France

Three people arrested in connection with suspected theft of items worth between 15,000 and 40,000 euros.

France’s presidential silverware keeper and two other men are set to stand trial over the alleged theft of porcelain and other tableware worth thousands of euros, the Paris prosecution office has said.

Prosecutors said the silverware keeper Thomas M and ‍his partner Damien G were arrested on suspicion of theft on Tuesday. Another man, Ghislain M, was arrested on suspicion of receiving stolen goods. Their full names were not given due ‍to French ⁠privacy customs.

The Elysee, the president’s official residence, had reported the disappearance of silverware and tableware pieces used for state dinners and other events, with the ⁠value of the missing items estimated between 15,000 and 40,000 euros ($17,500 and $46,800), the ​prosecution office said.

Interviews with presidential staff pointed suspicions at Thomas M, whose suspected downward inventory adjustments appeared to anticipate future thefts, prosecutors said.

They said about 100 objects were discovered in Thomas M’s personal locker, his vehicle and home, including copper pots, Sevres porcelain and Baccarat champagne glasses.

Investigators found an air force-stamped ​plate and ashtrays that Thomas M was selling on the online marketplace Vinted, prosecutors said, items that are not available to the general public. ‌

The three suspects appeared in court Thursday on charges of jointly stealing moveable property listed as part of the national heritage – an offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison and a 150,000-euro ($175,000) fine, as well as aggravated handling of stolen goods.

The trial was postponed to February 26. The defendants were placed under judicial supervision, banned from contacting one another, prohibited from appearing at auction venues and barred from their professional activities.

French paper Le Parisien, which first reported the case, said Ghislain M worked as a guard at the Louvre museum, citing his lawyer as ‌saying that his client’s motivation for his suspected involvement was his “passion” for rare antique goods.

In October, the museum experienced its own robbery when thieves disguised as construction workers ‌stole priceless pieces from France’s crown jewels, prompting a debate about security standards at the country’s landmarks.

The Sevres porcelain factory, one of the Elysee’s main suppliers, identified a ‍number of items on auction websites, prosecutors said, adding that some items had been returned.

Leaders from Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso are hoping to find a way to repel advancing fighters linked to al-Qaeda. Al Jazeera’s Laura Khan explains what’s at stake at an Alliance of Sahel States summit in Bamako.

EU delays Mercosur trade deal until January amid farmer protests and opposition from France and Italy.

The European Union has delayed a massive free-trade deal with South American countries amid protests by EU farmers and as last-minute opposition by France and Italy threatened to derail the agreement.

European Commission chief spokesperson Paula Pinho confirmed on Thursday that the signing of the trade pact between the EU and South American bloc Mercosur will be postponed until January, further delaying a deal that had taken some 25 years to negotiate.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was expected to travel to Brazil on Saturday to sign the deal, but needed the backing of a broad majority of EU members to do so.

The Associated Press news agency reported that an agreement to delay was reached between von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – who spoke at an EU summit on Thursday – on the condition that Italy would vote in favour of the agreement in January.

French President Emmanuel Macron had also pushed back against the deal as he arrived for Thursday’s summit in Brussels, calling for further concessions and more discussions in January.

Macron said he has been in discussions with Italian, Polish, Belgian, Austrian and Irish colleagues, among others, about delaying the signing.

“Farmers already face an enormous amount of challenges,″ the French leader said.

The trade pact with Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay would be the EU’s largest in terms of tariff cuts.

But critics of the deal, notably France and Italy, fear an influx of cheap commodities that could hurt European farmers, while Germany, Spain and Nordic countries say it will boost exports hit by United States tariffs and reduce reliance on China by securing access to key minerals.

Brazil’s President Lula says Italy’s PM Meloni asked for ‘patience’

The EU-Mercosur agreement would create the world’s biggest free-trade area and help the 27-nation European bloc to export more vehicles, machinery, wines and spirits to Latin America at a time of global trade tensions.

Al Jazeera’s Dominic Kane, reporting from Berlin, said Germany, Spain and the Nordic countries were “all lobbying hard in favour of this deal”. But ranged against them were the French and Italian governments because of concerns in their powerful farming sectors.

“Their worry being that their products, such as poultry and beef, could be undercut by far cheaper imports from the Mercosur countries,” Kane said.

