https://feeds.thelocal.com/ Read the latest news and views from France in English en-us news@thelocal.com (TheLocal) webmaster@thelocal.com (TheLocal) TheLocal RSS Feed Four people have died off the coast of northern France as they tried to cross the Channel to England, taking the number of small boat deaths this year to six. https://www.thelocal.fr/20260410/four-migrants-die-trying-to-cross-channel-french-officials Fri, 10 Apr 2026 09:20:08 +0200 four-migrants-die-trying-to-cross-channel-french-officials France will soon start stopping at sea boats taking migrants across the Channel for southern England, local officials said on Friday, a major change in strategy following pressure from the UK. https://www.thelocal.fr/20251128/france-to-toughen-action-to-halt-uk-bound-channel-migrants Fri, 28 Nov 2025 15:45:12 +0100 france-to-toughen-action-to-halt-uk-bound-channel-migrants Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer promised on Thursday to bring a "new impetus" to ties with France and to work with Paris to oppose Russia's invasion of Ukraine and end migrant-trafficking across the Channel. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240718/british-pm-promises-new-impetus-to-french-ties Thu, 18 Jul 2024 11:56:30 +0200 british-pm-promises-new-impetus-to-french-ties French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday hailed the "spirit of sacrifice" of the soldiers who liberated Europe from Nazi occupation, as he prepared to join US counterpart Joe Biden and King Charles III to mark 80 years since the World War II D-Day landings. https://www.thelocal.fr/20240606/macron-lauds-spirit-of-sacrifice-as-d-day-marked-under-ukraine-shadow Thu, 06 Jun 2024 10:49:49 +0200 macron-lauds-spirit-of-sacrifice-as-d-day-marked-under-ukraine-shadow Britain and France will step up efforts to halt crossings of the English Channel by migrants in small boats, after figures showed more than 1,000 people had made the crossing in January https://www.thelocal.fr/20240131/france-uk-stepping-up-efforts-to-halt-migrant-crossings-cleverly Wed, 31 Jan 2024 10:18:11 +0100 france-uk-stepping-up-efforts-to-halt-migrant-crossings-cleverly A Syrian national was charged and jailed on Sunday as part of an inquiry into a shipwreck in the English Channel last week that claimed the life of a migrant, prosecutors said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20231217/syrian-jailed-in-france-over-deadly-migrant-crossing Sun, 17 Dec 2023 18:21:46 +0100 syrian-jailed-in-france-over-deadly-migrant-crossing A chain of buoys blocks a river in northern France, the latest costly measure the authorities have deployed in their almost impossible mission to stop Britain-bound migrants crossing the Channel. https://www.thelocal.fr/20230902/tighter-french-coast-patrols-in-place-to-stop-channel-migrants Sat, 02 Sep 2023 19:23:24 +0200 tighter-french-coast-patrols-in-place-to-stop-channel-migrants France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is to hold two days of talks in Britain from Wednesday aimed at limiting the flow of clandestine immigration across the Channel to England, his office said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20230614/french-interior-minister-visits-uk-on-migration-cooperation-mission Wed, 14 Jun 2023 11:17:39 +0200 french-interior-minister-visits-uk-on-migration-cooperation-mission Britain has agreed to pay France another €72.2million to prevent migrant boat crossings under a new deal intended to improve cooperation between the two countries. But what the money actually be spent on? https://www.thelocal.fr/20221114/migrant-channel-crossings-what-will-france-spend-the-e72-2-million-euros-on Mon, 14 Nov 2022 17:16:56 +0100 migrant-channel-crossings-what-will-france-spend-the-e72-2-million-euros-on French President Emmanuel Macron and British prime minister Rishi Sunak will meet Monday on the sidelines of a UN climate summit for the first time since the British premier took office, Macron's office said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221106/frances-macron-and-britains-sunak-to-hold-first-meeting-at-cop27 Sun, 06 Nov 2022 19:15:19 +0100 frances-macron-and-britains-sunak-to-hold-first-meeting-at-cop27 When 31 people died after their small boat sank off the coast of northern France in November 2021, there were hopes that the tragedy would push the British and French governments into working together to stop the highly dangerous crossings. But, one year on, the problem as bad than ever. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211112/what-is-france-doing-to-stop-migrants-crossing-the-channel Fri, 12 Nov 2021 18:07:25 +0100 what-is-france-doing-to-stop-migrants-crossing-the-channel Britain's Prime Minister Liz Truss has moved to mend fences with France, weeks after saying that the "jury's out" on whether President Emmanuel Macron was a "friend or foe" to Britain. https://www.thelocal.fr/20221007/france-is-a-friend-uk-pm-liz-truss-admits-after-jurys-out-campaign-claim Fri, 07 Oct 2022 10:47:00 +0200 france-is-a-friend-uk-pm-liz-truss-admits-after-jurys-out-campaign-claim President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday hailed Queen Elizabeth II as "a friend of France... who marked her country and her century as never before", following the announcement of her death. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220908/a-friend-of-france-macron-and-french-leaders-pay-tribute-to-queen-elizabeth-ii Thu, 08 Sep 2022 22:16:00 +0200 a-friend-of-france-macron-and-french-leaders-pay-tribute-to-queen-elizabeth-ii France and Britian have signed a deal to jointly develop new cruise and anti-ship missiles, their defence procurement agencies and manufacturer MDBA said Friday, after months of cross-Channel defence tensions over a submarine deal with Australia. https://www.thelocal.fr/20220219/france-and-britain-strike-deal-to-develop-new-missiles Sat, 19 Feb 2022 10:19:28 +0100 france-and-britain-strike-deal-to-develop-new-missiles The largest ever analysis of ancient DNA suggests that people living in England and Wales are more genetically similar to ancient European farmers than the Britons of the Bronze Age. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211223/france-identified-as-possible-source-of-half-of-britains-ancient-genes Thu, 23 Dec 2021 15:02:24 +0100 france-identified-as-possible-source-of-half-of-britains-ancient-genes France is turning to the EU to mount a legal challenge against the UK, after French fishermen did not receive the licenses they were promised. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211217/france-to-seek-eu-proceedings-against-britain-over-fishing Fri, 17 Dec 2021 15:40:36 +0100 france-to-seek-eu-proceedings-against-britain-over-fishing Britain has granted another 23 licences to French fishermen, a government spokesperson said on Saturday, a day after a deadline set by Paris to resolve a post-Brexit battle over fishing rights. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211211/uk-gives-23-more-post-brexit-permits-to-french-fishermen Sat, 11 Dec 2021 19:50:29 +0100 uk-gives-23-more-post-brexit-permits-to-french-fishermen Frontex, the European Union border agency, will deploy a plane to help fight migrant trafficking in the Channel from December 1st, France announced on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211128/france-seeks-european-crackdown-on-channel-people-smugglers Sun, 28 Nov 2021 19:05:31 +0100 france-seeks-european-crackdown-on-channel-people-smugglers Exactly who were the 27 people who drowned trying to reach Britain this week in the deadliest migrant accident in the Channel? Groups and volunteers have begun a search for answers. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211127/who-were-the-27-migrants-who-died-in-channel-tragedy-off-french-coast Sat, 27 Nov 2021 17:37:24 +0100 who-were-the-27-migrants-who-died-in-channel-tragedy-off-french-coast The fisherman who alerted rescuers to the catastrophe in the English Channel on Wednesday has told how he is haunted by the images of bodies floating on the sea. https://www.thelocal.fr/20211126/so-many-dead-next-to-us-french-fisherman-recalls-channel-horror Fri, 26 Nov 2021 16:29:37 +0100 so-many-dead-next-to-us-french-fisherman-recalls-channel-horror