French families sue state and manufacturers over contaminated baby milk

Twenty-four families on Tuesday filed a legal complaint at the Paris Court of Justice against the French state and baby milk manufacturers for negligence over their handling of contaminated formula. They are calling for the products to be tested by an independent laboratory.


Issued on: 10/02/2026 - RFI

Europe's infant milk formula industry has been rocked by recalls in recent weeks. © Fred Tanneau / AFP

Several manufacturers, such as giants Nestlé, Danone and Lactalis, have issued recalls of infant formula in more than 60 countries, including France, since December due to a risk of cereulide contamination.

Cereulide, a toxin produced by certain bacteria, is "likely to cause primarily digestive problems, such as vomiting or diarrhoea," according to the French health ministry.

Two criminal investigations have already been opened in Angers and Bordeaux following the deaths of two infants who consumed infant formula recalled by Nestlé due to "possible contamination" by a bacterial substance.

The French health ministry said that no "causal link" has yet been established.

According to information and testimonies gathered by Radio France's investigative unit, other families have come forward to criticise what they say are inadequate health investigations.

The families - members of the Intox'Alim collective - filed a legal complaint on Tuesday, accusing both the French state and manufacturers of "deliberate endangerment, continued supply of dangerous goods, unintentional injury, and obstruction of justice".

They are demanding that the milk powder be analysed by an independent laboratory to establish a link between the consumption of this milk and their children's hospitalisations or episodes of illness.

Families denounced the fact that the health authorities referred them to Nestlé which then asked families to return the milk powder to them so that they can carry out their own analyses.

"This procedure raises serious issues. By asking parents to return the powder to Nestlé, the manufacturer is effectively conducting a health investigation that directly concerns it," says Nathalie Goutaland, the lawyer representing 24 families in this case.

When contacted by Radio France's investigative unit, the Ministry of Agriculture assured that manufacturers' laboratories are adequate, adding that official assessments may be carried out at a later date.
Ignoring the risks

The National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (Anses) is the only public laboratory in France capable of detecting and quantifying cereulide toxin, but with limited capacity.

A similar lawsuit was filed on 29 january on behalf of eight French families by European consumer association Foodwatch. They said their babies suffered severe digestive problems after drinking formula named in the December recall.

The complaint, while not naming the manufacturers or government agencies, calls for a legal investigation.

Foodwatch believes that producers could not have ignored the risks to babies by leaving their milk on sale in France and in more than a dozen European countries, as well as in Australia, Russia, Qatar or Egypt

The recall of potentially contaminated infant formula has heaped scrutiny on Chinese firm Cabio Biotech, the supplier of an ingredient used in infant formula which is suspected of being tainted.

Headquartered in the central Chinese city of Wuhan, Cabio Biotech is one of the world's largest producers of ARA, a fatty acid used primarily in baby formula and food products.

Cereulide was discovered in ARA manufactured by Cabio Biotech.

Last Monday the EU's food safety agency proposed new reference doses for the toxin, prompting a further recall of products.

ENVIRONMENT

Why France's agriculture law may not help the farmers it claims to defend

France’s parliament on Wednesday debates a petition against the Duplomb agriculture law, which would reauthorise the use of a pesticide banned in 2018. The issue has become a flashpoint between farming unions, scientists and environmental groups – with concerns for biodiversity and human health.


Issued on: 11/02/2026 - RFI

Farmers, scientists, beekeepers and citizens protest the Duplomb agricultural bill, which aims to ease access to pesticides. AFP - DIMITAR DILKOFF

By: Alison Hird

The Loi Duplomb, named after conservative senator Laurent Duplomb who proposed it, claims to ease pressure on farmers by loosening rules on pesticide use, large-scale livestock farming and water storage projects.

Backed by the government and major farming unions, the law was passed on 8 July 2025.

It was immediately contested by some scientists, health experts and environmental groups because it reauthorised acetamiprid, part of the neonicotinoid group of pesticides banned in France in 2018 for harming bees and other pollinators.

