European court of human rights rules family’s appeal over French hearing is ‘manifestly ill-founded’
The widow and daughter of the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have lost an attempt to reopen an investigation into his death in 2004.
Suha El Kodwa Arafat and Zahwa El Kodwa Arafat, who are both French nationals, filed a criminal complaint to the European court of human rights that claimed Arafat had been the victim of premeditated murder.
Continue reading...Kylian Mbappé was France’s sure thing. That is why he was fifth in their list of penalty takers and is why, when he stepped up to keep them in Euro 2020, the thought he might miss felt like too heady a twist in the narrative. Things like that have simply not happened to Mbappé during a young career of rare accomplishment, but here came the kind of horror that exposes even the preternaturally gifted as flesh-and-blood mortals: Yann Sommer, Switzerland’s exceptional goalkeeper, smelled weakness and read his intentions correctly, diving right and clawing the spot-kick away. France were out; their delirious opponents had made their own slice of history and a tournament of unstinting drama took its least plausible turn yet.
Related: ‘He is very affected by it’: Deschamps defends Mbappé as France crash out
Continue reading...Analysis: record low turnout makes it difficult to draw clear lessons but both Macron and Le Pen did badly
France’s regional elections produced a humiliating defeat for Marine Le Pen’s far-right Rassemblement National (RN), stinging failure for Emmanuel Macron and thumping wins for incumbents from the country’s traditional centre-right and centre-left parties.
A record low turnout of less than 35% makes it hard, however, to draw clear lessons for next year’s presidential elections, in which Macron and Le Pen remain clear frontrunners – although the race has certainly got a lot more interesting.
Continue reading...Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer Pride month is celebrated in June to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall uprising in Manhattan. Although the coronavirus pandemic curtailed festivities, many revellers adapted to the new circumstances
Continue reading...Second-round voting begins after record low turnout in first round left the two rivals disappointed
France has begun voting in the second round of regional elections after a first round that resulted in a drubbing for Emmanuel Macron’s ruling party, disappointment for Marine Le Pen’s far right and a record low turnout.
For some observers, the outcome of the 20 June first round raised doubts over whether the 2022 presidential election would come down to a duel between the president and Le Pen in a runoff long seen as the most likely scenario.
Continue reading...Poll on knife-edge as parties form alliances in a bid to defeat far-right RN party
At the 17th-century town hall in the Provençal city of Arles, a large tricolour flapped vigorously outside the open window of the mayor’s office last week, animated perhaps by what locals call the mistralet, a gentle summer version of the strong wind that blows through the Rhône valley.
The world heritage city – the largest commune in metropolitan France – has been marked by foreign influence throughout its history: the Romans conquered it in 123BC, leaving the magnificent arena, theatre, necropolis and aqueduct; much later came the artists, Dutchman Vincent Van Gogh and Spanish-born Pablo Picasso among them.
Continue reading...Pressure grows for UK to extend Wednesday’s settlement-scheme cut-off date as backlog of applications grows and helplines crash
EU citizens are struggling to apply for post-Brexit settled status as the Home Office reaches “breaking point” coping with a last-minute surge in applications.
With three days before the deadline of the EU settlement scheme this Wednesday, campaigners say late applicants are being stuck in online queues as others find it impossible to access advice on the government helpline.
Continue reading...On a visit to Paris, US secretary of state Antony Blinken says deal is at risk if Tehran fails to make concessions
The United States and France have warned Iran that time is running out to return to a nuclear deal, voicing fear that Tehran’s sensitive development program could advance if talks drag on.
On the first high-level visit to Paris by president Joe Biden’s administration, secretary of state Antony Blinken and his French hosts saluted a new spirit of cooperation after four years of turbulence under Donald Trump.
Continue reading...Valérie Bacot convicted of the premeditated murder of Daniel Polette after suffering over 20 years of violence
A French woman who killed her stepfather, who raped her at the age of 12 and later became her husband, has been convicted of premeditated murder but spared any more time in prison.
Valérie Bacot was subject to more than 20 years of violence at the hands of Daniel Polette, with whom she had four children. The court heard she shot and killed him after he began prostituting her to strangers, fearing that he was about to begin abusing their teenage daughter.
Continue reading...Building is architect’s tribute to Arles’ most famous residents: the Romans and Vincent Van Gogh
Rising from the skyline of Arles, the tower appears like a futuristic structure from a Marvel movie with nearly 11,000 stainless steel panels gleaming in the Provençal sun.
