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In the video, a Central African Republic rebel fighter says "the French want to drive Wagner out of Africa". Russia and Wagner have a track record of media manipulation and disinformation, which Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin has admitted to. The European Union sanctioned Wagner in February for alleged rights abuses and spreading disinformation, including in Africa. The foreign ministry unit doesn’t promote or generate fake news, the two diplomats said. However, the foreign ministry unit, and the broader strategy, will face an uphill battle to convince people in Africa that France has changed, seven analysts and diplomats said.

Persons: Ibrahim Traore, Vincent Bado, Wagner, Catherine Colonna, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Emmanuel Macron, Macron, Maria Zakharova, Meta, Anne, Sophie Ave, Lakhta, Prigozhin, Viginum, Faustin, Archange Touadera, “, Michael Shurkin, I'm, Jean Gaspard Ntoutoume Ayi, John Irish, Elizabeth Pineau, Bate Felix, Michel Rose, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, Russia, Central, Facebook, Kremlin, Reuters, Quai D'Orsay, Vigilance, Protection, European Union, West, Central African, Twitter, Democratic, Internet Research Agency, Meta, Global, National Union, Gabonese, Thomson Locations: Burkina, French, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, Russia, PARIS, DAKAR, Central African Republic, France, Russian, Africa, Paris, France's, Ukraine, Moscow, Central, West Africa, Quai, Kinshasa, Mali, Sahel, Europe, Democratic Republic of the Congo, DRC, U.S, Togo, Libreville, Senegal, Ivory Coast, Dakar

☆ Gas explosion starts fire in central Paris
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/6] French police secure the area as firefighters work after several buildings on fire following a gas explosion in the fifth arrondissement of Paris, France, June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Gonzalo FuentesPARIS, June 21 (Reuters) - A gas explosion started a blaze in buildings in the Latin Quarter of central Paris, officials and witnesses said. Journalist Olivier Galzi told BFM TV that he had seen the facade of a nearby building "completely collapse." Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said the fire was locted on Rue Saint-Jacques in the 5th arrondissement close to the Jardin du Luxembourg and the Sorbonne University. Reporting by Michel Rose, Sudip Kar-Gupta, Tassilo Hummel, Juliette Jabkhiro, Elizabeth Pineau; Editing by Jean-Michel Belot and Tassilo HummelOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes PARIS, Olivier Galzi, BFM, Gerald Darmanin, Jacques, Christopher Gaglione, Michel Rose, Sudip Kar, Tassilo Hummel, Juliette Jabkhiro, Elizabeth Pineau, Jean, Michel Belot Organizations: REUTERS, Police, Rue Saint, Jardin du, Sorbonne University, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, Rue, Jardin, Jardin du Luxembourg

☆ EU to accelerate arms shipments to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, June 18 (Reuters) - The European Union is speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine in support of the country's counter offensive against Russian forces, EU industry chief Thierry Breton said on Sunday in an interview with the French daily Le Parisien. "We are going to step up our efforts to deliver arms and ammunition-- this is a war of high intensity in which they play a crucial role," Breton said, citing a pledge to supply a million high-calibre weapons over the next 12 months. "We are preparing for the war to last several more months, or even longer," he added. Ukraine launched a counteroffensive earlier this month to retake territory from Russian forces, and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin last Thursday urged Kyiv's allies to "dig deep" to provide more arms and ammunition. Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau and Mimosa Spencer; Editing by Hugh LawsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Breton, Lloyd Austin, Kyiv's, Elizabeth Pineau, Mimosa Spencer, Hugh Lawson Organizations: European, Russian, U.S . Defense, Thomson Locations: European Union, Ukraine, Le, Russian

☆ Europe to accelerate arms shipments to Ukraine, EU industry chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] A journalist takes a picture of Saint John the Baptist 6th century Encaustic painting on wood panel, a rare Byzantine icon from the collections of the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, one of 16 icons that were evacuated in the utmost secrecy to be safeguarded by the Paris... Read morePARIS, June 13 (Reuters) - The Louvre Museum in Paris will exhibit five rare icons evacuated from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to protect them from the war. The icons, on display from Wednesday, are from a group of 16 extremely fragile works from Kyiv's Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko Museum that were secretly evacuated in May to be safeguarded by the Paris museum. "It's a very symbolic and effective gesture of support for Ukrainian culture," Oleksander Tkachenko, Ukrainian culture minister, told reporters at the Louvre. At the start of the Russian invasion, the collections of the Khanenko Museum were hidden and the historic building is currently empty. The Louvre exhibition, titled "The Origins of the Sacred Image: Icons from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv", will continue until Nov. 6.

