French inventor flies from northern France to Dover on jet-powered ‘Flyboard’
A French inventor has succeeded in crossing the Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard.
Franky Zapata achieved the feat on Sunday morning on his second attempt, after being knocked off balance during his first try last month.
Continue reading...More than 100 portraits of president removed in symbolic civil disobedience movement
It was a quiet Monday afternoon in the picturesque town hall of Lingolsheim, outside Strasbourg. The school summer holidays had started and it was exceptionally hot. But at 4pm something extraordinary happened.
Eleven people calmly walked in, politely greeted the receptionists, then headed to the room usually reserved for council meetings. They carefully unhooked the picture of the French president, Emmanuel Macron – the type of portrait that hangs in all local administration buildings – gently placing it in a special protective pouch, and then walked out.
Continue reading...From walking the dog at midnight to a dip in the canal, I tested the heatwave plan as the city reached 42.6C. Here’s how it went
Last week, as Paris faced down its hottest day since records began, the city authorities declared their readiness. Since the notorious heatwave of 2003 that killed thousands across France, the capital has put in place a heat strategy: cooling areas, a checking system for vulnerable people, shady parks kept open all night.
Could these strategies actually work against a predicted record temperature of 42C (107.6F)? A study released this week shows that the world has never warmed faster than now. By 2050, the average temperature in the hottest month in Paris will rise by six degrees. This heatwave might be the new normal.
Continue reading...Aim is to create international mission to safeguard shipping through strait near Iran
The UK has invited military representatives of the US, France and other European countries to a meeting in Bahrain on Wednesday in an attempt to create an international mission to safeguard shipping through the strait of Hormuz.
Britain hopes it can act as bridge between the US – which has the largest military presence of a western nation in the region – and countries such as Germany, which is reluctant to getting involved in any mission led by Washington.
Continue reading...More than 400 hot air balloons attempt to break the simultaneous takeoff world record in the Grand Est Mondial Air Ballons festival at Chambley-Bussières airbase in eastern France
Continue reading...Highs in Germany, Netherlands and Belgium exceeded for second time in 24 hours
Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium have recorded all-time national temperature highs for the second day running and Paris has had its hottest day ever as the second dangerous heatwave of the summer sears western Europe.
The extreme temperatures follow a similar heatwave last month that made it the hottest June on record. Scientists say the climate crisis is making summer heatwaves five times more likely and significantly more intense.
Continue reading...A former jetski champion has failed in his effort to cross the Channel on a jet-powered hoverboard. Franky Zapata fell into the sea as he attempted to land on a vessel to refuel halfway through the crossing
Continue reading...Frenchman was unable to refuel his jet-powered hoverboard on a boat as planned
Frenchman Franky Zapata has failed in his effort to cross the Channel on his jet-power hoverboard.
Zapata fell into the sea as he attempted to land on a vessel to refuel half way across the Channel.
Continue reading...Franky ‘Flyman’ Zapata set for takeoff on invention that wowed Macron and Merkel
The French hoverboard star Franky Zapata will attempt to cross the Channel on Thursday using the invention that wowed world leaders and Champs-Élysées crowds on Bastille Day.
The former jetski champion will attempt to make the 20-minute crossing on his turbo-powered hoverboard – the Flyboard Air – to mark the 110th anniversary of French aviator Louis Blériot’s first cross-Channel airplane flight.
Continue reading...Users of Bois de Vincennes claim peace is being disturbed by voyeurs and exhibitionists
Naturists in a Paris park have complained that voyeurs and exhibitionists are spoiling their naked enjoyment.
The nudists say they are being pestered in an area of the city’s Bois de Vincennes where for the last two years they have been allowed to shed their clothes.
Continue reading...La Minerve, which vanished in 1968 with 52 sailors on board, discovered off Toulon
The French navy has located one of its submarines that disappeared more than 50 years ago with 52 crew on board.
