Global News in Canada shows that a convoy protesting COVID-19 restrictions left Paris on Sunday morning and headed towards Brussels.
Around 150 cars had gathered in a car park in the north of capital in Villepinte. Their plan was to stop outside the northern city of Lille and head on to the Belgian capital after that.
On Saturday, the convoy had breached police defences and drove into central Paris, snarling traffic around the Arc de Triomphe and on the Champs Elysees, as police fired tear gas at demonstrators.
Inspired by horn-blaring "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations in Canada, dozens of vehicles slipped through the police cordon, impeding traffic around the 19th-century arch and the top of the boutique-lined Champs-Élysées, a magnet for tourists.
Global News in Canada shows that protesters gathered in southern France on Wednesday for what they say will be a "freedom convoy" that will converge on Paris and Brussels to demand an end to COVID-19 restrictions, inspired by Canada's anti-mandate protests.
Seen waving Canadian flags, the protesters said they planned to head first to Paris, then on to Brussels -- headquarters of the European Union -- to demand, among other things, the scrapping of rules barring people from public venues if they don't have a COVID-19 vaccination.
The convoy was made up of motorcycles and private cars, but no trucks.
Global News Channel on Youtube shows that French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire announced Monday that the country would spend approximately 100 million Euros to expand financial aid for companies hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.
Additionally, France will lower the threshold for companies to claim state support for turnover losses. Also, businesses in the tourism industry in particular will be eligible for help to cover losses linked to COVID-19 restrictions.
As of Monday, consumption of food and drink was banned on public transport, as well as in movie theatres. In bars and restaurants, patrons will have to be seated to consume food and drink.
The seven-day rolling average of new cases in France has reached a new all-time high of 162, 041, jumping almost 5-fold in a month.
Al Jazeera English shows that more than 100,000 people have died so far of COVID-19 in France.
For some of the millions who were infected but recovered, the battle against the virus was hard and at times traumatic.
Al Jazeera's Natacha Butler spoke to some people in Paris who accused the government of not doing enough to stop the outbreak from getting worse.
The COVID-19 pandemic in France is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. The first five confirmed cases were all individuals who had recently arrived from China.
On 31 March 2021, Macron announced a third national lockdown to commence on 3 April 2021, which mandated for all of April 2021; the closure of non-essential shops, the suspension of school attendance, a ban on all domestic travel and a nationwide curfew from 7pm-6am.
COVID-19 Pandemic: France faces challenge to persuade millions of vaccine sceptics to take the "jab."
Sky News shows that there is evidence in France that millions of people are reluctant to have a jab.
In this France news, the most recent polls suggest around half of the adult population may refuse a vaccination - leading health professionals to worry about public safety long term.
Vaccine skepticism is high in many European countries and in France where so-called "anti-vax" websites and platforms have drawn thousands of followers.
France is officially the French Republic. This is a country primarily located in Western Europe, consisting of metropolitan France and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland, Monaco and Italy to the east, Andorra and Spain to the south, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname and Brazil in the Americas. The country's 18 integral regions (5 of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km squared. France has a total population of about 67.4 million.
France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial center. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice. France, including its overseas territories, has the most time zones of any country, with a total of 12.
During the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls. The area was annexed by Rome in 51 BC, developing a distinct Gallo-Roman culture that laid the foundation of the French language.
Time in France sure has many time zones. Paris is in the Central European Time Zone . Central European Standard Time (CET ) is 1 hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time ( GMT+1 ).
France is divided into 18 administrative regions, of which 13 are located in metropolitan France (i.e. on the European continent), while the other 5 are overseas regions (not to be confused with the overseas collectivities, which have a semi-autonomous status).
The 13 regions of Metropolitan France (as from January 2016):
Name - Capital:
Grand Est - Strasbourg
Nouvelle-Aquitaine - Bordeaux
Auvergne Rhône-Alpes - Lyon
Bretagne - Rennes
Bourgogne Franche-Comté - Dijon
Centre Val de Loire - Orléans
Corse - Ajaccio
Occitaine - Toulouse
Normandie - Rouen
Hauts-de-France - Lille
Île-de-France - Paris
Pays de la Loire - Nantes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur - Nice
List Recent of Presidents of France:
Charles de Gaulle (1890 - 1970)
Georges Pompidou (1911 - 1974)
Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (born 1926)
François Mitterrand (1916 - 1996)
Jacques Chirac (1932 - 2019)
Nicolas Sarkozy (born 1955)
François Hollande (born 1954)
Emmanuel Macron (born 1977)
The following information is according to the COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
Channel 4 News shows that in France the numbers of patients admitted to hospital intensive care units with Covid-19 have now reached levels last seen in November. Leading epidemiologist Dr Catherine Hill explains if the situation would be better if France had more vaccine doses.
