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Paralympics organisers forced to change Triathlon plans over Seine water quality concerns

With rain forecast for Paris, concerns about the River Seine’s water quality has prompted a change to the schedule of the swimming leg of the Paralympic triathlon, organisers said Thursday. The swimming part of the event will take place on September 1,…[Read more]

Telegram boss banned from leaving France in criminal probe

Telegram boss and founder Pavel Durov has been placed under formal investigation in France as part of a probe into organised crime on the messaging app, Paris prosecutors say.
Mr Durov, 39, has not been remanded in custody, but placed under judicial supervision, and has to pay a €5m (…[Read more]

Serbia makes a $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a shift away from Russia

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday announced a $3 billion deal to buy 12 French warplanes, in a move that shifts his country away from its dependence on Russian arms.

The announcement about the Rafale multi-purpose fighter jets was made during a…[Read more]

French prosecutors call for film star Depardieu to face trial in new rape probe

Paris prosecutors have requested a criminal trial for French actor Gerard Depardieu over allegations he raped and sexually assaulted fellow actress Charlotte Arnould at his Paris home in August 2018. Depardieu is already set to face another trial in October for…[Read more]

Paris Paralympics flame is lit before journey from English village, under sea and over land

Four days before the start of the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games, the Paralympic flame was lit on Saturday near a hospital in the English village of Stoke Mandeville, where the idea for the competion was conceived. A group of British athletes will embark on…[Read more]

France investigating synagogue explosion as suspected terrorism

An explosion outside a synagogue in southern France is being investigated by authorities as “attempted terrorist murder”.
Police said the explosion was caused by two cars being set alight outside the Beth Yaacov synagogue in the resort town of La Grande-Motte. One of the vehicles…[Read more]

Tahitian surfing champion Kauli Vaast takes victory lap along the Seine

After winning the gold medal in surfing at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Kauli Vaast thrilled fans again by surfing along France’s iconic River Seine. The 22-year-old was pulled by a boat, and surfed the small waves it created with the Eiffel Tower in the background.…[Read more]

Left-wing candidate Lucie Castets’ strange campaign for France’s premiership

Over the two weeks since her name burst onto the French political scene, the Nouveau Front Populaire’s candidate for prime minister has been thrust into the limelight and is trying to forge a reputation for herself.

You can share an article by clicking on the share…[Read more]

Physical attacks targeting nonresidents have been up sharply on French territory since 2016

A study by the Interior Ministry’s statistical office shows that assaults on foreigners (mainly tourists) have doubled in seven years.

“In traffic (…) be prepared to take evasive action at any time”; “Do not leave any valuables visible in your vehicle,…[Read more]

Paris Olympics: Gold medallist boxer Imane Khelif files complaint over ‘moral harassment’

The 25-year-old Algerian woman, who won the Olympic final in her category on Friday, August 9, has been the target for the past week of an online hate campaign regarding her gender identity.

You can share an article by clicking on the share icons at the top…[Read more]

Macron is hugging France’s heroes as though he dares not let the Olympics go
Angelique Chrisafis
in Paris

Medal success has offered the president welcome weeks of respite in his country’s fraught political climate

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, is famed for his enthusiastic hugging of sports stars – as the footballer Kylian Mbappé can at…[Read more]

France trains cancelled as hunt for vandals continues

Three out of 10 French high-speed trains will be cancelled on Saturday on routes hit by a series of “co-ordinated” arson attacks.
French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said security forces continued to search for the “saboteurs” responsible after rail networks were paralysed ahead of the opening…[Read more]

French rail network fully restored after Olympic-day ‘sabotage’

France’s national rail operator says repairs to its network damaged by sabotage attacks were “fully completed” and there would be “no more delays” for travellers from Monday after widespread chaos before the Paris Olympics opened.

The situation on the main western line from Paris wa…[Read more]

France National Assembly’s reelected speaker Braun-Pivet to cohabit with New Popular Front

While the presidency of the National Assembly has remained in the hands of a Macronist, the hemicycle’s executive body will be dominated by MPs from the left-wing New Popular Front.

Macronist Yaël Braun-Pivet may have been re-elected president of the…[Read more]

World’s longest rowing boat to carry Olympic torch

Meet the Stampfli Express – a 24-seater rowing boat which will be a part of the Paris 2024 Olympic torch relay on Sunday.
Just days before the start of the Olympic Games, the impressive shell will take 23 rowers and an Olympic torch bearer down a section of the River Marne, just east of Paris.
It…[Read more]

Paris: Game Changers – Defying the hijab ban on French athletes

A French Muslim athlete challenges a hijab ban in basketball with an inclusive tournament ahead of the Paris Olympics.
Helene Ba’s basketball dreams were shattered when the French Basketball Federation (FFBB) announced a nationwide ban on players competing in religious attire. Und…[Read more]

French lawmakers cry foul after suspected ballot-stuffing in National Assembly

French lawmakers called for an investigation on Friday amid suspicions of ballot-stuffing in a vote for deputy speakers in the National Assembly. A re-vote led to the election of deputies from the hard left to the centre right, but none from the far right.

A botched…[Read more]

French PM Attal set to stay on as caretaker for Olympics

French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to accept the resignation of his prime minister Gabriel Attal by Tuesday evening following their centrist party’s defeat in parliamentary elections, French media report.
However, Mr Attal is set to remain in place as head of a caretaker…[Read more]

Paris gets into the groove for historic Olympic opening ceremony, adapted to its iconic cityscape

The Paris Olympics are getting into the groove for the historic opening ceremony on the River Seine.

Dancers who’ll jazz up the July 26 show under the artistic direction of prize-winning French theater director Thomas Jolly are putting finishing t…[Read more]

France’s Bastille Day parade meets the Olympic torch relay in an exceptional year

Paris hosted an extra-special guest for France’s national holiday Sunday — the Olympic flame lighting up the city’s grandiose military parade for Bastille Day.

Just 12 days before the French capital hosts exceptionally ambitious and high-security Summer Games,…[Read more]