France

French Prez Macron to visit India from Feb 17 to 19 to attend AI summit

French President Emmanuel Macron will undertake a three-day visit to India beginning February 17, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Tuesday. Macron will hold wide-ranging talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi besides attending the AI Impact summit. Both the leaders will hold discussions on strengthening bilateral cooperation across a wide spectrum of areas, the MEA said. In addition, the leaders will discuss regional and global issues of mutual interest, including cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, it said. Modi and Macron will also be in Mumbai to jointly inaugurate the 'India-France Year of Innovation', the MEA said in a statement.

India likely to pursue critical minerals deals with Brazil, Canada, Europe

The focus would be on lithium and rare earths, and India would also seek access to mineral-processing technologies

Canada, France open consulates in Greenland amid US push to gain control

Canada and France opened diplomatic consulates on Friday in the capital of Greenland, showing support for NATO ally Denmark and the Arctic island in the wake of US efforts to secure control of the semiautonomous Danish territory. Canada's maple-leaf flag went up and dozens of people sang "O Canada" as Foreign Minister Anita Anand officially opened the country's consulate in Nuuk, which is also the largest city of the icy Arctic island. "The significance of raising this flag today and formally opening the consulate is that we will stand together with the people of Greenland and Denmark on many issues," she said. Anand cited deepening ties on defence, security, climate change, economic resilience and Arctic co-operation. France's Foreign Ministry said Jean-Noel Poirier was taking up his duties as consul general on Friday, making it the first European Union country to establish a consulate general in Greenland. Greenland's Sermitsiaq reported that Poirier had arrived on Friday along

'Political attack': Musk hits back after France raids X's office in Paris

French police raided X's Paris office as part of a probe into alleged misuse of algorithms and illegal data practices, prompting Elon Musk to call the action a 'political attack'

Paris prosecutor's cybercrime unit searches X office, Musk summoned

The raid is linked to a year-long investigation into suspected abuse of algorithms and fraudulent data extraction by X or its executives

Soaring debt in richest economies risks slower growth and instability

Record or near-record debt in the United States, Britain, France, Italy and Japan threaten to hamstring growth and sow financial instability around the globe

French lawmakers pass bill banning under-15s from accessing social media

The ban targets popular social media apps including Meta Platforms Inc.'s Facebook and Instagram, ByteDance Ltd.'s TikTok and Snap Inc.'s Snapchat

With GenAI, billing models more outcome-based: TP India head Maneesh Daga

Teleperformance India says AI is driving a shift from low-end bpo work to outcome-based, higher-value services, reshaping billing models, productivity and hiring strategies

Trump snubs French President Macron's proposed G-7 meet on Greenland

Speaking to the press on completion of his first year of the second term, Trump said that he will not attend the proposed meeting, suggesting there's uncertainty over Macron's political future

Won't be blackmailed: Germany, France to US; G7 FMs to meet soon

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said at a news conference on Monday he did not think Trump is considering militarily forceful intervention over Greenland

'No intimidation will influence us in Ukraine or Greenland,' says Macron

Macron maintained France's commitment to ensure the sovereignty of Greenland and Ukraine and said that the country will not be deterred from any intimidation or threats

Jaishankar meets French President Macron, discusses global changes

EAM appreciated the French President's perspectives on contemporary global developments and the positive sentiments for India-France Strategic Partnership

French farmers drive tractors into Paris to protest EU free trade deal

Farmers drove about a hundred tractors into Paris on Thursday morning to protest the European Union's intention to move forward with a free trade deal with five South American nations, the French Interior Ministry said. French farmers for years have denounced the trade deal with the Mercosur nations of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay, arguing that the deal would hurt French farmers' livelihoods. Thursday's protest was staged by the Rural Coordination union to put further pressure on France's government, which has opposed the deal. Jose Perez, President of the Rural Coordination in the Lot-et-Garonne region in southwestern France, said, The goal today is to come to Paris to express our demands closer to those who have the power. It's a strong symbol, he told The Associated Press. The Interior Ministry said about 20 tractors were in the Paris city centre, some at the Arc de Triomphe monument and others in the Eiffel Tower neighbourhood, despite a ban issued by ...

