France

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.

2 Oct 2018; DW: Some 200 police officers have raided the headquarters of a Shiite Islamic association near the port city of Dunkirk. Meanwhile, France has frozen Iranian state assets after a June bomb plot.

French authorities raided the headquarters of an Islamic Shiite association and the homes of its leaders near the northern city of Dunkirk during the early hours of Tuesday morning.

PARIS; 24 Sep 2018; GANASHAKTI: The French government said on Sunday it feared damage to its relations with India after former president Francois Hollande stirred a massive controversy with his statements on the multi-billion-dollar Rafale fighter jet deal.

Mr Hollande, who left office in May last year, said Friday that French jet manufacturer Dassault Aviation had been given no choice about its local partner in a 2016 deal with India.

PARIS, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- A poll released Tuesday showed that seven out of ten French people have an unfavorable opinion of President Emmanuel Macron, marking a record low approval rating likely to weigh on the reform ambitions of France's youngest head of state in modern history.

Less than a quarter of respondents view the 40-year-old president favorably, down by 12 percentage points from June's survey, according to the latest survey by pollster Odoxa, commissioned by France Inter, L'Express and regional media.

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS; 7 Sep 2018; AA: A wanted former militant of Liberia's brutal civil war was arrested, being charged over crimes against humanity in France, local media reported Friday.

The man, identified as Kunti K., a naturalized Dutch citizen of Liberian origin, was arrested in Paris on Tuesday, French daily Le Figaro reported citing police sources.

The 44-year-old man arrived in France in 2016, after leaving the Netherlands and passing through Belgium, according to police.

TASS, September 3. French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian has commented on the situation in Syria, saying that President Bashar al-Assad won the war but failed to achieve peace in the region.

PARIS; 29 Aug 2018; (AP) — French maritime authorities are appealing for calm after fishermen from rival French and British fleets banged their boats in ill-tempered skirmishes over access to the scallop-rich waters off France’s northern coast.

Maritime official Ingrid Parrot described a muscular confrontation between 35 French boats and five British ones in international waters on Tuesday morning as “very dangerous,” although there were no injuries. She said French maritime authorities “really hope things will calm down.”

PARIS, August 27. /TASS/. French President Emmanuel Macron has called for involving Russia in the process of providing security in Europe, he stated on Monday during an annual meeting of ambassadors that focused on France’s foreign policy.

"Europe can no longer rely on the US to provide its security. It is up to us today to take our responsibilities and guarantee our own security, and thus have European sovereignty. We have to draw all necessary conclusions from the end of the Cold War," Macron added.