Is Tucker Carlson eyeing a 2028 US presidential run?


Issued on: 08/05/2026 - FRANCE24

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson knows how to get and keep an audience. Amid his recent criticism of US President Donald Trump, the controversial podcast host has drawn in fans from unexpected parts of the political spectrum. This week on FRANCE 24's media show Scoop, we look at Carlson's history, influence and ambition. Our guest is The New Yorker's Jason Zengerle, author of "Hated by All the Right People: Tucker Carlson and the Unravelling of the Conservative Mind."

BY: William HILDERBRANDT

11:50 min From the show

Germans confront past with Nazi party membership lists available online

Issued on: 08/05/2026 - FRANCE24

05:05 min  From the show


As Europe commemorates the 81st anniversary of the Allied victory over the Nazis this May 8, many in Germany are discovering long-buried family secrets. Nazi party membership lists – saved from destruction in 1945 – are now available online. In just a few clicks, the Nazi past of millions of German families is within reach.

This online access to Nazi party membership lists comes at a crucial time. As the generation that lived under the Third Reich gradually disappears, it is now their grandchildren and great-grandchildren who are daring to ask the long-taboo question: what role did my grandfather or and grandmother play under the Nazis?
Germany is often held up as a model for its remembrance culture. But an intimate reckoning with its Nazi past remains far from complete. In 2020, only 3 percent of Germans surveyed by Die Zeit said their ancestors had supported National Socialism – a figure that speaks volumes about the silence that still lingers within families.

FRANCE 24's Anne Mailliet, Caroline du Bled, Leyla Sobler, Raphaël Kominis and Nick Holdsworth report.

BY:

Anne MAILLIET

Caroline DU BLED

Raphael KOMINIS

Nick HOLDSWORTH

Leyla Sobler

Pentagon releases new files on UFOs

Issued on: 09/05/2026 -

Bright lights and mysterious objects, those are what could be found in a new batch of files on UFOs that the Pentagon began releasing on Friday as President Donald Trump taps into the public's long-held curiosities about "unidentified anomalous phenomena” in the broader universe.

Video by: FRANCE 24

Pentagon releases first batch of ‘top secret’ UFO files


The Pentagon on Friday released decades of previously classified UFO sightings recorded by the FBI and NASA and other federal agencies. At least two of the more than 160 documents date back to the 1940s and report sightings of flying "discs” and “saucers”.


Issued on: 08/05/2026 
By: FRANCE 24

This video grab image obtained April 28, 2020 courtesy of the US Department of Defense shows part of an unclassified video taken by Navy pilots that have circulated for years showing interactions with "unidentified anomalous phenomena". © US Dept of Defense handout, AFP file picture


The Pentagon on Friday released a first batch of secret files documenting reported sightings of unidentified flying objects – some dating back to the 1940s – fanning speculation over whether extraterrestrial life exists.

Reports of flying saucers and discs, and a sighting of an orb that resembled the "Eye of Sauron" are among the incidents in the files, which are from the FBI, State Department and NASA in addition to the Pentagon.

Trump orders Pentagon, other US agencies to release files on UFOs and aliens

Interest in UFOs has been renewed in recent years as the US government investigated numerous reports of seemingly supernatural aircraft, amid worries that adversaries could be testing highly advanced technologies.

"These files, hidden behind classifications, have long fueled justified speculation – and it's time the American people see it for themselves," Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a statement.

More than 160 files were released on the website of the defence department, which officially refers to UFOs as "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena," or UAPs.

One file – from December 1947 – contains a series of reports on "flying discs."

"Continued and recent reports from qualified observers concerning this phenomenon still makes this matter one of concern to Headquarters, Air Material Command," a document in the file said.

An Air Force intelligence report – marked "top secret" – from November of the following year features information on reported sightings of "unidentified aircraft" and "flying saucers".

"For some time we have been concerned by the recurring reports on flying saucers," a document in that file said.

Another file summarises statements from seven federal government employees who separately reported "several unidentified anomalous phenomena" in the United States in 2023.

'Most compelling'

"The reporters' credibility, and the potentially anomalous nature of the events themselves – combine to make this report among the most compelling within AARO's current holdings," a description of the file said, referring to the Pentagon's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office.

In one of the incidents, three teams of federal law enforcement special agents independently described "seeing orange 'orbs' in the sky emit/launch smaller red 'orbs.'"

