France

PARIS (Reuters) - A coronavirus vaccine that Sanofi (SASY.PA) is developing with Britain’s GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) is likely to be priced at less than 10 euros ($11.80) per shot if it is approved for use, Sanofi’s chief in France said on Saturday.

“The price is not totally set ... We are assessing production costs for the coming months ... We will be below 10 euros,” Olivier Bogillot told France Inter radio.

PARIS (Reuters) - French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian said in Sunday it was urgent to reach an agreement on Brexit trade talks and he blamed the stalemate on Britain’s attitude.

“The British people do not seem to understand that if one wants to negotate a good deal, one must talk about all issues,” Le Drian told France Inter radio.

“It’s not going well, with only two months left, it is urgent, the countdown has started. We prefer to reach a deal but we need to discuss the whole package, including fisheries, to avoid a no-deal,” he added.

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron criticized Friday what he called “Islamic separatism” in his country and those who seek French citizenship without accepting France’s “right to commit blasphemy.”

Macron defended satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which published caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad that helped inspire two French-born Islamic extremists to mount a deadly January 2015 attack on the paper’s newsroom.

The weekly republished the images this week as the trial began of 14 people over the attacks on Charlie Hebdo and on a kosher supermarket.

PARIS, Sept 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — French education minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said 22 schools were closed in France due to cases of COVID-19.

“In mainland France there are currently 12 schools closed out of a total of over 60,000, which is a small figure. Adding 10 schools in La Reunion (island), that makes it 22,” Blanquer told Europe 1 radio.

As over 12 million pupils returned to school in France on Tuesday, some parents and teachers’ unions have voiced concern at plans for reopening classrooms as the spread of the virus gathers renewed pace.

PARIS (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron, who is visiting Iraq, said on Wednesday he aimed to help guarantee its security and economic sovereignty.

Macron, on his first official trip to Iraq, and was due to hold a joint news conference with Iraqi President Barham Salih.

“In Baghdad... where I have just expressed our support for Iraq at this challenging time. There are many challenges in terms of guaranteeing Iraq’s sovereignty in all its dimensions, ... both inside the country and elsewhere in the region,” he wrote on Twitter.

PARIS (AP) — Thirteen men and a woman go on trial Wednesday over the 2015 attacks against a satirical newspaper and a kosher supermarket in Paris that marked the beginning of a wave of violence by the Islamic State group in Europe.

Seventeen people and all three gunmen died during the three days of attacks in January 2015. Later that year, a separate network of French and Belgian fighters for Islamic State struck Paris again, this time killing 130 people in attacks at the Bataclan concert hall, the national stadium, and in bars and restaurants.

01 Sep 2020; MEMO: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian and his German counterpart Heiko Maas expressed their countries’ desire to have constructive dialogue with Turkey over the Eastern Mediterranean hydrocarbon drillings, Anadolu reported yesterday.

During a meeting in Paris, Le Drian claimed that Turkey is violating the territorial waters of two EU member states; Greece and Cyprus, adding that this is “completely unacceptable”.

PARIS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- Lies and rumors about China's response to climate change or its policies on Xinjiang and Hong Kong are bound to be debunked by facts, visiting Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said at the French Institute of International Relations in Paris.

Wang made these remarks on Sunday when responding to a question by a member of the European Parliament who claimed that China's deeds and words are not consistent on climate change and that China's policies on Xinjiang and Hong Kong are not in line with the values of the European Union.

PARIS, Aug. 30 (Xinhua) -- The divergences between China and the United States are not about power, status or social system, but about the choices of multilateralism or unilateralism, win-win cooperation or a zero-sum game, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here on Sunday.

Wang made the remarks when responding to a question by Thierry de Montbrial, president of French Institute of International Relations, about how to avoid the so-called "new Cold War" between China and the United States.

PARIS (AP) — China’s foreign minister defended detention camps in Xinjiang and Hong Kong’s new security law on Sunday, brushing off human rights concerns by European countries and cautioning against interference in Chinese affairs.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi is on his first European tour since the virus pandemic erupted, seeking to revive trade and relations strained by the resulting global health and economic crisis.