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Local France
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Local France
France to hold new talks on New Caledonia future
The government will invite the different sides for talks in Paris 'to clarify economic, political and institutional issues with a view to reaching a shared agreement on the future of the archipelago,' Macron's office said. France has sought to ease tensions in nickel-rich New Caledonia following unrest that broke out in May 2024 that killed more than a dozen people and caused billions of euros of damage. Riots broke out over Paris's plan for voting reforms that indigenous Kanak people fear would leave them in a permanent minority, crushing their chances of independence. Three days of talks this May failed to bridge major differences between supporters and opponents of independence for the archipelago, which is home to around 270,000 people and located nearly 17,000 kilometres from Paris. Advertisement The government has proposed a plan that would give a form of dual French-Caledonian nationality and transfer some government responsibilities that anti-separatist politicians say amounts to independence for New Caledonia. This month's talks were the latest in a series this year that have failed to convince the two sides. French Overseas Territories Minister Manuel Valls said on Sunday that despite the failures, 'the thread of dialogue is not broken'.
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Health
- New York Post
France's National Assembly to vote on controversial bill legalizing end-of-life options
France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, is voting Tuesday on a bill to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication, as public demands grow across Europe for legal end-of-life options. Tuesday's vote, expected in the late afternoon, is a key legislative step on the contentious and long-debated issue. If approved by a majority of lawmakers, the bill will be sent to the Senate for further debate. Advertisement 5 France's lower house of parliament, the National Assembly, is voting on a bill to allow adults with incurable illness to take lethal medication for legal end-of-life options. AP The proposed measure defines assisted dying as allowing people to use a lethal substance under certain conditions so that they may take it themselves. Only those whose physical condition doesn't allow them to do it alone would be able to get help from a doctor or a nurse. The bill provides for strict conditions To benefit from the newly proposed measure, patients would need to be over 18 and be French citizens or live in France. Advertisement A team of medical professionals would need to confirm that the patient has a grave and incurable illness 'at an advanced or terminal stage,' is suffering from intolerable and untreatable pain, and is seeking lethal medication of their own free will. Patients with severe psychiatric conditions and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease won't be eligible. The person would initiate the request for lethal medication and confirm the request after a period of reflection. Advertisement If approved, a doctor would then deliver a prescription for the lethal medication, which could be taken at home, at a nursing home, or at a health care facility. 5 France's Minister of Overseas Manuel Valls (left) and France's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou stand ahead of a session of questions to the government at The National Assembly, France's lower house parliament, in Paris on May 27, 2025. AFP via Getty Images In parallel, another bill on palliative care meant to reinforce measures to relieve pain and preserve patients' dignity will also be put to a vote Tuesday. A 2023 report indicated that most French citizens back legalizing end-of-life options, and opinion polls show growing support over the past 20 years. Advertisement Initial discussions in parliament last year were abruptly interrupted by President Emmanuel Macron's decision to dissolve the National Assembly, plunging France into a months-long political crisis. Months-long debate still ahead A definitive vote on the measure could take months to be scheduled amid France's long and complex legislative process. The National Assembly has the final say over the Senate. Earlier this month, Macron suggested he could ask French voters to approve the measure via referendum if parliamentary discussions get off track. 5 Initial discussions in parliament last year were abruptly interrupted by President Emmanuel Macron's (pictured) decision to dissolve the National Assembly, plunging France into a months-long political crisis. Jeanne Accorsini/SIPA/Shutterstock Activists supporting the change have criticized the complexity and length of the parliamentary process, which they say penalizes patients waiting for end-of-life options. Many French people have traveled to neighboring countries where medically assisted suicide or euthanasia are legal. The Association for the Right to Die with Dignity (ADMD) has called on French lawmakers 'to respect the French who want the same right that our Dutch, Belgian, Luxembourgian, Swiss, Spanish, Portuguese neighbors have.' Advertisement 5 Tuesday's vote, expected in the late afternoon, is a key legislative step on the contentious and long-debated issue. AFP via Getty Images French religious leaders issued a joint statement to denounce the bill, warning about the 'dangers' of an 'anthropological rupture.' The Conference of Religious Leaders in France (CRCF), which represents the Catholic, Orthodox, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist communities, said the proposed measures risk exerting pressure on older people and those with illnesses or disabilities. Similar talks in the U.K. The debate in France comes as similar talks are ongoing in the U.K., where lawmakers are debating a bill to help terminally ill adults end their lives in England and Wales after giving it initial approval in November. Advertisement 5 Christian campaigners and supporters gather outside the Houses of Parliament to demonstrate their opposition to assisted dying as the Terminally Ill Adults Bill in London on May 16, 2025. WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Shutterstock Medically assisted suicide involves patients taking, of their own free will, a lethal drink or medication that has been prescribed by a doctor to those who meet certain criteria. Euthanasia involves doctors or other health practitioners giving patients who meet certain criteria a lethal injection at their own request. Advertisement Assisted suicide is allowed in Switzerland and several U.S. states. Euthanasia is currently legal in the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Canada, Australia, Colombia, Belgium, and Luxembourg under certain conditions.
