France news

France news

Younger people will tell you that it's embarrassing and old-fashioned - but the Miss France contest still has a prime-time Saturday night TV slot and attracts millions of viewers every year. Representatives for different regions have already been chosen and on Saturday night the new Miss France will be elected - with the contest a prime-time TV event that draws in millions of viewers. The TV show is expected to draw in around 7 million viewers and the Miss France final regularly makes it into the most-viewed TV lists.

The French military used anti-drone measures after five unmanned vehicles flew over a closely guarded base housing nuclear ballistic submarines, a source told AFP on Friday. The drones were detected above the base on Île Longue, a peninsula off the Brittany coast in northwestern France near Brest, at around 7:30pm on Thursday, said the source close to the operation. An anti-drone and search operation was launched by the marine battalion, which protects the base, the source said.

Councillors late Thursday approved the plan to offer future mothers vouchers worth €1,000 to spend at local businesses if they agreed to bring their child into the world in the town, instead of travelling to a bigger hospital. "We're not paying women to have babies, we're giving money to women who are already pregnant and decide to give birth in Saint-Armand," right-wing mayor Emmanuel Riotte told AFP. He said mothers would have to come in for prenatal check-ups first.

For the last 10-or-so years, I've seen Biarritz fracture. The pact of confidence between the people of Biarritz and their town hall is broken,

42UP: A Vertical Campus in Paris Redefining Educational Architecture. In the heart of Paris's 17th arrondissement, AR Studio d'Architectures has completed 42UP, a radical extension of Ecole 42 that doubles its capacity while minimizing its footprint. The project transforms 3,600 m into a 9,025 m vertical campus, accommodating 1,400 workstations in an institution operating 24/7, without teachers, without courses, and completely free.

The splintered National Assembly will vote on the Social Security budget on Tuesday, December 9th. There is a slender chance that the budget can pass with a hotch-potch majority assembled from the quarrelsome Centre, the divided Centre-Right and the wary Socialists. If so, Lecornu's experiment in parliamentary democracy allowing the National Assembly to control the most important French budget-making for decades will have achieved its first important success.

The departure of Ryanair has accelerated the pace, but given the current situation we are above all consolidating our position. This winter we have increased our offer by 10.5 percent and we have made year-round some routes between Bordeaux and the UK. We currently have 41 routes, which is our record in Bordeaux. We're reassured by the region's potential and we're continuing to develop, to the point of strengthening Bordeaux. We already have four aircraft and 200 employees at Bordeaux Airport.

A provision in last year's delayed Budget lowered the threshold at which micro-enterprises had to start collecting and paying VAT to €25,000 in annual turnover, rather than the current €37,500 for services and €85,000 for commercial activities. The micro-enterprise status is most commonly used by freelancers, contractors, sole traders and small businesses - it has a maximum earning threshold so most of those on the status are low to medium earners.

In a message to AFP, the European aircraft manufacturer said the figure represented the "total number of potentially impacted aircraft" but "it doesn't mean all these aircraft are necessarily impacted". It added that the number of planes earmarked for checks was "reducing day by day as inspections progress to identify those needing a specific action to be taken". On Monday, Airbus said it had detected the "supplier quality issue" but asserted the problem was "contained" and affected only "a limited number of A320 metal panels".

The leaders of France and Germany have a strong willingness to build a new fighter jet together despite bitter internal rivalries, according to the chief executive of engine manufacturer Safran. A row over who should lead between French aerospace company Dassault and the German unit of Airbus has threatened to break apart the countries' efforts to make a next-generation fighter jet.

The mayor of a small French town suffering from an influx of tourists to its famous Christmas market has decided to introduce an order of silence in the street, after noise complaints from locals. The town of Riquewihr in Alsace, north-east France, has introduced a 'Rue du Silence' in the town centre, after numerous complaints from locals about noise from tourists. Mayor Daniel Klack says that creating the 'silent street' in a main artery of the town will allow people to 'take a breather' among the bustle and noise of the town's Christmas market, which attracts 450,000 visitors a year.

Ronan O'Gara was sent off in last night's Top 14 defeat in Pau, the La Rochelle chief picking up a second yellow card during an astonishing 13-try clash that saw his out-half Antoine Hastoy ship the fastest red card in league history - 34 seconds.

A EuroMillions jackpot of 157 million (179 million euros) has been won by a player in France. The winning ticket holder has not yet come forward to claim the life-changing sum. The winning numbers were 5, 29, 33, 39, 42, with Lucky Stars 3 and 9.

Paris Saint-Germain suffered only their second Ligue 1 loss of the season as they fell to a 1-0 defeat against Monaco on Saturday. Former Liverpool striker Takumi Minamino scored his second goal in as many games for the hosts, who also saw Thilo Kehrer sent off with 10 minutes remaining after hauling down Ibrahim Mbaye. Coming on 68-minutes, the goal proved to be the difference as Monaco held on to record a famous victory at Stade Louis II.

This is definitely not the kind of post we thought we'd write as the holidays approach. We've been robbed and our fresh and frozen snails stash has been robbed, the post stated. The coming weeks are usually the most important for us... so this is a shock, a misunderstanding, and a real blow to the entire team. We are trying our best to restock our stocks to satisfy you for the holidays.

As part of that influence, Kevin Roberts -- president of the powerful Heritage Foundation and a key influence on Trump's policy decisions -- earlier this year visited Paris to speak to what he called "leaders of the French right", whom he declined to name. Roberts said during the trip in May that, while the foundation did not officially represent the US government, it could still knit together a network of ideologically aligned groups.

President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday unveiled a new program meant to bolster France's armed forces by training thousands of volunteers aged 18 and 19 starting next year, part of a broader response to concerns over Russia's threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine. The young volunteers will serve in uniform for 10 months in France's mainland and oversea territories only, not in military operations abroad, Macron said in a speech at the Varces military base, which is located in the French Alps.

Unions representing French doctors have called for 'unprecedented' strike action starting on January 5th, in opposition to the draft 2026 social security bill. Seven doctors' unions issued a unified call for strike action on Wednesday, urging doctors to 'prepare for an unprecedented strike starting on Monday, January 5th.' The call for strikes specifically affects médecins libéraux, meaning self-employed doctors, such as GPs and specialists with their own practices, as well as medical students and interns (doctors in training).

Young Danes are selected at random, according to the armed forces' needs. Conscripts in Finland serve between six, nine, or 12 months, depending on their specialty and rank. They are then placed in the reserves, where they can be called back to active duty, until the age of 50 or 60 -- a limit the government is considering raising to 65. Military service is voluntary for women.

In May this year, France extended its smoking ban to include outdoor spaces such as beaches, parks, bus stops and outside schools (although café terraces are not included in the ban). It went a bit under the radar at the time - because there's not much skiing in May - but the ban also includes ski resorts. Smoking is now banned in ski lifts, the queues for the ski lifts and on the piste, on pain of a €135 fine. Smoking is still allowed while skiing off-piste or in the streets of the ski resorts. Smoking in indoor spaces such as bars, restaurants or hotels has been banned since 2007.