title: President of Romania

text: In the Communist era, the president was elected for a five-year term by the Great National Assembly (GNA) on the recommendation of the Romanian Communist Party's Central Committee and the Front of Socialist Unity and Democracy, with no term limits. Ceaușescu was the only holder of the office under this system; he was elected by the GNA in 1974 and reelected in 1980 and 1985, each time unopposed. The president continued to serve as "ex officio" president of the State Council, and had the right to act on any matter that did not require a State Council plenum. He also appointed and dismissed ministers and heads of central agencies. When the GNA was not in session (in practice, for most of the year), the president could appoint and dismiss the president of the Supreme Court and the prosecutor general without State Council's approval; indeed, he was not even required to consult his State Council colleagues when making such decisions. Ceaușescu created the office in order to make himself chief decision-maker in both name and fact. Previously, he had nominally been first among equals on the State Council, deriving his real power from his leadership of the Communist Party. In practice, he used his power to act on all matters that did not require a plenum to rule by decree. Over time, he also usurped many powers that constitutionally belonged to the State Council as a whole.


title: President of Romania

text: After the Constitutional Court acknowledges the legality of the election, the Houses of Parliament meet in a joint session. The elected President takes the following oath of office, specified by article 82 of the Constitution:


title: President of Romania

text: "I solemnly swear that I will dedicate all my strength and the best of my ability for the spiritual and material welfare of the Romanian people, to abide by the Constitution and laws of the country, to defend democracy, the fundamental rights and freedoms of my fellow-citizens, Romania's sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity. So help me God!"


title: President of Romania

text: Under the 1991 Constitution, which was amended in 2003, presidential powers were curtailed in contrast to communist Romania; the office continues to wield significant influence within a semi-presidential system of government.


title: President of Romania

text: The president's duties are set out in Title III, Chapter II of the Constitution. These are not exclusive, and are supplemented by other constitutional and legal provisions.


title: President of Romania

text: In the exercise of his functions, the president issues decrees. Decrees issued under Article 91 (1) and (2), Article 92 (2) and (3), Article 93 (1), and Article 94 a), b) and d) of the Constitution must be countersigned by the Prime Minister in order to take effect.


title: President of Romania

text: An incumbent president who severely violates the Constitution may be suspended by the Parliament in joint session. If the suspension motion passes, there is a call for a referendum of impeachment within no more than 30 days from the suspension.


title: President of Romania

text: If the Senate and Chamber of Deputies, in joint session, accuse the president of high treason, the president is suspended from powers and duties by right. The accusations are judged by the High Court of Cassation and Justice. The incumbent president is dismissed by right if found guilty of high treason.


title: President of Romania

text: The suspension and impeachment procedure has been implemented three times. The first time regarded President Ion Iliescu, following a statement regarding the returning of the illegally confiscated properties during the years of the Socialist Republic of Romania to the original owners or their heirs. This first attempt in 1995 did not pass the vote in Parliament.


title: President of Romania

text: The second attempt was successful, with the person suspended being Traian Băsescu, in office as of April 2007. He became the first president to successfully be suspended and also the first to face an impeachment vote before the people, regarding issues with supposed unconstitutional acts. The impeachment plebiscite was held on 19 May 2007, and Băsescu survived the impeachment attempt. The result was the rejection of the proposal by 24.94% in favor to 75.06% opposed.


title: President of Romania

text: The third attempt lead to a second successful suspension in July 2012, again against Traian Băsescu. The referendum was held on 29 July 2012, and the results were 88.7% in favor and 11.3% opposed, with voter turnout calculated to be 46.24%; below the 50% + one vote threshold required at the time the referendum was held. The Constitutional Court did not give a verdict on the validation of the referendum at the time, citing irregularities in the permanent electoral lists. On 21 August, the Court deemed the referendum invalid, and again Băsescu prevailed from being ousted.


title: President of Romania

text: Should the office of the president become vacant due to resignation, impeachment, permanent inability to perform the duties of office, or death while in office, the president of the Senate or the president of the Chamber of Deputies, in that order, step in as "Ad Interim President of Romania" (). Neither relinquish their position as president of their respective Legislative House for the duration of the ad interim term. An ad interim president cannot address the Parliament, dissolve the Parliament, nor call for a referendum (the impeachment referendum after a motion of suspension is called by Parliament). The vacancy of the office cannot be longer than three months. While the president is suspended, the office is not considered vacant.


title: Kye Allums

text: Kye Allums (born October 23, 1989) is a former college basketball player for the George Washington University women's team who in 2010 came out as a trans man, becoming the first openly transgender NCAA Division I college athlete. Allums is a transgender advocate, public speaker, artist, and mentor to LGBT youth.


title: Kye Allums

text: Allums graduated from Centennial High School in Circle Pines, Minnesota, United States. He played three seasons as a guard on the women's basketball team at George Washington University, the George Washington Colonials. Allums's teammates called him "Kay-Kay". Allums began telling people to call him "Kye". He came out as a trans man in 2010. He told sports website "Outsports", "my biological sex is female, which makes me a transgender male."


title: Kye Allums

text: In May 2011, GWU announced that Allums had decided to leave the GWU basketball team. He graduated from George Washington University in 2011 with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts.


title: Kye Allums

text: Allums began traveling around the country to talk about life as a transgender person. He visits high schools, colleges and universities to discuss the transgender community and how it is possible to be transgender and play on a team. He gives advice on confronting bullies when being trans.


title: Kye Allums

text: He starred in Laverne Cox’s documentary "The T Word." The film follows young transgender individuals and explains what they go through.


title: Kye Allums

text: Kye produced a project called "I Am Enough", which encourages other LGBTQ individuals to come out and talk about their experiences. The project allows individuals to submit their stories, thereby showing people who share the same issues that they are not alone.


title: Kye Allums

text: Allums published a book called "Who Am I?", which features poems and letters he wrote about his parents and himself.


title: France–United States relations

text: France was the first ally of the new United States in 1778. The 1778 Treaty of Alliance between the two countries and the subsequent aid provided from France proved decisive in the American victory over Britain in the American Revolutionary War. France, however, was left heavily indebted after the war, which contributed to France's own revolution and eventual transition to a republic.


title: France–United States relations

text: The France-United States alliance has remained peaceful since, with the exceptions of the Quasi War from 1798 to 1799 and American combat against Vichy France (while supporting Free France) from 1942 to 1944 during World War II. Tensions, however, rose during the American Civil War, as France intervened militarily in Mexico and entertained the possibility of recognizing the separatist Confederate States of America, the defeat of which was followed by the United States sending a large army to the Mexican border and forcing the withdraw of French forces from Mexico.


title: France–United States relations

text: In the 21st century, differences over the Iraq War led to a souring of public opinion on both sides of the relationship. However, relations improved over the decade after the beginning of the war, with American favorability ratings of France reaching a historic high of 87% in 2016. Gallup concluded, "After diplomatic differences in 2003 soured relations between the two countries, France and the U.S. have found a common interest in combating international terrorism, and the mission has become personal for both countries."


title: France–United States relations

text: However, relations again deteriorated in September 2021 due to fallout from the AUKUS agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Philippe Étienne, the French ambassador, was recalled as a result of the fallout; no French ambassador to the United States has ever previously been recalled. The French Foreign Ministry cited as reasons the "duplicity, disdain and lies" of Australia and the United States. However relations improved sharply in early 2022, as Paris worked closely with the U.S. and NATO in helping Ukraine and punishing Russia for its invasion. Overall relations with the U.S. became an issue in the April 2022 presidential election, as right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen denounced close ties with the United States and NATO while promising a rapprochement with Russia.


title: France–United States relations

text: New France () was the area colonized by France beginning with exploration in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spain in 1763 under the Treaty of Paris (1763).


title: France–United States relations

text: The vast territory of "New France" consisted of five colonies at its peak in 1712, each with its own administration: Canada, the most developed colony, was divided into the districts of Québec, Trois-Rivières, and Montréal; Hudson's Bay; Acadie in the northeast; Plaisance on the island of Newfoundland; and Louisiane. It extended from Newfoundland to the Canadian Prairies and from Hudson Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, including all the Great Lakes of North America. The colony of Louisiana (New France) became part of the United States between 1776 and 1803, but outside of what is now the state of Louisiana it had a very small French population.


title: France–United States relations

text: Population grew steadily because of high birth rates and good food supplies. In 1754 New France's population consisted of 10,000 Acadians, 55,000 "Canadiens", while the territories of upper and lower Louisiana had about 4,000 permanent French settlers, summing to 69,000 people.


title: France–United States relations

text: The British expelled the Acadians in the Great Upheaval from 1755 to 1764. Their descendants are dispersed in modern Canada and in the U.S., in Maine and Louisiana.


title: France–United States relations

text: Beginning in earnest after 1688, the simmering dynastic, religious and factional rivalries between the Protestant Britain and the larger power Catholic France triggered four wars in Europe that spilled over into North America. They were "French and Indian Wars" fought largely on American soil (King William's War, 1689–1697; Queen Anne's War, 1702–1713; King George's War, 1744–1748; and, finally the Seven Years' War, 1756–1763). The French made allies of most of the Indian tribes and enabled them to attack villages in New England. Great Britain won and finally removed the French from continental North America in 1763.


title: France–United States relations

text: In 1763, France ceded almost all of New France to Britain and Spain, at the Treaty of Paris. Britain took over Canada, Acadia, and the parts of French Louisiana which lay east of the Mississippi River, except for the Île d'Orléans. Spain was granted all the French claims to the west of the Mississippi River. In 1800, Spain returned its portion of Louisiana to France under the secret Treaty of San Ildefonso in 1800 imposed by Napoleon Bonaparte. He sold it all to the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803, permanently ending French colonial efforts on the American mainland. New France became absorbed within the United States and Canada. In the United States, the legacy of New France includes numerous place names as well as pockets of French-speaking communities.


