France

Four dead as Storm Gloria batters Spain, starts moving into France

Hundreds of thousands of people were left without electricity in north-eastern Spain on Tuesday after heavy snow and rainfall. Four people have been killed by Storm Gloria since Sunday, with…

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France says more countries back European-led naval mission in Hormuz

A European-led naval mission in the Straits of Hormuz - a vital shipping route for world transport that has been impacted by military tensions in the Middle East - has…

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VIDEO: Highlights Paris Fashion Week FW2020/21

Fashion Week festivities have made their way over to France’s capital of Paris. Welcoming in the Fall/Winter 2020 season, the city’s dazzling streets and ornate architecture have become the latest…

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French fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier announces retirement

French designer Jean-Paul Gaultier said Friday that his next Paris haute couture fashion show will be his last. The flamboyant creator said he would be bowing out Wednesday with a…

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French President Macron rushed out of Paris theatre after protesters try to confront him

French President Emmanuel Macron has been rushed out of a theatre in Paris after protesters tried to confront him. Dozens of demonstrators had gathered outside the Les Bouffes du Nord…

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France to deploy Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to support operations in Middle East

France will deploy the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its battle group from January to April to support French military operations in the Middle East, Emmanuel Macron said. “The…

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Marine Le Pen to Run in 2022 French Presidential Election

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen plans to make a third bid to become president in the 2022 election, Le Figaro newspaper reported on Thursday. The leader of the National…

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French ex-presidential candidate Ségolène Royal probed over expenses

French prosecutors said they have opened an investigation into allegations that former French presidential candidate Segolene Royal used expenses meant for her ambassadorial job to promote her side interests. Royal,…

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Flights affected as mass transport strikes across France continued Wednesday

Mass transportation strikes entered their 42nd day on Wednesday with one union representing air traffic controllers also joining the industrial action. Unions and governments have been meeting on Tuesday to…

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Photo Story: French lawyers on strike

French lawyers display their law books to write SOS, as they demonstrate against the pension reform by the French government ahead of the trial of French former priest Bernard Preynat,…

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France warns Iran could have nuclear weapon within one to two years

Iran could have nuclear weapons in one to two years if the country carries on violating the 2015 nuclear accord, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Friday. “If…

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French strikes enter fourth day

French unions staged a fourth day of national protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s pension reforms with polls suggesting that public patience over a record 36-day public sector strike is wearing…

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Photo Story: National strike against Pension reform in France

A protester wearing wearing a red worker jumpsuit and a mask similar to one in the TV series 'Money Heist' (La casa de papel) holds smoke torches during a demonstration…

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Sarkozy to stand trial in October on corruption charges

Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy is set to stand trial in October over charges of corruption, according to a decision made public by a Paris criminal court on Wednesday. Sarkozy…

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Body of child found in Air France plane landing gear

The body of a stowaway - believed to be a child - has been discovered in the landing gear of an aircraft in Paris. Air France said the body was…

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German police shoot dead knife-wielding attacker, Second similar attack in France

Police in Germany have shot dead a man who was trying to assail police officers with a knife in the west German city of Gelsenkirchen. The man hit a patrol car with an object and…

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Paris on high alert after fatal stabbing

Police in a Paris suburb shot a man dead after he went on a rampage with a knife, killing one person and injuring two others. French officials gave no motive…

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France’s transport strike longest since May 1968

France's transport strike against pension reform has entered its 29th day, making it the longest rail workers' strike since May 1968. Industrial action against President Emmanuel Macron's planned pension reform…

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Photo Story: New Year holiday security preparations in Paris

French Police Officers stand guard as Interior Minister Castaner (unseen) visits the security forces securing the Eiffel Tower to discuss New Year holiday security measures in Paris, France, 30 December…

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French strikes continue to throw holiday travel into chaos

France's transport network remained disrupted in Paris and across the country over the weekend, complicating travel for those returning from Christmas breaks or leaving for holidays for the New Year. The rolling…

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French pension reform protest movement enters fourth week

