In March 2022, France, Germany and Luxembourg seized assets worth 120 million euros ($130 million) in a move linked to a French probe into Riad Salameh's wealth. This year, European investigators have questioned Salameh in Beirut, also hearing from a Lebanese minister, Salameh's brother Raja, and central bank audit firms.

Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire gave no details of Monday's talks with Musk, saying simply that "all of today's investments are the fruit of months or even years of negotiations". During a US trip in December, Macron held an unannounced face-to-face meeting with Musk, saying later the two had had...

Baroux also commends the UAE as the most promising market for French exports in the region, with over 600 French companies operating in the country, employing nearly 30,000 people. France stands as the UAE's fourth-largest economic partner within the EU, ranking third for imports and sixth for non-oil exports from...

Iran released two French citizens jailed in separate cases, France said, urging Tehran to release several others still detained in the Islamic republic. Bernard Phelan, who also holds Irish nationality and Benjamin Briere were freed from their prison in Mashhad city and are "on their way to France", Foreign Minister...

The continent has been racing to produce more electric vehicles as part of its green transition, with the clock ticking down on an EU deadline of 2035 to phase out the sale of cars using fossil fuels. A flurry of new battery plant projects are in the pipeline in Europe,...

Dubai, UAE -- UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan has discussed the longstanding strategic partnership between the UAE and France with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. They also explored opportunities to further expand bilateral cooperation across various sectors, WAM reported. Macon affirmed the commitment to further strengthening...

The foreign ministers of Egypt, France, Germany and Jordan called for an end to the violence between Israel and Gaza militants, who have been trading heavy fire for three days. The four ministers said later in a joint statement that they were "deeply alarmed" by the escalation.

Vienna, Austria - Austria said on Wednesday it will ban TikTok on federal employees' work phones, joining a growing list of Western nations cracking down on the Chinese-owned social media platform due to security concerns. The decision followed advice from Austria's intelligence services and several ministry experts. Similar measures have recently...

French retailer is first foreign supermarket chain in Israel.

The Saudi company posts net profit of $31.9bn, down 19.25 percent from a year earlier.

The cost to secure thousands of inactive oil and gas wells in the US Gulf of Mexico could top $30 billion, as per research published weighing potential environmental damage against estimated price tag. With new US government funding available for plugging old fossil fuel wells, the authors focused on offshore...

The company delivered 127 aircraft in Q1 of 2023.

PARIS, FRANCE -  Some 258 million people needed emergency food aid last year because of conflict, economic shocks and climate disasters, a UN report said Wednesday, a sharp rise from 193 million the previous year. "More than a quarter of a billion people are now facing acute levels of hunger, and...

Former president Michel Aoun's term expired in October, with no successor lined up. Countries including France, the United States and Saudi Arabia hold regular consultations on Lebanon. Their representatives met in February in Paris to discuss the crisis, without achieving any tangible progress.

LES SABLES-D'OLONNE PORT, FRANCE -  UAE-registered boat Bayanat has taken second place at the Golden Globe Race 2022 (GGR) after 236 days of sailing. Former Indian Navy officer Commander (Retd.) Abhilash Tomy sailed non-stop around the world on the boat sponsored by Abu Dhabi-based geospatial AI solutions provider Bayanat.  ...

The 62-year-old Iranian director, whose films have won numerous international awards, was freed on bail in early February after nearly seven months in detention in Tehran. The lawyer said Panahi was travelling to France to visit his daughter.

The country increased its military spending by 16 percent to reach an estimated $75 billion, surpassing the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.

China insisted it respects the sovereignty of all ex-Soviet countries, after comments by its ambassador to France drew ire in Europe. Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, the European Union's three Baltic countries, summoned China's envoys to account for Ambassador Lu Shaye questioning the sovereignty of former Soviet states.

Brussels, Belgium - Comments made by the Chinese ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of post-Soviet countries were "unacceptable," EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Sunday. Borrell added that he hoped the comments did not reflect Beijing's official stance. "Unacceptable remarks of the Chinese ambassador to France," Borrell tweeted. "The...

ALGIERS, ALGERIA -  Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune will visit France in June, his office said Sunday, weeks after a diplomatic spat over a French-Algerian activist. The visit had initially been due to take place in May, but was pushed back to June following a phone call between Tebboune and his French...

Paris, France--EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell called on European navies to patrol the disputed Taiwan Strait, in a opinion piece in a French weekly published Sunday. Borrell's comments in the Journal Du Dimanche, echo comments he made last week when he stressed how crucial Taiwan is to Europe. Taiwan "concerns...

The European Parliament approved the comprehensive rules to regulate the "Wild West" world of cryptocurrencies, hoping to protect investors against abuse and manipulation. EU member states have already backed the legislation covering cryptoassets, including cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and ethereum and other tradable tokens whose value is secured using blockchain...

Paris, France -- French supermarket giant Carrefour said on Wednesday it would allow female employees to take days off if they suffer from endometriosis, a medical condition that can cause excessive period cramps. The move is the latest to allow women extra time off in a country where paid menstrual leave...

PARIS, FRANCE -  Air France and plane manufacturer Airbus were acquitted Monday over the 2009 crash of a Rio-Paris flight after a French court ruled their errors could not be proven as the disaster's cause. While the ruling was expected after prosecutors recommended to the Paris court not to seek a...

