Macron appoints new chief of the General Staff of the armed forces
This decision had been anticipated, as General Burkhard, 60, had already received a one-year extension in 2024 – a rare exception, as serving for more than four years in this role is uncommon. "Thank you (...) for serving France with honor, courage and vision," Macron wrote on X. The president also confirmed the appointment of Army Corps General Vincent Giraud to replace General Mandon as personal military chief of staff. General Giraud had served as deputy chief of the armed forces for the past year and was expected to secure a prominent role in this carefully orchestrated transfer of responsibilities.
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Local France
8 hours ago
- Local France
French grammar tips: All of the uses of the word 'droit'
As with most languages, there are several French words with multiple meanings, but one particularly tricky one is droit . The word droit can be used as an adjective and a noun. As an adjective, its gender will change based on the noun it is describing. Advertisement Droit (or droite ) will also pop up in political discussions, driving lessons, and even parenting advice books. Just when you think you have memorised all of its various meanings, you find out there is a new usage you had not heard of before. Here are some to look out for. In the directional sense - droite translates as 'right'. If you are giving directions and you want to say 'to the right' ( à la droite ) or 'the right' ( la droite ), you use the feminine version. For example, you may say Vous allez tourner à droite au feu de signalisation (You will turn right at the traffic light). Meanwhile, to say 'straight' or 'straight ahead', you would use tout droit. You'll also see it in the notorious French driving rule priorité à droite - the rule that requires motorists to give priority to those coming from side roads to their right. READ MORE: How does 'priorité à droite' really work when you're driving in France? In the political sense - as droit translates as 'right', it is also used to describe politicians and political parties based on their position on the left-to-right political spectrum. For instance, 'far right' would translate as extrême droite , while 'hard/extreme right' (meaning those using violent or nondemocratic methods ) would translate as ultra droite . In fact the use of the terms left and right to describe a political position comes from France, it refers to the spaces taken in the new French parliament after the Revolution. Advertisement In the legal sense - it also refers to a 'right', or a liberty guaranteed by the state. In France, you will hear about Les droits et devoirs , referring to your official rights and obligations as a citizen, such as the right to vote ( le droit de vote ). Another phrase you might hear is L'état de droit , which is the principle that a society should be governed by laws and a justice system, in English we use the phrase 'rule of law'. L'état de droit is usually used as the opposite of vigilante justice, or the idea of people taking the law into their own hands and administering their own punishments to people they feel have wronged them. If you are referring to a specific law, like a new immigration law, you would use the word loi . In international trade - droit also translates as 'duty' or 'tax'. The phrase droit de douane refers to the 'duty' levied in international commerce, as douane is the French word for customs. Advertisement By the definition of the French customs authority, droit de douane (or droits de douane in plural) refers to the tax levied on goods entering or leaving a customs territory, so you'll see the phrase in headlines referring to negotiations with Donald Trump over US tariffs. In parenting - And finally, parents might discuss whether or not their children have certain privileges. If you are a parent, you might want to tell your babysitter 'The kids are not allowed to eat candy before dinner.' Les enfants n'ont pas le droit de manger les bonbons avant le dîner - the literal translation is 'the children don't have the right to eat sweets before dinner', but it's widely used in everyday French so a better, more casual translation would be 'not allowed'. Droit is of course not the only French word with multiple meanings - you can find a roundup of all the uses of the word coup (a useful word to chuck in to make your French sound more local) HERE. Grammar tips From agreeing adjectives to the subjunctive, French grammar can be fiendishly - some claim deliberately - complicated and almost all French learners have at one point despaired over ever getting it right. People learn languages in different ways - some people prefer to just throw themselves into chatting, others like to have a textbook and some exercises. But the formal and structured nature of the French language means that if you want to become fluent - and if you need written French - then you are going to have to learn some grammar. That's the purpose of our weekly series of French grammar tips and tricks - and you can also sign up to receive them as a newsletter. The tips are not intended as a substitute for formal classes or sweating over those verb tables (sadly, those are necessary for most people), but may be of some help to language learners. They come from our own experiences of living and working in France, and as with our popular French Word of the Day feature , we've tried to focus on examples that will be useful in everyday life. Read more French grammar tips; French grammar tips: Look out for the accent French grammar tips: Cheat the future Guessing the gender of nouns The cheat's guide to the subjunctive Understanding French place names Getting the date and time right Pay attention to your French friend's English mistakes Which French grammar rules do you find most confusing? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Euronews
9 hours ago
- Euronews
No part of France is free of drugs, anti-narcotic agency warns
France has become a country with no area free of drugs, according to a report by the country's anti-narcotics office OFAST, raising concerns about the scale of cocaine trafficking and its grip on French society. Described as a 'white tsunami' by French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau, the report warns of an explosive rise in cocaine availability, calling it an 'existential threat' and a form of 'counter-culture' driven by violence and impunity, FranceInfo reported. In just the first six months of 2025, authorities seized 37.5 tonnes of cocaine, up 45% from the same period in 2024, a record high. According to OFAST, this is a sign of how deeply entrenched drug trafficking has become across the country. In 2024 alone, 367 murders or attempted murders linked to drug-related violence were recorded in 173 cities. 'Taking control of neighbourhoods fuels everyday crime, normalises violence and illegal money as part of a growing counter-culture, and seriously damages efforts to improve cities and help people integrate into society,' the report stated. The report also highlighted how some trafficking networks have gone beyond criminal activity and begun to exert social control in communities. In one example from Bagnols-sur-Cèze in southern France, residents received letters offering help with groceries or home repairs in exchange for tolerating drug dealing in their neighbourhood. In some areas, drug lords have even overruled local authority, acting as de facto rulers in their neighbourhoods. One such case involved Marseille's DZ Mafia, a gang that released a video last year featuring masked men, white sheets and weapons raised in the air, an echo of nationalist paramilitary groups. OFAST said the group aimed to undermine public institutions, pointing to recent attacks on prisons and prison officers' homes. The report also outlined a pyramid structure within the drug trade. While around 200,000 people are believed to profit in some way from the drug economy, a handful of top-level traffickers dominate drug imports into France, often operating from abroad. These individuals, according to OFAST, have built direct links to South American cartels, working so closely that they have effectively formed what resembles a 'French cocaine cartel'. Beneath them are 'middle-tier' distributors, followed by street-level dealers operating not only at France's 2,700 known dealing points, but increasingly via delivery systems or even Airbnb-style setups that let customers discreetly collect their drugs from rented apartments. In March, France's Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin announced he had "decided to strike hard" against the most dangerous drug traffickers in the country, pledging to imprison 200 of them in two high-security prisons by 15 October. The minister, who has made tackling the drugs trade a top priority since assuming the role in December, said the facilities would be renovated to make them "completely hermetic".
LeMonde
10 hours ago
- LeMonde
Aid airdrops in Gaza offer little relief given overwhelming need
The footage is impressive, but the results limited. For the past week, several countries, including Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, France and the United Kingdom, have been carrying out humanitarian aid airdrops over the Gaza Strip, using military planes to fly over the Palestinian territory. France is set to airdrop 40 metric tons of aid over four separate drops and Spain 12 metric tons. Other countries such as Belgium, Italy and Germany said they would also release aid. "The emergency in the Gaza Strip is such that it is absolutely vital to get essential goods in," said a source at the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs about the airdrops, acknowledging that the operation "barely" addresses the scale of what is needed. The Israeli military also announced it had carried out food airdrops in the enclave, where more than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of the war in response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry.