In another, two federal special agents witnessed "a glowing orange orb... perched close to a rock pinnacle". That account included an artist rendering of a red-orange circle with a streak of yellow in its lower third.

The object was described as looking "similar to the Eye (of) Sauron from Lord of the Rings, except without the pupil."

President Donald Trump directed US federal agencies in February to begin identifying and releasing government files related to UFOs and aliens, saying the move was "based on the tremendous interest shown."

The Republican president also claimed the same day he issued the release order that one of his Democratic predecessors, Barack Obama, had revealed "classified" information in viral podcast remarks about the existence of extraterrestrial life.

"They're real, but I haven't seen them and they're not being kept in... Area 51," Obama told host Brian Tyler Cohen, referring to the top-secret US military facility in Nevada at the heart of many UFO conspiracy theories.

Trump told reporters at the time that Obama "gave classified information, he is not supposed to be doing that," while saying of his own beliefs: "I don't know if they are real or not."

No evidence has been produced of intelligent life beyond Earth.

In March 2024, the Pentagon released a report saying it had no proof that UAP were alien technology, with many suspicious sightings turning out to be merely weather balloons, spy planes, satellites and other normal activity.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)

Putin's 'paranoia': 'He is fearful of Ukrainians & afraid the elite around him is starting to break'

Issued on: 08/05/2026 - FRANCE24

Play (07:18 min)

From the show


Mark Owen is pleased to welcome Melinda Haring, expert on Ukraine, non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Eurasia Center and senior advisor to Razom Advocacy's advisory board. According to Haring, the psychological and military balance between Russia and Ukraine is pivoting. Her central argument, in the lead-up to Russia's May 9 Victory Day celebrations, is that the Kremlin's increasingly defensive posture reveals a profound shift in the war: "Vladimir Putin is finally afraid".

Haring frames the Victory Day parade not as a display of triumphant state power, but as a diminished and anxious spectacle. The contrast she draws is vivid and politically consequential: "A year ago, the celebration in Red Square was big and bold… This year, it's not big. It's not bold. It's going to be kind of pathetic and they're fearful."

In her telling, Ukraine's rapid advances in drone warfare and long-range strike capabilities have altered not only the battlefield, but the psychological architecture of the Kremlin itself.

Beyond military developments, Haring focuses on the realm of political psychology and elite instability. She paints a portrait of an increasingly isolated Russian president whose paranoia has deepened under the pressures of war, technological vulnerability and internal power struggles. "He's not only afraid of the Ukrainians wanting to whack him", she argues, "he's afraid that the elite around him is starting to break".

Perhaps most compelling is her broader reframing of the war narrative itself. Rather than accepting the mythology of Soviet military grandeur traditionally embodied in Victory Day commemorations, Haring redirects attention towards "the defenders of Ukraine and what they've been able to accomplish with so little."

VIDEO BY:

Ilayda HABIP

Mark OWEN

Kremlin bristles at Zelensky's 'silly joke' about Red Square parade

09.05.2026, DPA

Photo: Ulf Mauder/dpa

Russia has given a terse response to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's decree "approving" the May 9 military parade in Moscow after days of speculation that the event could be attacked.

"We don’t need anyone’s permission," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state television ahead of Saturday's annual celebration of the Soviet Union's Victory Day over Nazi Germany in World War II.

"Woe betide anyone who tries to make a mockery of Victory Day and crack such stupid jokes," said the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Zelensky on Friday had published a decree "On the holding of a parade in Moscow" containing the grid coordinates of Red Square, which are to be exempt from Ukrainian attacks.

The decree accompanied a temporary ceasefire brokered by US President Donald Trump, which is to remain in force until May 11.

By the morning, there had been no official reports of violations of this agreement, which comes after more than four years of heavy fighting since Russia's full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022.

'Proud of Victory Day'

Peskov described it as a "great misfortune" for Zelensky that he was behaving in this way.

Victory Day is celebrated in large parts of the former Soviet Union as a "day of pride with tears," he said, noting that the now dissolved country – which also incorporated Ukraine - lost more than 27 million people during the liberation of Europe from Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship.

"We don't need anyone's permission to be proud of our Victory Day," said Peskov.

