Category Archives: France

EU members clash over pandemic economic rescue package

Posted on by

France and Netherlands at odds on finance ministers’ €500bn compromise

France and the Netherlands have openly clashed over the meaning of a messy compromise struck by finance ministers which has unlocked a €500bn (£438bn) pandemic rescue package for European economies but left major issues unresolved.

Hours after a breakthrough was secured late on Thursday evening to allow immediate support for businesses and healthcare systems, it became clear on Friday that there remained bitter divisions within the EU over the longer-term task of rebuilding the European economy.

Continue reading...

French police turn back private jet of holidaymakers from UK

Posted on by

Party of 10 flew into Marseille-Provence airport to be taken by helicopter to luxury Cannes villa

A group of would-be holidaymakers who flew in a private jet from London to the Côte d’Azur in France has been turned back by police.

Seven men and three women arrived on the chartered aircraft to Marseille-Provence airport, where helicopters were waiting to fly them on to Cannes, where they had rented a luxury villa.

Continue reading...

EU strikes €500bn relief deal for countries hit hardest by pandemic

Posted on by

Compromise reached after Netherlands relents on ‘economic surveillance’ of beneficiary nations

A messy compromise to unlock €500bn (£438bn) of EU support for countries hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic has been struck after Italy’s prime minister, Giuseppe Conte, warned that the existence of the bloc was at stake.

EU finance ministers on a video conference call struck a deal late on Thursday after the Netherlands shifted on a demand for “economic surveillance” of countries benefiting from €240bn of credit lines via the European stability mechanism, a bailout fund for struggling member states.

Continue reading...

From blocked-off beaches to bench bans: Easter lockdowns around the world

Posted on by

Authorities have announced measures ranging from the draconian to the quixotic

Authorities around the world are preparing to use curfews, roadblocks, travel bans, surveillance technology and threats of fines and arrests to deter people from travelling and congregating over Easter.

Many governments have already announced tighter restrictions and increased police enforcement in an effort to sustain lockdowns during a holiday period traditionally associated with trips and socialising.

Continue reading...

French police launch terrorism inquiry after two killed in stabbing

Posted on by

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...

French reality show seeks to turn around lives of ‘dunce’ pupils

Posted on by

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...

Attacker kills two and injures five in south-east France

Posted on by

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...

French orchestra play ‘together’ in coronavirus lockdown – video

Posted on by

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


Continue reading...

US accused of ‘modern piracy’ after diversion of masks meant for Europe

Posted on by

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...

Farmers across Europe bank on improvised armies of pickers to save harvest

Posted on by

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...

Lockdown living: how Europeans are avoiding going stir crazy

Posted on by

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...

Malian musician Rokia Traoré freed from French prison pending transfer to Belgium

Posted on by

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...

US may become centre of coronavirus pandemic, WHO says

Posted on by

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...

Manu Dibango, Cameroon jazz-funk star, dies aged 86 of coronavirus

Posted on by

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...

Asterix creator Albert Uderzo dies at 92

Posted on by

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...

Mali music star Rokia Traoré on hunger strike after ‘kidnapping’ arrest

Posted on by

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...

Iran ‘frees French researcher under prisoner exchange deal’

Posted on by

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...

Coronavirus: the week the world shut down

Posted on by

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...

Erdoğan in talks with European leaders over refugee cash for Turkey

Posted on by

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...