Within days, a student-led petition denouncing the law as a “public health and environmental aberration” gathered more than 500,000 signatures. By the end of 2025, more than 2 million people had signed the petition – a record in France.

In August, opponents of the law brought it before France's constitutional council, which ruled against reintroducing the pesticide, arguing it flouted France’s environmental charter, which guarantees the “right to live in a balanced and healthy environment”.

However, all the other provisions in the law, such as easing authorisations for livestock farming and irrigation reservoirs, remained in place.

Brain disorders

Senator Duplomb is continuing to push for a derogation on pesticides. In early February, he submitted a revised version of the censured article maintaining the reintroduction of acetamiprid, along with another insecticide, flupyradifurone, in a limited number of cases.

“No serious study has shown that acetamiprid is carcinogenic,” Duplomb told French public radio on Monday, defending the measure and underlining that France is the only country in the EU to have banned acetamiprid.

"We are banning molecules that are authorised in Europe whereas independent agencies have shown that [acetamiprid] was dangerous neither for people nor the environment. Today in France, through a particular kind of obscurantism, we would like to have people believe the opposite."

Chemist and toxicologist Jean-Marc Bonmatin said the lack of studies means there is no “formal proof” that acetamiprid causes cancer. However, “there are serious indications showing acetamiprid could be carcinogenic, notably for breast and testicular cancer because all neonicotinoids have been found to be endocrine disruptors,” he told RFI.

French health experts oppose bill that could reintroduce banned pesticides

There is no doubt, however, about the molecule’s impact on the brain.

“The main concern with neonicotinoids, and acetamiprid in particular, is the action of these neurotoxic molecules on the central nervous system”, Bonmatin said – adding that they affect neurodevelopment, notably in unborn babies and young children.

He pointed to “extremely important diseases” such as autistic spectrum disorders in children, and neurological disorders in the elderly.

“That’s why we scientists and doctors are taking action on this issue,” the chemist said.

In 2021, Bonmatin and colleagues at France’s Centre for scientific research (CNRS) published a list of the effects of neonicotinoids, including acetamiprid, on human health “so that doctors can recognise the symptoms of poisoning and the cases”.

While scientists often invoke the principle of precaution when studies are not clear, Bonmatin says that in this case the principle of prevention has to apply.

“We know very well what these pesticides will do to the population, to biodiversity, to the environment, so we have an obligation to protect people from future illnesses,” he said.

Even the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) – often cited by supporters of acetamiprid – said in 2024 that there were "major uncertainties in the body of evidence for the developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) properties of acetamiprid".

It proposed reducing the acceptable daily intake by a factor of five.

French health watchdog warns of pesticide dangers to young children

Existing alternatives

Duplomb said the revised law would allow the use of the pesticide only where farmers have no alternative.

“We have focused on those sectors that INRAE considers to be in a complete dead end – where plant protection products are the only solution, such as hazelnuts, apples, cherries and sugar beet,” he said on Monday – referring to the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment.

The Loi Duplomb is backed by France’s largest farming union, the FNSEA, which is dominated by large cereal and sugar beet farmers and agribusinesses. It says sugar beet farmers in particular have no alternative to neonicotinoids when faced with the jaundice virus transmitted by aphids.

Bonmartin cites a 2021 report by Anses – France's food, environmental and occupational health and safety body – which specifically adressed the sugar beet issue and which found there were in fact around 20 alternatives.

“There are even varieties of sugar beet that resist the jaundice disease transmitted by flies,” he said. “So saying there is no alternative amounts to fake news to allow the reintroduction of neonicotinoids.”

“When the FNSEA says there is no alternative what they mean is that there is no alternative as easy as using pesticides.

"So the choice is either I take the easier solution through pesticides – the worst in terms of poisoning people – or I use alternatives and I preserve the environment, biodiversity and public health.”

'Farmers are main victims'

The Loi Duplomb was presented as a way to “lift the constraints on the profession of agriculture” in response to farmers' protests in January 2024. One of their key demands was simpler rules and less paperwork.

