Category: France

Macron Looking to Hold Social Media Platforms Accountable for Online Hate Speech

News Analysis French President Emanuel Macron announced on Dec. 8 that the EU is considering new legislation to hold tech companies liable for hate speech that occurs on their platforms. “This is unprecedented European regulation to fight online hate, to define the responsibility of these large platforms for their content,” said Macron, as reported by…


Death Toll in French Apartment Blast Reaches 3; Search Over

PARIS—French rescuers retrieved two more bodies Wednesday from the rubble of an apartment building in southern France that collapsed in a suspected gas explosion, bringing the overall death toll to three. The local fire department said it called off the search since no one else was reported missing from Tuesday’s blast in the coastal town…


Blast Levels French Building; at Least 1 Dead, Baby Found

PARIS—French rescue workers dug out the body of a man but rescued his baby and the child’s mother alive from the rubble of a three-story apartment building that collapsed Tuesday in a suspected gas explosion on southern France’s Mediterranean coast. Two other people are missing. The baby, around 10 months old, was located by sniffer…


French Minister Calls for EU Measures Against UK If Fishing Row Talks Fail

France’s minister for Europe has called on the European Union to take retaliatory measures against Britain if there is no resolution to the post-Brexit row over fishing licences by Dec. 10. The European Commission has said the dispute must be settled by that deadline as it upped the pressure on the UK in the negotiations….


France Deploys Military Police to Caribbean Islands Amid Unrest Over Vaccine Mandate

The French government has deployed military police to the Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe amid intensifying protests against COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic related restrictions. Following several weeks of unrest and violent protests over COVID-19 measures—including a vaccine mandate for health care workers—police reinforcements were sent to the French Caribbean territories on Tuesday….


French Assembly Adopts Resolution Backing Taiwan’s Global Participation

The French Assembly adopted a new resolution on Nov.29 to support Taiwan’s participation in international organizations. The self-ruled island of 24 million inhabitants has been barred from participating in international bodies like the United Nations (UN) and World Health Organization by the Chinese regime, which considers Taiwan a wayward province. On Monday, the French National…


Xi’s Meeting with Macron Muzzles Chinese ‘Wolf-Warrior’ Ambassador in France

News Analysis The outspoken Chinese ambassador to France fell silent after Chinese leader Xi Jinping spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron on the phone on Oct. 26. The call came ahead of France’s appointment to the rotational European Union presidency in January 2022. According to Chinese publication Legal Daily, Xi said that the Chinese Communist…


French Fishermen Disrupt UK Trade Routes Over Fishing Licence Row

CALAIS, France—French fishermen temporarily blockaded the port of Calais and Channel Tunnel rail link in an effort to disrupt trade between Britain and the continent on Friday, escalating a row over licences to fish in British waters. Fishing rights plagued Brexit talks for years due to their economic importance and political significance for both President…


France Excludes UK From Migrant Crisis Meeting After PM’s ‘Unacceptable’ Letter

A meeting between Home Secretary Priti Patel and her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin has been dramatically cancelled following Boris Johnson’s latest intervention in the channel crossing migrant crisis. A public letter sent by the Prime Minister to President Emmanuel Macron was described as “unacceptable” by the French Interior Ministry which said Ms Patel was “no…


France Rolls Out COVID-19 Booster Shots to All Adults

PARIS—France said on Thursday it would make COVID-19 booster shots available to all adults, toughen rules on wearing face masks and ramp up health pass checks as it seeks to curb a fifth wave of infections that risks undermining its economic recovery. The number of infections is doubling every 11 days in France but officials…