Stephanie Rivoal, the outgoing French Ambassador spoke to The Independent’s Ronald Musoke about her highs and lows of her two-and-half year stay in Uganda. Uganda was your very first post in your diplomatic career. How have you found your stay here? It is my belief that modern diplomacy touches three …
Read More »Hero French pilot in Entebbe hijack dies aged 95
Nice, France | AFP | A French pilot hailed for bravery during a hijacking drama targeting Jews on an Air France flight in 1976 has died aged 95, his son told AFP on Wednesday. Michel Bacos was flying from Tel Aviv to Paris when Palestinian and German radicals hijacked the …
Read More »French judges question PSG president in athletics corruption probe
Paris, France | AFP | The Qatari boss of top French soccer team PSG Nasser Al-Khelaifi has been questioned in France in connection with a corruption probe over the awarding to Doha of the World Athletics championships, a judicial source said Saturday. The source said Al-Khelaifi was questioned on Wednesday by investigating magistrates who termed …
Read More »Rwanda invites Macron to attend 25th anniversary of genocide
Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | Rwanda, which has accused France of complicity in the 1994 genocide that killed some 800,000 of its citizens, said Tuesday it had invited President Emmanuel Macron to attend the 25th anniversary of the massacre on April 7. Kigali has long insisted that France supported the Hutu regime and helped train …
Read More »Emiliano Sala – the unorthodox Argentine striker made in France
Nantes, France | AFP | He was born in Argentina, made his name in France but lost his life over the English Channel on his way to play for a Welsh club. On Thursday, it was confirmed that a body recovered by British investigators from the submerged wreckage of …
Read More »Italy lectures France on Africa
Italian leaders irk Paris by backing the Yellow Jackets and denouncing French colonialism ANALYSIS | Hannah Roberts | The 5Star Movement’s attempt to blame migrant deaths in the Mediterranean on Paris says more about the dire state of the Italian ruling coalition than the French colonial legacy in Africa. Paris was …
Read More »Central African Republic ‘repats’ unfazed by poverty, conflict
Bangui, Central African Republic | AFP | “When I decided to come back, my friends took me for a fool,” recounts Clement Ndotizo, who spent a decade in France before returning to settle in his native Central African Republic, one of the world’s least-developed and most dangerous countries. But a “fool”, …
Read More »Transfer deadline day deals
Paris, France | AFP | With the January transfer window closing on Thursday evening, AFP Sport picks out some of the main deals to go through around Europe on deadline day: ENGLAND – Newcastle United signed Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron, 24, from MLS Cup winners Atlanta United, reportedly for a club-record …
Read More »Race for ‘hypersonic’ weapons heats up as France joins fray
Paris, France | AFP | World powers are vying to develop so-called “hypersonic” weapons that travel several times the speed of sound, with France the latest to join a field led so far by Russia and China. Hypersonics are like missiles that travel at over five times the speed of …
Read More »France to seek tougher oversight of 5G network gear
Paris, France | AFP | France will require telecommunications companies to allow more government oversight and control of the equipment required for next-generation 5G wireless networks due to security concerns, a government official said Tuesday. The move comes as several Western nations have barred China’s Huawei from participating in contracts for …
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