Category Archives: France

Channel smugglers cram 30 migrants into boats made for six

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Children tell charity workers of being knocked into the water as attempts to reach UK from France increase

Smugglers are cramming up to 30 people on to small boats to cross the Channel from France to the UK, and children have been among those who have recently fallen overboard, campaigners have revealed.

As crossing attempts surge at the close of summer amid rumours that Brexit will mean tighter border restrictions, criminal gangs are loading inflatable boats up to five times their capacity. Previously, people smugglers would put about eight passengers on each vessel.

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One dead and eight wounded after suspected knife attack in France

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Police arrest suspect after stabbings in Villeurbanne, near Lyon, by man wielding skewer and knife

A man wielding a skewer and knife went on the rampage in the French city of Lyon on Saturday, leaving a 19-year-old man dead and eight others injured, three of them critically.

An eyewitness in Villeurbanne, a suburb of Lyon, described the attack as frenzied. “There was a man at the 57 [bus stop] who started striking out with a knife in all directions,” said a young girl whose top was stained with blood.

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Gove watches no-deal Brexit practice run in Port of Calais

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New systems to ensure smooth transit of goods are tested in France before UK’s exit from EU

The Port of Calais has staged a no-deal Brexit rehearsal to test new systems ahead of the UK’s anticipated departure from the EU on 31 October. Michael Gove, the minister in charge of no-deal planning, witnessed the practice run during a visit to France on Friday afternoon.

Related: Rebel MPs confident they have time to stop no-deal Brexit

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Westminster looks at giving France money to curb Channel crossings

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Priti Patel discusses increasing financial support amid hike in attempted crossings

The UK government is considering increasing the amount it pays France to help deal with people trying to make the perilous Channel crossing to England using small boats, Paris has said.

The proposal was discussed during talks on Thursday between the British home secretary, Priti Patel, and her French counterpart, Christophe Castaner, that were prompted by an increase in the number of such attempted crossings over the summer.

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Macron and Bolsonaro’s war of words over Amazon fires, aid and their wives – video report

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Tensions rose between France and Brazil after the French president, Emmanuel Macron, tweeted that the fires burning in the Amazon amounted to an international crisis and should be made a top priority at the G7 summit. Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian president, reacted by accusing Macron of having a ‘colonialist mentality’. The diplomatic row between the leaders escalated when Bolsonaro expressed approval of a Facebook post implying that Macron's wife, Brigitte Macron, was not as good-looking as his own wife

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G7 summit: last rites of old order as Trump’s theater looms next year

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Leaders put on a show of common endeavor with awareness that meeting could be a lot worse next year when Trump will be circus master

If next year’s G7 summit turns out to be a branding event at a Trump golf resort in Florida, with Vladimir Putin as de-facto co-chair, the old guard among America’s allies will look back on this year’s meeting in Biarritz with some nostalgia.

Related: Trump defends bid to host G7 at his Miami resort: 'I don't care about money'

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French climate activists protest as Macron attends G7 summit

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Marchers carrying inverted portraits of president demand more action on climate crisis

Hundreds of climate activists have marched in south-western France carrying portraits of President Emmanuel Macron that they had illegally removed from town halls and which police had been seeking to recover amid a judicial crackdown.

As the G7 leaders met in Biarritz, demonstrators from a nationwide civil disobedience movement demanding more action on the climate emergency appeared in nearby Bayonne brandishing dozens of portraits the state accuses them of stealing from civic buildings.

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G7: Scott Morrison to push for action against online terrorist content

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Australia’s PM flies into Biarritz, where he will have talks with world leaders – and a chat with Donald Trump

Scott Morrison will try to push countries further on taking action against terrorist and violent extremist material on social media during a series of meetings on the sidelines of the G7 summit.

Australia’s prime minister arrived in the French surfing town of Biarritz on Saturday night (early Sunday AEST) for the high-powered international forum.

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Macron hopes to convince G7 leaders to halt trade war and heal divisions

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French president Emmanuel Macron has said he hopes to convince world leaders to pull back from trade war and heal growing divisions at the G7 summit in Biarritz, despite signs that will be a daunting task.

Related: Boris Johnson prepares for Biarritz balancing act with Donald Trump

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Biarritz in lockdown as G7 summit descends on French resort

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More than 13,000 police arrive in town with authorities saying any unrest will not be tolerated

The French seaside resort of Biarritz is under lockdown by security forces ahead of the G7 summit, with more than 13,000 police as well as a special magistrates court set up to try anyone committing offences.

The historic centre of the Basque town was emptied of tourists on Friday before the arrival of leaders of the world’s advanced economies including the US president, Donald Trump, and the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, who will hold three days of talks on global issues from the climate emergency to trade wars.

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Paris prosecutor opens child rape inquiry linked to Epstein case

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Investigation to focus on potential crimes against citizens in France and abroad

The chief Paris prosecutor has announced that he is opening an investigation into the rape of minors and a series of other charges linked to the Jeffrey Epstein case.

