France

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - France mobilised thousands of police, armoured personnel carriers and water cannon trucks in Paris on Friday to keep out convoys of motorists converging on the capital for a protest against COVID-19 restrictions.

Checkpoints were set up at toll points on major entry roads while riot-control barriers were erected across the city centre ahead of rallies that the protesters aim to hold over the weekend.

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron's DNA, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters.

As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow.

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The French coastguard has rescued 36 migrants in the English Channel who were trying to cross to Britain in an inflatable dinghy, the maritime authority for northern France said on Thursday.

French authorities were intercepting inflatable boats several times a month, returning people to French shores, a spokeswoman said.

In November, 27 migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they tried to cross the English Channel.

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, and was therefore kept at a distance from the Russian leader, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters.

Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-metre-long (13 ft) table to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Monday, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might be wanting to send a diplomatic message.

BELFORT, France (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to unveil France’s plans to build new nuclear reactors as part of the country’s strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Macron was expected to provide a roadmap for the building of third-generation EPR reactors during a visit Thursday to the eastern town of Belfort.

The move comes amid concerns about spikes in energy prices and France’s dependence on global gas and oil producers.

PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Salah Abdeslam, the main surviving suspect in an Islamist rampage that killed 130 people in attacks across Paris in 2015, on Wednesday told a court that he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State but had never killed or wounded anyone.

Dressed in a crisp white shirt and with two armed police standing close behind him, Abdeslam told the court that the militant group had carried out the coordinated assaults to force an end to France's military forays in Iraq and Syria.

07 Feb 2022; MEMO: Secular France is doubling its funding for Christian schools in the Middle East while pursuing a wide-scale crackdown against French Muslim communities which has led to Muslim schools being shut down by the authorities.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the funding during an event at the Élysée Palace in Paris last week. "Supporting Christians in the Middle East is an age-old commitment in France, a historic mission," Macron is reported as saying by France 24.

PARIS, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Emmanuel Picot says he and two friends were beaten up one summer night in 2019 near the river Seine in central Paris by men of apparent African origin - an unprovoked attack that has hardened his political views, driving him further to the right.

The engineering student, now aged 23, says he suffered a broken knee cap and bruised face in the assault. He shows photos he said were taken after the incident of his black eye and his knee in a brace. Reuters could not verify his account.

PARIS, Feb 5 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron discussed the Ukraine crisis by phone with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and underlined the need "to maintain dialogue to de-escalate (the situation)," the French presidency said on Saturday.

Macron is due next week to visit Russia, which has massed troops near Ukraine, stoking Western fears of an invasion. Moscow denies planning to invade Ukraine.

04 Feb 2022; MEMO: France said today it had agreed to participate in the reinforcement of the United Arab Emirates' defence system, including the deployment of Rafale jets, following Houthi attacks, Reuters reports.