Eleanor Beardsley

French government ministers have accused the country's universities of failing to recognize the threat to French society posed by radical Islamists.

After the beheading of a teacher in in a Parisian suburb last year, France is on the verge of a campaign against "separatist Islam." Some aren't sure how that fits with the country's secular ideals.

It could've been the E.U.'s finest hour, but instead, critics say the bloc's vaccine rollout is a bungled mess that included a diplomatic row with Ireland and the U.K.

European countries put more restrictive measures in place to control the spread of COVID-19. France has a strict overnight curfew, but the government says that's not enough to slow the virus down.

After sailing 24,000 miles nonstop in a nearly three-month journey, competitors in the Vendée Globe — an around-the-world solo yacht race — are expected to finish at a French port on Wednesday.

Participants in a world sailing race are due to return to France on Wednesday. More people have been to outer space than have completed the Vendee Globe -– a solo competition.

Europeans say Secretary of State Mike Pompeo didn't take the European Union seriously. But they believe things will be different with Antony Blinken, Biden's nominee for secretary of state.

France has been slowed in its vaccine rollout by the large number of people who say they are opposed to vaccinations. But the rapid spread of COVID-19 appears to be changing some skeptics' minds.

As U.S. performing artists struggle to make ends meet during the pandemic, those in France are benefitting from an unemployment system that takes into account the intermittent nature of their work.

From France to Germany to The Netherlands, citizens are venting frustration over the pace of the mass vaccination program.

Government officials in France are under fire for the slow rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. The country has one of the highest death tolls from the pandemic in Europe — more than 66,000.

In Europe's most densely populated city of Paris, where there have been two long lockdowns because of the cornavirus, a beloved river is helping many people get through it all.

Europeans, weary of the long Brexit saga, see the final bill of divorce inked on Thursday by European Union and United Kingdom negotiators as a Christmas present.

"It's not like we have the Atlantic Ocean to fish in," a French fisherman tells NPR. "Here, we're in the Channel. In an hour and a half, I'm in English waters. If that's off limits, I'm dead."

France and the U.K. have eased border restrictions imposed after a new strain of the coronavirus was detected in Britain. Thousands of French and other European truckers had been stuck in Dover.

Long lines were already forming at the port of Calais as French truckers tried to get goods into the U.K. before post-Brexit customs rules kick in. But new pandemic restrictions made them even longer.

French President Emmanuel Macron tested positive for the coronavirus and will quarantine for a week, his official residence announced.

France's interior minister thought his security-minded nation would support a bill to restrict filming of police but citizens across the political spectrum objected and the government dropped it.

Interpol has put out a warning of the threat of fake coronavirus vaccines and theft of genuine ones, saying criminal organizations plan to infiltrate and disrupt supply chains to cash in on vaccines.

The third president of the French Fifth Republic, Giscard d'Estaing expanded his nation's use of nuclear power and high-speed rail, but lost his bid for a second term.