The Observatory, which has a wide network of sources on the ground in Syria, said fighters riding motorbikes also attacked a group of shepherds in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, killing five and seizing their livestock. Two other shepherds were kidnapped, the war monitor said.

The performance was driven by strong sales, especially in Asia.

The European Union's central data regulator said it was forming a task force to help countries deal with AI chatbot ChatGPT, ramping up the pressure on its US maker OpenAI. Italy temporarily banned the program over allegations its data-gathering broke privacy laws, and France's regulator said it had opened a...

Under investigation both at home and abroad on suspicion of fraud, money laundering and illicit enrichment, Riad Salameh has been summoned for a hearing in Paris next month. He is part of a political class widely blamed for the country's economic crisis that the World Bank says is of a...

Jump in sales across all regions, including China.

World food prices are still high but have fallen by a fifth compared to a year ago when prices soared to a monthly record high after Russia invaded agricultural powerhouse Ukraine, UN data showed. Prices have fallen 20.5 percent since March 2022 after a 12th straight monthly drop, the Food...

France's foreign minister has held a rare face-to-face meeting with her Iranian counterpart in China, urging Tehran to release French nationals "arbitrarily detained" in Iran, the foreign ministry said. Catherine Colonna, traveling with French President Emmanuel Macron on his state visit to China, met Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in Beijing.

Beijing, China--French and EU leaders will on Thursday seek to make Europe's case for bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine in a Beijing meeting with Xi Jinping, a close ally of Vladimir Putin. French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen will be greeted late...

The French leader's aims include preserving and rebalancing China's trade ties with Europe as well as safeguarding French interests in the Asia-Pacific region, where Paris sees itself as a player due to its overseas territories and military deployments. On the eve of his visit, Macron discussed his trip to China...

A total of 3049 new companies joined DMCC in 2022.

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia -- Saudi Arabia will host the 42nd edition of the Global Real Estate Summit next December in Riyadh. According to Saudi News Agency (SPA), the summit is considered the industry's largest annual gathering, which includes real estate pioneers and CEOs of critical real estate companies from all...

Women earn on average nearly 13 percent less per hour than men for the same work in the 27-nation European Union, according to official data for 2020. Under the new rules, workers can demand to know individual and average pay levels, broken down by gender, in their workplace.

The tie-up would lead to the creation of a $10 billion plus group.

SAINTE-SOLINE, FRANCE - French security forces again clashed with protesters Saturday as campaigners sought to stop the construction of reservoirs for the agricultural industry in the southwest of the country, AFP correspondents said. The violent scenes in Saite-Soline in western France came after days of violent protests nationwide over President Emmanuel...

Paris, France - France on Friday banned public-sector employees from downloading "recreational applications" on their work phones, the public services ministry said, with a ministerial source adding that Chinese-owned TikTok would be among them. Following bans of TikTok in other European countries, "the government has decided from now on to ban...

Improved refining, petrochemicals margins behind profit rise.

Doha, Qatar--In a sign of growing business ties between Qatar and France, trade between the two countries has increased by 165 percent to $4.5 billion in 2022, compared with $1.70 billion in 2021. Qatar Chamber recently participated in the Arab French Economic Summit 2023 which was held in Paris under...

PARIS, FRANCE  -  COP28 President-Designate Dr. Sultan Al Jaber met French President Emmanuel Macron and outlined his vision on the need to reform multilateral financial institutions to unlock capital for clean technologies and adaptation efforts. During his meeting with Macron, Dr. Al Jaber emphasized the need for ambitious reforms across...

The OECD raised its global economic growth forecast as inflation eases and China emerges from Covid restrictions, but warned of vulnerabilities as seen in the US bank sector turmoil. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development said it now expects the global economy to grow by 2.6 percent this year.

A multi-plural world that embraces diversity and contradictions is crucial for peaceful coexistence free of conflicts, Prof Subramanian Rangan of INSEAD tells TRENDS.

Thirty houses were burned and damaged, according to local officials, after dozens of Israeli settlers set them ablaze. Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's finance minister and an extreme-right settler, later said "Huwara needs to be wiped out", sparking widespread condemnation, including from the UAE, the UN, the United States and France.

AMMAN, JORDAN -  The Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) took part in the fourth Arab-French Economic Summit 2023 in Paris. A statement issued by the JCC on Thursday said that the summit , jointly organized by the French-Arab Chamber of Commerce (CCFA), the Union of Arab Chambers, Business France, the...

Salameh had been summoned to appear at Beirut's justice palace on Wednesday morning but objected to the session and instead sent a legal representative, the judicial official told AFP on condition of anonymity as they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Western fashion was once largely taboo in Saudi Arabia, but with the kingdom undergoing great social changes, a designer is welcomed home to mentor its Fashion Commission.

A Lebanese judge has asked central bank chief Riad Salameh to appear before visiting European investigators, a judicial official said Monday, part of a multinational probe into his personal wealth. The embattled central bank chief faces embezzlement accusations in separate investigations in Lebanon and abroad, looking into the fortune he...

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron last Friday agreed a new pact worth over 500 million euros to thwart illegal migration across the Channel.