France

PARIS (AP) — France and Germany are seeking to overcome differences laid bare by Russia’s war in Ukraine and shore up their alliance with a day of ceremonies and talks Sunday on Europe’s security, energy and other challenges.

Germany’s entire Cabinet is in Paris for joint meetings, and 300 lawmakers from both countries are coming together at the Sorbonne University to mark 60 years since a landmark treaty sealed a bond between the longtime enemies that underpins today’s European Union.

PARIS, January 21. /TASS/: Riots have erupted at a demonstration held by activists of France’s youth movements and political parties protesting against the pension reform, TASS correspondent reported on Saturday.

During the rally, the rioters smashed a shop window of a bank and an ATM machine, and set a bin on fire.

The BFM television channel reported citing the Prefecture de Police in Paris that three individuals had been apprehended and banned objects were seized from them.

PARIS, January 21. /TASS/: RT France will shut down as the TV channel’s accounts have been blocked, Editor-in-chief Ksenia Fedorova wrote on her Twitter page on Saturday.

"The TV channel’s accounts have been frozen at the request of the Directorate General of the Treasury (AFT) under the French Ministry for the Economy and Finance," Fedorova wrote. "Our channel can no longer operate."

PARIS, January 20. /TASS/: France’s defense budget will be increased by a third, to 400 billion euro, in the period from 2024 to 2030, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday.

"Funds allocated to defense will be increased by a third in the period from 2024 to 2030," he said at a meeting with the French army command at the Mont-de-Marsan airbase. The president’s speech was aired on the Elysee Palace’s Twitter account.

According to Macron, the defense budget will reach 400 billion euro.

PARIS, Jan 20 (NNN-XINHUA) – France’s Ministry of the Interior, said that, an estimated 1.12 million French people took to the streets across the country yesterday, to protest against the government’s controversial pension reform plan.

The CGT, France’s largest union, estimated the nationwide protest number at two million. According to the ministry, in Paris alone, 80,000 demonstrators expressed their discontent.

PARIS (AP) — Hundreds of thousands protested on the streets of Paris and other French cities Thursday amid nationwide strikes against plans to raise the retirement age, but President Emmanuel Macron insisted he would press ahead with the proposed pension reforms.

Nationwide strikes severely disrupted transport, schools and other public services across France.

During a news conference at a French-Spanish summit in Barcelona, Spain, Macron said that “we must do that reform” to “save” the pension system.

PARIS (AP) — Workers in many French cities took to the streets Thursday to reject proposed pension changes that would push back the retirement age, amid a day of nationwide strikes and protests seen as a major test for Emmanuel Macron and his presidency.

Demonstrations gathered thousands of people in the cities of Paris, Marseille, Toulouse, Nantes, Lyon and other places as strikes were severely disrupting transport, schools and other public services across the country.

PARIS (AP) — A French nun who was believed to be the world’s oldest person has died a few weeks before her 119th birthday, the spokesperson for her nursing home in southern France said Wednesday.

Lucile Randon, known as Sister André, was born in the town of Ales, southern France, on Feb. 11, 1904. She was also one of the world’s oldest survivors of COVID-19.

Spokesman David Tavella said she died at 2 a.m. on Tuesday at the Sainte-Catherine-Laboure nursing home in the town of Toulon.

PARIS, Jan 14 (Reuters) - The execution of British-Iranian national Alireza Akbari is a heinous and barbaric act, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

Macron said he stood in solidarity with Britain which has condemned the execution, which defied British and U.S. calls for the 61-year-old Akbari's release after he was handed a death sentence on charges of spying for Britain.

In an audio recording purportedly from Akbari and broadcast by BBC Persian on Wednesday, he said he had confessed to crimes he had not committed after extensive torture.

12 Jan 2023; MEMO: The French Football Federation's executive committee has suspended Noel Le Graet, president of France's football federation, following accusations of sexual misconduct.

A statement published by the French Federation yesterday said Le Graet, in agreement with the federation's executive body, had decided to step down until the results of an investigation ordered by Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera are published.