Category Archives: France

Isis claims murder of French aid workers and their guides in Niger

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Six NGO staff and two local guides were ambushed in a nature reserve in August

The Islamic State extremist group has claimed responsibility for the murder of six French aid workers and their two local guides while they were visiting a nature reserve in the west African country of Niger.

The six French humanitarian workers, aged between 25 and 30, their guide and their driver were killed on 9 August in the Kouré national park, a wildlife haven 37 miles (60km) from Niger’s capital, Niamey.

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Covid-19: Marseille and Bordeaux announce new restrictions

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New measures to limit public gatherings come as number of cases surges

Authorities in Bordeaux and Marseille have announced strict new measures to limit public gatherings in an effort to rein in a rapid surge in Covid-19 cases that risks overwhelming the two French cities’ hospitals.

“The virus has accelerated despite the obligation to wear a mask introduced earlier this summer,” Christophe Mirmand, the government’s top official in greater Marseille area, said on Monday. “We need to take action to ensure health services can cope.”

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Erdoğan warns Macron: ‘Don’t mess with Turkey’

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Turkish leader hits back after criticism from French president over warship deployment

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Saturday warned his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, “not to mess” with Turkey, as tensions between the Nato allies escalated.

“Don’t mess with the Turkish people. Don’t mess with Turkey,” Erdoğan said during a televised speech in Istanbul on the 40th anniversary of the 1980 military coup.

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Ami, the tiny cube on wheels that French 14-year-olds can drive

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Citroën’s ‘urban mobility object’ is classed as a light quadricyle and can be driven without a full licence

The vehicle is cheap and the reactions from the pavement are a bonus, from the disbelieving double-take or uncontrolled giggle to the frankly envious where-do-I-get-one-of-those (plus the odd pitying stare, but then this is Paris).

At first glance, Citroën’s new Ami, a playful polypropylene cube on wheels with an unashamedly Toytown aesthetic, seems hardly the kind of car to excite the passions of France’s drivers. But, perhaps because it is not a car, that is just what it is doing.

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Coronavirus live news: French PM rules out full national lockdown as cases rise by 9,406

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Jean Castex said government not planning return to full lockdown despite surge in cases; Austria extends mask rules

Melbourne residents are experiencing some of the strictest and longest coronavirus lockdown measures in the world as Victoria continues to work to contain a second wave of Covid-19 infections. An overnight curfew from 8pm to 5am is in place, leaving the streets of a once thriving city deserted.

Related: Melbourne’s curfew descends and vibrant city becomes ghost town – in pictures

Saturday’s Mirror splash in the UK.

Saturday’s MIRROR: Virus alert #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/NiJ4gNUL3Z

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Cuties controversy sparks #CancelNetflix campaign

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French film Mignonnes sparks 200,000 tweets calling for boycott of streaming service over claims the film sexualises its young stars

A call to boycott Netflix on Thursday over the French film Mignonnes – AKA Cuties – has been launched on social media, over claims that its young stars were portrayed in a sexualised way.

The film is directed by French-Senegalese director Maïmouna Doucouré, and started streaming on 9 September. More than 200,000 tweets with the hashtag #CancelNetflix became the top trending topic one day later.

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UK, France and Germany agree to reject US demand for Iran snapback sanctions

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European ‘E3’ ministers reach consensus during Kent meeting hosted by UK foreign secretary Dominic Raab

Foreign ministers from the UK, France and Germany have agreed to hold out against US demands to snapback all UN sanctions on Iran, despite intensified pressure from the US specifically on the UK government to fall into line.

The US was left isolated at the UN security council last month when it said it wished to reimpose snapback sanctions, with the European nations – known collectively as the E3 – arguing that the US was no longer a participant in the deal and so unable to act unilaterally. The US, which left the deal in 2018, described the E3 position as crackers and pandering to terrorists. A further showdown on the issue at the UN is expected this month.

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Paris museum refuses entry to woman in low-cut dress

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Musée d’Orsay, home to some of world’s most famous nudes, apologises for barring visitor

One of Paris’s biggest museums, whose galleries feature some of the world’s most famous nudes, has been accused of discrimination and sexism after refusing entry to a woman in a low-cut dress.

In a case of life not imitating art, a zealous official told a literature student whose name was given only as Jeanne that “rules are rules” and ordered her to cover her cleavage if she wanted to be allowed into the Musée d’Orsay, a popular tourist attraction and bastion of the beaux arts.

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France to open 20 new Covid-19 testing centres in Paris region

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Demand for tests soars as people return to work and school after the holidays

French health officials are to open 20 new Covid-19 testing centres in the Paris region after demand for tests soared at la rentrée, last week’s grand return to work and classes following the long school holidays.

The authorities said testing capacity in and around the French capital had risen more than fourfold from 45,000 to 200,000 a week and 1 million people were being tested nationally every week – about 140,000 a day – but there were still queues and delays.

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Charlie Hebdo survivor tells of being forced to unlock door by gunmen

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Cartoonist ‘Coco’ gives evidence at trial of 14 suspects accused of complicity in 2015 Paris attacks

A survivor of the Charlie Hebdo massacre has described how Islamist terrorists forced her to open the door of the satirical newspaper’s offices at gunpoint as they arrived to murder 11 people.