“So no signing in December. The suggestion being maybe there will be a signing in mid-January,” he added.

“But there must now be a question about what might happen between now and mid-January, given the powerful forces ranged against each other in this debate,” he added.

Mercosur nations were notified of the move, a European Commission spokeswoman said, and while initially reacting with a now-or-never ultimatum to its EU partners, Brazil opened the door on Thursday to delaying the deal’s signature to allow time to win over the holdouts.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Italy’s Meloni had asked him for “patience” and had indicated that Italy would eventually be ready for the agreement.

The decision to delay also came hours after farmers in tractors blocked roads and set off fireworks in Brussels to protest the deal, prompting police to respond with tear gas and water cannon.

Protesting farmers – some travelling to the Belgian capital from as far away as Spain and Poland – brought potatoes and eggs to throw and waged a furious back-and-forth with police while demonstrators burned tyres and a faux wooden coffin bearing the word “agriculture”.

The European Parliament evacuated some staff due to damage caused by protesters.

European champions Paris Saint-Germain pushed all the way in Intercontinental Cup final in Qatar by South Americans.

Back-up goalkeeper Matvei Safonov saved four penalties as Paris Saint-Germain edged out Brazilians Flamengo 2-1 in a shootout to win the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final in Qatar.

PSG led through Khvicha Kvaratskhelia before Jorginho’s spot-kick levelled for Flamengo as the game finished 1-1 after extra time on Wednesday.

Copa Libertadores winners Flamengo defeated Mexicans Cruz Azul and African champions Pyramids last week to earn the right to face PSG and pushed the European champions all the way with a dogged display.

But Luis Enrique’s men, who received a bye to the final, were indebted to Safonov and followed in the footsteps of Real Madrid, who lifted the inaugural title last year.

PSG thought they had taken the lead in the ninth minute when Fabian Ruiz cleverly hooked the ball into an empty net after Flamengo goalkeeper Agustin Rossi miskicked a clearance while trying to prevent a corner.

But the goal was ruled out by VAR because Rossi had narrowly failed to stop the ball from going out of play.

But PSG did break the deadlock eight minutes before half-time courtesy of another Rossi error.

The Argentinian turned Desire Doue’s low cross, which looked to be too strong for Kvaratskhelia, straight into the Georgian’s pass for the simplest of tap-ins.

Flamengo managed to stay in the game, though, and were awarded a penalty on the hour mark for a foul by Marquinhos on Uruguay midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta after a VAR review.

Former Chelsea and Arsenal player Jorginho stepped up to send Safonov the wrong way in trademark fashion.

PSG pressed for a winner, sending on Bradley Barcola and Ousmane Dembele, who set up a last-gasp chance for Marquinhos.

But the centre-back could not react quickly enough to get his effort on target as the ball flashed across goal and the game headed into extra time.

Both teams saw half-chances come and go in the added half-hour, with Dembele flashing a shot narrowly off target in the 116th minute.

That set the stage for Safonov – playing in place of regular first-choice Lucas Chevalier, who is still regaining full fitness after an ankle injury – to steal the headlines and spare the blushes of Dembele and Barcola, who both missed for PSG.

When armed soldiers in the small West African nation of Benin appeared on national television on December 7 to announce they had seized power in a coup, it felt to many across the region like another episode of the ongoing coup crisis that has seen several governments toppled since 2020.

But the scenes played out differently this time.

Amid reports of gunfire and civilians scampering to safety in the economic capital, Cotonou, Beninese and others across the region waited with bated breath as conflicting intelligence emerged. The small group of putschists, on the one hand, declared victory, but Benin’s forces and government officials said the plot had failed.

By evening, the situation was clear – Benin’s government was still standing. President Patrice Talon and loyalist forces in the army had managed to hold control, thanks to help from the country’s bigger neighbours, particularly its eastern ally and regional power, Nigeria.

While Talon now enjoys victory as the president who could not be unseated, the spotlight is also on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The regional bloc rallied to save the day in Benin after their seeming resignation in the face of the crises rocking the region, including just last month, when the military took power in Guinea-Bissau.

This time, though, after much criticism and embarrassment, ECOWAS was ready to push back against the narrative of it being an ineffective bloc by baring its teeth and biting, political analyst Ryan Cummings told Al Jazeera.

