A declaration from heads of state at the NATO summit emphasized that the handover will be completed by the end of 2014 but that NATO member countries may remain in a training and advisory capacities:

By the end of 2014, when the Afghan Authorities will have full security responsibility, the NATO-led combat mission will end. We will, however, continue to provide strong and long-term political and practical support through our Enduring Partnership with Afghanistan. NATO is ready to work towards establishing, at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, a new post-2014 mission of a different nature in Afghanistan, to train, advise and assist the [Afghan National Security Forces], including the Afghan Special Operations Forces.

In remarks delivered at the summit today, Obama emphasized the progress made in Afghanistan during the U.S.’s decade-long war. “Our forces broke the Taliban’s momentum,” said Obama. “More Afghans are reclaiming their communities. Afghan security forces have grown stronger.”

Public war weariness has been a growing pressure on the White House and NATO member countries as Europeans and Americans express frustration with the long war and the associated human and financial costs. While NATO forces will maintain an active presence in Afghanistan through 2014, France’s new president, François Hollande, announced that France would withdraw troops by the end of the year.

Standing next to Afgan President Hamid Karzai yesterday, Obama recognized the sacrifices made by both Afghans and Americans over the past ten years. “[President Karzai] recognizes the enormous sacrifices American troops have made,” said Obama. He added, “We recognize the hardships that Afghans have been through during these many many years of war.”

On the occasion of International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia, the Prime Minister reaffirmed the Government’s commitment against violence and discrimination perpetrated as a result of sexual orientation or gender identity. The Government is determined to challenge prejudice and to put an end to discrimination and violence. It will implement the commitment of the President of the Republic to the right to marriage and adoption to gay couples.

Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad

Merah reportedly claimed to police that he was affiliated with Al Qaeda, and he was seeking revenge for Palestinian children killed in the Gaza Strip. But Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad denounced the “cowardly” attack yesterday. “This terrorist crime is condemned in the strongest terms by the Palestinian people and our children,” he said. “No Palestinian child can accept crimes against innocent people.” Fayyad went on:

It is time for these criminals to stop exploiting the name of Palestine through their terrorist actions, and to stop pretending to stand up for Palestinian children, who only seek a decent life for themselves and for all children of the world.

The missions of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the U.N. cultural agency UNESCO to France also issued a joint statement condemning the attack, noting that “the murderer is driven by a multi-faceted racist hatred.” The move was welcome despite some standing criticisms that Palestinians don’t do enough to discourage violence.

By Pascal Pavani, AFP/Getty Images

The suspect, Mohammed Merah, was known by local anti-terrorism police and had traveled to the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan, an area where al-Qaeda runs training camps.

The commander of the prison in Kandahar, Afghanistan tells CBS News they held a prisoner by the same name in 2008 in connection with a bombing. The suspect was sentenced to three years but escaped later that year along with 600 other prisoners. CBS was unable to confirm that the escaped prisoner was the same one arrested by French police today.

Merah is a member of the Forsan al-Izza, “Knights of Glory,” a group which the French government banned in January over suspicions it was recruiting Jihadists to Afghanistan. The group had no immediate reaction to Merah’s attack.

The bodies of the the rabbi and three children were flown to Jerusalem. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe accompanied relatives of the dead from France to Israel. At least 2,000 mourners gathered today at the Givat Shaul cemetery on the western outskirts of the city to mourn the deaths. “Talking to local French speaking people here and even to one Israeli minister,” a BBC reporter said, “they all said that this is a problem in France, anti-Semitism is still rife in France.” Watch the BBC’s report:

In a television address, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he had held a meeting with Jewish and Muslim leaders.

I told them and I tell the nation that we should be united. We cannot give in to discrimination or vengeance. We owe this to the victims who have been killed in cold blood and to our country.

The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that France did not discriminate when it prevented a lesbian couple from both becoming their daughter’s legal parents. The court simply upheld France’s laws, which prevent unmarried couples from adopting together, apparently disregarding the injustice that France does not allow for same-sex marriage. It’s unclear what “human rights” the court stands for, but in this case they did not seem to include family security.

The Italian Supreme Court took a slightly different position when it ruled that a same-sex couple married in another country could not have their marriage legally recognized in Italy. Nevertheless, the court said the two men still had the “right to a family life,” which could open future possibilities for gay rights in that country.

The European Union has been increasingly committed to LGBT rights, but these decisions suggest that it is still leaving room for individual countries to work toward recognizing same-sex families in their own ways.

