France

PARIS, Aug 26 (Reuters) - France will no longer be able to evacuate people from Afghanistan from Friday evening onwards, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told RTL radio.

"We are going to continue until tomorrow evening," said Castex on Thursday.

The United States and allies urged people to move away from Kabul airport on Thursday due to the threat of a terror attack by Islamic State militants as Western troops hurry to evacuate as many people as possible before an Aug. 31 deadline. 

PARIS, Aug 25 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The slow rollout of coronavirus vaccines will cost the global economy $2.3 trillion in lost output, a report released Wednesday found.

  The Economist Intelligence Unit’s study found that emerging and developing economies, whose vaccine rollouts are far behind those of wealthier countries, will bear the brunt of those losses.

  The report comes as advanced nations move towards providing booster shots to their populations while the international effort to provide vaccines for poorer nations remains inadequate.

PARIS, August 21. /TASS/: The Soyuz-2.1b carrier rocket and 34 British OneWeb satellites whose launch has been rescheduled for August 22, are in stable and safe conditions, launch service provider Arianespace said.

"Upon the request of OneWeb, Arianespace has decided to postpone the launch for 24 hours to allow for additional time for mission planning preparation linked to the updated lift-off. The Soyuz launch vehicle and the 34 OneWeb spacecraft are in stable and safe conditions," Arianespace pointed out.

PARIS, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Protesters marched in cities across France for a fifth consecutive weekend in what could the biggest demonstration yet against rules compelling them to show a COVID-19 health pass for daily activities.

They rallied through the streets of Paris, Marseille, Nice, Montpellier and other towns waving placards reading "Pass=Apartheid" and chanting "Freedom, freedom".

Since last Monday, citizens have been required to show the pass in public places, proving that they have been vaccinated or have recently been tested negative for the coronavirus.

PARIS, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- In order to contain the COVID-19 pandemic and in particular the spread of the Delta variant, European countries are toughening up the tone with new measures such as requiring the health pass for accessing public places and making vaccination mandatory for certain professions.

05 Aug 2021; MEMO: France on Wednesday pledged to send 500,000 doses of coronavirus vaccines to Lebanon, along with €100 million ($118.9 million) in emergency aid to rebuild Beirut a year after a massive explosion tore through the capital city, Anadolu Agency reported.

MARSEILLE, Aug 2 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Rescue ships picked up more than 700 people trying to cross the Mediterranean in makeshift vessels this weekend, mainly off the coasts of Libya and Malta, a migrant aid group said.

The latest figures came as UN migration officials repeated their calls for a fairer mechanism to share out the responsibility of caring for them, rather than leaving it to the Mediterranean countries.

SOS Mediterranee said that its vessel, the Ocean Viking, had carried out six separate operations in international waters since Saturday.

01 Aug 2021; AA: For the third week in a row, anti-vaccine and anti-health pass demonstrations continued in France amid rising COVID-19 infection rates.

Saturday’s protests, according to the Interior Ministry, saw an estimated 184 rallies with 204,090 demonstrators across the country, a figure higher than the previous weeks.

PARIS, July 31 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron called for the opening of talks to end hostilities in Ethiopia's northern region of Tigray, the Elysee Palace said in a statement on Saturday.

The statement came after calls Macron held earlier in the day with Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Sudanese counterpart Abdalla Hamdok.

Macron also said all restrictions should be lifted to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid in Tigray, where thousands of children could suffer life-threatening malnutrition, according to the United Nations children's agency.

PARIS, July 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — More than 4 billion doses of anti-Covid vaccines have been administered around the world, eight months after the vaccination drive started, according to latest count Thursday.

Global injections have slowed slightly: this fourth billion was reached in 30 days, while it took only 26 days to reach the previous one. The first and second billion were reached after about 140 and 40 days respectively.