As France's national strike over pension reform enters its fourth week, trains are still cancelled and running on reduced schedules across much of the country. The government had called for…

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Months after devastating fire, Notre Dame is still not out of danger

The rector of Notre Dame Cathedral says the Paris landmark is still so fragile that there's a "50 percent chance" the structure might not be saved, because scaffolding installed before…

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Flights cancelled as Storm Fabien batters southern France and Corsica

Heavy rain and winds from Storm Fabien brought the island of Corsica to a standstill on Sunday with flight cancellations days before the Christmas holiday. The airport in Ajaccio remained…

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French fashion designer Emanuel Ungaro dies in Paris at age 86

French designer Emanuel Ungaro, who described himself as a “sensual obsessive”, has died in Paris at the age of 86. Ungaro, who retired from fashion in 2004, died on Saturday…

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France deploys armed drones in the Sahel region

American-built Reaper drones fitted with laser-guided missiles have been deployed as part of France's Barkhane mission in Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso, French Defense Minister Florence Parly announced. The drones…

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French strikers cut power to homes, companies

France’s warring trade unions on Wednesday defended their decision to cut power to thousands of homes, companies and even the Bank of France to force a weakened government to drop…

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France braces itself for more strikes

French workers take to the streets anew Tuesday on the 13th day of a transport strike that has exasperated commuters, hit business turnover, and threatened the holiday plans of thousands…

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French High Commissioner for Pension Reform Delevoye resigns because of conflict of interest

French High Commissioner for Pension Reform Jean-Paul Delevoye (L) arrives to attend a meeting where French Prime Minister Philippe will unveil the details of a pension reform plan before the…

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Photo Story: General strike in France

Commuters and travellers crowd the platform of Gare du Nord train station during a general strike action, in Paris, France, 16 December 2019. Unions representing railway and transport workers and…

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More than 600 French doctors threaten to quit amid funding row

More than 600 French hospital doctors have threatened to resign if the government does not increase health funding, as striking medics prepare to take to the streets this week across…

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French union calls for Christmas break in transport strike

France’s CFDT union is opposed to transport strikes over the Christmas period but will call for new actions in January if the government does not drop a pension reform proposal…

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France’s transport strike to continue over holiday period

France entered its eighth day of strikes on Thursday and the industrial action shows no signs of abating - not even for the holiday season. A major labour union said…

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Commemoration of the Strasbourg terrorist Christmas market attack

Scenes from the commemorate of the dead of the 2018 terrorist attack at the Christmas market, in Strasbourg, France, 11 December 2019. A year ago, in Strasbourg's city centre, five…

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France’s Sanofi to buy Synthorx for $2.5 billion

France’s Sanofi said on Monday it had agreed to buy Synthorx in a cash deal worth around $2.5 billion as it seeks to beef up its immuno-oncology pipeline. Under the…

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Public transport chaos in France as strike over pensions continues

French commuters and tourists braced for a fifth day of public transport chaos Monday as the government prepared to respond to widespread anger over pension reform that has sparked open-ended…

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Corporate Dispatch visits…..First Toulouse-Lautrec Retrospective in Almost 30 Years Debuts in Paris

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864–1901) is being celebrated with a superb exhibition, the first retrospective of this influential artist in almost three decades. The show, themed Toulouse-Lautrec, Resolutely Modern just opened…

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French strike against pension reform enters day two

A strike that crippled public transport and closed schools across France entered a second day on Friday, with trade unions saying they planned to keep going until President Emmanuel Macron…

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France braces for severe disruption amid biggest strike in decades

France is preparing for severe disruption as millions of workers go on strike in protest at being forced to retire later or face reduced pensions. School and transport workers will…

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Photo Story: ‘Jumanji: Next Level’ World Premiere in Paris

US actor and cast member Jack Black poses for the media as he arrives for the world premiere of the film 'Jumanji: Next Level' at The Grand Rex theatre in…

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Photo Story: The Champs-Elysees in Paris lights up for Christmas

