Category Archives: France

Von der Leyen criticises European far right for being ‘Putin’s proxies’

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Commission president, who is seeking another term, took aim at group that includes AfD and National Rally in pre-election debate

The European Commission president, Ursula Von der Leyen, has criticised the far right as “Putin’s proxies”, while refusing to rule out working with other rightwing nationalists, as campaigning began ahead of June’s European elections.

Von der Leyen is seeking a second five-year term leading the commission, in the looming reshuffle of EU top jobs that follows the European elections.

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Gérard Depardieu questioned by French police over sexual assault allegations

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Two women say actor assaulted them, one on a film set in 2021 and the other on another shoot in 2014

Gérard Depardieu was summoned by French police on Monday for questioning over fresh allegations of sexual assault, French media have reported.

Depardieu, 75, was being questioned by officers at a police station in the 14th arrondissement of Paris over allegations by two women that he had assaulted them, one on a film set in 2021 and the other on another shoot in 2014.

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It’s hard being black in France, says Omar Sy after Aya Nakamura racism row

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Star of Lupin says notions of justice, equality and fraternity have been shaken along with his optimism

The French actor Omar Sy, the star of the hit Netflix series Lupin, has said France must move away from the individualism that is fragmenting society and rebuild a sense of the collective if it is to hold back the far right.

In a series of media interviews to promote a new book about his life, Sy said the notions of justice, equality and fraternity had been shaken, and it was hard to be a black person in France.

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A room of her own: Mona Lisa could be moved, says Louvre

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New room would give thousands of daily visitors better experience, says museum president

The Mona Lisa, the world’s most famous portrait, could get a room of its own in the Louvre, the museum’s president said.

Such a move would give visitors, many of whom visit the Louvre for the famous painting alone, a better experience, Laurence des Cars told the broadcaster France Inter.

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Four Vietnamese nationals arrested in London over people smuggling

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Joint UK-French investigation alleges group advertised small-boat crossings of Channel on social media

Four Vietnamese nationals have been arrested in London after an investigation into alleged people smugglers advertising small-boat crossings of the Channel on Facebook.

The joint UK-French investigation alleges the group shared posts aimed at the Vietnamese community and charged migrants thousands of pounds to make the crossing.

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Aya Nakamura thanks fans for support over Olympics racism as she wins awards

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French singer dedicates top prizes at Les Flammes ‘to all black women’ after backlash over rumoured Paris show

The French pop star Aya Nakamura, who found herself at the centre of a racist row after rumours she was going to sing at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, has thanked fans for their support after winning three big prizes at France’s Les Flammes awards for rap, R&B and pop.

“I’m very honoured because being a black artist and coming from the banlieue is very difficult,” Nakamura told the audience at the ceremony, which she opened with a medley of her songs. She dedicated her awards – female artist of the year, pop album of the year, and international star of the year – “to all black women”.

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Laurent Cantet, film-maker who tackled diversity and class in France, dies aged 63

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Director of Palme d’Or-winning film Entre les Murs (The Class) was much praised for humanism in projects

Laurent Cantet, the award-winning film-maker whose creations tackled some of the most complex issues of modern French society, including meritocracy, the education system, diversity and class struggle, has died aged 63 after an illness.

Cantet was best known outside France for his film Entre les Murs (The Class), which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes film festival in 2008. It depicted life inside the classroom of a secondary school in Paris’s diverse 20th arrondissement and the relationship between students – compellingly improvised by non-professional teenagers – and their at times exasperated teacher.

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‘England is hope’: some say they will try again – despite Channel deaths

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Attempt to cross via overcrowded dinghy from Wimereux aborted after engine stalls and five people drown

They could have been on a school trip. Fifty teenagers from Vietnam, dressed for the biting cold in puffer jackets, smart trainers and woolly beanies, sat on the pavement by the bus shelter outside Gare Calais listening to music and watching videos on their smartphones.

They were waiting for the 423 bus to take them back to a forest outside Dunkirk, where they have been staying at night with about a thousand others. It had been a disappointing morning for the group.

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Humanitarian groups demand safe routes to UK after five deaths in Channel

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UN and Council for Europe add voices to outcry as more people drown within hours of ‘cruel’ Rwanda bill being passed

Humanitarian groups have called for new safe routes to Britain after five people died trying to cross the Channel within hours of ministers passing the controversial Rwanda bill.

A child and four adults drowned on Tuesday while trying to reach the UK in a boat from Wimereux, in France. More than 110 people were said to have been on board the vessel when it left the French coastline at 5am.

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Five people die in attempt to cross Channel in small boat from France

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Three men, a woman and a child reported dead with vessel said to have been carrying more than 110 people

Five people including a child have died in an attempt to cross the Channel near the town of Wimereux, south of Calais, French authorities have said.

The prefect’s office in Pas-de-Calais said that at about 5am on Tuesday, a small boat “carrying more than 110 people” had departed near the Plage des Allemands at Wimereux.