Persons: Saint John the Baptist, Bohdan, Varvara Khanenko, Read, Kyiv's Bohdan, Saint Nicholas, Elizabeth Pineau, Antony Paone, Dominique Vidalon, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: Louvre Museum, Varvara Khanenko Museum, Khanenko, Museum of Arts, Moscow, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Kyiv, Ukraine, Paris, PARIS, France, Poland, Germany, Saint Catherine's, Egypt's, Constantinople

PARIS, June 12 (Reuters) - An 11-year-old British girl has been shot dead in the garden of her home in Brittany, western France, following a years-long dispute between neighbours over land, the local prosecutor and a town hall official said. The family were enjoying a warm evening on Saturday in their garden in the small village of Saint Herbot, near Quimper, when a Dutch neighbour shot at them several times, the prosecutor said. Britain's Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to a British family following a shooting. Regine Guillot, secretary of the nearest town hall in Plonevez-du-Faou, said the British family had lived in the hamlet for five years and that the Dutch neighbour was a private man. The shooting comes just days after a British toddler was among four children and two adults stabbed in the tranquil town of Annecy in the French Alps.

Persons: Regine Guillot, Guillot, Juliette Jabkhiro, Elizabeth Pineau, Richard Lough, Nick Macfie Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Brittany, France, Saint Herbot, Quimper, Dutch, Plonevez, Brest, British, Annecy, French, Paris

☆ France plans to close tax loophole benefiting AirBnB
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Charles Platiau/File PhotoPARIS, June 9 (Reuters) - France's finance ministry is working on plans to close a tax loophole benefiting short-term furnished rentals such as AirBnB (ABNB.O), Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said on Friday. A trio of cross-party lawmakers last month called for rules regulating such rentals to be tightened and for an end to the more favourable tax treatment such rentals receive vis a vis normal long-term rentals. "I have a hard time understanding the very favourable tax treatment for AirBnB. We are going to reform the tax rules and I will make proposals," Le Maire said on BFM TV. "When a windfall gets too big and tax is too favourable, there is no reason to keep such tax treatment that leads to excess," he added.

Persons: Charles Platiau, Bruno Le Maire, Le Maire, pollsters, Le Maire's, Leigh Thomas, Elizabeth Pineau, Louise Heavens Organizations: La Defense, REUTERS, Finance, Thomson Locations: La, Paris, France

"We'll make your life easier and help you set up shop here," he told ProLogium's Chief Executive Vincent Yang. It is one of four such gigafactories Macron hopes will transform the poor, former coal mining area near Belgium into a hub for the EV battery industry, creating jobs and helping to put France at the forefront of Europe's energy transition. "Results don't just fall from the sky," Macron told Reuters in Dunkirk. At the moment, however, France lags well behind Germany when it comes to attracting battery makers. Still, the IRA almost threw ProLogium's investment in France off course, one French presidential adviser told Reuters.

Persons: Emmanuel Macron, Vincent Yang, Ludovic Marin, Taiwan's ProLogium, Macron, Yang, ProLogium, we've, it's, ACC's, Heiner Heimes, Stellantis, Mercedes, Ola Kaellenius, Marc Mortureux, We're, GUY, Xavier Bertrand, ProLogium's Yang, Fabien Roussel, Leigh Thomas, Michel Rose, Silvia Aloisi, David Clarke Organizations: Business, EV, Macron, ACC, Mercedes, Reuters, RWTH Aachen University, Automotive Cells Company, Franco, Benz Group, EU, PFA French, U.S . IRA, French Communist Party, Thomson Locations: of Versailles, Paris, France, Versailles, Dunkirk, Germany, Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium, EUROPE, Korean, United States, Europe, French, Hungary, Italy, Brussels, Washington

Environment Programme (UNEP), which is hosting the talks, released a blueprint for reducing plastic waste by 80% by 2040. The report, issued earlier this month, outlined three key areas of action: reuse, recycling and reorientation of plastic packaging to alternative materials. This week, dozens of countries were listing public health as one of their priority concerns in limiting plastics production and waste. The UNEP report also identified 13,000 chemicals associated with plastic production, more than 3,000 of which were considered hazardous. Greenpeace, meanwhile, issued a report collecting findings from scientific research papers that suggest plastic recycling processes can release many of these chemicals including benzene into the environment.

