France

PARIS (AP) — France canceled meetings with British and Australian officials and is trying to rally EU allies behind its push for more European sovereignty after being humiliated by a major Pacific defense pact orchestrated by the U.S.

The U.S., Australia and Britain insisted Monday that the diplomatic crisis wouldn’t affect their longer-term relations with France, which is seething over a surprise, strategic submarine deal involving the three countries that sank a rival French submarine contract.

PARIS (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron will speak in the coming days with President Joe Biden in what will be their first contact since a major diplomatic crisis erupted between France and the United States over a submarine deal with Australia, an official said Sunday.

The phone call is at the request of Biden, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said, adding that there was “shock” and “anger” at first. But now it’s time to try to move forward, he said.

PARIS (AP) — America’s oldest ally, France, recalled its ambassador to the United States on Friday in an unprecedented show of anger that dwarfed decades of previous rifts.

The relationship conceived in 18th century revolutions appeared at a tipping point after the U.S., Australia and Britain shunned France in creating a new Indo-Pacific security arrangement.

It was the first time ever France has recalled its ambassador to the U.S., according to the French foreign ministry. Paris also recalled its envoy to Australia.

Washington, Sep 17 (AP-PTI) President Joe Biden's decision to form a strategic Indo-Pacific alliance with Australia and Britain to counter China is angering France and the European Union. They're feeling left out and seeing it as a return to the Trump era.

The security initiative, unveiled this week, appears to have brought Biden's summer of love with Europe to an abrupt end. AUKUS, which notably excludes France and the European Union, is just the latest in a series of steps, from Afghanistan to east Asia, that have taken Europe aback.

PARIS, September 16. /TASS/: The European Parliament has approved a report calling on the European Union’s authorities to review relations with Russia. As many as 494 parliament members voted in favor of the report at a plenary session in Strasbourg, another 103 voted against it and 72 abstained from voting.

PARIS (AP) — Health care workers in France face suspension from their jobs starting Wednesday if they haven’t been vaccinated against COVID-19. With about 300,000 workers still not vaccinated, some hospitals fear staff shortages will add to their strain.

Vaccines are now compulsory for medical care, home care and emergency workers in France, and Wednesday is the deadline for such staff to have had at least one shot. Failing that, they face having pay suspended or not being able to work. But a top court has forbidden staff to be fired outright.

PARIS, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Sunday she would run for president in 2022 on a Socialist ticket, though polls indicate she has little chance of mounting a serious challenge unless she can unite the fragmented left.

Hidalgo, who became the first woman to run the French capital in 2014 and is among the few senior left-wing politicians to emerge from President Emmanuel Macron's 2017 redrawing of the political landscape relatively unscathed, is polling at about 8% voter support in April's first round.

PARIS, Sept 11 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former French Health Minister Agnes Buzyn has been put under formal investigation over her handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, reported BFM TV and Agence France Presse.

The development marks one of first cases worldwide where a leading public sector official has been held legally accountable for the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

10 Sep 2021; MEMO: The Paris Court of Appeals yesterday upheld a four-year prison sentence against Rifaat Al-Assad, the uncle of Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, for "misappropriating public funds and money laundering".

Last year, the Paris Criminal Court sentenced Rifaat to four years in prison for crimes he committed between 1996-2016.

PARIS, Sept 9 (Reuters) - The main suspect in the 2015 Islamist attack that killed 130 people in Paris disrupted the trial for a second consecutive day on Thursday to make political statements from the dock, prompting the judge to briefly suspend the hearing.

Salah Abdeslam, 31, is believed by prosecutors to be the only surviving member of the Islamic State cell that carried out the gun-and-bomb attacks on bars, restaurants, the Bataclan concert hall and the Stade de France stadium on Nov. 13, 2015.