France

The French cafes and restaurants can reopen the terraces on June 9, and at the end of that month, the curfew will be abolished entirely.   These are parts of a plan to phase out the corona measures that President Emmanuel Macron informed regional media on Thursday. However, the plan is already available on news channel Europe 1, among others. The strict curfew from 7 pm to 6 am will be abolished in two steps. On May 19, the country will close from 9 pm and June 9 from 11 pm. On June 9, healthy tourists can also come again, and they must have a "health document" with them. Under certain conditions, theatres, museums and other public spaces such as concert halls will open their doors again on May 19.

French health authorities recommend that the AstraZeneca vaccine be given to the elderly over 55 years old. This was decided because of the reports of a combination of clot formation and a reduced number of platelets in vaccinees.   Several dozen cases of vaccinees with these rare conditions are known in Europe. Most of these people are under the age of 55. Although it has not been proven to be side effects of the AstraZeneca vaccine, France will only administer the drug to older people as a precaution. The possible side effects resulted in several European countries, including France, temporarily suspending the vaccine's use. The vaccinations with AstraZeneca were resumed in France after a few days on Friday after positive advice from the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which spo...

Thanks to extra maintenance and modifications, old French nuclear power stations last much longer than anticipated.   Instead of 40 years, they can run for 50 years, according to the government's nuclear regulator, the Authority for Nuclear Safety (ASN). ASN's opinion has been eagerly awaited because no country uses so much energy generated by nuclear energy. More than 70 percent of the electricity comes from nuclear energy. But many of the 58 nuclear power plants would come to an end, as they have been in place since the 1970s and 1980s. Now, in ten years, nuclear power plants can be refurbished and adapted. The first nuclear power plant to be renovated for the refurbishment will be that of Tricastin next year. It is located between Lyon and Marseille on the river R...

France will approve the corona vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech before Boxing Day (Saturday).   Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Tuesday that the French medicine watchdog is working on it. Veran said earlier that France would start vaccinating people against the coronavirus on Sunday. People with poor health are the first to be vaccinated. The health minister also said on Tuesday that there is as yet no evidence that the new mutation of the coronavirus is circulating in France. He did not want to rule that out on Monday.

French President Emmanuel Macron recognizes that a person's skin colour can determine his or her chances in French society and promises to act "determinedly" against racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination.   But removing statues of controversial figures from the colonial period will not do his country. "We will not erase names from our history." The French president addressed the nation in a televised speech yesterday. In it, he mainly announced a whole series of relaxations of the corona measures that take effect today. But the president also spoke of the global protest against racism after the death of black American George Floyd from police brutality three weeks ago. Macron recognized that in his country, too, someone's "address, name, colour, or skin" can diminish his or he...

France has launched a new partnership between European, West African and Arab countries to fight jihadist groups in the Sahel.   More extensive political cooperation and increased deployment of elite forces should boost the difficult military mission against armed Muslim extremists in sub-Saharan Arabia. The renewed coalition means that there will be more support from other European countries and that countries in the Sahel region will start to cooperate more. European countries will provide more elite troops to support the armies of African countries. Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, among others, will provide financial aid. France has had soldiers in the region since 2013. The French army is currently present with a troop strength of 5100 men. However, the situation ...