title: France–United States relations

text: Within a decade after the French were expelled in 1763, the British colonies were in open revolt. France, coordinated by Luis de Unzaga y Amézaga 'le Conciliateur', retaliated by secretly supplying the independence movement with troops and war materials.


title: France–United States relations

text: After Congress declared independence in July 1776, its agents in Paris recruited officers for the Continental Army, notably the Marquis de Lafayette, who served with distinction as a major general. Despite a lingering distrust of France, the agents also requested a formal alliance. After readying their fleet and being impressed by the U.S. victory at the Battle of Saratoga in October 1777, the French on February 6, 1778, concluded treaties of commerce and alliance that bound them to fight Britain until independence of the United States was assured.


title: France–United States relations

text: The military alliance began poorly. French Admiral d'Estaing sailed to North America with a fleet in 1778, and began a joint effort with American General John Sullivan to capture a British outpost at Newport, Rhode Island. D'Estaing broke off the operation to confront a British fleet, and then, despite pleas from Sullivan and Lafayette, sailed away to Boston for repairs. Without naval support, the plan collapsed, and American forces under Sullivan had to conduct a fighting retreat alone. American outrage was widespread, and several Royal French Navy sailors were killed in anti-French riots. D'Estaing's actions in a disastrous siege at Savannah, Georgia further undermined Franco-American relations.


title: France–United States relations

text: The alliance improved with the arrival in the United States in 1780 of the Comte de Rochambeau, who maintained a good working relationship with General Washington. French naval actions at the Battle of the Chesapeake made possible the decisive Franco–American victory at the siege of Yorktown in October 1781, which effectively brought an end to major combat in North America.


title: France–United States relations

text: The reliance of the nascent United States on Catholic France for military, financial and diplomatic aid led to a sharp drop in anti-Catholic rhetoric. Historian Francis Cogiano argues, the king replaced the pope as the targeted common enemy. Though Anti-Catholicism remained strong among those Loyalists who chose to remain in the new nation, by the 1780s legal toleration had been codified for Catholics across the United States, including all of the New England, a region that had historically been so hostile. Cogliano wrote: "In the midst of war and crisis, New Englanders gave up not only their allegiance to Britain but one of their most dearly held prejudices."


title: France–United States relations

text: In the peace negotiations between the Americans and the British in Paris in 1782, the French played a major role. Indeed, the French Foreign Minister Vergennes had maneuvered so that the American Congress ordered its delegation to follow the advice of the French. However, the American commissioners, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and particularly John Jay, correctly realized that France did not want a strong United States. They realized that they would get better terms directly from Britain itself. The key episodes came in September, 1782, when Vergennes proposed a solution that was strongly opposed by the United States. France was exhausted by the war, and everyone wanted peace except Spain, which insisted on continuing the war until it captured Gibraltar from the British. Vergennes came up with the deal that Spain would accept instead of Gibraltar. The United States would gain its independence but be confined to the area east of the Appalachian Mountains. Britain would take the area north of the Ohio River. In the area south of that there would be set up an independent Indian state under Spanish control. It would be an Indian barrier state and keep the Americans from the Mississippi River or New Orleans, which were under Spanish control. John Jay promptly told the British that he was willing to negotiate directly with them, cutting off France and Spain. The British Prime Minister Lord Shelburne agreed. He was in full charge of the British negotiations and he now saw a chance to split the United States away from France and make the new country a valuable economic partner. The western terms were that the United States would gain all of the area east of the Mississippi River, north of Florida, and south of Canada. The northern boundary would be almost the same as today. The United States would gain fishing rights off Canadian coasts, and agreed to allow British merchants and Loyalists to try to recover their property. It was a highly favorable treaty for the United States, and deliberately so from the British point of view. Prime Minister Shelburne foresaw highly profitable two-way trade between Britain and the rapidly growing United States, as it indeed came to pass. Trade with France was always on a much smaller scale.


title: France–United States relations

text: Six years later, the French Revolution toppled the Bourbon regime. At first, the United States was quite sympathetic to the new situation in France, where the absolutist hereditary monarchy was replaced by a constitutional republic. However, the situation in France increasingly soured and the French revolutionary government became increasingly authoritarian and brutal. Events such as the reign of terror, dissipated some of the United States' warmth for France. Unlike Thomas Jefferson, who left France in 1789, Gouverneur Morris (1752–1816) was far more critical of the French Revolution. Commenting on her grandfather's conservative outlook on the world, Anne Cary Morris said, "His creed was rather to form the government to suit the condition, character, manners, and habits of the people. In France this opinion led him to take the monarchical view, firmly believing that a republican form of government would not suit the French character."


title: France–United States relations

text: A crisis emerged in 1793 when France was invaded on multiple sides by Great Britain and its allies, after the revolutionary government had executed the king. The young federal government in the United States was uncertain how to respond with some arguing that the US was still obliged by the alliance of 1778 to go to war on the side of France. The treaty had been called "military and economic", and as the United States had not finished paying off the French war loan, the continued validity of the military alliance was also called into question. President George Washington (responding to advice from both Alexander Hamilton and Jefferson) recognized the new French government, but did not support France in its war with Britain, as expressed in his 1793 Proclamation of Neutrality. Congress agreed and a year later passed a neutrality act forbidding U.S. citizens from participating in the war and prohibiting the use of U.S. soil as a base of operations by either side in the conflict. The French revolutionary government viewed Washington's policy as a betrayal.


title: France–United States relations

text: The first challenge to U.S. neutrality came from France, when its first diplomatic representative, the brash Edmond-Charles Genêt, toured the United States to organize U.S. expeditions against Spain and Britain. Washington demanded Genêt's recall, but by then the French Revolution had taken yet another turn and the new French ministers arrived to arrest Genêt. Washington refused to extradite Genêt (knowing he would be guillotined), and Genêt later became a U.S. citizen.


title: France–United States relations

text: France further regarded Jay's Treaty (November 1794) between Britain and the United States as hostile. It opened a decade of trade when France was at war with Britain.


title: France–United States relations

text: Timothy Pickering (1745-1829) was the third United States Secretary of State, serving in that office from 1795 to 1800 under Washington and John Adams. Biographer Gerald Clarfield says he was a "quick-tempered, self-righteous, frank, and aggressive Anglophile," who handled the French poorly. In response the French envoy Pierre Adet repeatedly provoked Pickering into embarrassing situations, then ridiculed his blunderings and blusterings to appeal to Democratic-Republican opponents of the Federalist Adams Administration.


title: France–United States relations

text: To overcome this resentment John Adams sent a special mission to Paris in 1797 to meet the French foreign minister Talleyrand. The American delegation was shocked, however, when it was demanded that they pay monetary bribes in order to meet and secure a deal with the French government. Adams exposed the episode, known as the "XYZ Affair", which greatly offended Americans even though such bribery was not uncommon among the courts of Europe.


title: France–United States relations

text: Tensions with France escalated into an undeclared war—called the "Quasi-War." It involved two years of hostilities at sea, in which both navies attacked the other's shipping in the West Indies. The unexpected fighting ability of the U.S. Navy, which destroyed the French West Indian trade, together with the growing weaknesses and final overthrow of the ruling Directory in France in the Coup of 18 Brumaire, led Talleyrand to reopen negotiations. At the same time, President Adams feuded with Hamilton over control of the Adams' administration. Adams took sudden and unexpected action, rejecting the anti-French hawks in his own party and offering peace to France. In 1800 he sent William Vans Murray to France to negotiate peace; Federalists cried betrayal. The subsequent negotiations, embodied in the Convention of 1800 (also called the "Treaty of Mortefontaine") of September 30, 1800, affirmed the rights of Americans as neutrals upon the sea and abrogated the alliance with France of 1778. The treaty failed to provide compensation for the $20,000,000 "French Spoliation Claims" of the United States; the U.S. government eventually paid these claims. The Convention of 1800 ensured that the United States would remain neutral toward France in the wars of Napoleon and ended the "entangling" French alliance with the United States. In truth, this alliance had only been viable between 1778 and 1783.


title: France–United States relations

text: The Spanish Empire was losing money heavily on the ownership of vast Louisiana territory, and was eager to turn it over to Napoleon in 1800. He envisioned it as the base (along with Haiti) of a New World empire. Louisiana would be a granary providing food to the enslaved labor force in the West Indies. President Jefferson could tolerate weak Spain but not the powerful First French Empire in the west. He considered war to prevent French control of the Mississippi River. Jefferson sent his close friend, James Monroe, to France to buy as much of the land around New Orleans as he could. Surprisingly, Napoleon agreed to sell the entire territory. Because of an insuppressible slave rebellion in St. Domingue, modern-day Haiti, among other reasons, Bonaparte's North American plans collapsed. To keep Louisiana out of British hands in an approaching war he sold it in April 1803 to the United States for $15 million. British bankers financed the deal, taking American government bonds and shipping gold to Paris. The size of the United States was doubled without going to war.


title: France–United States relations

text: Britain and France resumed their war in 1803, just after the Louisiana Purchase. Both challenged American neutrality and tried to disrupt American trade with its enemy. The presupposition was that small neutral nations could benefit from the wars of the great powers. Jefferson distrusted both Napoleon and Great Britain, but saw Britain (with its monarchism, aristocracy and great navy and position in Canada) as the more immediate threat to American interests. Therefore, he and Madison took a generally pro-French position and used the embargo to hurt British trade. Both sides infringed on U.S. maritime rights but the British did so far more, kidnapping thousands of American sailors off U.S. ships on the high seas and impressing them into the Royal Navy. Jefferson signed the Embargo Act in 1807, which forbade all foreign trade, exports and imports. Though designed to hurt the British, American commerce harmed far more and was rescinded in 1809, as Jefferson left office. The new Madison administration chose a more direct approach against British aggression and in 1812 declared war on Britain. Despite both nations now in open war against Great Britain, throughout the War of 1812 there never existed either a formal or informal sense of renewed alliance between the U.S. and France and no direct effort was ever made to coordinate military activity.


