Government officials must replace words such as ‘e-sports’ and ‘streaming’ with approved French versions
French officials on Monday continued their centuries-long battle to preserve the purity of the language, overhauling the rules on using English video game jargon.
While some expressions find obvious translations – “pro-gamer” becomes “joueur professionnel” – others seem a more strained, as “streamer” is transformed into “joueur-animateur en direct”.
Continue reading...Ex-Labour minister tells Hay festival that the involvement of former leaders in the ‘next phase of politics’ may not be sensible
Ed Balls has said former prime ministers such as Tony Blair and David Cameron should not attempt to return as “figureheads for the next phase of politics”.
The former cabinet minister’s comments addressed Blair’s upcoming Future of Britain conference, which is seen as an attempt to reinvigorate centrist politics in the UK by taking inspiration from the success of La République En Marche, the recently created centre-left party that brought Emmanuel Macron to power in France.
Continue reading...Ministers from world’s biggest economies reach agreement that could shift estimated $33bn a year to clean energy sources
The world’s biggest economies are to stop funding any overseas fossil fuel development from the end of this year, in a move likely to choke off some of the investment in “carbon bombs” that are imperilling efforts to meet the world’s climate targets.
The agreement could shift about $33bn (£26bn) a year from fossil fuels to clean energy sources, according to analysts’ estimates.
Continue reading...Jean-Luc Mélenchon criticises ‘confrontational policing’ at Paris final, saying country seems ill-prepared for future events
French opposition politicians have criticised the government over policing at the Champions League final in Paris on Saturday night, saying the chaotic scenes showed a poor image of France.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the radical left leader, whose left alliance is seeking to win seats in forthcoming parliament elections, said the “lamentable” and “worrying” scenes suggested France and its security services were not prepared for sports events such as next year’s Rugby World Cup or the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Continue reading...Witnesses say they feared for their lives as French police fired teargas into the crowds ahead of Champions League final
Families affected by the Hillsborough disaster have compared the “terrifying” treatment of Liverpool fans at the Champions League final to the crush that led to the deaths of 97 supporters in 1989.
Witnesses described seeing children “trembling with fear”, and adults scared for their lives, as French police fired teargas into crowds outside the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday night.
Continue reading...A drone emitting orca sounds will be used in attempt to guide the animal, whose health is fast deteriorating
An orca lost in France’s River Seine is to be guided back to sea using sounds made by the species under a last-ditch plan to save the animal’s life.
The local prefecture said it would monitor the animal, also known as a killer whale, from a distance with a drone while emitting orca communications in an attempt to guide it back to the sea, following a meeting with national and international scientists, including marine mammal specialists.
Continue reading...Jean-Luc Martinez is accused of conspiring to hide origin of works taken out of Egypt during Arab spring
The former president of the Louvre museum in Paris has been charged with conspiring to hide the origin of archaeological treasures that may have been taken out of Egypt during the Arab spring uprisings, in a case that has shocked the world of antiquities.
Jean-Luc Martinez was charged this week after he was taken in by police for questioning, a French judicial source told Agence France-Presse. Martinez ran the Paris Louvre, the most visited museum in the world, from 2013-21.
Continue reading...Damien Abad, appointed to the new government on Friday, denies ‘deeply wounding’ accusations
A member of France’s newly installed government who has faced accusations of rape has strongly denied the allegations and insisted he will not stand down.
Damien Abad, 42, appointed the minister for solidarity and the disabled, was forced to make a statement after two women accused him of rape in 2010 and 2011.
Continue reading...Bahia Bakari, who was 12 at the time, tells French court of the moments leading up to crash in which 152 died
A woman who was 12 when she became the sole survivor of the 2009 Yemenia Airways crash in the Comoros islands that killed all 152 others on board has described the terrifying moments leading up to her plunge into the ocean and subsequent rescue as part of the French trial against the airline.
Bahia Bakari, 25, has sat through several hearings with her father but had not testified or spoken to journalists attending the trial, which opened this month.
Continue reading...Protest came before premiere of Holy Spider, based on story of man who killed at least 16 women in Iran
Protests about women’s safety have taken place at the Cannes film festival for the second time in a matter of days, after a group invaded the red carpet at a premiere of a film about the killing of sex workers.
About 12 women went on to the red carpet before the screening of Holy Spider, carrying a banner with the first names of 129 women killed in France since the last time the festival was held.
Continue reading...Analysis: Another week of extremes with peaks pushing 40C in Spain and a rare subtropical cyclone in Uruguay and Brazil
Unseasonably high temperatures have been affecting both Iberia and France over recent days. Temperatures have been about 10-15C above average thanks to a southerly flow of very warm and dry air from north Africa.