“It wanted to remind the region that it does have the power to intervene when the context allows,” Cummings said. “At some point, there needed to be a line drawn in the sand [and] what was at stake was West Africa’s most stable sovereign country falling.”

Is a new ECOWAS on the horizon?

Benin’s military victory was an astonishing turnaround for an ECOWAS that has been cast as a dead weight in the region since 2020, when a coup in Mali spurred an astonishing series of military takeovers across the region in quick succession.

Between 2020 and 2025, nine coup attempts toppled five democratic governments and two military ones. The latest successful coup, in Guinea-Bissau, happened on November 28. Bissau-Guineans had voted in the presidential election some days before and were waiting for the results to be announced when the military seized the national television station, detained incumbent President Umaro Sissoco Embalo, and announced a new military leader.

ECOWAS, whose high-level delegation was in Bissau to monitor the electoral process when the coup happened, appeared on the back foot, unable to do much more than issue condemnatory statements. Those statements sounded similar to those it issued after the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Guinea. The bloc appeared a far cry from the institution that, between 1990 and 2003, successfully intervened to stop the civil wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone, and later in the Ivory Coast. The last ECOWAS military intervention, in 2017, halted Gambian dictator Yahya Jammeh’s attempt to overturn the election results.

Indeed, ECOWAS’s success in its heyday hinged on the health of its members. Nigeria, arguably ECOWAS’s backbone, whose troops led the interventions in Liberia and Sierra Leone, has been mired in insecurity and economic crises of its own lately. In July 2023, when Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was the ECOWAS chair, he threatened to invade Niger after the coup there.

It was disastrous timing. Faced with livelihood-eroding inflation and incessant attacks by armed groups at home, Nigerians were some of the loudest voices resisting an invasion. Many believed Tinubu, sworn in just months earlier, had misplaced his priorities. By the time ECOWAS had finished debating what to do weeks later, the military government in Niger had consolidated support throughout the armed forces and Nigeriens themselves had decided they wanted to back the military. ECOWAS and Tinubu backed off, defeated.

Niger left the alliance altogether in January this year, forming the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) with fellow military governments in Mali and Burkina Faso. All three share cultural and geographic affinities, but are also linked by their collective dislike for France, the former colonial power, which they blame for interfering in their countries. Even as they battle rampaging armed groups like Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), the three governments have cut ties with French forces formerly stationed there and welcomed Russian fighters whose effectiveness, security experts say, fluctuates.

But Benin was different, and ECOWAS appeared wide awake. Aside from the fact that it was one coup too far, Cummings said, the country’s proximity to Nigeria, and two grave mistakes the putschists made, gave ECOWAS a fighting chance.

The first mistake was that the rebels had failed to take Talon hostage, as is the modus operandi with putschists in the region. That allowed the president to directly send an SOS to his counterparts following the first failed attacks on the presidential palace at dawn.

The second mistake was perhaps even graver.

“Not all the armed forces were on board,” Cummings said, noting that the small group of about 100 rebel soldiers had likely assumed other units would fall in line but had underestimated how loyal other factions were to the president. That was a miscalculation in a country where military rule ended in 1990 and where 73 percent of Beninese believe that democracy is better than any other form of government, according to poll site Afrobarometer. Many take particular pride in their country being hailed as the region’s most stable democracy.

“There was division within the army, and that was the window of opportunity that allowed ECOWAS to deploy because there wasn’t going to be a case of ‘If we deploy, we will be targeted by the army’. I dare say that if there were no countercoup, there was no way ECOWAS would have gotten involved because it would have been a conventional war,” Cummings added.

Quickly reading the room, Benin’s neighbours reacted swiftly. For the first time in nearly a decade, the bloc deployed its standby ground forces from Nigeria, Ghana, the Ivory Coast, and Sierra Leone. Abuja authorised air attacks on rebel soldiers who were effectively cornered in a military base in Cotonou and at the national TV building, but who were putting up a last-ditch attempt at resistance. France also supported the mission by providing intelligence. By nightfall, the rebels had been completely dislodged by Nigerian jets. The battle for Cotonou was over.

At least 14 people have since been arrested. Several casualties were reported on both sides, with one civilian, the wife of a high-ranking officer marked for assassination, among the dead. On Wednesday, Beninese authorities revealed that the coup leader, Colonel Pascal Tigri, was hiding in neighbouring Togo.

