Constitutional law would cement abortion rights for future generations, says member of parliament
A group of lawmakers from the French president’s party will propose a bill to inscribe abortion rights into the country’s constitution, according to a statement by two members of parliament on Saturday.
The move comes after the US supreme court overturned a 50-year-old ruling and stripped women’s constitutional protections for abortion.
Continue reading...Work paying homage to victims of 2015 attack – painted on door at Bataclan concert hall – was stolen in 2019
A French court has convicted eight men for the theft and handling of a Banksy painting paying homage to the victims of the 2015 attack on the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.
Three men in their 30s who admitted to the 2019 theft were given prison sentences, one of four years and two of three, although they will be able to serve them wearing electronic tracking bracelets rather than behind bars.
Continue reading...Conservationists say exploitation of amphibians leading to depletion of native species abroad
A voracious appetite for frogs’ legs among the French and Belgians is driving species in Indonesia, Turkey and Albania to the brink of extinction, according to a report.
Europe imports as many as 200 million mostly wild frogs every year, contributing to a serious depletion of native species abroad.
Continue reading...Risk of significant tsunami within next 30 years is nearly 100%, Unesco says, as it urges coastal cities to become ‘tsunami-ready’
A tsunami could soon hit major cities on or near the Mediterranean Sea including Marseille, Alexandria and Istanbul, with a nearly 100% chance of a wave reaching more than a metre high in the next 30 years, according to Unesco.
The risk of a tsunami in Mediterranean coastal communities is predicted to soar as sea levels rise. While communities in the Pacific and Indian Ocean, where most tsunamis occur, were often aware of the dangers, it was underestimated in other coastal regions, including the Mediterranean, Unesco said.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie, a member of Marine Le Pen’s far-right party, faces legal action by descendants of the Tascher de la Pagerie family
A newly elected MP for Marine Le Pen’s resurgent far-right National Rally party has been sued by the descendants of one of France’s oldest aristocratic families who accuse him of adding their name to his own.
Emmanuel Taché de la Pagerie, 47, was one of dozens of National Rally MPs voted into the National Assembly on Sunday, with his official ID verified and approved by the local authorities in the southern city of Marseille.
Continue reading...Calls grow for greater measures against wave of BA.4 and BA.5 cases in countries from Spain to Denmark
Multiple European countries are experiencing a significant surge in new Covid-19 infections, as experts warn that with almost all restrictions lifted and booster take-up often low, cases could soar throughout the summer leading to more deaths.
According to the Our World in Data scientific aggregator, the rolling seven-day average of confirmed new cases per million inhabitants is on the rise in countries including Portugal, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, the Netherlands and Denmark.
Continue reading...Firm wants to ‘invest in innovation at faster pace’ and help clients as online grocery market grows
Ocado is aiming to raise £575m from investors to fund the expansion of its technology arm, which enables overseas retailers to sell groceries online. It has also agreed a new £300m credit facility with a syndicate of international banks.
Ocado said it wanted the cash to “invest in innovation at a faster pace” and help its clients, which include the US supermarket chain Kroger and the French grocer Casino, to accelerate the shift to online shopping.
Continue reading...Gains by new French left alliance and historic surge by far right cast uncertainty over Macron’s second term
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping has lost its absolute majority in parliament, amid gains by a new left alliance and a historic surge by the far right in legislative elections.
After five years of undisputed control of parliament, the recently re-elected Macron, known for his top-down approach to power, now enters his second term facing uncertainty over how he will deliver domestic policies such as raising the retirement age and overhauling state benefits. His centrists will need to strike compromises and expand alliances in parliament to be able to push forward his proposals to cut taxes and shake up the welfare system.
Continue reading...Analysis: France’s new parliament likely to be less pliant as president tries to tackle a series of crises
Domestic difficulties are stacking up for Emmanuel Macron as his second presidential term begins in earnest this week after his centrists lost their absolute majority in parliament.
The newly elected president now faces uncertainty over how to strike alliances in order to push through key legislation this summer.
Continue reading...Sister-in-law hid one dedicated to Gauguin because of ‘anger at the French artist’s attacks on his former friend’
Shortly before Vincent van Gogh cut off his left ear and had a breakdown after quarrelling with his fellow artist, Paul Gauguin, in the French city of Arles in 1888, he created a pair of extraordinary paintings. One, Gauguin’s Chair, depicts a couple of books and a lit candle discarded on an ornate armchair. The other, Van Gogh’s Chair, shows a tobacco pipe and pouch on a rustic wooden chair and is instantly recognisable as one of the most famous paintings in the world.
Now, the mystery of how the diptych of paintings came to be split up – and why the picture of Gauguin’s chair was kept in the family collection while Van Gogh’s Chair was sold off – has finally been solved.