title: France–United States relations

text: With the Louisiana purchase the U.S. inherited French claims to Texas and border disputes with Spain's adjacent colonial empire. These issues were resolved by the Adams–Onís Treaty in 1819 which helped pave the way for the U.S. purchase of Florida.


title: France–United States relations

text: Catherine Hebert reports that French visitors before 1790 made highly favorable reports of American culture, influenced perhaps by the ideals of the noble savage and the American acceptance of the Enlightenment. However the Royalist exiles who came in the 1790s responded in a highly negative fashion to republicanism, and few remained permanently.


title: France–United States relations

text: According to James Banner, conservative Americans reacted strongly against the French Revolution, with its disdain toward religion and its zest for the guillotine. American minister James Monroe managed to rescue Thomas Paine from the guillotine in Paris in 1794. Jeffersonians at first supported the French Revolution, but after Napoleon came to power in 1799 Jefferson and his followers repudiated it as the antithesis of republicanism. The result was the destruction of the 1778 alliance and indeed the friendship between the United States and France. The new hostility enhanced the conservative elements in American republicanism. The alienation increased American sensibility about being "a people apart" and strengthened distrust of foreign influences and rejection of alien ideologies.


title: France–United States relations

text: Relations between the two nations were generally quiet for two decades with both trade and migration staying low. The United States, issued the "Monroe Doctrine" in 1823 to keep European powers, such as France, from colonizing lands in the New World. France had a strong interest in expanding commercially and imperially into Latin America as Spanish hegemony there collapsed. There was a desire among top French officials that some of the newly independent countries in Latin America might select a Bourbon king, though no actual operations ever took place. French officials ignored the American position. France and Austria, two reactionary monarchies, strenuously opposed American republicanism and wanted the United States to have no voice whatsoever in their affairs.


title: France–United States relations

text: A treaty between the United States and France in 1831 called for France to pay 25 million francs for the spoliation claims of American shipowners against French seizures during the Napoleonic wars. France did pay European claims, but refused to pay the United States. President Andrew Jackson was livid, In 1834 ordered the U.S. Navy to stand by and asked Congress for legislation. Jackson's political opponents blocked any legislation. France was annoyed but finally voted the money in exchanged for the an apology-which Jackson refused, and diplomatic relations were broken off until in December 1835 when Jackson offered some friendlier words. Eventually through British mediation, France paid the money, and cordial relations were resumed.


title: France–United States relations

text: Modest cultural exchanges resumed, most famously an intense study visits by Gustave de Beaumont and Alexis de Tocqueville, the author of "Democracy in America" (1835). The book was immediately a popular success in both countries, and to this day helps shape American self-understanding. American writers such as James Fenimore Cooper, Harriet Beecher Stowe, and Ralph Waldo Emerson appealed to an appreciative French audience. French utopian socialists projected an idealized American society as a model for the future. French travelers to the United States were often welcomed in the name of the Marquis de Lafayette, who despite having lost much of his influence in France, remained a popular hero in the Revolution in US and made a triumphant American tour in 1824. Numerous political exiles found refuge in New York.


title: France–United States relations

text: In the 1840s Britain and France considered sponsoring continued independence of the Republic of Texas and blocking U.S. moves to obtain California. Balance of power considerations made Britain want to keep the western territories out of U.S. hands to limit U.S. power; in the end, France opposed such intervention in order to limit British power, the same reason for which France had sold Louisiana to the U.S. and earlier supported the American Revolution. Thus the great majority of the territorial growth of the continental United States was accepted without question by Paris.


title: France–United States relations

text: During the American Civil War, 1861–65, France was neutral, as was every other nation. However Napoleon III favored the CSA, hoping to weaken the United States, gain a new ally in the Confederacy, safeguard the cotton trade and protect his large investment in controlling the Second Mexican Empire. France was too weak to act alone and sought the support of the British who also favored the Confederacy but were ultimately unwilling to risk war with the U.S.


title: France–United States relations

text: Napoleon III took advantage of the war in 1863, when he installed Austrian archduke Maximilian of Habsburg on the Mexican throne. Washington protested and refused to recognize the new government. Napoleon hoped that a Confederate victory would allow French dominance over Mexico. Matías Romero, Júarez's ambassador to the United States, gained some support in Congress for possibly intervening on Mexico's behalf against France's occupation. Seeking to avoid war with France, Secretary of State William Seward cautiously limited aid to the Mexican rebels until the Confederacy was near defeat.


title: France–United States relations

text: By 1865, United States diplomatic pressure coupled with the massing of US soldiers on the border with Mexico, persuaded Napoleon III to withdraw French troops and support. The democratic Mexican government was soon restored and Maximilian executed.


title: France–United States relations

text: After the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in April 1865, an outpouring of sympathy from French citizens proceeded. A nationwide collection for a medal, expressing the people's sympathy for Lincoln's death, was taken.


title: France–United States relations

text: The Union victory, French withdrawal from Mexico, and the Russian sale of Alaska left the United States dominant in the Western Hemisphere.


title: France–United States relations

text: The removal of Napoleon III in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian War helped improve Franco–American relations. American public opinion favored a German victory. During the German Siege of Paris, the small American population, led by the Minister to France Elihu B. Washburne, provided much medical, humanitarian, and diplomatic support to Parisians, gaining much credit to the Americans. In subsequent years the balance of power in the relationship shifted as the United States, with its very rapid growth in wealth, industry and population, came to overshadow the old powers. Trade was at a low level, France minimized the activity of American banks and insurance companies, tariffs were high, and mutual investments were uncommon.


title: France–United States relations

text: All during this period, the relationship remained friendly—as symbolized by the Statue of Liberty, presented in 1884 as a gift to the United States from the French people. From 1870 until 1918, France was the only major republic in a Europe of monarchies, which endeared it to the United States. Few French people emigrated, but many held the United States in high esteem, as a land of opportunity and as a source of modern ideas. Intellectuals, however, saw the United States as a land built on crass materialism, lacking in a significant culture, and boasting of its distrust of intellectuals. Very few self-styled French intellectuals were admirers.


title: France–United States relations

text: In 1906, when Germany challenged French influence in Morocco ("see" Tangier Crisis and Agadir Crisis), President Theodore Roosevelt sided with the French. Nevertheless, as the U.S. grew mightily in economic power, and forged closer ties with Britain, the French increasingly talked about an Anglo-Saxon threat to their culture.


title: France–United States relations

text: Student exchange became an important factor, especially Americans going to France to study. The French were annoyed that so many Americans were going to Germany for post-graduate education, and discussed how to attract more Americans. After 1870, hundreds of American women traveled to France and Switzerland to obtain their medical degrees. The best American schools were closed to them and chose an expensive option superior to what they were allowed in the U.S. In the First World War, normal enrollments plunged at French universities, and the government made a deliberate decision to attract American students partially to fill the enrollment gap, and more importantly to neutralize German influences in American higher education. Thousands of American soldiers, waiting for their slow return to America after the war ended in late 1918, enrolled in university programs set up especially for them.


title: France–United States relations

text: When World War I broke out the United States declared itself neutral, a status is maintained for almost 3 years until entering the conflict in April 1917 on the side of the Allies. Both before and after Washington provided much-needed money—as loans to be repaid—that purchased American food, oil and chemicals for the French effort. The first wave of initial American soldiers to arrive at the Western Front brought no heavy equipment (so that the ships could carry more soldiers). In combat they used French artillery, airplanes and tanks, such as the SPAD XIII fighter biplane and Renault FT light tank serving in the aviation and armored formations of the American Expeditionary Force on the Western Front. In 1918 the United States sent over two million combat troops under the command of General John J. Pershing, who operated on their own sector of the Western Front. They gave the Allies a decisive edge, as the Germans were unable to replace their heavy losses and virtually collapsed by September 1918.


title: France–United States relations

text: President Woodrow Wilson had become the hero of the war for Frenchmen, and his arrival in Paris was widely hailed. However, the two countries clashed over France's policy to weaken Germany and make it pay for the entire French war. The burning ambition of French Premier Georges Clemenceau was to ensure the security of France in the future; his formula was not friendship with Germany but restitution, reparations, and guarantees. Clemenceau had little confidence in what he considered to be the unrealistic and utopian principles of Wilson: "Even God was satisfied with Ten Commandments, but Wilson insists on fourteen" (a reference to Wilson's "Fourteen Points"). The two nations disagreed on debts, reparations, and restraints on Germany. President Wilson along with Clemenceau and British Prime Minister David Lloyd George led in making major decisions at the conference. Wilson made the new League of Nations his highest priority; the other two went along but had much less confidence in the value of the new League.


title: France–United States relations

text: Clemenceau was also determined that a buffer state should be established in the Rhineland under the aegis of France. In the eyes of the U.S. and British representatives, such a crass violation of the principle of self-determination would only breed future wars, and a compromise was therefore offered Clemenceau, which he accepted. The territory in question was to be occupied by Allied troops for a period of five to fifteen years, and a zone extending fifty kilometers east of the Rhine was to be demilitarized. Wilson and Lloyd George agreed to support a treaty that would guarantee France against German aggression. Republican leaders in Washington were willing to support a security treaty with France. It never came to a Senate vote because Wilson insisted on linking it to the Versailles Treaty, which the Republicans would not accept without certain amendments Wilson refused to allow.


title: France–United States relations

text: French historian Duroselle portrays Clemenceau as wiser than Wilson, equally compassionate and committed to justice but one who understood that world peace and order depended on the permanent suppression of the German threat. Blumenthal (1986), by contrast, says Wilson's policies were far sounder than the harsh terms demanded by Clemenceau. Blumenthal agrees with Wilson that peace and prosperity required Germany's integration into the world economy and political community as an equal partner.


