Jean Castex

France today began lifting Covid restrictions, including mandatory masks outside, in a bid to make everyday life easier for citizens, after only last month the country announced a record number of new coronavirus infections, AFP reported.

Britain on Oct. 28 summoned the French ambassador to explain "threats" made over post-Brexit fishing rights, hours after France's Prime Minister Jean Castex offered to open talks to resolve the increasingly bitter row.

The two sides are at loggerheads over licensing rules for EU boats wanting to operate in waters around Britain and the Channel Islands.

France announced it would take measures to block further rising costs for consumers by stoping further natural gas price hikes and by preventing a planned increase in electricity tariffs which was originally scheduled for February, Prime Minister Jean Castex said, quoted by Reuters. "For natural gas and electricity, we'll put in place what I would call a tariffs shield.

Western nations involved in the Kabul airlift began pulling out of the effort on Thursday, with a number of them citing the acute threat of a "highly lethal" terrorist attack by Islamic State, possibly within hours.

French President Emmanuel Macron was slapped in the face on June 8 by a man in a crowd of onlookers while on a walkabout in southern France, video of the incident showed.

Macron's security entourage quickly intervened to pull the man to the ground and move Macron away from him. Two people were arrested in connection with the incident, broadcasters BFM TV and RMC radio reported.

French PM Jean Castex announced on Thursday a month-long limited lockdown for Paris and other regions of the country starting Friday as the number of Covid-19 patients in intensive care units spikes, FRANCE 24 reported. The new restrictions will be imposed on 16 regions, including the Paris area.

France and Germany were set to resume AstraZeneca vaccinations on March 19 after EU regulators gave the jab the all-clear, and Joe Biden said his administration would meet its goal of inoculating 100 million Americans weeks ahead of schedule.

The European Union is facing further shortfalls in its coronavirus inoculation programme after pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca said production problems and export restrictions would reduce planned deliveries of its vaccine.

Europe's battle against coronavirus entered a dangerous new phase this week as politicians pushed to tighten lockdown measures across the continent even after a weekend of rioting brought scenes of chaos to the Netherlands and Denmark amid warnings of 'civil war'. 

Several heads of state and leaders met French President Emmanuel Macron in the last 10 days leading up to his positive COVID-19 test results announced on Dec. 17.

Macron on Wednesday met Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa at the Elysee Palace. Costa's office announced Dec. 17 that he entered quarantine as a precaution and will continue working remotely.