At stake for ECOWAS was the risk of losing yet another member, possibly to the landlocked AES, said Kabiru Adamu, founder of Abuja-based Beacon Security intelligence firm. “I am 90 percent sure Benin would have joined the AES because they desperately need a littoral state,” he said, referring to Benin’s Cotonou port, which would have expanded AES export capabilities.

Nigeria could also not afford a military government mismanaging the deteriorating security situation in northern Benin, as has been witnessed in the AES countries, Cummings said. Armed group JNIM launched its first attack on Nigerian soil in October, adding to Abuja’s pressures as it continues to face Boko Haram in the northeast and armed bandit groups in the northwest. Abuja has also come under diplomatic fire from the US, which falsely alleges a “Christian genocide” in the country.

“We know that this insecurity is the stick with which Tinubu is being beaten, and we already know his nose is bloodied,” Cummings said.

Revelling in the glory of the Benin mission last Sunday, Tinubu praised Nigeria’s forces in a statement, saying the “Nigerian armed forces stood gallantly as a defender and protector of constitutional order”. A group of Nigerian governors also hailed the president’s action, and said it reinforced Nigeria’s regional power status and would deter further coup plotters.

Not yet out of the woods

If there is a perception that ECOWAS has reawakened and future putschists will be discouraged, the reality may not be so positive, analysts say. The bloc still has much to do before it can be taken seriously again, particularly in upholding democracy and calling out sham elections before governments become vulnerable to mass uprisings or coups, Beacon Security’s Adamu said.

In Benin, for example, ECOWAS did not react as President Talon, in power since 2016, grew increasingly autocratic, barring opposition groups in two previous presidential elections. His government has again barred the main opposition challenger, Renaud Agbodjo, from elections scheduled for next April, while Talon’s pick, former finance minister Romuald Wadagni, is the obvious favourite.

“It’s clear that the elections have been engineered already,” Adamu said. “In the entire subregion, it’s difficult to point to any single country where the rule of law has not been jettisoned and where the voice of the people is heard without fear.”

ECOWAS, Adamu added, needs to proactively re-educate member states on democratic principles, hold them accountable when there are lapses, as in the Benin case, and then intervene when threats emerge.

The bloc appears to be taking heed. On December 9, two days after the failed Benin coup, ECOWAS declared a state of emergency.

“Events of the last few weeks have shown the imperative of serious introspection on the future of our democracy and the urgent need to invest in the security of our community,” Omar Touray, ECOWAS Commission president, said at a meeting in the Abuja headquarters. Touray cited situations that constitute coup risks, such as the erosion of electoral integrity and mounting geopolitical tensions, as the bloc splits along foreign influences. Currently, ECOWAS member states have stayed close to Western allies like France, while the AES is firmly pro-Russia.

Another challenge the bloc faces is managing potential fallout with the AES states amid France’s increasing closeness with Abuja. As Paris faces hostility in Francophone West Africa, it has drawn closer to Nigeria, where it does not have the same negative colonial reputation, and which it perceives as useful for protecting French business interests in the region, Cummings said. At the same time, ECOWAS is still hoping to woo the three rogue ex-members back into its fold, and countries like Ghana have already established bilateral ties with the military governments.

“The challenge with that is that the AES would see the intervention [in Benin] as an act not from ECOWAS itself but something engineered by France,” Adamu said. Seeing France instigating an intervention which could have benefitted AES reinforces their earlier complaints that Paris pokes its nose into the region’s affairs, and could push them further away, he said.

“So now we have a situation where they feel like France did it, and the sad thing is that we haven’t seen ECOWAS dispel that notion, so the ECOWAS standby force has [re]started on a contentious step,” Adamu added.

Paris says EU member states cannot vote on the trade agreement in its current state.

France has urged the European Union to postpone a vote on a trade deal with the South American bloc Mercosur, saying conditions are not yet in place for an agreement.

In a statement from Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu’s office on Sunday, Paris said that EU member states cannot vote on the trade agreement in its current state.

“France asks that the deadlines be pushed back to continue work on getting the legitimate measures of protection for our European agriculture,” the statement added.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen is due to visit Brazil on Monday to finalise the landmark trade pact, which the 27-member union has been negotiating with the Mercosur trade bloc for more than 20 years. The agreement is being negotiated with four Mercosur members: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.