Supporting the law, the FNSEA has denounced unfair competition linked to France’s ban on some pesticides and weedkillers allowed in other EU countries.

Other unions, including the Confédération paysanne, which represents smaller farmers and supports an agroecological transition, oppose the bill.

Eve Fouilleux, a researcher at the Centre for Agricultural Research for Development (Cirad), says farmers themselves are the main victims of pesticides, but they're not always aware of the danger.

She said the issue is not regulations but agricultural economics.

“The root of the problem is income – the price paid to farmers – the economic system is crushing them,” she told RFI. “When you spend €100 on food in the supermarket, only €6.90 goes to the farmer.

“It’s a system where farmers are being asked to produce more and more with very little added value. So for them, pesticides are a guarantee of being able to produce a few percent more yield. And what is tragic is that this few percent means a little more money for them, but it's a disaster for the groundwater, for water quality and for taxpayers' bills."

Fouilleux cited surveys showing farmers are “overwhelmingly in favour of the ecological transition in agriculture, but they’re asking for support”.

While the French government is spending a lot of money on the food system, 60 percent goes to manufacturers, supermarkets and commercial caterers, she explained.

Around 20 percent goes to farmers through subsidies from the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), but these are paid per acre. “So the bigger you are, the more support you get.”

Fouilleux said the existing productivist system contributes to the economic marginalisation of farmers in the food system. “That’s the problem, it’s not about standards at all. It’s really a discursive strategy by the FNSEA union, which is in fact run by agri-food industrialists,” she said.

Economic interests

Duplomb himself is a large dairy farmer and a senior member of the FNSEA union. He is also a former agro-industry executive.

From 2014 to 2017 he was regional president of the dairy group Sodiaal – a major French cooperative that owns brands such as Yoplait, Candia and others – and has been a member of Candia’s supervisory board.

“There’s a conflict of interest. He defends bills that will benefit his farm,” said Guillaume Gontard, president of the Senate’s environmentalist group. “He’s a representative of agribusiness who lives off exports.”

The environmental NGO Terre de Liens has described the Duplomb law as “tailor-made for FNSEA and agro-industry”.

“Duplomb has very strong ties to the agrochemical industry,” Bonmatin said. “There’s a denial of scientific facts in favour of economic interests.”

"He's chosen private economic interest, he’s not defending the farming community at all. To do so, you just have to help it make the necessary transitions."

 

'EU-US trade deal is a total capitulation to Trump,' MEP Bricmont says

Copyright EbS

By Vincenzo Genovese

Published on 11/02/2026 - EURONEWS

In an interview with Euronews' morning show Europe Today, Greens/EFA group MEP Saskia Bricmont said the trade agreement between the EU and the United States as a "total capitulation", calling for more investments and decoupling from Washington.

"I'm part of the ones that say that the EU-US trade deal is a total capitulation", Belgian MEP Saskia Bricmont (Greens/EFA) told Euronews' Europe Today morning show in Strasbourg Wednesday, commenting on the political agreement European lawmakers reached the day before to approve the trade deal.

"There is obviously a willingness from the von der Leyen majority to show signs of appeasement with Trump. I'm not sure this is the language he understands," Bricmont said.

Representatives of the European Parliament's political groups have agreed on the conditions to attach to the deal, which include a "sunset clause" to make the agreement expire at the end of March 2028, unless explicitly renewed, and a "suspension clause" to suspend the deal in the event the US threatens the territorial integrity of one of the EU member states.

"Trump is somehow less vocal about Greenland, but I am pretty sure he is not giving up," Bricmont said. "He has an international agenda, it's pretty clear, and it's a security strategy as well."

The Belgian MEP said that Europe has "to show teeth" and "give appropriate answers" when it is attacked on trade by the US or other countries, leveraging its network of partnerships and alliances, its economic potential, and its strong industry.

"Trump obviously has a huge problem with other continents, including Europe. And he wants to show that Europe is weak. It's up to us Europeans to show the Europeans that Europe isn't weak", she said.

