US oceanographer David Gallo, who co-led the successful mission to recover the black boxes of the 2009 Rio-Paris Air France flight from the Atlantic Ocean at a depth of almost four kilometres, says the remarkable preservation of the wreckage found in 2011 suggests that if that of missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370 is located it is likely to yield answers to the mystery of why it disappeared almost four years ago.
French fishermen mounted a blockade of the ports of Calais and Boulogne, both major hubs for cross-Channel transport, in protest at the use, notably by Dutch fishing fleets, of electric stunning of fish, known as pulse fishing, which they complain is rapidly depleting stocks and which the European Parliament has voted to outlaw.
'France is back, France is back at the core of Europe', declared French President Emmanuel Macron during an hour-long speech before a packed assembly of world political and business leaders at the Davos World Economic Forum, when he positioned France as a champion of commercial innovation and pro-economic globilisation.
Heavy rainfall is now threatening several French regions with flooding, including the French capital and outlying areas as the River Seine is forecast to reach or surpass the level that incurred serious damage in June 2016.
French President Emmanuel Macron is to make the first official visit of a foreign leader to the United States under the Trump administration, expected to take place in late April, when he will notably address Congress.
A report commissioned by the French government recommends dropping criminal prosecution of cannabis users and introducing fixed fines instead in order to relieve the bureaucracy involved in sanctioning an estimated 1.4 million people who use the drug, and who currently face a maximum sentence of one year in prison.
Struggling giant French retailer Carrefour, one of France’s biggest private-sector employers, has announced it is to close a large number of its mega-stores and a sell-off of its Dia chain, with a restructuring towards online business, organic retailing and a partnership in China.
An open-ended strike by French prison guards over pay and conditions, prompted by a series of assaults on staff in several jails across the country, will enter a second week on Monday, with unions calling for a ‘total blockage’ of establishments after government proposals to increase staff numbers were rejected at the weekend.
French President Emmanuel Macron, speaking in a television interview with the BBC, said he shared the outrage of African countries after US President Donald Trump reportedly described Central American and African nations as ‘shithole countries’ at a White House meeting with lawmakers earlier this month.
Bocuse was arguably the most influential French chef of the 20th century, who managed several restaurants in France but also the US, Japan and Switzerland, and whose Auberge du Pont de Collonges establishment near Lyon was the only restaurant to have been continuously awarded Michelin’s top three stars for more than 50 years.
