Category Archives: France

One dies in attempted Channel crossing after small boat sinks off Calais coast

Posted on by

A further 69 people were rescued in what French authorities called a very busy night for crossings

One person has died trying to cross the Channel in a small boat that sank off the coast of Calais, while 69 were rescued during what French authorities said was a very busy night for crossings.

The small boat began to take in water before French navy ship Abeille Normandie rescued the 70 people on board. Only half of those on board had life jackets. The French navy’s Dauphin helicopter was also involved in the rescue operation.

Continue reading...

Flight costs from France to rise as government more than doubles air tax

Posted on by

‘Solidarity tax’ to go up in move criticised as ‘irresponsible’ by Air France, as Ryanair threatens to cut flights in country

The cost of flights from France will rise next month when the government more than doubles its “solidarity tax” on tickets.

The French government has said the increases are fair on ecological and fiscal grounds but critics say it will hit France’s ability to compete globally.

Continue reading...

French investigators say ‘all hypotheses remain open’ in deaths of British couple

Posted on by

Prosecutor confirms body of Dawn Searle was found semi-clothed outside with head injuries caused by several blows

French police say they are still investigating the deaths of a British couple whose bodies were found at their rural home in Aveyron in the south of France last week.

The bodies of Andrew Searle, a retired fraud investigator, and his wife, Dawn, a project manager, were discovered at about 12.30pm on Thursday at their home in the village of Les Pesquiès.

Continue reading...

Man goes on trial in France over deadly Nice church attack

Posted on by

Brahim Aouissaoui, 25, tells court he has no memory of 2020 attack in which three people were fatally stabbed

A Tunisian man has gone on trial in France accused of fatally stabbing three people in a terrorist attack at a church in Nice.

Brahim Aouissaoui, 25, told the special court in Paris he had no recollection of the events of October 2020, when he allegedly almost decapitated a 60-year-old woman, stabbed another worshipper 24 times and slit the throat of a church worker with a kitchen knife – killing all three.

Continue reading...

Hollyoaks actor Callum Kerr issues statement after death of mother and her husband in France

Posted on by

Kerr’s mother, Dawn Searle, and her partner Andrew were found dead at their rural home in south-west France on Thursday

A former Hollyoaks actor has said he is “grieving the tragic loss” of his mother after she was found dead alongside her husband in France.

The bodies of Andrew Searle, a retired fraud investigator, and his wife, Dawn, a project manager, were discovered at about 12.30pm on Thursday at their home in the village of Les Pesquiès, south of Villefranche-de-Rouergue. The couple had moved to south-west France from Scotland about 10 years ago.

Continue reading...

Nicolas Sarkozy fitted with electronic tag after losing corruption appeal

Posted on by

Former French president was found guilty of trying to bribe a judge in 2014 after he had left office

The former French president Nicolas Sarkozy was fitted with an electronic tag on Friday after losing his appeal against his conviction for corruption and influence peddling.

He will be required to remain at his Paris home between 8pm and 8am, but has been given a special dispensation to be outside until 9.30pm for three days a week when attending a separate trial on charges – that he denies – of accepting millions in illegal campaign funds from the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

Continue reading...

Teams pull out of Étoile de Bessège cycling race after car enters course

Posted on by
  • Ineos Grenadiers among teams to withdraw in France
  • Vehicle came towards the peloton at a roundabout

Several teams have pulled out of the Étoile de Bessèges cycling race in France after a car came towards the peloton at a roundabout during the third stage on Friday.

Ineos Grenadiers said: “The safety of our riders and staff is of paramount importance. Following multiple incidents of public vehicles entering the race course our riders, together with other teams, have decided not to complete today’s stage at #EDB2025.”

Continue reading...

British conman sentenced to six years for ramming police with car in France

Posted on by

Robert Hendy-Freegard, the subject of a Netflix documentary, injured two gendarmes at his home in 2022

A British conman who featured in a Netflix documentary has been sentenced to six years in prison by a French court for deliberately ramming two police officers with his car as he attempted a getaway.

Robert Hendy-Freegard, 53, nicknamed the Puppet Master because of his career as a serial swindler, made his escape after injuring the gendarmes at his home in the Creuse in central France.

Continue reading...

French PM François Bayrou survives first confidence vote

Posted on by

National Rally and Socialists did not back no-confidence motion tabled by hard-left France Unbowed

The French prime minister, François Bayrou, has survived an initial confidence vote in parliament called for by the hard left, after the far-right National Rally (RN) and centre-left Socialists did not back the motion against him.

On Wednesday, 128 lawmakers voted in favour of the first motion of no confidence, well short of the 289 votes needed.

Continue reading...

EU will stand up for itself in face of Trump tariffs threat, Macron says

Posted on by

French president and other leaders call for cooperation with Washington but vow a robust response if needed

The EU will stand up for itself if its interests are targeted, Emmanuel Macron has said, as the bloc’s leaders urged talks – but a firm response if needed – in response to Donald Trump’s weekend threat to impose punishing tariffs.

“If our commercial interests are attacked, Europe, as a true power, will have to make itself respected and therefore react,” the French president said as he arrived for an informal defence meeting with other leaders in Brussels on Monday.

Continue reading...

‘Vicious cycle’: how far-right parties across Europe are cannibalising the centre right

Posted on by

Hardline agendas, especially on immigration, are copied by mainstream conservatives in vain effort to win back votes - but it’s not working

Far-right parties could become the largest force on the right in Europe within a decade, experts have said, as mainstream conservative parties look to copy their hardline agendas, especially on immigration, in a vain effort to win back votes.