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
New Caledonia, French Polynesia At UN Decolonisation Seminar In Dili
New Caledonia and French Polynesia are both in the UN's list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, respectively since 1986 and 2013. , Correspondent French Pacific Desk New Caledonia and French Polynesia are sending strong delegations this week to the United Nations (UN) Pacific regional seminar on the implementation of the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism in Timor Leste. The seminar is scheduled to be held in Dili from 21 to 23 May. As French Pacific non-self-governing territories, the two Pacific territories will brief the UN on recent developments at the event, which is themed 'Pathways to a sustainable future – advancing socioeconomic and cultural development of the Non-Self-Governing Territories'. New Caledonia and French Polynesia are both in the UN's list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, respectively since 1986 and 2013. Nouméa-based France's Ambassador for the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan is also attending. After the Dili meeting this week, the UN's Fourth Commission is holding its formal meeting in New York in July and again in October in the margins of the UN General Assembly. As New Caledonia marks the first anniversary of the civil unrest that killed 14 and caused material damage to the tune of €2.2 billion this month, the French Pacific territory's political parties have been engaged for the past four months in political talks with France to define New Caledonia's political future. However, the talks have not yet managed to produce a consensual way forward between pro-France and pro-independence groups. French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, at the end of the most recent session on 8 May, put on the table a project of 'sovereignty with France' which was met by strong opposition by the pro-France 'Loyalists' (anti-independence) camp. This year again, parties and groups from around the political spectrum are planning to travel to Dili to plead their respective cases. Topping the list is New Caledonia's government President Alcide Ponga, who chairs the pro-France Rassemblement party and came to power in January 2025. Other represented institutions include New Caledonia's customary (traditional) Senate, a kind of Great Council of Chiefs, which also sends participants to ensure the voice of indigenous Kanak people is heard. Over the past two years, pro-France groups have become more aware of the need for them to be more vocal and present at regional and international fora. French Polynesia back on the UN list since 2013 In French Polynesia, the pro-independence ruling Tavini Huiraatira party commemorated the 12th anniversary re-inscription to the UN list of territories to be decolonised on 17 May 2013. This week, Tavini also sends a strong delegation to Timor Leste, which includes Territorial Assembly President Antony Géros. However, the pro-France parties, locally known as 'pro-autonomy', also want to ensure their views are taken into account. One of them is Moerani Frébault, one of French Polynesia's representatives at the French National Assembly. 'Contrary to what the pro-independence people are saying, we're not dominated by the French Republic', he told local media at a news conference at the weekend. Frébault said the pro-autonomy parties now want to invite a UN delegation to French Polynesia 'so they can see for themselves that we have all the tools we need for our development. 'This is the message we want to get across'. Territorial Assembly member Tepuaraurii Teriitahi, from the pro-autonomy Tapura Huiraatira party, is also travelling to Dili. 'The majority of (French) Polynesians is not pro-independence. So when we travel to this kind of seminar, it is because we want to counter those who allege that the whole of (French) Polynesians is sharing this aspiration for independence', she said. On the pro-independence side in Papeete, the official line is that it wants Paris to at least engage in talks with French Polynesia to 'open the subject of decolonisation'. For the same purpose, the Tavini party, in April 2025, officially presented a draft for what could become a 'Constitution of a Federated Republic of Ma'ohi Nui'. The document is sometimes described as drawing inspirations from France and the United States, but is not yet regarded as fully matured. Earlier this month, French Polynesia's President Moetai Brotherson was in Paris for a series of meetings with several members of the French cabinet, including Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls and French Foreign Affairs minister Yannick Neuder. Valls is currently contemplating visiting French Polynesia early in July 2025. Brotherson came to power in May 2023. Since being elected to the top post, he has stressed that independence, although it remained a longterm goal, was not an immediate priority. He also said many times that he wished for relations with France to evolve, especially on the decolonisation subject. 'I think we should put those ten years of misunderstanding, of denial of dialogue behind us', he said. In October 2023, for the first time since French Polynesia was re-inscribed on the UN list, France made representations at the UN Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee), ending a ten-year empty chair hiatus . But the message delivered by French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas De Rivière, was unambiguous. He said that French Polynesia 'has no place' on the UN list of non-autonomous territories because 'French Polynesia's history is not the history of New Caledonia'. He also voiced France's wish to have French Polynesia withdrawn from the UN list. The UN list of non-self-governing territories currently includes 17 territories worldwide and six of those are located in the Pacific: American Samoa, Guam, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands and Tokelau.
