French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday promised to help raise more than $1 billion in new funding for education in the developing world, calling schools vital in countering extremism. [...] Macron said he was working with Senegal to boost the Global Partnership for Education which brings together donors, international organizations and the private sector to expand and improve schooling around the world.

Increasing development aid, rebooting European climate policy, partnering with green technologies in emerging economies: the French president has made his diplomatic priorities clear. [...] In front of a distinguished audience, he listed France’s new ambitions “in the current state of affairs”: security, independence, and influence. This motto, he stressed, does not mean to “make France a small and reluctant country, jealously guarding its security”.