Page 27 - France

France rejects bill to ratify EU-Canada trade deal, cites farmers' concerns

France's Senate voted overwhelmingly Thursday to reject legislation to ratify a 2017 trade deal between the European Union and Canada that has been criticised by farmers as bringing unfair competition from abroad. The EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, or CETA, provisionally went into effect in September 2017 after all EU governments agreed to it, but its full implementation requires approval by each national parliament. Thursday's 211-44 vote in the Senate does not necessarily mean that France ultimately will reject ratification. The vote sends the bill back to the powerful National Assembly, which previously has approved it and can move to override the Senate rejection and give final approval to the measure. If the Assembly should reject the legislation during its second vote, that would signal France's failure to ratify and could unravel the EU trade deal. Opposition in the Senate centred on concerns about shielding local farmers from what they consider unfair

Google fined 250 million euro in French clash with news publishers

The French antitrust authority has been seeking to force Big Tech firms to negotiate deals with press publishers for republishing their content

French government says it's being targeted by unusual intense cyberattacks

The French government said Monday that several of its services have been targeted by cyberattacks of unprecedented intensity, and a special crisis centre was activated to restore online services. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal's office said in a statement that the attacks started Sunday night and hit multiple government ministries, without providing details. By Monday afternoon, it said, the impact of the attacks has been reduced for most services and access to government sites restored. A group of hackers called Anonymous Sudan, which is considered by cybersecurity experts as pro-Russia, claimed responsibility for the attacks in online posts. The French prime minister's office and digital safety agency wouldn't comment on the claim, or provide details of what was targeted or what damage might have been caused. A French official said they were denial-of-service attacks, a common type of cyberattack that involves flooding a site with data in order to overwhelm it and knock it ...

To avoid strikes at Olympics, France plans to pay bonuses to civil servants

The French government will offer bonuses to civil servants deployed across the capital during the Olympic and Paralympic Games in a bid to avoid strikes during the events this summer, the country's Minister for Transformation and Public Administration, Stanislas Guerini, said Saturday. Eligible employees will get a bonus ranging from 500 euros ($547) to 1,500 euros ($1,641) in addition to their salaries for working during the Summer Games in Paris and the ensuing Paralympics, Guerini said. He did not provide details on the criteria for the payments. The announcement came after a major French union warned of possible strikes, including at hospitals, during the Paris Olympics, when massive influx of people is expected in the French capital. The social situation in France remains tense, amid recent protests from teachers, police officers and farmers that followed huge demonstrations last year against the rise in retirement age. Last month, employees at the Eiffel Tower shut down one

Women's Day: France inscribes the right to abortion in its constitution

France inscribed the guaranteed right to abortion in its constitution Friday, a powerful message of support for women's rights on International Women's Day. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti used a 19th-century printing press to seal the amendment in France's constitution at a special public ceremony. Applause filled the Place Vendome. The measure was overwhelmingly approved by French lawmakers earlier this week, and Friday's ceremony means it can now enter into force.

As France ensures right to abortion, other countries look to expand access

As France becomes the only country to explicitly guarantee the right to abortion in its constitution, other Europeans look at the US rollback of abortion access and wonder: Could that happen here? Abortion is broadly legal across Europe, and governments have been gradually expanding abortion rights, with some exceptions. Women can access abortion in more than 40 European nations from Portugal to Russia, with varying rules on how late in a pregnancy it is allowed. Abortion is banned or tightly restricted in Poland and a handful of tiny countries. "It may not be an issue today in France, where a majority of people support abortion. But those same people may one day vote for a far-right government, and what happened in the US can happen in Europe," said Mathilde Philip-Gay, a law professor and specialist in French and American constitutional law. The inscription into France's constitution will "make it harder for abortion opponents of the future to challenge these rights." Here is a lo

India-France growing 'strength to strength': EAM meets French official

India and France have held traditionally close and friendly relations. In 1998, the two nations entered into Strategic Partnership

Equity investors make best returns amid falling interest rates: UBS

Based on free-float market capitalisation in the FTSE All-World index, which spans the investable universe for a global investor, the US market accounts for a staggering 60.5 per cent of total value

Summer Olympics 2024 security plans stolen from train station in Paris

The Paris 2024 Olympics will deploy approximately 35,000 security personnel daily, alongside 2,000 municipal police officers assigned to the games scheduled from July 26 to August 11

Microsoft's new deal with France's Mistral AI comes under EU lens

The European Union is looking into Microsoft's partnership with French startup Mistral AI as part of its broader review of the booming generative artificial intelligence sector to see if it raises any competition concerns. The 27-nation bloc's executive commission said Tuesday in a brief statement that it's analyzing the agreement between the two companies announced a day earlier. Microsoft declined to comment. Mistral did not respond to a request for comment. Microsoft said Monday it was teaming up with Mistral through a 15 million euro ($16 million) investment in the French company, which emerged less than a year ago. The agreement could cut the US software giant's reliance on ChatGPT-maker OpenAI for supplying the next wave of chatbots and other generative AI products. The commission, the EU's top antitrust enforcer, said it's including the deal as part of its broader review of the generative AI market. It's examining agreements between digital tech giants and generative AI ...

