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Most of France, famously, takes the whole of August off. Emmanuel Macron, the new President, did not. He was busy holed up in the Elysee Palace working on what he intends to be the biggest shake-up of France's labour laws since at least the Second World War. Frankly, it's amazing he and his circle of advisers did it all in a month. The 'Code du Travail', as it is known, is a complex 3,448-page document enshrining working practices that, in some cases, date back to the French Revolution more than two centuries ago. The code sets a maximum number of...

Poland is interested in buying French weaponry, especially missile-equipped submarines, officials said after talks between the two countries’ defence ministers. “We want to conclude this contract as soon as possible, preferably still this year," Poland’s Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz said, referring to a possible submarine deal. He was speaking after talks with France’s Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly in Paris on Wednesday,. “The strength of the French offer” is that the submarines would come together with cruise missiles as part of a single deal, Macierewicz told Poland’s PAP news agency. But “there are still details that need to be worked...

A new program, sponsored by the French embassy in the US, aims​ ​to​ ​open​ ​​the​ ​classic​ ​junior​-year​-abroad ​experience​ ​to students who​ ​don't typically​ ​find​ ​the​ ​means or​ ​programs​ ​to​ study ​internationally. PARIS —Daniela​ ​Markovic​ ​worked​ ​hard​ ​in​ ​high​ ​school​ ​with​ ​her​ ​sights​ ​on​ ​college – and possibly studying abroad.​ ​But​ ​when​ ​faced​ ​with​ ​economic​ ​reality,​ ​she opted​ ​for​ ​the​ ​honor’s​ ​program​ ​of​ ​her​ ​local​ ​community​ ​college​, ​and​ ​accepted​ ​that​ ​a two-week​ ​trip​ ​to​ ​Italy​ offered by the program ​would​ ​have​ ​to​ ​suffice​. “Whenever​ ​I​ ​saw​ ​all​ ​my​ ​friends​ ​going​ ​off​ ​to​ university,​ ​and​ ​I​ ​was​ ​stuck​ ​at​ ​home – ​you​...

A mural in Calais by the British street artist Banksy, whose works can sell for hundreds of thousands of euros, has been painted over by the owner of the building because he said the house was starting to look shabby and needed an upgrade. The stencil was a version of the painting The Raft of the Medusa by Théodore Géricault, showing a group of desperate survivors on a raft after a wreck. It was given a modern, refugee-themed twist — a nod to the notorious “Jungle” refugee camp in Calais that housed thousands of refugees hoping to get to Britain...

France will increase its defense budget by nearly $2 billion next year, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced Thursday. The increase of 1.6 billion euros ($1.93 billion) will continue over the next few years and President Emmanuel Macron has set a goal to meet NATO’s target to spend 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2025. “This will be continued in 2019 and 2020 because the world we are living in is dangerous,” Philippe told broadcaster BFM. The increase comes less than two months after Pierre de Villiers, the head of France’s armed forces, resigned in protest of an 850 million...

An industrial tribunal on Thursday hears the case of four Muslim former security guards at Orly airport who say they were discriminated against when sacked for refusing to shave off their beards in the wake of the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris. Soon after those jihadist attacks that left 130 dead, management from the Securitas security firm summoned several male staff members working for it at Orly, all of them Muslim and all of them bearded. They were told that with passengers on edge, it would be appreciated if they could all trim or shave off their beards to...

A new era for the Port of New York and New Jersey started this morning with the arrival of the largest ship to ever stop over on the East Coast.  The CMA CGM Theodore Roosevelt sailed under the newly-elevated Bayonne Bridge today on its maiden voyage to the United States, as locals gathered at Dennis P. Collins Park to watch the massive ship's arrive. Four times larger than the Statue of Liberty and the length of five football fields, the Theodore Roosevelt can carry more than 14,400 20-foot equivalent units (TEU). Owned by French shipping group CMA CGM, the ship made its...

TOULON, France --- France has decided to arm its surveillance drones in West Africa as part of counter-terrorism operations against Islamist militants, Defense Minister Florence Parly said on Tuesday. French President Emmanuel Macron has made fighting Islamist militants his primary foreign policy objective and the move to armed drones fits into a more aggressive policy at a time when it looks increasingly unlikely Paris will be able to withdraw from the region in the medium to long-term. France has six Reapers France currently has five unarmed Reaper reconnaissance drones positioned in Niger's capital Niamey to support its 4,000-strong Barkhane counter-terrorism...

France’s government has unveiled a law to ban all production and exploration of oil and natural gas by 2040 on the country’s mainland and overseas territories. The move is largely symbolic, however, as France’s oil and gas production represents just 1 percent of national consumption — the rest is imported. Current drilling permits will not be renewed, according to the bill formally presented in a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. France currently has 63 oil and gas drilling projects on its territory. The ban, which the government claims is a world first, is part of a larger plan to wean the country’s...

