France

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Eight people remained missing after the building they lived in exploded and collapsed early Sunday near the port of Marseille, leaving mounds of burning debris hampering rescue operations, officials said.

More than 100 firefighters worked against a ticking clock to extinguish flames deep within the rubble of the five-story building, but more than 17 hours later “the situation is not yet stabilized,” Marseille Prosecutor Dominique Laurens said at an evening news conference.

PARIS, April 9 (Reuters) - Four people have died and a number of others have been injured in an avalanche in the French Alps, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Sunday.

The avalanche occurred in the middle of the day on the Armancette glacier, he wrote on Twitter.

Those caught up in the avalanche were hiking in the mountains, according to local media.

President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that rescue services were continuing to search for further casualties and that his thoughts were with the victims and their families.

MARSEILLE, France (AP) — Up to 10 people may be buried under the debris of a building that collapsed following an explosion in France’s port city of Marseille, but a fire deep within the rubble hindered rescue efforts Sunday, the French interior minister said.

Officials determined that at least four people lived in the building, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said. It was not known if anyone was killed in the collapse or explosion, or what triggered the blast, he said.

PARIS, April 7. /TASS/: The visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to China hasn’t caused a turnaround in Beijing’s position about the Ukrainian conflict and Russia, Le Monde reported on Friday.

The French president on Thursday tried to convince his Chinese counterpart "to bring Russia to its senses," but Chinese President Xi Jinping "has not broken the benevolence displayed by Beijing towards Moscow," the newspaper said in a story about the talks of the two leaders.

PARIS, April 7 (Xinhua) -- As French President Emmanuel Macron is paying his state visit to China, French businesses are eyeing more opportunities from broader cooperation between France and China.

"We have already seen potential opportunities in the market, which makes us even more bullish about China's economic outlook and prospect," Fabrice Megarbane, president of L'Oreal North Asia Zone and CEO of L'Oreal China, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

PARIS (AP) — Protesters disrupted vehicle traffic at Paris’ main airport and police fired clouds of tear gas in other French cities in the latest round of strikes and demonstrations Thursday against President Emmanuel Macron’s contested pension reforms.

Macron’s drive to raise the national retirement age from 62 to 64 has ignited a months-long firestorm of public anger.

Talks between trade union leaders and Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne broke up Wednesday without a breakthrough, setting the stage for protesters’ return to the streets.

MARSEILLE, April 3 (NNN-AGENCIES) — At least three people died and another eight were injured after a flare up in gang violence in the crime-plagued French port of Marseille overnight on Sunday-Monday, police said.

Three separate shooting incidents have increased fears that tit-for-tat violence between rival drugs gangs is spiralling higher after a spate of fatal shootings over the last month.

PARIS, April 3(Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday France must improve the availability of palliative care and there would be a draft bill by the end of the summer on whether some form of assisted dying should be allowed.

He said the bill would build on the work of a group of 184 randomly appointed French citizens who have debated the issue since December. They concluded their work this weekend with 76% of them saying they favoured allowing some form of assistance to die, for those who want it.

PARIS (AP) — French authorities see the police as protectors who are ensuring that citizens can peacefully protest President Emmanuel Macron’s contentious retirement age increase. But to human rights advocates and demonstrators who were clubbed or tear-gassed, officers have overstepped their mission.

PARIS, March 31 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron will head to China next week for a rare visit to the rising superpower, in an awkward balancing act between his global statesman ambitions and his struggle to contain embarrassing pension protests at home.

The French leader, whose decision to ram much-disputed pension legislation through parliament earlier this month sparked clashes and violence in French cities, is trying to keep his busy diplomatic schedule on track.