France

PARIS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - France will launch a campaign for the worldwide abolition of the death penalty as part of its upcoming presidency of the European Union, President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday.

A conference will be held in Paris gathering civil society groups from countries where the death penalty is in use or suspended, Macron said in a speech to mark the 40th anniversary of France's abolition of the punishment.

PARIS (AP) — France’s ambassador to Australia says Australian officials lied to his face and raised the risk of confrontation in Asia by crafting a secret submarine deal with the United States and Britain that undermined trust in democratic alliances.

France is determined to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and to put “muscle” into Europe’s geopolitical strategy toward an increasingly assertive China, Ambassador Jean-Pierre Thebault said Friday. He spoke in an interview with The Associated Press before heading back to his post in Canberra.

PARIS, Oct 6 (Reuters) - A dispute between Paris and Washington over Australia's decision to ditch a submarine procurement contract remains serious and unresolved, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Wednesday, despite what he said were substantive talks in Paris with the top U.S. diplomat.

The transatlantic row was triggered by the United States' negotiation in secret of a military pact, known as AUKUS, with Australia and Britain to counter China.

PARIS, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron held talks here with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday, three weeks after an unprecedented crisis between the two countries sparked by Australia's decision to scrap a submarine deal with France.

The "at length, face-to-face meeting" between Macron and Blinken, which lasted about 40 minutes according to French media, should "help restore confidence" between the two countries, the Elysee said in a statement.

PARIS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is in Paris as the Biden administration seeks to repair damage to relations caused by excluding America’s oldest ally from a new Indo-Pacific security initiative.

Blinken is meeting with French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and President Emmanuel Macron’s national security adviser on Tuesday to try to restore trust between the countries, particularly as it relates to countering growing challenges from China.

PARIS (AP) — The old music box factory had been abandoned for years on the outskirts of the Swiss mountain town, with paint curling at the edges of its dingy grey and yellow walls.

It was the perfect hiding place for the young French mother and her 8-year-old daughter at the heart of Operation Lima, an international child abduction plot planned and funded by a French group with echoes of the far-right extremist movement QAnon.

PARIS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Saturday played down his conviction for illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 re-election bid, suggesting many people in France had doubts about this week's guilty verdict.

Sarkozy, 66, made his first public comments on the conviction - his second this year - during an appearance at a Paris bookshop to sign copies of his new book "Promenades", which is focused on his literary and cultural influences.

02 Oct 2021; MEMO: Two British victims have filed torture complaints against the UAE's candidate for heading international policing body INTERPOL, Forbes reported on Friday, noting that the complaints were submitted to French prosecutors.

01 Oct 2021; MEMO: Greece signed a multibillion-dollar military agreement with France, media reports have said.

President Emmanuel Macron and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis met in Elysee Palace to announce the deal on Tuesday, which Greek media outlets have reported is worth €5 billion ($5.8 billion). The Guardian reports the deal will see France delivering three state-of-the art Belharra frigates to Greece by 2025, with the option of a fourth warship also on offer.

PARIS (AP) — Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy was found guilty Thursday of illegal campaign financing of his unsuccessful 2012 reelection bid.

Sarkozy wasn’t present at the Paris court for the verdict’s announcement.

He is accused of having spent almost twice the maximum legal amount of 22.5 million euros ($27.5 million) on the reelection bid that he lost to Socialist Francois Hollande.