French nuke carrier for sea-air drill with Egypt ahead of Libya offensive
The French nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle is steaming through the Red Sea on its way to the Mediterranean via the Suez Canal for joint maneuvers with the Egyptian navy in preparation for a reduced coalition offensive against Islamic State’s deepening grip on Libya. DEBKAfile’s military sources, reporting this, say it will be the […]
EU migrant crisis: Brussels leaders bicker as refugee violence flares in Calais and Greece
As tear gas rained down on rioting migrants in Greece and France bickering countries squabbled over who should take the blame for the spiralling crisis which shows no sign of slowing. Once again the cavernous divisions between different EU countries were laid bare for all to see, with Angela Merkel angrily defending Germany’s role […]
EU set to emit 2bn tonnes more CO2 than Paris climate pledge
The EU is set to emit 2bn tonnes more CO2 than it promised at the Paris climate talks, threatening an agreement to cap global warming at 2C, a note from the European commission has revealed. Carbon prices will rise too slowly to cut industrial emissions as much as needed, says a confidential note prepared […]
PA welcomes French peace initiative
France, which announced the initiative late last month, has threatened to unilaterally recognize the “State of Palestine” if its peace efforts fail.”We definitely welcome the French initiative, we see it as a major possibility for challenging the status quo,” Hossam Zomlot, an advisor to PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas, told reporters, according to AFP. Zomlot, however, […]
Cameron Takes `Brexit’ Case to EU’s Center as Hollande Digs In
Prime Minister David Cameron took his case for an overhaul of the terms of Britain’s membership of the European Union to Brussels Tuesday as the French government digs in its heels over aspects of his reform agenda. Cameron met with senior European Parliament members including the body’s president, Martin Schulz, and the heads of the […]
French ultimatum to Israel: Accept PA demands
The French government is planning an international peace conference to reach a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) – and it appears that France is placing the burden of reaching a settlement on Israel. On Tuesday French officials met with representatives of both Israel and the PA to present the basic […]
In France, it’s dangerous to be a Jew
Baron Hirsch, who founded the school in 1901, named it after his son Lucien. He wanted to preserve the Jewish identity of the students, but had no idea that 115 years later, most of its alumni would be making aliyah to Israel. This is not only because of the Zionist education they received, but primarily […]
French and German Central Bankers Want a Central Euro Finance Ministry
The euro zone needs to press ahead with structural reforms and closer integration, including a euro zone finance ministry, to deliver sustainable growth, the heads of the French and German central banks wrote in a German newspaper on Monday. In a guest article for the Sueddeutsche Zeitung entitled “Europe at a crossroads”, they said […]
6 in 10 French people think Jews are responsible for anti-Semitism, survey finds
A total of 59 per cent of French people think members of the Jewish community are at least partially responsible for anti-Semitism, a survey conducted by the Fondation de Judaisme Français and Ipsos has suggested. The foundation surveyed 1,005 people who “constituted a sample representative of the French population” online over nine days. Respondents were […]
France Seeks to Extend State of Emergency Despite Protests
Despite widespread protests across the country in recent days, the French government confirmed on Wednesday that it would seek a three-month extension of the state of emergency it declared after the attacks in and around Paris that left 130 people dead in November. The extension is one of several pieces of legislation that the […]