ici. (… )Nous l’avons confié à un restaurateur qui l’a littéralement ressuscité. Je suis retourné voir cet artisan. «Est-ce que vous accepteriez que je vienne vous observer et apprendre le métier?» lui ai-je demandé. Cela a duré douze ans. Entre temps, mon mari est devenu ministre. Je prenais le métro pour me rendre au fin fond du 20e arrondissement et découvrir les techniques de dorure. (…)
Gala: Quelle incidence a eu la politique sur votre vie de couple?
M-L de Villepin: C’est plus fort que tout.
cela en lui. L’engagement politique, c’est sa vie. Pour ma part, j’ai joué le jeu pendant des années et je veux tourner la page. Mais lui a décidé de continuer. Je prends donc un autre chemin. C’est douloureux pour tout le monde.(…)
Gala:Qu’est-ce qui est si difficile dans cette vie-là?
M-L de Villepin: La solitude. A Matignon, combien de soirs seule devant mon plateau d’argent. Mais aussi combien de fous rire à l’office avec les intendants à regarder ensemble Les Guignols de l’info! La politique est un combat et pour l’entourage c’est dur.(…)
Gala:Dominique de Villepin est poète à ses heures… C’est ce qui vous a séduite, lorsque, étudiante en interprétariat, vous l’avez rencontré à dix-neuf ans dans un autobus parisien?
Bien sûr. C’est quelqu’un de formidable. Quand je l’ai épousé, c’était un diplomate, et pas un politique. J’ai été trompée sur la marchandise! (Eclat de rire) Ce qui m’a séduite, c’est son talent pour expliquer les grands problèmes du monde.
Retrouvez l’intégralité de l’interview exclusive de Marie-Laure de Villepin réalisée par Candice Nedelec ce mercredi en kiosque.
Trois ans après la sortie d'”Un homme et son chien”, Jean-Paul Belmondo s’apprête à retrouver le chemin des studios ! Bébel tiendra le rôle principal du prochain film de Claude Lelouch, “Les Bandits manchots”.
Bébel-Lelouch : quatrième ! Après Les Misérables, Itinéraire d’un enfant gâté et Un Homme qui me plaît, Jean-Paul Belmondo et Claude Lelouch s’apprêtent à collaborer pour la quatrième fois. Le cinéaste a en effet choisi Bébel pour incarner le premier rôle des Bandits manchots, son prochain film. Il incarnera un prisonnier qui tente de s’échapper, mais qui va se blesser grièvement, en glissant du toit de son établissement pénitentiaire… Jean-Paul Belmondo fera ainsi son grand retour à l’écran, trois ans après Un homme et son chien de Francis Huster. Au casting des Bandits manchots, on trouvera également Franck Dubosc, Aldo Maccione, Antoine Duléry, Audrey Dana et Charles Gérard.
Après Les Bandits manchots, Claude Lelouch devrait enchaîner avec deux autres longs métrages : Salaud, on t’aime ! (voir notre précédent article) et L’Intime Conviction. Ces trois films formeront une sorte de triptyque, bien que différents, car ils auront une séquence en commun.
Après avoir dansé de façon torride dans son fief de la Barbade début août, la chanteuse était la star la plus attendue de l’été à Saint-Tropez. Arrivée en pleine forme, Ri-RI se lâche…
Depuis qu’elle est arrivée à Saint-Tropez,
ne passe pas inaperçue. Maillots de bain flashy, yacht imposant, garde rapprochée pas très discrète, l’ex de Chris Brown est omniprésente. Pour sa première soirée au VIP Room de Jean-Roch, Ri-Ri a bien profité de son statut de célibataire.
Selon nos confrères de Nice Matin, la chanteuse de la Barbade aurait demandé aux serveurs de la boîte branchée varoise de leur montrer leurs abdos. Pour le plus grand plaisir de la chanteuse, les éphèbes du VIP, ne se sont pas fait prier pour s’exécuter. Heureuse de son coup, Rihanna, qui n’a rien manqué du spectacle, leur a donné 100 euros de pourboire pour les remercier d’avoir pu se rincer l’œil. Généreuse Ri-Ri, qui semble bien décidée à ne pas regarder à la dépense pendant ses vacances. L’interprète du tube de l’été Man Down (écoulé à plus de cinq millions d’exemplaires) louerait ainsi un yatch estimé à 230 000 euros la semaine. Une broutille pour la star du RnB qui a déjà vendu 17 millions d’albums et 70 millions de singles depuis le début sa carrière. Tout ça du haut… de ses 23 ans…
Après une année forte en émotion, à sillonner l’Hexagone à la découverte des produits du terroir, Miss France est en passe d’achever son tour de France. En pleine sélection des nouvelles miss pour l’éléction 2012, Laury Thilleman a fait un stop par sa Bretagne natale, pour couronner la nouvelle élue, et ainsi passer le relai.
