Category Archives: France

Macron defence staffer allegedly raped after Élysée Palace party

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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.

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Life sentence for murderer of French Holocaust survivor Mireille Knoll

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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.

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

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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.

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Emmanuel Macron urges acceleration of France’s Covid booster rollout

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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.

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French couple wins legal fight over wind ‘turbine syndrome’

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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Senegal’s Mohamed Mbougar Sarr wins top French literary prize

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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.

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

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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?

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

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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.

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French officials vent fury over Australian leak of Macron text message

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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.”

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France backed down in fishing row after Jersey offer ‘to move things forward’

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Exclusive: Paris shelved plans to ban UK boats from French ports following last-ditch talks

France backed down on its threats to clog up British trade and ban UK fishers from its ports after Jersey offered to expedite approval for “five or six” new fishing vessels in its waters.

Ian Gorst, Jersey’s minister for external affairs, said the offer from his administration and the UK government had proven to be a “good way to move things forward”.

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Coronavirus live news: global Covid death toll hits 5m; Greece reports highest infections total

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US, Brazil, India, Mexico and UK account for over half of deaths in Johns Hopkins University tally

Singapore could see as many 2,000 Covid-19 deaths annually over time, mainly among the elderly, but it was focused on avoiding excess mortality, a minister said this morning, as the country battles its biggest surge in infections.

Reuters report that at 0.2%, Singapore’s Covid-19 case fatality rate is similar to the rate of deaths from pneumonia before the pandemic struck.

If we lose staff over the winter period our ability to provide care is compromised. We’ve got a very, very difficult winter coming up and we know the NHS is going to be at full stretch, so it makes sense to set that deadline once that period has passed. If we lose very large numbers of unvaccinated staff, particularly over the winter period, then that also constitutes a risk to patient safety and quality of care.

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Jersey issues 49 more fishing licences to French boats amid row

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Officials from France and UK to meet in Brussels after threats from both sides in post-Brexit dispute

Jersey has issued another 49 licences to French boats in an apparent attempt to de-escalate a post-Brexit row over fishing rights in which the UK and France have issued tit-for-tat threats.

The Jersey government said it was allowing another round of temporary licences until the end of January to allow time for new arrangements to be put in place, as the two sides prepared to meet to try to resolve the row.

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Salty language: why are UK and France fighting over fishing licences?

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At the heart of the row is the Brexit deal’s failure to spell out what proof French fishers need to get a permit

Britain and France have been at loggerheads over post-Brexit fishing licences for UK waters since the start of the year. Both sides are now threatening imminent action – and mistranslations have not helped.

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Bookshops thrive as France moves to protect sellers from Amazon

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Legislation for minimum delivery price aims to stop ‘distorted competition’ against independent bookshops

At her independent bookshop in the small, rural town of Puy-en-Velay in southern France, Anne Helman had seen an influx of customers since the coronavirus pandemic who said they would rather buy books in person than online.

“I’ve never sold as many copies of Albert Camus’s The Plague,” she said. “Children wanted fantasy books. Adults wanted novels and the classics, particularly stories about viruses and the apocalypse. There has been a newfound enthusiasm for buying locally and supporting independent bookshops; it’s seen as the virtuous thing to do.”

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‘Not going to cop sledging’: Scott Morrison hits back at Macron in row over submarine deal

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Prime minister gives details of contract talks after French president accuses him of lying about plans to cancel $90bn deal

Scott Morrison has hit back against an extraordinary accusation from the French president that Australia’s prime minister lied to him over an abandoned $90bn submarine contract, declaring he will not “cop sledging” about Australia’s integrity.

Speaking to reporters in Glasgow where he is attending the UN climate conference Cop26, Morrison said Emmanuel Macron was well aware that Australia was contemplating pulling out of the troubled Naval Group diesel submarine contract.

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Netflix’s Emily in Paris to focus on diversity, says star Lily Collins

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Cliches aside, new hires and storylines add inclusivity to the menu in show’s series two

It has been criticised for trotting out cliches about France and the French and mocked for its idealised portrayal of Paris. But now the Netflix show Emily in Paris will focus on diversity and inclusion for its second series, according to its star, Lily Collins.

The actor, who stars as Emily and is also a producer on the series, said she had heard viewers’ concerns about the show, which first hit our screens last year, and efforts had been made to address them.

The second series of Emily in Paris is scheduled for release in December.

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‘I don’t think, I know’: Macron accuses Scott Morrison of lying about submarine contract – video

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Emmanuel Macron has accused the Australian prime minister, Scott Morrison, of lying to him over an abandoned $90bn submarine contract, in a significant escalation of tensions between Paris and Canberra. 'I just say when we have respect, you have to be true and you have to behave in line and consistent with this value,' the French president said. When asked whether he thought Morrison had lied to him by not revealing Australia’s dialogue with the UK and US over the acquisition of nuclear submarines, Macron was direct in his response. 'I don’t think, I know'.  

Video courtesy of Pablo Viñales

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