French authorities say 65 people rescued after overloaded boat sinks off coast of Wissant
A baby died after a boat carrying people in the Channel towards Britain capsized off the French coast, local coastguards have said.
Sixty-five people were rescued after the overloaded boat started to sink off the coast of Wissant, in northern France, on Thursday night. Some people were in the water when rescuers arrived. An unconscious baby found in the water was later declared dead.
Continue reading...Hail swath estimated at 120 miles damages crops in western Victoria as winds break windows and rip tiles from roofs
On Wednesday, the Australian state of Victoria was hit by thunderstorms. The town of Casterton was particularly badly affected, receiving 21mm of rain in just 30 minutes, followed by large hailstones.
Vehicles and properties were severely damaged, with reports of broken windows and tiles blown off roofs due to strong winds.
Continue reading...Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd organisation faces extradition to Japan after arrest in Nuuk in July
Paul Watson, the anti-whaling activist detained in Greenland and awaiting possible extradition to Japan, has appealed to Emmanuel Macron for political asylum in France.
Watson was detained in July after a Japanese request to Interpol over his confrontational tactics aimed at disrupting whaling operations in the Antarctic, and could face up to 15 years in prison if he is extradited and convicted.
Continue reading...Organisations assisting deserters hope France’s decision will lead to more soldiers fleeing war
Six Russian soldiers who fled the war in Ukraine have been granted temporary entry permits as they apply for political asylum in France, in what human rights activists describe as the first major case of a group of deserters being admitted to a EU country.
The men arrived in Paris on separate flights over the last few months after initially fleeing Russia to Kazakhstan in 2022 and 2023, according to an organisation that assists soldiers in fleeing, and to accounts from the deserters.
Continue reading...French far-right leader denies embezzling EU funds and compares European parliament to a ‘blob’
The French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has denied embezzling EU funds in a fake jobs scam when questioned in court for the first time, and used her appearance in the dock to attack the European parliament as a slow-moving, alien “blob”.
Le Pen is one of 27 members and employees of the party then known as the National Front (FN) who are on trial in Paris for allegedly using EU money to finance domestic political activities between 2006 and 2016.
Continue reading...French navy helicopter winched woman from the sea, but she was later pronounced dead
A woman has died after going overboard from a passenger ship off the Channel Islands.
The French coastguard said it received a distress message saying a woman in her 20s had gone overboard north of Les Casquets rocks, west of Alderney, shortly after midnight on Saturday. The woman went overboard from the Maltese-flagged cruise ship MSC Virtuosa.
Continue reading...Flooding is separate from typical US home insurance and many homeowners are not adequately covered
As millions of US residents begin working to file insurance claims on their homes in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton, many could be denied, particularly if their homes were damaged by flooding.
A quirk in the US home insurance market is that flood insurance is separate from typical home insurance, which usually covers wind damage from hurricanes but not flooding. Homeowners must purchase flood insurance separately if they want their homes protected against flooding.
Continue reading...Ex-Australia rugby captain has been sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, lawyer says
An international arrest warrant has been issued against the former Australia rugby captain Rocky Elsom who was sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, a lawyer in the case told AFP.
Charges were brought after Elsom’s spell as president of French club Narbonne between 2015 and 2016.
Continue reading...Bill aims to find €60bn to plug deficit but opposition parties could demand concessions and even topple the administration
The new French government is facing its first major test in a hostile parliament as it tries to push through a budget of spending cuts and tax increases on the wealthy and big companies aimed at saving €60bn (£50bn) and reining in a ballooning fiscal deficit.
The rightwing prime minister, Michel Barnier – who was appointed last month by Emmanuel Macron in an attempt to end the political paralysis following an inconclusive snap election – said France was facing a debt crisis and had to act.
Continue reading...Hugely successful Netflix show has been a boon to French tourism but latest season takes events to Rome
It is shameless fantasy, from high heels on cobblestones to sanitised streets free of litter and dog poo, a suspiciously blue River Seine, no homelessness and a main character so cut off from reality that French media refer to her as “the overdressed American”.
But the hugely successful Netflix series Emily in Paris – for all its stereotyping about a Chicago marketing executive’s culture clashes in France – did bring hordes of tourists to the country, boost trade and increase inquiries to estate agents in the capital. So now its departure to Rome for series 5 has become a political issue, with the president, Emmanuel Macron, announcing he’ll fight hard to keep it in France.