Ambiance mouchoirs et cotillons pour l’élection de la nouvelle Miss Bretagne à Pontivy. Laury Thilleman, porte-parole du chic à la française depuis presque un an, vient de dire adieu à son écharpe bretonne, non sans émotions. Notre surfeuse du Finistère n’a pu retenir ses larmes au moment de son discours, devant un parterre de fans sous le charme: «Je ne sais pas combien de kilomètres j’aurai parcouru cette année, combien de photos j’aurai réalisées, combien de sourires esquissés, combien d’embrassades, combien de talons usés aussi, mais c’est ça ce que la famille Miss France m’a appris: il ne faut parfois pas hésiter à donner de soi », confie la belle, des trémolos dans la voix.
Sur scène, aux côtés de Sylvie Tellier –directrice du comité Miss France-, l’émotion la submerge au moment des remerciements, telle une mise au point sur cette incroyable année qu’elle vient de vivre avec l’écharpe Miss France. «Je crois que je perds un peu mes mots pour vous dire à quel point j’aurai été fière de représenter notre région pendant un an», poursuit la jolie Laury. Depuis ses débuts en tant que Miss France, malgré la polémique avec le concours de Geneviève de Fontenay Miss Nationale qui n’a plus le droit de présenter un concours, Laury Thilleman a toujours fait preuve d’une fraîcheur très moderne, et d’un enthousiasme communicatif. Après son passage remarqué au concours de MissUnivers, la Brestoise a fait briller l’image de la France à l’international.
Mais comme a dit Laury, «aujourd’hui, rien ne s’arrête, c’est juste une page qui se tourne et voilà le début d’une nouvelle aventure puisque le 3 décembre prochain, à Brest, je remettrai ma couronne de Miss France». Et notre miss 2011 n’a certainement pas fini de faire parler d’elle…
Due to the coronavirus threat, Formula E has been forced to postpone the electric series’ sixth round scheduled to take place in Rome on April 4.
After the Sanya E-Prix in China which was cancelled last month, the race in the ancient city has also succumbed to the global virus outbreak. The Rome E-Prix is the first European motorsport event to be postponed since the start of the coronavirus crisis.
In Europe, Italy is the country worst hit by the epidemic, with a cluster of 3,800 cases erupting in the northern part of the country and leading to a death toll of 48.
Bahrain freezes ticket sales to assess COVID-19 situation
Italy has adopted drastic measures in response to the coronavirus outbreak in Europe, closing schools and universities until at least March 15, and ordering all sporting events to take place behind closed doors.
Formula E released on Friday the following statement:
“As a consequence of the ongoing health emergency in Italy and according to the provisions set out in the ministerial decree concerning measures to counteract and contain the spread of COVID-19 in the country – which includes sporting events with large crowds and spectators in close proximity – it will no longer be possible to stage the Rome E-Prix on April 4, 2020.
“Formula E, in agreement with the relevant authorities in Rome, EUR S.p.A and together with the FIA and Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI), will work closely with championship partners and stakeholders in order to assess and review alternative options to postpone the Rome E-Prix to a later date once restrictions have been lifted.
“All ticket holders will be contacted through the appropriate channels in the coming days.”
Unfortunately, Formula E’s upcoming spring schedule doesn’t bide well for the series as the next two events are to be held in Seoul, South Korea and in Jakarta, Indonesia, two countries close to China where the virus initiated its outbreak.
Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers
Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter
The EU is keen to introduce EU-wide reforms, but is facing opposition from its member states at every turn
When Algirdas Šemeta took over as the European commissioner with responsibility for taxation and customs in 2009, few could have predicted how busy the dossier would prove. Yet while there was renewed interest in tax matters at the European Union level, the legislative process for approving tax matters remained as slow and tortuous as ever.
This is well illustrated by the European Commission’s proposal in 2011 to levy a small tax on certain financial transactions conducted in the EU.
The idea had been talked about for years. The Commission was galvanised into action by growing hostility towards the banking sector in the wake of the financial crisis. But the plan was torpedoed almost immediately by several member states, including the United Kingdom, which exercised its right of veto over tax matters.
Nonetheless, 11 member states are seeking to circumvent that veto by implementing the rules through the novel enhanced co-operation procedure, which would see the rule come into force only in those member states that sign up to the agreement.