France is a country primarily located in Western Europe, consisting of metropolitan France and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. France borders Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland, Monaco and Italy to the east, Andorra and Spain to the south, as well as the Netherlands, Suriname and Brazil in the Americas. The country's 18 integral regions (5 of which are situated overseas) span a combined area of 643,801 km squared. The total population is 67.4 million (as of February 2021). France is a unitary semi-presidential republic. The capital city of France is Paris (the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre). Other French major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases overview:
France:
Total cases: 3.96M
Deaths: 89,565
Worldwide:
Total cases: 118M
Deaths: 2.63M
The COVID-19 pandemic in France is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The dangerous virus was confirmed to have reached France on 24 January 2020, when the first COVID-19 case in both Europe and France was identified in Bordeaux. The first 5 confirmed cases were all individuals who had recently arrived from China.
As of 13 March 2020, when the number of new cases became greater than those in China, the World Health Organization (WHO) began to consider Europe the active center of the COVID-19 pandemic. Coronavirus Cases by country across Europe had doubled over periods of typically 3 to 4 days, with some countries (mostly those at earlier stages of detection) showing doubling every 2 days.
France had a sharp decrease in coronavirus Covid-19 infections on Sunday. An alarming 86,852 cases were recorded Saturday (an all-time high for France).
However, the numbers then fell by nearly half to 40,439.
The days before had seen one record-breaking number after another for infections, first in the 50,000+ range and then soaring to 60,486 cases Friday evening.
Total infections in France are now at 1.7 million.
The total number of deaths is now at 40,439.
Worldwide, the death toll from COVID-19 is at over 1.25 million since the virus was first detected in Wuhan, China in late December last year. The total number of infections has now surpassed 50 million, according to USA-based Johns Hopkins University.
France entered its 2nd week of lockdown over the weekend, which will continue until Dec. 1.
Read more about the COVID-19 pandemic in France here:
French President Emmanuel Macron appoints new prime minister after government resigns. Macron said the government's resignation was necessary to create a "new path" forward for his presidency. Top civil servant Jean Castex is France's new prime minister. Castex is a senior civil servant who has held several posts in local, regional and national governments.
In April, Castex was charged with managing the easing of France's lockdown during the novel Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic. Earlier, Eduoard Philippe resigned along with the rest of the French government.
The move creates a new direction for a government reshuffle. This type of move was widely expected as French President Emmanuel Macron seeks to boost his credentials with certain voters.
In June, France's Macron did declare a "first victory" over the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic. However, the global Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic is still continuing around the globe.
It's important to stay 6 feet apart and wear a mask (as much as you can) everywhere you go. It's certainly a good idea to stay home as much as you can.
The following information is according to the COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
Total Global Confirmed Coronavirus Covid-19 Cases: 13,026,225
Coronavirus Covid-19 Total Global Deaths: 570,924
Countries with most deaths:
135,512 USA
072,100 Brazil
044,915 United Kingdom
035,006 Mexico
034,967 Italy
030,032 France
028,406 Spain
023,174 India
013,032 Iran
012,054 Peru
011,422 Russia
009,782 Belgium
009,074 Germany
008,833 Canada
007,024 Chile
006,156 Netherlands
005,634 Colombia
005,536 Sweden
005,382 Turkey
005,266 Pakistan
005,063 Ecuador
004,641 China
004,172 South Africa
003,935 Egypt
003,656 Indonesia
003,250 Iraq
002,391 Bangladesh
002,243 Saudi Arabia
001,968 Switzerland
001,901 Romania
001,859 Argentina
001,807 Bolivia
001,746 Ireland
001,662 Portugal
001,599 Philippines
001,576 Poland
001,415 Ukraine
001,219 Guatemala
001,018 Algeria
001,012 Afghanistan
000,984 Japan
Macron certainly has declared France a "green zone" in first victory against the Coronavirus Covid-19 Pandemic.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday gave Paris restaurants and cafés the green light to reopen fully and serve customers indoors, saying France has won "a first victory against the coronavirus."
