France

19 June 2019; AFP: In the forest undergrowth of northern Corsica, two wildlife rangers open a cage to reveal a striped, tawny-coated animal, one of 16 felines known as "cat-foxes" in the area and thought to be a new species.

"We believe that it's a wild natural species which was known but not scientifically identified because it's an extremely inconspicuous animal with nocturnal habits," says Pierre Benedetti, chief environmental technician of the National Hunting and Wildlife Office (ONCFS).

18 June 2019; DW: Germany, France and Spain on Monday signed a deal for a next-generation European fighter plane.

The framework was agreed between the defense ministers of each nation with French President Emmanuel Macron in attendance at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget, just north of the French capital.

The arrangement will include a joint air combat system that could also control drones and satellites.

LE BOURGET, June 17. /TASS/: Two commercial launches with the Proton carrier rocket are planned for 2019, Glavkosmos Director General Dmitry Loskutov told TASS on Monday on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget.

"Later this year, the Proton will deliver two commercial spacecraft in the framework of the contract with the International Launch Services, whose board of directors includes representatives of Glavcosmos," Loskutov said.

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — The Latest on the Paris Air Show (all times local):

12:20 p.m.

France, Germany and Spain have agreed to develop a joint European fighter jet and air combat system that could also control drones and satellites.

With a model of the jet as a backdrop, defense ministers from the three countries signed an agreement Monday at the Paris Air Show that lays out how the countries will cooperate on the project, which would include a new-generation combat aircraft. French President Emmanuel Macron presided over the signing.

PARIS (AP) — The chief executive of Boeing said the company made a “mistake” in handling a problematic cockpit warning system in its 737 Max jets before two crashes killed 346 people, and he promised transparency as the aircraft maker works to get the grounded plane back in flight.

Speaking before the industry-wide Paris Air Show, Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg told reporters Boeing’s communication with regulators, customers and the public “was not consistent. And that’s unacceptable.”

17 June 2019; DW: French Agriculture Minister Didier Guillaume said a natural emergency would be declared following a severe storm that devastated harvests in the nation's southeast at the weekend.

Nine departments were put on alert over the weekend and while the storms were brief, lasting only a few minutes, they were also very destructive, coming at the start of the fruit season.  The Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region is known as the "orchard of France."

PARIS (AP) — The Notre Dame cathedral is holding its first Mass since the April fire that ravaged the edifice’s roof and caused its masterpiece spire to collapse.

Saturday’s mass at the Gothic building will be celebrated by Paris archbishop Michel Aupetit amid reduced attendance. For security reasons, only about 30 people — mainly priests, canons and church employees — will be admitted inside the cathedral. Aupetit will be wearing a construction worker’s helmet in addition to his miter.

PARIS, June 14. /TASS/: Russia has come close to resuming activities in all the bodies of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in 2019, First Deputy Speaker of the Russian Federation Council (the upper house of parliament) Nikolai Fyodorov said at a press conference on the sidelines of the 20th meeting of the Association of European Senates in Paris.

PARIS, June 12. /TASS/: The co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) for the monitoring the situation in Georgia have condemned the June 9 parliamentary elections in South Ossetia, calling them illegal.

12 June 2019; DW: Both hostages were freed following a standoff in high security prison in France on Wednesday, French AFP news agency reported officials as saying.

The crisis started when one of the inmates in the Conde-sur-Sarthe facility took a guard and a female trainee hostage during meal time on Tuesday. He apparently used a home-made, improvised weapon.