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
New Caledonia, French Polynesia At UN Decolonisation Seminar In Dili
Article – RNZ New Caledonia and French Polynesia are both in the UN's list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, respectively since 1986 and 2013. , Correspondent French Pacific Desk New Caledonia and French Polynesia are sending strong delegations this week to the United Nations (UN) Pacific regional seminar on the implementation of the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism in Timor Leste. The seminar is scheduled to be held in Dili from 21 to 23 May. As French Pacific non-self-governing territories, the two Pacific territories will brief the UN on recent developments at the event, which is themed 'Pathways to a sustainable future – advancing socioeconomic and cultural development of the Non-Self-Governing Territories'. New Caledonia and French Polynesia are both in the UN's list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, respectively since 1986 and 2013. Nouméa-based France's Ambassador for the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan is also attending. After the Dili meeting this week, the UN's Fourth Commission is holding its formal meeting in New York in July and again in October in the margins of the UN General Assembly. As New Caledonia marks the first anniversary of the civil unrest that killed 14 and caused material damage to the tune of €2.2 billion this month, the French Pacific territory's political parties have been engaged for the past four months in political talks with France to define New Caledonia's political future. However, the talks have not yet managed to produce a consensual way forward between pro-France and pro-independence groups. French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, at the end of the most recent session on 8 May, put on the table a project of 'sovereignty with France' which was met by strong opposition by the pro-France 'Loyalists' (anti-independence) camp. This year again, parties and groups from around the political spectrum are planning to travel to Dili to plead their respective cases. Topping the list is New Caledonia's government President Alcide Ponga, who chairs the pro-France Rassemblement party and came to power in January 2025. Other represented institutions include New Caledonia's customary (traditional) Senate, a kind of Great Council of Chiefs, which also sends participants to ensure the voice of indigenous Kanak people is heard. Over the past two years, pro-France groups have become more aware of the need for them to be more vocal and present at regional and international fora. French Polynesia back on the UN list since 2013 In French Polynesia, the pro-independence ruling Tavini Huiraatira party commemorated the 12th anniversary re-inscription to the UN list of territories to be decolonised on 17 May 2013. This week, Tavini also sends a strong delegation to Timor Leste, which includes Territorial Assembly President Antony Géros. However, the pro-France parties, locally known as 'pro-autonomy', also want to ensure their views are taken into account. One of them is Moerani Frébault, one of French Polynesia's representatives at the French National Assembly. 'Contrary to what the pro-independence people are saying, we're not dominated by the French Republic', he told local media at a news conference at the weekend. Frébault said the pro-autonomy parties now want to invite a UN delegation to French Polynesia 'so they can see for themselves that we have all the tools we need for our development. 'This is the message we want to get across'. Territorial Assembly member Tepuaraurii Teriitahi, from the pro-autonomy Tapura Huiraatira party, is also travelling to Dili. 'The majority of (French) Polynesians is not pro-independence. So when we travel to this kind of seminar, it is because we want to counter those who allege that the whole of (French) Polynesians is sharing this aspiration for independence', she said. On the pro-independence side in Papeete, the official line is that it wants Paris to at least engage in talks with French Polynesia to 'open the subject of decolonisation'. For the same purpose, the Tavini party, in April 2025, officially presented a draft for what could become a 'Constitution of a Federated Republic of Ma'ohi Nui'. The document is sometimes described as drawing inspirations from France and the United States, but is not yet regarded as fully matured. Earlier this month, French Polynesia's President Moetai Brotherson was in Paris for a series of meetings with several members of the French cabinet, including Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls and French Foreign Affairs minister Yannick Neuder. Valls is currently contemplating visiting French Polynesia early in July 2025. Brotherson came to power in May 2023. Since being elected to the top post, he has stressed that independence, although it remained a longterm goal, was not an immediate priority. He also said many times that he wished for relations with France to evolve, especially on the decolonisation subject. 'I think we should put those ten years of misunderstanding, of denial of dialogue behind us', he said. In October 2023, for the first time since French Polynesia was re-inscribed on the UN list, France made representations at the UN Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee), ending a ten-year empty chair hiatus . But the message delivered by French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas De Rivière, was unambiguous. He said that French Polynesia 'has no place' on the UN list of non-autonomous territories because 'French Polynesia's history is not the history of New Caledonia'. He also voiced France's wish to have French Polynesia withdrawn from the UN list. The UN list of non-self-governing territories currently includes 17 territories worldwide and six of those are located in the Pacific: American Samoa, Guam, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands and Tokelau.