Germany’s conservatives last week sparked fury when their leader, Friedrich Merz, the country’s likely next chancellor, broke a longstanding pledge by relying on far-right votes to adopt a non-binding motion urging a drastic immigration crackdown. The leader of Alternative für Deutschland, Alice Weidel, hailed “a historic day for Germany” as the Bundestag, for the first time in its history, passed a vote with the backing of her party, which is second in the polls weeks before this month’s elections.

Continue reading...

Planned UK people-smuggling laws risk ‘criminalising’ asylum seekers, charities say

Posted on by

Bill could mean asylum seekers crossing the Channel who refuse rescue may face five years in prison

Keir Starmer’s planned people-smuggling laws risk “criminalising” hundreds of asylum seekers, refugee charities have said, after it emerged that people who refuse to be rescued by the French authorities could be jailed for five years.

Some parents who bring their children to the UK in small boats could also face prosecution, which could ultimately split their families, a human rights assessment of the border security, asylum and immigration bill has concluded.

Continue reading...

‘Disrupt or be disrupted’, mainstream parties warned as voters turn to populists

Posted on by

Research shows voters losing faith in traditional centre-left and centre-right to deliver meaningful change

Voters in western democracies are turning away from mainstream political parties and towards populists because they are losing faith in their ability to implement meaningful change, a major report based on surveys of 12,000 voters has found.

The popularity of traditional centre-left and centre-right parties across major democratic countries has plummeted from 73% in 2000 to 51% today, according to research by the Tony Blair Institute.

Continue reading...

Five skiers killed in French Alps after avalanches hit off-piste areas

Posted on by

Four Norwegians and one Swiss person died in the Savoie and Haute-Savoie regions

An avalanche in the French Alps has killed four Norwegian skiers who were swept away by an off-piste torrent of snow and ice in the southeastern Savoie region.

Also on Wednesday, a separate avalanche near Chamonix, in the Haute-Savoie region, killed a Swiss skier, according to the public prosecutor’s office in Bonneville.

Continue reading...

Louvre’s decision to move Mona Lisa is a misguided act of snobbery

Posted on by

Crowds give life to the Paris museum and the painting is a silent, compelling mystery at the heart of the hubbub

What a wonderful headache for a museum to have. The Louvre in Paris gets so many visitors it is taking drastic measures to cope, which include moving its most famous treasure to a dedicated space where fans can visit without entering the main museum at all. It will no longer suck the oxygen from other art.

Nearly 9 million visitors a year stream through the Louvre and it’s believed 80% of them are looking for Leonardo da Vinci’s portrait of Lisa Gherardini del Giocondo, better known as La Gioconde, better still as the Mona Lisa.

Continue reading...

Mexicans make Emilia Pérez parody poking fun at French stereotypes

Posted on by

Spoof fires back at supposed inauthenticity of Oscar-tipped screen musical with a song-and-dance tale of boulangeries at war

The war of words between Mexico and France over trans gangster musical Emilia Pérez has heated up even more after the release of a spoof film called Johanne Sacreblu poking fun at French stereotypes.

Emilia Pérez, directed by Jacques Audiard and which is up for the best picture Oscar along with a best actress nomination for its star Karla Sofia Gascón, is the story of a cartel boss who hires a lawyer (played by Zoe Saldana) to enable a gender transition, and has attracted much criticism in Mexico, where it is supposedly set.

Continue reading...

France seeks UN resolution naming Rwanda as backer of M23 rebels in DRC

Posted on by

M23’s lightning advance into east DRC being supported by up to 4,000 Rwandan troops, say UN officials

France is seeking western support for a UN security council resolution that names Rwanda as being behind the M23 rebel group attacks inside the Democratic Republic of the Congo, including the surprise weekend seizure of parts of Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC.

UN officials said as many as 4,000 Rwandan troops were escorting the M23 rebels. The UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Sunday called on “the Rwandan defence forces to stop supporting the M23 and to withdraw from the territory of the DRC”. It was his clearest statement of Rwandan responsibility for much of the violence.

Continue reading...

No 10 accused of trying not to upset French by renaming HMS Agincourt

Posted on by

Decision to change name of new submarine to HMS Achilles is ‘craven political correctness’, says ex-navy officer

Downing Street has defended the government’s decision to change the name of a new attack submarine from HMS Agincourt to HMS Achilles, after critics accused ministers of trying not to upset the French.

A No 10 spokesperson called the decision to change the planned name of the vessel “appropriate and fitting”, despite criticism that ministers were being “craven”. Officials say the name Achilles had been chosen in part to pay tribute to an earlier ship of the same name.

Continue reading...

Open (your wallet) wide: Australians pay more for dental care than most OECD countries

Posted on by

Australia ranks well when it comes to total dental care expenditure. But a closer look at the numbers reveals that trips to the dentist are a luxury many people can’t afford

Australia spent $11.1bn on dental care in 2021–2022, ranking it sixth out of 31 OECD countries for per capita expenditure.

At first glance, that statistic seems pretty good. Dig deeper? Not so much.

Continue reading...

Search begins for UK sailor after yacht found ‘eviscerated’ off French coast

Posted on by

The missing 73-year-old set off his distress beacon during stormy weather on Saturday afternoon

A 73-year-old British sailor is lost at sea and his yacht has been found “eviscerated” off the French coast in stormy weather.

A French air force helicopter was dispatched to find the man after he set off his distress beacon at 3pm on Saturday, approximately 50 miles (80km) west of Lacanau in south-west France.

Continue reading...