title: France–United States relations

text: During the interwar years, the two nations remained friendly. Beginning in the 1920s, U.S. intellectuals, painters, writers, and tourists were drawn to visit and because of their interest in French art, literature, fashion, wines, and cuisine. Tensions rose over Washington's insistence that Paris repay war loans. A deal was reached: the Dawes Plan where American banks made loans to Germany, enabling them to pay reparations to France, who in turn would cover their American war loans. This system collapsed with in the Great Depression however.


title: France–United States relations

text: A number of American artists, such as Josephine Baker, experienced popular success in France. Paris was quite welcoming to American jazz music and black artists in particular, as France, unlike a significant part of the United States at the time, had no racial discrimination laws. Numerous writers such as William Faulkner, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and others were deeply influenced by their experiences of French life. Known as the Lost Generation, their time in Paris was documented by Hemingway in his memoir "A Moveable Feast".


title: France–United States relations

text: However, anti-Americanism came of age in the 1920s, as many French traditionalists were alarmed at the power of Hollywood and warned that America represented modernity, which in turn threatened traditional French values, customs, and popular literature. The alarm of American influence escalated half a century later when Americans opened the $4 billion Disneyland Paris theme park in 1992; it attracted larger crowds than the Louvre, and soon it was said that the iconic American cartoon character Mickey Mouse had become more familiar than Asterix among French youth.


title: France–United States relations

text: The J. Walter Thompson Company of New York was the leading American advertising agency of the interwar years. It established branch offices in Europe, including one in Paris in 1927. Most of these branches were soon the leading local agencies, as in Britain and Germany, JWT-Paris did poorly from the late 1920s through the early 1960s. The causes included cultural clashes between the French and Americans and subtle anti-Americanism among potential clients. Furthermore, The French market was heavily regulated and protected to repel all foreign interests, and the American admen in Paris were purportedly not good at hiding their condescension and insensitivity.


title: France–United States relations

text: In 1928 the two nations were the chief sponsors of the Kellogg–Briand Pact. The pact, which was endorsed by most major nations, renounced the use of war, promoted peaceful settlement of disputes, and called for collective force to prevent aggression. Its provisions were incorporated into the United Nations Charter and other treaties and it became a stepping stone to a more activist American policy. Diplomatic intercourse was minimal under Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1939.


title: France–United States relations

text: In the approach to Second World War the United States helped France arm its air force against the Nazi threat. The sudden outbreak of war had forced France to realize that Germany had a larger more advanced Air Force. President Roosevelt had long been interested in France, and was a personal friend of French Senator, Baron Amaury de La Grange. In late 1937 he told Roosevelt about the French weaknesses, and asked for military help. Roosevelt was forthcoming, and forced the War Department to secretly sell the most modern American airplanes and other equipment to France. The U.S. military opposed the sale of their latest designs, and American factories needed time to ramp up production. Fewer than 200 U.S. warplanes could be delivered before France surrendered in 1940. Paris frantically expanded its own aircraft production, but it was too little and too late. France and Britain declared war on Germany when it invaded Poland in September 1939, but there was little action until the following spring. The German blitzkrieg overwhelmed Denmark and Norway and trapped French and British forces in Belgium. France chose to accept German surrender terms which included a fascist puppet dictatorship.


title: France–United States relations

text: Langer (1947) argues that Washington was shocked by the sudden collapse of France in spring 1940, and feared that Germany might gain control of the large French fleet, and exploit France's overseas colonies. This led the Roosevelt administration to maintain diplomatic relations. FDR appointed his close associate Admiral William D. Leahy as ambassador. The Vichy regime was officially neutral but in practice subservient to the Axis. The United States severed diplomatic relations in late 1942 after Germany took direct control of the areas Vichy had previously governed autonomously.


title: France–United States relations

text: Relations were strained between Roosevelt and Charles de Gaulle, the leader of the Free French. After the breakout at Normandy, most on both sides thought it was only a matter of time before the Nazis lost. Eisenhower did give de Gaulle his word that Paris could be formally liberated by French forces, given the city's heavy symbolic but lack of tactical value. It was therefore easy for Eisenhower to let de Gaulle's French Forces of the Interior take the charge. Hitler had given the order to bomb and burn Paris to the ground; he wanted to make it a second Stalingrad. The French 2nd armored division with Maj. General Phillipe Leclerc at its helm was granted the task of liberating Paris by the Allied Supreme Command. General Leclerc was ecstatic at this thought because he wanted to wipe away the humiliation of the Vichy Government.


title: France–United States relations

text: Leclerc did not respect his American counterparts because like the British he thought that they were new to the war. Therefore, he thought the Americans did not know what they were doing on the field. After being more trouble than help, George S. Patton let Leclerc go for Paris. The French Resistance then fought to liberate Paris from the east while the 4th U.S. Infantry (originally part of Patton's Army) came from the west. Though the contribution of French Forces was of little significance militarily, Eisenhower still agreed with de Gaulle, that the first allied soldiers to enter a liberated Paris be French.


title: France–United States relations

text: With no other viable alternatives, the other Allied leaders accepted De Gaulle as head of the new French state, Eisenhower even came to Paris to give De Gaulle his blessing in person. Meanwhile, the U.S. Third Army under General Patton continued to push the German Army from the country, first sweeping across northern France before going onto liberating Lorraine, where he annexed Leclerc's division into his army.


title: France–United States relations

text: Roosevelt was strongly committed to terminating European colonialism in Asia, including French Indochina and placing them under international trusteeship. Roosevelt offered post-war funding and diplomatic support to the Republic of China to stabilize and if necessary police the region. This scheme included Chinese occupation of French Indochina, a proposal that was directly contrary to the plans of the French; de Gaulle had a grand vision of the French overseas empire as the base for his return to defeat Vichy France. Roosevelt would not abide de Gaulle, but Winston Churchill, a staunch supporter of colonialism himself, realized that Britain needed French help to reestablish its position in Europe after the war. Churchill and the British foreign office worked with de Gaulle against Roosevelt's decolonization plans. By 1944, Chiang's government was barely hanging on; despite Roosevelt's faith in the Chinese they had proven to be weak, often unstable and strategically vulnerable ally. Moreover, Chiang continued to voice disinterest to Roosevelt in his trusteeship plan and the idea was dropped altogether by the end of the war.


title: France–United States relations

text: In the postwar years, both cooperation and discord persisted. The French zone of occupation in Germany was formed from the U.S. zone. After de Gaulle left office in January 1946, the logjam was broken in terms of financial aid. Lend Lease had barely restarted when it was unexpectedly ended in August 1945. The U.S. Army shipped in food, 1944–46. U.S. Treasury loans and cash grants were given in 1945–47, and especially the Marshall Plan gave large sums (1948–51). There was post-Marshall aid (1951–55) designed to help France rearm and provide massive support for its war in Indochina. Apart from low-interest loans, the other funds were grants that did not involve repayment. The debts left over from World War I, whose payment had been suspended since 1931, was renegotiated in the Blum-Byrnes agreement of 1946. The United States forgave all $2.8 billion in debt from the First World War, and gave France a new loan of $650 million. In return French negotiator Jean Monnet set out the French five-year plan for recovery and development. The Marshall Plan gave France $2.3 billion with no repayment. The total of all American grants and credits to France from 1946 to 1953, amounted to $4.9 billion. A central feature of the Marshall Plan was to encourage international trade, reduce tariffs, lower barriers, and modernize French management. The Marshall Plan set up intensive tours of American industry. France sent 500 missions with 4700 businessmen and experts to tour American factories, farms, stores and offices. They were especially impressed with the prosperity of American workers, and how they could purchase an inexpensive new automobile for nine months work, compared to 30 months in France. Some French businesses resisted Americanization, but the most profitable, especially chemicals, oil, electronics, and instrumentation, seized upon the opportunity to attract American investments and build a larger market. The U.S. insisted on opportunities for Hollywood films, and the French film industry responded with new life.


title: France–United States relations

text: In 1949 the two became formal allies through the North Atlantic Treaty, which set up the NATO military alliance. Although the United States openly disapproved of French efforts to regain control of colonies in Africa and Southeast Asia, it supported the French government in fighting the Communist uprising in French Indochina. However, in 1954, U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower declined French requests for aerial strikes to relieve besieged French forces at Dien Bien Phu.


title: France–United States relations

text: France somewhat reluctantly joined the American leadership in the Cold War to contain the Soviet Union, despite a large Communist presence in French politics. The Communists were kept out of the national government.


title: France–United States relations

text: A major crisis came in 1956 when France, Britain, and Israel attacked Egypt, which had recently nationalized the Suez Canal. Eisenhower forced them to withdraw. By exposing their diminished international stature, the Suez Crisis had a profound impact on the UK and France: the UK subsequently aligned its Middle East policy to that of the United States, whereas France distanced itself from what it considered to be unreliable allies and sought its own path.


title: France–United States relations

text: In the 1950s France sought American help in developing nuclear weapons; Eisenhower rejected the overtures for four reasons. Before 1958, he was troubled by the political instability of the French Fourth Republic and worried that it might use nuclear weapons in its colonial wars in Vietnam and Algeria. Charles de Gaulle brought stability to the Fifth Republic starting in 1958, but Eisenhower was still hesitant to assist in the nuclearization of France. De Gaulle wanted to challenge the Anglo-Saxon monopoly on Western weapons by having his own "Force de frappe." Eisenhower feared his grandiose plans to use the bombs to restore French grandeur would weaken NATO. Furthermore, Eisenhower wanted to discourage the proliferation of nuclear arms anywhere.