But the Commission first has to get the approval of the EU member states before signing any trade deal, and Paris has made its objection to the deal with the Mercosur countries clear.

“Given a Mercosur summit is announced for December 20, it is clear in this context that the conditions have not been met for any vote [by states] on authorising the signing of the agreement,” the statement from Paris said.

Earlier on Sunday, in an interview with the German financial daily Handelsblatt, French Minister of the Economy and Finance Roland Lescure also said that the treaty as it stands, “is simply not acceptable”.

He added that securing robust and effective safeguard clauses was one of the three key conditions France set before giving its blessing to the agreement.

He said the other key points were ensuring that the same production standards that EU farmers face are implemented and proper “import controls” are established.

Farmers in France and some other European countries say the deal will create unfair competition due to less stringent standards, which they fear could destabilise already fragile European food sectors.

“Until we have obtained assurances on these three points, France will not accept the agreement,” said Lescure.

European nations are expected to vote on the trade pact between Tuesday and Friday, according to EU sources.

The European Parliament will also vote on Tuesday on safeguards to reassure farmers, particularly those in France, who are fiercely opposed to the treaty.

The EU is Mercosur’s second-largest trading partner in goods, with exports of 57 billion euros ($67bn) in 2024, according to the European Commission.

The EU is also the biggest foreign investor in Mercosur, with a stock of 390 billion euros ($458bn) in 2023.

If a trade deal is approved later this month, the EU-Mercosur agreement could create a common market of 722 million people.

WHEN it comes to holidaying in the south of France, most Brits will flock to spots like Cannes and Saint-Tropez.

But for anyone wanting the beauty of the French Riviera without the crowds, then this small town might be perfect for your next break.

The beautiful Sanary-sur-Mer is in the Côte d’Azur region found between Toulon and Marseille.

It’s classically French and sees much fewer tourists than other seaside towns and cities along the Mediterranean coast.

Yet it still has everything Brits want from a French town, from food markets to pretty beaches and a relaxed Riviera vibe.

One woman who moved to the Côte d’Azur even called Sanary-sur-Mer a “lesser-known gem along France’s south coast”, when writing in Business Insider.

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She added that other locals called Sanary-sur-Mer one of the “nicest places in the area”.

The town sits around a harbour which has also been called one of France’s most beautiful ports.

Along with the harbour, there are plenty of sandy spots to take a dip into the sea and relax on the sands.

Some of the most popular beaches include Lido, Plage Dorée, and Portissol Beach.

Another attraction is the Eglise Saint Nazaire de Sanary-sur-Mer, a church with large murals just minutes from the harbour.

The Tour de Sanary, a historic tower is also a popular stop as visitors can get impressive panoramic views of the sea, harbour, and even the mountains.

The commune has lots of markets too where you can pick up food or even souvenirs.

There’s a large weekly market on Wednesdays, a daily food market and fishermen’s stalls by the front.

There’s also an artisanal night market that runs each day during the summer usually from late June to early September, from around 7.30 PM to midnight.

From Sanary-sur-Mer you can hop on a 20-minute ferry to the island of Embiez that’s described as a “nature paradise”.

It’s a car-free island which tourists can explore by foot or bike – a trek around the whole island takes between one to two and a half hours.

There’s also a tourist train which visitors can hop on and off.

For any fans of watersports, here you can try kayaking, paddleboarding and discover hidden coasts around the coastline.

The nearest major airports to Sanary-sur-Mer are Marseille Provence Airport and Toulon-Hyères Airport.

From the UK, Brits can head to Marseille Airport with flights from £23 each way – direct routes fly from London Stansted with Ryanair and London Gatwick with easyJet.

The ‘Pearl of the Riviera’ is the warmest town in the region has 300 days of sunshine and lemon festivals…

Located on the border between France and Italy, the seaside town of Menton has been dubbed the “Pearl of the Riviera” by holidaymakers.

Home to pastel-coloured buildings, quaint streets, a picturesque harbour and vast lemon groves, Menton is picture perfect.

Before officially becoming part of France in 1860, Menton had been part of Sardinia and Monaco.

In the middle of the 19^th century, Menton broke away from Monaco after heavy tax impositions were imposed on its lemon trade, which was its main industry.

