PARIS: Self-driving taxis, already booming in the United States and China, are emerging in Europe, with major companies launching trials this year in several capitals and the European Union set to step on the accelerator Monday. In China and the United States, private fleets of &quot;robotaxis&quot; -- driverless cars loaded with sensors -- more than doubled in 2025 to reach 8,000 vehicles across more than two dozen major cities, according to a May report by the International Energy Agency (IEA). Seven years behind schedule, trials will finally start across Europe over the coming months. In France -- where no trials are scheduled for the moment -- planning high commissioner Clement Beaune recently criticised the EU for in his words &quot;lagging behind&quot;. European regulations say a &quot;safety driver&quot; must be on board the vehicle, their hands on their lap -- as was the case in the early days of testing in China and the United States. The EU will now accelerate the process by adopting a &quot;testbed&quot;, a simplified testing approach that will let companies avoid having to obtain approval on a country-by-country basis. European transport ministers are set to make the decision official on Monday, Anne-Marie Idrac, the bloc&#39;s senior official for autonomous vehicle development, told AFP. London, Munich, Madrid, Zagreb...&nbsp;The first trial in Europe started on April 8 in Croatia, where Chinese company Pony.ai -- in partnership with US group Uber and Croatian startup Verne, backed by the automaker Rimac -- has been operating about 10 robotaxis in Zagreb. In London, three groups will launch trials this year: robotaxi world leader Waymo, a subsidiary of Google parent Alphabet; its competitor Wayve, in partnership with Uber; and the Chinese company Apollo Go, a subsidiary of the tech giant Baidu. In Madrid, the Chinese group WeRide has just announced a test with Uber. Uber will also deploy robotaxis in Munich, using technology from the Chinese company Momenta. In Switzerland, Apollo has partnered with Swiss Post for a pilot programme in the country&#39;s east. Italian-French-US automaker Stellantis and Pony.ai are to conduct a test in Luxembourg. Ride-hailing platforms Uber, Lyft and Bolt often partner in such projects. Waymo claims it has around 3,000 driverless taxis spread across a dozen US cities, a similar number to Apollo, whose taxis are deployed in 27 Chinese cities and in Dubai. Pony.ai has 1,700 vehicles and is targeting 3,500 by the end of 2026, compared to 1,000 for WeRide. In China, ride-hailing platform Didi and carmaker SAIC operate robotaxis in several major cities. In the United States, Tesla and Amazon-owned Zoox have established themselves in several cities. By 2035, the IEA forecasts there will be between 700,000 and three million robotaxis in 40 to 80 major cities. Consulting firm BCG expects three million, including 850,000 in China and 350,000 in the United States, but only 120,000 in Europe. Goldman Sachs is betting on around six million vehicles for a $415-billion market. CrossroadsIn Europe, strict safety regulations and strong public-transport culture have put the brakes on robotaxi development, according to specialist Herve de Treglode. But &quot;London is ready, Madrid too. We may see commercial service by 2027,&quot; he said. &quot;In the US and China, they don&#39;t do six months of testing and then stop. They roll out in a neighbourhood, remove the safety driver, then launch commercial service with massive investments.&quot; One potential snag: companies want to put driverless taxis in highly profitable, densely populated urban areas; many politicians want them in suburban and rural areas, to compensate for public-transport gaps. &quot;It&#39;s high time we came up with a strategy,&quot; Laurence Debrincat of the Paris regional transport authority said last month, pushing for the suburban-and-rural approach. The founder of French ridesharing firm Ecov, Thomas Matagne, summed up the crossroads decision-makers are facing. &quot;Should we leave the sector to the market, at the risk of concentrating it in densely populated areas? Or should the government invest to roll out (robotaxis) in the general interest?&quot;

Europe

Europe accelerates robotaxi adoption as major firms launch trials across several cities, with the EU introducing streamlined testing rules aimed at narrowing the gap with the United States and China.

Europe opening up to self-driving taxis

LONDON: The leaders of Britain, France and Germany back Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky&#39;s call for direct ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine, they said Sunday after meeting with him in London. The leaders &quot;supported the proposal for a direct dialogue between Ukraine and Russia -- with active US and European participation -- to bring about a ceasefire and support further negotiations,&quot; they said in a joint statement with Zelensky &quot;The current line of contact should be the starting point for negotiations,&quot; they added. &quot;International borders must not be changed by force.&quot; In an open letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, Zelensky proposed they hold a face-to-face meeting. &quot;Ukraine proposes ending this war through direct engagement between us,&quot; he wrote. Zelensky met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz in London on Sunday. Kyiv is asking its Western allies for more ammunition deliveries for its anti-air defences as Ukraine endures daily Russian strikes. The latest strikes killed five people in Ukraine and hit a nuclear storage facility near the Chernobyl disaster site, officials said. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions forced to flee their homes since Russia launched its full-scale war against Ukraine in February 2022.