☆ France's Constitutional Council rejects bid for pension referendum
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/2] A view shows French national flags on the Constitutional Council (Conseil Constitutionnel) before its decision on a request to hold a citizens' referendum (RIP - Referendum d'initiative partagee) about the future of France's pension system, in Paris, France, May 3, 2023. REUTERS/Christian HartmannPARIS, May 3 (Reuters) - French President Emmanuel Macron's deeply unpopular pension law passed another hurdle on Wednesday when the Constitutional Council rejected a second bid by political opponents to hold a referendum on capping the retirement age at 62. Since Macron bypassed parliament, opposition lawmakers have turned to the Constitutional Council twice in an attempt to derail the reform, seeking its approval on each occasion for a referendum on the retirement age. But the pension system is a cornerstone of France's cherished social protection model and labour unions say the money can be found elsewhere, including by taxing the rich more heavily. Nonetheless, French pension payments as a share of pre-retirement earnings are substantially higher than elsewhere, OECD figures show.

[1/2] FILE PHOTO-French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his speech during the National Conference on Disability at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, April 26, 2023. "You talk a lot of nonsense everyday," the man told Macron, after the president, barely able to squeeze in an answer, said he should get his numbers right. Such direct confrontations, the president reckons, are essential to give people a cathartic release after weeks of anger directed at the government's pension bill and Macron himself. Before the pension reform protests, the government managed to pass legislation on issues such as nuclear energy and renewables with the help of both left-wing and right-wing lawmakers outside Macron's centrist alliance. That was apparent again this week, when his prime minister Elisabeth Borne was forced to give up on an immigration bill.

☆ Angry crowd heckles France's Macron over pensions legislation
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Elizabeth Pineau | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/4] French President Emmanuel Macron talks to a person opposed to the pension reform, in Selestat, eastern France, April 19, 2023. and one man told him: "We don't want this pension (reform), what don't you get?" Another man told him he was leading a corrupt government and added: "You'll fall soon, just wait and see." There were also some cheers - one man told Macron to "hang in there," a woman thanked him for his work and others asked for selfies. In Paris, a free climber known as the "French Spiderman" scaled a 38-storey skyscraper to demonstrate his opposition to the pension law.

[1/2] Protesters hold placards depicting French President Emmanuel Macron during a demonstration as part of the 12th day of nationwide strikes and protests against French government's pension reform, in Paris, France, April 13, 2023. It would also need to find its way through parliament, where Macron has lost his working majority and debate has become increasingly fractious. The conservative Les Republicains' (LR) party, which the government had hoped it would be able to count on for support, has emerged deeply divided from the pension reform saga. "There are gaping wounds in the country," LR lawmaker Aurélien Pradié, who rebelled against the pro-pension reform party line on the reform, said on Twitter. So while the pension reform is on the statute books, Macron has much political capital still to regain.

Unions - and protesters - will pressure Macron not to promulgate the law, and try to find another way out. The Council's decision is expected late afternoon or early evening, likely after 1600 GMT. It could strike down the bill, but this is something it has rarely done and constitutional experts and government sources see this as unlikely. Political observers say the widespread discontent over the government's reform could have longer-term repercussions, including a possible boost for the far right. "I'm not that optimistic about the Constitutional Council's decision," far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who opposes the pension legislation, said earlier this week.

☆ Factbox: What's next for France's pension reform?
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Here is why this matters and what could happen:VERDICT ON THE PENSION BILL* The Council can strike down the bill altogether if it considers it breaches the Constitution. Opposition parties have asked it to do so, for choosing to tack the pension reform onto a social security budget bill, setting a tight deadline on debates and then bypassing a final vote in parliament. REFERENDUMEven if the Constitutional Council gives its green light - with or without caveats - this may not be the end of the road. Opposition Parliament members want to organise a so-called citizens' referendum on capping the retirement age at 62. If the threshold is met, the Senate and Assembly have six months to examine the proposal to cap the retirement age to 62.

☆ France's Macron announces water saving plan, says protests will not stop reforms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/6] French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to members of the media as he visits Savines-Le-Lac, South Eastern France, March 30, 2023. With the water plan, Macron and his government are looking to move to other topics. "There are protests, but it does not mean everything must stop," Macron said. Before his speech, Macron told reporters that protests would not stop him from adopting new policies. In some towns, half the water is lost to water leaks, with a nationwide average of 20%.

☆ Analysis: French pension standoff causing cracks in Macron's camp, insiders say
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-30 | by ( Elizabeth Pineau | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

With no sign of the protests abating, insiders question whether Borne's government has lost control of the political messaging necessary to appease the street. The situation has deteriorated considerably since Macron decided on March 16 to adopt the reform using special constitutional powers to bypass parliament. When asked about the divisions, the president's office said the majority of Macron's camp remained strong and united. "There are still ministers who are saying 'we should have done this or that', No!," the source lamented. An official in Borne's office said the prime minister had made efforts to preserve unity among ministers and lawmakers.