La Minerve was discovered on the seabed in the Mediterranean off the port of Toulon.
Continue reading...Viral message claims water has harmful tritium levels as country faces heatwave
As France faces a scorching new heatwave this week, Paris authorities have urged residents to keep calm and carry on drinking tap water after rumours spread that the capital’s water supplies had been contaminated with harmful levels of the radioactive isotope tritium.
The Paris region prefecture insisted the city’s tap water did not present any risk for public health and said rumours circulating on social media were “fake news”.
Continue reading...‘Flying soldier’ Franky Zapata expects to cross from France to England in 20 minutes
A former jetski champion and French military reservist who became known as the “flying soldier” after he invented a jet-powered hoverboard will attempt to cross the Channel this week.
Franky Zapata, who impressed France with a demonstration of his flyboard at this year’s Bastille Day parade, has said he will make the crossing on Thursday to mark the 110th anniversary of Louis Blériot’s first cross-Channel airplane flight.
Continue reading...For years, a giant brass and Sèvres porcelain grasshopper that could, if needed, double as a wine-cooler sat outside the royal apartments at Windsor Castle; a gift from French president Georges Pompidou to the Duke of Edinburgh during a state visit to France in 1972.
Across the Channel, an hour from Paris, the home of its late creator François-Xavier Lalanne and his artist wife Claude is full of such wonderful and whimsical creatures: a huge rhinoceros that transforms into a desk; a bronze cabbage on chicken legs; a herd of sheep that can be sat on, tables of enormous ginkgo leaves.
Continue reading...Owner of Vuitton, Dior and Givenchy sees British designer as part of push to sustainability
Stella McCartney has signed a deal with France’s largest luxury group, LVMH, to “accelerate its worldwide development in terms of business and strategy”.
The news, announced on Monday, comes just over a year after McCartney ended her 17-year business partnership with LVMH’s rival conglomerate, Kering, and bought back its 50% stake in her eponymous brand. Further details of the deal will be announced in September, although it has been confirmed that McCartney will remain majority owner and continue as creative director. She currently oversees womenswear, menswear and childrenswear collections.
Continue reading...Prominent researcher Fariba Adelkhah was arrested in June, reports say
France has demanded immediate consular access to a senior French-Iranian academic who has been arrested in Iran.
Fariba Adelkhah, a prominent researcher in anthropology and social sciences based at the Paris political institute Sciences Po, is believed to have been arrested in June.
Continue reading...Demonstrators try to disrupt parade by dragging barriers into road and setting bins alight
French riot police fired teargas to disperse masked protesters from the Champs Élysées after the annual Bastille Day military parade ended in Paris on Sunday.
A few dozen men — some masked and dressed in black — briefly tried to block roads near the Arc de Triomphe by dragging metal security barriers and setting fire to bins.
Continue reading...This year’s Bastille Day celebrations in France featured a French inventor hovering above Paris on a jet-powered flyboard. The former jetskiing champion and military reservist Franky Zapata clutched a rifle as he soared above the Champs-Élysées on his board, which can reach speeds of up to 118mph (190km/h)
Continue reading...Mohamad Rahimeh found a talent for cooking in the Calais refugee camp. Now he has a viable business in London
When Mohamad Rahimeh arrived in the Calais refugee camp that was nicknamed “the Jungle”, cooking was the last thing on his mind. He was a political scientist from Syria with a journey from hell behind him. Food was just a means to an end.
But when a close friend fell sick, he rustled up a meal of eggs. A hidden talent was uncovered.
Continue reading...French envoy visits Tehran as Rouhani warns UK tanker seizure will have repercussions
Iran has told Europe it will not reverse its decision to increase uranium enrichment beyond the limits set by the 2015 nuclear accord until it achieves its “full rights” to an economic relationship with the EU under the deal.
Ali Shamkhani, a senior security official and representative of Iran’s supreme leader, made his remarks as he met a senior French diplomat sent to Tehran by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.
Continue reading...