Every year, the town holds a lemon festival to celebrate the production of citrus fruits in the seaside town.

Menton is the last large town on the border between France and Italy, which means there are several attractions geared towards tourists.

The largest beach in Menton is Les Sablettes Beach, which is a mixture of fine gravel and sand.

Its shallow waters are ideal for younger holidaymakers, with showers and toilets also found at the beach in the summer months.

The promenade is lined with palm trees, pergolas and water fountains, providing holidaymakers with plenty of spots to relax in the shade.

Nearby are a number of restaurants, shops and cafes like Marché Beach, which stretches from the Jean Cocteau Museum to Menton Casino.

For more in Provence, discover Europe’s ‘Grand Canyon’ that looks more like America, with huge mountains and bright blue rivers.

And on this tiny French peninsula you can spot pink flamingos in the wild – and there are barely any tourists.

I travelled to Lille, France to explore its charming Christmas market, but when I tried to buy French cheese to bring home, I remembered UK restrictions on dairy products from the EU

In a bid for some festive cheer, I embarked on a day trip to France to experience their Christmas market and explore the local area. Travelling via Eurostar allowed me the liberty to bring back a few souvenirs, but there was one rule that tripped me up on my return journey.

My adventure started at London St Pancras International, where I hopped on the 9:01am Eurostar heading for Lille, France, a city nestled near the Belgian border. The Eurostar whisked me to the French city in just an hour and 23 minutes, so by 11.30am, I was stepping out of the train station, ready for exploration.

I spent the day meandering through Lille’s Christmas Village, which features an enchanting enclosed market brimming with an array of gifts and scrumptious treats, along with additional festive decorations scattered around the city. Later, I strolled through the charming cobbled streets lined with independent boutiques, bakeries, coffee houses and taprooms – a testament to their close ties with Belgium.

READ MORE: All the train travel changes you need to know before Christmas 2025

The day was well utilised, and after a seven-hour quick tour of Lille, I headed back to the train station to catch the 18.36 Eurostar home. But not without a detour to the local supermarket, Carrefour, conveniently situated next to the station.

Free from the baggage and liquid limitations that come with air travel, I reckoned it was the ideal chance to bring back some French treats to share with family over the festive period. After sampling some of the most delectable French cheese at the Christmas market, the rich dairy delights topped my must-buy list.

However, I then recalled an email I’d received from Eurostar prior to my journey. The correspondence bore the heading ‘Important: Temporary food entry restrictions in Great Britain’ and explained that holidaymakers visiting the EU are prohibited from bringing cheese, amongst other foodstuffs, back to the UK.

Clarifying the implications for Britons travelling to the EU, the email stated: “The UK has introduced temporary restrictions on milk, dairy products, and certain meats from the EU. This is to prevent the spread of foot and mouth disease following a rising number of cases across mainland Europe.Travellers can no longer bring the following meats and animal products from the EU into Great Britain for personal use:This also includes items like sandwiches, cheese, cured meats or raw meats. Please ensure you don’t take any of these products with you on your journey to London.Some exceptions apply to infant food and special food needed for medical reasons. Please check what you’re allowed to bring on GOV.UK.”

While I was thankful, remembering the email before purchasing any produce, I was slightly disappointed that I couldn’t bring back a selection of cheese for Christmas. However, I fully understood the reasons why.

READ MORE: Your refund rights if you face Christmas travel chaos as UK strikes loomREAD MORE: EasyJet currently has flights from £23.99 to heaps of winter sun hotspots for 2026

Swiftly abandoning that idea, I decided to focus on acquiring a few bottles of wine for the upcoming festive season. It seemed only fitting, given France’s renowned status as one of the world’s top wine-producing countries!

For those considering bringing home some vino, Eurostar provides guidance on their website: “We appreciate that passengers often want to bring a few bottles back from their trip and we are happy for customers to bring unopened bottles of alcohol to take on to their destination. Any passengers with large quantities will need to contact a courier service.”

They further stated: “Although you can bring alcohol with you and we serve alcohol on board, safety is our top priority. So, please drink in moderation. If you behave in an antisocial way which ruins the journey for other passengers or break any laws or by-laws, we might ask you to leave the train at the nearest station.”