title: France–United States relations

text: Charles de Gaulle also quarreled with Washington over the admission of Britain into the European Economic Community. These and other tensions led to de Gaulle's decision in 1966 to withdraw French forces from the integrated military structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and forced it to move its headquarters from Paris to Brussels, Belgium. De Gaulle's foreign policy was centered on an attempt to limit the power and influence of both superpowers, which would increase France's international prestige in relative terms. De Gaulle hoped to move France from being a follower of the United States to a leading first-world power with a large following among certain non-aligned Third World countries. The nations de Gaulle considered potential participants in this grouping were those in France's traditional spheres of influence, Africa and the Middle East.


title: France–United States relations

text: The two nations differed over the waging of the Vietnam War, in part because French leaders were convinced that the United States could not win. The recent French experience with the Algerian War of Independence was that it was impossible, in the long run, for a democracy to impose by force a government over a foreign population without considerable manpower and probably the use of unacceptable methods such as torture. The French popular view of the United States worsened at the same period, as it came to be seen as an imperialist power.


title: France–United States relations

text: Relations improved somewhat after de Gaulle lost power in 1969. Small tensions reappeared intermittently. France, more strongly than any other nation, has seen the European Union as a method of counterbalancing American power, and thus works towards such ends as having the Euro challenge the preeminent position of the United States dollar in global trade and developing a European defense initiative as an alternative to NATO. Overall, the United States had much closer relations with the other large European powers, Great Britain, Germany and Italy. In the 1980s the two nations cooperated on some international matters but disagreed sharply on others, such as Operation El Dorado Canyon and the desirability of a reunified Germany. The Reagan administration did its best efforts to prevent France and other European countries from buying natural gas from Russia, through the construction of the Siberia-Europe pipeline. The European governments, including the French, were undeterred and the pipeline was finally built.


title: France–United States relations

text: Richard Kuisel, an American scholar, has explored how France partly embraced American consumerism while rejecting much of American values and power. He writes in 2013:


title: France–United States relations

text: France under President François Mitterrand supported the 1991 Persian Gulf War in Iraq as a major participant under Operation Daguet. The French Assemblee Nationale even took the "unprecedented decision" to place all French forces in the Gulf under United States command for the duration of the war.


title: France–United States relations

text: All the left and right wing political elements in France strongly denounced the barbaric acts of the Al-Qaeda terrorists in the 9/11 attack in 2001. President Jacques Chirac —later known for his frosty relationship with President George W. Bush—ordered the French secret services to collaborate closely with U.S. intelligence, and created Alliance Base in Paris, a joint-intelligence service center charged with enacting the Bush administration's War on Terror. However, all the political elements rejected the idea of a full-scale war against Islamic radical terrorism. Memories of the Algerian war, and its disastrous impact on French internal affairs, as well as more distant memories of its own failed Indochina/Vietnam war, played a major role. Furthermore, France had a large Islamic population of its own, which Chirac could not afford to alienate. As a consequence, France refused to support any American military efforts in the Middle East. Numerous works by French novelists and film makers criticized the American efforts to transform the 9/11 terrorist attacks into a justification for war.


title: France–United States relations

text: In March 2003 France, along with Germany, China, and Russia, opposed the proposed UN resolution that would have authorized a U.S. invasion of Iraq. During the run-up to the war, French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin emerged as a prominent critic of the American Iraq policies. Despite the recurring rifts, the often ambivalent relationship remained formally intact. The United States did not need French help, and instead worked closely with Britain and its other allies.


title: France–United States relations

text: Angry American talk about boycotting French products in retaliation fizzled out, having little impact beyond the short-lived renaming of French fries as "Freedom fries." Nonetheless, the Iraq war, the attempted boycott, and anti-French sentiments caused a hostile negative counter reaction in Europe. By 2006, only one American in six considered France an ally of the United States.


title: France–United States relations

text: The ire of American popular opinion toward France during the run-up to the 2003 Iraq Invasion was primarily due to the fact that France threatened to use its United Nations Security Council veto power to block U.N. resolutions favorable to authorizing military action, and decided not to intervene in Iraq itself (because the French did not believe the reasons given to go to war, such as the supposed link between Saddam Hussein and Al-Qaeda, and the purported weapons of mass destruction to be legitimate). This contributed to the perception of the French as uncooperative and unsympathetic in American popular opinion at the time. This perception was quite strong and persisted despite the fact that France was and had been for some time a major ally in the campaign in Afghanistan (see for example the French forces in Afghanistan) where both nations (among others in the US-led coalition) were dedicated to the removal of the rogue Taliban, and the subsequent stabilization of Afghanistan, a recognized training ground and safe haven for terrorists intent on carrying out attacks in the Western world.


title: France–United States relations

text: As the Iraq War progressed, and opposition to the Iraq War amongst Americans increased, relations between the two nations began to improve, and Americans' views of France in general also steadily improved over time. In June 2006 the Pew Global Attitudes Project revealed that 52% of Americans had a positive view of France, up from 46% in 2005. Other reports indicate Americans are moving not so much toward favorable views of France as toward ambivalence, and that views toward France have stabilized roughly on par with views toward Russia and China.


title: France–United States relations

text: Following issues like Hezbollah's rise in Lebanon, Iran's nuclear program and the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, George Bush urged Jacques Chirac and other world leaders to "stand up for peace" in the face of extremism during a meeting in New York on September 19, 2006.


title: France–United States relations

text: Strong French and American diplomatic cooperation at the United Nations played an important role in the Cedar Revolution, which saw the withdrawal of Syrian troops from Lebanon. France and the United States also worked together (with some tensions) in crafting UN resolution 1701, intended to bring about a ceasefire in the 2006 Israeli–Lebanese conflict.


title: France–United States relations

text: Political relations between France and the United States became friendlier after Nicolas Sarkozy was elected President of France in 2007. Sarkozy, who has been called "Sarko the American", has said that he "love[s] America" and that he is "proud of his nickname".


title: France–United States relations

text: In 2007, Sarkozy delivered a speech before Congress that was seen as a strong affirmation of French–American ties; during the visit, he also met with President George W. Bush as well as senators John McCain and Barack Obama (before they were chosen as presidential candidates).


title: France–United States relations

text: During the 2008 presidential election, Barack Obama and John McCain also met with Sarkozy in Paris after securing their respective nominations. After receiving Obama in July, Sarkozy was quoted saying "Obama? C'est mon copain", which means "Obama? He's my buddy." Because of their previous acquaintance, relations between the Sarkozy and Obama administrations were expected to be warm.


title: France–United States relations

text: Since 2008, France has returned to the integrated command of NATO, a decision that has been greatly appreciated by the United States.


title: France–United States relations

text: In 2011 the two countries were part of the multi-state coalition which launched a military intervention in Libya where they led the alliance and conducted 35% of all NATO strikes.


title: France–United States relations

text: In 2013, France launched a major operation in Mali to free the country from an ad-hoc alliance of terrorists and Azawa rebels. The United States provided France with logistical support for Operation Serval.


title: France–United States relations

text: After president François Hollande pledged support for military action against Syria, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry referred to France as "our oldest ally".


title: France–United States relations

text: On 10 February 2014, Hollande arrived in the U.S. for the first state visit by a French leader in nearly two decades. Obama and Hollande published jointly in the Washington Post and Le Monde:


title: France–United States relations

text: During his state visit Hollande toured Monticello where he stated, "We were allies in the time of Jefferson and Lafayette. We are still allies today. We were friends at the time of Jefferson and Lafayette and will remain friends forever."


title: France–United States relations

text: On September 19, 2014, it was announced that France had joined the United States in bombing Islamic State targets in Iraq as a part of the 2014 American intervention in Iraq. United States president, Barack Obama & the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Martin Dempsey, praised Hollande's decision to join the operation: "As one of our oldest and closest allies, France is a strong partner in our efforts against terrorism and we are pleased that French and American service members will once again work together on behalf of our shared security and our shared values." Said Obama.


title: France–United States relations

text: "the French were our very first ally and they're with us again now." Stated Dempsey, who was visiting the Normandy landing beaches and the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial with his French counterpart, General Pierre de Villiers.


title: France–United States relations

text: Shortly after Donald Trump's election in November 2016, 75 percent of French adults held a negative opinion of him. Most said he would damage U.S.-European relations and threaten world peace. On the French right, half of the supporters of Marine Le Pen, opposed Trump, despite sharing many of his views on immigration, and trade. On 12 July 2017, President Trump visited France as the guest of President Emmanuel Macron. The two leaders discussed issues that included counter-terrorism and the Syrian Civil War, but played down topics where they sharply disagreed, especially trade, immigration and climate change.


title: France–United States relations

text: In late 2018, Trump ridiculed Macron over nationalism, tariffs, France's World War II defeat, plans for a European army and the French leader's approval ratings. This followed Trump's Armistice Day visit to Paris which was heavily criticized in both France and the United States. In December, Macron criticised Trump over his decision to withdraw US troops from Syria, stating: "To be allies is to fight shoulder to shoulder. It's the most important thing for a head of state and head of the military," and "An Ally Should Be Dependable."


title: France–United States relations

text: In April 2019, the departing French ambassador to the United States Gérard Araud commented on the Trump administration and the US: "Basically, this president and this administration don't have allies, don't have friends. It's really [about] bilateral relationships on the basis of the balance of power and the defense of narrow American interest... we don't have interlocutors... [When] we have people to talk to, they are acting, so they don't have real authority or access. Basically, the consequence is that there is only one center of power: the White House." On France working with the US: "...We really don't want to enter into a childish confrontation and are trying to work with our most important ally, the most important country in the world."


title: France–United States relations

text: In November 2019, Macron questioned the U.S. commitment to Europe, stating: "What we are currently experiencing is the brain death of NATO", adding "[NATO] only works if the guarantor of last resort functions as such. I'd argue that we should reassess the reality of what NATO is in the light of the commitment of the United States".