Following massive Ukrainian drone attacks in recent days and weeks, the Russian leadership had decided to go ahead with this year's parade without the customary show of strength, including tanks, missiles and other military equipment.

Instead, Putin is inspecting a parade of thousands of soldiers and delivering a speech.

The security situation in Moscow, as in other cities across Russia that are holding Victory Day parades, is extremely tense. In many places, mobile internet access has been blocked for the public.

The unconditional surrender of the German armed forces on May 8, 1945, in Berlin was received in Moscow in the early hours of May 9 – the date that Russia formally marks Victory Day.

• Zelensky's decree in Ukrainian

(c) 2026 dpa Deutsche Presse Agentur GmbH

ANALYSIS

Russia loses ground – but not the war – in Ukraine

Moscow lost territory on the battlefield in April 2026 for the first time since Ukraine’s bold August 2024 incursion into Russia's Kursk oblast, according to an analysis published this week. Moscow's losses were equivalent to some 116 square kilometres across several areas of the front line.


Issued on: 08/05/2026 
FRANCE24
By: Sébastian SEIBT

Soldiers from Ukraine's 65th Mechanised Brigade train in the Zaporizhzhia region.

 © Andriy Andriyenko, AP

Russia lost territory in Ukraine in April for the first time since 2024, according to a report by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) published May 2.

Ukraine gained some 116 square kilometres (45 square miles) along several areas of the front, including in the Sumy region north of Kharkiv but also further south in Zaporizhzhia province, says Huseyn Aliyev, a specialist on the war in Ukraine at the University of Glasgow.

The Russian advance has been slowing significantly since November 2025, according to the report, and is sluggish overall in 2026 compared to this time last year. But the changing nature of the war – and Russia’s increased use of infiltration tactics – make year-on-year comparisons difficult, it noted.

"Russian forces have been using infiltration tactics in part to create the perception of continuous Russian advances across the front and to support Kremlin cognitive warfare efforts to exaggerate Russian successes," the ISW wrote. "Russian forces, however, do not control these infiltration areas, which are often collocated among Ukrainian positions in contested 'gray zones.'"

Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, May 2, 2026 © Institute for the Study of War

Tactical withdrawals?

But this is not a large-scale military retreat that would involve a strategic repositioning along the entire front, says Erik Stijnman, a specialist in military security and the Russo-Ukrainian war at the Dutch Clingendael Institute for International Relations.

These are more like tactical withdrawals, with both sides testing enemy defences at different points along the front line, adds Ivan U. Klyszcz, a Russia specialist at the International Centre for Defence and Security in Tallinn, Estonia.

Nevertheless, the situation is much bleaker for Moscow than at the same time in 2025.

Russia had already begun its spring-summer offensive as the weather conditions improved around this time last year, Aliyev notes. Russia is still managing to advance, albeit modestly, on the fronts it considers priorities, such as the region around Pokrovsk and towards the city of Kramatorsk.

Fewer soldiers, more drones

Ukraine’s territorial gains also demonstrate the effectiveness of its strategy of harassing Russian troops rather than simply holding onto positions, Klyszcz says.

Simultaneously, Ukraine is intensifying its campaign of launching ever-deeper strikes on Russian infrastructure, forcing Moscow to allocate more resources to defending its territory, says Will Kingston-Cox, a specialist on Russia and the war in Ukraine at the International Team for the Study of Security (ITSS) Verona.

The Russian army has been struggling for months to mobilise more troops, Aliyev says, including recruiting more aggressively from universities.

These recruitment troubles can be seen on the battlefield, Klyszcz observes, with troops that are less well-trained and less effective than last year.

The difficulty in finding new troops for the front is even greater for Ukraine than for Russia, which has a much larger population. But the realities of the front line – which is now largely manned by drones – makes any offensive far more dangerous and deadly for the attacker, says Kingston-Cox.

War of attrition

And Ukraine now has another technological advantage: Starlink 's decision to cut off Russian troops' access to its satellites was a major blow to Russia, which is now struggling to communicate as effectively as before.

In February, the Kremlin also began restricting access to Telegram, where a lot of tactical communication was previously shared.


Ukraine’s territorial gains could have a long-term impact if they allow Ukraine to recapture ever-more-strategic areas, Aliyev says.

Nevertheless, recent Ukrainian territorial successes should not be overestimated. The 116 square kilometres lost in April will mean nothing if Russia eventually succeeds in destroying Ukrainian defences.

