France prepares 10-year investment plan

(AP) PARIS - French President Francois Hollande is defending the record of his first year in office and promising to unveil a 10-year plan to invest 20 billion euros ($26 billion) in infrastructure, digital technology and clean energy.

After a special Cabinet meeting Monday, his spokeswoman clarified that some of that money would come from projects already announced. She said the rest of the details would have to wait for the plan’s announcement.

Amid a stagnating economy and rising unemployment, Hollande has seen his popularity plummet since he was elected last May 6.

But he told his Cabinet that he thought the measures he’d taken so far, like raising taxes, were right, even if they were unpopular. He reiterated his goal of bringing unemployment down by the end of the year.