Bricmont also stated that Europeans have to "take their own fate into their hands", by massively investing in clean industries and green transition, ahead of a crucial EU leaders' summit on Thursday focused on competitiveness.

"I don't see the investments today. Investing in our industry, but also in our green industry, is highly needed at the EU level. Otherwise, we will be the old continent", Bricmont said.

Other countries are investing in clean technologies while Europe "is now giving up on its climate and ecological transition", a "condition for our competitiveness," she concluded.

Trump tariffs hurt French wine and spirits exports

US tariffs hit French wine and spirits shipments hard last year, playing a major role in the overall drop of eight percent in value of one of France's top exports, a trade body said Tuesday.


Issued on: 10/02/2026 - RFI

Boxes of Chateau Cheval Blanc's Premier Grand Cru Classe A n Saint-Emilion, southwestern France. © AFP - Nicolas Tucat

Exports to the United States slumped by 21 percent, the French Federation of Wine and Spirits Exporters (FEVS) said.

The United States is the biggest importing country for French wines and spirits, accounting for 21 percent of the overall export market last year.

French winemakers say 'nightmare' Trump tariffs could cost industry €1bn

"Geopolitical tensions, commercial conflicts, exchange rate fluctuations, and a loss of confidence by households weighed on our exports," said the Federation's president, Gabriel Picard.

French and European wines are also suffering from the increase in tariffs -- first 10 percent, then 15 percent -- imposed on European alcoholic drinks by US President Donald Trump in 2025.

"In the United States, the imposition of customs duties and an unfavourable exchange rate have heavily impacted the overall result," FEVs said in a statement.

Economic uncertainty weighing on consumer spending, as well as stockpiling by wholesalers, also contributed to the fall, it said.

Overall, the value of French wine and spirits exports fell by 7.9 percent to 14.3 billion euros ($17.0 billion).

They slid 3.3 percent by volume.

Wine exports, which account for the overwhelming majority of the total, slid by 4.1 percent by value.

Under pressure

Meanwhile, spirits exports slumped 17.4 percent, with Chinese anti-dumping measures playing a major role.

Beijing launched an investigation into EU brandy after the bloc undertook a probe into Chinese electric vehicle (EV) subsidies and producers agreed to hike prices to avoid anti-dumping taxes.

Sales of cognac dove 23.8 percent to 2.3 billion euros.

"The anti-dumping duties have severely penalised exports of cognac, armagnac and other wine-based French spirits," the FEVS said.

The release of 2025 export data coincided with the annual Wine Paris trade show.

French President Emmanuel Macron visited the show on Monday, where he insisted that ripping up unprofitable grape vines was a necessary part of revitalising the flagging wine sector.

Winegrowers are dealing with over-production caused by falling demand as a result of changing drinking habits, fierce competition and export difficulties.

Efforts to help the crisis-hit industry include the government's latest 130-million-euro "arrachage" fund that opened last Friday, offering subsidies to loss-making owners to uproot their vines.

"It has to be done... so that the others (producers) retain their value," Macron said.

The wine and spirits sector supports 600,000 jobs in France and generates around 32 billion euros in revenue annually.

(with AFP)

Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood demand music to be removed from ‘Melania’ doc

Copyright AP Photo

By David Mouriquand

Published on 10/02/2026 - EURONEWS

The Oscar nominated director and musician allege breach of agreement after their score from 'Phantom Thread' was reused in the controversial documentary ‘Melania’.

Director Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood have requested that their Phantom Thread music be removed from the Melania Trump documentary.

In Melania, a segment of music from the 2017 film Phantom Thread is played – a long excerpt of Greenwood’s ‘Barbara Rose’.

Directed by Anderson and featuring a score from Greenwood, the film was Oscar-nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Original Score. Both the director and the composer have requested that the music be removed from the Brett Ratner-directed documentary, claiming that its inclusion is a “breach” of their composer agreement.

“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the Melania documentary,” the pair said in a statement, which was obtained and published by Variety.