Continue reading...Labour clamps down on poor working conditions at sea with laws on collective dismissal and minimum wage on cross-Channel ferries
Laws to ensure that the P&O Ferries mass sackings scandal can never recur will be laid before parliament this week as Labour clamps downs on poor working conditions at sea, with cruise and cargo ships also in its sights.
The transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said the new laws would close the loopholes exploited by P&O when it fired 800 crew without warning in 2022, and any company would now face unlimited fines for acting in such a way.
Continue reading...Police forces in France, Italy and Spain join cold-case initiative after launch last year of Operation Identify Me
Police have expanded a cold-case campaign aimed at identifying dozens of women who were murdered or who died in suspicious circumstances across Europe, taking in three new countries and more than doubling the number of cases.
The international policing organisation Interpol said on Tuesday that forces from France, Italy and Spain had joined those in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, which last year launched Operation Identify Me to help name 22 female victims.
Continue reading...Local people and businesses left ‘in lurch’ after council says it cannot afford to support or develop Alpe du Grand Serre
A large French Alpine ski resort has announced it is to close, citing a lack of funds to become a year-round destination, as low- and medium-altitude mountain areas around Europe struggle with a truncated season due to global heating and declining snowfalls.
Local councillors voted not to reopen Alpe du Grand Serre in the Isère this winter, saying they could no longer pay for the mountain lifts or pay to complete a programme to diversify as an all-year tourist destination.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister turns on French counterpart’s continuing efforts towards a ceasefire and end to violence in Lebanon
A call by Emmanuel Macron for a halt in arms supplies to Israel for use in Gaza has been met with an angry rebuttal from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The French president’s comments were directed mainly at the US and were part of continuing French efforts to revive its call for a ceasefire in Lebanon.
Continue reading...Teenager alleged to have been recruited by prisoner who later called police to report him over killing of taxi driver
Marseille’s long-running drug turf wars are under a renewed spotlight after a 14-year-old boy was allegedly hired as a hitman via social media and promised €50,000 (£42,000) by a prisoner to carry out a revenge killing.
The teenager is alleged to have been recruited by the 23-year-old inmate who later called the police from his prison cell to report the boy after he allegedly shot dead a 36-year-old man.
Continue reading...Women and men march in village where Pelicot’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting men to assault her
A silent march took place in support of Gisèle Pelicot and other female victims of sexual violence on Saturday in Mazan, the village where Pelicot’s husband is accused of drugging her and inviting more than 80 men to assault her at their home.
Hundreds of women and men turned out in solidarity with the woman at the centre of a case that has shocked the world. Members of the Pelicot family did not attend but said they appreciated the public support.
Continue reading...Young child reportedly found on overcrowded boat trying to cross Channel, hours after G7 countries agree plan to combat smuggling gangs
A two-year-old child was crushed to death and three other people died in two attempts to cross the Channel from France on Saturday.
French authorities said the infant died after being trampled following a “wave of panic” among migrants trying to board a dinghy.
Continue reading...Maugein owner blames competition from China and Covid pandemic for firm’s demise, but former French president says there is hope
Its distinctive sound has provided the soundtrack for some of France’s most recognisable cultural classics, from Parisian dance halls to the film Amélie and the songs of Édith Piaf. It has even been played by a former president.
But it seems the traditional French-made accordéon à bretelles (strap accordion) has been squeezed out of existence after Maugein, the country’s last manufacturer, was forced into liquidation after 105 years of making the instrument, known as the “poor person’s piano”.
Continue reading...Conclusion of search launched by 1993 picture puzzle book leaves chouetteurs with mixed emotions
Somewhere in France, a small statuette of a bird in flight has emerged from the soil in which it has lain buried for more than three decades. The quest for the golden owl, one of the world’s longest-running treasure hunts, appears finally to be over.
“A potentially winning solution is being verified,” read a post on the hunt’s official chatline, published at 6.11am on Thursday. “No more solutions may be submitted. Further information will be communicated as soon as possible.”
Continue reading...Study uncovers vivid and poignant accounts of reefs as high as houses off countries including UK, France and Ireland
Only a handful of natural oyster reefs measuring at most a few square metres cling on precariously along European coasts after being wiped out by overfishing, dredging and pollution.
A study led by British scientists has discovered how extensive they once were, with reefs as high as a house covering at least 1.7m hectares (4.2m acres) from Norway to the Mediterranean, an area larger than Northern Ireland.
Continue reading...