France

05 July 2020; MEMO: After having been one of the European countries to provide the greatest diplomatic and logistic support, and remaining silent regarding the thousands of deaths and massacres committed by its troops, France has finally abandoned General Khalifa Haftar. But isn’t it too late. And why now?

Paris, Jul 3 (AP/PTI) Air France and regional subsidiary Hop announced 7,500 job cuts Friday after the virus pandemic grounded most flights and darkened prospects for future air travel.

Activists from multiple unions protested at Air France headquarters at Paris' Charles de Gaulle Airport as talks began Friday morning about future job prospects at France's flagship airline.

PARIS (Reuters) - A Frenchman who converted to Islam and went abroad to fight for Islamic State was sentenced by a Paris court on Friday to 30 years in prison in France’s first successful prosecution of an Islamist militant for crimes committed in Syria.

Tyler Vilus, 30, was arrested in Turkey five years ago as he prepared to catch a flight to Prague. Prosecutors told the court he wanted to lead the squad of gunmen and suicide bombers which attacked Paris in November 2015, but were unable to prove this.

PARIS, July 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — France has temporarily pulled out of a Nato security operation amid a major row with Turkey.

The defence ministry said France had suspended its role in Operation Sea Guardian, accusing Turkey of violating an arms embargo against Libya.

It comes weeks after Turkish ships allegedly targeted a French warship in the Mediterranean – something Ankara strongly denies.

The Nato allies are thought to support different sides in Libya’s civil war.

PARIS (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron named Jean Castex, a top civil servant and local mayor who orchestrated France’s coronavirus lockdown exit strategy, as his new prime minister on Friday as he acted to reinvent his administration and win back voters.

Castex, 55, hails from the centre-right of French politics and served for two years as the second-highest ranking official in the Elysee Palace during Nicolas Sarkozy’s presidency.

PARIS (Reuters) - France urged Airbus (AIR.PA) and flag carrier Air France on Wednesday to make as few forced layoffs as possible under their plans to cut thousands of jobs, while a union said compulsory cuts at the European planemaker were a “red line”.

The aerospace manufacturer said it would cut 15,000 jobs in Europe in a restructuring after a 40% slump in its 55 billion euro ($61.8 billion) jet business, sparking concerns about compulsory redundancies in France where it has its headquarters.

PARIS (Reuters) - France’s foreign minister expressed alarm on Wednesday over the crisis in Lebanon and said social discontent could lead to an escalation in violence.

“The situation is alarming, with an economic, financial, social and humanitarian crisis now reinforced by the risks of the coronavirus,” Jean-Yves Le Drian told a parliamentary hearing.

“The worsening social crisis ... risks increasing the risk of violence,” he said, referring to recent inter-religious violence.

PARIS, June 29 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday announced an investment package worth 15 billion euros (16.89 billion U.S. dollars) over the next two years to accelerate a switch to a more environment-friendly economic model.

"The state will take its full responsibility: an additional 15 billion euros over two years will be injected for the ecological conversion of our economy," Macron said when addressing members of the Citizens' Convention on Climate (CCC) at the Elysee Palace.

PARIS/TOULOUSE (Reuters) - Airbus (AIR.PA) was finalising an imminent restructuring plan expected to include thousands of job cuts on Monday as its chief executive confirmed plans to hold output down by 40% for two years.

Europe’s largest planemaker could set out its largest ever reorganisation plan by Wednesday, union sources said ahead of meetings early this week with Airbus, which declined to comment.

PARIS (Reuters) - A French court on Monday found former French Prime Minister Francois Fillon guilty of embezzlement of public funds in a fake jobs scandal that wrecked his 2017 run for president and opened the Elysee Palace door for Emmanuel Macron.

The court also convicted Fillon’s wife, Penelope, of complicity to embezzle and conceal of public money.