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 The French judiciary is investigating the 2012 deaths of reporters in Syria as a possible crime against humanity, anti-terror prosecutors have told AFP. https://www.thelocal.fr/20250219/france-probes-2012-reporters-deaths-in-syria-as-crime-against-humanity Wed, 19 Feb 2025 09:42:07 +0100 france-probes-2012-reporters-deaths-in-syria-as-crime-against-humanity France's Louvre Hotels Group has signed an agreement to open two hotels under its own name in Damascus, the first with a western hotel operator since Syria's brutal civil war began in 2011. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190915/french-group-to-open-two-hotels-in-damascus Sun, 15 Sep 2019 09:43:44 +0200 french-group-to-open-two-hotels-in-damascus Twelve orphans of French jihadists were flown to France on Monday from Syria, the French foreign ministry confirmed. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190610/france-flies-home-12-children-of-syria-jihadists Mon, 10 Jun 2019 15:41:07 +0200 france-flies-home-12-children-of-syria-jihadists The United States is "very optimistic" that France and Britain will participate in a residual force that US President Donald Trump wants to leave in Syria, his national security advisor said on Sunday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190310/us-optimistic-france-britain-will-join-stay-behind-syria-force Sun, 10 Mar 2019 18:25:33 +0100 us-optimistic-france-britain-will-join-stay-behind-syria-force Clutching her young son, a Frenchwoman was among those fleeing the last holdout of Islamic State group jihadists. But she told waiting aid workers that her husband, dubbed 'a death machine' by French prosecutors, has vanished. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190223/french-isis-bride-recalls-islamic-state-chaos Sat, 23 Feb 2019 10:40:27 +0100 french-isis-bride-recalls-islamic-state-chaos French artillery units are playing a key role in the battle to overrun the Islamic State terror group's last holdout in Syria. AFP's Daphné Benoit reports from the front line. https://www.thelocal.fr/20190210/dispatch-french-troops-in-battle-for-islamic-states-last-holdout Sun, 10 Feb 2019 14:58:48 +0100 dispatch-french-troops-in-battle-for-islamic-states-last-holdout France will not gain in any way by retaining forces to protect a Kurdish militia in Syria, Turkey's foreign minister said on Tuesday, after Paris announced it would maintain a presence despite an imminent US withdrawal. https://www.thelocal.fr/20181225/turkey-warns-france-no-benefit-in-protecting-kurd-militia Tue, 25 Dec 2018 11:50:31 +0100 turkey-warns-france-no-benefit-in-protecting-kurd-militia The leaders of Turkey, Russia, France and Germany on Saturday called for a ceasefire around the last major rebel-held bastion of Idlib in Syria to be preserved. https://www.thelocal.fr/20181027/syria-summit-says-idlib-ceasefire-must-be-safeguarded Sat, 27 Oct 2018 22:16:21 +0200 syria-summit-says-idlib-ceasefire-must-be-safeguarded France is seeking to repatriate some of the 150 children of French jihadists identified as being in Syria, as Western nations grapple with how to handle citizens who left to join extremists. https://www.thelocal.fr/20181024/france-wants-to-bring-home-jihadists-kids-from-syria Wed, 24 Oct 2018 18:57:06 +0200 france-wants-to-bring-home-jihadists-kids-from-syria Syria's foreign minister on Saturday denounced US, French and Turkish forces operating in his country as "occupying forces" and demanded that they leave immediately. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180930/syria-tells-us-french-and-turkish-occupying-forces-to-withdraw-immediately Sun, 30 Sep 2018 04:41:40 +0200 syria-tells-us-french-and-turkish-occupying-forces-to-withdraw-immediately French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel voiced concern on Friday about the humanitarian situation in the rebel-held Syrian region of Idlib, which is shaping up be the country's next big battleground. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180818/macron-and-merkel-concerned-ahead-of-battle-for-syrian-rebel-holdout-2 Sat, 18 Aug 2018 08:44:29 +0200 macron-and-merkel-concerned-ahead-of-battle-for-syrian-rebel-holdout-2 French cement giant Lafarge was charged Thursday with complicity in crimes against humanity and financing a terrorist organisation for paying millions to jihadist groups, including Isis, to keep a factory in Syria open during the war. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180628/french-firm-lafarge-charged-with-complicity-in-crimes-against-humanity-in-syria Thu, 28 Jun 2018 16:55:18 +0200 french-firm-lafarge-charged-with-complicity-in-crimes-against-humanity-in-syria Arab and Kurdish fighters were advancing on Sunday against the Islamic State group in eastern Syria thanks to close artillery support from allied American and French forces, a monitor said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180520/french-us-fire-backs-advance-against-isis-in-east-syria-monitor Sun, 20 May 2018 17:11:25 +0200 french-us-fire-backs-advance-against-isis-in-east-syria-monitor France on Friday imposed a six-month asset freeze on several international companies allegedly linked to a chemical weapons programme in Syria, as ministers meeting in Paris vowed that governments that gas their own people would not go unpunished. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180519/france-freezes-company-assets-over-syria-chemical-weapons Sat, 19 May 2018 06:54:01 +0200 france-freezes-company-assets-over-syria-chemical-weapons Yara al-Hasbani was putting the finishing touches to her make-up for a performance of "Romeo and Juliet" in Damascus when she found out her father had been tortured to death. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180422/a-syrian-dancers-journey-from-hell-to-the-paris-stage Sun, 22 Apr 2018 19:33:24 +0200 a-syrian-dancers-journey-from-hell-to-the-paris-stage France will strip Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of the country's prestigious Legion d'Honneur award, a source in the French president’s office has said. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180417/france-to-strip-syrias-bashar-al-assad-of-legion-dhonneur Tue, 17 Apr 2018 11:18:57 +0200 france-to-strip-syrias-bashar-al-assad-of-legion-dhonneur A former human resources manager of cement giant Lafarge has been charged in France for "endangering the lives of others" during operations in war-torn Syria, sources told AFP on Saturday. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180415/ex-lafarge-boss-charged-with-endangering-lives-in-syria Sun, 15 Apr 2018 10:54:01 +0200 ex-lafarge-boss-charged-with-endangering-lives-in-syria Hours after striking Syria, the United States, France and Britain on Saturday launched a new bid at the United Nations to investigate chemical weapons attacks in Syria. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180415/us-france-britain-launch-new-un-bid-for-syria-chemical-weapons-probe Sun, 15 Apr 2018 10:31:53 +0200 us-france-britain-launch-new-un-bid-for-syria-chemical-weapons-probe French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said on Saturday that missile strikes carried out overnight in Syria had destroyed a "large part" of the Damascus government's stocks of chemical weapons. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180414/strike-destroyed-large-part-of-syrias-chemical-weapons-french-fm Sat, 14 Apr 2018 13:48:38 +0200 strike-destroyed-large-part-of-syrias-chemical-weapons-french-fm France has fired cruise missiles from frigates in the Mediterranean and deployed fighter jets from home bases, as part of a wave of punitive strikes against Bashar al-Assad's Syrian regime. https://www.thelocal.fr/20180414/french-cruise-missiles-fired-from-med-to-punish-syria Sat, 14 Apr 2018 10:05:34 +0200 french-cruise-missiles-fired-from-med-to-punish-syria