Jeffery Woodke and Olivier Dubois, who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel, were released in Niger
A US aid worker and a French journalist who had been kidnapped by jihadists in the Sahel and held for years have been released.
American aid worker Jeffery Woodke and French freelancer Olivier Dubois emerged from a plane that landed on Monday at an airport in Niamey, the capital of Niger.
Continue reading...Motions to be put before parliament against backdrop of rising tensions between protesters and police
The French government is to face two no-confidence motions amid street protests, strikes and roadblocks in opposition to Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age without a parliament vote.
The no-confidence votes are taking place on Monday afternoon against a backdrop of increasing tension on the streets, after clashes between protesters and police in Paris at the weekend and demonstrations in cities around the country. Roadblocks and demonstrations at roundabouts were under way in some parts of France on Monday, including outside Nantes and Lorient. In Rennes, bins were set alight on a highway and cars were stopped.
Continue reading...Macron’s decision to push through changes without vote led to widespread protests over weekend
The French government will face a no-confidence vote on Monday, as MPs said they feared for their safety, strike action intensified and police banned demonstrators from parts of central Paris after Emmanuel Macron’s decision to push through an unpopular rise in the pension age without a parliament vote.
Opposition politicians have filed two no-confidence motions in protest at the government using controversial executive powers to raise the state pension age from 62 to 64.
Continue reading...Increasing anger presents biggest challenge to Emmanuel Macron since gilets jaunes protests
Police in Paris have banned gatherings on the central Place de la Concorde as thousands of demonstrators continue to protest across France against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to force through a change to the state pension age without a parliamentary vote.
Protests were under way or planned on Saturday in cities including Bordeaux, Nantes, Marseille, Brest and elsewhere in Paris after unions called for a determined show of resistance ahead of a ninth day of nationwide industrial action planned for Thursday.
Continue reading...Former banker who promised to reconcile the French people with the political class is accused of worsening disillusionment
When furious protesters in Dijon set fire to a stuffed dummy of Emmanuel Macron, and thousands spontaneously took to the streets in cities such as Paris, Rennes and Marseille this week to protest against the government raising the pension age without a parliament vote, the French interior minister said the chaos “brought back bad memories”.
Indeed, four years after the gilets jaunes anti-government movement, in which people in small towns and the countryside rose up, Macron was once again accused by many working-class voters of disdain for the mood on the street. Politicians from his party were yet again asking for police protection for fear of violent reprisals against them.
Continue reading...Strikes escalate and MPs call for protection as interior minister warns protesters against wreaking havoc
Refinery strikes have escalated in France as the interior minister spoke of protesters wreaking havoc across the country and some MPs called for police protection, amid anger at the government pushing through a rise in the pension age without a parliamentary vote.
More than 300 people were arrested across France overnight during spontaneous protests against Emmanuel Macron’s decision to bypass parliament and force through his unpopular pensions changes, including raising the eligible age from 62 to 64.
Continue reading...Chaotic scenes in parliament and Paris streets as thousands gather in spontaneous protest
The French government has used controversial special constitutional powers to force through a rise in the pension age amid chaotic scenes in parliament in which radical left MPs sang La Marseillaise at the top of their voices to stop the prime minister, Élisabeth Borne, from speaking.
The president, Emmanuel Macron, took a last-minute decision to avoid a parliamentary vote and instead push through his unpopular plan to raise the pension age from 62 to 64.
Continue reading...Rubbish piles up and record number of people take to streets in protest against raising retirement age to 64
French unions have called for a show of force with a final day of strikes and protests in the run-up to a crucial vote on Emmanuel Macron’s fiercely contested pensions overhaul in parliament.
The call for an eighth day of national mobilisation on Wednesday comes as rubbish piles up in Paris and a number of other French cities after continuing strikes by refuse collectors who oppose the bill that will increase the official retirement age from 62 to 64.
Continue reading...The unique service, commissioned by a French king and used only once by the British monarch in 1967, could fetch up to £442,000
A unique set of porcelain dessert dishes and plates commissioned by France’s King Louis-Philippe I, and believed to have been used only once, for a visit by Queen Elizabeth II, is to be auctioned in Paris.
The 98 pieces, embossed in gold and each painted with a picture of a different animal, were found in a dining room cupboard in the Chateau de Sassy in Normandy. They are expecteed to fetch nearly half a million pounds.
Continue reading...Court cites France’s constitution in ruling that only French is allowed in exercise of public office on Corsica
A court in Corsica has prompted outrage by banning the use of the Corsican language in the island’s local parliament.
The court in the city of Bastia cited France’s constitution it its ruling on Thursday that French was the only language allowed in the exercise of public office.
Continue reading...PM announces £500m package to stop people trying to cross Channel, after meeting Emmanuel Macron in Paris
Britain will help fund a detention centre in northern France as part of a £500m package to stop refugees trying to cross the Channel, Rishi Sunak has said, amid continuing criticism of his plans to lock up and deport those arriving in small boats.
