Chad has said it is terminating a key defence cooperation agreement with France, raising questions about Paris’s waning influence in Africa’s embattled Sahel region. Chadian Foreign Minister Abderaman Koulamallah said it was time for his country to “assert its full sovereignty”. The announcement came just hours after Koulamallah’s French counterpart, Jean-Noel Barrot, met Chad’s President … Read more
France’s Foreign Ministry strongly suggested on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel would not immediately be arrested if he came to French territory, despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant targeting him. A member of the court, France has been cautious so far in its reaction to the arrest warrants issued last week … Read more
New French PM promises ‘targeted tax hikes’ and spending cuts in order to cut budget deficit, national debt. France’s new Prime Minister Michel Barnier has outlined the policy programme of his new government, seeking to shore up its fragile position just three weeks after taking office. In his first policy speech on Tuesday, Barnier said … Read more
About 20 people have lost their lives in two weeks while making the perilous journey on overcrowded boats. At least eight people have died overnight while attempting to cross the English Channel from France to the United Kingdom, according to French authorities. The regional prefect, Jacques Billant, said the incident happened at about 1am (23:00 … Read more
Sale comes as European nations try to coax Serbia away from traditional ally and weapons supplier Moscow. France and Serbia have signed a $3bn agreement for the sale of 12 French-made Rafale fighter jets, as European countries try to coax Serbia away from close ties with Russia. The landmark sale, signed by Serb Defence Minister … Read more
Durov, a Russian-born French-Emirati citizen, was arrested late Saturday night and is still being held as part of an investigation into allegations of child pornography, drug trafficking and organized crime on the Telegram messaging platform, the Paris prosecutor’s office said. French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that it was “in no way a political decision” … Read more
Ukraine has been struggling to fend off Russia’s assault in the east, hence the calls for accelerated weapons deliveries. Russia is rapidly advancing near Pokrovsk, Toretsk and Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. Russian forces almost seized Krasnohorivka and occupied New York, a town in the Donetsk region, a Ukrainian army brigade said in a … Read more
But Macron’s decision to postpone appointing a new government further angered his rivals on the left. “Emmanuel Macron is locking everything until mid-August so that he won’t have to admit we arrived first,” left-wing lawmaker Sandrine Rousseau wrote on X. For his part, Macron slammed the far left’s decision to table a bill to repeal … Read more
“We’ve always had the same philosophy, we help the Ukrainians to fight,” he said. France had until now stopped short of donating fighter jets to Ukraine, arguing that Kyiv needs to focus on obtaining and training on F-16s, which are more common than the Mirages made by the French arms manufacturer Dassault. The Ukrainian president … Read more
A convoy of armored vehicles and heavy construction machinery was despatched from the capital, with AFP reporting that activists were still manning makeshift roadblocks at midday Sunday local time. At least 230 people have been detained, and Louis Le Franc, the high commissioner of New Caledonia, has since said the road is under government control. … Read more