In his first televised address to the nation in two months, the centrist president delivered a message that the worst was over and it was about time to get back to work.
France Coronavirus Covid-19 death toll has reached 29,322. France has total confirmed virus cases of 192,068.
English:
Covid-19 in France: a tissue capable of destroying the virus on surfaces
Faced with Covid-19, companies are constantly innovating to fight the spread of the virus. Here in France, in Isère, a company has just patented a fabric capable of destroying the coronaviruses present on surfaces, thanks to silver particles. A report by Jade Levin.
French:
Covid-19 en France : un tissu capable de détruire le virus sur les surfaces
Face au Covid-19, les entreprises ne cessent d'innover pour lutter contre la propagation du virus. Ici en France, en Isère, une entreprise vient de faire breveter un tissu capable de détruire les coronavirus présents sur les surfaces, grâce à des particules d'argent. Un reportage de Jade Levin.
The following information is according to the COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University.
Total Global Confirmed Cases: 7,293,307
Countries with most confirmed cases:
1,990,112 USA
739,503 Brazil
493,023 Russia
291,584 United Kingdom
276,583 India
242,280 Spain
235,763 Italy
199,696 Peru
192,068 France
186,522 Germany
177,938 Iran
173,036 Turkey
148,456 Chile
124,301 Mexico
113,702 Pakistan
112,288 Saudi Arabia
098,510 Canada
084,199 China
074,865 Bangladesh
073,595 Qatar
059,569 Belgium
052,991 South Africa
051,066 Belarus
048,293 Netherlands
046,814 Sweden
043,917 Ecuador
042,206 Colombia
040,507 United Arab Emirates
038,965 Singapore
Spain and France both took steps Monday to loosen the tight Coronavirus Covid-19 restrictions.
France began allowing non-essential shops, factories and other businesses to reopen for the first time in 8 weeks.
With the world's fifth-highest official death toll, France is also reopening schools in phases. France's 67 million people can now leave home without government paperwork, although documentation is still needed for rush-hour travel around Paris.
The following information is from the COVID-19 Dashboard by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University:
France's coronavirus Covid-19 death toll has reached 1,331. There is a new idea out there to create ‘coronabonds.’ Some EU member states are not supporting the idea of ‘coronabonds.’
France wants the EU to communicate accurately about the crisis. "France has delivered as many masks to Italy as China," insisted the Élysée. France doesn't want EU’s communications to be too discreet.
‘Coronabonds’ are simple eurobonds, traditional bond issues, but which would be guaranteed at the EU level and not by an individual country. Such a tool would make it possible to pool the cost of the health crisis.
Italy 7,503
Spain 4,145
Hubei China 3,169
Iran 2,234
France 1,331
United Kingdom 477
Netherlands 434
New York City - USA 280
Germany 239
Belgium 220
(more other countries also have deaths)
France will step up coronavirus testing methods as the death toll climbs. French health authorities are improving measures to test the population for the Covid-19 virus, with 7,730 cases and 175 deaths confirmed as of early Tuesday.
"The daily capacity to test patients for the coronavirus has gone from 2,000 to 2,500," France's health ministry said on Tuesday.
There is expansion of testing in labs across France. The French Health Ministry has reportedly given the green light to all labs in French cities to use the test. Previously, only hospital labs were equipped to do so.
Footage shows anti-government protesters. They took to the streets of Paris for the 66th consecutive weekend Yellow Vests demonstration on Saturday. Protesters hold signs against pension reforms and accuse various people of creating state lies. The Yellow Vests movement certainly has been demonstrating against the status quo every Saturday since November 2018. A nationwide strike against pension reforms is one of the largest French history (started in December 2019). This creates even more for the movement.
The yellow vests movement (French: Mouvement des gilets jaunes) is a populist, grassroots political movement for economic justice. It began in France in October 2018. After an interesting online petition posted in May had attracted almost a million signatures, mass demonstrations began on 17 November. The massive movement was initially motivated by rising fuel prices and a high cost of living.