Continue reading...Modern techniques to test traditional explanation that most bones from 1815 battle were ground into powder for fertiliser
It was an epic battle that has been commemorated in words, poetry and even a legendary Abba song, but 207 years to the day after troops clashed at Waterloo, a gruesome question remains: what happened to the dead?
While tens of thousands of men and horses died at the site in modern-day Belgium, few remains have been found, with amputated legs and a skeleton unearthed beneath a car park south of Brussels among the handful of discoveries.
Continue reading...Temperature could exceed 42C in parts of France as scientists warn heatwaves will hit earlier than usual due to climate change
France, Spain and other western European nations braced for a sweltering weekend that is set to break records and sparked concern about forest fires and the effects of climate change.
Temperatures already nudged over 40C (104F) in parts of France on Friday.
Continue reading...Rachel Keke, who coordinated successful strike for better pay and conditions, takes on Macron’s former sports minister
A hotel housekeeper who led a strike for better pay and conditions at one of the biggest hotels in Paris could become the first cleaner to be elected to the French parliament on Sunday, as a left alliance challenges Emmanuel Macron’s centrists.
Rachel Keke, 48, said years of gruelling work cleaning up to 40 rooms a day at the Ibis hotel in Batignolles would enable her to speak up for workers in parliament. Her aim was to “make visible those who are invisible”, she told one rally.
Continue reading...The French government official investigating the chaos at the Champions League final in Paris in which police used teargas and pepper spray against Liverpool fans admitted there were “many regrets” over what happened but said preparations had been robust.
Michel Cadot, the sports ministry’s delegate on major events, said those involved in planning for the match – including the French Football Federation and the police – had acted in a “strong and satisfactory” manner, but admitted the occasion was “an important failure that damages us”.
Continue reading...Symbolic visit of German, French and Italian leaders comes as Russia continues attacks across country
The leaders of France, Germany and Italy have vowed to support Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union on a visit to Kyiv intended as a show of unity in the face of Russian advances and complaints from the Ukrainians about the pace of weapons supplies.
“My colleagues and I came here to Kyiv today with a clear message: ‘Ukraine belongs to the European family,’” the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, said at a joint press conference with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Italian prime minister, Mario Draghi, the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and the Romanian president, Klaus Iohannis.
Continue reading...Volodymyr Zelenskiy to push leaders of Germany, France and Italy to send more weapons to help army withstand Russian invasion
The leaders of the European Union’s three biggest countries, Germany, France and Italy, are expected in Kyiv on Thursday to show their backing for Ukraine as it struggles to withstand a relentless Russian assault.
The visit by the German chancellor Olaf Scholz, the French president Emmanuel Macron and the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi has taken weeks to organise with the three men looking to overcome criticism within Ukraine over their response to the war.
Continue reading...Insect’s journey probably began in west Africa on vessel that sailed from La Rochelle in 1743 to Guinea
An 18th-century cockroach named Peri, discovered in the ledger of a French slave-trading vessel, has become a surprise addition to the National Archives after the book was opened for the first time in more than two centuries.
The insect’s journey began onboard the slave-trading vessel that sailed from La Rochelle in 1743 for the Guinea coast. The crew later boarded a different vessel in modern-day Haiti bound for France, taking the ledger with them. But that ship was seized by British privateers during the war of the Austrian succession and sent into Plymouth.
Continue reading...President faces a messy scramble if he cannot achieve absolute majority in second round of elections
A new alliance of the French left is putting pressure on Emmanuel Macron’s grouping in the second round of the parliament election, as the president tries to hold on to his parliamentary majority.
Macron’s centrists could lose dozens of seats in France’s national assembly in the final next Sunday after a strong showing by a historic alliance of parties on the left, led by the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s France Unbowed with the Socialists and the Greens.
Continue reading...President’s Ensemble alliance is projected to take 25.2% of the vote with Jean-Luc Mélenchon’s Nupes slightly ahead on 25.6%
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist grouping was neck and neck with a new leftwing alliance led by the hard-left Jean-Luc Mélenchon in the vote share of the first round of parliamentary elections.
A frantic final week of campaigning will begin on Monday before the second round, as Macron’s centrists still hope to edge ahead but face uncertainty over whether they can win a crucial majority of seats in parliament.
Continue reading...France’s president will be hoping his habit of planting a peck on a pate on polling days will bring him luck in parliamentary elections
Emmanuel Macron’s apparent habit of kissing a bald supporter on the head on election day has sparked French media speculation over whether it was a superstitious gesture as his centrists face a tough challenge from the left.
As the French president went to vote in the first round of the parliamentary elections in the northern seaside resort of Le Touquet, where he has a house, he approached waiting supporters before grabbing party activist Grégoire Campion and kissing him on his bald head.
Continue reading...