On 17 May, temperatures across much of Spain, as well as southern and central France, widely exceeded 30C. A top temperature of 35.5C was recorded in the southern Spanish province of Huelva, with a provisional high of 32.9C recorded in the French commune of Montélimar. La Hague near the Channel hit 26.6C, beating the May record for this location set 100 years ago.
Continue reading...Poor seed harvests have led to empty shelves at supermarkets in France and global shortages
Climate change and rising costs are causing supermarkets in France to run out of dijon mustard, raising questions over whether the shortage could spread to other countries.
French mustard producers said seed production in 2021 was down 50% after poor harvests, which they said had been brought on by the changing climate in France’s Burgundy region and Canada – the second largest mustard seed producer in the world.
Continue reading...Frontman and guitarist watched Bataclan fans’ excitement turn to confusion as gunmen opened fire
The frontman and the guitarist for the American rock band Eagles of Death Metal have told a Paris court how they watched from the stage in confusion and horror as terrorists opened fire on the crowd at their sold-out concert at the Bataclan in 2015.
Jesse Hughes, the band’s singer, and Eden Galindo, a guitarist, both said the attack, which left 90 people dead, had changed their lives for ever.
Continue reading...Labour minister Borne, 61, is only second woman in modern French history to be PM, after Édith Cresson
Élisabeth Borne, the French minister for labour, has been appointed prime minister – the first woman to hold the post in more than 30 years and only the second female prime minister in modern French history.
Borne, 61, an engineer with a long career in government ministries, the senior civil service, public administration and state businesses – was chosen by Emmanuel Macron for the difficult task of delivering his complex policy promises at the start of his second term, against a background of rising inflation and the war in Ukraine.
Continue reading...Grenoble mayor wants swimmers to dress ‘how they like’, including topless or in full-body suits
The burkini, or full-body swimsuit, is once again at the centre of a political row in France as Grenoble’s town council prepares to debate loosening rules on swimwear at open-air pools.
Rules on swimwear are strict at most French public pools, with men, for example, having to wear tight-fitting racing trunks and not longer board-shorts. Currently, in Grenoble municipal pools, UV-protective tops are banned, except short-sleeved tops for children under 10, or for adults who present a medical note from their doctor.
Continue reading...Cécile Kohler and her husband held after holiday, while threat to kill scientist seen as reprisal for Swedish war crimes trial
Iranian authorities have arrested a French teaching union official and her husband and threatened to execute a Swedish-Iranian man who has been held in jail for six years by 21 May, in fresh moves against foreign and dual nationals.
The threat to execute Ahmadreza Djalali, a scientist, is widely seen as a reprisal for Sweden starting the trial in Stockholm of Hamid Nouri, who is accused of war crimes and murder committed during and after the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.
Continue reading...Matthew Hedges and Ali Issa Ahmad allege Ahmed Naser al-Raisi was responsible for abuse in detention
Two British men who spent time in detention in the United Arab Emirates have testified in Paris that an Emirati security official who is now the president of Interpol was responsible for their alleged torture.
Matthew Hedges, an academic imprisoned in the UAE for seven months on espionage charges he denies, and Ali Issa Ahmad, who was detained in Dubai for wearing a Qatar football shirt, testified before the investigating judge of the specialised judicial unit for crimes against humanity and war crimes of the Paris tribunal.
Continue reading...Twenty women have accused Patrick Poivre d’Arvor, also known as PPDA, of sexual harassment and abuse
Twenty women have come forward to openly accuse one of France’s best-known television news presenters of sexual harassment and abuse – including rape – following an investigation by French journalists.
Patrick Poivre d’Arvor – known as PPDA – has faced a number of accusations that emerged after a writer first went to police to accuse him of rape, in February last year. The investigation was later dropped.
Continue reading...Saber Lahmar has been charged with encouraging jihadists to fight for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria
An Algerian preacher who spent eight years in the US-run Guantánamo Bay prison has gone on trial in France for allegedly encouraging several young men to join the Islamic State group.
Saber Lahmar, a 52-year-old Algerian released by the US in 2008 and taken in afterwards by France, has been charged with encouraging jihadists to head to Iraq and Syria to fight for the extremist group in 2015.
Continue reading...French president promises inclusive education system, accessible health service and stronger military at Elysée Palace ceremony
Emmanuel Macron said that his reelection marked a “fundamental democratic renaissance” as he was sworn in for a second term of office as president of France at a ceremony at the Elysée Palace.
Macron, who defeated his far right rival, Marine Le Pen, in the second round vote two weeks ago, entered on Saturday to the strains of Handel played by the Garde Républicaine’s string quartet and listened as the official results were read.
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