France

Destinations

A tale of two Savoies: Traditional ski resorts vs eco-tourism

A local resident shares her views on the two opposing visions - Savoie and Haute-Savoie - for the French Alps.

20/12/2024

Travel News

Mont-Blanc Tunnel re-opens after 15 weeks: But will it close again?

The world’s second deepest tunnel has been reopened after three months of renovations.

19/12/2024

Health news

Journal retracts COVID study in favour of using hydroxychloroquine

A scientific study on the use of hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19 has been retracted.

19/12/2024

Europe

Dominique Pelicot jailed for 20 years in historic French rape trial

Pelicot, along with 50 other men, will face prison for repeatedly raping his wife, Gisèle, over the course of a decade.

19/12/2024

Europe

French troops deliver aid to Mayotte ahead of President Macron's visit

French military troops deliver 120 tonnes of aid to Mayotte after Cyclone Chido battered the Indian Ocean Island on Saturday causing widespread destruction. It comes just one day before French President Emmanuel Macron’s scheduled arrival at the French overseas department on Thursday.

19/12/2024

France

French parliament adopts special law to prevent government shutdown

France's parliament has adopted a special law to prevent a government shutdown as a temporary measure to maintain core state functions. The country's Senate passed the law on Wednesday after it went through the National Assembly on Monday.

18/12/2024

Europe

Mayotte faces 'total breakdown of infrastructure' after Cyclone Chido

A catastrophic storm has left Mayotte island in shambles, wrecking the transmission networks that facilitated communication and setting impossible tasks for first responders on rescue missions.

18/12/2024

Europe

Two anti-establishment Spanish MEPs join right-wing ECR group

Diego Solier and Nora Junco were given the green light to join the fourth largest group in the European Parliament - but not the leader of the SALF party they belong to, Luis "Alvise" Pérez.

18/12/2024

Markets

Shares in French banks fall after Moody’s ratings downgrade

French banking stocks fell after Moody’s downgrade on seven banks’ ratings amid the ongoing political turmoil. Both French government bonds and its stock markets experienced selloffs due to souring investment sentiment.

18/12/2024

France

Authorities in Mayotte impose overnight curfew in aftermath of cyclone

Three days after powerful Indian Ocean cyclone Chido hit Mayotte, a curfew has been imposed in the small but densely populated French island. France continues to use military aircraft to rush rescuers and supplies into the territory.

17/12/2024

No Comment

Mayotte reels after deadly Cyclone Chido

Cyclone Chido struck Mayotte on Saturday, levelling entire neighbourhoods and causing heavy destruction in the island's capital. Local reports confirm at least 20 deaths, but officials fear the true toll could be far higher.

17/12/2024

Economy

French central bank lowers 2025 growth forecast after tumultuous year

France's fraught political landscape and a gridlocked budget continue to spook economists and investors.

17/12/2024

Culture news

Why are we still so obsessed with F1's Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost?

As two new TV shows come out about the 80s F1 greats, what keeps Senna and Prost so key to the sport's mythology?

17/12/2024

Europe

France's Le Pen hails 'positive' meeting with new PM Bayrou

French Prime Minister François Bayrou is meeting with most political parties including Marine Le Pen's National Front after the ouster of Michel Barnier.

16/12/2024

France

France rushes in help to Mayotte to support rescue operations

French authorities said more than 800 more personnel were expected to arrive in the coming days as rescuers comb through the devastation caused by Chido when it hit the densely populated archipelago of around 300,000 people on Saturday.

16/12/2024

Markets

French government bonds under pressure after Moody's downgrade

The yield on 10-year French debt rose to more than 3%, on the first trading day after the credit rating agency unexpectedly cut France's debt rating.

16/12/2024

No Comment

Cyclone Chido 'worst storm in 90 years' hits Mayotte

Officials have called the storm the most destructive to hit the archipelago in 90 years, with fears of a high death toll as the cyclone wreaks havoc across the region.

16/12/2024

France

France's new PM François Bayrou meets party leaders to form government

The newly appointed prime minister, François Bayrou, begins talks with political leaders to bring together France's divided political forces and form a new government.

16/12/2024

Europe

Clean-up ongoing in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido devastates island

Chido brought winds in excess of 220kph when it made landfall on Saturday, according to the French weather service, ripping roofs off houses in the archipelago which has a population of just over 300,000.

16/12/2024

Europe

Francis becomes the first pope to visit the French island of Corsica

Francis deliberately shunned the grand reopening of France's Notre Dame Cathedral last weekend - instead he's visiting the Mediterranean where thousands of migrants have perished.

15/12/2024

Europe

'Several hundred' feared dead after cyclone hit French territory

The death toll from Cyclone Chido is “several hundred” and may be close to 1,000, the island’s top government official told the local broadcaster on Sunday.

15/12/2024

Destinations

Christmas crowds: Alsace fights back with smaller festive markets

The fairytale towns of Alsace are now tackling their winter overtourism problem.

14/12/2024

Europe

French political crisis: What's next for the new PM François Bayrou?

The mayor of the southwestern town of Pau and leader of the centrist MoDem party will have the difficult task of passing France's 2025 budget plan

14/12/2024

Travel News

High-speed Paris-Berlin daily train service debuts

The route is the first directly linking the two capitals' city centres.

13/12/2024

France

Who is François Bayrou, France's new prime minister?

After days of deliberation, French President Emmanuel Macron turned to a longtime centrist ally in the hope he could unite the country's divided parliament.

13/12/2024

Lifestyle

Matthieu Blazy announced as Chanel's next artistic director

Matthieu Blazy has been named as the new artistic director of French fashion house Chanel.

13/12/2024