France

PARIS, Nov 11 (AFP) Europe should not spend higher defence budgets on US-made weapons, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview due to air Sunday, after a defence row with President Donald Trump.

One of dozens of world leaders attending World War I commemorations in France this weekend, Trump tweeted after landing in Paris that Macron's call for a "real European army" was "insulting".

PARIS (AP) — After French President Emmanuel Macron said Europe needs to defend itself from the United States, aides said he was misunderstood.

But the idea isn’t so far-fetched.

Macron is leading a rearguard action to salvage the system of international cooperation the U.S. helped build, but which President Donald Trump has chipped away at since taking office.

While Trump came all the way to Paris for commemorations marking 100 years since the armistice that ended World War I, he’s skipping an international peace forum that Macron is launching Sunday.

PARIS (AP) — President Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron are trying to project unity after Trump lashed out at one of America’s strongest allies in Europe.

Trump had claimed Macron insulted the United States when the French president pushed the idea of the continent having its own defense force.

The American and French leaders have had an up-and-down relationship, but they told reporters that they are good friends as they prepared for talks at the Elysee Palace on Saturday.

7 Nov 2018; AFP: A senior Indian opposition leader on Tuesday accused the CEO of a French aviation company involved in a controversial fighter jet deal of "trying to hide the truth".

Kapil Sibal, a lawyer and former cabinet minister, said Dassault Aviation CEO Eric Trappier had deliberately tried in recent interviews to "muddy the waters" over the 2016 sale of 36 Rafale planes to India.

4 Nov 2018; DW: Early results suggest voters on the Pacific islands have rejected an independence referendum. Opponents of independence pointed to the territory's economic reliance on France.

Voters on the Pacific islands of New Caledonia voted overwhelmingly in favor of remaining part of France on Sunday, according to partial results of an independence referendum. 

PARIS, October 25. /TASS/. The European Parliament has awarded the 2018 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought to Oleg Sentsov, convicted of terrorism in Crimea, whom Kiev considers to be a Ukrainian national.

The European Parliament's President Antonio Tajani announced the winner.

The Sakharov Prize honors individuals and organizations for achievements in the field of human rights. Sentsov was nominated by the European People's Party. The award ceremony is scheduled to be held in Strasbourg on December 12.

PARIS, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron told Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that France would take action against Riyadh if an investigation proves it was behind the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

In a press release late Wednesday, the president's office said the two leaders discussed the investigation into Khashoggi's death during a phone conversation.

"Macron expressed his profound indignation and asked that all light be shed on the circumstances that led to this tragedy," the Elysee added.

PARIS, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- A French court on Thursday rejected former President Nicolas Sarkozy's appeal over charges of illegal campaign financing in 2012, maintaining an earlier decision to put him on trial, according to local report.

After losing the appeal, Sarkozy, 63, would face trial over allegation of false accounting during his election campaign that allowed him to exceed spending limits.

If convicted, the former head of state risks a one-year jail sentence.

PARIS, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- France-based European Space Agency (ESA) on Saturday announced that it had successfully launched BepiColombo, a joint European-Japanese spacecraft on a seven-year journey "to study the mysteries of the solar system's innermost planet."

Europe's first mission to Mercury, BepiColombo, in cooperation with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), blasted off on an Ariane 5 from Europe's spaceport in Kourou, in French Guiana, at 01:45:28 GMT on Oct. 20.

PARIS; 5 Oct 2018; (AP) — A French judicial official says the president of Interpol has been reported missing after traveling to China.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity for an ongoing investigation, said Meng Hongwei’s wife reported him missing on Friday.

The official said the Interpol chief left France, where the international police organization is based, and arrived in China at the end of September. She said there had been no news of him since.