France

18 Feb 2019; DW:  Authorities in Paris have opened an investigation into anti-Semitic insults by French "yellow vests" against Jewish philosopher and writer Alain Finkielkraut. Anti-Jewish incidents have been on the rise across France.

Paris prosecutors on Sunday announced an investigation over the anti-Jewish insults against Finkielkraut on the sidelines of a yellow vest demonstration in Paris.

PARIS; 16 Feb 2019; AA: France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said Friday the U.S policy on Syria is a "mystery".

“How can one be very firm against Iran and at the same time abandon northeast Syria, when one knows that in the end it favors Iranian activities in the region?” Le Drian said at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

"It's a mystery to me," he added.

16 Feb 2019; DW: Following a brief but harsh row between France and Italy, Christian Masset had been recalled. But despite the ambassador's impending return, relations between the two country are likely to remain tense.

France is redeploying its ambassador to Italy on Friday, French officials said, in an apparent bid to heal the rift that saw its envoy Christian Masset recalled eight days ago.

14 Feb 2019; DW: European aircraft manufacturer Airbus on Thursday announced it will end production of the A380 double-decker passenger jet in 2021.

The Franco-German company had hoped the superjumbo would challenge Boeing's 747 and revolutionise air travel in the 21st century.

What's behind the move?

13 Feb 2019; AFP: A spate of anti-Semitic vandalism and graffiti in and around Paris at the weekend sparked widespread condemnation on Tuesday, stoking fresh concerns about an increase in hate crime against Jews.

Prime Minister Edouard Philippe told lawmakers that he shared their anger at the "loathsome" acts, urging people "to express their absolute rejection" of anti-Semitism.

A woman with a history of psychiatric problems has been charged with starting a fire in a Paris apartment building in which ten people died, French prosecutors said.

The Paris prosecutor said the suspect, who has been held in a police psychiatric facility since her arrest, was charged on Friday with arson "resulting in death".

Tuesday's fire on the upper floors of a building in the upscale 16th Paris district was the deadliest in the capital since 2005.

Thirty people were also hurt in the blaze, which ravaged much of the back of the building.

07 Feb 2019; DW: Paris has signaled it will support changes to EU guidelines regulating gas imports. Germany has thus far ignored opposition to its project, but it may not be able to any longer.

France's Foreign Ministry has signaled its intention to vote for changes to the EU's Third Energy Package Gas Directive regulating gas imports when the topic comes up for discussion Friday in Brussels.

05 Feb 2019; DW: A fire in an eight-story building in a wealthy Paris neighborhood killed at least eight people and injured 28 others early Tuesday morning.

Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz later told reporters that a woman had been taken into custody, albeit cautioning that "the investigation has just begun." He said it was still too early to determine the cause of the fire, but that authorities suspected it to be a criminal act. 

PARIS, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- For the 12th straight weekend of protests, thousands of "Yellow Vest" protesters marched in Paris and other French cities on Saturday in relatively calm rallies, but some sporadic incidents led to 30 arrests in the French capital.

As previous demonstrations, discontent people chanted the national anthem and anti-President Emmanuel Macron's leadership slogans. Some of them had put plasters and others wore eye patches to pay tribute to those wounded in the months-long protests.

PARIS, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) -- France regretted United States move to leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, asking Russia to use the six-month window to keep talks on nuclear arms pact and come into compliance with the agreement, the country's Foreign Ministry said in a press release issued late on Friday.

"France regrets to arrive at a situation in which the United States had to notify its withdrawal from the INF Treaty," the ministry said, reiterating Paris "commitment to arms control instruments, which help to ensure strategic stability."