BREAKING NEWS
Greece signs new arms deals with France worth $4.4 billion
Read full article: Greece signs new arms deals with France worth $4.4 billionGreece has signed deals worth some 4 billion euros ($4.4 billion) to buy three navy frigates and six additional Rafale fighter jets from France, as Athens strengthens its armed forces in response to tension with neighboring Turkey.
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Was Macron's phone a target for spies? French investigate
Read full article: Was Macron's phone a target for spies? French investigateFrance's defense minister wants to learn from her Israeli counterpart what, if anything, Israel knew about the clients of the spyware company NSO who possibly targeted the cellphones of French President Emmanuel Macron and other members of his government.
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France weighs cybersecurity moves after spyware reports
Read full article: France weighs cybersecurity moves after spyware reportsFrench President Emmanuel Macron has held an emergency cybersecurity meeting to weigh government responses after reports that his cell phone may have been targeted by spyware.
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Greece, France sign $2.8 billion fighter jet deal
Read full article: Greece, France sign $2.8 billion fighter jet dealGreek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right, speaks with French Defense Minister Florence Parly, during their meeting in Athens on Monday Jan. 25, 2021. Greece signed a 2.3 billion euro ($2.8 billion) deal with France Monday to purchase 18 Rafale fighter jets to address tension with neighbor Turkey. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)ATHENS – Greece signed a 2.3 billion-euro ($2.8 billion) deal with France on Monday to purchase 18 Rafale fighter jets, as tensions remain high with neighbor Turkey. Greece and Turkey have agreed to restart talks aimed at resolving the dispute peacefully. Parly, who also met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced that France would join two Greek military exercises later this year, participating with Rafale jets from the French air force.
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France’s defense chief misled nation on troops' virus safety
Read full article: France’s defense chief misled nation on troops' virus safetyFrance's Defense Minister Florence Parly admitted to lying about virus protections for air force personnel who evacuated French citizens from Wuhan and have been suspected of links to France's first confirmed COVID-19 cluster. (Loic Venance, pool via AP, File)PARIS – France’s defense minister has admitted to misleading the nation about virus protections for air force personnel who evacuated French citizens from the hard-hit Chinese city of Wuhan and have been suspected of links to France’s first confirmed COVID-19 cluster. The revelation Tuesday by Defense Minister Florence Parly to a Senate investigating committee is a further blow to the credibility of French President Emmanuel Macron's government as it battles rebounding infections. As China locked down the city of Wuhan in January, the French government started repatriation flights for French citizens there. The defense minister told public broadcaster France-2 in March that all the military personnel on that evacuation flight “had been tested and confined” upon return.
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India adds 5 French-made fighter jets in military upgrade
Read full article: India adds 5 French-made fighter jets in military upgradeWater is sprayed on a French-made Rafale fighter jet during its induction ceremony at the Indian Air Force Station in Ambala, India, Thursday, Sept.10, 2020. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)NEW DELHI The Indian air force inducted into service five French-made Rafale fighter jets Thursday amid heightened tensions with China along their disputed frontier. The fighter jets are part of a $8.78 billion deal signed with France in 2016 as India seeks to modernize its military. The Rafale have 13 custom features and long-range missiles, providing the Indian air force capabilities like long-range strikes, air defense and interdiction, defense analyst Rahul Bedi said. The Rafales are the first foreign fighters to join the Indian air force after the Russian Su-30MKIs were inducted into service in 1997, Bedi said.

French submarine found 51 years after disappearing
Read full article: French submarine found 51 years after disappearing(CNN) - It vanished Jan. 27, 1968, but the wreckage of the French submarine Minerve has finally been found about 28 miles off the southern coast of France, near the port of Toulon. The search was made possible thanks to "recent technological advances in underwater exploration, including the use of new sonars and research drones," French Defense Minister Florence Parly said in a statement Monday. The United States-based exploration company Ocean Infinity was then able to help identify the Minerve based on an initial sea-bottom mapping by L'Institut Franais de Recherche pour l'Exploitation de la Mer. "I sincerely hope that this discovery will help them to mourn, more than 50 years after this tragedy that has marked the French navy and all our fellow citizens," Parly said. The wreck will stay where it is, serving as the sailors' final resting place, the French navy said.