title: France–United States relations

text: In March 2019, at a time when China–U.S. economic relations were engaged in a trade war, Macron and Chinese leader Xi Jinping signed a series of 15 large-scale trade and business agreements totaling 40 billion euros (US$45 billion) which covered many sectors over a period of years. The centerpiece was a €30 billion purchase of airplanes from Airbus. The new trade agreements also covered French chicken exports, a French-built offshore wind farm in China, a Franco-Chinese cooperation fund, billions of Euros of co-financing between BNP Paribas and the Bank of China, billions of euros to be spent on modernizing Chinese factories, and new ship building.


title: France–United States relations

text: In July, Trump threatened tariffs against France in retaliation for France enacting a digital services tax against multinational firms. With Trump tweeting, "France just put a digital tax on our great American technology companies. If anybody taxes them, it should be their home Country, the USA. We will announce a substantial reciprocal action on Macron's foolishness shortly. I've always said American wine is better than French wine!"


title: France–United States relations

text: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire indicated France would follow through with its digital tax plans. French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume responded on French TV, "It's absurd, in terms of having a political and economic debate, to say that if you tax the 'GAFAs', I'll tax wine. It's completely moronic."


title: France–United States relations

text: After Trump again indicated his intentions to impose taxes on French wine over France's digital tax plans, President of the European Council Donald Tusk stated the European Union would support France and impose retaliatory tariffs on the US. In December 2019, the U.S. government stated that it might impose tariffs up to 100% on $2.4 billion in imports from France of Champagne, handbags, cheese and other products, after reaching the conclusion that France's digital services tax would be detrimental to U.S. tech companies.


title: France–United States relations

text: On 17 September 2021, France recalled Philippe Étienne, the French ambassador to the U.S., and Jean-Pierre Thébault, the French ambassador to Australia after the formation of the AUKUS defence technology between the U.S., Australia and UK (from which France was excluded). As part of the new security agreement, the U.S. will provide nuclear-powered submarines to the Royal Australian Navy, and Australia canceled a US$66 billion deal from 2016 to purchase twelve French-built conventionally powered (diesel) submarines. The French government was furious at the cancellation of the submarine agreement and said that it had been blindsided, calling the decision a "stab in the back". On 22 September, President Joe Biden and Macron pledged to improve the relationship between the two countries. Étienne returned to the United States on 30 September.


title: France–United States relations

text: However relations improved sharply in early 2022, as France worked closely with the U.S. and NATO in helping Ukraine and punishing Russia for its invasion. The overall relations with the U.S. became an issue in the April 2022 presidential election, as the right-wing candidate Marine Le Pen denounced close ties with the United States and NATO while promising a rapprochement with Russia. According to the "New York Times": As Russia's war in Ukraine rages on, Ms. Le Pen effectively signaled that her election would terminate or at least disrupt President Biden's united alliance in confronting President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, and perhaps create a breach in Western Europe for Mr. Putin to exploit. Dismissing multilateralism, blasting Germany, criticizing the European Union, relegating climate issues to a low priority, attacking "globalists" and maintaining a near silence on Russia's brutal assault in Ukraine, Ms. Le Pen gave a taste of a worldview that was at once reminiscent of the Trump presidency and appeared to directly threaten NATO’s attempts to arm Ukraine and defeat Russia.Relations further improved during Macron's visit to the U.S. in December 2022, during which he and President Biden reaffirmed the cooperation and friendship between the two countries. They also discussed the war in Ukraine and economic issues.


title: Guam national football team

text: The Guam national football team represents Guam, overseas territory of the United States in international football and is controlled by the Guam Football Association. They are affiliated with the Asian Football Confederation's East Asian Football Federation region.


title: Guam national football team

text: Guam reached its highest ever position in the FIFA World Ranking at 146 in 2015 after victories over Turkmenistan and India.


title: Guam national football team

text: Football in Guam began in the 1960s, on the initiative of two pioneers: an Irish priest, Tony Gillespie, and an owner of a construction company, Charles Whang, who settled in Guam and created the Guam Soccer Cup before becoming the first president of the Guam Football Association in 1975.


title: Guam national football team

text: Guam played its first international match at the 1975 Pacific Games against Solomon Islands, losing 5–1. This result was followed by an 11–0 loss to Fiji, eliminating them from the competition. In the 1979 Games, Guam again lost twice to New Caledonia 11–1 and New Hebrides 5–0. Progressing to the Consolation Tournament, Guam registered their first victories, beating Western Samoa 4–2, and Tuvalu 7–2 before losing again to New Hebrides, 5–1.


title: Guam national football team

text: Despite being considered part of Oceania, and having never faced an Asian team to that point, Guam became an associate member of the AFC in 1991 but continued to participate in the Pacific Games. In 1996, Guam became both a full member of the AFC and of FIFA.


title: Guam national football team

text: A full member of the AFC and FIFA, Guam played its first matches against Asian teams as part of the 1996 Asian Cup of Nations qualifiers losing all three matches against South Korea (9–0), Vietnam (9–0) and Chinese Taipei (9–2).


title: Guam national football team

text: In 1998, Guam played in the Micronesian Games, though the tournament was a 9-a-side competition with 80 minute matches. Guam finished top of the group stage but lost to Northern Marianas in the final 3–0. Guam entered the 2000 Asian Cup qualification but finished last in their group again, losing to China 19–0.


title: Guam national football team

text: Guam became one of the founding members of the East Asian Football Federation in 2002 and participated in the qualifiers for the inaugural 2003 East Asian Football Championship, finishing last again without registering a goal. The same is true for the 2004 AFC Asian Cup qualification, beaten by Bhutan and Mongolia. For the 2006 World Cup qualifiers, Guam entered and were scheduled to face Nepal in the first round but both Nepal and Guam withdrew for financial reasons before their first match.


title: Guam national football team

text: In the 2005 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Guam lost all four matches heavily, against Chinese Taipei (9–0), Hong Kong (15–0), Mongolia (4–1) and North Korea (21–0). Following these defeats, Guam entered the 2006 AFC Challenge Cup, a competition designed for "emerging nations" to help develop their football. Guam again lost all three matches to Palestine (11–0), Bangladesh (3–0) and Cambodia (3–0).


title: Guam national football team

text: Guam advanced to the second stage of qualifying in the 2008 East Asian Football Championship by beating Northern Marianas 12–2 over two legs but they were eliminated in the next round by Chinese Taipei (10–0) and Hong Kong (15–1). In the 2010 East Asian Football Championship qualifiers, Guam managed to get its first victory over a FIFA member, beating Mongolia 1–0. They would go on to top the group before being eliminated at the next stage. Guam returned to the 2011 Pacific Games after a sixteen-year absence, but only managed to beat American Samoa 2–0, finishing second last and failing to advance to the knock-out stages.


title: Guam national football team

text: Gary White became Guam's manager in 2012 and called-up players of Guamanian origin based in the United States like Ryan Guy or A. J. DeLaGarza to improve the level of his team. In the 2013 EAFF East Asian Cup, "Matao" managed to advance past the first round by beating Northern Marianas (3–1) and Macao (3–0). Guam then participated in the 2012 Philippine Peace Cup, replacing Hong Kong, losing against Philippines (1–0) and Chinese Taipei (2–0) but beat Macao (3–0) in its final group game to finish third. Guam advanced to the second qualifying stage of both the 2015 and 2017 EAFF Championship finishing third and fourth respectively and failing to advance the final competition.


title: Guam national football team

text: In 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification, Guam beat Turkmenistan (1–0) and India (2–1), finishing fourth in their group and qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup third round qualifiers, although Guam withdrew before the draw took place. Guam then failed to progress past the first qualifying round for the 2019 EAFF Championship.


title: Guam national football team

text: During the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Guam beat Bhutan 5–1 over two legs but lost all eight of their second round matches and finished bottom of their group, scoring two goals and conceding 32.


title: Guam national football team

text: Until 2011, the nickname of the Guamanian selection was "Chamorros", in reference to the local population of Guam. When Gary White took charge of Guam, the team has changed their nickname to "Matao", meaning "courage" in the Chamorro language. "Matao" also refers to Matua, the greatest leader in ancient Chamorro society. White also promoted the use of a ritual song before each match of the selection, the "Inifresi".


title: Guam national football team

text: The following 22 players were called up for 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualification matches against Cambodia on 9 and 12 October 2021 respectively.


title: Amy Shark

text: Amy Louise Billings (born 14 May 1986), known professionally as Amy Shark, is an Australian indie pop singer-songwriter-guitarist and producer from the Gold Coast, Queensland. During 2008 to 2012, her early solo material was released and performed under the name Amy Cushway. Her 2016 single "Adore" peaked at number 3 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was also listed at number 2 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2016. Her album "Love Monster" (July 2018) debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart. Shark has won 8 ARIA Music Awards from 29 nominations, including winning Best Pop Release three times: in 2017 for her extended play, "Night Thinker", 2018 for "Love Monster" and 2020 for "Everybody Rise".


title: Amy Shark

text: Amy Shark was born on the Gold Coast in Queensland on 14 May 1986. Her mother, Robyn, remarried and raised Shark on the Gold Coast with her stepfather David Cushway and a younger half-sibling. She is of Hungarian and English descent. She attended Southport State High School, where she performed in theatre, studied film, and played guitar in an all-female punk-band. She described her first group, Dorothy's Rainbow and Hansel Kissed Gretel, as "'quite thrashy', though it fell apart when its members splintered. 'I kept going, kept writing songs on my acoustic guitar'." Her first job was selling T-shirts at a souvenir shop, Gone Troppo. Shark entered a singing competition in 2007 at the behest of her then-boyfriend Shane Billings. She subsequently performed under various names, including Amy Cushway, Amy Billings, and as Little Sleeper.


