Sales of non-meat products which use terms on packaging labels adopted from products of animal origin, such as 'veggie burger' or 'soy sausages', are to be banned in France after parliament adopted a bill submitted by an MP and farmer from President Emmanuel Macron's LREM party.
The Mont-Saint-Michel, the small tidal island home of a monastery and abbey off the Normandy coast and one of the most popular tourist sites in France, was briefly evacuated on Sunday after a man made threats to attack police there before apparently escaping a vast manhunt involving helicopters and police reinforcements.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has returned his Legion d'honneur award, France's highest recognition of civil merit which was given to him in 2001, in retaliation for French participation in airborne strikes against the Damascus regime earlier this month and just days after Paris announced it intended stripping him of the decoration.
French billionaire Vincent Bolloré, whose Bolloré Group owns a 20 percent stake in media giant Vivendi, has announced his son Yannick is to replace him as chairman of Vivendi's supervisory board, a hereditary handown after corporate raider Bolloré senior's four years at the helm.
Former socialist prime minister of France, Manuel Valls, 55, has told Spanish media that he is mulling becoming a candidate in mayoral elections next year in Barcelona, where he was born, when he would run as representative of Spain's centre-right Ciudadanos party which is opposed to Catalan independence.
Turnout in nationwide street protests in France on Thursday against the government's programme of economic reforms, notably in the public sector and of the state-run railway system in particular, was significantly lower than a similar day of demonstrations in March, with police estimating around 110,000 people took part, while unions claimed the figure was 300,000.
French President Emmanuel Macron's proposed legislation to open up the state-run railway system to private competition and remove the special employment status of rail staff has been passed by a massive majority in the lower house, the National Assembly, as he insisted he would not back down on his sweeping raft of pro-business economic and social reforms aimed at liberalising France’s economy.
After one year in office during which he has largely escaped any significant popular or political hostilities, French President Emmanuel Macron this month has seen a souring in public mood, his standing sliding in opinion polls amid a series of different social protests and strike action, all pointing to a new chapter of his five-year term in office.
One of three French navy frigates taking part with the US and Britain in last weekend's strikes against chemical weapons sites in Syria found itself unable to launch its cruise missiles, the first time France had employed them in action, requiring one of the other vessels to take over its role and fire its own missiles, this time successfully, against the designated targets.
