Frances | Common News Update

Mar262021 by adminNo Comments

The Latest: France’s Macron defends no-lockdown policy

Health

PARIS — France’s president says he has nothing to be sorry about for refusing to impose a third virus lockdown earlier this year, even as his country is now facing surging infections that are straining hospitals and more than 1,000 people with the virus are dying every week.Emmanuel Macron’s government has stressed the importance of keeping children in school and businesses afloat as the pandemic stretches into a second year.“We were right not to implement a lockdown in France at the end of January because we didn’t have the explosion of cases that every model predicted,” he said late Thursday night. “There won’t be a mea culpa from me. I don’t have remorse and won’t acknowledge failure.”For months France has championed a “third way” between confinement and freedom, including a nationwide ...

May192020 by adminNo Comments

France’s Macron loses majority as defectors form new party

World

The party of French President Emmanuel Macron has lost its outright majority in parliament, after a group of MPs broke away to form a new party.Ecology, Democracy, Solidarity will be largely formed of seven MPs from La République en Marche (On the Move) and other ex-supporters of the president.The defecting MPs want to focus on green issues and social inequality.But their decision leaves Mr Macron's party with 288 seats, one short of a majority in the 577-seat lower house.French commentators said La République en Marche (LREM) still had the backing of two other political allies, the centrist MoDem as well as Agir from the centre-right, which together make up another 56 seats in the National Assembly.There is even a chance that th...

Jan32020 by adminNo Comments

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Frances Arnold retracts paper

Science

American scientist Frances Arnold, who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry, has retracted her latest paper.Ms Arnold shared the prestigious award in 2018 with George P Smith and Gregory Winter for their research on enzymes. A subsequent paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams was published in the journal Science in May 2019.It has been retracted because the results were not reproducible, and the authors found data missing from a lab notebook.Reproduction is an essential part of validating scientific experiments. If an experiment is a success, one would expect to get the same results every time it was conducted. Ms Arnold came forward with the news herself on Twitter on 2 January."For my first work-related tweet of 2020, I am t...

Oct252019 by adminNo Comments

Lockheed nabs $14.4M contract to support France’s C-130-J aircraft

Business

Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin won a $ 12.4 million contract for support of France's C-130-J and KC-130-J aircraft, the Defense Department said. The plane, known in various iterations as the Super Hercules, is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft suitable for delivering troops and cargo, as well as mid-air refueling. Seventeen nations have the plane and its variants in their fleets. France has four, its first brought into service in 2018 for use in airlift and refueling activities in the sub-Saharan Sahel region. France also has several aging C-130-H variants. The contract, announced by the Pentagon on Thursday, calls for long term sustainment of the aircraft, including program management support, spares parts, supply support services, support equipment, engineering serv...

May292018 by adminNo Comments

Home and Away actress Cornelia Frances dies

Entertainment

Cornelia Frances, who played Morag Bellingham in Home and Away, has died aged 77 following a battle with cancer. The British-born actress played the sister of Alf Stewart on the Australian soap.Ray Meagher, who played her on-screen brother, said: "Cornie was an incredibly loved and valued member of our cast over many, many years."We had a moment of silence for her on set this morning and she'll be sadly missed by both cast and crew." Vale #CorneliaFrances. You were always ahead of the game. Will miss your witty banter on-set X— Lincoln Younes (@lincolnyounes1) 29 May 2018 Channel Seven, which airs the programme, said: "Cornelia Frances was a unique person. Her on screen presence inspired a generation of actors."This gift wa...