Corinne Rey, a cartoonist known as “Coco”, told a Paris court she was convinced she was about to die as the brothers Chérif and Saïd Kouachi entered the building saying: “We want Charlie Hebdo.”

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‘Not a game’: Europe pleads with young people to halt Covid-19 spread

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Health authorities across continent try to reach under 30s as cases among younger people rise

As the number of Covid-19 cases rises sharply in parts of Europe, health authorities from the UK to Spain are calling on young people to do more to halt the spread of the virus. This is how the situation looks in a number of major European countries and how it is being tackled.

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Spain is first country in western Europe to record half a million Covid cases

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Experts fear that France and the UK will follow the country’s rapid rise in new infections

Spain has become the first western European country to record more than half a million Covid-19 cases, logging a total of 525,549 infections as concerns also grow over the rise in cases in France and the UK.

The Spanish milestone comes amid a continuing surge in infections as millions of children begin returning to school after a six-month hiatus.

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French ‘anti-maskers’ most likely to be educated women in 50s, says study

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Results show 94% of Covid sceptics would refuse vaccine and most describe themselves as free-thinkers

French people who reject mask-wearing are more likely to be older, educated women who support the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) protest movement and the controversial virus specialist Didier Raoult, and would refuse to have a coronavirus vaccination if one were available, according to a new study.

They also describe themselves as free-thinkers who believe the government is meddling too much in their lives, have a distrust of public institutions and often support conspiracy theories, it found.

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Facebook blocks livestream of assisted dying campaigner’s death

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Terminally ill French man is told his plan was blocked because it could promote self-harm

Facebook has blocked a terminally ill French campaigner for assisted dying from livestreaming his own death.

Alain Cocq, who has been suffering for 34 years from a rare and incurable degenerative disease, has stopped taking food, drink or medicine, and says he wants his death to be seen to help persuade French authorities to lift a ban on medically assisted suicide.

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Mali’s military junta open talks on transition to civilian rule

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Country’s deposed president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, flying out to UAE for medical treatment

Mali’s military junta began talks with opposition groups on Saturday on its promise to hand power back to civilians, after mounting pressure from neighbouring countries in the weeks since it overthrew the nation’s leader.

The West African country has long been plagued by instability, a simmering jihadist revolt, ethnic violence and endemic corruption, prompting a clique of rebel soldiers to detain the president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, last month.

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Ibex population thrives in French Pyrenees a century after being wiped out

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A bumper litter of kids has helped the distinctive, long-horned wild goats to prosper after being introduced from Spain

The population of ibex recently introduced to the French Pyrenees is thriving more than a century after the native species was wiped out in France.

Officials have counted 70 newborn ibex this year at the Pyrenees national park and nearby Ariege regional park in the craggy mountains that separate France and Spain.

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France launches €100bn stimulus plan to drive Covid-19 recovery – business live

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US stock market is suffering its worst day since June, as Apple and Tesla lead stock markets into the red

Earlier:

US traders can now catch their collectives breath after the choppiest trading session in several weeks.

It wasn’t as dramatic as the massive selloffs back in February and March (which still give me the shivers), but certainly a volatile day.

Related: Coronavirus live news: Robert Pattinson 'tests positive for Covid-19, halting Batman production'

Today’s losses mean the Dow is slightly negative for 2020, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite index is still up 27% since January.

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Oedipus vex: French philosopher disowns son over novel

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Jean-Paul Enthoven forgave Raphaël for relationship with Carla Bruni but autobiographical novel too much

Is it possible to know anything, philosophers have pondered for centuries. In the case of two heavyweight French thinkers, the question is more: is it possible to know too much?

A respected French philosopher has publicly disowned his equally famous philosopher son, not for stealing his girlfriend, but for writing a book he claims has left him “heartbroken” and loved ones “drowning in a sea of ingratitude”.

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French PM says jobs and green economy at heart of Covid recovery plan

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Jean Castex unveils €100bn plan aimed at returning France to pre-pandemic economic strength

France’s prime minister has stressed the importance of getting the country back on its feet within 18 months and “transforming” the French economy with a green makeover as he unveiled a €100bn (£89bn) coronavirus recovery plan.

Jean Castex outlined how France would spend its way out of the crisis, rather than create “social misery” through austerity measures, with a plan that had the environment, competitiveness and employment as its three pillars.

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France’s ‘big green recovery plan’ not big enough for campaigners

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A third of €100bn post-Covid package to be used for greener future, but critics say it falls short

Billed by the economy minister, Bruno Le Maire, as a “big green recovery plan”, one-third of France’s €100bn (£90bn) post-Covid economic stimulus package will be spent, in the government’s words, on “ecological transition” and “greening the economy”.

Environmental groups said the plan, presented on Thursday by the prime minister, Jean Castex, and other cabinet members, marked a welcome first step – but criticised a missed opportunity to break decisively with a growth-driven, high-carbon economy.

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