Tag Archives: France

Bratislava, Slovakia | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday brushed off pressure to halt lucrative arms sales to Saudi Arabia over the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, saying such calls were “pure demagoguery”. Sales of weapons to Riyadh — France’s second biggest customer after India — have “nothing …

Kigali, Rwanda | AFP | FIFA are to double the prize money on offer at the women’s World Cup in time for next year’s tournament in France, president Gianni Infantino confirmed on Friday. Speaking at the end of a FIFA Council meeting in the Rwandan capital Kigali, Infantino confirmed an …

Johannesburg, South Africa | AFP | South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa on Thursday unveiled the continent’s largest train manufacturing plant, a joint venture between the national rail firm and French transport group Alstom. The factory is a part of a 51-billion-rand ($3.5 billion, 3.1 billion-euro) deal between Alstom and the …

Paris, France | AFP | A French appeals court ruled Thursday that former president Nicolas Sarkozy should answer charges of illicit financing of his failed 2012 election campaign, the latest in a string of legal proceedings likely to see him face trial. Sarkozy, 63, will appeal the decision before France’s …

Limoges, France | AFP | The father of two boys, aged three and four, has been jailed in France for feeding them nearly exclusively on Coca-Cola, the children’s lawyer said. The father, who can “neither read, nor write, nor count, doesn’t realise the seriousness of the situation and spent all …

Paris, France | AFP | French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the importance of a Cold War-era nuclear weapons treaty during a phone call with Donald Trump, his office said Monday, after the US president announced he was pulling out of the deal. “The president noted the importance of this treaty, …

Cannes, France | AFP | “Teletubbies” creator Andrew Davenport has come up with a new show “guaranteed to stop children climbing the walls”, BBC bosses claimed Sunday. Davenport, an actor and puppeteer known as the “J.K. Rowling of the under-fives”, also wrote and made the worldwide hit “In the Night …

Cannes, France | AFP | Children are being swamping by the visual equivalent of “pizza and sweets” in “a digital Wild  Wild West”, some of the world’s top kids television programme makers have warned. With YouTube replacing Disney as the most-loved brand among young children in the US, and streaming giants …

Yerevan, Armenia | AFP | The world organisation of French-speaking nations on Friday elected Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo as its new head despite her country’s shift to English a decade ago and controversy over its rights record. Mushikiwabo was elected in a suspense-free vote on the last day of …

Paris, France | AFP | The French health watchdog Wednesday urged the government to outlaw sunlamps and sunbeds because of the “proven” risk of skin cancer, in line with similar bans already in place in Australia and Brazil. “We recommend banning all activities linked to artificial tanning, along with ultraviolet sunlamps …