“There is a proposal from the secretary-general of the Arab League to form a joint mission for Syria in coordination with the United Nations, and it will be presented before the planned Arab foreign ministers’ meeting on Sunday in Cairo,” the Arab League’s deputy head, Ahmed Ben Helli, told reporters today.

The upcoming ministerial meeting in Cairo may also issue a statement on China and Russia’s veto of a U.N. Security Council Resolution last Saturday, reports Reuters. The resolution was based on an Arab peace plan that had the support of the rest of the Security Council but China and Russia’s veto brought criticism from both Western and Arab nations.

The ongoing artillery bombardment of Homs, a recently leaked report detailing the failures of an Arab League observer mission, and the Russian and Chinese veto have left the Arab League and the United Nations looking for new strategies to halt the bloodshed.

Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby announced this week that a new mission would need international backing, better equipment and more observers than the Arab League mission. Yesterday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon confirmed that Elaraby had proposed a joint mission.

Consultations will be held with the Arab League and Security Council members “before fleshing out the details,” said the U.N. chief. But Western powers offered a lukewarm response to the proposal. Agence France-Presse reports that France said there would have to be “guarantees” for the mission and Germany called it a “very serious” idea but emphasized that conditions would have to be met before such an effort could be launched.

While diplomats discuss what steps to take next, Human Rights Watch (HRW) urged the Syrian government to stop shelling residential areas of Homs. “Those responsible for such horrific attacks will have to answer for them,” HRW’s Anna Neistat in a statement earlier today.

Rights groups estimate that more than 6,000 people have died since protests began eleven months ago.

The French nuclear safety body says one person died and another was seriously injured Monday in an explosion at the Marcoule nuclear site in southern France.  The Nuclear Safety Authority said there have been no radiation leaks outside of the plant, which treats nuclear waste with little radioactivity.  Three other people were injured in the explosion, the statement said.

This is a breaking story, so details are scarce.  I welcome any links or comments from readers in France.

Here is the official internal translation of the statement from the French nuclear safety authority (ASN):

ASN has activated its emergency center at 12:30 (located at its headquarters in Paris XII) following an accident at the nuclear facility Centraco (Center for processing and packaging of low-level waste) located at Codolet commune near the site of Marcoule (Gard).

According to preliminary information, it is an explosion of a furnace used to melt the metallic radioactive waste of low and very low activity.

A first assessment reported one dead and four injured including a serious one.

There are no release[s] outside the installation.

The operator has activated its emergency plan in accordance with the procedures.  Centraco is operated by SOCODEI. The installation is dedicated to the treatment of waste of low or very low level either by fusion for metallic waste, or by incineration of incinerable waste.  The ASN is in constant contact with the prefecture of the Gard and the operator. It mobilized its division of Marseille … and has sent inspectors to the prefecture and the site.”

More details will be posted as they come.

UPDATE:  Here is a second statement by ASN:

The event that occurred this morning in Centraco, nuclear installation located near Marcoule site (Gard) is considered as closed.

The explosion of a furnace dedicated for the melting of the metallic radioactive waste triggered a fire that ended at 13h00 (11.00 UTC)

The building where the explosion occurred was not damaged. Injured people do not suffer from any radiological contamination and all measures conducted by the licensee outside of the building have shown no trace of radioactive contamination.

One worker died and 4 others have sustained injuries, one of whom suffered deep burns.

This event does not involve any radiological issue and no protective actions was required for the population.

ASN, the French Nuclear Safety Authority, has suspended its emergency organization; ASN is still in permanent contact with the prefecture of Gard and the licensee Socodei. ASN will conduct dedicated inspections in liaison with Labour inspection in order to analyse the reasons of the accident.

Centraco is owned by SOCODEI. The installation is dedicated to the treatment and conditioning of low level radioactive waste, either by melting of metallic waste or by incineration of incinerable waste.

Related Post:

• After Fracking Ban, France Turns to Offshore Wind. But a Nuclear Phase Out? Sacré Bleu!

The rhetoric over raising the debt ceiling has become increasingly harsh as Democratic and Republican congressional leaders trade barbs back and forth. But as the U.S. inches closer to defaulting on its debts for the first time in history, criticism of Congress is starting to come from beyond our own borders. From France and Germany to China and India, countries around the world are angry that American politicians play with the possibility of a U.S. default like a yo-yo with little regard for the international economic system that depends on American solvency.