title: Amy Shark

text: Amy Shark recorded and performed as Amy Cushway from 2008 to 2012. Her first solo gig was at Burleigh Bears Rugby League Club, where she performed cover versions. Initial solo performances had her singing to an acoustic guitar. In June 2008 Cushway supported gigs by Brianna Carpenter at The Globe and at The Red Brick Hotel, Brisbane. She released her debut extended play, "I Thought of You Out Loud", which included the track, "Take Time Take Me", in mid-2008 and performed the EP at solo gigs from July. She later described this EP, "[it] was me not knowing any chords but so emotionally drained that I needed something to lift me up and get my blood flowing again." The singer-songwriter made the finals for the 2008 Q Songs Awards in August with "Take Time Take Me" for the alternative category. She reflected on her writing style, "It's so much easier and more enjoyable to start from scratch with a song and write it exactly how you want. It sounds selfish, but it's just reality [...] I definitely write songs that the typical ear hasn't heard before, the lyrics are honest and relate to all ages. I'm not trying to write songs solely for radio … I want hard hitting pop rock songs that can be played on radio, whilst having the potential to be blasted through stadiums." She derived inspiration from Tegan and Sara, "they find different ways to deliver the meaning of a song with lyrics that don’t necessarily spell it out." In November the artist backed Rhiannon Hart at Island Vibe Festival, South Brisbane.


title: Amy Shark

text: Cushway's second EP, "Love's Not Anorexic", appeared in mid-2009, supported by a national tour from July. The title attracted criticism from community groups, she explained "it was not a personal attack to people suffering from anorexia but a good catchy title." Another EP track, "Cool Kids Die", relates to recent acquaintances of her age group who had died, "It's not fair that they were all decent, polite and cool kids. Life isn't fair sometimes." Christie Eliezer of "In Music & Media" described the EP, "Her new tracks see her move from delicate acoustic ballads to thunderous beats, as 'Little Overweight for TV' and 'Breathing on Aeroplanes' streaming on [her website] show. Labels are sniffing..." Whereas the artist felt, "[it's] a slightly grown up version of the one before with a splash of garage electric guitar." She made the finals of the 2009 Q Songs with, "Stupid not To", vying for the Q Music Encouragement Award. In November of that year the artist described her early material, "As much as I enjoy writing intricate acoustic ballads, there's nothing better than adding thunderous beats and raw energy to your set." She was living in Varsity Lakes in April 2010 and explained how, "[record companies] did not ask for demos now, but just asked what her MySpace page was." In late 2010 she formed the band, Fly Boy Fly, with collaborator and bassist, Ryan Nash, and drummer, Tom Moore. "A few people put it into my head, if I ever thought of fronting a band." The band's name "was kind of a mixture of things. I'm a little bit obsessed with Peter Pan and The Lost Boys, and my partner Shane is very much into war movies... one night we got out Flyboys... [and] threw around some [band] names and that was one of them."


title: Amy Shark

text: Cushway described her third EP, "Broadway Gossip" (October 2010), "this was me returning home to Australia from the United States and thinking I need to experiment with beats." Cushway's first album, "It's a Happy City" appeared in March 2012. "It's extremely fun and I recommend it to you, your parents, grandparents or anyone with a pulse" she explained. In early 2012 Billings was her talent manager with Rooftop Artist Management. By December 2016, Shark was no longer using the name Cushway, and material under that name had been deleted from her accounts.


title: Amy Shark

text: During 2013, the artist started using the stage name, Amy Shark, because "Jaws" was her favourite film. In February 2014 she independently released a five-track extended play, "Nelson". One of its tracks, "Weight of the World", was a finalist at the 2013 Queensland Music Awards in the regional category. She activated a new YouTube account, as Amy Shark Music, in 2014 and issued a single, "Spits on Girls", in July.


title: Amy Shark

text: Shark released her next self-produced single, "Golden Fleece", in October 2015, originally under the name, Little Sleeper. The singer later explained why she dropped the Little Sleeper name, "I've been in talks with these music supervisors in America ... And they said we'd prefer it if I was playing under the name Amy Shark again." Chris Singh of "The AU Review.com" observed, "The song, powerful and penetrating in itself, is given visuals both understated and intense as Little Sleeper stands in darkness with her guitar and is progressively drenched in multi-coloured paint." It won Pop Song of the Year at the Queensland Music Awards in 2016, and Shark embarked on a nationwide tour supporting Sydney band, Tigertown in December. She received a grant from the City of Gold Coast council, which allowed her to work with more popular producers. She later recalled how music industry personnel had told her to quit, "Please stop sending unsolicited material to me, your music is no good and it's not something we would be interested in anyway."


title: Amy Shark

text: In July 2016, she released her next single, "Adore", with co-production by Shark, M-Phazes and Cam Bluff, in addition to a cover version of Silverchair's "Miss You Love" for Triple J's show "Like a Version". "Adore" received significant airplay on Triple J, leading to a bidding war between major labels, which was won by Sony Music Australia. Shark signed with Wonderlick/Sony in November 2016. Two of her earlier singles, "Spits on Girls" and "Golden Fleece", were re-released by Wonderlick/Sony in 2016. "Adore" was listed at number 2 on the Triple J Hottest 100, 2016, behind Flume's "Never Be like You".


title: Amy Shark

text: In March 2017, Shark released "Weekends" followed by another EP, "Night Thinker" (April), which peaked at number 2 on the ARIA Singles Chart. In April she won Artist of the Year and Song of the Year at the Gold Coast Music Awards. In November she was named Apple Music's UpNext artist. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2017 Shark was nominated for 6 awards and won both Best Pop Release and Breakthrough Artist for "Night Thinker". She performed "Adore" at the ceremony. On 15 November 2017, she appeared on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" singing "Adore", and performed it again on 13 March 2018 on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon".


title: Amy Shark

text: In March 2018, Shark provided, "Sink In", for the film soundtrack of "Love, Simon". The related album, by various artists, debuted at No. 37 on the "Billboard" 200. The following month, she performed at the Commonwealth Games closing ceremony on the Gold Coast, in a duet with Archie Roach and an Indigenous youth choir for a rendition of Roach's "Let Love Rule".


title: Amy Shark

text: On 11 April 2018, Shark premiered a single, "I Said Hi", on Triple J before releasing it the following day. It received unpaid promotion by comedians, and digital radio show hosts, Luke and Lewis using posters, megaphone and a large home-made sign hung up next to the Fox FM Melbourne station logo. That promotion captured the attention of the singer-songwriter who displayed it on her own Instagram account. "I Said Hi" peaked at number 6 on the ARIA charts.


title: Amy Shark

text: Shark's album, "Love Monster", was released on 13 July 2018 and it debuted at number 1 on the ARIA Charts. The album provided four additional singles, including "Mess Her Up" (March 2019). At the ARIA Music Awards of 2018, the artist won four ARIA Music Awards, with Album of the Year, Best Pop Release and Best Female Artist for "Love Monster", and Producer of the Year for Dann Hume and M-Phazes work on "I Said Hi". She was the most nominated artist and equal highest winner in that year.


title: Amy Shark

text: At the ARIA ceremony, Shark's acceptance speech for Album of the Year included her thanks to "the people who helped make her album. Her producers, her management and the fans." Also attending was her label boss, Denis Handlin, however, "she didn’t thank Handlin, or the Sony label." She had acknowledged them in earlier speeches. According to "The Sydney Morning Herald"s Nathanael Cooper, "[Handlin] was furious she hadn’t thanked him or Sony in her speech for the major award." Furthermore, Shark was "required to be in the office early the next morning to publicly apologise for failing to thank" him and the label.


title: Amy Shark

text: Shark promoted "Love Monster" during 2019 on her Regional Australia Tour. In December 2019, the Chainsmokers' single, "The Reaper", featured Shark on vocals. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2019, she received four more nominations.


title: Amy Shark

text: For her latest album, Amy Shark worked with Ed Sheeran, Diplo, Billy Corgan of Smashing Pumpkins, and the Chainsmokers. On 16 February 2020, Shark performed at the Fire Fight Australia fund-raising relief concert in Sydney for the effects of the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season. Her live performance of "I Said Hi" appeared on the related album by various artists, "Artists Unite for Fire Fight: Concert for National Bushfire Relief" (12 March 2020). Thomas Bleach observed that she was, "euphorically telling the world that Australia says hi and thank you for all the support that has been given."


title: Amy Shark

text: On 6 March 2020, Shark announced a management deal with Redlight's Will Botwin for international markets while husband, Shane Billings continued to manage her for the local market. On 23 October 2020, Shark released a single "C'mon" featuring blink-182 drummer Travis Barker. Alexander Pan of "Tone Deaf" observed, "[it's] a thumping power-pop ballad that's got a considerable amount of weight behind it." Two days later she performed at the 2020 NRL Grand Final at Stadium Australia, Sydney. At the 2020 ARIA Music Awards, she won Best Pop Release for her single, "Everybody Rise" (June 2020)—marking the third time she'd received the award. Shark performed the track live at the ceremony. She also performed as part of an all-female ensemble, singing "I Am Woman", in honour of Helen Reddy (1941–2020). At the ceremony, she also won the public-voted category, Best Australian Live Act for her Regional Tour during 2019.


title: Amy Shark

text: On 4 December 2020, Shark announced her second studio album for Sony, "Cry Forever", which was released on 30 April 2021. Shark released the single "All the Lies About Me", alongside the album's announcement and additionally announced a national headline tour for mid-2021. Shark revealed the album's track listing in an interview with "Rolling Stone Australia" Tyler Jenke on the same day.


title: Amy Shark

text: "Love Songs Ain't for Us", featuring Australian country musician Keith Urban, was released on 19 February 2021 as the album's fourth single. The song was co-written with English singer Ed Sheeran. At the APRA Music Awards of 2022 it won Most Performed Country Work. On 19 March 2021, Shark appeared on Triple J's "Like a Version" segment, performing a cover of Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down" alongside a performance of her original track "Baby Steps" (marking her debut live performance of the song). Shark appeared as a contestant on the sixth season of "The Celebrity Apprentice Australia" from May to June 2022, she finished in the top 4.