“While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement,” it added. “As a result Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”

No one from the Melania team has yet publicly responded to the request.

Relate

Amazon MGM paid a staggering $40m to acquire streaming rights for the film, followed by another $35m to market it in theaters – representing an unprecedented sum for a nonfiction film. These sums have prompted speculation that Amazon made the purchase to curry favour with Trump.

The project also marks the return of Ratner to Hollywood. The director of the Rush Hour franchise moved to Israel following multiple sexual misconduct allegations in 2017. The director has also appeared in a recent release of photographs from the Epstein files.

The film has been critically torched but did exceed box office projections in the US, earning $13.3m domestically, in large part thanks to the reported rallying of Republican women, who have made up the largest portion of the audience.

In Euronews Culture’s review of Melania, we wrote: “Many were quick to accuse 'Melania' of being a despicable piece of propaganda even before seeing it. It’s not. Propaganda has a point. Forceful tools of hatred like Triumph of the Will and Birth of a Nation had evil purpose. Melania can be mentioned in the same sentence as these films but only remains as a staged puff piece, (...) a shallow, 104-minute-long vanity project whose staggeringly misjudged timing reveals it to be the ultimate "F*ck you”.”

Related

Jonny Greenwood and Paul Thomas Anderson have worked together for nearly two decades, with the Radiohead guitarist writing scores for several of the director’s films, including 2007’s There Will Be Blood, 2012’s The Master, 2021’s Licorice Pizza and last year’s One Battle After Another.

One Battle After Another is seen as the frontrunner – alongside Sinners – at next month’s Oscars. It is nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including Best Film, Best Director, and Best Original Score.

 

Jamaica bobsleigh team to continue Cool Runnings legacy at Winter Olympics

Copyright Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

By Giorgia Orlandi

Published on 10/02/2026 - EURONEWS

Jamaica's iconic bobsleigh team — which inspired the hit film Cool Runnings — will make its tenth Winter Olympics appearance at Milano Cortina 2026.

Nearly four decades on from Jamaica's debut at the 1988 Calgary Olympics that inspired the cult film Cool Runnings, the Caribbean country's bobsledders are now preparing for their tenth Winter Games in Italy.

At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, Jamaica will compete in both the women's and men's bobsleigh events between 15 and 22 February.

In the women’s monobob, the green, black, and yellow flag will be worn by Mica Moore — a former Great Britain athlete who has switched allegiance.

Mica Moore, flag bearer of Jamaica, leads her team in during the Olympic opening ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. Misper Apawu/Copyright 2026 The AP. All rights reserved

In the men’s competition, Jamaica will field two crews. The four-man bobsleigh team will feature Shane Pitter, Andrae Dacres, Junior Harris and Tyquendo Tracey.

In the two-man event, Pitter will serve as driver, with the brakeman to be selected from Joel Fearon, Junior Harris or Nimroy Turgott.

They will be continuing the legacy of their compatriots who made history in Calgary in 1988.

Unlikely venture

The story begins with the crew that made history: driver Dudley Stokes, brakeman Michael White, and push athletes Devon Harris and Chris Stokes — the quartet with which Jamaica debuted in the four-man bobsleigh.

Some of the athletes were picked after a selection process among competitors preparing for the 1988 Seoul Olympics, while others were drawn from the ranks of Jamaica's army.

Behind the unlikely venture stood George Fitch, then a commercial attaché at the US Embassy in Kingston and still regarded as the architect of “tropical” bobsleigh.

Related

• Winter Olympics flame lights up Milan as crowds pack Piazza Duomo

As unconventional as the idea of Jamaica entering a winter sport were the athletes themselves. White was a sprinter on the army team, Harris competed in the 800 metres, and Dudley Stokes began his career as a helicopter pilot.

Although the four-man crew did not qualify for the fourth run, Jamaica’s debut in the Winter Olympics — and the personal stories of the athletes involved — had already left a lasting mark, even inspiring the Disney film Cool Runnings. The movie is largely fictionalised but is still the most recognizable part of the Jamaica bobsled story.