Despite China’s traditional preference of staying out of the domestic affairs of other nations, senior Chinese officials’ frustrations are growing louder and louder. Stephen Roach, the non-executive chairman of Morgan Staley Asia, said senior Chinese officials told him the debt ceiling debte in the U.S. is “truly shocking.” “We understand the politics,” a Chinise official said, “but your government’s continued recklessness is astonishing.” And newspapers around the world are voicing discontent with Congress’s handling of the debt ceiling:

Conservative German Die Welt: “[T]here are few signs of self-doubt or self-awareness in the U.S. … [The Tea Party movement] sees the other side as their enemy. Negotiations with the Democrats, whether it’s about appointing a judge or the insolvency of the United States, are only successful if the enemy is defeated. Compromise, they feel, is a sign of weakness and cowardice.”

The German mass-circulation Bild: “What America is currently exhibiting is the worst kind of absurd theatrics and the whole world is being held hostage… Most importantly, the Republicans have turned a dispute over a technicality into a religious war, which no longer has any relation to a reasonable dispute between the elected government and the opposition.”

French newspaper Le Monde:”The American politicians supposed to lead the most powerful nation in the world are becoming a laughing stock.”

Chinese state-owned newspaper Xinhua: “Given the United States’ status as the world’s largest economy and the issuer of the dominant international reserve currency, such political brinksmanship in Washington is dangerously irresponsible.”

The founding documents of many nations around the world take their inspiration from and quote the U.S. Declaration of Independence and Constitution. But now, foreigners don’t seem to be too inspired watching the intransigent wing of one political party that controls one house of one branch of the federal government hold the entire U.S. hostage. American soft power has taken a self-inflicted hit as a result of the debt ceiling debate.

Even if Congress manages to forge a deal against the wishes of the Tea Party and deliver a bill to President Obama’s desk raising the debt ceiling before default, the damage to our international standing has already been done. Other nations won’t forget how some members of Congress were so careless to allow the international economy fall into another financial disaster in order to score a few political points.

Earlier this month, the French Parliament voted to ban fracking, a controversial drilling method that has enabled a global boom in natural gas. Now, the country is turning its attention to offshore wind – opening up a bidding program for five marine zones that could host up to 3 GW of projects. The first round of bidding is part of an effort to build 6 GW of projects from 2015 through 2020.

These two developments come as officials in the country are openly considering a long-term energy plan that would phase out nuclear power over the coming decades. Considering that France gets around 75% of its electricity from nuclear – the highest penetration in the world – this announcement, as reported by Reuters, is significant:

Energy Minister Eric Besson announced on radio Europe 1 the launch of a study on Friday on the country’s energy mix by 2050, with options including a complete exit from nuclear production, a cut in the share of nuclear to 50 percent and a progressive reduction of total electricity production in France.

“We will study all possible scenarios for what we call the energy mix,” he said. “It will be done with total objectivity, in full transparency, without avoiding any scenario (…) including the scenarios of a nuclear exit.”

An energy ministry official told Reuters one scenario would consider a total exit from nuclear by 2050, or even 2040.

Of course, a theoretical “study” doesn’t tell us how France will act in reality. But French officials say the country’s focus on nuclear will be around safety enhancements of the existing fleet – not on building new plants – while the focus on renewables will be rapid deployment of new projects. France has a target of procuring 23% of its energy from renewables by 2020, with 18 GW coming from onshore wind, and 6 GW coming from offshore.

Some in France have criticized offshore wind, which they say is too expensive compared with nuclear. But a recent report from a leading European trade association shows that program like France’s could help drop the cost of offshore wind by up to 30% to around 16 US cents/kWh.

We know the costs of offshore wind are too high. The industry is committed to driving down the cost of offshore wind energy. We can reduce costs by as much as a third over the next decade. But this will need a large enough market to promote competition and drive innovation. Working with the government we can deliver 20GW by 2020 if costs fall.

The whole-life cost of energy from UK offshore wind projects is expected to be driven down by more than 15% in real terms between 2011 and 2022, under normal market conditions. Under favorable conditions, such as increased competition, lower exchange rates and stable commodity prices, the decrease in costs would be as much as 33%.

The next step in France’s long-term energy plan will depend on the country’s experience developing 5.4 GW of solar PV, 24 GW of wind and installing 5 million solar hot water systems on residential buildings around the country. And if neighboring Germany is successful in phasing out its nuclear fleet, perhaps the country with the world’s highest penetration of nuclear will be consider moving away from the technology as well.

The likelihood is low, but it’s an interesting bit of news nonetheless.

Energy companies that plan to use fracking to produce oil and gas in France will have their permits revoked and its use could lead to fines and prison, according to the law passed by a vote of 176 in favor, 151 against by the senators in Paris.

Under the bill approved yesterday, companies with exploration permits will have two months to declare whether they intend to use hydraulic fracturing. If they do, their permits will be revoked.

