DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

[1/9] Demonstrators gather in support of the putschist soldiers in Niamey, the capital city of Niger July 30, 2023. Images showed fires at the walls of the French Embassy and people being loaded into ambulances with bloodied legs. Military officials involved in the coup would be banned from travelling and have their assets frozen, it added. The Niger military rulers later asked protesters to abstain from vandalism and destruction of property. The European Union and France have cut off financial support to Niger and the United States has threatened to do the same.

Persons: Stringer, Mohammed Bazoum, General Abdourahamane Tiani, Amadou Abdramane, Sani Idrissa, Russia's Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Boureima Balima, Moussa Aksar, Felix Onuah, Elizabeth Pineau, Bate Felix, Andrew Cawthorne, Frances Kerry Organizations: REUTERS, Pro, Niamey Military, Sahel region's, French Embassy, Economic, West, West African Economic, Monetary Union, Military, United Nations, African Union, European Union, World Bank, The, ECOWAS, Thomson Locations: Niamey, Niger, Sahel, NIAMEY, ABUJA, Niger's, Nigeria, States, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea, United States, France, The United States, Italy, Germany, French, Niger national, Russian, Abuja, Paris

[1/5] China's Vice Premier He Lifeng and French Economy and Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire attend the China-France Economic and Financial Dialogue at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing, China, July 29, 2023. REUTERS/Thomas PeterBEIJING, July 29 (Reuters) - China hopes France can "stabilise the tone" of EU-China relations, vice-premier He Lifeng told a senior French minister in Beijing on Saturday, as European leaders debate how to "de-risk" but also cooperate with the world's second-largest economy. "It is hoped that France will stabilise the tone of friendly cooperation between China and the EU," He said in opening remarks before an afternoon of discussions at Beijing's Diaoyutai State Guest house, adding that China believes its bilateral ties with France "have a good foundation". "It is essential to think about the expansion and deepening of economic and financial cooperation between France and China," La Maire said. "We would like to welcome major new investments from China to French territory."

Persons: Lifeng, Bruno Le Maire, Thomas Peter BEIJING, State Anthony Blinken, Janet Yellen, Le Maire, La Maire, Joe Cash, Layli Foroudi, Liz Lee, Lincoln, Giles Elgood Organizations: China's, Finance, France Economic, REUTERS, Economy, Beijing's, U.S, State, Economic, European Union, Union, Huawei, Thomson Locations: French, China, France, Diaoyutai, Beijing, EU, United States, Russia, Paris

PARIS, July 29 (Reuters) - Booksellers along the river Seine say the Olympics threaten to erase a symbol of Paris, after they were told by local authorities that they will have to remove their stalls for the Summer Games opening ceremony in 2024 for security reasons. Paris 2024 organisers expect at least 600,000 people to attend the opening ceremony on the Seine, during which athletes and delegations will sail along the river. It will be the first time the public have free access to the opening ceremony, and not in a stadium. "This renovation is part of the Games' heritage and will help support the application to have the Seine booksellers recognised as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO," the authorities said. It was not clear whether the booksellers had been told they must move for the duration of the Games or only for the opening ceremony.

Persons: Paris, Jerome Callais, Albert Abid, Ardee Napolitano, Clotaire, Layli Foroudi, Hugh Lawson Organizations: Booksellers, Eiffel, Notre Dame, Paris, UNESCO, Thomson Locations: Paris, Seine

His death, caught on video, has reignited longstanding complaints by poor and racially mixed urban communities of police violence and racism. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said early on Saturday that 270 people had been arrested on Friday night, bringing the total to more than 1,100 since unrest ignited. In Lyon, France's third-largest city, the gendarmes police force deployed armoured personnel carriers and a helicopter to quell the unrest. Darmanin asked local authorities across France to halt bus and tram traffic from 9 p.m. (1900 GMT) and said 45,000 officers were being deployed, 5,000 more than on Thursday. In Paris, police cleared protesters from the iconic central Place de la Concorde square on Friday night after an impromptu demonstration.

