A major political controversy has erupted over a government decision to use French troops, normally deployed on streets in anti-terrorism patrols, to defend official buildings and free-up police numbers during anti-government 'yellow vest' protests this weekend, amid tensions heightened by a ban on demonstrations in certain towns and cities.
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking on Friday on the sidelines of a European Union summit in Brussels, said 'the European project must not remain a prisoner to Brexit', after Britain was granted a delay until April 12th to finalise its exit from the European bloc.
The French port city of Marseille which has diverse, low-income, working-class districts in its centre, is facing its biggest crisis in decades as residents fear historical buildings that have turned to slums could crumble and fall, the increasing fears prompted by the deaths of eight people in November when two buildings collapsed near the picturesque old port.
Israeli police interrupted an event at an official French cultural centre in Jerusalem on Thursday, claiming it intended to host an event organized with a women’s association 'sponsored or financed by the Palestinian Authority' and 'without authorization'.
In one of the sharpest confrontations in years between France’s powerful executive and its parliament, the Senate announced on Thursday it had referred Macron’s top aide Alexis Kohler, his chief of staff Patrick Strzoda and Lionel Lavergne, the Elysée’s top security official, to prosecutors for withholding information from an investigation into Macron’s former bodyguard Alexandre Benalla.
French customs officers are into their third week of work-to-rule action in protest at working conditions, prompted by what they say is lack of preparation for a no-deal Brexit, performing longer and more rigorous checks than usual of cross-Channel traffic, notably Eurostar services and sea ports, which are causing huge delays for passengers.
An earthquake registering 4.9 on the Richter scale shook south-west France late Wednesday morning, causing only minor damage and which, according to statements by French utilities giant EDF and the country's nuclear safety agency, the ASN, had no adverse effect on the functioning of the four-reactor Blayais nuclear plant which lies close to the epicentre of the seism.
French Roman Catholic cardinal Philippe Barbarin, the archbishop of Lyon, who has appealed his conviction this month for failing to report allegations of abuse of boy scouts committed by a priest, said on Tuesday that Pope Francis has refused his offer to resign his post.
European politicians have begun poking fun at the UK's troubled Brexit dealings, with French European affairs minister Nathalie Loiseau saying she has nicknamed her cat 'Brexit' because when she opens the door he is 'unsure whether he wants to go out or not', while Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte compared his British counterpart Theresa May to the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail who loses both arms and legs in a duel and then argues for a draw.
An official with the French presidency said on Tuesday that Paris is ready to use its veto power against any request by Britain for an extension of the Brexit date, set for March 29th, 'if no real alternative is put forward in the next few days or even the next few hours'.