Have you got a travel story you want to share with us? Email us at webtravel@reachplc.com

When French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated France’s Space Command in Toulouse on 12 November 2025 and declared that “space is no longer a sanctuary; it has become a battlefield,” few expected such swift validation. Two weeks later, at the ESA Ministerial Council in Bremen on 26–27 November, member states delivered the largest budget in the agency’s history—€22.1 billion for 2026–2028, a 30% increase over the previous cycle—with an unprecedented focus on security, defense, and strategic autonomy. The Bremen decision has transformed Macron’s stark warning from rhetoric into funded reality and confirmed that Europe is finally awakening to the fact that the next decisive domain of great-power competition lies far above the Earth’s atmosphere.

Paris is preparing to invest about €4.2 billion in military space activities from 2026 to 2030 and around €16 billion in civilian and dual-use programs by the end of the decade. The ambition is to strengthen Europe’s resilience in orbit, reduce dependence on non-European systems, and create an industrial base capable of supporting long-term security objectives.

French planners are betting on a new generation of proximity‑inspection satellites to anchor this strategy, with demonstration flights envisaged in the second half of the decade and operational testing to follow. These satellites can approach, observe, and, if required, interdict suspicious objects in orbit. France is also exploring non‑kinetic tools—lasers and electromagnetic systems among them—designed to disrupt hostile platforms without creating debris. Paris has rejected destructive anti-satellite testing and argues that Europe must enhance space security without undermining international norms.

The European Union is entering this field late. Russia and China have already developed advanced inspection and interference capabilities. In September 2025, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius revealed that two Russian Luch or Olymp satellites were shadowing Intelsat platforms used by the Bundeswehr. The episode underscored Europe’s lack of awareness and defensive capacity in orbit.

In Brussels, officials are floating the idea of a “European Space Shield”—a more integrated architecture to protect satellites and align EU and NATO postures. Success will depend on the willingness of member states to coordinate procurement, share data, and harmonize strategic objectives. Europe’s current system remains fragmented and is often slowed by national industrial preferences.

Macron has also called for reform of the European Space Agency’s geographic return rule, which distributes contracts according to member-state contributions rather than technical merit. The French position is that this rule limits innovation and prevents Europe from responding quickly to fast-moving threats in orbit.

There are challenges. Even non-kinetic defenses can be misinterpreted as escalatory. The orbital environment is crowded, vulnerable to miscalculation, and poorly regulated. France has therefore paired its military investments with calls for new rules of behavior and a European proposal for an orbital code of conduct. Such a framework would help prevent misunderstandings and promote transparency.

The ESA Ministerial Council that concluded in Bremen on 27 November delivered what many had doubted was possible: a €22.1 billion envelope for 2026–2028 that explicitly prioritizes space security, resilient navigation (FutureNAV), Earth-observation continuity, and dual-use technologies. Germany increased its contribution by nearly a third despite domestic fiscal constraints, while the package includes more than €1 billion for programs directly supporting defense and sovereignty. Crucially, ministers opened the door to greater flexibility on the controversial “geographic return” rule for critical security projects—a French demand that had been resisted for years. Bremen did not create a fully unified European space-defense policy overnight, but it transformed Macron’s Toulouse rhetoric into funded reality and gave the proposed European Space Shield its first serious financial and political tailwind.

Satellites underpin critical EU functions, including climate monitoring, secure communications, trade logistics, and border management. Rivals are developing tools that can dazzle, jam, or disable them. Europe cannot assume that these systems will remain safe without deliberate action.

Macron’s announcement in Toulouse should be seen as a strategic warning. Europe has the capacity to protect its interests in orbit, but only if it acts with coherence and political determination. The challenge for the European Union is not technological. It is the ability to work collectively and with a sense of urgency. In an era in which conflict begins long before military forces deploy, the EU’s strategic autonomy may depend on decisions made far above the atmosphere.

The French first lady’s team says she had intended to criticise a feminist group’s ‘radical method’ of protest.

French First Lady Brigitte Macron is facing criticism after a video emerged of her using a sexist slur against feminist activists who disrupted the show of an actor-comedian once accused of rape.

Macron’s team said on Tuesday that she had intended to criticise their “radical method” of protest.