Persons: Nahel, Juan Medina, Macron, Emmanuel Macron, Gerald Darmanin, France's, Benoit Payan, Darmanin, we're, Snapchat, Mohamed Jakoubi, Enzo Santo Domingo, Ravina Shamdasani, Laurent, Franck Lienard, didn't, Lienard, Jacques Chirac, Dominique Vidalon, Marc Leras, Jean, Stephane Brosse, Pascal Rossignol, Elizabeth Pineau, Layli Foroudi, Gabrielle Tetrault, Farber, Charlotte Van Campenhout, Alison Williams, Sandra Maler, Dan Wallis, Cynthia Osterman Organizations: REUTERS, Government, Marseille, TF1, French soccer, Stade de France, de, Meta, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Nanterre, Paris, France, PARIS, Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Strasbourg, Lille, Spanish, Bilbao, Brussels, Aubervilliers, U.S, Geneva, Amsterdam

☆ In French banlieues, distrust of police runs deep
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-30 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Rioters have torched cars and public transport but also targeted town halls, police stations and schools - buildings that represent the French state. Some said Nahel, who was shot dead on Tuesday, could have been any of them, or their sons, brothers or friends. Yann Bastiere, a representative of the Unite SGP police union, said the officer who shot Nahel was innocent until proven guilty. Belaidi said teachers were not replaced and hospitals lacked resources, which has led to a feeling of abandonment by the state. Reporting by Layli Foroudi; additional reporting by Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Angus MacSwanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Benjamin Belaidi, Belaidi, Emmanuel Macron, Mohamed Jakoubi, Nahel, Yann Bastiere, Bastiere, Karima, Emile Chabal, Chabal, Olivier Klein, Layli Foroudi, Elizabeth Pineau, Angus MacSwan Organizations: PARIS, Reuters, police, Unite SGP police, Edinburgh University . Investment, France Inter, Thomson Locations: Paris, Nanterre, France, Nahel, Blanc Mesnil, Clichy

But officially colour-blind France has long refused to acknowledge any racial factor was at play. "From that point on, unions were involved in everything that's co-managed, including the managing of human resources," he told Reuters. But these fines are rare and rights groups say police officers often end up with light sentences, fuelling a sense of impunity. A rise in lethal police shootings over the last few years has been linked to a law reform in 2017, which broadens the circumstances in which an officer can use their firearm. "It is completely vague, and it allows to shoot much more freely," said Caille of the left-wing CGT police union.

Persons: Cedric Mas, Olivier Cahn, that's, " Cahn, Christophe Castaner, Gerald Darmanin, Franck Louvrier, Nicolas Sarkozy, Darmanin, Ravina Shamdasani, Anthony Caille, –, Sebastian Roche, Michel Rose, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Rights, Twitter, Cergy University, Reuters, Socialists, United Nations, Police, CGT Police, of, Society, CGT, Thomson Locations: PARIS, Britain, France, United States, Paris, Moroccan, – France, U.S, Nice

National police said on Thursday night that officers faced new incidents in Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse and Lille, including fires and fireworks. The local prosecutor said the officer involved had been put under formal investigation over voluntary homicide and would be held in prison in preventive detention. Under France's legal system, being placed under formal investigation is akin to being charged in Anglo-Saxon jurisdictions. He said the officer had aimed down towards the driver's leg but was bumped, causing him to shoot towards his chest. The unrest has revived memories of riots in 2005 that convulsed France for three weeks and forced then-president Jacques Chirac to declare a state of emergency.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Pascal Prache, Mercedes, Nahel, Gonzalo Fuentes, Laurent, Franck Lienard, didn't, Lienard, Prache, Macron, Jacques Chirac, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Layli, Noemie Olive, Leigh Thomas, Michel Rose, Richard Lough, John Stonestreet, Frank Jack Daniel, Alexandra Hudson, Daniel Wallis, Gerry Doyle Organizations: Nike, National, Lille, Le Vieux Port, REUTERS, Reuters, Thomson Locations: France, Paris suburb NANTERRE, Algerian, Nanterre, Paris, Rivoli, Marseille, Lyon, Pau, Toulouse, France's, Le Vieux, Provence, Paris suburb, Clichy, Blanc Mesnil

