Category Archives: France

Macron takes on far-right presidential rival in visit to Vichy

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President warns about ‘manipulation’ of history after Éric Zemmour claims Vichy regime protected French Jews from Nazis

Emmanuel Macron has warned against the “manipulation” of history in a clear message to the far-right presidential candidate, Éric Zemmour, on a symbolic visit to Vichy.

After the German occupation in 1940, the spa town was chosen for Marshal Philippe Pétain’s puppet regime, which collaborated with the Nazis and ensured the deportation of Jews to death camps. Zemmour has angered historians by claiming, instead, that Pétain saved French Jews.

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Poll shows Anglo-French antipathy on rise amid post-Brexit bickering

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Exclusive: political tensions prompt increase in numbers of French with negative view of Brits and vice versa

A year of post-Brexit bickering has left the French and the British feeling significantly less well disposed towards each other, a poll shows.

After ill-tempered exchanges over everything from fishing to submarines and Covid travel rules to the Northern Ireland protocol, the YouGov poll found that favourable opinions of the British had slid in France and other EU countries.

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Covid, mourning and the spectre of violence: New Caledonia prepares for blighted independence vote

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Pro-independence groups have called for Indigenous voters not to take part in Sunday’s long-awaited ballot, saying proper campaigning has been prevented

New Caledonia is set to hold a referendum on independence from France this weekend, the third and final poll meant to conclude a decolonisation process initiated 30 years ago.

For anyone who witnessed the first two referenda, the contrast with the vote set for 12 December is striking: instead of the countless Kanaky flags or the red, white and blue of the French tricolour that adorned houses, balconies, roadsides, pickups or even people in the run-up to the 2018 and 2020 votes, this year there is little to see. On the Place des Cocotiers, in the centre of Nouméa, the capital, the quiet is disturbed only by the incessant patrolling of police trucks, part of the increased security around the vote.

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One of suspected killers of Jamal Khashoggi held in Paris, say reports

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Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi reportedly arrested as he was about to board flight to Riyadh

French police have reportedly arrested a former member of the Saudi royal guard suspected of involvement in the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

Khalid Aedh al-Otaibi was said to have been taken into custody at Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport as he was about to take a plane to the Saudi capital, Riyadh.

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Covid live: early signs Omicron more transmissible, UK PM says; Scottish firms urged to let staff work from home

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Early indications Omicron more transmissible than Delta, says Boris Johnson; Nicola Sturgeon says staff should work from home until mid-January

All international arrivals to the UK are now required to take a pre-departure Covid-19 test to tackle the new Omicron variant.

The tightened requirements have just come into force from 4am (GMT) on Tuesday 7 December.

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Far-right French presidential candidate put in headlock by protester – video

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The far-right French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour appeared to be put in a headlock by a protester at his first campaign, days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views.

Videos online appeared to show Zemmour being grabbed by a man at the heated rally near Paris on Sunday, during which anti-racism activists were also reportedly attacked. He was later reported to have suffered slight injuries

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Mountaineer given jewels he found on French glacier 50 years after plane crash

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Gemstones worth €300,000 shared between Mont Blanc climber and authorities as man praised for handing find to police in 2013

A treasure trove of emeralds, rubies and sapphires buried for decades on a glacier off France’s Mont Blanc has finally been shared between the climber who discovered them and local authorities, eight years after they were found.

The mountaineer stumbled across the precious stones in 2013. They had remained hidden in a metal box that was onboard an Indian plane that crashed in the desolate landscape some 50 years earlier.

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Far-right French presidential candidate put in headlock by protester at rally

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Éric Zemmour formally declared his candidacy on Tuesday, highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views

The far-right French presidential candidate Éric Zemmour appeared to be put in a headlock by a protester at his first campaign, a few days after he formally declared his candidacy in a video highlighting his anti-migrant and anti-Islam views.