This is now a true war of attrition, Stijnman says, in which territorial gains are less important than one side's ability to inflict more losses than the other can withstand.

This article was translated from the original in French.

Norway's Svalbard archipelago, a pawn on Russia's chessboard

Issued on: 07/05/2026 - FRANCE24

25:00 min From the show

Not far from the North Pole, in the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, lies a piece of Russia. In NATO member state Norway, two Russian villages, or "settlements" as Moscow calls them, have been active for decades. This frozen, hostile land at the ends of the Earth has caught Moscow's interest.

Since Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, this Russian presence in Norway has become a cause for concern. Relations between Oslo and Moscow have worsened and despite European sanctions against these "settlements" in Svalbard, Moscow is holding its ground.

A few kilometres away, residents of the Norwegian town of Longyearbyen are wary of the slightest move on the Russian side.

With Europe ever more divided between East and West, Svalbard is strategic. Both sides know this gateway to the Arctic and its natural resources is crucial. And Russia intends to maintain its presence on European soil.

A report for Arte and FRANCE 24 by Gaël Mocaer

Propaganda war: The Gen Z team behind Iran’s hit anti-Trump videos

Issued on: 07/05/2026 -

Satirical Lego animations depicting US President Donald Trump as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s puppet while casting Iran as the defender of the oppressed mark the latest propaganda coup for the Iranian regime in its war with the US. The FRANCE 24 Observers team spoke to one of the young Iranians behind the videos.

From being portrayed as Benjamin Netanyahu’s puppet to being shown entangled in the Epstein affair, Donald Trump has become the star of a series of satirical Lego animations.

Posted by Iranian officials and embassies, these videos have been a worldwide hit – marking a propaganda coup for the Iranian regime in its war with the United States.

The group that first created the videos calls itself Explosive Media. Our team spoke with their spokesman:

“We’re a group of friends. Most of us are students – or recently graduated. We’re between 19 and 25. We listen to a wide range of music – rap, pop.

We write our own rap lyrics. But when it comes to the final track – the singing voice – that part is generated using AI.”

The videos portray Iran as acting in self-defence and as the defender of people oppressed by the US around the world.

The group told FRANCE 24 they do not take orders from the Iranian regime. We were not able to confirm this.

“We’re independent. But even if people call it propaganda, does that really matter? What matters is whether American people believe us.

Whether they connect with what we’re saying. Because we see ourselves as speaking the truth.”
‘They don’t limit their religious acts to just reading the Quran or praying’

So how is it that young conservative Iranians who support the regime have adopted the codes of Generation Z? We put that question to Iranian journalist Ali Pourtabatabaei:

“From my perspective, this is not unusual. This is because the same tools and resources available worldwide for creating such animations have also been accessible in Iran. At the same time, rap has become very popular among Iranian youth.

It might be hard for people outside Iran to understand how young religious Iranians are aware of these possibilities and how to use them. Perhaps it’s because there are stereotypes about them.

They have interests and skills that go far beyond what we imagine.

They don’t limit their religious acts to just reading the Quran or praying. Making these kinds of videos and music can also be considered a religious act.”

BY:The FRANCE 24 Observers

Trapped seafarers traumatised by Gulf fighting: charities

At least 11 seafarers have been killed, according to the International Maritime Organization.

London (AFP) – Isolated and traumatised by drones and missiles, seafarers in the Gulf face grave mental suffering after more than two months stuck on board in the Middle East war, maritime charities warn.


Issued on: 09/05/2026 - 

Seafarers caught up in the US-Israeli war against Iran have faced mental trauma, charities say © Giuseppe CACACE / AFP

From captains to cooks, engineers and other officers, the workers who keep global freight flowing have found themselves not just stranded but in some cases right in the firing line of the US-Israeli war with Iran.

"We hear stories of how frightened they are. It's pretty scary," said Gavin Lim, head of the Crisis Response Network for the Sailors' Society, a UK-based seafarers' charity, who spoke with one crew whose vessel was hit. "They thought: 'We were going to die'."

Trade vessels have been struck by projectiles and fired on by Iranian Revolutionary Guards in dozens of incidents, according to the British maritime security monitor UKMTO.

At least 11 seafarers have been killed, according to the International Maritime Organization.