The interior ministry called for calm after at least 31 were arrested in overnight riots, mainly in the Paris suburb of Nanterre where the victim lived, with youths burning cars and shooting fireworks at police, who sprayed people with tear gas. "We have an adolescent that was killed, it is unexplainable and inexcusable," Macron told reporters in Marseille. Paris Saint-Germain footballer Kylian Mpabbe in a Tweet about the shooting said: "I'm hurting for my France." [1/5]A car, burnt during clashes between youths and police, is seen in a street the day after the death of a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, June 28, 2023. In the wake of the overnight unrest, the interior ministry said 2,000 police have been mobilised in the Paris region.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Mercedes, Germain, Kylian, Antony Paone Tuesday's, FRANK Macron's, Fatima, Layli Foroudi, Dominique Vidalon, Juliette Jabkhiro, Richard Lough, Conor Humphries Organizations: Prosecutors, Reuters, Mercedes AMG, Paris Saint, REUTERS, of Interior, Thomson Locations: Paris, PARIS, Nanterre, Marseille, France, Paris suburb

☆ Police officer investigated after 17-year-old shot dead in Paris suburb
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Sporadic clashes break out between youths and policeYouth shot dead after failing to stop car for policePolice officer in question being investigatedShooting took place in Paris suburb of NanterrePARIS, June 27 (Reuters) - A French police officer is being investigated for homicide after shooting dead a 17-year-old on Tuesday morning in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after the youth failed to comply with an order to stop his car, the local prosecutor's office said. The officer fired at the boy, who subsequently died from his wounds, said the Nanterre prosecutor's office. Three people were killed by police shooting after refusing to comply with a traffic stop in 2021 and two in 2020. A Reuters tally of fatal shootings in 2021 and 2022 shows the majority of victims were Black or of Arabic origin. The driver was "known to the judicial services for having refused to comply with a traffic stop" on a previous occasion, it said.

Persons: Mercedes, Mornia Labssi, Laurent Nunez, BFM, Gerald Darmanin, Layli Foroudi, Juliette Jabkhiro, Dominique Vidalon, Sudip Kar, Conor Humphries, Alistair Bell, Sandra Maler Organizations: Police, Reuters, Mercedes AMG, National Police, Thomson Locations: Paris suburb, Nanterre PARIS, Paris, Nanterre, France

☆ Paul-Henri Nargeolet: French diver on missing sub is Titanic expert
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Johann convinced Nargeolet to write his book 'In the depths of the Titanic' because he said his kids were super-fans. The underwater explorer needed convincing to write a book, Johann said, because he wanted to spend all of his time diving. CAREER IN FRENCH NAVYDirector of underwater research for RMS Titanic, which owns the rights to the ship's remains, Nargeolet started researching and exploring the Titanic wreck when he joined the French ocean research institute Ifremer in 1986, after a 22-year career in the French navy. They met after Marsh contacted the explorer to ask for the contact of a Frenchman who had survived the Titanic. The president of RMS Titanic, Jessica Sanders, said in a statement on Wednesday that Nargeolet's experience was unparalleled and "no-one has a better chance of navigating equipment failures than he does".

Persons: Paul, Henri Nargeolet, Mathieu Johann, Harper Collins, Johann, Nargeolet, Olivier Lefort, James Cameron, Nargeolet's, Anne, Michele Marsh, Marsh, Frenchman, Jessica Sanders, Bernard Cauvin, Janet Lawrence Organizations: Thomson Locations: PARIS, France, French, Connecticut, American, Cherbourg

☆ Fake volunteers hope to disrupt Paris Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, April 26 (Reuters) - An anti-Olympics collective is aiming to disrupt next year's Paris Games by recruiting fake volunteers. Saccage and other critics of the Paris Olympics say the event will negatively impact the environment and benefit big businesses and elites, rather than locals. Paris 2024 organisers did not immediately respond to a request for comment but have said in the past that they would organise "popular and spectacular Games" that will bring in millions of visitors. The Olympics organisers are looking to recruit 45,000 volunteers. Paris organisers said they would take the time to ensure the "sincerity" of candidates and that volunteers would have a background check.

