PARIS, FRANCE -  Forty-five governments have endorsed doubling the average global rate of energy efficiency improvements by the end of the decade to foster sustainable economic growth. This will help put the world on a secure and affordable path towards net zero emissions. "It’s hard to overstate the importance of...

Al Hilal football club officials are in Paris to seal a mega-deal with Lionel Messi, who is leaving Qatar-owned Paris-Saint Germain. The officials will meet Messi's agent, Jorge, with the aim of completing the signing. One source said Saudi delegation has one goal: "to return with Messi official approval to...

PARIS, FRANCE - Renewable power capacity is expected to jump by a third this year globally as growing policy momentum, higher fossil fuel prices and energy security concerns drive expansion of solar and wind power, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. The growth is set to continue next year with...

PARIS, FRANCE -  Renewable power capacity will grow by a record number this year as high fossil fuel prices and energy security concerns fueled the deployment of solar and wind systems, the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. Global additions of renewable energy capacity are expected to rise by 107 gigawatts...

Colonna nevertheless said Paris would not be changing its policy towards the Syrian ruler. "We have to remember who Bashar al-Assad is. He's a leader who has been the enemy of his own people for more than 10 years," she said. A lifting of European Union sanctions on the Syrian...

Paris, France – Sovereign borrowing needs are expected to increase in 2023 against the backdrop of the financial and economic spillovers of the crisis in Ukraine, as many countries forming a part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) seek to cushion households and businesses from rising prices,...

Paris, France -- Athletes have joined the clamor of criticism at the high cost of tickets for the 2024 Paris Olympics, decried as undermining organizers' promises of a Games accessible to all. Phase two of sales got underway on May 11, with nearly 1.5 million individual tickets available, after over three...

Iran executed three men convicted of killing security force members during protests triggered by Mahsa Amini's death last year, the judiciary said, drawing condemnation from rights groups. Majid Kazemi, Saleh Mirhashemi and Saeed Yaghoubi were found guilty of waging "war against God" - at a demonstration in Isfahan on November...

A French investigating magistrate issued an international arrest warrant for Lebanon's central bank chief Riad Salameh, a source close to the case said. Salameh earlier failed to appear for questioning by French investigators who want to know how he amassed sizeable assets across Europe, his lawyer said.

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...

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...

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 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...

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 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...

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.

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...

"There are no Palestinians, because there are no Palestinian people," far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said at an event in Paris. Smotrich and his Religious Zionism group have a history of making incendiary remarks about Palestinians.

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.

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...

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.

The hotel, with its ultra-prime location, is one of the most sought-after real estate assets in Paris, France.

PARIS, FRANCE -  Governments should urgently adapt their health systems to better respond to future shocks, given the huge impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people and the global economy. Major investment is needed in the health workforce, alongside increased spending on prevention and digital infrastructure, according to a new...

Fashion house posted huge earnings despite inflation.

Paris, UAE--The second technical UAE-France-India trilateral initiative has taken place in Paris during the visit of a UAE delegation from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MoFAIC), led by the Assistant Foreign Minister for Economic and Trade Affairs, Saeed Mubarak Al Hajeri. Al Hajeri participated in the meeting alongside...

More than 17,500 people have died so far in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria.

Profit was affected as demand for steel fell and production hit.

France's data protection and media regulators Cnil and Arcom are set to announce their latest proposals to rein in porn websites which are in theory subject to a 2020 law requiring age verification.

The Rothschild family is set to take its investment bank private as its holding company announced plans to buy out the shares it does not own. Concordia, which holds almost 40 percent of the capital of Rothschild & Co. said it was in negotiations with investors and banks to finalize...

Dupixent drug has been a huge success for the firm.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will hold talks with French President Emmanuel Macron hoping to gain support against Iran's nuclear program. Israel's Paris embassy said the pair would discuss "the international effort to stop the Iranian nuclear program". The prime minister has also said Israel is considering sending military aid...

PARIS, FRANCE - Thirty women political prisoners in Iran, including a Franco-Iranian academic and the daughter of a former president, on Sunday demanded an end to the executions of protesters in the country. "We, the political and ideological prisoners in the women's ward of Evin Prison, demand an end to the...

PARIS, FRANCE - Iran has released a prominent chef and Instagram influencer who was detained earlier this month in its crackdown on nationwide protests, a human rights groups and supporters said. Navab Ebrahimi, known for his videos promoting Persian cooking, was arrested in Tehran on January 4 and taken to the...

"There's no doubt that our 53rd annual meeting in Davos will happen against the most complex geopolitical and geoeconomic backdrop in decades. So much is at stake," said Borge Brende, a former Norwegian foreign minister who is now president of the meeting.

France's 100-year colonization of Algeria and the viciously fought 1954-62 war for independence have left deep scars on both sides, which Macron has by turns prodded and soothed over his political career. In 2017, then-presidential candidate Macron dubbed the French occupation a "crime against humanity".

PARIS, FRANCE -  Iran on Saturday executed two men for killing a paramilitary force member during unprecedented protests sparked by the death in custody of a young woman. The latest hangings double the number of executions to four over the nationwide protests, which escalated since mid-September into calls for an end...

A gunman opened fire at a Kurdish cultural center and a hairdressing salon in Paris on Friday, killing three Kurds. The semi-autonomous Kurdish authorities in northeastern Syria called for the Sunday protest in Hasakeh, which drew hundreds of people brandishing photos of the three victims and calling for accountability.

Ankara has been feuding with the US and European powers about their support for Kurdish fighters in the People's Protection Units (YPG), which it portrays as the Syrian offshoot of the PKK.

RABAT, MOROCCO  -  France and Morocco announced Friday they were mending fences after months of tensions over visas, and said President Emmanuel Macron would visit the North African kingdom in early 2023. Speaking in Rabat alongside her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said it was time to...

The increase brings total amount of investment support that governments have allocated to clean energy to $1. 215 billion.

PARIS, FRANCE - Russia's invasion of Ukraine has driven countries across the world to boost energy efficiency, creating "huge potential" to tackle high prices, security and climate change, the IEA said on Friday. Governments have scaled up fossil fuel subsidies to cushion the impact of rising energy costs on households...

Hundreds of mourners poured onto the streets of a flashpoint Iranian city, defying a lethal crackdown on protests over Mahsa Amini's death that shows signs of turning even bloodier. This week's protests coincide with the third anniversary of "Bloody Aban"- or Bloody November - when hundreds were killed in a...

Paris, France - The European Union threatened Monday to take retaliatory measures against the United States for electric car subsidies that favor domestic manufacturers. The 27-nation bloc is upset about Washington's "Inflation Reduction Act", which will see vast spending on green energy initiatives and includes tax breaks for US-made electric...