Category Archives: France

Thieves stole Banksy Bataclan door mural with crowbar, French court told

Posted on by

Seven Frenchmen and Italian on trial for theft of work thought to be a tribute to victims of Paris attacks

Thieves who stole a mural by the street artist Banksy on an emergency exit door of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris used a crowbar and angle grinder to prise it free, in a crime that lasted just minutes, a French court heard.

The work depicting a veiled and mournful figure is thought to have been a tribute to victims of the Islamist militant attacks against the Bataclan and other entertainment venues in Paris in 2015.

Continue reading...

Paris protesters celebrate saving trees around the Eiffel Tower

Posted on by

City abandons €72m scheme to develop area and create huge garden in time for 2024 Olympics

Protesters in Paris are celebrating having saved more than 40 trees – one of them over 200 years old – from being chopped down or threatened with damage around the Eiffel Tower as part of a €72m scheme to create a huge garden.

Paris’s city hall has been forced to row back on plans to clear the area around the structure on the Champ-de-Mars to improve access to the tower and make the traffic-clogged area greener in time for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Continue reading...

France puts 18 on trial over alleged involvement in vast horsemeat scandal

Posted on by

Defendants are accused of participation in supply of horsemeat unfit for human consumption across Europe

When Aline Oudin was forced to find a new home for her beloved 28-year-old chestnut horse Ténor du Pluvinage, she placed an advert asking if anyone could offer him a new field to see out his final days.

A man in his 60s responded saying he was looking for a calm companion for the young mare he had bought his daughter, so Oudin let him take the horse away with the promise she could visit him regularly.

Continue reading...

Christo before Christo: Paris exhibition reveals artist’s earlier works

Posted on by

Exhibition to show items the artist experimented with before larger wrapped pieces that defined him

Long before scaling the heights of the Reichstag in Berlin or the Pont Neuf in Paris, the artist known as Christo started on a much smaller scale.

Having fled communist Bulgaria for Paris and working in a maid’s room, the impoverished refugee began creating his first wrapped sculptures using everyday objects such as cans, bottles and – when he found a bigger studio – old oil barrels.

Continue reading...

Woman killed as storms cause chaos across France

Posted on by

Many more people injured as thunder and hail lead to flooding, power cuts and flight delays

One woman has been killed and 14 people injured in France as thunder and hailstorms hit the country, ravaging vineyards and delaying flights.

Residents of south-west France posted photos online of hail the size of tennis balls, and drivers in the Paris region shared images of flooded roads and daytime skies blackened by thunder clouds.

Continue reading...

Fury in France as Champions League final chaos tarnishes nation’s global image

Posted on by

As elections loom, public turns against interior minister Gérald Darmanin after he blames Liverpool fans for Paris fiasco

When Paris stepped in to host the Champions League final, the biggest match in international football after the World Cup final, the French authorities saw a chance to show that the nation was the ideal place to hold global sporting events.

This weekend, those hopes appear to be dashed as French opinion polls show widespread disapproval of the chaos that ensued, amid growing criticism of politicians and the police.

Continue reading...

Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, says Emmanuel Macron

Posted on by

French president says door must be left open to allow for improvement in diplomatic relations after war

Russia must not be humiliated in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron has said, to allow an improvement in diplomatic relations between the west and Moscow whenever the war comes to an end.

The French president said his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, had made a “historic and fundamental” error in invading Ukraine, but that nevertheless a wider escalation in hostilities had to be avoided.

Continue reading...

Afghans with western links among rising number trying to cross Channel

Posted on by

Fivefold increase in refugees from Afghanistan crossing in small boats this year as they flee Taliban

Refugees who worked alongside international organisations in Afghanistan are among a rising number of Afghan asylum seekers in camps in northern France planning to cross the Channel in small boats.

The number of asylum seekers from Afghanistan crossing the Channel in small boats has risen fivefold this year, according to immigration figures released last week, as more refugees flee in the wake of the Taliban takeover.

Continue reading...

UK agrees to launch full inquiry into drowning of 27 people in Channel

Posted on by

Lawyers for bereaved relatives say ‘serious failings’ in rescue operation may have contributed to deaths

The government has agreed to launch a full investigation into the drowning of at least 27 people trying to cross the Channel in a small boat last November.

The decision by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, to agree to what is known as an article 2 inquiry – an independent investigation – is revealed in correspondence between his lawyers and eight relatives of 11 of the victims.

Continue reading...

France bans English gaming tech jargon in push to preserve language purity

Posted on by

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...

Blair and former PMs should not act as political ‘figureheads’, says Ed Balls

Posted on by

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...

G7 countries to stop funding fossil fuel development overseas

Posted on by

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...

Champions League final chaos shows France in bad light, say opposition leaders

Posted on by

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...

Liverpool fans liken ‘terrifying’ treatment in Paris to Hillsborough

Posted on by

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...

Ailing orca stuck in France’s River Seine to be lured to sea using drone with loudspeakers

Posted on by

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...

Former head of Louvre charged in Egyptian artefacts trafficking case

Posted on by

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...

French minister refuses to stand down over rape allegations

Posted on by

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...

Sole survivor of 2009 Comoros plane crash recalls terrifying ordeal

Posted on by

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...

Group invades Cannes red carpet to highlight violence towards women

Posted on by

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...

France and Spain swelter as Cyclone Yakecan wreaks havoc in South America

Posted on by

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...