Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots likened to ‘clitoris in trainers’

Pair of red triangular Phryges meant to represent floppy conical hats linked to French Revolution

France’s mascots for the 2024 Olympic Games have been likened to a giant “clitoris in trainers”, with the French newspaper Libération hailing it as a revolutionary departure from the traditional phallic symbol of the Eiffel Tower.

When the two triangular red mascots, the Phryges, were unveiled for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, they were presented as the shape of Phrygian caps, the floppy, conical hats associated with the French Revolution.

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MPs, unions and refugee groups condemn Braverman’s small boats deal with France

Critics claim latest effort to reduce Channel crossings is ‘throwing good money after bad’

Conservative MPs have joined unions and refugee groups in condemning a £63m deal signed by Suella Braverman with her French counterpart to reduce the number of people attempting to cross the Channel in small boats.

Natalie Elphicke, the member for Dover, and Tim Loughton, a senior home affairs select committee member, questioned whether the bilateral agreement will do enough to address a surge of new arrivals after it failed to establish joint patrols or guarantee that people smugglers are detained.

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UK gave away ‘too much for too little’ in free trade deal with Australia, says former minister, blaming Truss – as it happened

George Eustice says the free trade deal with Australia – hailed by Boris Johnson as one of the big gains from Brexit – was poor. This live blog is now closed

James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, was criticised last month for saying that gay football fans visiting Qatar for the Word Cup should “be respectful”, and make allowance for the country’s intolerance of homosexuality.

In an interview on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, Cleverly defended his comments, saying that the Foreign Office always advises people to obey local laws when they are travelling. He told the programme:

My focus is to make sure that British visitors, particularly LGBTQ+ visitors to Qatar going to enjoy the World Cup, are safe and that they enjoy their tournament. So my advice was purely about ensuring that they have a safe and secure time at the World Cup.

We always say that you have to respect the laws of your host nation. That is a universal element of British travel advice.

I’ve spoken at length with the Qatari authorities on this and it’s worth bearing in mind that men and women don’t typically hold hands in Qatar, and other conservative Muslim countries like Qatar, so my strong advice is to look at the UK government’s travel advice.

This deal is just the same as previous deals - spending money and resources on intercepting and obstructing people crossing the Channel, while doing nothing to address their need for safe access to an asylum system.

The inevitable result will be more dangerous journeys and more profits led by ruthless smuggling gangs and other serious criminals exploiting the refusal of the UK and French government to take and share responsibility.

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‘More of the same’: UK-French deal fails to address causes behind crossings

Enforcement-focus agreement ignores lack of safe and legal routes for people to apply for asylum in UK

Following a flurry of selective UK government briefings promising a “groundbreaking” new deal under Rishi Sunak which would curb the numbers of people arriving by small boats, a £63m UK-French deal has arrived.

And much like the last three bilateral agreements over the past four years, which promised to break the “evil” people-smugglers’ model, this one also concentrates on bolstering law enforcement along the French coastline, funded by UK taxpayers.

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Man who lived in Charles de Gaulle airport for 18 years dies there

Iranian Mehran Karimi Nasseri inspired the Steven Spielberg film The Terminal, starring Tom Hanks

An Iranian man who lived for 18 years in Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport and inspired the 2004 Steven Spielberg film The Terminal died on Saturday in the airport, officials said.

Mehran Karimi Nasseri died after a heart attack in the airport’s Terminal 2F around midday, according to an official with the Paris airport authority. Police and a medical team treated him but were not able to save him, the official said.

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Sharp-eyed man’s warning before building in France collapses saves lives

Lille resident was returning home about 3am when he saw cracks appearing in a four-storey building and alerted emergency services

A four-storey building has collapsed in the northern French city of Lille but no deaths have been reported so far, thanks to a resident’s advance warning, French authorities said.

Lille firefighters said they rescued one person from the rubble with only light injuries. The search for any others possibly trapped in the rubble was continuing before an investigation begins into why the building collapsed on Saturday morning.

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France-Italy migration row escalates after rescue ship docks in Toulon

French government calls Italy ‘inhumane’ for refusing vessel but Italian PM hits back as rift deepens

France and Italy have intensified their bitter row over migration after a charity-operated ship carrying hundreds of asylum seekers rescued in the central Mediterranean docked in the French port of Toulon after almost three weeks during which Italy’s far-right government failed to give it safe port.

The French government called Italy “irresponsible” and “inhumane” for not coming to the aid of the ship, which had been stuck in Italian waters for weeks carrying sick passengers who had been rescued at sea between Libya and Italy.

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UK marks Armistice Day as Cleverly condemns Russia over Ukraine war

Remembrance services to be held across country as foreign secretary hits out at ‘Russian aggressor’

People across the UK will fall silent on Friday to mark Armistice Day – as the foreign secretary condemned Russia for bringing back war to Europe.

Poignant services will be held nationwide for the anniversary of the end of the first world war, and a two-minute silence will be observed at 11am to remember those who have died in military conflicts.

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France to require all large car parks to be covered by solar panels

Legislation approved by Senate will apply to existing and new car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles

All large car parks in France will be covered by solar panels under new legislation approved as part of president Emmanuel Macron’s renewable energy drive.

Legislation approved by the French Senate this week requires existing and new car parks with space for at least 80 vehicles to be covered by solar panels.

