Frenchman found ‘exhausted and shivering’ after getting lost in Pyrénées
A Frenchman caused a major alert this weekend after setting off across the Pyrénées to buy cheap cigarettes in Spain.
Related: 'Coronavirus is not on holiday': France warns citizens against Easter travel
Continue reading...Suspect and two other men being questioned over attack in Romans-sur-Isère
French counter-terrorism police are to investigate a stabbing attack in which two people were killed and five injured.
A 33-year-old Sudanese asylum seeker was arrested after the attack at Romans-sur-Isère, in the Drôme department in south-east France, on Saturday morning.
Continue reading...Les Cancres (The Dunces) features pupils coached by celebrities who also struggled at school
French schoolchildren learn an early lesson that failure in the classroom is likely to mean failure in life.
Pupils are encouraged to compete for the best marks and grades that will allow them to study at prestigious grandes écoles and subsequently become part of France’s professional or political elite.
Continue reading...A 33-year-old man has been arrested for a knife attack in the centre of Romans-sur-Isère
A man killed two people and injured at least five others – one of them critically – during an attack in a town in south-east France.
The man, 33, was said to have slit the throat of one of his victims in front of the man’s wife and son, in the centre of Romans-sur-Isère in the Drôme, 20km north of the town of Valence.
Continue reading...The National Orchestra of France has been posting its performances to YouTube while players are confined to their homes under lockdown measures to stop the spread of coronavirus. Using video and audio technology, the musicians recorded themselves playing Bolero alone at home but together online
German politician adds to chorus of complaints about American tactics to source protective gear
The US has been accused of “modern piracy” after reportedly diverting a shipment of masks intended for the German police, and outbidding other countries in the increasingly fraught global market for coronavirus protective equipment.
About 200,000 N95 masks were diverted to the US as they were being transferred between planes in Thailand, according to the Berlin authorities who said they had ordered the masks for the police force.
Continue reading...Growers from Ireland to Spain says coronavirus lockdown has stopped migrant workers from arriving
At this time of year John Greene is usually preparing to welcome dozens of Slovakian strawberry pickers for another harvest at his farm in County Wexford in south-east Ireland.
The work is arduous and repetitive and he relies on their experience and stamina to get the fruit picked, packed and sold.
Continue reading...People across Europe are finding increasingly inventive ways to protect themselves against the psychological risks of isolation
In Italy they are singing and sharing recipes. In France, humour is saving the day. In Spain, communal staircases have become the new running tracks, and in Germany, ordinarily disorderly hackers are busy coding corona-busting apps.
As hundreds of millions of Europeans languish in lockdown, people are finding increasingly inventive ways to keep themselves entertained – and to counter what the continent’s psychologists warning are the very real risks of confinement.
Continue reading...Traoré is in an international custody battle over her daughter after a Belgian court awarded sole guardianship to the child’s father
Malian musician Rokia Traoré has been released from a French prison, after being detained since 10 March for the alleged kidnap of her daughter in a child custody dispute. Her freedom is dependent on her delivery to Belgian authorities, once travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic are lifted.
Traoré was arrested under a European warrant issued by a judge in Brussels, where a court had ordered her to surrender her five-year-old daughter to the child’s father, Jan Goossens, who is Belgian. Traoré was held in Paris after getting off a plane there.
Continue reading...Figures go against Trump talk of restarting economy, as other countries tighten controls
The United States could become the new centre of the global coronavirus pandemic, according to the World Health Organization, which said case numbers were rising quickly there even asDonald Trump talked of re-opening the country for business.
“We are now seeing a very large acceleration in cases in the US. So it does have that potential [to become the centre of the pandemic],” the WHO spokeswoman Margaret Harris said.
Continue reading...Musician who influenced Michael Jackson dies in Paris hospital from Covid-19 infection
Manu Dibango, the Cameroonian musician celebrated for his blend of jazz, funk and traditional west African styles, has died aged 86 in a Paris hospital after contracting Covid-19.
A message on his Facebook page announced the news with “deep sadness”, and added: “His funeral service will be held in strict privacy, and a tribute to his memory will be organised when possible.”
