France

Why are thousands of French students protesting across the country?

Thousands of French students are protesting over teacher shortages, overcrowded classrooms and poor school conditions, with the movement spreading nationwide

US tells France and Germany to release diesel stocks or face export ban

The warning marks an escalation of pressure on Europe as US President Donald Trump considers a potential diesel export ban to ​bring down US fuel prices ahead of November's midterm elections

India invites French universities to explore setting up campuses in country

India and France discussed student and faculty mobility, institutional partnerships, collaborative academic programmes, research and technology-enabled learning.

France to send troops to secure Saudi oil plant as Houthi attacks mount

Saudi Arabia came under attack from the Houthi militia on Thursday, with the kingdom saying it intercepted missiles fired toward the Red Sea port of Yanbu and the city of Taif.

Macron, Carney to hold talks on strengthening Canada-France bilateral ties

French President Emmanuel Macron and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney are set to meet Sunday to deepen economic and security ties on the remote North Atlantic archipelago of Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon. The meeting comes days after Carney embraced the prospect of Canada becoming the European Union's first associate member, saying closer ties with the continent would ensure no country could control Canada's markets or undermine its sovereignty. US President Donald Trump's tariffs, demands for economic concessions and repeated talk of making Canada the 51st state have pushed Ottawa to reduce its dependence on its neighbour and pursue deeper economic, security and political relationships with Europe. "This is an important moment," Macron said upon arriving Saturday in the French territory off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon is home to about 5,800 people. Talks "will allow us to strengthen our bilateral economic ties and defence relationship," Macron ...

French finance ministry expects record debt at nearly 120% of GDP in 2026

The ministry also ‌said it expects to end the year with a budget ​deficit of 5.4 per cent. Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Thursday he expected the 2026 deficit to be well below 5.5 per cent

Macron orders plan to protect French infra amid growing Russian threat

French President Emmanuel Macron said Friday he had asked his government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure, including sensitive defence industry sites, against drone attacks and cyberattacks amid what he described as an intensifying Russian hybrid threat. "In recent weeks, the threat -- particularly the Russian hybrid threat -- facing Europeans and France has intensified," Macron told reporters at the Elysee Palace after meeting political party leaders. Macron specifically cited drone attacks and cyberattacks against critical infrastructure. The European Union describes Russian hybrid activities as including sabotage, cyberattacks, disinformation and interference in democratic processes. Macron warned that the attacks would not go unanswered and accused Moscow of trying to intimidate Europeans into weakening their support for Ukraine. "We are not intimidated," he said, arguing that Europe's present and future security was at stake in Ukraine. Macron also said he

India, France step up space cooperation with new private-sector deals

India and France are stepping up cooperation in the space sector, with companies from the two countries signing three new agreements covering satellite launches, space surveillance and microsatellite technology, according to an official announcement. The agreements, announced at the International Space Summit in Paris, include contracts worth more than 5 million euros between France's Safran Space and India's Dhruva Space for technologies to be used in India's planned 52-satellite space-surveillance constellation. The new agreements come against the backdrop of more than five decades of space cooperation between India and France, built around the partnership between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and France's space agency CNES. The first edition of the International Space Summit is being held from September 9-10, bringing together governments, companies, space agencies and scientists. The summit featured 51 announcements representing about 20 billion euros in contrac

Eiffel Tower shut after female staff sidelined during Hindu group's visit

The monument was closed late on Monday as employees held a meeting over the incident, which has angered staff and drawn criticism from French ‌politicians

France expands India education outreach, targets 30,000 students by 2030

France is stepping up its education outreach in India with a four-city tour featuring more than 50 French institutions, as the two countries seek to deepen cooperation in higher education, innovation and artificial intelligence, an official French government agency said. The outreach comes amid a sharp rise in Indian enrolment in French higher education, with the number of students growing to 9,100 in 2024-25, according to a statement by Campus France on Friday. Campus France is the official French government agency that promotes higher education abroad and guides international students through the university admission and visa application processes. Operating under the French Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Higher Education, it serves as the mandatory first step for anyone applying to study in France. The Choose France Tour will be held in Mumbai on October 11, Pune on October 13, New Delhi on October 15 and Bengaluru on October 17. October's four-city tour assumes significance

France to expel 2 Iranian diplomats over alleged assault on French envoys

In a post shared on X, Barrot said the Iranian people were the "primary victims" of the ongoing tensions in West Asia, caught between internal repression and military strikes.

France's top court blocks social media ban for children under 15

France's Constitutional Council said the proposed ban disproportionately infringed freedom of expression and lacked safeguards for the right to privacy.

French press body asks competition watchdog to take action over Google AI

The Alliance of General Information Press, which represents French newspapers and ​magazines, opposes the recent rollout of AI-generated article summaries by ‌Google without consultation

Wildfires rage across southern Europe; 3 firefighters killed in Greece

An uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris threatened to surge again in southwest France on Wednesday -- as three firefighters died in Greece and crews across southern Europe confronted a punishing mix of heat, drought and strong winds. The deaths on Crete brought a fatal new dimension to a wildfire emergency stretching from the Atlantic coast to the eastern Mediterranean. At the peak of the evacuations, a third of a million people were driven from homes and vacation sites in France and Spain. In France's Gironde region, the country's biggest blaze had not spread during a calm night, authorities said. But as temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius Wednesday afternoon and winds strengthened, the reprieve threatened to be short-lived. The landscape was so combustible that investigators believe routine brush-clearing work near a high-voltage line may have sparked the inferno, even though the work appeared to comply with regulations. At the command centre in Lege, ...

From US to China: How countries punish exam cheating and paper leaks

As Parliament debates tougher penalties for paper leaks, here's how countries from China and South Korea to the US, UK and Singapore punish exam fraud and organised cheating

Infosys fined €175,000 by French authority over work-hour tracking system

Infosys said in an exchange filing that it had received a communication from French labour authority DRIEETS lle-de-France, informing the company of a €175,000 penalty

France, Spain battle worsening wildfires as heat fuels massive blazes

With over 300k people evacuated across the two nations, a French official said the fire in the southwest Atlantic coast's Gironde region is headed toward Bordeaux, an urban center of 265k people

More than 250,000 people flee as wildfires spread across France, Spain

Authorities on Saturday ordered the immediate evacuation of some western suburbs of Bordeaux, a city in southwestern France famed for its wines