France

Why is it so often that problems seem to get worse just when they ought to be getting better?

A ban on rental electric scooters has come into effect in Paris in response to a rising number of people being injured and killed in the French capital.

Niger's military junta said it revoked the diplomatic immunity of France's ambassador and ordered police to expel him from the country, according to a statement. The French foreign ministry has said the junta, which seized power last month, has "no authority" to expel the French ambassador. 

Leading military figures in Gabon announced on Wednesday that they had placed President Ali Bongo Ondimba under house arrest in a bid to remove him from power after 14 years. The attempted coup comes days after Bongo was re-elected as president for the third time – a role he inherited from his father, former president Omar Bongo.

A group of senior military officers in Gabon announced on national television on Wednesday they had taken power and election results were annulled, just minutes after President Ali Bongo was declared to have won a third term. If successful the coup would represent the eighth since 2020 in West and Central Africa, a region that in the last decade had made strides to shed its reputation as a "coup belt", only for persistent insecurity and corruption to open the door to military leaders.

French President Emmanuel Macron called for a strengthening of France's diplomatic efforts amid a changing world order in his annual address to French ambassadors on Monday.

Tourist numbers in Europe this summer have returned to almost pre-Covid levels, with especially high demand from North American travellers. But the summer season has been far from smooth, with holidaymakers encountering heatwaves, wildfires and the return of overcrowding at some of Europe’s most popular sights. Some of the troubles have also been caused by the tourists themselves, with several accused of vandalism and trespassing at the iconic sites they were visiting. 

The neighbors may complain about the noise, but outdoor spaces that bloomed under a pandemic program are now a permanent and vibrant fixture of city life.

American men spend night between famed Paris landmark’s second and third levels, a report says

France’s first evacuation plane left Niger on Tuesday with more than 250 people on board, Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said. France had said it planned to evacuate its nationals and EU citizens from the West African country following a military coup last Wednesday that unleashed protests against the former colonial power. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+2).

Coup supporters denounce former colonial power, shout support for Russia

The big theme of the Paris Games next summer is supposed to be unity. That is already proving difficult to deliver.

French President Emmanuel Macron described a coup that ousted Niger's elected leader as "dangerous" for the Sahel on Friday, as Western powers scramble to preserve a key ally in the insurgent-stricken region.

With a year to go to the Olympics, Paris is in the final phase of a historic clean-up which will soon see swimmers and divers back in the River Seine.

The Indian leader will attend the Bastille Day parade as a guest of honor and discuss purchases of Rafale warplanes and Scorpene vessels

Calm has returned to La Grande Borne. Local mafia again exercise lazy control from the doorways of this vast housing estate south of Paris; their guns on show, their faces hidden.

Emmanuel Macron has accused protesters of exploiting the death of a teenager shot by police at point-blank range.

Prosecutors have begun piecing together what happened before the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel M by a police officer.

A different side of the French capital reveals smaller museums, under-the-radar spots in Montmartre and a diverse performance scene.<

French President Emmanuel Macron said at a security conference in the Slovakian capital on Wednesday that his Russian counterpart President Vladimir Putin had jolted NATO awake by invading Ukraine last year. Macron also called on the West to offer Ukraine "tangible and credible" security guarantees as it battles the Russian invasion.