Plans to forcibly remove people who arrived in small boats abandoned for second day
Downing Street has denied that the government’s returns deal with France is in chaos after plans to forcibly remove from the UK people arriving in small boats were abandoned for a second day.
Asked by reporters if the latest delay meant the so-called “one in one out” agreement was “a shambles”, the prime minister’s spokesperson said “No”.
Continue reading...Group of people who crossed Channel by boat understood not to have been on Air France plane after legal challenge
The first flight to France carrying people who crossed the Channel under Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal has not taken place as planned, according to reports.
A small group of individuals were removed from an Air France flight on Monday due to travel from Heathrow to Paris after a legal challenge, according to multiple newspaper reports.
Continue reading...Fitch downgrade to lowest level on record complicates new prime minister Sebastien Lecornu and President Emmanuel Macron’s efforts to control France’s finances
The Fitch agency downgraded France’s credit rating on Friday, as President Emmanuel Macron struggles with political instability and disagreements on how to put the country’s strained public finances in order.
The US rating agency, one of the top global institutions gauging the financial solidity of sovereign borrowers, downgraded France on its ability to pay back debts, from “AA-” to “A+”, the country’s lowest level on record at a major credit rating agency.
Continue reading...Move comes after parliamentary inquiry into social media platform’s psychological effects on minors
A French lawmaker has asked the state prosecutor for a criminal investigation into whether TikTok was responsible for “endangering the lives” of its young users.
Arthur Delaporte, a Socialist MP, said he co-chaired a six-month French parliamentary inquiry into TikTok’s psychological effects on minors and heard testimony from families, social media executives and influencers.
Continue reading...Lecornu, 39, faces difficult task of gaining enough support from divided parliament to pass a budget
The new French prime minister, Sébastien Lecornu, has promised a “profound break” with past politics as he took over from the unpopular centrist François Bayrou, who was ousted this week over a proposed budget squeeze.
Lecornu, 39, who said “humility” was the key approach, now faces the difficult task of gaining enough support from France’s divided parliament to pass a budget if he is to avoid being swiftly ousted in the same way as Bayrou, and before him, the rightwing Michel Barnier, who only lasted three months.
Continue reading...Number of attempts to cross Channel has been particularly high for several days, say French authorities
Four people including two children have died in two separate incidents while trying to cross the Channel to the UK in the last 24 hours, while three others are missing in a third incident.
On Tuesday night off the coast of Sangatte, France, three people lost their lives while travelling on a dinghy with 38 people onboard. Three others are missing after an incident in Neufchâtel-Hardelot, France, on a boat with 115 people onboard.
Continue reading...Police do not rule out possibility of finding more as incidents raise alarm over increase of anti-Muslim hatred
At least nine pigs’ heads were found outside several mosques in the Paris region on Tuesday, the city’s police chief said, prompting alarm over rising anti-Muslim hatred.
“Pigs’ heads have been left in front of certain mosques ... Four in Paris and five in the inner suburbs,” Laurent Nuñez told a press conference, adding that officers were not “ruling out the possibility of finding more”.
Continue reading...Sébastien Lecornu, a presidential ally, is tasked with bringing France’s divided parties together to pass a budget
Sébastien Lecornu, a close ally of Emmanuel Macron, has been appointed prime minister, tasked with consulting France’s divided political parties to try to find a consensus on the budget.
The 39-year-old began his political career in the traditional rightwing party of Nicolas Sarkozy before moving to Macron’s centre in 2017 and is seen as fiercely loyal to the president.
Continue reading...The French president will have to choose a new prime minister after resistance to austerity budget unites left and far-right in opposition
As the French president, Emmanuel Macron, faces a crucial moment on the international stage this month, with the recognition of a Palestinian state at the UN assembly and diplomacy over Gaza and Ukraine, he has once again been shaken by a damaging political crisis at home.
The centrist prime minister, François Bayrou, was toppled on Monday night in a parliamentary confidence vote, leaving Macron scrambling to appoint his third prime minister in a year, and the fifth since his second term as president began in 2022.
Continue reading...Éric Lombard says he hopes François Bayrou will survive vote and dismisses talk of looming debt crisis
The French finance minister, Éric Lombard, has said the government would have to compromise on plans to cut the budget deficit if the prime minister, François Bayrou, is toppled in a confidence vote next week.
Lombard told the Financial Times that fresh negotiations would require the government to make concessions to the left to reduce the size of the fiscal package if the government falls.