"They see drones flying, they see missiles flying, and then we see instances where the ships get hit," said Lim. "You can imagine that anxiety and fear building up. 'Are we just bait? Are we going to be a victim so that someone can make a point?'"

The Seafarers' Charity cites hypervigilance, burnout, fatigue, loneliness, depression and anxiety as some of the mental strains facing the 20,000 seafarers stranded by Iran's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz since February 28.

At least two commercial vessels have been seized by Iranian forces under their blockade of the vital trade route. A video showed masked guards with guns boarding a ship.

"We heard that one of the seafarers, an officer, suffered a panic attack while the vessel was being boarded," said John Canias, maritime operations coordinator for the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF).

"Fortunately, the news is they have been taken care of... they have been allowed to speak to their family through the internet."

Bereaved families

The strain extends to the seafarers' families at home, worried about their stranded loved ones -- or in the worst cases, bereaved.

On March 1, the second day of the conflict, a projectile hit a tanker in the Gulf, killing a 25-year-old Indian seafarer as he started his shift in the engine room, said Melanie Warman, communications director for the Sailors' Society, who spoke to his family.

"The mother has been in and out of hospital, not eating. It's obviously a really desperate situation," she told AFP.

"For the families, this is really, really difficult. We hear from families who can't reach their loved ones on board ships and they're really frantic with worry."

Like the Sailors' Society, another sailors' helpline charity, the International Seafarers' Welfare and Assistance Network (ISWAN), fields calls from trapped workers and offers them practical and psychological support.

"Most of the calls are around repatriation -- what are their rights, how to go about it -- and also obviously the sort of the stress and the worry about being in a conflict zone and not being trained or prepared for it," said ISWAN's chief executive, Simon Grainge.

Training to cope

Some charities are working with shipping companies to strengthen support for seafarers under unprecedented strain.

"The most up-to-date guidance we have on mental health and attacks is really based around Somali piracy, which is more under control" since attacks in the Indian Ocean surged in the early 2000s, said Deborah Layde, chief executive of the Seafarers' Charity.

"One of the things that quite a few organisations are now calling for is really up-to-date guidance on how to deal with wartime issues," she added. "This isn't something that a lot of shipping companies are ready for."

To that end, the charity has turned to mental health professionals to help provide guidelines and a webinar to guide seafarers to cope with the stress of the situation.

"There's this constant higher level of stress and hypervigilance without that ability to reset as they might normally do. There's exhaustion," said Rachel Glynn-Williams, a psychologist working with seafarers who is involved in developing the webinar.

"At the point I pick up crew conversations, they will have been on hyper-alert for a sustained amount of time, so their nervous system will be heightened and it's going to take a little time, depending on the individual, for that nervous system to reset," she told AFP.

"For some people, it might be fairly soon afterwards, within a matter of days, if not hours. For others, it might take a little longer."

© 2026 AFP

France positions aircraft carrier for possible mission in Strait of Hormuz

France is moving its aircraft carrier strike group towards the Red Sea as preparations gather pace for a possible French-British maritime security mission in the Strait of Hormuz.

Issued on: 07/05/2026 - RFI

A fighter jet takes off from the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Mediterranean Sea  © AFP - ERIC FEFERBERG

France's nuclear-powered Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, accompanied by its escort vessels, is being repositioned as part of a broader mission championed by Paris and London, aimed at restoring maritime security in the Strait of Hormuz.

The move, announced by President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday, places French warships closer to one of the world’s most strategically vital waterways.

The effective closure of the strait amid the conflict in Iran has left hundreds of vessels stranded and prompted what the International Energy Agency has described as the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market.

French officials stressed that the proposed European-led operation would remain defensive in nature and separate from the US military operation to escort ships through the Strait of Hormuz, which began on Monday before being paused by President Donald Trump on Tuesday evening.

Macron said the initiative could help reassure the global shipping industry. “It may help restore confidence among shipowners and insurers,” he wrote on X. “It remains distinct from the parties at war.”

The French president, who also held talks with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday, said he intended to discuss the situation with Trump in the coming days.

“A return to calm in the Strait will help advance negotiations on nuclear issues, ballistic matters, and the regional situation,” Macron wrote. “Europeans … will play their part.”

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told RTL radio on Wednesday that France opposed lifting “the slightest sanction” on Iran while the Strait of Hormuz remained blocked.