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Macron and Sunak ‘bromance’ signals intent to reset Franco-British ties

Clear wish in Paris to thaw relations that plummeted to their worst state in decades under Boris Johnson

When Emmanuel Macron rushed to hug the new UK prime minister at their first meeting in Egypt this week, some called it a “bromance”.

Even though the French president’s hands-on embrace of world leaders is almost always called a “bromance” – from Justin Trudeau to Mohammed bin Salman and Donald Trump (a relationship which eventually soured), Macron and Rishi Sunak’s grinning and back-slapping stood out as symbolic.

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French cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard admits to abusing 14-year-old girl 35 years ago

Ricard released a statement confessing to sexually abusing the child during his early days in the Catholic Church

One of France’s highest-ranking prelates of the Catholic Church has admitted abusing a 14-year-old girl 35 years ago and announced his withdrawal from his religious duties.

Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard issued a written statement on Monday after a report issued last year revealed a “massive phenomenon” of sexual abusers of children operating for decades within the French Catholic Church.

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Rishi Sunak ‘optimistic’ on Channel crossings after talks with Macron

UK prime minister vows to ‘get a grip’ on small boat crossings but deflects questions on concrete action

Rishi Sunak has renewed a promise to stop people being smuggled across the Channel, despite coming away from his first face-to-face talks with Emmanuel Macron without any firm commitments.

The prime minister vowed to “get a grip of this situation” and promised details about the progress of cross-Channel talks “in the coming weeks”, with No 10 hoping to make a major announcement before Christmas.

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French court convicts former Liberian rebel commander over atrocities

Kunti Kamara given life sentence for complicity in crimes against humanity

A Paris court has made history in convicting a former Liberian rebel commander for complicity in crimes against humanity under the principle of “universal jurisdiction”.

Kunti Kamara was also found guilty acts of barbarity, including torture, cannibalism and forced labour during the country’s first civil war more than 25 years ago. He was given a life sentence.

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Contraband handbags, diamonds and vodka auctioned off by French government

‘Extraordinary sale’ of 350 lots seized by customs is valued collectively at about €1m

France’s finance ministry is auctioning off customs contraband in an “extraordinary sale” featuring platinum bars seized en route to the UK, designer handbags, valuable historic coins, several collections of uncut diamonds and 2,016 bottles of vodka.

The 350 lots – valued collectively at about €1m – also include a Volkswagen Golf stopped at France’s border with Spain and found to contain 480kg of cannabis resin.

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‘Coldest village in France’ reports rare frost-free October

Mouthe’s temperate autumn is extra proof of climate crisis, say weather experts

For the first time in 140 years, the village of Mouthe – officially recognised as France’s coldest – reported a frost-free October.

A temperate autumn is additional proof of the reality of the climate crisis, weather experts say.

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Rishi Sunak reportedly seeking deal with France to curb Channel crossings

Draft deal includes targets and staff bonuses for tackling the number of asylum seekers in the UK

Rishi Sunak is aiming to reach an agreement with France to address the unprecedented number of Channel crossings by asylum seekers which could include new targets and bonuses, according to reports.

Ministers and officials are expected to review a draft deal that was previously close to being signed with France, which encompasses targets for how many boats are stopped from reaching the UK and a minimum number of French officers patrolling the beaches at any one time, sources told the Times.

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French-German friendship ‘still alive’ as Macron meets Scholz amid tensions

Two leaders under pressure to repair relations after rifts over defence, energy and China

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, hosted the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, for lunch on Wednesday as they sought to iron out significant differences on energy and defence that have weakened their relationship at a time of war in Ukraine.

Both leaders, whose countries are seen as the joint driving force of the European Union, made an effort to smile as Scholz emerged from his black Mercedes at the Élysée Palace to shake hands, but the German chancellor appeared to sidestep Macron’s attempts to put an arm around him.

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Parents of girl found in suitcase urge French politicians to stop exploiting death

Family speak out after photo of 12-year-old, identified only as ‘Lola’, was displayed at far-right rally

The parents of a French schoolgirl whose death stunned the country have urged rightwing politicians to stop using her photograph for political ends.

A 24-year-old woman from Algeria with a history of psychiatric disorders was last week charged with the rape and murder last week of the girl, identified only as “Lola”.

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France becomes latest country to leave controversial energy charter treaty

Quitting the ECT, which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits, was ‘coherent’ with Paris climate deal, Macron said

France has become the latest country to pull out of the controversial energy charter treaty (ECT), which protects fossil fuel investors from policy changes that might threaten their profits.

Speaking after an EU summit in Brussels on Friday, French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “France has decided to withdraw from the energy charter treaty.” Quitting the ECT was “coherent” with the Paris climate deal, he added.

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Weather tracker: Nigeria flooding and US blows hot and cold

Authorities partly blamed after months of deadly flooding in African nation; jet stream causes temperature divide in US

Nigeria has found itself at the centre of devastating floods over the past week, with poor preparation from authorities partly blamed for the damage caused. At least 600 people have died across the west African nation, with two-thirds of states affected by the disaster.

An estimated 1.3 million people have been displaced, with up to a quarter of a million homes reportedly destroyed. The floods are a culmination of months of above average rainfall, with the first floods having occurred in summer.

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