The scene filmed on Sunday showed France’s first lady in discussion backstage at the Folies Bergère theatre in central Paris with actor Ary Abittan before a performance he was about to give.

The previous night, feminist campaigners had disrupted his show, wearing masks of the actor bearing the word “rapist” and shouting, “Abittan, rapist!”

A woman in 2021 accused the actor of rape, but in 2023, investigators dropped the case, citing a lack of evidence.

Before Sunday’s performance, Macron is seen in the video, published by local media Public on Monday, asking him how he was feeling. When he said he was feeling scared, Macron was heard jokingly responding, using a vulgar expression in French, “If there are any stupid bitches, we’ll kick them out”.

The feminist campaign group “Nous Toutes” (“All of Us”) said its activists disrupted Abittan’s show to protest what it described as “the culture of impunity” around sexual violence in France.

The group later turned the insult into a hashtag on social media, #sallesconnes, and many shared it in a show of support.

Among those was actor Judith Godreche, who has become a feminist icon since accusing two directors of sexually abusing her when she was a minor and calling for an end to such behaviour in France’s cultural sector.

“We too are stupid bitches,” she posted on Instagram.

An activist who took part in the action, and who gave the pseudonym of Gwen to avoid repercussions, said the collective was “profoundly shocked and scandalised” by Macron’s language.

“It’s yet another insult to victims and feminist groups,” she said.

The first lady’s team argued her words should be seen as “a critique of the radical method employed by those who disrupted the show”.

France has been rocked by a series of accusations of rape and sexual assault against well-known cultural figures in recent years.

Screen icon Gerard Depardieu was convicted in May of sexually assaulting two women on a film set in 2021, and is to stand trial charged with raping an actor in 2018. He denies any wrongdoing.

French President Emmanuel Macron in 2023 had expressed admiration for Depardieu, saying  at the time the actor was the target of a “manhunt” and that he stood behind the presumption of innocence.

Opponents of President Macron on the left wing of French politics criticised his wife’s use of a sexist slur, and some said she should apologise.

The critics included former French President François Hollande. Speaking to broadcaster RTL, Hollande said: “There’s a problem of vulgarity.”

But on the French far-right, National Rally lawmaker Jean-Philippe Tanguy said Brigitte Macron’s comments were delivered in private and “stolen”.

“If each of us were filmed backstage saying things with friends, I think there would be plenty to comment on,” he told broadcaster BFMTV. “All of this is very hypocritical.”

Sébastien Lecornu faces a vital test to his premiership over the social security budget bill.

France’s National Assembly is set to vote on a major social security budget bill, in a critical test for the embattled Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu, who has pledged to deliver the country’s 2026 budget before the end of the year.

Debate on the legislation began on Tuesday afternoon. Lecornu governs without a majority in parliament, and has sought support from the Socialist Party by offering concessions, including suspending President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reform.

If lawmakers reject the plan, France could face another political crisis and a funding gap estimated at 30 billion euros ($35bn) for its healthcare, pension, and welfare systems.

“This social security budget bill is not perfect, but it is the best possible,” Lecornu wrote on X on Saturday, warning that failure to pass it would threaten social services, public finances, and the role of parliament.

Socialist leader Olivier Faure said on Monday that his party could back the bill after the government agreed to suspend Macron’s 2023 pension reform, which raised the retirement age, until after the 2027 presidential election.

But the far-right National Rally and the hard-left France Unbowed have both signalled their opposition, along with more moderate right-wing parties.

Even government allies, including the centrist Horizons party and conservative Republicans, could abstain or vote against the legislation. They argue that freezing the pension reform and raising taxes to win socialist support undermines earlier commitments.

France, the eurozone’s second-largest economy, has been under pressure to reduce its large budget deficit. But political instability has slowed those efforts since Macron’s snap election last year resulted in a hung parliament.

Lecornu, a close Macron ally, said last week that rejection of the bill would nearly double the expected shortfall from 17 billion to 30 billion euros ($20bn-$35bn), threatening the entire 2026 public spending plan.

Without a deal before year-end, the government may be forced to introduce temporary funding measures.

The government aims to bring the deficit below 5 percent of GDP next year, but its narrow political options have led to repeated clashes over public spending.

Budget disputes have already toppled three governments since last year’s election, including that of former Prime Minister Michel Barnier, who lost a no-confidence vote over his own budget bill.