France

Eiffel Tower closed to visitors as person attempts to climb it

The Eiffel Tower has been closed to visitors after a person has tried to climb it. Paris police spokeswoman said a team of firefighters including a climbing specialist is on…

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Photo Story: Frenchman sentenced to death in Indonesia for drug smuggling

Felix Dorfin of France (L) at his trial at a court in Mataram, Lombok island, Indonesia, 20 May 2019. An Indonesian court sentenced France national Felix Dorfin to death for…

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Photo Story: French Navy fighters make emergency landing in Indonesia

A French Navy fighter pilot make a final check up to his Rafale aircraft before taking off from Sultan Iskandar Muda Military Base at Aceh Besar, Indonesia, 20 May 2019.…

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Photo Story: Alain Delon Photocall at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival

French actor Alain Delon poses during a photocall at the 72nd annual Cannes Film Festival, in Cannes, France, 19 May 2019. Delon will receive a Honorary Palme D’Or award…

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Germany, France and The Netherlands declare that they won’t follow the USA in blocking Huawei

Germany, France and the Netherlands have said they will not block Huawei from participating in the expansion of national 5G networks. The US fears that China could use Huawei equipment…

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Louvre pyramid architect Pei dies aged 102

Tributes have been pouring in on the news of the death of I M Pei, the architect amongst others of the glass pyramid outside the Louvre in Paris. He was…

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Photo Story: Rocketman Photocall at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival

British musician and producer Elton John (L) and British actor Taron Egerton (R), who stars as the iconic musician, pose during the photocall for 'Rocketman' at the 72nd annual…

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Photo Story: Eiffel Tower’s 130th anniversary

Moments from the laser light show at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, as the French capital marks its 130th anniversary. The 12-minute laser light show recounting the history of…

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French doctor suspected of poisoning over 50 patients

A French doctor already charged with poisoning seven patients was taken into custody for questioning over the suspected poisoning of around 50 other patients. Frederic Pechier worked as an anaesthesiologist…

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French President honours soldiers killed in rescue operation freeing hostages in Burkina Faso

French President Emmanuel Macron honours the flag-drapped coffins of late special forces soldiers Cedric de Pierrepont and Alain Bertoncello, who were killed in a night-time rescue of four foreign hostages…

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Air France to cut close to 500 jobs

Air France will cut 465 ground staff jobs from its domestic services as it reduces short-haul capacity under competitive pressure from low-cost rivals and high-speed trains, parent company Air France-KLM…

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Emergency talks in Brussels about Iranian situation

Foreign ministers from France, Germany and the UK were to meet the EU in Brussels later on Monday to discuss Iran’s recent threat to breach commitments of the 2015 nuclear…

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Escalation in bombardments in Syria’s Idlib province raises concern of another humanitarian catastrophe and a new Aleppo

Renewed violence in rebel-held northwestern Syria has killed dozens of civilians and forced 150,000 people into flight in one week alone, leading to fears of a government offensive that humanitarians have…

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Burkina Faso freed hostages arrive in France

Three foreign hostages, including two French citizens, arrived in Paris on Saturday evening after their rescue by French special forces in Burkina Faso. France 24 reports that that the French tourists,…

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French MPs pass law to rebuild Notre Dame cathedral in five years

French MPs have approved a law aimed at restoring the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral within five years after it suffered great damage in a blaze last month. A special bill…

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Macron demands more from Facebook in combatting hate speech

French authorities should have more access to Facebook’s algorithms to audit its policies on hate speech, a report concluded. The French report was published hours before Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and…

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Two French soldiers killed in rescue of four hostages in West Africa

Two French soldiers were killed in an operation to rescue four hostages in the Sahel region of Africa, France said on Friday, adding that the hostages, including a U.S. woman,…

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Tripoli threatens to suspend activities of 40 foreign firms in Libya

In an effort to pressuring Europe to stop an eastern military offensive against Tripoli, Libya’s internationally recognised government asked 40 foreign firms including French oil major Total to renew their…

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EU leaders not agreeing on process to choose successor to Juncker