☆ Fifth body found in French Alps following avalanche
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A general view shows an avalanche in the French Alps, in Les Contamines-Montjoie, France, April 9, 2023 in this still image obtained from a social media video. Domaine Skiable des Contamines-Montjoie SECMH / Twitter @domaineskiable via REUTERSPARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - French rescue services have found a fifth body following an avalanche southwest of Mont Blanc in the French Alps, local authorities said on Monday. The avalanche occurred in the middle of the day on Sunday on the Armancette glacier, which is near the village and ski resort of Les Contamines-Montjoie. Prosecutors in Bonneville who are investigating the incident did not immediately respond to questions regarding the identify of those killed in the avalanche, but local media said two of the dead were mountain guides. Reporting by Layli Foroudi Editing by Gareth JonesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Macron criticised for saying Europe should take independent stance on Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron has caused a stir by saying Europe has no interest in accelerating the conflict in Taiwan and should become a "third pole" independent of both Washington and Beijing. Political actors on both sides of the Atlantic criticised the president's position as being too accommodating of China, just as it carries out military drills around Taiwan. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under its control. He added that the French president was "increasingly isolating himself in Europe." If Europe doesn't "pick sides between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, then maybe we shouldn't be picking sides either [on Ukraine]," the Republican senator said.

☆ French rescue workers recover two bodies from rubble of collapsed buildings
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - French rescue workers have found two bodies in the rubble of buildings in the southern city of Marseille which collapsed following an explosion, the city's mayor said on Monday. Authorities have previously said that nine people were believed missing after Sunday's explosion, which destroyed two residential buildings and caused a third to partially collapse. "This morning we are in great sorrow and pain," Marseile's Mayor Benoit Payan wrote in a tweet, adding that the rescue operations were continuing "relentlessly". The collapse caused a fire which has complicated rescue efforts and which was continuing to burn on Monday morning. Around 200 people have been evacuated from buildings near to the blast, said housing minister Olivier Klein, who was due to visit Marseille on Monday.

☆ Four killed in avalanche in the French Alps
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, April 9 (Reuters) - Four people have died and nine others have been injured in an avalanche southwest of Mont Blanc in the French Alps, interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on Sunday. The avalanche occurred in the middle of the day on the Armancette glacier, he wrote on Twitter. He said the avalanche was extensive, covering an area of one km by 500 metres (half a mile by 550 yards) at an altitude of 3,500 metres and that its causes are being investigated. President Emmanuel Macron wrote on Twitter that rescue services were continuing to search for further casualties and that his thoughts were with the victims and their families. Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Philippa FletcherOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Building collapses in Marseille, at least six injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Smoke envelopes the area as police officers work at the scene of a fire following a gas explosion in Marseille, France, April 9, 2023 in this screengrab obtained from a social media video. Naima Haoulia/via REUTERSPARIS, April 9 (Reuters) - French rescue services were searching for victims and trying to put out a fire after an explosion caused a residential building to collapse in the centre of Marseille in the early hours of Sunday, with six injured identified so far. "I would like us to prepare for a difficult situation - we could have victims today," Payan said, adding that five of the six injured are in hospital in a "relatively urgent" situation. Firefighters were continuing to tackle the blaze and 80 people have been evacuated, according to the rescue services. "The fire makes it harder to find the victims," Commander Laurent of the rescue services in Marseille told BFMTV.

☆ Macron says Europe should not follow U.S. or Chinese policy over Taiwan
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 9 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said in comments published on Sunday that Europe had no interest in an acceleration of the crisis over Taiwan and should pursue a strategy independent of both Washington and Beijing. Macron has just returned from a three-day state visit to China, where he received a warm welcome from President Xi Jinping. "The worst thing would be to think that we Europeans must become followers on this topic and adapt to the American rhythm or a Chinese overreaction," Politico quoted him as saying. On Friday, an adviser to Macron told reporters in Guangzhou that Xi and Macron had a "dense and frank" discussion on the issue of Taiwan during their meetings. Macron travelled to China with a 50-strong business delegation including Airbus and nuclear energy producer EDF, which signed deals during the visit.

The Lebanese bank did not respond to a message seeking comment. Bank statements seen by Reuters show how the Salameh accounts at AM Bank ballooned from $15 million in 1993 to more than $150 million by 2019. Lebanese prosecutors suspect the accounts, from which regular cash withdrawals were made, were used to conceal money laundering activity, a Lebanese judicial source said on Saturday. According to the lawyer, French prosecutors have summoned his client with a view of naming him a formal suspect. If French prosecutors suspected Salameh of wrongdoing, they could not hear him as a witness, Sur said.