India, France working closely in Indian Ocean, says French Navy Chief

The two sides affirmed the significant progress in bilateral defence cooperation between the two nations

Global commons getting 'contested', admirals pitch for strong partnerships

Underlining that global commons are getting "contested", top admirals from the UK, France and the US on Friday pitched for forging partnership between like-minded nations to respond to ongoing crises in the world, provide stability, reduce risks and restore confidence. Navy Chief Adm R Hari Kumar; Adm Sir Ben Key, First Sea Lord and Chief of Naval Staff, the UK; Adm John C Aquilino, Commander, US Indo-Pacific Command; Adm Nicolas Vaujour, Chief of the Naval Staff, France; and Air Marshal Robert Chipman, Chief of the Air Force, Australia took part in a panel discussion titled 'From the Aegean Sea to the South China Sea: Responding to Maritime Sieges', held at the Raisina Dialogue here. "If you can see what is happening in the South China Sea, and Red Sea where people are seeking to impose their will on the global commons... then that ripple will be felt far and wide, and not just in that point. And, this is what separates the maritime environment from the land environment," Adm Key ..

Alstom starts production of trainsets for fourth phase of Delhi Metro

Awarded in November 2022, the order aims to deliver 52 train sets, each comprising six cars, the French multinational rolling stock manufacturer said in a statement

Russia threatened to shoot down aircraft patrolling Black Sea, says France

Russian forces threatened to shoot down French flights patrolling last month in international airspace over the Black Sea, signals of a particularly aggressive posture from Moscow as its invasion of Ukraine struggles to make headway, France's defense minister said Thursday. The minister, Sbastien Lecornu, didn't give specific details about the French flights or aircraft involved in the threatened shootdown. But he said Russia was returning to a particularly aggressive posture reminiscent of the former Soviet Union's behaviour during the Cold War. A month ago, to give you a very concrete example, a Russian air traffic control system threatened to shoot down French aircraft in the Black Sea when we were in a free international zone where we patrol," he said on RTL radio. The behaviour of Russia in 2024 bears no relation to what we saw in 2022 and, obviously, before the aggression in Ukraine, the minister said. It is explained by the fact that Russia is in difficulty on the battlefiel

Eiffel Tower working staff goes on strike ahead of Summer Olympics

Eiffel tower working staff has gone on strike due to salary and maintenance issues. The Eiffel tower website advised visitors to check website before heading to the landmark

Shashi Tharoor awarded top French honour for deepening India-France ties

Shashi Tharoor was given the honour, also called 'Knight of the Legion of Honour' by Gerard Larcher, Chairman of the French Senate, on behalf of the President of the French Republic in New Delhi

EAM Jaishankar, French Senate chairman discuss strategic partnership

French Senate Chairman Larcher is on an official visit to India on February 19 and 20 accompanied by a delegation of five senators, the French Embassy in India said

Chairman of French Senate Gerard Larcher on two-day visit to India

Chairman of the French Senate Gerard Larcher is on a two-day visit to India beginning Monday to strengthen bilateral ties and parliamentary cooperation. Larcher is accompanied by a delegation of five other senators who are members of the Senate's foreign affairs and defence committee. This is the first official India visit of a chairman of the French Senate, the Upper House of France's Parliament. Larcher and his delegation will meet with Vice President and Chairman of Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar. They will discuss ways to increase cooperation and mutual understanding between the French Senate and India's Parliament, including through a dedicated agreement, the French embassy said in a readout. The chairman of the French Senate will call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it said. Larcher had previously met Prime Minister Modi during the latter's visit to Paris on July 14 last year. The prime minister was received at the French Senate by Larcher and leaders of all major parliamenta

Statsguru: Indian farmer protests mirror similar scenes in France, Germany

Farm protests in Europe include opposition to new laws that seek to limit emissions from agriculture

In today's Russia, free spirits are sent to Gulag: French President Macron

Reacting to the reported death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny, French President Emmanuel Macron said that free spirits are sent to the Gulag and condemned to death in today's Russia