14-year-old boy died during celebrations of France’s win over Morocco in World Cup semi-finals
A suspect has been charged over the hit-and-run death of a teenage boy during celebrations of France’s win over Morocco in the World Cup semi-finals, French prosecutors said on Tuesday.
The 14-year-old boy, Aymen, was killed on 15 December in the Paillade district of the southern city of Montpellier.
Continue reading...The man, 69, was held on Friday after killing three people at a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby cafe
The French man detained over the killing of three Kurdish people in Paris last week has told investigators he had a “pathological” hatred of foreigners, the city’s prosecutor said on Sunday.
The 69-year-old man was arrested on Friday after shooting dead two men and a woman in a Kurdish cultural centre and nearby Kurdish cafe in the 10th district of Paris, which the French president, Emmanuel Macron, described as a “vile” attack on the Kurds of France.
Continue reading...Hundreds rally after three people allegedly shot by man awaiting trial for refugee camp attack
Protesters have clashed with police as they call for justice over the killing of three people in a Kurdish neighbourhood in Paris.
Several hundred representatives of France’s Kurdish community gathered at Republic Square on Saturday to demand answers over the killings, which they say have left the community afraid.
Continue reading...Sobhraj arrives in Paris on commercial flight after release from Nepalese prison on health grounds
Charles Sobhraj, a convicted killer known as “the Serpent” who police believe targeted western backpackers on the hippie trail in the 1970s, has returned to France after nearly two decades behind bars in Nepal, BFM TV reported.
Nepal’s supreme court ordered the release of Sobhraj on Wednesday, citing his advanced age and health.
Continue reading...French media say a 69-year-old opened fire on group of people, and government says incident seemed to have been racially motivated
Clashes have erupted in Paris after three people were killed in a shooting at a Kurdish cultural centre that the French government said appeared to have been racially motivated.
French media reported that a 69-year-old man opened fire on a group of people at the Ahmet-Kaya centre on Rue d’Enghien in the 10th arrondissement on Friday morning. Shots were also fired at a hairdresser’s and a restaurant in the street. Three people have been wounded, one critically.
Continue reading...French national suspected of murdering western backpackers on the hippie trail in 1970s and 80s
Charles Sobhraj, the French serial killer known as “the serpent” who targeted western backpackers on the hippie trail in the 1970s, has walked free from a jail in Nepal after he was given early release.
Sobhraj, 78, had been serving a life sentence after he was convicted in 2004 for the murder of an American tourist, Connie Jo Bronzich, in 1975. In 2014, Sobhraj was also convicted of killing her Canadian companion, Laurent Carrière.
Continue reading...Nepalese supreme court orders release on account of old age of man jailed for murders of two tourists
The Nepalese supreme court has ordered the release of the French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, known as “the Serpent”, who preyed on western tourists travelling on the hippy trail in south Asia in the 1970s and was jailed for life for the murder of an American woman.
Sobhraj, who has French citizenship and is of Indian and Vietnamese descent, has been linked to the killings of 20 foreign tourists across Thailand, Nepal and India. He is said to have lured them in before drugging, robbing and murdering them.
Continue reading...Patrons of French capital’s bars go through gamut of emotions as Argentina eventually win out on penalties
It was a rollercoaster. By the end they were standing on the tables outside, roars of “allez les Bleus” and “liberté, égalité, Mbappé” rising hoarsely into the freezing early evening air, hugging each other fiercely, cheering on their heroes.
It was standing room only in le Napoléon and le Mondial cafes, facing each other across the Rue du Faubourg-Saint-Denis in Paris’s 10th arrondissement – both rammed to the rafters inside with flag-waving, face-painted, red-white-and-blue bewigged fans.
Continue reading...Inquiry launched into ‘wilful damage leading to death’ after six adults and four children perished on Friday
French prosecutors have opened an investigation into “wilful damage leading to death” after a pre-dawn blaze killed 10 people in a rundown seven-storey block of flats outside Lyon.
The Lyon public prosecutor’s office said six adults and four children died in the fire on Friday in Vaulx-en-Velin and 24 people had been injured, four of whom remained in a serious condition in hospital. Initial reports said five adults and five children were killed.
Continue reading...In the capital, where Maradona is worshipped as a god, World Cup victory would take on a spiritual dimension
In June, Tomás Kuklis visited family in his native Argentina from his home in New York. When conversation turned to the upcoming World Cup, it brought back the happiest memories of his childhood. He was rocked by a wave of nostalgia for friends and food, but especially for his lifelong passion: football.