☆ France looks to AI-powered surveillance to secure Olympics
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, March 23 (Reuters) - France's National Assembly on Thursday approved the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) video surveillance during the 2024 Paris Olympics, overlooking warnings from civil rights groups that the technology posed a threat to civil liberties. If formally adopted, France would become the first country in the European Union to legalise AI-powered surveillance. That would be setting a worrying surveillance precedent, a group of several dozen European lawmakers said last week. The plan to deploy AI surveillance has met strong resistance from rights groups such as Amnesty International and digital rights groups. Access Now's Leufer questioned the utility of AI in spotting would-be attackers because of the complexities in training algorithms on rare incidents.

☆ France's Macron calls Wagner Group 'life insurance of failing regimes' in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday described the Russian mercenary Wagner Group as the "life insurance of failing regimes in Africa", in comments made before he visits the continent. He said that African nations would eventually stop turning to the Wagner Group as they would see that it only sows misery. Reporting by Michel Rose, Layli Foroudi; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Macron says he won't let France become 'ideal scapegoat' in Africa
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Feb 27 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday that he will not allow France to become "the ideal scapegoat" in Africa, in a speech ahead of a trip to the continent from Wednesday. Some African countries have criticised France for failing to curb Islamist militancy in the Sahel region in particular. Macron also said he refused to be drawn into an outdated competition between powers for control of Africa. He will travel to Gabon, Angola, République of Congo and Democratic Republic of Congo. Reporting by Michel Rose, Layli Foroudi; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ French Roald Dahl publisher says 'non' to text changes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, Feb 23 (Reuters) - French publisher Gallimard said it had no intention of making changes to translated versions of children's books by the late British novelist Roald Dahl, unlike the author's UK publisher. No," Hedwige Pasquet, director of Gallimard Jeunesse, said in an interview with Le Figaro newspaper. The role models of Matilda, a book-loving child prodigy, were also changed to include a female author. The Roald Dahl Story Company, which manages the copyrights and trademarks of Dahl, said it was not unusual to review language when reprinting books, and described any changes as “small and carefully considered”. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak spoke out against the changes, saying "it's important that works of literature and works of fiction are preserved and not airbrushed."

☆ Schoolteacher stabbed to death by pupil in southwest France
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

PARIS, Feb 22 (Reuters) - A teacher was stabbed to death by a 16-year-old pupil on Wednesday at a Roman Catholic high school in the town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz in southwestern France, local officials said. Pupils fled in panic after the stabbing, local newspaper Sud Ouest said. The Spanish-language teacher, a woman, was 50 years old, Sud Ouest said. Police arrested the pupil, who told another teacher he was possessed and heard voices that instructed him to attack the teacher, according to local media including BFM TV. Reporting by Layli Foroudi; writing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Ingrid Melander; editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The slogan reads "No to the Macron's pension reform". In what could prove a prolonged standoff, unions and their members are seeking to minimise the impact on personal finances already strained by the worst cost of living crisis in decades. French unions generally do not have permanent strike funds to help members cope, though some will set up occasional kitties financed by donations for a specific cause. While it is generally used to cover legal fees and compensate workers in local strikes, members are now clamouring for it to help cover lost pay during the pension strikes. However, even before the cost of living crisis, French unions have struggled to resist government reform plans in the decades since massive strikes in 1995 successfully forced a conservative government to drop a pension overhaul.

☆ Apple fined 1 mln euros by Paris court over App Store practices
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Layli Foroudi | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

PARIS, Dec 19 (Reuters) - The Paris Commercial Court on Monday fined iPhone maker Apple (AAPL.O) just over 1 million euros ($1.06 million) for imposing abusive commercial clauses on French app developers for access to the company's App Store, the court ruling showed. While tiny in size compared to the huge profits generated by Apple, the Paris court's fine is another sign of the legal pressures Apple faces to loosen its grip over the App Store, so far the only gateway for alternative app developers to access customers. An Apple spokesman said the U.S. company would review the ruling and believed "in vibrant and competitive markets where innovation can flourish." "Through the App Store, we’ve helped French developers of all sizes share their passion and creativity with users around the world while creating a secure and trusted place for customers," the spokesman added. The Digital Markets Act (DMA) in particular will force Apple and fellow tech giant Google to provide space for third-party app stores on their respective iOS and Android devices.

Search resuls for: "Layli Foroudi"

25 mentions found