Americas

Asia

Britain, France and Germany back President Volodymyr Zelensky’s proposal for direct Russia-Ukraine ceasefire talks, urging negotiations from current front lines while rejecting territorial changes by force and supporting US-European involvement.

UK, France, Germany back direct Ukraine-Russia talks: joint statement

PARIS: French authorities said Wednesday that they had imposed two fines on Shein totalling more than 22 million euros ($25.5 million), citing problems with product traceability, environmental labelling and delivery times. The new penalties bring the total fines imposed by France against the Asian fashion giant to more than 210 million euros. The latest fines were imposed by the government&#39;s consumer protection agency DGCCRF following a wide-ranging investigation targeting several e-commerce platforms, primarily based outside Europe, including Shein. The first fine of 5.77 million euros targets Infinite Style Ecommerce Co Ltd (ISEL), which handles sales for Shein. The DGCCRF accuses Shein of failing to comply with a 14-day period required for consumers to be able to reconsider certain purchases. The watchdog also accuses the company of omitting mandatory traceability information, such as the countries where its clothing is woven, dyed and manufactured, and of failing to disclose the presence of microplastics in its fabrics. Microplastics, primarily found in polyester, are released into the water with every machine wash, posing a serious environmental threat. In addition, the agency imposed a fine of 16.73 million euros on Shein&#39;s subsidiary ISSL (Infinite Styles Services Limited), accusing it of violations of consumer law. Shein has been under fire since it established operations in France. It is widely criticised by campaign groups and politicians for generating environmental pollution, practising unfair competition, selling goods that fail to comply with basic regulations and imposing poor working conditions in its Chinese factories.

France fined Shein over 22 million for consumer law, product traceability, environmental labelling, and delivery violations, bringing its total penalties in the country to more than 210 million.

France hits Shein with 22 million euros in new fines over consumer violations

PARIS: French police arrested 416 people during violent clashes that erupted when thousands poured onto the streets to celebrate Paris Saint-Germain&#39;s Champions League final victory on Saturday night, the country&#39;s interior minister said. Just over 280 of the arrests took place in Paris, Minister of Interior Laurent Nunez announced, calling the unrest in which seven police officers were wounded &quot;absolutely unacceptable.&quot;

Football

Arrests follow violent clashes that erupted when thousands poured onto the streets during Paris Saint-Germain's Champions League final victory on Saturday night.

French police arrest 416 people in clashes after Champions League final

PARIS: France&#39;s weather service warned Saturday that strong storms could mark the end of a record-breaking heatwave blamed for a number of deaths across northern Europe. France, Britain and Portugal have all recorded their hottest days ever for the month of May during the heatwave. Temperatures remained above 33C in the Paris region Saturday and several other parts of France were above 30C. The Meteo-France weather service said that &quot;the arrival of a slightly cooler air mass&quot; would bring down temperatures on Saturday night. But it warned of storms across northern France that would be &nbsp;&quot;localised but sometimes strong with hail and wind gusts&quot; of more than 80 kilometres (50 miles) an hour. It said huge crowds packing the streets of Paris for the Arsenal-Paris Saint-Germain Champions League football final, as well as the French Open tennis and major concerts should be wary of weather alerts. France recorded its highest temperature of 37.8C in the Charente department. The heat saw train services cancelled and power cuts in some cities. Some deaths in France and Britain were blamed on the heat. Meteo-France specialist Mattieu Sorel said it was &quot;highly likely&quot; that the country would see more extreme heatwaves this summer.

France's weather service warns that strong storms could mark the end of a record-breaking heatwave blamed for a number of deaths across northern Europe.