French court convicts 10 for cyberbullying first lady Brigitte Macron

A Paris court found Monday 10 people guilty of cyberbullying France's first lady, Brigitte Macron, by spreading false online claims about her gender and sexuality, including allegations that she was born a male. One defendant was sentenced to six months in prison, while eight were handed suspended sentences between four and eight months. All 10 were ordered to attend cyberbullying awareness training. The court pointed to particularly degrading, insulting, and malicious comments referring to false claims suggesting that Brigitte Macron was transgender and a pedophile. Repeated publications have had cumulative harmful effects, the court said. The defendants, eight men and two women ranging in age from 41 to 65, were accused of having posted numerous comments falsely claiming that the wife of President Emmanuel Macron was born male and likening their 24-year age gap to pedophilia. Some of the posts were viewed tens of thousands of times. Brigitte Macron didn't attend the two-day tria

EAM Jaishankar highlights India-France ties at textile exhibition in Paris

Jaishankar is on a six-day official visit to France and Luxembourg from January 4 to January 10, aimed at strengthening India's bilateral ties with both countries

Jaishankar begins 6-day visit to France, Luxembourg to discuss key issue

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday began a six-day visit to France and Luxembourg to hold talks on bilateral and global issues of mutual interests. In Paris, he will be meeting the French leadership and will hold talks with Foreign Minister Jean Noel Barrot, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). Jaishankar's visit to France comes against the backdrop of growing global concerns over the US capturing Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in a military operation. The MEA said Jaishankar and Barrot will discuss the progress made under the India-France strategic partnership and matters of global importance. The two ministers are also expected to prepare ground for French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to India next month to participate in the AI Summit. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had co-chaired the AI Summit along with Macron in Paris last February. The external affairs minister will also address the 31st edition of the French Ambassadors'

British, French warplanes strike suspected IS arms facility in Syria

British and French warplanes carried out an airstrike in central Syria on an underground facility where members of the Islamic State group are suspected to have stored weapons and explosives, the British defence ministry said Sunday. The strikes occurred Saturday evening on the structure in the mountains just north of the historic town of Palmyra in the country's Homs province, the ministry's statement said. Britain and France are part of the US-led coalition that has been fighting IS militants for more than a decade. The ministry said the British military used Typhoon FGR4 fighter jets supported by a Voyager refuelling tanker and were joined by French aircraft in the joint strike. The British air force used Paveway IV guided bombs to target a number of access tunnels down to the facility, the statement said, adding that while a detailed assessment is now underway, initial indications are that the target was engaged successfully. This action shows our UK leadership, and determinati

France may follow Australia in banning social media for children under 15

The proposal follows a French parliamentary investigation that found platforms were deliberately exposing minors to harmful content, prompting calls for stricter online safeguards

Brigitte Bardot, French screen icon and animal rights activist, dies at 91

The archetype of beauty to millions of men, Bardot spawned an era of curvy, pouting, insouciant actresses with her role as a self-assured small-town sexpot in And God Created Woman (1956)

Algeria votes to declare French colonisation a crime, seeks restitution

Legislators in Algeria voted to declare France's colonisation of the North African country a crime, approving a law that calls for restitution of property taken by France during its 130-year rule, among other demands seeking to redress historical wrongs. France slammed the law as a hostile act threatening bilateral efforts to heal wounds of the past. The two countries retain close cultural and economic ties but have troubled diplomatic relations. In a solemn ceremony steeped in symbolism, 340 of 407 members of Algeria's National Assembly voted late Wednesday to approve the law. The move came just a few weeks after African countries made a collective resolution for recognition and reparations for colonial-era crimes. The law covers the period from the landing of King Charles X's army on the beaches of Sidi Ferruch west of Algiers in 1830 to July 5, 1962, the date of Algeria's official independence. The text provides for the restitution of Algerian archives and property moved to Fran