Europe

2017 Tour de France samples re-tested for unnamed substance

Jim Stein May 30, 2020

(Europe) – Samples from the 2017 Tour de France are being re-tested as authorities look for a previously undetectable performance-enhancing substance, Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad reported on Saturday. “On the basis of additional information… we have identified the

World

France, Britain, Germany ‘regret’ U.S. end to Iran nuclear waivers

Jim Stein May 30, 2020

PARIS (World) – France, Germany and Britain on Saturday criticised a U.S. decision to end sanctions waivers allowing work on Iranian nuclear sites designed to prevent weapons development. “We deeply regret the U.S. decision to end the three waivers,” the three European countries said in a joint statement. “These projects, endorsed by U.N. Security

Business

PSA Mulhose site to make surgical masks

Jim Stein May 28, 2020

PARIS (Business) – French carmaker PSA is set to start manufacturing surgical masks at its site in Mulhouse site located in eastern France starting August. PSA would have a production capacity of 10 million masks per month in France. (Photo syndicated via Reuters)This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a […]

Europe

Le Maire: Renault loan not signed yet, site closures must be last resort

Editorial Bureau May 28, 2020

PARIS (Europe) – Bruno Le Maire, France’s Finance Minister, announced that the government had yet to sign off on a 5 billion euro planned loan for Renault. He said that Renault’s site closures and job cuts could only ever be a last resort. This week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France’s government, having a […]

Europe

Twenty-six people arrested in France and Belgium over truck deaths

Jim Stein May 27, 2020

PARIS (Europe) – The French prosecutor’s office said on Wednesday that 26 people had been arrested in France and Belgium in connection with the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants found in the back of a truck near London last year. The dead, including two 15-year-old boys, were found on an industrial estate about 20 miles […]

Europe

Hydroxychloroquine use banned to treat COVID-19 by France

Jim Stein May 27, 2020

PARIS (Europe) – The French government on Wednesday cancelled a decree allowing hospital doctors to administer hydroxychloroquine as a treatment to patients suffering severe forms of COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. The announcement comes two days after the World Health Organization said it was pausing a large trial of the malaria drug […]

Europe

French government’s crisis measures cost 450 billion euros

Nia N May 25, 2020

PARIS (Europe) – The government of France’s measures to aid their economy through the coronavirus crisis has cost 450 billion euros, equal to 20% of GDP, according to France’s finance minister. Since mid-March, the French government mobilised measures like state-subsidised furloughs, state-guaranteed loans, tax deferrals and handouts to small firms.

Business

Air France should slash domestic traffic for state guarantees

Jim Stein May 24, 2020

PARIS (Business) – Air France will have to “drastically” reduce its domestic air traffic in exchange for state loan guarantees, French Environment Minister Elisabeth Borne said on Sunday. Domestic routes were served by alternatives in the form of high-speed trains, she noted in an interview with France Inter radio. The government last month offered the

Europe

Le Maire: Franco-German recovery plan is a ‘historic step’

Nia N May 19, 2020

BRUSSELS (Europe) – The Franco-German idea that the European Union should borrow to issue grants for its economic recovery is a historic step as it would be the first time that budget spending is financed through EU debt, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said. “This is a historic step for France and Germany and […]

Europe

Le Drian: For EU, it is better to sign up to Franco-German recovery plan

Nia N May 19, 2020

PARIS (Europe) – The foreign minister of France stated that European Union countries sceptical about a Franco-German proposal for a 500 billion euro coronavirus recovery fund must support it or risk making it more difficult to get out of the coronavirus crisis. “It’s in the interest of all European countries to sign up for this […]