[00:03.87]From VOA Learning English,
[00:07.33]this is In the News.
[00:09.66]Relations between the United States and France
[00:13.45]appeared to grow stronger this week
[00:16.58]after President Francois Hollande visited Washington.
[00:21.45]President Barack Obama welcomed the French leader
[00:25.68]by taking him on Monday to Charlottesville, Virginia.
[00:30.34]They visited Monticello, the 18th century house
[00:35.06]designed and built by Thomas Jefferson,
[00:39.10]America’s third president.
[00:41.48]Jefferson was also one of the writers of
[00:44.35]the Declaration of Independence and served as America’s
[00:48.98]representative to France from 1785 to 1789.
[00:55.64]President Obama told President Hollande
[00:59.00]that Monticello is an example of what he called
[01:02.96]the “incredible history” between the United States and France.
[01:08.54]Thomas Jefferson loved France,
[01:11.89]and was a supporter of the French Revolution.
[01:14.96]As Mr. Obama noted,
[01:17.54]France supported Britain’s North American colonies
[01:21.79]as they fought for independence.
[01:24.58]“All this is signified here at Monticello
[01:27.62]and our hope in starting our visit in this way
[01:30.94]is that just as we can extend back
[01:33.23]through generations to see the links
[01:35.89]between the United States and France,
[01:37.26]tomorrow we will have an opportunity to talk about
[01:39.54]not only our current bonds and alliance,
[01:42.52]but also ways we can strengthen our cooperation in the future.”
[01:47.43]President Hollande also spoke to reporters
[01:50.22]during his visit to Monticello.
[01:52.50]He noted how a Frenchman, the Marquis de Lafayette,
[01:57.05]assisted the colonial forces during the American Revolution.
[02:01.67]“We were allies in the time of Jefferson and Lafayette,
[02:08.95]we are indeed still allies today.
[02:11.64]We were friends in the time of Jefferson
[02:15.10]and Lafayette and we will remain friends forever.”
[02:18.87]President Hollande spent the second day of his state visit in Washington.
[02:24.26]He received the traditional ceremonial welcome
[02:27.71]to the White House before opening talks with President Obama.
[02:32.71]Two newspapers, Le Monde and The Washington Post,
[02:37.22]published an opinion piece written by the two men.
[02:41.38]They wrote about a modern relationship marked by expansion.
[02:47.01]They said it includes more cooperation in NATO,
[02:52.07]agreement to remove chemical weapons from Syria
[02:56.28]and to prevent al-Qaida from gaining more influence in Africa.
[03:03.06]Tuesday night, the French president was honored at a state dinner.
[03:07.32]More than 300 people were invited to the White House.
[03:12.19]The dinner guests included top US officials,
[03:16.47]business leaders and movie stars.
[03:19.81]The White House was forced to reprint invitations to the state dinner
[03:25.79]after Mr. Hollande announced a break-up
[03:29.22]with his former partner last month.
[03:32.21]After the dinner, the French leader flew to California,
[03:36.13]which is considered the center of American information technology.
[03:41.13]There he met with leaders of several IT companies,
[03:45.89]including Facebook and Google.
[03:48.79]At a gathering in San Francisco, Mr. Hollande noted,
[03:53.25]“It is here in California that the world of tomorrow is being invented.”
[03:59.87]He added that “For centuries,
[04:02.16]France has wanted to change the world. Together, we can.”
[04:07.51]The French president has invited President Obama to France in June
[04:12.32]for ceremonies marking the 70th anniversary of the D-Day invasion in Normandy.
[04:19.60]That was when Western Allied forces began an effort
[04:24.55]to free mainland Europe from occupation by Nazi Germany and its allies.
[04:30.78]France will also lead a climate conference next year.
[04:35.43]Both leaders say they are repeating their promise
[04:40.28]to lead the world in dealing with climate change.
[04:44.72]And that’s In the News from VOA Learning English.
[04:50.25]I’m Steve Ember.