European leaders are split over the process for choosing the next president of the European Commission and face stormy negotiations on top jobs after this month’s EU elections. Emmanuel Macron,…

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France warns UK it has to leave EU by 31 October

France has warned the UK it must leave the European Union by 31 October as it will not tolerate repeated extensions of the Brexit deadline. "We must not get sucked…

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Eight European countries with ambitious strategy to tackle climate change

Eight European countries - France, Belgium, Denmark, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden - have called for an ambitious strategy to tackle climate change – and to spend a…

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French air traffic controllers to go strike this evening

Air travellers in Europe are facing the prospect of delays and cancellations because of a strike by French air traffic controllers. The industrial action is due to begin Wednesday evening…

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Corporate Dispatch Morning Briefing

Good morning The latest on the deadly bombing in Pakistan, the hostage situation in Toulouse, the geopolitical situations in the Gulf, the situation in Iraq and Liverpool's comeback and the…

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Libya’s Sarraj to meet Macron today

U.N.-backed Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj will meet French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Wednesday. Sarraj's administration is unhappy about Paris's perceived support for eastern commander Khalifa Haftar…

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Detained persons in Toulouse hostage situation released ‘safe and sound’

The four women held hostage since Tuesday afternoon by a 17-year-old man in a bar-PMU in Blagnac, near Toulouse, were released "safe and sound" in the early evening. Shortly before…

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Hostage situation in Toulouse, France (Updated)

UPDATE: The four women held hostage since Tuesday afternoon by a 17-year-old man in a bar-PMU in Blagnac, near Toulouse, were released "safe and sound" in the early evening. Shortly…

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French telecom giant Orange on trial over staff suicides

A decade after 35 employees took their own lives at France Telecom (now know as Orange) the telecoms giant and its former CEO go on trial Monday for “moral harassment”.…

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Marine Le Pen surpasses Macron’s party in EP election poll

In France, the party of far-right leader Marine Le Pen will top the upcoming European Parliament elections with 22 percent of the vote, just ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's REM…

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Summit between Serbia and Kosovo highlights EU ‘diplomatic’ weakness

Macron visited the German capital this week to co-host a summit of Western Balkan leaders alongside Angela Merkel aimed at jumpstarting talks between Serbia and Kosovo. Frustrated by the EU’s…

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Photostory: 500 years of Leonardo Da Vinci

Museums and galleries are marking 500 years from the death of Leonardo da Vinci anniversary. On Thursday, The presidents of France and Italy laid a wreath on the tomb of…

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Business Between Malta and France On The Increase

The most recent statistics show that Malta has seen €134 million in imports and over €120 million in exports to and from France. In fact, exports in goods and services…

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Legal problems after 30 hammerhead sharks die at French aquarium

France's largest aquarium is facing legal action over the deaths of 30 hammerhead sharks. The NGO Sea Shepherd filed a lawsuit against Nausicaa National Sea Center, situated in Boulogne-sur-Mer near…

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Violence in Paris during May Day rallies

As was expected, there was violence in the streets of Paris during the May Day celebrations. French authorities were expecting a heady mix of labour unionists, "yellow vest" demonstrators and…

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Experts call for patience in rebuilding Notre Dame

Over 1,100 French and international architects and heritage experts have called on French President Emmanuel Macron to take the necessary time to ensure good reconstruction work on the fire-damaged Notre…

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France foils terrorist attack

The French Interior Minister announced that it had foiled a terrorist act in France and is holding four suspects in custody. Police sources said the four suspects had been arrested…

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Fire breaks out on Britain-Spain ferry

A fire broke out Monday on a ferry carrying hundreds of passengers from Britain to Spain. The blaze was quickly brought under control and no-one was hurt. The fire on…

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Corporate Dispatch Morning Briefing – Friday April 26th, 2019

Good morning, A clear morning, after days characterised by the presence of sand from the Sahara Desert in the atmosphere. Your morning briefing brings you a quick over-view of the…

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Macron promises tax cuts, administration decentralisation

Emmanuel Macron has promised to cut taxes, decentralise France’s administration and prevent the closure of any more hospitals or schools in a new round of reforms aimed at rebooting his…

