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France, one of Europe’s most staunchly Catholic countries – 88% of the country belongs to the Roman Catholic Church – has appointed Laurent Stefanini, an openly gay man, as its ambassador to Vatican City. Stefanini will be the first openly LGBTQ person to serve as an ambassador to the Vatican, if the Roman Curia (the administrative arm of the Holy See) approves his appointment. Before being appointed, Stefanini served as France’s Chief of Protocol. In recent years, under Socialist president Francois Holland, France has gradually become more pro-LGBTQ, though not without a strong negative response, mostly from the country’s religious...

French lawmakers on Wednesday (1 April) discussed an intelligence bill that aims to give sweeping surveillance powers to internal security agencies and the prime minister’s office. Announced a day after the museum terrorist attacks in Tunis, the bill allows agencies attached to the economy, defense and interior ministries to spy on people by hacking their computers or mobile phones without the need for a warrant.Anyone suspected of terrorism or terrorism links, even incidentally, could be a target. Prime minister Manuel Valls has said the bill is needed to detect possible terrorist activities in the wake of the Charlie Hebdo massacre...

The firm operating the Paris subway has come under fire for apparently pushing France's beloved secularity too far with its refusal to display an ad with the mention "Christians of the East." French music group "The Priests" had planned to advertise their upcoming June concert in Paris with a poster sporting a banner that said proceeds would go towards the cause of Christians persecuted in places such as Iraq and Syria.But the state-owned RATP firm that operates the subway and its advertising agency Metrobus ordered the group's producers to take off the banner, pointing in a statement issued last week...

Le Bourget (France) (AFP) - One of France's top Muslim leaders has called for the number of mosques to double over the next two years to remedy a shortage of places of worship for the country's millions of faithful. Speaking at a weekend gathering of French Islamic organisations, where participants asked for respect in the face of a rise in anti-Muslim attacks, Dalil Boubakeur said the 2,200 mosques in the country did not adequately represent Europe's largest Muslim community."We need double (that number) within two years," the head of the French Muslim Council and rector of the Paris mosque said...

France on Saturday outlined one part of what the gradual ramp-up of Iran’s nuclear program could entail after the initial 10-year phase of a framework accord. Since Thursday’s deal between Tehran and a group of six world powers on the outlines of a final agreement, the U.S., the Iranians and the French have each produced their own documents outlining what they see as the highlights of the deal. That has led to squabbling between U.S. and Iranian officials over differences in their versions. According to a French fact sheet, Iran would be able to carry out a “gradual, clearly defined...

U.S. negotiators repeatedly shifted their goals during talks over Iran's nuclear program in response to intransigence from Tehran's representatives, according to a published report. Meanwhile, France's top diplomat urged caution Friday about the possibility of a final deal being agreed to and admitted that his country had initially held out for firmer terms. Diplomats representing the so-called P5+1 powers and Iran announced that they had a framework of an agreement Thursday after marathon talks in Switzerland that stretched two days past their original deadline.

The European Union observer group to the 2015 general elections in Nigeria has described President Goodluck Jonathan's conduct as a shining example that other world leaders should emulate. Leader of the delegation, Mr Santiago Fisas, gave the commendation after holding a closed-door meeting with the out-going President in his office. The five-man delegation was at the Presidential Villa to congratulate Dr. Jonathan for allowing a peaceful electoral process and conceding defeat. The group, which came to present the preliminary report on the outcome of the elections, said that the fact that President Jonathan conceded defeat saved Nigeria from degenerating into...

US Reportedly Backed Down On Initial Goals In Iran Talks April 03, 2015 U.S. negotiators reportedly lowered the bar for their own goals during talks over Iran's nuclear program in response to resistance from the Tehran team. And, on the heels of a framework deal being announced in Switzerland, France's top diplomat on Friday admitted his country had initially held out for firmer terms. The emerging reports indicate the U.S. team, led by Secretary of State John Kerry, gradually backed down over the course of the talks as Iran's delegation dug in. The Wall Street Journal, citing current and former...

It may be intellectually comforting to suggest the UMP-UDI could "make the National Front useless", or less prosaically, to propose implementing those measures for which the French vote for the Front and, in so doing, 'siphoning out' the Front's programme. Sarkozy employed this strategy during the last presidential campaign -- but it did not work. Sarkozy has been smart enough to understand that any kind of alliance with the Front would mean the end of the UMP. But he also knows what a significant chunk of supporters wants. Reconciling everybody won't be easy, as the organisation of the party has...