Here, at what was once the centre of the Roman empire in France, this twisting structure is the 92-year-old architect Frank Gehry’s tribute to Arles’ most famous residents: the Romans and the artist Vincent Van Gogh.
Continue reading...Bloc to explore sanctions instead, as gathering also holds ‘emotional’ debate over Hungary’s LGBT laws
A Franco-German plan to restart talks with Vladimir Putin has been rejected at a fractious EU summit that resulted in a decision to explore economic sanctions against Russia instead.
The two-day gathering in Brussels also included an “emotional” debate over LGBT rights in Hungary, as EU leaders confronted Viktor Orbán over a law that will ban gay people from being shown in educational and entertainment content for minors.
Continue reading...Lawyers say Valérie Bacot, on trial for murder, is victim of authorities’ gross negligence
Lawyers representing a woman who killed her stepfather turned husband after 24 years of violence that started when he raped her at 12 are taking legal action against the French state for “gross negligence” after claims the authorities failed to act on reports she was being abused.
Valérie Bacot’s defence team said a summons for liability had been filed with the Paris tribunal. Her lawyers point out that her children twice went to the police to report their father – who was Bacot’s stepfather – for abusing her but no action was taken.
Continue reading...On the 5th anniversary of Brexit, commentators reflect on the EU’s success at rallying together after Britain’s exit
On the night of 23 June 2016 a storm broke out over Brussels. Rain poured, thunder rolled and lightning flashed over the headquarters of the European Union’s institutions.
Then in the small hours came a political thunderbolt almost no one had forecast: the UK had voted to leave the union. Five years on, the Brexit tempest has subsided – in Brussels, if not in London.
Continue reading...Young players excluded from matches because of their religious dress find a way to play on and encourage other hijab-wearing women into the sport
Founé Diawara was 15 years old when she was first told she could not wear her hijab in a football match.
It was an important game. She had recently got into the team of a club in Meaux, the town north-east of Paris where she grew up, and they were playing a local rival. Diawara had been wearing her hijab during training, but as she was about to walk on to the pitch, the referee said she must remove it if she wanted to play.
Continue reading...Valérie Bacot, who had four children with alleged abuser, will say she believed he would kill them all
On Monday, a French woman, Valérie Bacot, will walk into a court to be tried for killing her stepfather turned husband. She has admitted shooting him dead and believes she should be punished.
In her defence, she is expected to tell the the hearing at at Chalon-sur-Saône in Burgundy how Daniel “Dany” Polette made her life hell from the day he raped her when she was 12, to the day he died 24 years later while prostituting her.
Continue reading...Abstention rate estimated at 68%, and exit polls suggest Le Pen’s National Rally failed to get expected support
Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party received what one of its own MPs called a “slap in the face” in regional and department elections on Sunday.
The president and his government failed to mobilise supporters, with an estimated 68% of voters shunning the polling stations – an unprecedented rate of abstention. If there was any consolation for the ruling party it was that exit polls suggested Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally had failed to garner its expected support.
Continue reading...Sunday’s poll could help far right step further towards political mainstream ahead of 2022 presidential elections
France is voting in the first round of regional elections that could see Marine Le Pen‘s far-right party make gains and step further into the political mainstream.
In Sunday’s election, new assemblies will be elected for mainland France’s 13 regions and 96 departments, with Le Pen‘s National Rally (RN) tipped to win at least one region for the first time in what would be a major coup.
Continue reading...Authorities accuse partygoers of throwing Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks at officers, who fired teargas to break up party
French police clashed for hours with partygoers at a 1,500-strong illegal rave over the weekend, with one partygoer losing a hand and five officers injured.
Local official Emmanuel Berthier said partygoers threw “Molotov cocktails, metal balls and bits of breeze blocks” at officers during “very violent clashes” in western France.
Continue reading...A European court judgment this week could reverse laws that protect the vulnerable and abused
A case to be heard in the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg this week could have disastrous consequences for those campaigning to eradicate prostitution.
The hearing is the first step in determining whether France’s laws on prostitution – which criminalise paying for sex – are constitutional, or whether they contravene the human rights of self-titled “sex workers”.
Continue reading...Pope Francis gives ‘venerable’ status to post-war French statesman and supporter of European unity
Robert Schuman, a French statesman who was an early advocate for the bloc that evolved into the European Union, has moved ahead on the Catholic church’s path toward possible sainthood.
The Vatican said Pope Francis on Saturday approved a decree declaring the “heroic virtues″ of Schuman, a former prime minister and finance minister after the second world war. In 1950, as foreign minister, he developed a plan to promote European economic unity in hopes of furthering peace.
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