France

PARIS (AP) — Some world leaders and internet giants are expected to issue a global call to better protect children online during a Paris summit of about 30 heads of state and government, including U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, the French presidency said on Thursday.

PARIS, Nov 8 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A police officer was attacked by a man with a knife in Cannes, southern France, and his assailant has been “neutralised”, said French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin.

The attack in Cannes comes as worries over violent crime and terrorism feature among voters’ main concerns, in the run-up to the 2022 French Presidential election.

The police were treating the incident as a possible terrorist attack, police sources said.

“I offer my support to the national police and to the city of Cannes,” said Darmanin on his Twitter account.

CHARLES DE GAULLE AIRPORT, France (AP) — The U.S. lifted restrictions Monday on travel from a long list of countries including Mexico, Canada and most of Europe, setting the stage for emotional reunions nearly two years in the making and providing a boost for the airline and tourism industries decimated by the pandemic.

Wives will hug husbands for the first time in months. Grandmas will coo over grandsons who have doubled in age since they last saw them. Aunts and uncles and cousins will snuggle babies they haven’t met yet.

PARIS, Nov 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — With Europe reporting over a hundred outbreaks of bird flu in recent months, the Netherlands and now France have ordered poultry farmers to keep their chickens indoors. The poultry lockdown measure has already been in place in certain areas in France since September.

The order cited a “rising infection rate in migratory corridors” as the reason for raising the risk level for the entire country.

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it could still act with its partners against Iran at an upcoming meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board after Tehran said it would return to nuclear talks with world powers at the end of November.

Western powers scrapped plans in September for a resolution criticising Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency after Tehran agreed to prolong monitoring of some nuclear activities and invited IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran for talks on key outstanding issues.

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - France and Britain moved to defuse their dispute over fishing on Thursday, with sanctions off the table for now but all options still possible should talks fail, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said.

Beaune was speaking after meeting British Brexit minister David Frost in Paris after France and Britain came to the brink of a cross-Channel trade war over fishing.

PARIS, Nov 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five million people have died worldwide from Covid-19 since the disease first emerged in China nearly two years ago, according to a tally from official sources.

   Monday’s milestone, nearly four months after four million deaths were registered, came even as mortality rates slow thanks to a global vaccine rollout that has seen billions of people injected.

   While the number of daily deaths worldwide fell below 8,000 for the first time in almost a year in early October, there remain blackspots globally.

PARIS, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy refused to answer questions as he appeared as a witness in a trial in which his former aides are accused of misusing public funds on polling contracts, BFM TV reported on Tuesday.

"As President of the Republic, I am not accountable to the court but to the French people," BFM quoted Sarkozy as saying.

Sarkozy, who has presidential immunity in this specific case, had initially said he would not appear as a witness after being tried and convicted twice this year in separate cases.

PARIS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- France and Britain will hold an in-depth meeting here on Thursday to discuss their dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Tuesday.

French presidential office Elysee announced on Monday evening that no retaliatory sanctions against Britain will come into force before Thursday when renewed talks will be held in Paris, the paper reported.

PARIS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 in Europe is worsening as another winter approaches. It is the only region with increases in infections across all age groups, while five over regions have reported a decline last week, according to the World Health Organization on Friday.

"We know very well now that we will have to live with the virus at least until the summer," French Minister Delegate in charge of Autonomy Brigitte Bourguignon said Thursday, noting that the winter would be "conducive to worsening of the situation."