Covid live: Dutch police open fire at protest; German government not ruling out full lockdown — as it happened

Two injured as police in Rotterdam fire warning shots; German health minister says nothing can be ruled out

A quick snap from Reuters here that the UK government has announced it will add booster shot status to the Covid-19 pass for outbound international travel, though it said they would not be added to the domestic pass at this time.

The health ministry said that travellers who have had a booster or a third dose would be able to demonstrate their vaccine status through the NHS Covid pass from Friday, adding that a booster was not necessary to travel into England.

This pandemic has exposed a vulnerability to whole-system emergencies – that is, emergencies that are so broad that they engage the entire system. Although the government had plans for an influenza pandemic, it did not have detailed plans for many non-health consequences and some health consequences of a pandemic like Covid-19. There were lessons from previous simulation exercises that were not fully implemented and would have helped prepare for a pandemic like Covid-19. There was limited oversight and assurance of plans in place, and many pre-pandemic plans were not adequate. In addition, there is variation in capacity, capability and maturity of risk management across government departments.

Continue reading...

Michel Barnier in French election spotlight as lurch to right pays off

Mild-mannered former centrist has become a surprise favourite to win Les Républicains’ nomination

In a restaurant in prosperous western Paris, fans of the EU’s former negotiator on Brexit, Michel Barnier, crowded in to hear their hero speak, cheering the mild-mannered 70-year-old who has gone from rank outsider to potential favourite in the contest to choose a presidential candidate for the right’s Les Républicains.

Barnier is one of the big surprises of the unpredictable pre-election season in France. He was known for almost 50 years in right-wing French politics as a centrist, liberal-minded neo-Gaullist, devoted to the European cause. But he has amazed observers by significantly hardening his stance as the rightwing party prepared to decide on its candidate early next month.

Continue reading...

Support for populist sentiment falls across Europe, survey finds

YouGov/Guardian poll finds ‘clear pattern of decreasing support for populism’ in European countries

Support for populist sentiment in Europe has fallen sharply over the past three years, according to a major YouGov survey, with markedly fewer people agreeing with key statements designed to measure it.

The YouGov-Cambridge Globalism Project’s annual populism tracker, produced with the Guardian, found populist beliefs in broadly sustained decline in 10 European countries, prompting its authors to suggest the wider electoral appeal of some may have peaked.

Continue reading...

Royal Institution cancels event with far-right French pundit Éric Zemmour

Function in London cancelled over ‘due diligence’ of Zemmour, who has convictions for inciting racial hatred

London’s prestigious Royal Institution has cancelled an event at which the far-right French TV pundit Éric Zemmour was due to speak on Friday.

Zemmour, who has convictions for inciting racial hatred, is due to arrive in London on Thursday as he ponders a potential run in France’s presidential elections next year.

Continue reading...

French dictionary accused of ‘wokeism’ over gender-inclusive pronoun

Education minister condemns use of ‘iel’, saying inclusive writing is not the future of the French language

A French reference dictionary has defended its official recognition of a gender-inclusive pronoun, after traditionalists pounced on what they called the latest incursion of US-inspired “wokeism”.

While the everyday use of “iel” – a neologism combining the French words for he and she (“il” and “elle”) – remains largely anecdotal for now, critics deem it a linguistic affront that needs to be banned.

Continue reading...

French presidential hopeful Éric Zemmour begins race hate trial

Far-right TV pundit on trial for calling unaccompanied child migrants ‘thieves, killers and rapists’

Éric Zemmour, the far-right TV pundit who is preparing to run for French president claiming that Islam and immigration are destroying France, has gone on trial in Paris on charges of incitement to racial hatred.

The case relates to remarks the 63-year-old polemicist made on television last year when he called unaccompanied child migrants “thieves, killers and rapists”.

Continue reading...

‘We are not in the mood for campaigning’: Covid threatens to derail independence vote in New Caledonia

Kanak leaders have urged a postponement of the vote, saying that the priority for indigenous people once lockdown lifts will be mourning customs, not campaigning

The credibility of New Caledonia’s third and final independence referendum has been questioned after indigenous leaders warned that participation could be adversely affected by the Covid pandemic.

The French government has announced that the referendum will proceed as planned in December after the coronavirus crisis eased.

Continue reading...

Union considers legal action over Channel refugee ‘pushbacks’

Border Force staff express concern at Priti Patel’s proposed tactic of forcing boats back to France

Border Force guards, who the government says will be asked to turn refugee boats in the Channel around, are considering applying for a judicial review to stop the tactic from being used.

Officers from the PCS union have said they are prepared to launch a high court challenge to the lawfulness of Priti Patel’s plans. The home secretary has maintained that the tactic of intercepting and sending back boats to France would be within the law.

Continue reading...

Macron defence staffer allegedly raped after Élysée Palace party

French prosecutors investigate alleged assault of female soldier by colleague after party in July

French prosecutors are investigating allegations that a female soldier in Emmanuel Macron’s defence staff was raped by a serviceman colleague after a farewell party at the Élysée Palace in July.

The alleged assault took place this summer after a going-away reception for a general and two others that was attended by Macron, according to French daily Libération, which first reported the accusations.

Continue reading...

Life sentence for murderer of French Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll

Yacine Mihoub sentenced for ‘savage’ antisemitic murder of 85-year-old in her apartment

A French court has sentenced the killer of an elderly Jewish woman to life imprisonment with no possibility of parole for 22 years, in a case which caused an outcry over antisemitism in France.

Yacine Mihoub was convicted of the murder of Mireille Knoll, 85, who was stabbed 11 times and whose body was partly burned after her Paris apartment was set alight on 23 March 2018.