Security risks

French military officials underlined that any deployment in the strait would only move forward once security risks had eased.

Colonel Guillaume Vernet, spokesperson for the French armed forces chief of staff, said operations would not begin until two conditions had been met: the threat level to commercial shipping must fall, and the maritime sector must regain enough confidence to resume transits through the strait.

Vernet also said any operation would require the backing of neighbouring states, including Iran itself. Iran effectively closed the strait after the conflict erupted on 28 February following attacks by the United States and Israel, subsequently targeting and threatening vessels in the region.

While Vernet did not provide a timeline for the Charles de Gaulle’s arrival, he said the carrier group was being positioned so it could respond quickly should conditions improve.

The crisis has had a dramatic impact on maritime insurance costs. Industry estimates suggest war-risk premiums for ships transiting the Strait of Hormuz have climbed to four to five times their pre-conflict levels.

According to Vernet, the current financial risks remain too severe for most operators. “For now, insurance premiums are so high that not a single ship will jeopardise their trip or go there,” he said.

Alice Rufo, France's junior minister for the armed forces and veterans, told BFMTV on Thursday that a recent incident involving a French-flagged container ship underlined how “extremely grave and tense” the regional situation had become.

The vessel was reportedly attacked while transiting the Strait of Hormuz on Tuesday, injuring crew members and damaging the ship.

Rufo added that France stood ready to escort ships through the strait.

European coalition

Washington has not participated in the French-British planning effort. Analysts have compared the emerging Hormuz mission to the “coalition of the willing” assembled by Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in support of Ukraine.

A senior French official, speaking anonymously, said the operation was intended to demonstrate Europe’s ability to safeguard a critical global trade route.

“We want to send the message that not only are we ready to secure the Strait of Hormuz, but that we are also capable of doing so,” the official told the Associated Press.

France had pushed for a multinational initiative from the early days of the conflict. Macron and Starmer hosted representatives from dozens of countries at a Paris summit on 17 April, while military planners from more than 30 nations later worked through operational details for a potential deployment.

The Charles de Gaulle was originally redirected from the Baltic Sea to the eastern Mediterranean shortly after the war began. French officials described the move as part of an “unprecedented” mobilisation that also includes eight frigates and two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships.

France has additionally been strengthening its Gulf presence through air operations based at Al Dhafra airbase in the United Arab Emirates. French Rafale fighter jets stationed there have intercepted Iranian drones and missiles over the Gulf state since the start of the conflict under a longstanding defence agreement with Abu Dhabi.

(with newswires)

Amazon ramps up French operations with €15bn expansion and 7,000 jobs

Amazon will invest more than €15 billion in France over the next three years and create more than 7,000 permanent jobs, the US e-commerce giant said, as it expands its logistics network, cloud services and artificial intelligence operations.


Issued on: 06/05/2026 - RFI

Amazon says it will invest more than €15 billion in France over the next three years. REUTERS - PASCAL ROSSIGNOL

The investment is Amazon’s biggest in France so far. It will fund new logistics sites, develop cloud and AI services and strengthen the company’s existing network, Amazon said in a statement on Tuesday.

Four new distribution centres are planned across northern, eastern and central France. Job creation will begin in 2026 with the opening of the first three sites.

New sites and jobs

The first wave will create 1,000 permanent jobs in Illiers-Combray, south-west of Paris, another 1,000 in the northern city of Beauvais and 3,000 near Lyon in southeastern France.

A fourth distribution centre is due to open near the German border in Ensisheim, in eastern France, at the end of 2027, creating another 2,000 permanent jobs.

The company has already invested more than €30 billion in France since 2010.

The investment would bring “faster deliveries, a wider choice and low prices accessible across France, as well as a reduced environmental footprint thanks to a local logistics network”, Amazon France chief executive Jean-Baptiste Thomas said.

Amazon's French warehouses fined €32m over employee surveillance

France expansion

Amazon said the investment would also directly benefit local areas and French businesses using Amazon’s marketplace, technology, cloud and AI services.

“More than 7,000 permanent jobs will be created, and French companies that rely on our marketplace, our technologies and our cloud and AI solutions to grow will also benefit directly,” Thomas added.

Amazon was founded in 1994 and entered the French market in 2000.