Scenes from the Avenue des Champs-Elysees towards the Place de la Concorde. Thousands of people attended the ceremony to switch on the Christmas illuminations on the famous boulevard in Paris,…

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Corporate Dispatch visits……..El Greco at the Grand Palais

The first major exhibition in France of the Greek artist Doménikos Theotokópoulos (1541-1614), better known as El Greco, is on at the Grand Palais in Paris. Seventy-six works will be…

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Traditional Strasbourg Christmas market opens amid tight security

Photos from the Christmas market near the Cathedral of Our Lady in Strasbourg, France, as it opened for this year’s holidays. One year after the terrorist attack in Strasbourg, security…

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Photo Story: Galeries Lafayette Christmas decoration unveiled in Paris

Christmas decorations in the Galeries Lafayette department store as the festive illuminations are unveiled, in Paris, France, on the evening of Wednesday 20 November 2019. This year the guest of…

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Sudden snowstorm leaves one dead, many without electricity in southeast France

A man died due to unexpectedly heavy snowfall in the Rhône-Alpes region in France. Rail traffic was also disrupted, and 300,000 homes were left without electricity due to the weather.…

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Cirque du Soleil founder embroiled in Tahiti marijuana probe

Authorities in French Polynesia have handed preliminary drug charges to the founder of world-renowned circus Cirque du Soleil. State broadcaster Polynesie 1 showed Guy Laliberte released from custody Wednesday after…

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Calls in France for boycott of latest Polanski film after new rape claim

Film director Roman Polanski was facing calls for a boycott of his new film which opened in France Wednesday, in the wake of the latest rape accusation against the controversial…

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Photo Story: Paris attacks anniversary ceremony

People pay their respect at the entrance of the Bataclan concert venue after a ceremony marking the fourth anniversary of the Paris attacks of November 2015, in Paris, France, 13…

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Carrefour to sell off Rue du Commerce online site

French supermarket retailer Carrefour is in talks to sell its Rue du Commerce online shopping site to French e-commerce venture Shopinvest, as it refocuses its online sales strategy on food…

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France’s privatisation push with sale of national lottery stake

The French government has launched its biggest wave of privatisations in more than a decade, kicking off the process with the sale of the majority of its stake in the…

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NATO alliance experiencing brain death, says Macron

President Emmanuel Macron of France has described NATO as "brain dead", stressing what he sees as waning commitment to the transatlantic alliance by its main guarantor, the US. Interviewed by…

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Paris authorities’ clear large migrant camps on edge of city

Police launched an operation early Thursday to clear roughly 3,000 refugees and migrants living in camps on the edge of the French capital. About 600 police officers escorted the camp’s…

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France to ‘take back control’ of immigration, says French PM

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on Wednesday unveiled the government's new immigration measures, including the first ever quotas for migrant workers, as President Emmanuel Macron's administration seeks to toughen its…

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French film star Catherine Deneuve hospitalised after stroke

French actress Catherine Deneuve, 76, has been admitted to hospital in Paris after suffering a mild stroke while filming her latest movie. Deneuve's family said in a statement released Wednesday that the 76-year-old…

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Actress Catherine Deneuve hospitalized

French actress Catherine Deneuve has been admitted to a hospital in Paris after feeling ill. French newspaper Le Parisien, which first broke the news, said Deneuve, 76, was in a…

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France and China agree €13.5 billion trade contracts

French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese President Xi Jinping announced major trade contracts in Beijing in Wednesday worth €13.5 billion. Deals were agreed in aeronautics, energy and agriculture. Twenty French companies…

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France to set up regional quotas for foreign worker permits

France will establish a quota system, by region and profession, for issuing work permits to non-EU citizens, the country's Labour Minister Muriel Penicaud announced. It comes during President Emmanuel Macron's renewed…

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France says its troops killed a leading jihadist in the Sahel

French troops killed one of the Sahel region’s leading jihadists on Oct. 9, France’s defence minister said. Moroccan Ali Maychou of the Group to Support Islam and Muslims (GSIM) was…

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