Fracking, or hydraulic fracturing, pumps water, sand and chemicals underneath shale formations to force out trapped gas or oil. The discovery of massive reservoirs around the U.S. has caused a shale gas boom, driving down prices and encouraging additional investment in natural gas infrastructure. While the U.S. and Canada lead the market, Australia, China India and various European countries have also started using the fracking technique for shale gas.

While some organizations like the IEA call this “The Golden Age of Gas,” the environmental issues around fracking have tainted the resource’s image:  some communities around the U.S. are complaining of contaminated water; researchers have reported on methane leaks in water supplies and also suggested that the lifecycle GHG footprint is higher than assumed; and a recent examination of industry documents suggests that estimates of shale gas reservoirs may be over-estimated – with one analyst suggesting they were “a giant Ponzi Scheme.”

At the same time, a mix of natural gas and renewables is a powerful combination in knocking older, dirtier coal plants out of the mix. Some analysts believe that could be a strong driver of clean energy, while others worry low natural gas prices will harm renewables.

It’s unclear whether the French ban on fracking will embolden political leaders or environmental groups in other countries to do the same. In the U.S., New York is opening itself up to more fracking.  In New Jersey, legislators passed a ban on the technique, even as the state seeks to build 2 GW of new natural gas plants.

This latest ban in France shows just how divided people are over harnessing the resource.

Below are the earlier comments from the Facebook commenting system:

Andrew Revkin

Surfacing and catching up with lots of stuff. Could French decision have been swayed by its ample supply of nuclear generated electricity? Kind of inverse policy to that signaled by New York Gov. last week:
Cuomo Clarifies Fracking and Nuclear Plans – http://nyti.ms/jOJpTv.

July 7 at 7:14pm

Bob Ferris

Tres bon.

July 7 at 7:16pm

Maxine Unikel Cook

How do we explain this? “Toreador to continue oil shale work in France despite fracking ban” | http://www.platts.com/RSSF​eedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/Na​turalGas/8083470

July 7 at 7:22pm

Eric Roston

I think they were just upset that it’s not spelled “fracqing.”

July 7 at 7:29pm

Stu Miller

France 2, USA 0 (the first point was Iraq).

July 7 at 3:58am

wht_grgg

Yeah. France wanted to keep a brutal dictator in place to torture and kill hundreds of thousands. Fortunately, we stepped in, as we did in Germany and Japan, and gave them Democracy. Shame on the USA. Yahoo France.

July 9 at 4:43pm

Prokaryotes

“At the same time, a mix of natural gas and renewables is a powerful combination in knocking older, dirtier coal plants out of the mix.”

I Disagree, because latest science have shown otherwise.

Studies Agree: Shale gas full cycle greenhouse gas emissions are higher than coal.
http://www.postcarbon.org/​report/390308-life-cycle-g​reenhouse-gas-emissions-fr​om

July 7 at 12:10am

Cathy Knight

Way to go.

July 8 at 2:53pm

Sonni Will

Viv’ La France.

July 6 at 8:03pm

Prokaryotes

My take on this story.
Climate Action: France Bans Fracking for Shale Gas.

http://climateforce.wordpr​ess.com/2011/07/07/climate​-action-france-bans-fracki​ng-for-shale-gas/

July 7 at 12:19am

Prokaryotes

In order to combat climate change we have to ban fossil exploitation.

July 6 at 3:48pm

wht_grgg

Well, we could follow France’s lead and get more of our energy needs from nuclear.

July 9 at 4:46pm

It’s because 17th century France was actually a reasonably interesting place, and the real Comte d’Artagnan, Charles Ogier de Batz de Castelmore, was actually a reasonably interesting person. And that doesn’t even take into account Cardinal Richelieu. I’m sort of surprised Showtime hasn’t knocked off The Three Musketeers and Aldous Huxley’s Grey Eminence and done a saucy behind-the-scenes look at the old Cardinal.

In any case, when you’ve made the 1993 adaptation of The Three Musketeers starring Keifer Sutherland, Oliver Platt (who declares at one point: “If you’re to be a true Musketeer, boy, you must excel at the manyly art of wenching.”), Charlie Sheen, and Chris O’Donnell look dignified, you’ve really accomplished something.

Welcome to Justiceline, ThinkProgress Justice’s morning round-up of the latest legal news and developments. Remember to follow us on Twitter at @TPJustice.

• The Washington Supreme Court holds that an employee can be fired for medical marijuana use, even if they are doing so with a state-sanctioned prescription.

• The Supreme Court wants you to know that fleeing police in a car chase is a really, really bad idea.

• Oklahoma federal Judge Ronald White was formally reprimanded for appointing his unqualified friends to preside over settlements.