The movement was caused by: rise in crude oil prices in 2018, fuel tax, traffic enforcement cameras, austerity measures, 2017 wealth tax repeal, globalization and neoliberalism.
Their goals are: increase in the French minimum wage, end to austerity measures, improved standard of living, government transparency and accountability, improved government services for rural areas, constitutional proposal for Citizens' initiative referendum, including constitutional, legislative, abrogative, and recall initiatives.
An interesting video is here from Global News. French firefighters can be seen clashing with the police as they demonstrated in the streets of Paris against working conditions and the government’s pensions reform bill.
For more info, please go to http://www.globalnews.ca
This is shocking, some firefighters wearing special protective vests actually set fire to themselves as a protest.
Thousands of French firefighters on Tuesday took to the streets of Paris in a pyrotechnic protest to demand better working conditions. They ignited flares and even set their fireproof jackets on fire.
Keep in mind that in France, firefighters also respond to general emergency calls. Unions try to battle controversial government pension reforms.
There were certain clashes with security forces. Some firefighters threw different objects and police responded with tear gas.
This interesting Youtube video is discussing whether France's economy is on the verge of collapse. It seems that overall the French economy does not have a structural problem. There is some difficulty with controlling wage inflation. The unemployment level is a persistent problem. The video says that French youth unemployment level is specifically a French problem. There are problems in the French economy, such as employment and public debt. France has relatively high public debt.
The economy of France is highly developed and free-market-orientated. It is the world's 7th largest economy by 2019 nominal figures. It is the 3rd largest economy in the European Union after Germany and United Kingdom. France has an interesting diversified economy. The chemical industry is important for France. It helps to develop other manufacturing activities and contributes to economic growth. France's tourism industry is also a major component of the economy.
When I think of Notre Dame, something comes to mind: The Hunchback of Notre Dame. That film was interesting.
I sometimes wondered why there is a film called Igor. The hunchback is called Igor. The main character has become a Mad Scientist himself. His attempt at creating an evil monster backfires.
The real situation at the Notre Dame Cathedral is not funny, though. French President Emmanuel Macron says Paris' iconic Notre Dame cathedral will be rebuilt in about 5 years. Architects have challenges with this massive plan. Some local residents are concerned about lead emissions that were released as the cathedral burned and the lead spire smoldered. The interesting video from Youtube describes the situation.
Pictured above is a small paper model of the Notre Dame de Paris. You could buy one of these toys for a few dollars to put the pieces together. Rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral is the problem France needs to solve. Nobody could have predicted that such a huge fire would happen on a famous historical building. It is amazing how much money has been donated already to rebuild the building - more than a billion dollars. It is fortunate that some 200,000 bees inhabiting hives on the roof of Notre-Dame cathedral survived the inferno.
Notre-Dame de Paris means "Our Lady of Paris" is a medieval Catholic cathedral on the Île de la Cité in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. The cathedral is considered to be one of the finest examples of French Gothic architecture. It is believed that before the period of Christianity in France, a Gallo-Roman temple dedicated to Jupiter stood on the site of Notre-Dame. Evidence for this is the Pillar of the Boatmen, discovered in 1710. In July 1801, Napoleon Bonaparte signed an agreement to perform restorations to the cathedral.
The cathedral had modern renovations. The stone masonry of the cathedral's exterior had deteriorated in the 19th and 20th century due to increased air pollution in Paris, which accelerated erosion of decorations and discolored the stone. By the late 1980s, several gargoyles and turrets had fallen off or become too loose. A decade-long renovation program began in 1991 and replaced much of the exterior. A discreet system of electrical wires, not visible from below, was also installed on the roof to deter pigeons. The west face was cleaned and restored in time for millennium celebrations in December 1999.
On 15 April 2019 the cathedral caught fire. This caused the collapse of the spire, the oak frame and lead roof. Amazingly, the cathedral escaped complete destruction. The structural damage was not severe enough to cause a total collapse. French President Emmanuel Macron vowed that Notre-Dame would be restored. Approximately 500 firefighters helped to battle the fire. Many artifacts were saved. An international architectural competition will be launched to redesign the roof and spire.
Built in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris received one of its most significant overhauls between 1844 and 1864.
