France

PARIS, Nov 6 (NNN-MERCOPRESS) — With Europe reporting over a hundred outbreaks of bird flu in recent months, the Netherlands and now France have ordered poultry farmers to keep their chickens indoors. The poultry lockdown measure has already been in place in certain areas in France since September.

The order cited a “rising infection rate in migratory corridors” as the reason for raising the risk level for the entire country.

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - France said on Thursday it could still act with its partners against Iran at an upcoming meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's board after Tehran said it would return to nuclear talks with world powers at the end of November.

Western powers scrapped plans in September for a resolution criticising Iran at the International Atomic Energy Agency after Tehran agreed to prolong monitoring of some nuclear activities and invited IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi to Tehran for talks on key outstanding issues.

PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) - France and Britain moved to defuse their dispute over fishing on Thursday, with sanctions off the table for now but all options still possible should talks fail, French European Affairs Minister Clement Beaune said.

Beaune was speaking after meeting British Brexit minister David Frost in Paris after France and Britain came to the brink of a cross-Channel trade war over fishing.

PARIS, Nov 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Five million people have died worldwide from Covid-19 since the disease first emerged in China nearly two years ago, according to a tally from official sources.

   Monday’s milestone, nearly four months after four million deaths were registered, came even as mortality rates slow thanks to a global vaccine rollout that has seen billions of people injected.

   While the number of daily deaths worldwide fell below 8,000 for the first time in almost a year in early October, there remain blackspots globally.

PARIS, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy refused to answer questions as he appeared as a witness in a trial in which his former aides are accused of misusing public funds on polling contracts, BFM TV reported on Tuesday.

"As President of the Republic, I am not accountable to the court but to the French people," BFM quoted Sarkozy as saying.

Sarkozy, who has presidential immunity in this specific case, had initially said he would not appear as a witness after being tried and convicted twice this year in separate cases.

PARIS, Nov. 2 (Xinhua) -- France and Britain will hold an in-depth meeting here on Thursday to discuss their dispute over post-Brexit fishing rights, the French newspaper Le Figaro reported on Tuesday.

French presidential office Elysee announced on Monday evening that no retaliatory sanctions against Britain will come into force before Thursday when renewed talks will be held in Paris, the paper reported.

PARIS, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 in Europe is worsening as another winter approaches. It is the only region with increases in infections across all age groups, while five over regions have reported a decline last week, according to the World Health Organization on Friday.

"We know very well now that we will have to live with the virus at least until the summer," French Minister Delegate in charge of Autonomy Brigitte Bourguignon said Thursday, noting that the winter would be "conducive to worsening of the situation."

PARIS (AP) — Britain and France faced calls Saturday to sort out their post-Brexit spat over fishing rights in the English Channel, which threatens to escalate within days into a damaging French blockade of British boats and trucks.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned that the dispute is testing the U.K.’s international credibility, while both countries accused each other of being in breach of the post-Brexit trade agreement that Britain’s government signed with the European Union to facilitate the U.K.’s smooth departure from the bloc.

LE HAVRE, France, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Britain denounced France's seizure of a British boat in French waters and warned Paris against further retaliation on Thursday, in a rapidly deteriorating row over post-Brexit fishing rights.

French Seas Minister Annick Girardin said the Cornelis Gert Jan, a scallop dredger, was escorted to the northern port of Le Havre overnight after its crew failed to prove it was allowed to fish in French territorial waters. A second British vessel was given a verbal warning.

PARIS, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The French Foreign Ministry said on Monday it had not received any official notification from Turkey that it planned to expel the French Ambassador.

On Saturday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his foreign ministry to expel the ambassadors of the United States and nine other Western countries - including France - for demanding the release of philanthropist Osman Kavala.