Those athletes' example has also encouraged other warm-weather nations, such as Mexico, Puerto Rico and Brazil, to establish their own bobsleigh teams.

Started with a street cart race

Although the team now trains in the United States, in Evanston, Wyoming, its earliest experiments took place in Jamaica itself, where athletes practised explosive starts using improvised street carts in place of sled

It was while watching a traditional downhill cart race that Fitch and his fellow entrepreneur William Maloney first conceived the idea of forming a Jamaican bobsleigh team, convinced that the island’s greatest sporting asset — its world-class sprinting speed — could be adapted to winter competition.

Initial training sessions, conducted under American coach Pat Brown in the United States and Austria, were challenging and often discouraging.

Yet the determination shown by the athletes attracted the attention of the international federation, which ultimately approved Jamaica’s participation in Calgary in 1998.

Shortly before the competition, the team suffered a setback when crew member Allen Caswell was forced to withdraw because of injury.

FILE: Shanwayne Stephens and Nimroy Turgott, of Jamaica, celebrate after their 2-man heat 3 at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Beijing. Mark Schiefelbein/Copyright 2022 The AP. All rights reserved

He was replaced by Stokes, a fellow sprinter who had travelled to Calgary primarily to support his brother Dudley, the team’s driver.

The sporting results are well known. The two-man sled of Dudley Stokes and Michael White finished 30th, while the four-man crew’s campaign ended in dramatic fashion with a crash during the penultimate heat — an incident that, despite disappointment on the track, helped cement the team’s enduring place in Olympic history.

Jamaica’s best-ever result remains a 14th-place finish in the men’s two-man bobsleigh at the Lillehammer 1994 Games.

In recent years, however, the evolution of the sport — particularly the introduction of the women’s monobob — has opened up new opportunities, enabling the programme to develop a more structured, long-term approach.

 

  

 

ArcelorMittal invests €1.3 billion to produce 'green steel' at its Dunkirk plant

Copyright Copyright 2008 AP. All rights reserved.

By Célia Gueuti

Published on 11/02/2026 - EURONEWS

In the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron, the steelmaker confirmed the construction of its largest electric furnace in Europe at its Dunkirk plant in northern France.

ArcelorMittal announced in May 2024 that it planned to invest in an electric arc furnace at its Dunkirk plant, and formally confirmed the investment on 10 February 2026. French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commissioner Stéphane Séjourné and several ministers were present for the announcement, which involves a total planned investment of €1.3 billion.

The company says the project will allow the construction of an electric arc furnace with a capacity of two million tonnes a year, due to come on stream in 2029. The aim is to produce steel without coal, whose combustion generates significant CO₂ emissions and contributes to global warming.

Major announcement for decarbonisation and the future of our industry! ArcelorMittal has decided to invest €1.3 billion in an electric arc furnace in Dunkirk. Talent, infrastructure and decarbonised electricity: France has the assets. We are getting there.

The investment in the electric arc furnace forms part of a strategy outlined by the company to shift several of the Group’s European steelworks from coal to hydrogen. The Dunkirk site is a significant source of pollution, accounting for around 15% of CO₂ emissions from French industry.

Up to 50% of the investment will be funded through the energy savings certificate scheme (CEE), a government-regulated mechanism that requires energy suppliers to support projects designed to cut energy consumption.

Investment delayed

However, ArcelorMittal had long been reluctant to formalise its investment pledge. When it was first announced in May 2024, the steelmaker said confirmation would come “after the summer”.

That confirmation ultimately arrived more than a year and a half later. In November 2024, the company justified the delay by saying it was waiting for “additional measures to protect European steel before committing to any investment”.

Some of those measures have since materialised, notably with the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) entering its definitive phase on 1 January 2026.

"The decision to build an electric arc furnace at ArcelorMittal Dunkerque, in order to produce low-carbon steel on a large scale for our customers, has been made possible by the conditions now in place to bring this project to fruition," said Geert van Poelvoorde, chief executive of ArcelorMittal Europe, in a statement. "The new tariff quota will help stem the flow of unfair imports into the EU, while the MACF is now operational to create a more level playing field for European producers."

