French Politiques for an Anglophone Audience
France is seeking to buy reconnaissance drones from the United States and Israel, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian announced on Sunday. According to Le Monde, France has already received clearance from the Pentagon to buy two Reaper drones. Now it is up to Congress to approve the sale. The newspaper reported that France hopes to […]
The future of the European project was cast into doubt last week, with research suggesting that the French people’s opinion of the European Union has fallen by 19% in the past year, reflecting a general shift in Europe away from Brussels. French support for the European project has dropped to 40%, according to Pew Research, […]
Alleged French jihadist Gilles Le Guen, also known by the nom de guerre Abdel Jelil, arrived in France on May 14 after his capture in northern Mali last month. According to Le Monde, Le Guen, a 58-year-old merchant navy veteran, was seized in a French special forces raid on the northern outskirts of Timbuktu, on […]
The racism watchdog CRAN (Conseil Représentatif des Associations Noires de France) announced last Friday its intention to file a legal suit against the Caisse des Depots (CDC), a state-owned bank over its profits from the slave trade in Haiti. CRAN confirmed the move on Friday to sue the state-owned bank on the same day that […]
Arnaud Montebourg, French minister of industrial renewal, has blocked Yahoo! from buying a 75 percent stake in French video website Dailymotion. The move is a symbolic declaration of patriotism from the French government, who wants to protect one of France’s biggest start-up companies. Montebourg told the Wall Street Journal that he would not let Dailymotion […]
On Friday, April 26, a French Parti Socialiste (PS) document on Europe was released, putting pressure on already strained Franco-German relations. The document accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of “selfish intransigence” in her unbending efforts to enforce austerity measures throughout the troubled eurozone. As Europe’s economic troubles continue, particularly in France where growth has come […]
Thursday April 25, the Security Council of the United Nations unanimously approved a resolution put forward by the French government to bring in a UN peacekeeping force for Mali as of the July 1. Within the next 60 days the UN shall determine the area’s state of security is adequate to allow for their deployment […]
On Monday, April 22, European Ministers of Foreign Affairs met in Luxembourg to revise their decisions pertaining to the embargo on Syrian petroleum products. The goal of these revisions is to aid the civilian population, which has been greatly impacted by civil war in a country wrought with violence. According to a text released from […]
Tuesday, April 23, a car exploded outside of the French Embassy in Tripoli in what appears to be the first terrorist attack against foreign diplomats since Muammar el-Gaddafi was removed from power in 2011. The explosion leveled the embassy’s reception area on the ground floor and damaged nearby residences and shops. The blast has not […]
On Friday, April 19, Paul Biya, the President of Cameroon, announced the liberation of the seven French hostages that had been held captive for two months. The group consisted of Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, his brother Cyril, his wife and four sons, ranging from five to twelve years old. Tanguy is an expatriate employee of GDF Suez, […]