After a meeting in Paris, Sunak and Emmanuel Macron, the French president, said they had agreed joint funding for more French border patrols, including 500 additional officers and new drones.
Continue reading...Alternative für Deutschland leaders were among those lauding Sunak’s bill, while other EU figures raised doubts about its legality
European far-right leaders have praised Rishi Sunak’s illegal immigration bill, after a senior EU official repeated her doubts about the legality of the plans.
“Bravo,” wrote the Alternative für Deutschland party on social media. “Way to go! The current [British] government plans now to deny asylum to illegal immigrants and fly them out to Rwanda,” the party wrote on Facebook, saying Germany should follow this approach. “When will we finally have it?”
Continue reading...Paris gathering is first such UK-France summit in five years
Rishi Sunak and a series of his ministers are heading to Paris for a summit at which he will push Emmanuel Macron to assist him over Channel migrant crossings – but with little apparent chance of securing an immediate deal on returning people.
The gathering in Paris, the first such UK-France summit in five years, is also based around wider bilateral issues such as defence and Ukraine. However, for Sunak’s domestic focus, it seems set to be dominated by the issue of small boats.
Continue reading...Élysée sees moment as a turning of the page after a nightmare chapter in cross-Channel relations
As Emmanuel Macron prepares to welcomes Rishi Sunak to Paris’s Franco-British summit on Friday, the Élysée sees it as a “turning of the page” – the end of a nightmare chapter in cross-Channel relations.
The mood between France and the UK had in recent years plummeted to its worst state in decades with bitter rows over submarine contracts, fishing rights and who was to blame for the catastrophic deaths of people trying to reach the UK coast on small boats.
Continue reading...Protesters aim to ‘bring France to standstill’ as President Macron struggles to delay retirements by 2 years
Hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in France on Tuesday as rail workers and refinery staff began rolling strikes and trade unions stepped up their campaign to try to stop Emmanuel Macron’s plan to raise the pension age to 64.
For the sixth time since the start of the year, trade unions called a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations. Many protest rallies attracted bigger crowds than those organised since mid-January, including in Marseille, one of France’s biggest cities, authorities and local media said.
Continue reading...Geoffroy de Lagasnerie says focus on friendships over relationships or family is radical act in today’s society
Building your life around close friendships rather than family or romance is a joyous and necessary act of rebellion, and governments should put in place “friendship ministries” to radically rethink the way society is organised, a key French philosopher has argued.
Geoffroy de Lagasnerie this week publishes a manifesto for friendship, 3 Une Aspiration au Dehors, detailing his close friendship with two other writers, Didier Eribon and Édouard Louis. The three friends eat together in the evening, speak many times daily, wish each other goodnight and good morning every day and synch their schedules to make sure they prioritise friendship moments, namely meeting up for long chats. He described the friendship as the centre of their lives, “one long discussion that never ends”.
Continue reading...Decision means word cannot be restricted in US only for kind made originally in France or Switzerland
A US appeals court has ruled that the word “gruyere” is a common label for cheese and cannot be reserved just for the kind made originally in France or Switzerland.
The US does not have the same strict rules as Europe on the designation of origin for foods, said judges in the Richmond, Virginia-based US court of appeals for the fourth circuit.
Continue reading...Irish Ferries says all passengers and crew are accounted for after flames discovered in engine room
Three lifeboats and a French salvage tug were launched after a fire broke out on board a ferry in the Channel.
Irish Ferries, which owns the vessel, said all passengers and crew were safe and accounted for after flames were discovered in the engine room of the Isle of Innisfree at about 5:30pm on Friday. The ferry was about halfway across the Channel on a journey from Dover to Calais.
Continue reading...Boston Dynamics’ canine automatons steal show in Paris as maison stages modern fable, designers say
Welcome to the age of the super-robot.
With their impossible proportions, thousand-yard stares and supernatural ability to walk in 5in heels, catwalk models often appear a different species to regular humans.
But it was the models, including Kate Moss’s daughter Lila, who played the role of vulnerable, flesh and blood creatures at the Coperni fashion show in Paris, where they shared the stage with five robots.
Coperni partnered with Boston Dynamics for the first fashion show in which robots, rather than models, were the star turn.
As the lights went down, four pairs of green eyes began to flash in the darkness. When the “Spots” – Boston Dynamic’s robot canines, in tarantula stripes of yellow and black – stalked into the room, there was an audible collective intake of breath as each creature seemed to lock eyes with, and approach, an audience member.
Monarch will become first UK sovereign to address French senate and Bundestag on six-day trip
The king will make his first state visits to France and Germany, Buckingham Palace has confirmed.
King Charles and Camilla, the queen consort, will travel to Paris and continue to Berlin during a six-day visit which begins on 26 March.
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