Long demanded by Europe’s steelmakers, CBAM is designed to subject goods imported into the EU’s customs territory to carbon pricing equivalent to that faced by European manufacturers.

Support from the French government

The project has also received support from the French government. In 2023, ArcelorMittal was granted confirmation of €850 million in subsidies to help decarbonise its Dunkirk and Fos-sur-Mer sites.

A second plant that Emmanuel Macron has not forgotten. During his visit to Dunkirk, the French president called on the group to "see the adventure through to the end" and "build the second furnace, continue with hydrogen", as well as giving "a future to Fos-sur-Mer", ArcelorMittal’s other major French site.

The formal signing of the €1.3 billion investment appears to have reassured the French president that France’s leading steelmaker, and Europe’s largest, intends to remain in the country.

That reassurance is not shared by everyone. Gaétan Lecocq, a CGT union representative in Dunkirk, said he was “waiting for something concrete” and for “a firm date” for the construction of the electric furnace. When ArcelorMittal announced the investment in 2024, it also confirmed it would press ahead with plans to cut 638 jobs in France.

 

Police fire tear gas as Albania opposition protest turns violent

Copyright AP Photo

By George Dimitropoulos & Euronews

Published on 11/02/2026 -

At least 16 police were injured and 13 people arrested as opposition leader Sali Berisha’s supporters clashed with security forces in Tirana over corruption claims.

At least 16 police officers were injured and 13 people arrested when opposition protesters clashed with security forces in Albania's capital on Tuesday, authorities said.

Protesters hurled Molotov cocktails and stones at government buildings in Tirana, with police responding with tear gas and water cannons.

Both parliament and the prime minister's office were targeted in the demonstration called by opposition leader Sali Berisha.

Berisha, a former premier and bitter rival of current Prime Minister Edi Rama, said a deputy from his centre-right party had been taken to hospital with injuries.

The protest is the latest in a series of anti-government rallies organised by Berisha's Democratic Party, which has accused Rama's government of corruption.

In November 2025, the Special Court Against Corruption and Organised Crime ordered the suspension of Deputy Prime Minister Belinda Balluku from her governmental duties following corruption charges related to public procurement.

Balluku was charged in connection with the Llogara Tunnel affair, including alleged violations of equality in public procurement related to the tunnel project and the fourth lot of Tirana's Outer Ring Road.

Rama took the court decision to the Constitutional Court, asking it to restore Balluku to duty. The Constitutional Court agreed to do so temporarily until there is a final decision.

However, the Constitutional Court's decision to maintain the suspension of Balluku has reopened a deep institutional conflict in Albania, with prosecutors awaiting a parliamentary vote to lift her immunity.

'Citizens are distrustful'

Berisha himself faces corruption allegations. He is suspected of having handed lucrative public contracts to his inner circle, which he firmly denies.

Berisha urged the crowd to "unite to overthrow this government and to put in place a technical government to prepare early, free and fair elections" at a previous rally in January.

He has called for another demonstration on 20 February.

The protests took place against a backdrop of parties exchanging accusations of corruption and links to organised crime.

Political analyst Mentor Kikia said Albania's leadership and opposition offered similar disadvantages. "Citizens are distrustful, having consistently voted for the lesser evil to remove the greater evil from power", he told AP.

Albania's political scene has been marked by volatile protests for years, with politicians across the spectrum trading accusations of ties to organised crime.

 

US expected to reassure allies over limiting NATO troop withdrawal

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved

By Shona Murray

Published on 11/02/2026 - EURONEWS

The US is expected to commit to limiting the number of troops it will withdraw from NATO territory at a meeting of defence ministers Thursday. NATO is also due to announce plans for Arctic Sentry military mission to the High North in response to threats from Russia and China.

United States Undersecretary of War Elbridge Colby is expected to tell European NATO allies that only a limited number of US troops will be withdrawn from NATO territory as part of any posture review, Euronews can reveal.

