France

PARIS, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- The French government will lay out additional measures to tackle the ongoing surge in energy prices, French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday.

"In the coming days, the government will supplement its response in line with the developing situation ... in order not to leave anybody behind," Macron said during a visit to Seine-Saint-Denis, a suburb of Paris, stressing that it is also "a question of sovereignty."

PARIS, Oct 13 (Reuters) - A pending visit to Tehran by the European Union's coordinator for talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal is vital to its future, France said on Wednesday, questioning the new hardline Iranian administration's commitment to salvaging the pact.

Enrique Mora, the EU's political director, is due to hold talks on Thursday with members of Iran's nuclear negotiating team four months after talks stalled between Iran and world powers, including the United States, to revive the 2015 deal.

PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - France wants to be a leader in green hydrogen by 2030 and build low-carbon planes and small nuclear reactors as part of a 30 billion euro ($35 billion) investment plan, President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.

Macron said the road map, dubbed "France 2030", would ensure France decarbonises its industry and brings innovation and production in key areas, from cars and biomedicine to semi-conductors, closer to home by the end of the decade.

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.