Videos online appeared to show Zemmour being grabbed by a man at the heated rally near Paris on Sunday, during which anti-racism activists were also reportedly attacked.

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Valérie Pécresse: the ‘bulldozer’ who would be France’s first female president

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Her supporters call her Emmanuel Macron’s worst nightmare, but she faces a tough task to unseat him

When Valérie Pécresse crossed rural France this summer, visiting farms and villages to escape what she called her grotesquely unfair image as a “blond bourgeoise” from Versailles, she promised to smash the French Republic’s glass ceiling. “I will be the first female president of France,” she told meeting halls to cheers.

Since Emmanuel Macron won the presidency in 2017 as a shock outsider with no election experience and a party put together in a few months, French politics has thrived on novelty. Pécresse’s supporters say her status as a woman is refreshingly new and makes her Macron’s worst nightmare.

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UK takes part in huge French naval exercise to counter ‘emerging threats’

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France’s top naval commander cites ‘rapid rearmament’ of China and Russia as danger to maritime security

France’s most senior naval commander has said future conflicts are likely to be fought at sea and in the cybersphere, citing the “rapid rearmament” of countries such as China as a potential threat.

Adm Pierre Vandier made his comments after the French Marine Nationale and forces from five allied countries, including the UK, took part in what he described as a unique two-week exercise intended to prepare for “composite threats”.

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Lives lost at Europe’s borders and Afghan MPs in exile: human rights this fortnight – in pictures

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A roundup of the struggle for human rights and freedoms, from Mexico to Manila

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Emmanuel Macron accused of trying to ‘rehabilitate’ Mohammed bin Salman

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Human rights groups criticise French president’s planned meeting with crown prince in Saudi Arabia

Human rights groups have criticised Emmanuel Macron’s planned meeting with Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia on Saturday, which will mark the first one-on-one public meeting of a major western leader with the crown prince since the state-sponsored assassination of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

For three years since the 2018 murder, western heads of state have avoided direct one-on-one meetings with the crown prince in the kingdom. The US president, Joe Biden, has even avoided speaking to the future king in what has widely been seen as an attempt to avoid conferring legitimacy on the de facto ruler.

But Macron’s move suggests at least one major western leader is ready to formally re-establish ties to the crown prince directly, less than a year after US intelligence agencies released a report stating they believed that Prince Mohammed had approved the murder of Khashoggi.

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France stunned as judo star’s coach cleared of domestic violence

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Margaux Pinot says she feared her partner would kill her, but judge says there is not enough proof of guilt

French sports stars and politicians have expressed anger at the acquittal of a coach accused of domestic violence against the Olympic judo champion Margaux Pinot, as the state prosecutor launched an appeal.

Pinot, 27, a gold medallist at the Tokyo Olympics, had serious facial injuries including a fractured nose when she filed a police complaint in the early hours of Sunday. She said her partner and trainer, Alain Schmitt, had attacked her at her flat outside Paris, wrestled her to the ground, verbally abused her, punched her many times, repeatedly smashed her head on to the ground and tried to strangle her.

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UK Covid live: PM says people should not cancel Christmas events after highest cases since 17 July recorded

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Latest updates: Boris Johnson says ‘no need’ to cancel Christmas events as UK reports 53,945 daily coronavirus cases

Jeremy Corbyn posted a tweet this morning promoting a virtual Stop the War fundraiser this Christmas, not an in-person one. So my earlier post (now removed) about this being an example of a party going ahead that might not meet with George Freeman’s approval was completely wrong. I apologise for the mistake.

The Cabinet Office has been fined £500,000 for accidentally disclosing the postal addresses of the 2020 new year honours list recipients online, in breach of data protection laws.

On 27 December 2019 the Cabinet Office published a file on GOV.UK containing the names and unredacted addresses of more than 1,000 people announced in the new year honours list. People from a wide range of professions across the UK were affected, including individuals with a high public profile.

After becoming aware of the data breach, the Cabinet Office removed the weblink to the file. However, the file was still cached and accessible online to people who had the exact webpage address.

