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Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov said that French intelligence pressured Telegram into censoring political content, which he refused to do. Telegram co-founder Pavel Durov claimed that French intelligence services asked him to censor content related to the election in Moldova in 2024 in exchange for saying “good things” to the judge overseeing his trial, which he declined to do. Durov said the messaging platform initially took down some posts that “clearly” violated Telegram’s terms of service, but declined to remove any additional content for political reasons. Durov wrote in a Sunday Telegram post: Their only commonality was that they voiced political positions disliked by the French and Moldovan governments. We refused to act on this request,” he continued. Read more

Durov said French law enforcement officials are still "struggling" to find evidence of wrongdoing even one year on from his arrest in 2024. Pavel Durov, founder of the messaging application Telegram, provided an update regarding his ongoing case in France, and said the criminal investigation against him is “struggling” to find any evidence of wrongdoing. Durov said his arrest by French authorities in August 2024 was “unprecedented” and added that holding a tech executive accountable for the actions of independent users was “legally and logically absurd,” in a Telegram post on Sunday. Durov added: “One year after this strange arrest, I still have to return to France every 14 days, with no appeal date in sight,” he continued, while also warning that the French government has done irreparable damage to France’s image as a free country. Read more

India is working with a French company to develop and manufacture fighter jet engines in the country, New Delhi’s defence minister said. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in May approved the prototype of a fifth generation Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), calling it a “significant push towards enhancing India’s indigenous defence capabilities”. Singh, in a speech at a conference in New Delhi on Friday, gave more details about developing fighter jet aircraft engines in the country. “We are moving forward to manufacture aircraft engines in India itself,” Singh said, in comments broadcast by Indian media. “We are collaborating with a French company to start engine production in India.” Singh did not name the company, but Indian media widely reported the company to be Safran, which has been working in India for decades in the aviation and defence sectors. There was no immediate confirmation. India, one of the world’s largest arms importers, has made the modernisation of its forces a top priority, and made rep...

Of Chinese tiger and French berets

The children, aged 8 to 16, had fully booked the place and had to take three buses to another location, after the site manager was arrested.

Several dozen French passengers were removed from a flight departing from the Spanish city of Valencia for Paris on Wednesday, for what Spanish police and the airline described as unruly behavior

A French couple went on trial on Thursday, accused of planning to “sacrifice” their five-year-old son in the Moroccan desert, accusations they have strongly denied. The two music teachers were arrested in southern Spain in late 2023 as they were about to board a ferry to Morocco after buying a new four-wheel-drive and subletting their apartment near the French city of Bordeaux. An alarmed relative had told French prosecutors that the father intended to “sacrifice” his son in the desert because he believed he was “possessed”, the investigation showed. The father, Florian L, denies ever having said that, his lawyer Audrey Boussillon said. “Never did he have the intention to harm his son in any way,” she added. The couple, who hold “anti-system” and “mystical” beliefs, vehemently reject the charges of being part of a criminal gang and failing in their duties as parents, their defence team has said. The attorney for the mother, Marie L, Aurelie Filippi-Codaccioni, said the couple had been to Morocco two years ear...

French lawmakers have doubled down on their plans for Bitcoin mining by highlighting that the country could generate an annual revenue of up to $150 million from the industry. In a July 11 bill submitted to the French National Assembly, the lawmakers outlined a five-year pilot program allowing electricity producers to redirect excess power, often […] The post French lawmakers say country could generate $150M in annual revenue from Bitcoin mining appeared first on CryptoSlate.

Prosecutor David Charmatz added that the victim was "lured into a cellar under false pretenses" where he was met with "a third minor holding a knife."

French defense leaders expect the near-space domain to become increasingly contested, similar to low Earth orbit and the ocean floor.

The Russian vessel Shtandart has been banned from entering ports in the French department of Ille-et-Vilaine, including the largest port, Saint-Malo, but some other regions are still ignoring the relevant EU sanctions.

The Israeli defense companies, which have been blocked from displaying their offensive wares, petitioned the court, but it ruled that it has no authority to intervene in a French government decision

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed deep gratitude to the French authorities for their assistance to Ukrainian citizens affected by a tragic bus accident in France, calling it a true expression of solidarity.

Representatives of local and central French authorities, as well as Ukraine's embassy and consulate, are working at the scene of the bus accident involving Ukrainian passengers.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday condemned a “senseless wave of violence” after a teaching assistant stabbed by a 15-year-old pupil outside a school in the east of the country succumbed to her wounds. The secondary school student was arrested after attacking the 31-year-old assistant with a knife during a bag search in Nogent in eastern France, officials said. France has, in recent years, seen a series of attacks on teachers and pupils by other schoolchildren. “While protecting our children, a teaching assistant lost her life, the victim of a senseless wave of violence,” Macron wrote on X, commenting on the latest in a spate of such incidents at French schools. “The nation is in mourning and the government is mobilised to reduce crime.” Education Minister Elisabeth Borne was on her way to Nogent “to support the entire school community and the police”. “I commend the composure and dedication of those who acted to subdue the attacker and protect the students and staff,” she said on X. The pupil is 15...

Friday's incident follows another in the town of Deauville in Normandy last week, when Elie Lemmel said he was punched in the stomach by an unknown assailant.

Poissy mayor Sandrine Dos Santos condemned "in the strongest terms the incident that occurred in a synagogue in Poissy."

During a meeting in Paris, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal met with French business representatives and Laurent Saint-Martin, Minister Delegate for Foreign Trade and French Nationals Abroad, to outline key investment opportunities in Ukraine.

French authorities detained 79 people in the second such wave of arrests during celebrations following Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League win, a police chief said on Monday. The PSG thrashed Inter Milan by a record 5-0 in Saturday evening’s final in Munich, flying back to Paris on Sunday for a triumphal parade along the Champs-Élysées, then celebrations in a packed Parc des Princes stadium on the edge of the French capital. The PSG winning the biggest prize in European club football for the first time sparked delirious festivities in France, but was marred by violence. On Sunday, “we saw a resurgence of individuals driven by malicious intent who were not really PSG supporters”, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told RTL radio. “We arrested 79 people, some of them in the night,” he said, adding that order had been restored before dawn. Some were detained for taking barriers and briefly blocking the ring road around Paris, while others had tried to vandalise businesses or light fireworks on the Champs-Élysée...

A French prosecutor on Friday requested the maximum 20-year sentence for a former surgeon who admitted to sexually abusing almost 300 mostly child patients. An additional trial will also likely be required for Joel Le Scouarnec, 74, to cover the cases of further victims whose abuse is not part of the current process, said prosecutor Stephane Kellenberger as he outlined the sentencing demands. Le Scouarnec has been on trial since February accused of 111 rapes and 189 sexual assaults on 299 people, mostly of minors under 15, at a dozen hospitals in western France, in one of the country’s largest child sex abuse cases. He admitted in March to sexually abusing all 299 victims between 1989 and 2014, many while they were under anaesthesia or waking up after operations. Le Scouarnec, who is already in prison for a previous conviction for child sex abuse, should receive the maximum possible term of 20 years in jail on the single charge of aggravated rape, said Kellenberger. Warning of the “high risk of re-offending” ...