French Minister Warns of the Dangers of Salafism — In 1928The following letter was written in 1928 by the French Colonial Minister, Léon Perrier, to the Governor General of French West Africa. Mr. Perrier could see clearly then what Western officials are unable to see, or refuse to see, or are in active collaboration with in the year 2017. Mr. Perrier was warning against the dangers of Salafism, which at that time was confined to North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. Now it has penetrated almost the whole of Western Europe, and there is no obvious way to get...

Despite the string of terror attacks in Paris since 2015, Parisians feel secure, according to the latest in-depth survey by the Paris region’s Urban Planning Institute. The results of the enquiry, which attempts to gauge how safe residents of the French capital feel going about their daily lives, are published every two years. Conducted by market research company Kantar TNS, the survey, introduced in 1998, asks 10,500 people living in the Paris area, aged 15 and up, a series of “rigorous” questions to see how far people living there feel secure. And the results were perhaps a bit surprising. According...

Parisians protest 'genocide' of rats as city battles rodent infestation By David Chazan, paris 3 SEPTEMBER 2017 • 6:11PM Thousands of Parisians have signed a petition denouncing efforts to control a rat infestation as a rodent “genocide.” The French capital is facing its worst rat crisis in decades, and rapid proliferation of the animals has forced several parks to close temporarily amid fears that children could be bitten or infected by disease. Paris authorities are spending £14 million this year on “deratisation”. But some residents have spoken out in defence of the creatures. Influenced perhaps by the loveable rat Remy...

France’s foreign minister warned Friday that North Korea could have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the United States and even Europe “within months”. Jean-Yves Le Drian called the situation following a string of missile tests by Pyongyang “extremely serious” and urged the reclusive state to turn to dialogue to ease spiralling tensions. “We see a North Korea whose objective is to have missiles capable of transporting a nuclear weapon tomorrow,” Le Drian told RTL radio. “In a few months, that will be a reality. At that moment, when it has the capability to hit the US, even...

PARIS, France (NBC News) — Disneyland Paris has apologized to a 3-year-old British boy who was told he couldn’t dress up as a princess because he’s a boy. Noah McLean-Glass is a huge fan of Elsa from the hit film “Frozen.” His mother says he loves to wear his “Elsa dress” – even to bed. When his family planned a trip to Disneyland Paris, they thought it would be fun for him to take part in the “princess for a day” event. But his mother was shocked when she was told boys could not take part – that the event was...

France and Germany plan to issue a new proposal to tax internet giants so that they pay a “fair contribution” in every country where they earn money, French finance minister Bruno Le Maire said on Sunday. “We will unveil a new plan along with our German partners at the next finance ministers’ meeting in Tallinn in mid-September” for taxing technology giants including Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon, Le Maire said in a Facebook Live chat. “We propose taking the revenues of these large companies as a reference point, and use this to determine a tax level so that these companies...

The strange and fascinating world of the British spy known as ‘Chris Whatsit’ was unravelling yesterday. Christopher Steele was once MI6’s top spy on Russian affairs and lived in the shadows until being unmasked as the alleged author of the ‘dirty dossier’ on Donald Trump. He was dubbed ‘Chris Whatsit’ by his late wife on their first date because she could not remember his name – but he revelled in being a man of mystery. Now the 52-year-old is hoping to return to anonymity after fleeing his £1.5million home in Surrey, telling his neighbour to look after his three cats....

French authorities warn farmers of Jewish thieves ahead of Yom Kippur Municipal veterinary service says Jews and Muslims may try to steal chickens and sheep to use in ‘unauthorized sacrifices’ for holidays Veterinarians in a municipality near Paris warned farmers of an elevated risk of theft of sheep and fowl ahead of the Muslim and Jewish holidays of Eid al-Adha and Yom Kippur, respectively. Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition by email and never miss our top stories FREE SIGN UP! The warning, which provoked angry reactions on the part of communal leaders who felt it was discriminatory, came...

The French government has doubled its fines for those found guilty of racial or discriminatory defamation in “non-public” statements. The increased fine specifically addresses fines issued for “non-public” statements — such as those made on a private Facebook group or to a small group of people — containing abuse aimed at a person or group based on their origin, ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identification. Businesses whose directors or employees are found to have made discriminatory statements will now face potential fines of up to €7,500 for a one-off incident. And for repeat offenses, that rises to a...

The EU risks breaking up unless it overhauls a controversial rule allowing firms to send temporary workers from low-wage countries to richer nations without paying their local social charges, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday. “Some political or business circles seek to use the EU’s funds while at the same time developing a system of social and fiscal dumping,” he said in Bucharest during a whistle-stop visit to eastern and central Europe. “This will lead to the dismantling of the European Union” if there is no reform agreement at a Brussels summit in October, he added after holding talks with...

Former French president François Hollande said on Wednesday he has not turned his back on politics, after criticizing his successor and former protégé in the Élysée Palace, Emmanuel Macron. “Even when I decided… not to stand (for re-election), I had said I would not retire from political life,” the Socialist Hollande, 63, told TV5 Monde television. The former president on Tuesday said the 39-year-old Macron should not “demand needless sacrifices from the French”. Macron, elected in May, has come under fire for budget and public spending cuts. …