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Corporate Dispatch Morning Briefing and Newspaper Review

Good morning, The latest from Sri Lanka, Libya and the UK, the headlines from Malta's front pages in your morning briefing for today. Sri Lankan intelligence has named the…

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France to invest €6 million in free breakfasts at public schools

A number of French public schools have begun serving free breakfast to students as part of a new government programme aimed at improving student performance by combatting hunger. French…

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Notre Dame Cathedral has now been stabilized

Architects and construction workers have now stabilized the damaged structure of Notre Dame cathedral, after a fast-spreading fire ravaged the iconic Paris building, and firefighters have now left the…

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Italy and France working on a ceasefire in Libya

Italy and France are working to stop the conflict in Libya, Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi said after meeting his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian in Rome on Friday. "Naturally…

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Crown of Thorns from Notre Dame to be carried in Good Friday procession in Paris

Good Friday will be marked in the shadow of Notre Dame Cathedral with a procession carrying one of the treasures saved from this week's devastating fire. Clergy and believers will…

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Disney pledges $5 million to support rebuilding of Notre-Dame Cathedral

The Walt Disney Company announced it is committing $5 million to aid in the reconstruction of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris following the devastating fire that severely damaged the historic landmark…

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Victor Hugo’s ‘The Hunchback of Notre-Dame’ shoots to the top of Amazon best-seller list

Victor Hugo's 19th-century classic 'Notre-Dame de Paris, know in English as the 'The Hunchback of Notre-Dame', is at the top of Amazon's best-selling list in France following the blaze that…

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Donations flood in to rebuild Paris’ Notre Dame

Nearly €1 billion has already poured in from around the world to restore Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris after a massive fire. French Presidential cultural heritage envoy Stephane Bern…

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Europeans involved in armed incidents along Libyan-Tunisian border

Tunisian authorities have stopped more than 20 armed Europeans attempting to cross into the country from neighbouring Libya. Tunisian Defence Minister Abdelkareem Zubaidi revealed an armed group consisting of 13…

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International competition launched to rebuild the spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral

France's Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has launched a competition for international architects to rebuild the spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral. Huge sums of money have been pledged to repair the…

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The Notre Dame Fire…what happens next

French President Emmanuel Macron says Notre-Dame cathedral will be rebuilt "even more beautifully" and that he wants the work done within five years. A massive fire on Monday ravaged the…

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Notre Dame must be rebuilt within five years – Macron

France's president Emmanuel Macron has told France Notre Dame cathedral will be rebuilt, and it must be rebuilt within five years. In a live televised Presidential address to the nation,…

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Notre Dame Fire – How Social Media failed its test at fighting misinformation (The Guardian)

The Notre Dame Cathedral fire presented social media companies with one of the first major tests of their nascent programmes aimed at fighting misinformation in real time – and critics…

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The Notre-Dame tragedy – Reflections of an artist, an academic, a diplomat and a writer

The helplessness with which we witnessed the fire engulfing the Notre Dame cathedral kicks off various thoughts. Corporate Dispatch sought the views of Artist James Vella Clark, Lecturer Dr Charlene…

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Notre Dame fire completely extinguished

A spokesman for the Paris firefighters announced that the 'entire fire is out'. After hours of battling a "significant fire" that broke out at the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral in…

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Corporate Dispatch Morning Briefing

Good Morning Your morning briefing for today leads with the fire which engulfed the Notre Dame cathedral in France, the story which is dominating the world headlines across the world.…

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Notre-Dame cathedral – What we know so far

A fire that spread from the attic of Notre-Dame cathedral on Monday has caused its spire to crash to the ground, and devastated Paris's historical monument. The fire began around…

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Notre Dame Cathedral fire – The Sadness, The Pain

Design by Cristina Correa Freile via Huff Post Firefighters are battling a massive blaze at the French capital’s iconic Notre Dame Cathedral, where flames and black smoke were seen shooting…

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The history of the Notre Dame Cathedral

The Notre Dame is considered as a Catholic treasure which was over 800 years old. It is located on a small island called the Ile de la Cite in the…

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