Sources close to the situation have said Colby will use Thursday's meeting of NATO defence ministers to commit to keeping the vast bulk of currently stationed troops in Germany and Italy and along Europe's eastern flank in place

Colby is deputising for US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, who will not be attending the meeting.

There are currently approximately 80-90,000 US troops stationed in Europe at any given time depending on rotations, the highest number since the Cold War. The number surged in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

The move will come as both a welcome relief and a surprise, as European allies have been bracing themselves for a substantial drawdown of US troops as the Trump administration prioritises security theatres elsewhere in the world.

"The US is committed to NATO, they have made that abundantly clear", Colonel Martin O’Donnell, spokesperson for NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, told Euronews.

"They have also made even more clear that Europe has to step up, and they are, but there is still more to do, like delivering on the capability targets all nations agreed."

Pivot to Europe

The appointment of Colby as undersecretary of war last year was seen as a harbinger of plans to potentially pull thousands of US troops. He is widely regarded as a hardliner who has long advocated for the withdrawal of many US troops from NATO territory and a policy pivot towards the South China Sea.

European allies have been fearful of sudden, dramatic announcement which would leave the continent vulnerable at at time when Russian hybrid attacks in NATO territory were surging.

It's not clear whether the decision to keep much of the force is part of an anticipated official US global posture review, which is due to take place sometime this year. But the move does coincide with plans to overhaul NATO's command structure and shift greater responsibility onto Europe over the coming years – a process that has already begun, with European allies soon taking command of US-led bases on their territory.

"The United Kingdom will take over command of Joint Force Command Norfolk and Italy will do the same for Joint Force Command Naples, both of which are currently led by the United States", NATO announced in a statement last week. "Germany and Poland will share command of Joint Force Command Brunssum on a rotational basis."

"As a result, all three Joint Force Commands, which lead at the operational level in crisis and conflict, will be led by Europeans."

Guarding the north

Meanwhile, NATO is due to launch a new mission to strengthen security in the High North and Arctic, with military planning already at an advanced phase.

The mission, Arctic Sentry, comes weeks after serious divisions erupted within the alliance over United States President Donald Trump’s claim he would “take” Greenland, a semi-autonomous Danish protectorate in the Arctic.

NATO allies are meeting for the first time since Trump’s demands nearly imploded the alliance, and are expected to confirm the contours of the new NATO mission.

A deal negotiated by the NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with Danish, Nordic and US partners after this year's World Economic Forum conference at Davos agreed to significantly step up Arctic security.

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Arctic Sentry will be a multi-domain activity involving space, cyber, land, sea and air defences and is designed to enhance NATO presence in the Arctic against rising Russian threats and persistent Chinese efforts to influence the region, according to several allies.

“The Arctic is a critical region in face of growing competition in China,” US ambassador to NATO Mathew Whitaker told journalists in a briefing on Tuesday, saying the alliance needs to be “clear as to what's happening in the Arctic” and understand present and future capability needs required to secure the region, as the “Arctic becomes more and more relevant”.

Adding that "all NATO assets” would be needed to secure the region, Whitaker said that if Greenland becomes independent from Denmark in the future, it could be outside NATO.

“We would need to resolve that”, he said.

Air, land and sea

“Demands on defence are rising, and Russia poses the greatest threat to Arctic and High North security that we have seen since the Cold War,” UK Defence Secretary John Healey said in a statement ahead of Thursday's meeting.

“We see Putin rapidly re-establishing military presence in the region, including reopening old Cold War bases", he said.

Another senior NATO diplomat said that “although there is no immediate crisis, our threat assessment indicates that both Russia and China have demonstrated ambitions in the region".

"Deterrence requires early and visible action: signalling our presence, vigilance and readiness to defend the territory whenever necessary," they added.

The rationale of the mission is similar to that behind Baltic Sentry, launched a little over a year ago to improve allies' ability to respond to destabilising acts in one of the world's most heavily trafficked seas.

Alice Tidey also contributed reporting.