Drug with street value of £133m found in two batches of watertight packages
Sealed bags containing a total of 2.3 tonnes of cocaine have washed up on the northern French coast in the past few days, a source with knowledge of the find has said.
The drug was found in two batches of watertight packages on the Normandy coast, one on Sunday and one on Wednesday, the source told Agence France-Presse on Thursday.
Continue reading...Designer Julien Dossena thanks maison’s founder, who died last month, for his ‘radical expression’
In silver chainmail hoods and Perspex dresses, aluminium-foil suiting and gleaming white space boots, the faithful came to pay their respects. At the first Paco Rabanne catwalk show since the founder’s death last month at the age of 88, the loyal clients and fans who packed the front row alongside the eminent designers Jean Paul Gaultier and Nicolas Ghesquière mirrored a newly minted catwalk collection which was packed with dazzling silver and rustling tinsel in tribute to the futuristic fashion that made Rabanne famous.
Fake fur skirts and trousers made from shards of crystal rustled and shimmied in homage to Rabanne’s delight in fashioning clothes from unlikely materials. The delicate chainmail evening bags which have been a signature and house bestseller for decades made several appearances.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak lauded for making ‘adult relationship’ possible between UK and EU after post-Brexit dispute
Continental media have welcomed the deal settling the EU’s bitter post-Brexit dispute with the UK over Northern Ireland, hoping it may herald a new “adult relationship” that had been unthinkable while the “untrustworthy” Boris Johnson was in Downing Street.
In France, where the president, Emmanuel Macron, hailed “an important decision” that would “preserve the Good Friday agreement and protect our European internal market”, Le Monde called the Windsor framework a significant breakthrough.
Continue reading...Woman attacked in classroom at Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin school near Bordeaux
Police have arrested a 16-year-old pupil after a teacher was stabbed to death at a secondary school in south-west France.
The attack at the Saint-Thomas-d’Aquin, a Catholic private school in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, near Bayonne, happened in a classroom when a teenager allegedly pulled a knife from his bag at about 10am on Wednesday and stabbed the 52-year-old woman once.
Continue reading...Moscow accused of attempting to source weapons parts through front companies in neighbouring states
A group of 10 EU member states have called for a crackdown on Russia’s attempts to source military parts through front companies in neighbouring countries, thereby evading western sanctions.
The 10 countries, which include France, Germany, Italy and the Baltic states, write that “2023 must be the year of success in countering circumvention”, warning that public support and international legitimacy of sanctions could wane if they are deemed ineffective.
Continue reading...Home Office rejects suggestions strikes by Border Force staff in Calais, Dunkirk, Dover and Coquelles impacting wait times
Children and teachers returning to the UK from half-term school trips have endured delays of more than six hours at Calais, amid strike action by Border Force staff.
P&O Ferries told customers that long wait times were “due to the queues at border control who are also on strike”, though the government rejected suggestions that industrial action was having an impact on wait times.
Continue reading...In Grasse, droughts, heatwaves, and excessive rainfall have made growing flowers increasingly difficult
When heatwaves used to hit the French town of Grasse, the perfume capital of the world, townspeople didn’t water their flowers. Instead, they marched along the town’s cobblestone streets, in a procession towards the church.
“They were calling for rain from the spirits,” says Carole Biancalana, a fourth-generation perfume flower producer whose grandmother participated in the rain ceremonies. “But I don’t think this procession would cut it in today’s climate.”
Continue reading...Case on alleged crimes by Gérald Marie in 1980s and 90s closed due to statute of limitations
French prosecutors have closed an investigation into possible rape and sexual assault by the model agency boss Gérald Marie, who was accused of a string of offences.
The Paris prosecutors’ office concluded that the alleged crimes in the 1980s and 1990s took place too long ago to be prosecuted under French law which sets time limits for offences to be tried in court.
Continue reading...Economic growth forecast to be 0.8% in 2023 but households still face cost of living pressures
The EU is predicted to narrowly avoid recession as a result of a milder-than-expected energy shock, although households face difficult times ahead as cost of living pressures ease only gradually, the European Commission has said.
Economic growth for the 27 countries of the EU is forecast to be 0.8% in 2023, compared with a 0.3% projection last autumn, when fears of winter power outages and the rising cost of living ran high. In the 20-country eurozone, the economy will expand by 0.9% in 2023, boosted by a better-than-expected performance in Germany and Italy, as well as relatively stronger growth in Spain.
Continue reading...Anti-government hackers interrupted televised speech by president Ebrahim Raisi, who appealed to the ‘deceived youth’ to repent
Iran marked the 44th anniversary its revolution on Saturday with state-organised rallies, as anti-government hackers briefly interrupted a televised speech by the president, Ebrahim Raisi.
Raisi, whose hardline government faces one of the boldest challenges from young protesters, appealed to the “deceived youth” to repent so they can be pardoned by Iran’s supreme leader.
