Rfi France. The world’s best-known cycling event, the Tour de France, got underway on Saturday 2 July as 20 teams with nine riders each set off from Passage de Gois in the eastern Vendée region. The 98th Tour has 21 stages covering a total distance of 3,430.5 kilometres and will […]
Guardian.co.uk French media continues to report widely on the attack on “Liberation” correspondent Christophe Boltanksi, who was beaten and stabbed by four unknown assailants late November 11 in Tunis, after having extensively reported on human rights abuses on the eve of the GOT-hosted WSIS. Several French newspapers, led by “Liberation,” […]
AFP – India has approved a $2.4-billion deal for French defence groups to upgrade 51 ageing Mirage fighter jets, officials said Thursday, as the country takes further steps to boost its military capacity. The long-delayed deal is part of a major modernisation programme being undertaken by India, which has become […]
By RFI Five French soldiers and one Afghan civilian were killed in a suicide bomb attack in the eastern city of Joybar on Wednesday, says President Nicolas Sarkozy. The blast comes one day after Sarkozy returns from his visit to Afghanistan. More: http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20110713-five-french-soldiers-killed-afghanistan-suicide-attack
Marine Le Pen’s Populism for the Masses French politician Marine Le Pen is attracting new voters to the National Front, the right-wing populist party founded by her father, by railing against immigration and globalization. With France’s elections a year away, Le Pen is already polling ahead of President Nicolas Sarkozy. […]
By RFI The dramatic reversal in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case in New York has astonished the French, and amid reports that the charges against him might be dropped this week, conspiracy theories about the dramatic sequence of events in New York have resurfaced. Socialist councillor Michele Sabban hinted that the management […]
AFP – A small French pleasure craft with eight protesters on board left Greek waters overnight and set off for Gaza in an attempt to break an Israeli naval blockade, organisers said Tuesday. The “Dignite al Karama” is so far the only boat in a planned flotilla organised by pro-Palestinian […]
A woman in the southwestern city of Bordeaux died from an e.coli infection, according to a regional health agency. The death marks the first fatal case of the disease in France More: http://www.france24.com/en/20110701-greece-bars-gaza-strip-bound-aid-flotilla-audacity-freedom-humanitarian
French Socialists are hoping that former IMF chief Dominique Stauss-Kahn could return to the political scene after reports that the sexual assault case against him is collapsing. Strauss-Kahn is to make a surprise appearance in court Friday where prosecutors are expected to tell the judge that they have problems with […]
By Clea Caulcutt Two French television journalists were freed in Afghanistan yesterday, after being held hostage by the Taliban for a year and a half. Stephane Taponier and Herve Ghesquiere were taken captive in December 2009 in a mountain region east of the capital Kabul. More: http://www.english.rfi.fr/france/20110630-french-journalists-freed
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – A tragic accident caused the death of a 24-year-old French tourist while riding the bonde (streetcar) that runs from Largo da Carioca in downtown Rio de Janeiro, to Santa Teresa. As the bonde passed the Arcos da Lapa, the famous white aqueduct, the man leaned […]
France’s Finance Minister Christine Lagarde, 55, has been named the first woman to head the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Ms Lagarde fought off Mexico’s Agustin Carstens for the job, although an IMF statement said that both candidates “were well qualified”. She received backing from America and Europe and key emerging […]
This news item dates back to October, 2009. We show it so that our readers can see the views of the new Director General of the International Monetary Fund, regarding Islamic Finance. French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde (photo) is leading a governmental drive to attract investment from Muslim countries, in […]
By RFI France has opposed Italy’s call for a suspension in hostilities in Libya. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini on Wednesday called for a “humanitarian” pause, but French officials said that it would help Moamer Kadhafi’s forces. “We have seen the effects of the crisis and therefore also of Nato […]
By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News, Paris The announcement will be made at the Paris Air Show on Wednesday. It will come from European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani, who has overall responsibility in Brussels for the flagship EU space project. He is using the event at Le Bourget […]
PARIS (AFP) – France is deeply concerned about Israel’s authorisation for the expansion of 2,000 settlement homes built on occupied Palestinian land in East Jerusalem, the foreign ministry said Monday. “Our position is constant: settlement building is illegal in the eyes of international law, in the West Bank as well […]
A forum on the status of Islam in the West will be held by Cultural-Social Center of Paris on June 25. (Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – The program has been organized in the form of three sessions. The first session will be held with the presence of Al-‘Arabi Kashat, head of the center and […]
By RFI France wants to extend European sanctions against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to “economic entities”, as security forces fire on Friday demonstrators killing six, according to opposition sources. More: http://www.english.rfi.fr/europe/20110617-france-wants-tougher-syria-sanctions-friday-protests-continue
Russia’s Rosoboronexport military corporation and DCNS, the warships’ French maker, signed the contract on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg Economic Forum. French Foreign Trade Minister Pierre Lellouche, who was present along with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, estimated the contract at 1.12 billion euros. A Mistral-class ship can carry up […]