Military service

France to create new Space army command

France is to create a new Space army, to “ensure the development and strengthening” of the country’s “spatial capacity”, President Emmanuel Macron has announced.

France celebrates July 14 with Paris military display

France is celebrating its Fête Nationale today (July 14), with commemorative events in Paris including a military parade and flypast in front of President Emmanuel Macron and other European leaders.

Voluntary national service will be obligatory by 2021

France's new national service could host 40,000 young people by 2020 – and will be compulsory the following year.

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School, not national service, is way forward

Macron’s proposed ‘national service’ is unlikely to work in its current form. If it is to make a difference, it should be for a longer period and far greater resources would have to be allocated to it.

Make sense of... Service national

Bringing back ‘national service’ is in the news again. Here we look at the history of this in France and what form the new version may take

Military plane drops ‘bomb’ over Loiret, injuring two

A military fighter jet has dropped a replica bomb on to the roof of a working factory during a flight in Loiret (Centre-Val de Loire), injuring two people.