A statement issued on Friday by the office of Rémy Heitz said the decision to open a preliminary investigation was based on “elements transmitted” to his office and “exchanges with American authorities”.

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French wine-makers hope for G7 detente with Trump over tariffs

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Trump has threatened high tariffs on French wine in response to Macron’s tech tax

French wine-makers are increasingly concerned about Donald Trump’s threats to introduce high tariffs on French wine in retaliation for Emmanuel Macron’s tax on global technology companies, as world leaders gather for the Biarritz G7 summit this weekend.

A new front in Trump’s international trade wars could open up across France’s vineyards, damaging the livelihoods and jobs of small producers, if the US president decides to substantially increase tariffs on French wine as punishment for what he has called the “foolishness” of the new levy on the annual revenues of technology companies.

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Macron thinks he can handle Trump, but G7 will put that to the test

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Trump’s mood is volatile, and the French leader’s approach has had only limited success

Emmanuel Macron reckons he has found the best way of dealing with Donald Trump. It involves acceptance that the US president’s mind will not be changed where a campaign promise is involved. But on everything else – keep talking.

Macron’s method is about to be put to the test once more as Trump arrives on Saturday to join the G7 summit of the world’s major industrialised democracies in Biarritz. So far, the results have been thin at best.

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Macron tells Johnson Brexit backstop is indispensable

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French president tells Boris Johnson he must present concrete proposals for UK exit

Emmanuel Macron has described the Irish backstop as “indispensable” to a Brexit deal and urged Boris Johnson to set out his proposed alternatives as soon as possible, as he met the British prime minister in Paris.

The French president told Johnson on Thursday that the EU would like “visibility” on London’s concrete proposals for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU within a month, echoing language used by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, on Wednesday.

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Johnson and Macron to hold ‘frank’ Brexit talks in Paris

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French observers fear Britain’s PM is setting up France to take blame over no-deal departure

Emmanuel Macron will hold a friendly but “frank” working lunch with Boris Johnson on Thursday after dismissing his request to renegotiate the Brexit withdrawal agreement and scrap the Irish backstop as “not an option”.

The French president told reporters on Wednesday night that there was a “British democratic crisis” over Brexit and he was seeking “clarification” from Johnson on his proposals as the 31 October exit date approaches.

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French musician killed by bear in Canada

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Julien Gauthier, 44, was on an expedition recording sounds of nature for his music

A French artist who used sounds of nature in his music has been killed by a bear in Canada.

Friends said Julien Gauthier, 44, was the victim of an attack after a bear entered a camp near the village of Tulita, in the Northwest Territories, in the early hours of Thursday last week. The police have not yet publicly identified the victim.

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French tourists face six years in jail over claims they stole Sardinia sand

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Couple in hot water as Italian authorities get tough on issue blighting island for years

A pair of French tourists could face up to six years in jail after allegedly stealing 40kg (6st 3lbs) of sand from one of Sardinia’s pristine beaches.

Border police found the white sand, taken from Chia beach in the south of the Italian island, stashed into 14 large plastic bottles in the boot of the couple’s car. The pair were about to board a ferry for Toulon, in southern France, from Porto Torres.

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French waiter shot dead for being ‘too slow with sandwich’, say witnesses

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Police open murder inquiry after customer attacked waiter at a pizzeria on the outskirts of Paris

A customer fatally shot a waiter at a pizzeria on the outskirts of Paris, apparently enraged at being made to wait for a sandwich, according to witnesses.

The waiter’s colleagues called police after he was shot in the shoulder with a handgun in the Noisy-le-Grand suburb, 15km east of Paris’s city centre on Friday night.

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Notre Dame cathedral sealed off for huge lead decontamination operation

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Area around site sealed off for 10 days to remove hazardous dust that has settled since fire in April

Clean-up workers have begun a huge “decontamination” operation around Notre Dame Cathedral after a health scare over lead particles from the fire.

It is the second attempt to remove hazardous dust spread across a swath of central Paris that settled on homes, schools and on the ground after the blaze in April that destroyed the cathedral’s roof and spire.

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World’s largest urban farm to open – on a Paris rooftop

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The 14,000m² farm is set to open in the south-west of Paris early next year

It’s a warm afternoon in late spring and before us rows of strawberry plants rustle in the breeze as the scent of fragrant herbs wafts across the air. Nearby, a bee buzzes lazily past. Contrary to appearances, however, we are not in an idyllic corner of the countryside but standing on the top of a six-storey building in the heart of the French capital.

Welcome to the future of farming in Paris – where a whole host of rooftop plantations, such as this one on the edge of the Marais, have been springing up of late. Yet this thriving operation is just a drop in the ocean compared to its new sister site. When that one opens, in the spring of 2020, it will be the largest rooftop farm in the world.

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