Scoop
21-05-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
New Caledonia, French Polynesia At UN Decolonisation Seminar In Dili
, Correspondent French Pacific Desk New Caledonia and French Polynesia are sending strong delegations this week to the United Nations (UN) Pacific regional seminar on the implementation of the Fourth International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism in Timor Leste. The seminar is scheduled to be held in Dili from 21 to 23 May. As French Pacific non-self-governing territories, the two Pacific territories will brief the UN on recent developments at the event, which is themed "Pathways to a sustainable future - advancing socioeconomic and cultural development of the Non-Self-Governing Territories". New Caledonia and French Polynesia are both in the UN's list of non-self-governing territories to be decolonised, respectively since 1986 and 2013. Nouméa-based France's Ambassador for the Pacific Véronique Roger-Lacan is also attending. After the Dili meeting this week, the UN's Fourth Commission is holding its formal meeting in New York in July and again in October in the margins of the UN General Assembly. As New Caledonia marks the first anniversary of the civil unrest that killed 14 and caused material damage to the tune of €2.2 billion this month, the French Pacific territory's political parties have been engaged for the past four months in political talks with France to define New Caledonia's political future. However, the talks have not yet managed to produce a consensual way forward between pro-France and pro-independence groups. French Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls, at the end of the most recent session on 8 May, put on the table a project of "sovereignty with France" which was met by strong opposition by the pro-France "Loyalists" (anti-independence) camp. This year again, parties and groups from around the political spectrum are planning to travel to Dili to plead their respective cases. Topping the list is New Caledonia's government President Alcide Ponga, who chairs the pro-France Rassemblement party and came to power in January 2025. Other represented institutions include New Caledonia's customary (traditional) Senate, a kind of Great Council of Chiefs, which also sends participants to ensure the voice of indigenous Kanak people is heard. Over the past two years, pro-France groups have become more aware of the need for them to be more vocal and present at regional and international fora. French Polynesia back on the UN list since 2013 In French Polynesia, the pro-independence ruling Tavini Huiraatira party commemorated the 12th anniversary re-inscription to the UN list of territories to be decolonised on 17 May 2013. This week, Tavini also sends a strong delegation to Timor Leste, which includes Territorial Assembly President Antony Géros. However, the pro-France parties, locally known as "pro-autonomy", also want to ensure their views are taken into account. One of them is Moerani Frébault, one of French Polynesia's representatives at the French National Assembly. "Contrary to what the pro-independence people are saying, we're not dominated by the French Republic", he told local media at a news conference at the weekend. Frébault said the pro-autonomy parties now want to invite a UN delegation to French Polynesia "so they can see for themselves that we have all the tools we need for our development. "This is the message we want to get across". Territorial Assembly member Tepuaraurii Teriitahi, from the pro-autonomy Tapura Huiraatira party, is also travelling to Dili. "The majority of (French) Polynesians is not pro-independence. So when we travel to this kind of seminar, it is because we want to counter those who allege that the whole of (French) Polynesians is sharing this aspiration for independence", she said. On the pro-independence side in Papeete, the official line is that it wants Paris to at least engage in talks with French Polynesia to "open the subject of decolonisation". For the same purpose, the Tavini party, in April 2025, officially presented a draft for what could become a "Constitution of a Federated Republic of Ma'ohi Nui". The document is sometimes described as drawing inspirations from France and the United States, but is not yet regarded as fully matured. Earlier this month, French Polynesia's President Moetai Brotherson was in Paris for a series of meetings with several members of the French cabinet, including Minister for Overseas Manuel Valls and French Foreign Affairs minister Yannick Neuder. Valls is currently contemplating visiting French Polynesia early in July 2025. Brotherson came to power in May 2023. Since being elected to the top post, he has stressed that independence, although it remained a longterm goal, was not an immediate priority. He also said many times that he wished for relations with France to evolve, especially on the decolonisation subject. "I think we should put those ten years of misunderstanding, of denial of dialogue behind us", he said. In October 2023, for the first time since French Polynesia was re-inscribed on the UN list, France made representations at the UN Special Political and Decolonisation Committee (Fourth Committee), ending a ten-year empty chair hiatus . But the message delivered by French ambassador to the UN, Nicolas De Rivière, was unambiguous. He said that French Polynesia "has no place" on the UN list of non-autonomous territories because "French Polynesia's history is not the history of New Caledonia". He also voiced France's wish to have French Polynesia withdrawn from the UN list. The UN list of non-self-governing territories currently includes 17 territories worldwide and six of those are located in the Pacific: American Samoa, Guam, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Pitcairn Islands and Tokelau.