Continue reading...

Covid live: Brazil reports 12,273 new cases with daily deaths down to 240; Russia’s death toll passes 250,000

Brazil’s total deaths rise to 610,036; Russia reports 1,239 fatalities to take official death toll to 250,454

There’s been a lot of news recently about reopened travel routes, including the opening of the US-Mexico border and the resumption of transatlantic flights. One person not looking to take advantage of that is the World Health Organization’s Dr David Nabarro. As part of his Sky News interview in the UK this morning he had this to say about travel:

Why am I not travelling very much? Because I don’t want to get Covid – I’m in the wrong age group and I’ve got other adverse factors as well.

So, I’m trying to say to everybody travel if you must – and there are often essential emotional reasons as well as essential economic and another reasons – but try not to travel if you don’t have to.

Continue reading...

Emmanuel Macron urges acceleration of France’s Covid booster rollout

French president also announces many people will need third jab to keep valid health pass

Emmanuel Macron has called for an acceleration of Covid-19 booster shots for elderly and vulnerable people in France and announced that many citizens will need a third vaccination for a valid health pass from next month.

In a televised address, the French president said “the pandemic is not over” and warned of the emergence of a fifth wave of infections in Europe, citing a significant rise in cases in the UK and Germany. He said the incidence rate of Covid infections in France had also recently risen.

Continue reading...

French couple wins legal fight over wind ‘turbine syndrome’

Christel and Luc Fockaert awarded €110,000 after experiencing windfarm-related health problems

A French court has recognised “turbine syndrome” after a couple complained their health was damaged by living near a windfarm.

In what is believed to be the first judgment of its kind in France, Belgians Christel and Luc Fockaert were awarded more than €100,000 in compensation by the judge in Toulouse.

Continue reading...

Few willing to change lifestyle to save the planet, climate survey finds

Exclusive: poll of 10 countries including US, UK, France and Germany finds people prioritising measures that are already habits

Citizens are alarmed by the climate crisis, but most believe they are already doing more to preserve the planet than anyone else, including their government, and few are willing to make significant lifestyle changes, an international survey has found.

“The widespread awareness of the importance of the climate crisis illustrated in this study has yet to be coupled with a proportionate willingness to act,” the survey of 10 countries including the US, UK, France and Germany, observed.

Continue reading...

French bishops kneel in penance over Catholic church’s role in child abuse

Conference in Lourdes recognised that church had allowed abuses to become ‘systemic’

Senior members of France’s Roman Catholic hierarchy knelt in a show of penance at the shrine of Lourdes on Saturday, a day after bishops accepted the church’s responsibility for decades of child abuse.

But some of the survivors of the abuse – and lay members supporting them – said they were still waiting for details of compensation and of a comprehensive reform of the church.

Continue reading...

Warning over ‘extremely low’ wine production in Europe due to bad weather

Industry body head warns there is ‘no vaccine’ against climate change and winemakers must adapt with ‘urgent necessity’

World wine production is expected to fall to one of its lowest levels on record after harsh weather battered vineyards in Europe’s major wine-producing regions.

The conditions “severely impacted” production in Italy, Spain and France, resulting in “extremely low” production volumes, an international wine body has said.

Continue reading...

Senegal’s Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins top French literary prize

Prix Goncourt goes to 31-year-old’s novel The Most Secret Memory of Men, praised for its ‘stunning energy’

The Senegalese novelist Mohamed Mbougar Sarr has become the first writer from sub-Saharan Africa to be awarded France’s oldest and most prestigious literary prize, the Prix Goncourt.

The award, announced on Wednesday at the Drouant restaurant near the Opéra Garnier in Paris, was hailed as “symbolic” by the French literary establishment, 100 years after the prize – presented since 1867 – was first won by a Black author.

Continue reading...

The Macron spat over Aukus submarines has taught world leaders a lot about Scott Morrison | Katharine Murphy

The Australian PM is a relatively new player on the global stage, but the leak of the French president’s text message spoke volumes

As Scott Morrison flew towards Australia’s military base for operations in the Middle East on Wednesday, Jean-Pierre Thébault was using an appearance at the National Press Club in Canberra to continue France’s rolling excoriation of Australia’s conduct while dumping a multibillion-dollar submarine contract.

By the time Morrison touched down in the desert, the French ambassador had landed a potent extrapolation. If Scott Morrison’s operation was prepared to leak private text messages from world leaders to settle diplomatic scores, who could trust Australia?

Continue reading...

French ambassador says leak of Macron text ‘new low’ as submarines rift deepens

Jean-Pierre Thébault says Morrison government’s ‘deceit was intentional’ and questions whether any country could trust ‘the value of Australia’s signature’

The French ambassador has denounced the Australian government’s release of a private text message from Emmanuel Macron as “an unprecedented new low”, arguing other world leaders would now worry their words might be “weaponised” against them.

Jean-Pierre Thébault said the leaking of the text message from the French president was a setback “in terms of truth and trust”, and it would be “sad” if this was the Australian government’s answer to France’s request for concrete actions to heal the relationship.

Continue reading...

French officials vent fury over Australian leak of Macron text message

Confidence shattered by ‘crude’ leak of president’s message to prime minister Scott Morrison, says adviser

Elysée officials have expressed fury at the decision of Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, to leak a private text message from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, as the diplomatic rift between the two countries deepened.

“Confidence has been completely shattered,” a close adviser to Macron told French media on Tuesday. “Disclosing a text message exchange between heads of state or government is a pretty crude and unconventional tactic.”

Continue reading...