France

PARIS, Feb 12 (Reuters) - French troops killed 40 militants on the Benin-Burkina Faso border in West Africa's Sahel region, the French government said on Saturday.

The action followed an attack on park rangers in northern Benin on Tuesday in which a French national was among eight people killed.

PARIS, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron held a high-level summit aimed at protecting the world's oceans on Friday, with representatives of more than 100 countries.

The One Ocean Summit in Brest brought together heads of state and government, leaders of multilateral institutions, shipping companies and civil society policymakers to unite in supporting the "Brest Commitments for the Oceans."

During the summit, panels were held on various commitments to marine protection and tackling climate change.

PARIS (AP) — Paris police intercepted at least 500 vehicles attempting to enter the French capital Saturday, in defiance of a police order, to take part in protests against virus restrictions inspired by Canada’s horn-honking “Freedom Convoy.”

The police said on Twitter that several convoys were stopped from entering at key city arteries and over 200 motorists were handed tickets.

Elsewhere, at least two protesters were detained amid a seizure of knives, hammers and other objects in one central Parisian square.

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - France mobilised thousands of police, armoured personnel carriers and water cannon trucks in Paris on Friday to keep out convoys of motorists converging on the capital for a protest against COVID-19 restrictions.

Checkpoints were set up at toll points on major entry roads while riot-control barriers were erected across the city centre ahead of rallies that the protesters aim to hold over the weekend.

PARIS, Feb 11 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, to prevent Russia getting hold of Macron's DNA, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters.

As a result, the visiting French head of state was kept at a distance from the Russian leader during lengthy talks on the Ukraine crisis in Moscow.

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The French coastguard has rescued 36 migrants in the English Channel who were trying to cross to Britain in an inflatable dinghy, the maritime authority for northern France said on Thursday.

French authorities were intercepting inflatable boats several times a month, returning people to French shores, a spokeswoman said.

In November, 27 migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they tried to cross the English Channel.

PARIS, Feb 10 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron refused a Kremlin request that he take a Russian COVID-19 test when he arrived to see President Vladimir Putin this week, and was therefore kept at a distance from the Russian leader, two sources in Macron's entourage told Reuters.

Observers were struck by images of Macron and Putin sitting at opposite ends of 4-metre-long (13 ft) table to discuss the Ukraine crisis on Monday, with some diplomats and others suggesting Putin might be wanting to send a diplomatic message.

BELFORT, France (AP) — President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to unveil France’s plans to build new nuclear reactors as part of the country’s strategy to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

Macron was expected to provide a roadmap for the building of third-generation EPR reactors during a visit Thursday to the eastern town of Belfort.

The move comes amid concerns about spikes in energy prices and France’s dependence on global gas and oil producers.

PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Salah Abdeslam, the main surviving suspect in an Islamist rampage that killed 130 people in attacks across Paris in 2015, on Wednesday told a court that he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State but had never killed or wounded anyone.

Dressed in a crisp white shirt and with two armed police standing close behind him, Abdeslam told the court that the militant group had carried out the coordinated assaults to force an end to France's military forays in Iraq and Syria.

07 Feb 2022; MEMO: Secular France is doubling its funding for Christian schools in the Middle East while pursuing a wide-scale crackdown against French Muslim communities which has led to Muslim schools being shut down by the authorities.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the funding during an event at the Élysée Palace in Paris last week. "Supporting Christians in the Middle East is an age-old commitment in France, a historic mission," Macron is reported as saying by France 24.