Greece is drawing up drastic plans to nationalise the country's banking system and introduce a parallel currency to pay bills unless the eurozone takes steps to defuse the simmering crisis and soften its demands. Sources close to the ruling Syriza party said the government is determined to keep public services running and pay pensions as funds run critically low. It may be forced to take the unprecedented step of missing a payment to the International Monetary Fund next week.

How’s that for a confidence builder, eh? While Barack Obama tried to put a sunny spin on the interim agreement with Iran in his Rose Garden speech, the Wall Street Journal found out that the final act of the negotiations mainly rested on American retreat at the bargaining table. In fact, the concessions began almost immediately in September 2013 and never stopped: The White House decided a less ambitious agreement would be pursued. “As soon as we got into the real negotiations with them, we understood that any final deal was going to involve some domestic enrichment capability,” a...

Travelling by air makes many people very nervous and in the aftermath of a horrific incident, fears and tensions are heightened.

When the French use the word "fraternité" - brotherhood - they are referring to a lofty virtue that unites the nation. The fact that President Hollande spoke of the "fraternité franco-allemande" in Berlin, of the especially deep relationship between the countries, can therefore be understood as a sign of great esteem.

National Front party founder again insists Nazi gas chambers were just a 'detail'; daughter and party head distances herself. The founder of France's far-right National Front party, Jean-Marie Le Pen, reiterated his assertion Thursday that Nazi gas chambers were a "detail" of World War II, prompting condemnation from rights groups and his daughter. Le Pen told a French TV station he did not regret making the statement repeatedly over nearly three decades, earning convictions for hate speech along the way, and then said it again. "I have said what I believed. Gas chambers were a detail of the war, unless...

France has left the US-led nuclear talks with Iran in Lausanne, saying it will return when it is 'useful.' French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius is leaving the marathon negotiations that have gone into overtime led by the United States between world powers and Tehran over Iran’s nuclear technology activities. A French official told France 24 today (Wednesday, April 1) that Fabius was leaving the talks and would return from France when it was “useful.” Speaking at a joint news conference with Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, French President Francois Hollande said it would be better to have no deal...

Killer pilot Andeas Lubitz’s mental illness was caused by living in a capitalist society, Russell Brand has claimed. In his latest video, the activist comedian says that 50 percent of people will suffer from a mental illness at some point in their lifetimes, asking: “Why is it happening all the time? Why are we living in the times of a mental illness plague?” The reason, he says, is Fox News. “The reason Fox News can’t be honest about what causes mental illness is that Fox News IS what causes mental illness. “Fox News are the propaganda machine of capitalism –...

Cell phone video found at the Germanwings Flight 9525 crash site reveals the sounds of passengers screaming in the moments before the March 24 crash, the French magazine Paris Match and the German tabloid newspaper Bild reported, citing a source close to the investigation. Both publications have issued descriptions of the video but have not published the video. “The scene was so chaotic that it was hard to identify people, but the sounds of the screaming passengers made it perfectly clear that they were aware of what was about to happen to them,” Paris Match reported. ” One can hear...

In a shocking accusation, French diplomats told Foreign Policy that they believe the Obama administration plans to replace Saudi Arabia with Iran as the central U.S. ally in the Middle East. (VIDEO: Reporter Grills State Department: Is United States Now A ‘Functional Ally Of Iran?’) “Numerous French diplomats suspect that the United States… is on the verge of profoundly reshaping of [sic] its traditional alliance system in the Middle East,” reporters Joseph Bahout and Benjamin Haddad write, ”moving [to] a system where Iran replaces Saudi Arabia as the central pillar of regional stability.” “The nuclear talks, French diplomats suspect, are...

The Defence Acquisition Council has approved the ‘Maitri’ project for the co-development of a Short Range Surface-to-Air Missile (SR-SAM) by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with MBDA of France, Navy officers said on Monday. “The DRDO has been directed by the government to engage Original Equipment Manufacturer for joint development,” a Defence Ministry official said. The project has been in the works since 2007 to meet the requirements of the Army and the Air Force. MoU with MBDA The DRDO had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MBDA in 2013, but there has hardly been any progress because...

Winston Churchill and Charles De Gaulle were eerily similar political figures, said Hillsdale politics professor Will Morrisey at a recent Kirby Center lecture in Washington, D.C. Both had to rally their people and country to fight against the German, Russian and eventually Soviet threats facing them. And, both went about it in different ways. It all began with geopolitics, which Morrisey defined as “the realm of necessity,” which “can be the realm of liberty.” Morrisey defined liberty as the “relationship of reciprocity, shared rule” like a household’s parent-child relationship. Both France and the United Kingdom were liberty-focused governments and were...