☆ French PM offers to meet opposition, unions amid pension crisis
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, March 26 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne plans to meet with opposition leaders and trade unions in the hope of ending weeks of protests against a new pension law, her office said on Sunday. President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out scrapping or delaying the legislation, tasking his prime minister with finding fresh support in parliament after the government failed to find enough votes for the bill. Borne will meet with political party leaders and also aims to restart dialogue with unions over labour issues, her office said, without mentioning the pension bill. The prime minister added in an interview with AFP that the meetings with opposition and union leaders would take place in the week starting April 3. Unions have scheduled a 10th day of nationwide protests against the pension law on Tuesday, after a previous day of action last Thursday saw the most violent clashes yet with police.

[1/4] Britain's King Charles waves as he arrives for a visit to the new European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London, Britain March 23, 2023. Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via REUTERSPARIS, March 24 (Reuters) - Britain's King Charles on Friday cancelled a state visit to France after social unrest over President Emmanuel Macron's new pension law erupted into some of the worst street violence seen in years across the country. "The King and The Queen Consort's State Visit to France has been postponed. Their Majesties greatly look forward to the opportunity to visit France as soon as dates can be found," a Buckingham Palace spokesperson said. A Buckingham Palace source said Charles' visit to Germany will go ahead as planned.

REUTERS/Eric GaillardSummary Pushed pension changes through with no voteGovernment barely survived no-confidence motionStrikes and protests continuePARIS, March 22 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said a deeply unpopular new law that raises the retirement age was necessary and would enter into force by the end of the year. "Do you think I enjoy doing this reform? "But there is not a hundred ways to balance the accounts ... this reform is necessary." Polls show a wide majority of French are opposed to the pension legislation, as well as the government's decision to push the bill through parliament last week without a vote. "I don't expect much from Macron's speech," pensioner Jacques Borensztejn said at a rally on Tuesday in Paris.

Protests against the bill have drawn huge crowds in rallies organised by unions since January. Most have been peaceful, but anger has mounted since the government pushed the bill through parliament without a vote last week. The ongoing protests could impact a planned state visit next week of Britain's King Charles, a Buckingham Palace source said. While the opposition has called for Macron to fire his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, who has been at the forefront of the pension reform, Macron backed her and said that he had tasked her to work on new reforms. "Tomorrow we will be on the streets again to demonstrate against the pension reform and demand its withdrawal," said one of them, CFDT union member Sophie Trastour.

The president, the government and the majority," a senior MP in Macron's camp, Gilles Le Gendre, told Liberation newspaper. Another MP in Macron's camp, Patrick Vignal, bluntly urged the president to suspend the pension reform bill, which will raise the retirement age by two years to 64, given the anger it has triggered, and its deep unpopularity. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes 1 2 3 4 5While Borne said the administration would try in future to better involve citizens and unions in lawmaking, she gave no specifics, and both said they had devoted as much time to dialogue on the pension bill as possible. Other opposition MPs urged Macron to fire Borne, call snap elections and hold a referendum on the pension bill because of the widespread anger. Polls show a wide majority of French are opposed to the pension reform, as well as the government's decision to push the bill through parliament without a vote.

☆ French and US hostages released in West Africa after years of captivity
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dubois was kidnapped in Mali in 2021, while Woodke was kidnapped in neighbouring Niger in 2016. "After several months of efforts, Nigerien authorities obtained the liberation of the two hostages from the hands of (JNIM), an active terrorist group in West Africa and the Sahel," Niger's interior minister Hamadou Adamou Souley told journalists at the airport, flanked by the two men. French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Niger for its help in securing the Dubois's release. "I’m gratified & relieved to see the release of U.S. hostage Jeff Woodke after over 6 years in captivity," Sullivan said on Twitter. Those groups have repeatedly declared French citizens in West Africa to be targets since a 2013 military intervention by France drove them back a year earlier.

A successful no-confidence vote would fell the government and kill the legislation, which is set to raise the retirement age by two years to 64. Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire on Sunday called the votes "a moment of truth" for the government. Senior officials from the conservative Les Republicains (LR) party have said they will not get behind the no-confidence motions. Le Monde calculated that at least 26 LR lawmakers would need to back the motion for it to succeed. Even if the motions flop, Macron's failure to find enough support in parliament to put his pension system overhaul to a vote has undermined his reformist agenda and weakened his leadership, observers say.

Cars were torched in Paris and other French cities in the evening during otherwise peaceful demonstrations involving several thousand people. "Something fundamental happened, and that is that, immediately, spontaneous mobilisations took place throughout the country," hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon said. Protests took place in cities including Toulon on Friday, and more were planned for the weekend. Macron will want to turn the page quickly, with government officials already preparing more socially minded reforms. Amid the unrest on Thursday evening, someone had tagged on a shop front: "Let's destroy what destroys us."

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