So, he took a bold decision: he would sell all his things and move back to Buenos Aires to watch the tournament. It was a choice some might consider radical. But in this South American country where football is arguably a spiritual experience, it felt like keeping the faith.
Continue reading...French-Palestinian human rights lawyer had been held in prison without charge since March
France has denounced Israel’s expulsion of a French-Palestinian human rights lawyer, Salah Hamouri, who had been held in prison without charge since March accused of security offences against the state and ties to a banned militant group.
“We condemn the Israeli authorities’ decision, [which is] against the law,” the foreign ministry said, adding that Paris had “clearly communicated its opposition to this expulsion of a Palestinian resident of East Jerusalem, an occupied territory”.
Continue reading...French foreign minister Catherine Colonna said the countries had returned to ‘full consular cooperation’ on visit to Rabat
France and Morocco have announced they were mending fences after months of tensions over visas, and said the French president, Emmanuel Macron, would visit the north African kingdom in early 2023.
Speaking in Rabat alongside her Moroccan counterpart Nasser Bourita, the French foreign minister, Catherine Colonna, said it was time to “write a new page together”.
Continue reading...French prosecutors investigating source of blaze at seven-storey residential building in suburb of city
French prosecutors are investigating the source of a pre-dawn blaze that killed 10 people, including five children, in a dilapidated seven-storey block of flats in a Lyon suburb.
The country’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said at the scene of the fire on an estate in Vaulx-en-Velin that it was too early to draw conclusions about the cause, but acknowledged the building housed a squat and was a known drug dealers’ hangout.
Continue reading...Politicians particularly in Germany taking responsibility for lobbying for the safety of individual prisoners
Politicians from Europe have begun sponsoring jailed Iranian protesters in the hope that by highlighting individual cases of injustice, the authorities will be forced to step back from handing down lengthy jail sentences or carrying out executions.
The executions of two demonstrators and threats to kill others suggest Tehran is set on the use of repression and fear to quell the protests.
Continue reading...Excitement builds for final against Argentina as spectators, some draped in French and Moroccan flags, praised play of both teams
Amid a cacophony of beeping car horns, fireworks, and people hanging from car windows waving flags, cheering football fans poured on to Paris’s Champs-Élysées on Wednesday night to celebrate France beating Morocco to reach the World Cup final, hoping it would become the first country in 60 years to retain the title.
“We’re in the final!” yelled Romain, 16, who had high school the next day but was planning a late night celebrating. “When France won the World Cup in 2018, I was 12 and couldn’t really celebrate in the streets,” he said. “It feels brilliant tonight, but facing Argentina will be close, nail-biting.”
Continue reading...Skipper of fishing vessel tells how his crew spent two hours pulling 31 people from the freezing water
Four people died and more than 40 were rescued after a desperate call to a charity warned that a boat carrying asylum seekers including children had capsized in the Channel on Wednesday morning.
An unidentified man on the sinking vessel, in a recording obtained by the Guardian, asked at 2.53am for the alarm to be raised to save his family who were in the icy waters.
Continue reading...Experts said lessons appeared to have been learned from previous incidents as teams scrambled into action after dinghy capsized
The emergency call came through at 2.53am. “Please help me bro, please, please, please. We are in the water. We have a family.”
The unidentified man, on a stricken dinghy, used WhatsApp to contact the French NGO Utopia 56, a humanitarian association, which works to support migrants in the camps in northern France.
Continue reading...Two sarcophaguses unearthed in reconstruction work after 2019 fire identified as elite canon of cathedral and young cavalier
Two lead sarcophaguses discovered buried under the nave at Notre Dame Cathedral in what was described as an “extraordinary and emotional” find have begun giving up their secrets, French scientists announced on Friday.
The first contains the remains of a high priest who died in 1710 after what experts say appeared to be a sedentary life. The occupant of the second has not yet been identified – and may never be – but is believed to be a young, wealthy and privileged noble who could have lived as far back as the 14th century.
Continue reading...Fishing boat believed to be resting on seabed after collision with Condor Ferries freight vessel
The search for three fishers whose boat sank in the Channel after a collision with a freight vessel has resumed off the coast of Jersey.
Lifeboats and a search aircraft were launched at first light to continue to scour the area to the west and north-west of the island.
Continue reading...President hails ‘revolution for contraception’ as government seeks to curb STIs and unwanted pregnancies
The French president has said condoms will be made available for free in pharmacies for 18- to 25-year-olds in an attempt to reduce unwanted pregnancies among young people.
“It’s a small revolution for contraception,” Emmanuel Macron announced during a health debate with young people in Fontaine-le-Comte, a suburb of Poitiers in western France.
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