France warns that strong storms could end deadly heatwave in Europe

MARSEILLE: Some 20 French boats set sail from Marseille on Saturday to join up with an international flotilla making a renewed effort to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza, AFP reporters saw. &quot;Gaza, Marseille is with you&quot; shouted around a thousand people who had come to the docks to support the initiative. The ships, mostly sailboats, set off to a round of applause and songs shortly after 5:00 pm (1500 GMT) to join the &quot;Global Sumud Flotilla&quot;, named after a Gazan fisherman. The international flotilla of some 100 boats, mostly setting sail from Barcelona on April 12, will head towards Gaza around April 20, according to the organisers. A week-long stopover is planned in southern Italy for &quot;non-violence training.&quot; &quot;The goal is to give Palestine more visibility. We&#39;re not talking about it much right now, because of the international context,&quot; said Manon, a crew member who declined to give her full name. In late 2025, an initial flotilla of about 50 boats, composed of political figures and activists such as Sweden&#39;s Greta Thunberg, was boarded by the Israeli navy -- illegally according to the organisers and Amnesty International. The crew members were arrested and expelled by Israel. The Gaza Strip, governed by Hamas, has been under an Israeli blockade since 2007. Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement accuse each other of violating a ceasefire that came into effect on October 10, 2025, after two years of war.

Middle East

Some 20 French boats set sail from Marseille to join up with an international flotilla making a renewed effort to break an Israeli blockade and deliver aid to Gaza, AFP reporters saw.

French boats set sail to join Gaza aid flotilla

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan&rsquo;s Federal Minister for Petroleum, Ali Pervaiz Malik, met with French Ambassador to Pakistan Nicolas Galey on Tuesday to discuss the evolving regional and energy situation, according to an official statement.&nbsp;&nbsp;During the meeting, Galey reaffirmed Pakistan&rsquo;s strong bilateral ties with France, noting that energy cooperation between the two countries had expanded in recent years.&nbsp;According to the statement, the ambassador said that French companies have expressed growing interest in Pakistan&rsquo;s mining sector.&nbsp;He&nbsp;said&nbsp;that French firms would actively participate in the upcoming Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum,&nbsp;scheduled for November.&nbsp;The French ambassador&nbsp;lauded Pakistan&rsquo;s effective handling of the petroleum supply challenges, remarking that there had not been even one hour of panic in Pakistan in contrast to other South Asian nations.&nbsp;Ali Pervaiz&nbsp;Malik&nbsp;said&nbsp;that the diplomatic efforts led by the military and civilian leadership helped secure petroleum supplies through alternate channels at critical moments.&nbsp;The government is&nbsp;working on measures to provide targeted subsidies to protect vulnerable segments of society, he added.&nbsp;Both sides reiterated their commitment to strengthening bilateral cooperation and exploring new opportunities for collaboration in energy security, mineral development, and sustainable economic growth, the statement said.

Foreign Affairs

Ali Pervaiz Malik and Nicolas Galey discuss expanding Pakistan and France's energy and mining cooperation, with French firms showing interest in investment and both sides pledging deeper economic collaboration.

Pakistan, France deepen energy and mining cooperation

PARIS: A member of the French navy using an app to track his jogging performance broadcast the exact position of his country&#39;s flagship aircraft carrier, a newspaper has reported. France deployed the Charles de Gaulle and accompanying frigates to the Mediterranean in early March shortly after US-Israeli strikes on Iran sparked war in the Middle East. It has been in the eastern Mediterranean since March 9 as part of what Emmanuel Macron has called a &quot;purely defensive&quot; posture in support of France&#39;s allies in the conflict. Le Monde newspaper reported on Thursday that the runner jogged in circles on a ship in movement on March 13 in the middle of the sea northwest of Cyprus, according to his public profile on the Strava fitness tracking app, while satellite images showed the aircraft carrier was in the immediate vicinity at the time. The same person had also been running in Copenhagen, Denmark, in late February, across a bridge from Malmo, Sweden, where the Charles de Gaulle was anchored at the time, Strava data showed. The French armed forces told AFP appropriate measures would be taken if the report was true, as members of the navy were regularly reminded about the risk of security breaches using such apps. &quot;The reported case if confirmed does not comply with the current instructions,&quot; it said. Running app profiles have given away sensitive information before. In 2024, Le Monde reported that the bodyguards of Macron, the US president Joe Biden and Russian leader Vladimir Putin were inadvertently giving away information about their whereabouts while accompanying them on trips. In 2018, Strava maps showed the locations of US and allied military personnel in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan. While some bases were well known to groups that might want to attack them, the maps also showed what appear to be routes taken by forces moving outside of bases information that could have been used in planning bombings or ambushes.

French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle (File Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

A French navy sailor allegedly exposed the location of the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean by sharing his jogging route on the Strava app, raising security concerns, Le Monde reported.