So far progress has been slow. Federal elections in Germany in September interrupted the negotiations, and disagreements between member states over which financial transactions to tax have also loomed large.
France would not like the tax to apply to trades in derivatives, so as to remain in line with a law introduced in France, whereas Germany believes the scope should be wider. Greece would like the proceeds from the tax to be used for cohesion spending within the EU, while France envisages the money being used to fund international development work.
So although François Hollande, France’s president, and Angela Merkel, Germany’s chancellor, ended a Franco-German summit in Paris on 19 February with a restatement of their intention to have the tax in place by the European Parliament elections in May, few details of actual compromises have emerged.
Last June the European Commission proposed new rules on the automatic exchange of tax information among member states and then, in November, on reforming the rules on the taxation of cross-border transfers between parent companies and their subsidiaries.
The proposal on sharing tax information exposes the difficulty the EU has to reform or even harmonise national laws relating to tax.
For despite repeated calls from the European Council for its adoption, the draft directive has been blocked by Austria and Luxembourg.
These two countries have made their approval conditional on the EU signing agreements that include similar rules with Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Andorra and others. But negotiations with these countries have been slow.
A boost to the tax agenda has come in the shape of the growing concern to reduce red tape for companies, expressed most vociferously at the national level by the UK and the Netherlands, and taken up by the Commission in its “regulatory fitness” agenda.
This has led to proposals seeking to make the collection of taxes more efficient. The Commission in October proposed harmonising tax returns for value-added tax (see below), following up on a proposal in 2011 to harmonise companies’ corporate tax filings.
The latter would take the radical step of allowing pan-EU companies to submit a single tax return, although they would still be subject to different levels of tax at the national level. But the Commission has yet to convince member states, which tend to guard jealously all aspects of national tax systems.
During the convention to draw up a constitutional treaty for the EU in 2003, the Commission proposed removing member states’ absolute unanimity over tax matters, although this was vigorously and successfully opposed by the UK.
The enhanced co-ordination being tested with the financial transaction tax could prove a model to make progress without constantly being held back by member states’ veto on unanimity, observed a Commission official.
There is also a chance that further integration of eurozone economies and their economic governance could make it easier to achieve greater fiscal harmonisation within the eurozone, in particular by using the enhanced co-operation procedure.
Yet the likelihood of this happening in the near future is slim. Several eurozone members, in particular Luxembourg, Austria and Slovakia, have featured among the staunchest opponents of the Commission’s proposals on tax matters.
European Council to meet ‘two days after Parliament elections’
Van Rompuy says EU leaders will discuss presidency of Commission just after May’s election.
Herman Van Rompuy, the president of the European Council, will host a meeting of EU national leaders shortly after the European Parliament elections, to discuss candidates for the presidency of the European Commission.
In an interview with Le Soir newspaper, Van Rompuy said: “The European Council will meet two days after the European elections, from Tuesday evening.”
The Parliament elections take place from 22-25 May, so the Council meeting would be on 27 May. Van Rompuy said that he would try to see if there was a candidate who could command majority support in the Parliament based on the election results.
Under EU treaty rules, the European Council, which appoints the president of the Commission, should take into account the results of the Parliament elections. The Council’s choice of Commission president has to be approved by a majority of MEPs in a formal vote.
The Parliament cannot vote to approve a president of the Commission until the second plenary session in July, after the assembly has been constituted for the 2014-09 term. Van Rompuy has suggested that the process of discussing candidates could start as soon as the election results are known. The Parliament could also propose a candidate if it was clear that the person would get majority support in the assembly, he suggested.
“If the Parliament comes with a candidate who has a stable and credible majority, not a mixed-up combination of all the negative votes, that will be an extremely important element,” he said. He stressed that he would still need to get the support of members of the European Council for the candidate to be nominated.
Van Rompuy stressed the importance of Council and Parliament agreeing on a candidate, rather than each institution trying to impose its preference on the other. “We have to get out of the game of rivalries,” he said.
Asked whether he had any names in mind to be his successor as president of the European Council, Van Rompuy said that he did but added that those people had to “leave their countries and their governments, which is not straightforward”. He was referring to the assumption that the head of the Council should be a serving prime minister. Van Rompuy is a former prime minister of Belgium.
Do lorry makers want to kill the lorry of the future?
Lorry manufacturers should be embracing change, not blocking it.
Looking back at 2013, it was a terrible year for many Europeans who cycle around their cities – particularly for Londoners. 14 bike users were killed in London in 2013, 9 of them by HGVs (Heavy Goods Vehicles – or lorries). Despite even Olympic cyclists calling for immediate action, nothing concrete has come out of this tragic toll. In wider Europe, the EU estimates that 4,200 people are killed by lorries annually – a disproportionately high number considering how few lorries are on the roads.
