France

PARIS (Reuters) - French Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Sunday that a senior officer had been placed under investigation over a suspected breach of security.

According to Europe 1 radio, a French lieutenant colonel, based in Italy and stationed with NATO, is suspected of having transmitted sensitive documents to the Russian secret services.

Asked to comment on the report, Parly said the ministry had informed prosecutors about the case. She did not elaborate on what the officer was suspected of having done.

PARIS (Reuters) - The Chinese government’s top diplomat, State Councillor Wang Yi, said on Sunday it was possible to conclude an EU-China investment accord by the end of 2020.

“I am thinking of the investment agreement. We have the possibility of concluding it before the end of the year. It is important more than ever to take a step,” Wang Yi said, speaking at the IFRI think tank in Paris, via an interpreter.

PARIS (Reuters) - New coronavirus vaccines could be available from the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021, a presentation by French Health Minister Olivier Veran suggested on Thursday.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday the government must move fast to head off a deadly new COVID-19 wave as the virus’s reproduction level has jumped, with infections surging in the Paris region and among young people.

PARIS (AP) — A mother and her three children scanned the school supplies in a Paris supermarket, plucking out multicolored fountain pens, crisp notebooks – and plenty of masks. Despite resurgent coronavirus infections, similar scenes are unfolding across Europe as a new school year dawns.

Virus or no virus, European authorities are determined to put children back into classrooms, to narrow the learning gaps between haves and have-nots that deepened during lockdowns – and to get their parents back to work.

PARIS (Reuters) - France is joining military exercises with Italy, Greece and Cyprus in the Eastern Mediterranean amid a worsening dispute between Turkey and Greece over energy resources in the region, Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said on Wednesday.

Tensions between Turkey and Greece escalated after Ankara sent its Oruc Reis survey vessel to disputed eastern Mediterranean waters this month, a move Athens has called illegal.

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government said on Saturday it would unveil details of its 100 billion euro ($118 billion) plan to reinvigorate the economy in the first week of September, instead of next Tuesday, as it focuses on preparing the new school term.

“The recovery plan is ready, the timetable for its implementation still stands,” government spokesman Gabriel Attal said in a statement.

(Reuters) - No more parties and events in homes listed on Airbnb, the short-term home rental company said on Thursday as it tries to enforce strict social-distancing norms to fight the COVID-19 pandemic.

The new rules include a cap on occupancy at 16, with hosts or guests who try to skirt the rules facing a ban from Airbnb’s community and even legal action, the company said on Thursday.

“Instituting a global ban on parties and events is in the best interest of public health,” Airbnb said in a statement, adding that the ban applies to all future bookings.

Paris, Aug 18 (AP) France's government is conferring with unions on Tuesday about requiring masks in workplaces to contain growing virus infections.

France's High Council for Public Health recommended obligatory masks in all workplaces this weekend as the country's daily infection count jumped past 3,000 for the first time since May.

PARIS/KABUL, Aug 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France has objected to the release of three men jailed for the murders of French nationals in Afghanistan as part of Kabul’s decision to release 400 Taliban prisoners as the last phase of fulfilling a condition set out in a deal between the Taliban and the US government.

The group of prisoners, whose release has begun, include two men who murdered Bettina Goislard, an employee of the UN refugee agency, in November 2003, and a former Afghan soldier who killed five French soldiers and injured 13 others in Kapisa province eight years ago.

PARIS (Reuters) - Shares in European planemaker Airbus (AIR.PA) fell on Thursday after the U.S. government said it would maintain 15% tariffs on the company’s aircraft and 25% tariffs on other European goods.

Airbus shares were down 2.1% at 0705 GMT, making the stock the worst performer on France's benchmark CAC-40 index .FCHI.

On Wednesday, the U.S. government said it would maintain the tariffs on Airbus and other European goods despite moves by the European Union to resolve a 16-year-old dispute over aircraft subsidies.