title: Amy Shark

text: On 28 September 2022, Shark was announced as a judge for Seven Network’s revival of "Australian Idol" for 2023.


title: Amy Shark

text: Amy Shark's birth father separated from her mother, Robyn, when Shark was "just a baby, one or two." Upon the success of "Adore", Shark replied to her birth father's attempt to re-establish contact, "Haven't heard from my father in 15 years until now. It must suck knowing ur daughter got all this way on her very own! Now beat it! I'm busy." Of her stepfather, David Cushway, she recalled "I used to call him Dave and I remember the day I said to Mum, 'Do you think I could call Dave "Dad"?' She cried. She said, 'Why don't you go and ask him?' So I went and asked him, and he cried. I was only young but I remember it really well." Early recordings were credited to Amy Cushway (2008–2012).


title: Amy Shark

text: In 2007 Shark met Shane Billings (born ca. ), a New Zealand-born Gold Coast resident; they married on 11 May 2013. Her written material is credited to Amy Louise Billings. The couple worked with the local National Rugby League football club, Gold Coast Titans: Shark as a video editor and Shane as a financial manager. She left the job in November 2016. Shane was also Shark's talent manager until she signed with Jaddan Comerford of UNIFIED Music Group, and continued as her manager for the local market. The couple are residents of Broadbeach Waters.


title: Amy Shark

text: The ARIA Music Awards are a set of annual ceremonies presented by Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), which recognise excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of the music of Australia. They commenced in 1987. Amy Shark has won 8 awards from 28 nominations; at the 2018 ceremony she received 9 nominations and won 4, heading up the leader board for the year.


title: Amy Shark

text: The APRA Awards are several award ceremonies run in Australia by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) to recognise composing and song writing skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Shark was nominated for three categories at the 2018 APRA Awards and at the 2019 awards.


title: Amy Shark

text: The Australian Women in Music Awards is an annual event that celebrates outstanding women in the Australian Music Industry who have made significant and lasting contributions in their chosen field. They commenced in 2018.


title: Amy Shark

text: The Country Music Awards of Australia is an annual awards night typically held in January during the Tamworth Country Music Festival. Celebrating recording excellence in the Australian country music industry. They commenced in 1973.


title: Amy Shark

text: The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. They commenced in 2005.


title: Amy Shark

text: The MTV Europe Music Awards is an award presented by Viacom International Media Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture.


title: Amy Shark

text: The National Live Music Awards (NLMAs) are a broad recognition of Australia's diverse live industry, celebrating the success of the Australian live scene. The awards commenced in 2016.


title: Amy Shark

text: The Queensland Music Awards (known as Q Song Awards until 2010) are annual awards celebrating Queensland, Australia's brightest emerging artists and established legends. They commenced in 2006.


title: Amy Shark

text: The Rolling Stone Australia Awards are awarded annually in January or February by the Australian edition of "Rolling Stone" magazine for outstanding contributions to popular culture in the previous year.


title: Amy Shark

text: The Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition is an annual competition that "acknowledges great songwriting whilst supporting and raising money for Nordoff-Robbins" and is coordinated by Albert Music and APRA AMCOS. It commenced in 2009.


title: SAKO

text: SAKO, Limited (, lit "Civil Guard Gun and Machining Works Ltd") is a Finnish firearm and ammunition manufacturer located in Riihimäki, Tavastia Proper in southern Finland. It also has owned the Tikka brand of bolt-action rifles since 1983, and is now owned by the Italian firearm holding company Beretta Holding.


title: SAKO

text: In 1919, two years after Finland declared independence from the Russian Empire, the Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunnan Asepaja (Civil Guard Supreme Staff Gun Works) opened in a former Helsinki brewery to repair private arms and recondition Russian military rifles for Finnish service. The rifle repair shop became financially independent of the civil guard in 1921. The Suojeluskuntain Yliesikunnan Asepaja moved from Helsinki to an ammunition factory in Riihimäki on 1 June 1927, and reorganized as SAKO in the 1930s. Sako started exporting pistol cartridges to Sweden in the 1930s and continued manufacturing submachine gun cartridges through World War II.


title: SAKO

text: Another Finnish firearms manufacturer Tikkakoski, which owned the Tikka brand, was merged into SAKO in 1983. In 1986, the arms manufacturing division of the government-owned Valmet conglomerate (which itself had been derived from the Valtion Kivääritehdas, VKT) was merged with Sako and called "Sako-Valmet", with ownership split evenly between Nokia and Valmet. After further organizational shifts in state ownership, the company was sold to the Italian Beretta Holding in 2000.


title: SAKO

text: The first civilian rifle bearing the Sako name was the L42 (Luodikko [rifle] model 1942) chambered for the 7×33mm Sako cartridge, prototyped in 1942, and commercial production started after World War II. Sako developed the 7×33mm cartridge based on the 9×19mm Parabellum pistol cartridge, by making a longer case and "necking" the case down to 7 mm calibre (7.21 mm bullet diameter). This cartridge was designed for and well suited to capercaillie and black grouse hunting, a popular sport in Finland, Sweden and Norway. The L46 was later denoted L461 "Vixen". The L461 has been very popular in Finland and Sweden, especially chambered for the .222 Remington cartridge and has a great reputation among aficionados.


title: SAKO

text: In 1957, Sako launched a longer action, the L57, subsequently renamed L579 "Forester". This is a "medium action" intended for the .308 Winchester and similar cartridges.


title: SAKO

text: Between 1959 and 1974, Sako produced a lever-action gun, the Sako Finnwolf, in .243 Winchester and .308 Winchester.


title: SAKO

text: Sako has also produced a number of rimfire rifles, among them are the P72 Finnscout, M78, Finnfire, Quad and Finnfire II. The M78 was also chambered for the .22 Hornet and the .22 WMR in addition to the .22 Long Rifle.


title: SAKO

text: During the 1980s (1987), Sako started using the AI/AII/AV designations (previously used for models imported to the US) for the three action lengths in Europe. The complete rifles were still designated L461/L579/L61. The bolt was given a slight cosmetic makeover, with the hammer covered by a conical shell. This visual design was also used on the later models (M4/5/691, M75, M85).


title: SAKO

text: From 1987 to 1992 a version of the short (Vixen) action was produced for the .22 PPC and 6mm PPC cartridges, when Sako introduced these former wildcat cartridges as commercial cartridges, denoted ".22 PPC USA" and "6mm PPC USA" to avoid confusion with the specialized bench rest cartridges which required a "tight neck" chamber. These actions are the same external dimensions, and have the same bolt diameter as the 222 Remington, 222 Rem. Magnum, 223 Rem. cartridge actions. Only the bolt face recess was enlarged to suit the PPC case.


title: SAKO

text: In 1992, the first of the "newer" Sakos, the 591, was introduced as a replacement for the L579. Shortly after, the 491 and the 691 were launched. These rifles (491/591/691) are not as highly regarded as the L461/L579/L61R and according to folklore, the quality of the workmanship is slightly inferior for the 491/591/691. They featured a separate recoil lug, also found on the 75, and a Tikka trigger assembly. However, these rifles were available in left-hand configuration both as a medium action (591) and long action (691)


title: SAKO

text: In 1997, Sako launched the 75, named for Sako's 75th anniversary. The 75 was externally similar to previous Sako models, but the construction was radically different featuring three symmetrical locking lugs and a detachable magazine.


title: SAKO

text: Before the 75, Sako hunting rifles (except the L46 and the L579) did not have detachable magazines, but a hinged floorplate with the lock placed on the front of the trigger guard.


title: SAKO

text: The anime series "Upotte!!", in its moe anthropomorphism, depicts Sako, the rifle/girl as a gleeful and homicidal sexual sadist.


title: Enbridge

text: Enbridge Inc. is a multinational pipeline and energy company headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Enbridge owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States, transporting crude oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids. Enbridge's pipeline system is the longest in North America and the largest oil export pipeline network in the world. Its crude oil system consists of 28,661 kilometres (17,809 miles) of pipelines. Its 38,300 kilometre (23,800 mile) natural gas pipeline system connects multiple Canadian provinces, several US states, and the Gulf of Mexico. The company was formed by Imperial Oil in 1949 as the Interprovincial Pipe Line Company Limited to transport Alberta oil to refineries. Over time, it has grown through acquisition of other existing pipeline companies and the expansion of their projects. Between 2012 and 2021, Enbridge transported over 32 billion barrels of crude oil.


title: Enbridge

text: Enbridge has built several renewable energy projects in North America and Europe including wind, solar, hydroelectric, and geothermal and has proposed a net zero greenhouse gas emission target for 2050. Enbridge is ranked 144th on the 2022 Forbes Global 2000, and 418th on the 2022 Fortune Global 500 List. Enbridge has been responsible for several oil spills, including a spill on line 3, which was the largest inland oil spill in the US. Opposition to Enbridge projects has resulted in several popular uprisings, most notably the Dakota Access Pipeline protests, and the Stop line 3 protests.


title: Enbridge

text: The company was initially incorporated by Imperial Oil as Interprovincial Pipe Line Company (IPL) on April 30, 1949, after Canada's first major oil discovery, in 1947, at Leduc, Alberta. In the same year, the company built its first oil pipeline from Leduc to Regina, Saskatchewan. In 1950, it was expanded through Gretna, Manitoba, to Superior, Wisconsin, in the United States. To operate the United States portion of the pipeline, the Lakehead Pipe Line Company (now Enbridge Energy Partners) was created. In 1953, the pipeline was expanded to Sarnia, Ontario, and in 1956 to Toronto and Buffalo, New York.