Continue reading...Mayor says city stands firm against antisemitism after message scratched into black marble memorial
A Holocaust memorial unveiled only eight months ago in the French city of Lyon has been inscribed with the words “Free Gaza”, local officials said, amid growing concern about antisemitic incidents in France.
The words were scratched into the black marble memorial late on Saturday, the city’s mayor, Grégory Doucet, said. Yonathan Arfi, of the Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), posted a photo on social media and called the incident “despicable”.
Continue reading...Family submitted a case last year accusing police, social services and courts of ‘serious failings’ but had no response
The family of a woman killed by an ex-partner who bombarded her with hundreds of messages and calls will ask a judge on Monday to force the French authorities to explain why they failed to protect her.
Sandra Pla had complained to police three times about Mickaël Falou’s threatening behaviour over a period of six months, but her application for a protection order was rejected.
Continue reading...Police launch investigation into escalation of dispute in bar in Évreux, Normandy, after five others injured
A man has driven a car into a crowd outside a bar in northern France after a dispute in which one person was killed and five others injured, according to prosecutors.
The incident took place in the town of Évreux, Normandy, at about 4am on Saturday.
Continue reading...Campaigners call for Paris-style parking charges amid fears big vehicles are taking up excessive public space
The number of giant cars in England’s cities has increased tenfold in recent years, according to researchers, who warn the vehicles are taking up excessive public space and posing a threat to public safety.
Analysis published by Clean Cities has found SUVs have gone from 3% to 30% of existing cars in the past two decades. In London, the number of SUVs has increased from about 80,000 in 2002 to about 800,000 in 2023.
Continue reading...Move by trio of European powers gives Tehran 30 days to improve access for inspection of its nuclear sites
The UK, France and Germany have formally notified the UN that they have triggered the restoration of sweeping UN sanctions against Iran, giving Tehran 30 days to make concessions on access to its nuclear sites or face deeper worldwide economic isolation.
UK officials said the decision had not been taken lightly and there had been intensive diplomacy to try to avert this step. The officials emphasised there was still room for last-ditch diplomacy before the sanctions “snapback” comes into force in 30 days’ time. The annual high-level UN general assembly in September is likely to involve more intensive diplomacy over the situation with Iran.
Continue reading...Spokesperson says government in ‘fighting spirit’ after PM called confidence vote he is expected to lose
Emmanuel Macron has given his “full support” to France’s beleaguered prime minister, François Bayrou, who is expected to lose a confidence vote next month, which would be likely to cause the government to collapse.
Macron chaired a cabinet meeting on Wednesday as France faces a fresh political crisis. The government spokesperson, Sophie Primas, said after the meeting that Macron fully supported Bayrou and the government was in a “fighting spirit”.
Continue reading...François Bayrou says he will ‘fight like a dog’ to stay in power but he appears almost certain to be toppled
France is braced for another political crisis as the minority government of François Bayrou appears almost certain to be toppled in a confidence vote next month, amid deep political divisions over an unpopular austerity budget and debt-reduction plan.
“I will fight like a dog,” the centrist prime minister told L’Express on Tuesday after his surprise decision to call a vote of confidence from parliamentarians.
Continue reading...Minister says Australian platform ‘did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content’
France will sue the Australian streaming platform Kick for alleged negligence after a user died during a livestream, a government minister has said.
The platform has come under scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died earlier this month during a 12-day livestreaming marathon on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.
Continue reading...Trial to open in Nice of Thierry Fialek-Birles, accused of an ‘elaborate fraud’ against the actor and director Dany Boon
One of France’s most popular actors will have a starring role in court when a fake Irish aristocrat goes on trial accused of cheating him out of millions of euros.
Dany Boon, director and star of Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis (Welcome to the Sticks), France’s biggest box office hit, says an alleged conman, who claimed to be an Oxford-educated maritime lawyer, stole nearly €7m (£6m) from him as part of an elaborate scam.
Continue reading...Comments come after US ambassador accused government of failing to do enough to stem hate crimes against Jews
Cabinet ministers and Jewish groups have said France has “no lessons to take” from the US on tackling antisemitism, as Washington’s ambassador to Paris was summoned after accusing the government of failing to do enough to stem hate crimes against Jews.
Charles Kushner, who is Jewish, was ordered to report to the foreign ministry on Monday after he wrote a letter to Emmanuel Macron criticising a “lack of sufficient action” by the government to confront the “dramatic rise” in antisemitism in France.
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