Running app reveals location of France aircraft carrier in Mediterranean: report 

PARIS: France moved on Monday to block US envoy Charles Kushner from having access to government ministers, after he failed to show up to explain comments about a killed far-right activist. The move is the latest instance of diplomatic friction between Paris and the United States under President Donald Trump, with Paris bristling at what it sees as repeated interference by Washington in domestic matters. Kushner, whose son Jared is married to Trump&#39;s daughter Ivanka, has already been summoned once before over his criticism of France&#39;s handling of antisemitism. He skipped that meeting as well, sending another official instead. Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot summoned Kushner after the US embassy in Paris reposted comments by the Trump administration in Washington about slain far-right activist Quentin Deranque. Deranque, 23, died from head injuries following clashes between radical-left and far-right supporters on the sidelines of a February 12 protest against a politician from the left-wing France Unbowed (LFI) party in Lyon. Barrot denounced on Sunday any attempts to exploit the killing &quot;for political ends&quot; and summoned Kushner for a meeting at 7:00 pm (1800 GMT) the following day. But a diplomatic source told AFP the ambassador cited &quot;personal commitments&quot; and sent a senior embassy official instead. &ldquo;In light of this apparent failure to grasp the basic requirements of the ambassadorial mission and the honor of representing one&#39;s country, the minister (Barrot) has requested that he (Kushner) no longer be allowed direct access to members of the French government,&rdquo; the foreign ministry said. Kushner would, however, be permitted to continue his diplomatic duties and have &quot;exchanges&quot; with officials, it added in a statement. Washington has not commented on this development. On edge<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/french-farright-leader-accuses-macron-allies-of-strengthening-hardleft-after-activist-killed" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deranque&#39;s death has put France on edge</a>, igniting tensions between the left and right ahead of a 2027 presidential vote. More than 3,000 people marched in Lyon on Saturday in tribute to Deranque, with authorities deploying heavy security for fear of further clashes. On Friday, Sarah Rogers, the State Department undersecretary for public diplomacy, said Deranque&#39;s killing showed &ldquo;why we treat political violence &mdash; terrorism &mdash; so harshly.&rdquo; &ldquo;Once you decide to kill people for their opinions instead of persuading them, you&#39;ve opted out of civilization,&rdquo; she wrote on X. The State Department&#39;s bureau of counter-terrorism separately posted: &ldquo;Violent radical leftism is on the rise, and its role in Quentin Deranque&#39;s death demonstrates the threat it poses to public safety.&rdquo; The US embassy shared a French translation of the post on its account. Italy&#39;s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has also weighed in, triggering a war of words with French President Emmanuel Macron, who urged her to stop &ldquo;commenting on what happens in other countries.&rdquo; Kushner, who took up his post in Paris last year, was previously summoned to the foreign ministry at the end of August, after the French government took exception to his criticism that Macron was not tackling antisemitism. The US charge d&#39;affaires &mdash; the ambassador&#39;s de facto deputy &mdash; attended that meeting.

US Ambassador to France Charles Kushner delivers a speech for the official launch of America 250, to celebrate the 250th birthday of the US in 2026, at the US ambassy in Paris, on December 4, 2025.

The move is the latest instance of diplomatic friction between Paris and the United States under President Donald Trump, with Paris bristling at what it sees as repeated interference by Washington in domestic matters.

France to revoke US envoy's govt access after summons no-show

PAPEETE: French authorities said Saturday they had seized 2.4 tonnes of cocaine from a vessel in the Pacific during a joint operation with the United States, as officials step up interceptions in Polynesian waters. The seizure of 100 bales of the drug took place on Thursday, and the vessel was allowed to continue on to its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/nigeria-arrests-22-indian-ship-crew-members-in-drug-bust" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">destination</a>, which officials did not specify. &quot;In accordance with practices applicable under international law... the vessel and its crew resumed their voyage,&quot; the High Commission in French&nbsp;<a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/us-kills-14-in-strikes-on-alleged-pacific-drug-boats" target="_blank" style="color:#0073e6;" rel="noopener noreferrer">Polynesia</a>&nbsp;said in a statement. It added that the operation was carried out with &quot;the cooperation of US government agencies&quot;. The statement did not specify the ship&#39;s flag or point of origin. Over the past month, French authorities have seized nearly 12 tonnes of cocaine around Polynesia, including three that were between two and five tonnes each. The United Nations has said in recent years that organised criminal groups trafficking cocaine and methamphetamine have expanded their presence in the Pacific. Large amounts of drugs are transported from North and South America for Australian and New Zealand markets, according to the UN. In 2025, the French navy seized a record 87.6 tonnes of drugs worldwide, including 58 tonnes of cocaine.

Over the past month, French authorities have seized nearly 12 tonnes of cocaine around Polynesia, including three that were between two and five tonnes each.

Articles tagged with "France"