Last year the European Commission made a sensible proposal to give European lorries a facelift to allow safer and more fuel efficient lorry design. It would give lorries a short, curvy nose and much bigger windscreens, so drivers can actually see cyclists. The better driver vision would help avoid accidents, but if they do happen, the impact of frontal crashes would be greatly reduced by the deflecting shape and the softer front. Safety groups, cities, hauliers and even environmental groups hailed the proposal as a clear win-win for the economy, road safety and the environment.
But when the Commission’s win-win announcement was made, there was one interested party that remained surprisingly quiet – the lorry makers. Since then, slowly but surely, like a lorry winding its way up the Chaussee de Wavre, the manufacturers have begun to make some noise. Some said extra design space would not be useful, despite others quietly welcoming it.
The only thing that they do seem to agree on, however, is that no single manufacturer should be able to benefit from the changes to the law before everyone else does. So, they agreed that there should be a 15 year ‘lead time’ for these safety changes; “to ensure competitive neutrality”.
Lead time is usually given to allow industry to adapt to things they are obliged to do. Now, apparently, manufacturers want lead time for something they are allowed to do. They would, of course, be completely free to continue selling current models if they want to. This whole disruptive delay to make sure that if one lorry maker can’t prosper, then none of them should, would almost be rather amusing if it wasn’t for the seriousness of the consequences.
But the stakes are incredibly high. If one lorry maker were to come forward with a radically improved cab design, others may follow. Upsetting the competitive equilibrium could be the starting point of a virtuous circle of increased competition and accelerated improvements to safety, fuel economy and emissions. Moreover, if life saving cabs are on the market, cities like London could start discouraging dangerous brick-shaped cabs, just like it plans to impose penalties on lorries without mirrors.
The proposal on lorry dimensions now moves to a vote in the European Parliament, where politicians will no doubt be faced with the lobbying efforts of lorry-makers. It is up to representatives in Brussels to take a firm stance and ensure, for all our sakes, that safer, smarter and greener lorries are on our roads as soon as possible.
William Todts is a campaigner for smarter, safer lorries at green group Transport & Environment.
The Spurs midfielder was involved in a controversial incident on Wednesday after he and his brother were insulted by a supporter
Former Tottenham manager George Graham says players must learn to deal with insults from fans after Eric Dier ran into the stands to confront a spectator following his side’s FA Cup defeat to Norwich.
Spurs midfielder Dier climbed over advertising boards and up the stand to confront a supporter who aimed verbal abuse at him during the game and then insulted his younger brother, who was seated close by and tried to calm the offender down.
The incident overshadowed Wednesday evening’s game, which saw Spurs crash out of the competition after they drew 1-1 with Norwich and then lost the subsequent penalty shootout.
More teams
Coach Jose Mourinho criticised the 26-year-old for reacting to the abuse, saying he did what “professionals cannot do”, though he questioned whether the man who upset Dier was a true Spurs fan.
Meanwhile, former Spurs players Les Ferdinand and Gary Mabbutt said that the England international’s reaction was understandable because he was trying to defend his brother.
But ex-Scotland international Graham, who spent three years in charge of the north London outfit, says Dier should have known better and says today’s players must learn to control themselves much quicker than the stars of the past.
“I didn’t see it as I didn’t see the game. But it was well-documented in the papers. I can understand one side of it and I can understand another,” the former Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester United player told reporters at the London Football Awards on Thursday.
“We don’t want that to happen again. I think he will be punished. I can understand why he did it. The players have to be able to handle it.
“Talented players, young players in the first team, now aged 17 or 18 years old – they have a lot of responsibility. And they have to learn quicker than we did in the past.
“There have always been occasions like this. That was a surprise as he looks a very calm, controlled player.”
Tottenham are back in action on Saturday when they travel to Turf Moor to face Burnley in the Premier League.
Lithuanian government is still “very determined” to join the eurozone
Lithuania has restated its intention to join the euro on 1 January 2015. The news was announced by Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Dutch finance minister and Eurogroup president, at a meeting of eurozone finance ministers on 27 January. The Lithuanian government is still “very determined” to join the eurozone, despite the deep slump experienced by the currency bloc since 2009, he said. In doing so it would follow in the footsteps of its Baltic neighbours Estonia, which joined the eurozone in 2011, and Latvia, which joined this month.
Its candidacy would be the subject of convergence reports from the European Commission and the European Central Bank in June. Andris Vilks, Latvia’s finance minister, briefed the Eurogroup on the country’s transition from the lat to the euro.