France

PARIS, July 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Oil prices rose as much as nearly 3 per cent on Wednesday before paring some gains as investors piled back into the market after a heavy rout in the previous session, with supply concerns returning to the fore even as worries about a global recession linger.

Brent crude futures rose as much as $3.08, or 2.9 per cent, to $105.85 a barrel in early trade after plunging 9.5 per cent on Tuesday, the biggest daily drop since March. It was last up 92 cents, or 0.9 per cent, at $103.69 a barrel at 0243 GMT.

PARIS, July 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police in at least five different European countries have detained dozens of people accused of smuggling people across the English Channel to the UK.

It is thought the criminal network brought up to 10,000 migrants in small boats in a period of 12-18 months.

In Germany, 18 suspects were arrested as hundreds of officers swooped in on locations across the country.

A main focus of the operation was the city of Osnabrück, which police say was one of the hubs of the operation.

PARIS, July 6 (Reuters) - France will fully nationalise EDF (EDF.PA), Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Wednesday, in a move that would give the government more control over a restructuring of the debt-laden group while contending with a European energy crisis.

EDF, in which the state already owns 84%, is one of Europe's biggest utilities and sits at the heart of France's nuclear strategy, which the government is banking on to blunt the impact of soaring energy prices exacerbated by the prospect of an abrupt halt to Russian gas supplies.

05 July 2022; MEMO: France urged Israel's new Prime Minister, Yair Lapid, on Tuesday, to restart peace talks with the Palestinians, but Lapid played down such prospects, citing rightist elements in his caretaker government ahead of a November election, Reuters reports.

"The people of Israel is lucky" to have Lapid as its premier, French President Emmanuel Macron said, ahead of a meeting between the two leaders in Paris.

PARIS, July 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Gas consumption will contract slightly this year due to high prices and Russian cuts to Europe, with only slow growth over coming years as consumers switch to alternatives, the IEA said Tuesday.

The International Energy Agency chopped its forecast for global gas demand by more than half in its latest quarterly report on gas markets.

It now expects growth of just 3.4 percent by 2025, an increase of 140 billion cubic metres (bcm) from 2021 levels, which is less than the 175 bcm jump in demand registered in 2021 alone.

PARIS, July 4 (Reuters) - The Eiffel Tower is riddled with rust and in need of full repairs, but instead it is being given a cosmetic 60 million euro paint job ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, according to confidential reports cited by French magazine Marianne.

The wrought-iron 324-metre (1,063 ft) high tower, built by Gustave Eiffel in the late 19th century, is among the most visited tourist sites in the world, welcoming about six million visitors each year.

PARIS, July 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Fifteen people have been arrested in France on suspicion of being part of a people-smuggling ring that was involved in one of the deadliest incidents seen in the English Channel.

In November 2021, 27 people died when their flimsy boat sank near Calais as they tried to make the dangerous journey across the Channel to reach the UK.

Seven months on, French police have now indicted 13 men and two women.

Some could face charges of involuntary manslaughter and people smuggling.

PARIS (AP) — The lawyer for the only surviving attacker from the November 2015 terrorist massacre in Paris criticized her client’s murder conviction and life prison sentence without the possibility of parole, saying Thursday the verdict “raises serious questions.”

Olivia Ronen did not say if Salah Abdeslam would appeal the verdict and sentence. He has 10 days in which to do so.

PARIS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- Yael Braun-Pivet was elected on Tuesday as the new speaker of the French National Assembly, France's lower house of parliament.

The French National Assembly's 577 members kicked off its first session on Tuesday by electing its first female speaker with 242 votes in her favor out of 462 voters, according to French media.

PARIS (AP) — Over the course of an extraordinary nine-month trial, the lone survivor of the Islamic State extremist team that attacked Paris in 2015 has proclaimed his radicalism, wept, apologized to victims and pleaded with judges to forgive his “mistakes.”

For victims’ families and survivors of the attacks, the trial for Salah Abdeslam and suspected accomplices has been excruciating yet crucial in their quest for justice and closure. At long last, the court will hand down its verdict Wednesday.