• The European Union’s highest court threatens sanctions against France if the French do not provide adequate protection to prevent a rare species of hamster from going extinct.

• Iowa state Sen. Shawn Hammerlinck (R) thinks college students who actually want to get an education are part of a grand Democratic Party conspiracy.

• The Mississippi Supreme Court formally reprimands a state judge for jailing an attorney who wouldn’t say the Pledge of Allegiance.

• And, finally, for the three people in America who just can’t get enough of Sharron Angle — she has a new, self-published autobiography.

Katherine Shaver’s Washington Post article about French firm Keolis’ bid to manage Maryland commuter rail trains being possibly derailed by lack of disclosure about payments received for transporting Jews during the Holocaust is interesting on a number of dimensions. One of them, not Holocaust-related, is that Keolis is a subsidiary of SNCF (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Français) which is a state-owned firm. So Maryland is considering following the lead of a number of other American jurisdictions and “privatizing” a public function by contracting it out to the government of France.

For the past thirty years a broadly neoliberal tide has swept all over the world, but France has gone much less neoliberal than other developed countries. As a result, it’s seems to have developed comparative advantage in state-owned firms and now has a lot of economic specialization in activities that are either inherently non-competitive (managing trains and electrical grids) or incredibly capital intensive (airplanes and nuclear power plants). My guess is that if everyone tried to copy France, it would be a disaster for everyone, but that to the extent that the bulk of the world has moved in the other direction this constitutes a broadly beneficial kind of specialization.

Just a reminder that political myth-making isn’t just something Rush Limbaugh invented one day.

Marine Le Pen is the leader of the far-right National Front party in France (and the youngest daughter of its founder) and looks like she may be poised to outpoll incumbent Nicholas Sarkozy in the French presidential election next year. Russell Shorto has an excellent profile of the woman in the new NYT Magazine that naturally includes reflections on the broader electoral success far-right European parties have been having. As he puts it on his blog, the new far right is “mixing frank right-wing anti-immigrant policies with a very left-wing social agenda, which includes a critique of capitalism and a call for a return to state regulations.”

Here’s Le Pen laying it out:

Signaling a clear break from her father and the right in general, she has come out with a detailed critique of capitalism and a position promoting the state as the protector of ordinary people. “For a long time, the National Front upheld the idea that the state always does things more expensively and less well than the private sector,” she told me. “But I’m convinced that’s not true. The reason is the inevitable quest for profitability, which is inherent in the private sector. There are certain domains which are so vital to the well-being of citizens that they must at all costs be kept out of the private sector and the law of supply and demand.” The government, therefore, should be entrusted with health care, education, transportation, banking and energy.

I think that when the far-right has been successful, it’s almost always by pairing the politics of violence and racism with a critique of laissez faire capitalism. It’s not a coincidence that Mussolini was a dissident socialist before he was a fascist, and Hitler, too, forged an alliance with the German business community while remaining critical of free markets as such. The common thread here is that this is what happens when the elites running a capitalist political economy fail. And a failure of the elites who run the system is exactly what the US and Europe are living through right now, and we lived through a bigger one in the 1930s. There’s been a bit of a bloggish contretemps lately over whether or not JM Keynes was in some sense an advocate of “central planning,” and this reality is the right lens through which to view his intellectual project. His idea was that only through accepting the need for an important government role in economic stabilization could the underlying project be saved. Otherwise, if crisis is inevitable and all efforts to fix it are counterproductive, then Marx or Le Pen or Hitler or someone is right and the system has to be torn down.

Brian Beutler notes the irony of conservative affection for socialism when it comes to the subject of nuclear power. He quotes John Boehner:

But there are nuclear reactors operating all over the world. Eighty-two percent of the electricity produced in France comes from nuclear sources, and has done so successfully for decades. Only 20 percent of the electricity in the United States comes from nuclear sources. So I think let’s learn the lessons, let’s understand what safeguards if any additional safeguards need to be put in place. But let’s not just say like we have for the last 30 years, we’re not even going to look at it because we’re afraid of it.

I think it’s important to be clear about this. It’s not just that France has high taxes and trains and “socialism.” France, almost uniquely in the modern world, features large state-owned enterprises. In particular, both Électricité de France, the world’s largest utility, and Areva, the world’s largest builder of nuclear plants, are largely owned by the French government. As of today, they’re formally organized as S.A. private firms rather than E.P.I.C. state-owned firms, but the state owns majority stakes in both of them.

Now maybe France is doing this right, but it’s a strange model for conservatives to be pushing, especially since they don’t even seem to know what the model is.