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The 1924 Paris Olympics saved the Games. Can this year’s event repeat that success? | David Goldblatt

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Faced with competition from rival sporting events, the future of the Games hung in the balance. A century on, new hurdles are looming

Paris 1924 was the sixth and last Olympics presided over by Baron de Coubertin, the modern movement’s founder. He had good reason to be pleased with his work. The French government had enthusiastically backed the enterprise, providing a budget of 20m francs and a new stadium. The Olympic rituals – the parade of nations, the rings, the oath, gold, silver and bronze medals – had been established.

Above all, the Games remained the preserve of amateur athletic gentlemen – aristocrats, college kids and military officers – performing what the baron eulogised as “a display of manly virtue”.

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French PM accused of recycling far-right ideas in youth violence crackdown

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Gabriel Attal says state needs ‘real surge of authority’ in speech in Viry-Châtillon, where 15-year-old killed

The French prime minister, Gabriel Attal, is facing criticism for his proposed crackdown on teenage violence in and around schools, after he said some teenagers in France were “addicted to violence”, just as the government seeks to reclaim ground on security issues from the far right before European elections.

In his speech in Viry-Châtillon, a town south of Paris where a 15-year-old boy was beaten and killed this month by a group of young people, Attal said the state needed “a real surge of authority”.

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France urged to repay billions of dollars to Haiti for independence ‘ransom’

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Coalition of civil society groups says Paris should return harsh reparations imposed on Caribbean state two hundred years ago

France should repay billions of dollars to Haiti to cover a debt formerly enslaved people were forced to pay in return for recognising the island’s independence, according to a coalition of civil society groups that is launching a new push for reparations.

The Caribbean island state became the first in the region to win its independence in 1804 after a revolt by enslaved people. But in a move that many Haitians blame for two centuries of turmoil, France later imposed harsh reparations for lost income and that debt was only fully repaid in 1947.

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Two sons of world’s richest man Bernard Arnault join him on board of LVMH

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Pair also join two other siblings on board, further strengthening family’s control of French luxury goods company

Two sons of the world’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, have joined the board of LVMH after a shareholder vote, further cementing the family’s control of the French luxury goods company.

The pair joined their elder siblings on the board of directors of the company, which houses brands such as Dior and Louis Vuitton, meaning four of Bernard Arnault’s five children now sit on the board.

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Hundreds evicted from France’s biggest squat months before Paris Olympics

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Charities say authorities want to clear homeless people from streets and squats to make city look better for Games

Police have evicted hundreds of people from the biggest squat in France, in a southern suburb of Paris, prompting fresh accusations from charities that authorities are seeking to clear refugees, asylum seekers and homeless people from the capital area before the Olympics.

The squat, in an abandoned bus company headquarters in Vitry-sur-Seine, had been home to up to 450 people, many of whom had refugee status, legal paperwork and jobs in France, but who could not find proper housing. As they left the building they were encouraged to board buses to other parts of France.

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Vladimir Putin not welcome at French ceremony for 80th anniversary of D-day

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France says Russia can be represented but president will not be invited because of war in Ukraine

Russia will be invited to send representatives to an international ceremony commemorating the 80th anniversary of D-day – but not Vladimir Putin, the French organisers have announced.

The Élysée is reported to have accepted that the country should be represented but said its leader is not welcome because of Moscow’s ongoing war on Ukraine.

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Europe: Sudan war ‘world’s worst child displacement crisis,’ Paris conference told – as it happened

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Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, says ‘every life counts equally, whether in Ukraine, in Gaza, or in Sudan’

The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Türk, has warned of a further escalation in violence in Sudan.

“The Sudanese people have been subjected to untold suffering during the conflict which has been marked by indiscriminate attacks in densely populated areas, ethnically-motivated attacks, and a high incidence of conflict-related sexual violence. The recruitment and use of children by parties to the conflict are also deeply concerning,” Türk said in a statement today.

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Paris Olympics opening ceremony could move if threat detected, says Macron

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French president says location of spectacle, due to take place on Seine, could change if there is serious risk of terror attack

France has backup plans to move the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games from the Seine if there is a serious risk of a terrorist attack, Emmanuel Macron has said.

Speaking in a television interview on Monday, the French president said organisers “could and would” continue to plan for a “world first” opening ceremony for 26 July, when more than 300,000 people are expected to watch a flotilla of boats carrying national teams down the river.

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Weather tracker: Gulf braced for thunderstorms

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Heavy rain forecast in Saudi Arabia and UAE as France and Spain cool down after weekend of high temperatures

Intense thunderstorms are forecast across parts of the Gulf on Monday and Tuesday, bringing very high rainfall to the region and a significant flooding risk in parts.

Low pressure over the Arabian peninsula will deepen on Monday while a flow of moist tropical air moves into the region, significantly enhancing the production of showers as a result.

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Iranian attack on Israel expected ‘sooner rather than later’, says Joe Biden

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President said US are ‘devoted to the defence of Israel’ as he urged Tehran to show restraint

Joe Biden has said he expects an Iranian attack on Israel “sooner rather than later” and issued a last-ditch message to Tehran: “Don’t.”

“We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” Biden told reporters on Friday.

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