Continue reading...In 2020 Iranian authorities sentenced Adelkhah to five years in jail on national security charges, which she denied
Iranian-French academic Fariba Adelkhah was released from Iran’s Evin prison, France said, but it was unclear what the conditions of her release were.
Adelkhah has been in prison since Iranian authorities arrested her in 2019 during a visit. She is one of seven French nationals detained in Iran, a factor that has worsened relations between Paris and Tehran in recent months.
Continue reading...Former Russian TV editor, who was under house arrest, described her journey across Europe last October
Marina Ovsyannikova, the former Russian state TV editor who famously interrupted a live news broadcast to protest against the start of the Ukraine war, has described her “chaotic” escape from house arrest in Moscow and how she fled across Europe to seek asylum in France.
“I didn’t want to emigrate until the very last moment,” Ovsyannikova said at a Paris press conference with the journalists’ organisation Reporters without Borders. “Russia is still my country, even if war criminals have power there. But I had no choice – it was either prison or exile. I’m very grateful to France, a free country, to have welcomed me.”
Continue reading...Ukrainian president urges Europe to send ‘long-range heavy weaponry’ as Macron says Europe’s future at stake
Volodymyr Zelenskiy has used a visit to Paris to urge Europe to deliver combat aircraft and heavy arms to Ukraine as soon as possible.
“The sooner Ukraine gets long-range heavy weaponry, the sooner our pilots get planes, the sooner this Russian aggression will end and we can return to peace in Europe,” the Ukrainian president said as he arrived at the Elysée Palace on Wednesday after a day of diplomacy in London.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands expected to take part in more than 200 street demonstrations across country
France is facing a third day of strikes and mass street demonstrations against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the pension age to 64, after the government faced shouting and booing in parliament as lawmakers began debating the bill.
Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to take part in more than 200 street demonstrations across France on Tuesday, from cities to small towns. Trains and urban transport will be severely disrupted, and one in five flights at Paris’s Orly airport will be cancelled. Some schools will close as teachers strike. Students are also blocking several university buildings across France.
Continue reading...A Paris show will focus on Claude’s little-known elder sibling Léon Monet and his impressionist collection
The name Monet conjures up pictures of water lilies, Rouen Cathedral, the Houses of Parliament and French haystacks, some of European art’s best known works.
Now a Paris exhibition will focus on another, lesser known, Monet: Léon Monet, the artist Claude Monet’s long overlooked elder brother who supported him when he was poor and struggling to make his name.
Continue reading...President’s centrist group is without a majority as parliament begins debating proposal to raise retirement age to 64
As hundreds of thousands of people prepare to protest again this week against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the pension age to 64, the French president’s domestic standing is at stake.
Macron, who came to power in 2017 promising a pro-business transformation of France to cut taxes and overhaul the social model and welfare system, has for months been under pressure to give some impetus to his second term in office.
Continue reading...Hundreds of thousands across transport, school and energy sectors rally against government scheme to raise retirement age to 64
Hundreds of thousands of people have taken part in street demonstrations across France in a second round of coordinated strike action against Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular plan to raise the retirement age to 64.
Transport, schools and the energy sector were hit by strike action on Tuesday. Local buses, trains and trams in cities from Paris to Nice, as well as regional and high-speed trains across the country, were “very significantly disrupted”, according to rail operators.
Continue reading...Ministers say exceptional security needed but rights groups warn new law could extend police powers permanently
The French government is fast-tracking special legislation for the 2024 Paris Olympics that would allow the use of video surveillance assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) systems.
Ministers have argued that certain exceptional security measures are needed to ensure the smooth running of the events that will attract 13 million spectators, but rights groups have warned France is seeking to use the Games as a pretext to extend police surveillance powers, which could then become permanent.
Continue reading...Independent MP Alex Greenwich calls on Josh Landis to step down following comments about NSW premier. Follow the latest updates live
Alice Springs’ convention centre was packed last night for a meeting where business owners alleged they’ve suffered losses due to government inaction.
The ABC is reporting that organiser and business owner Garth Thompson told the crowd that the Northern Territory government had neglected Alice Springs and residents “deserve to be compensated for what the government has put us through”.
I’m more than proud to stand here and say we, as a community of Alice Springs, are about to sue our government for $1.5 billion in compensation.
Those of us who came here for a community meeting ended up listening to 20 to 30 minutes of a local business owner essentially stir up a very emotive narrative centred around the protection of private property.
I think it’s fair to say that the premier has very little understanding of this issue and has acted from his conservative Catholic gut rather than based on evidence.
Continue reading...The countries will jointly supply thousands of artillery shells to Kyiv to kickstart ‘new cooperation between defence industries’
Australia and France have agreed a deal to jointly manufacture and supply thousands of artillery shells to the Ukrainian army, the defence and foreign ministers of the two countries announced on Monday.
The agreement, “worth several million (Australian) dollars”, was announced after bilateral talks in Paris aimed at resetting the relationship between the two countries seriously damaged by the 2021 Aukus affair.
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