When data breaches happen, they have real-life consequences. In this case, more than 1,000 people were affected. At a time when they should have been celebrating and enjoying the announcement of their honour, they were faced with the distress of their personal details being exposed.

The Cabinet Office’s complacency and failure to mitigate the risk of a data breach meant that hundreds of people were potentially exposed to the risk of identity fraud and threats to their personal safety.

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School bullies to face jail under law approved by French MPs

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Draft legislation also proposes maximum fine of €150,000 in most serious cases

The French parliament has voted to make school bullying a criminal offence punishable by up to three years in prison, as MPs said society needed a wake-up call on the seriousness of children targeting their peers.

The proposed law was supported by Emmanuel Macron’s education minister, Jean-Michel Blanquer.

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Emmanuel Macron’s dangerous shift on the New Caledonia referendum risks a return to violence | Rowena Dickins Morrison, Adrian Muckle and Benoît Trépied

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With the growing possibility of a pro-independence victory, France is derailing decolonisation in a bid to shore up its position in the Indo-Pacific

The French government’s decision to hold New Caledonia’s self-determination referendum on 12 December, despite the resolve of pro-independence parties not to participate, is a reckless political gambit with potentially dire consequences.

The referendum will be the third and final consultation held under the 1998 Noumea accord – successor to the Matignon accords which ended instability and violence between the Kanak independence movement and local “loyalists” and the French state in 1988. By organising this month’s referendum without the participation of the Indigenous Kanak people, who overwhelmingly support independence, France is undermining the innovative and peaceful decolonisation process of the last 30 years, founded on French state neutrality and seeking consensus between opposing local political parties.

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Macron privately called Boris Johnson a ‘clown’, says French magazine

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Report follows French president’s complaint about PM’s behaviour after they discussed sinking of refugee boat in the Channel

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, referred to Boris Johnson in a private conversation as a “clown”, according to reports in France.

The political magazine Le Canard enchaîné, often described as the French equivalent of Private Eye, reported Macron as saying the British prime minister has “the attitude of a vulgarian”.

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People onboard sinking Channel dinghy ‘tried to contact UK authorities’

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Home Office acknowledges people involved in tragedy may have tried to call for help as investigations continue

The occupants of a boat that sank last week in the Channel causing the deaths of at least 27 people may have tried to contact the UK authorities, the Home Office has acknowledged.

Dan O’Mahoney – the clandestine channel threat commander – said he could not say with any certainty if those onboard had rung the UK for help. Speaking to parliament’s human rights committee, O’Mahoney said HM Coastguard was now investigating.

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Josephine Baker, music hall star and civil rights activist, enters Panthéon

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French-American war hero is first Black woman inducted into Paris mausoleum for revered figures

Josephine Baker, the French-American civil rights activist, music hall superstar and second world war resistance hero, has become the first Black woman to enter France’s Panthéon mausoleum of revered historical figures – taking the nation’s highest honour at a moment when tensions over national identity and immigration are dominating the run-up to next year’s presidential race.

The elaborate ceremony on Tuesday – presided over by the French president, Emmanuel Macron – focused on Baker’s legacy as a resistance fighter, activist and anti-fascist who fled the racial segregation of the 1920s US for the Paris cabaret stage, and who fought for inclusion and against hatred.

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Far-right TV pundit Éric Zemmour to run for French presidency

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It is time to ‘save’ France, controversial figure says as he reads video speech posted on social media

Éric Zemmour, a controversial French far-right TV pundit who has convictions for inciting racial hatred, has declared he will run for president next spring, claiming he wants to “save” traditional France from “disappearing”.

In a 10-minute video posted on social media, Zemmour sat at a desk reading a speech in front of an old-fashioned microphone, designed to look like Charles de Gaulle’s famous June 1940 broadcast to Nazi-occupied France – provoking anger from the traditional Gaullist right.

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