Continue reading...French comic-book artist, who created Asterix with the writer René Goscinny, dies at home ‘from a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus’
Asterix illustrator Albert Uderzo has died at the age of 92, his family has announced.
The French comic book artist, who created the beloved Asterix comics in 1959 with the writer René Goscinny, died on Tuesday. He “died in his sleep at his home in Neuilly from a heart attack unrelated to the coronavirus. He had been very tired for several weeks,” his son-in-law Bernard de Choisy told AFP.
Continue reading...Musicians including Damon Albarn and Salif Keita call for release of singer, who is in an international battle over custody of her daughter
There are growing concerns for the health of Rokia Traoré, the internationally celebrated Malian singer, who has been on hunger strike at the Fleury-Mérogis prison near Paris since she was arrested on 10 March on allegations of kidnapping her daughter in a child-custody dispute.
Her lawyer, Kenneth Feliho, said: “I am very worried. She is only drinking. She has not been eating for over a week and her immune system is weak.”
Continue reading...Roland Marchal, whose colleague remains in detention, reportedly released in return for Iranian engineer
Emmanuel Macron says Iran has freed a French researcher imprisoned in the country, after France reportedly released an Iranian threatened with extradition to the US.
Macron said on Saturday he was “happy to announce the release of Roland Marchal, imprisoned in Iran since June 2019” and urged the Iranian authorities to immediately also free fellow researcher Fariba Adelkhah, the French president’s office said.
Continue reading...Walls have been raised and societies quarantined as people enter a new reality
It should not have come as a surprise. Life had already been upended in China. Iran and Italy have been reeling for a month. And yet it still felt sudden, this week, when walls were raised across the world, entire societies were quarantined and billions of people realised they had crossed a dividing line: from life before coronavirus to after.
After weeks of governments prevaricating over whether to ban mass gatherings, close businesses or seal borders, restrictions came in a flurry. “We are at war,” announced the French president, Emmanuel Macron. But without adequate weapons to fight the virus, let alone enough hospital beds or ventilators, this was the week the world beat a tactical retreat.
Continue reading...Border issue and other matters discussed in conference call with Germany, France and UK
Turkey has pressed European leaders to make fresh cash pledges to prevent tens of thousands of refugees from leaving the country and trying to reach Europe amid a Russian-Syrian offensive in north-west Syria.
After intense bombardment in Idlib province last month, Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, encouraged thousands of refugees in the country to move on towards the Greek islands and the Baltics, in a repeat of the surge to Europe in 2015.
Continue reading...More than 100 million Europeans are living under lockdown after Spain joined Italy in imposing a national quarantine to combat coronavirus, with a wave of further restrictions on travel coming into effect worldwide.
The World Health Organization announced that Europe was the new centre of the Covid-19 outbreak, with hundreds of thousands of cases. The UK is yet to impose the level of restrictions seen in the rest of Europe but the health secretary, Matt Hancock, has said new measures will be announced in the coming weeks
Trump tests negative while Spanish PM’s wife tests positive; France and Israel announce partial closure of country; scientists condemn UK ‘herd immunity’ strategy. Follow live news
The US city of Hoboken, across the Hudson River from New York City, has announced a night curfew starting 16 March and ordered bars and restaurants to conduct only delivery services amid the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
An Uzbek citizen has tested positive for coronavirus after returning from France, Uzbekistan’s Healthcare Ministry said on Sunday, marking the first infection from the virus in the Central Asian country of 34 million.
Number of UK deaths rises to 35 while other countries introduce stricter new measures
Here comes Donald Trump.
Speaking of which:
California governor Gavin Newsom announces that the state's bars, nightclubs, breweries and wineries be closed.
Continue reading...Food shops, tobacconists, banks, and public transport will remain open despite the order
France has announced the closure of all public places “non-essential” to public life including restaurants, cafes, cinemas and discos from midnight Saturday.
“We must absolutely limit movement, meetings and contacts,” French prime minister Edouard Philippe said on Saturday evening. Food shops, tobacconists, banks and public transport will remain open, he said.
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