France was the third country outside the United States where Amazon launched operations, after Germany and the United Kingdom.

The company has previously faced criticism in Europe over warehouse working conditions and anti-union practices.

More than 25,000 people now work for Amazon in France on permanent contracts across more than 35 sites, including logistics centres and offices.

(with newswires)

French supermarkets still hooked on plastic despite waste goals: report

French supermarkets are still relying heavily on plastic packaging despite laws requiring them to cut single-use plastic waste – with bottled water, wrapped fruit and vegetables and ready-to-cook produce sold in plastic remaining common on shelves across the country, an investigation published Wednesday found.


Issued on: 06/05/2026 - RFI

Single-use plastic packaging remains widespread in French supermarkets despite laws aimed at phasing it out by 2040, with bottled drinks accounting for nearly 40 percent of the sector’s plastic waste. AFP - OLIVIER MORIN

Most major retailers have made little progress towards targets set under France’s anti-waste laws, the survey by consumer group Que Choisir Ensemble and NGO No Plastic In My Sea said.

Volunteers visited 1,659 stores from 11 major chains including Carrefour, Lidl, E.Leclerc, Intermarché and Auchan between 7 and 21 February.

France’s AGEC anti-waste law, adopted in 2020, requires single-use plastics to be phased out by 2040. A second law passed in 2021 aims for 20 percent of supermarket products to be sold without packaging by 2030.

“There is a gap between the commitments being displayed and the reality on supermarket shelves,” Lucile Buisson, environment officer at Que Choisir Ensemble, said. “Plastic remains omnipresent.

France’s first advanced chemical recycling plant opens, to criticism from NGOs

Bottled water boom

The water and drinks section accounts for nearly 40 percent of all single-use plastic in supermarkets, the survey found. Sales of bottled water rose by 3.3 percent in 2025.

“No retailer has put in place a real strategy to reach the legal target of cutting plastic bottles by 50 percent by 2030,” the report said.

Mini-format bottles were singled out as one of the worst examples.

Evian sells packs of 24 bottles of 33 centilitres while Hépar sells packs of eight. The groups said the products use large amounts of plastic for small quantities of water. Mini-format bottles were found in 81 percent of stores surveyed.

“Numerous alternatives exist,” Muriel Papin from No Plastic In My Sea said, pointing to reusable glass bottles along with filtration and carbonation systems for tap water.

Only Biocoop was praised in the report after ending sales of still bottled water in 2017.

“It’s an issue we have been aware of for a long time,” Philippe Joguet from the Federation of Commerce and Distribution, a retail industry body, said.

Reducing plastic use requires action from everyone involved, from packaging makers to consumers, he added.

France delays plastic cup ban by four years as alternatives fall short

'Economy of laziness'

Fruit and vegetables also remain heavily packaged despite rules designed to reduce plastic waste. Of five common fruit and vegetables surveyed, 60 percent were sold packaged in conventional supermarkets.

Organic produce was even more likely to be wrapped. The survey found only 9 percent of organic fruit and vegetables were sold loose, while nearly half were packaged in plastic.

Another growing trend identified by the groups was the sale of peeled and chopped vegetables wrapped in plastic. Nearly one supermarket in two now offers ready-to-cook vegetables packaged in plastic.

“After cut fruit and vegetables packaged for snacking, we are now seeing mushrooms or courgettes ready to cook, sliced and peeled under ever more plastic wrapping,” Buisson said.

“It costs much more and benefits the consumer very little.”

The report described the trend as an “economy of laziness” that runs against waste reduction efforts.

The mammoth task of mapping and removing plastic waste from Aldabra atoll

Bulk sections in retreat

The proportion of supermarkets with dedicated bulk sections fell from 57 percent in 2023 to 38 percent in 2026, the survey found. The average number of bulk items available also dropped sharply.

Discount chains Aldi and Lidl offered almost no bulk options, while organic retailers maintained stronger bulk ranges.

Bertrand Swiderski from Carrefour said the retailer had already reduced its packaging by 10 percent, equal to 20,000 tonnes over three years, and planned to remove another 15,000 tonnes by 2030.

The two organisations called on retailers to introduce clear timetables for reducing single-use plastics and abandon what they described as the most wasteful practices, including wrapped produce and mini-format bottles.

They also urged the French government to maintain the reduction targets set out under the AGEC law.

(with newswires)