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INSERT INTO `nl_articles` VALUES (158,'Sarkozy’s conviction carries echoes for Trump','The Washington Post','Politics',1,48,'https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/02/sarkozy-convicted-trump-similarities/','  Ishaan Tharoor','The ex-president was a polarizing figure, a firebrand who relished in ruffling the feathers of opponents to the left. At home, he demonized immigrants and ethnic minorities and aped the rhetoric of the far right. His penchant for shattering norms, including efforts to politicize the judiciary, drew the ire of critics. Abroad, he raised eyebrows after conspicuously courting Middle East potentates. His glamorous wife, at least for a time, was more admired than him.\r\nEventually, the public tired of his act and the support of a motivated base proved insufficient; he became a one-term president, cast out of power by a national electorate eager for a return to “normalcy.” Stripped of the shield of presidential immunity, he then found himself mired in spiraling legal battles. He raged against the \'grotesque\' witch hunt against him, but could not forestall an ignominious reckoning.\r\nNo, we’re not talking about former president Donald Trump. On Monday, a French court found former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling. He was given a three-year sentence, two years of which were suspended. He may still avoid actual jail time following appeals, but the reputational damage, at the very least, is done — Sarkozy is only the second head of state in modern France to be convicted of corruption.\r\nThe echoes of what’s happening to Sarkozy ought to be ringing loud for Trump. Despite considerable differences in the political contexts where they operated, the two share elements of a political style. In his memoir published last year, former president Barack Obama described Sarkozy as an incorrigible narcissist, “his chest thrust out like a bantam cock’s … never straying from his primary, barely disguised interest, which was to be at the center of the action and take credit for whatever it was that might be worth taking credit for.”\r\n\r\nBoth Trump and Sarkozy demanded absolute loyalty from those around them — as a Le Monde editorial once noted, with Sarkozy it was either \'allegiance or vengeance.\' And they harnessed a divisive, angry agenda to get their way. \'After Sarkozy’s million-miles-an-hour presidency, France — like America now — was running on fumes,\' wrote CNN’s Cyril Vanier last year. “The country was exhausted. For many voters, the passions unleashed, the acrimony, the national soul-searching hadn’t been sustainable.”\r\n\r\nTrump was impeached an unprecedented two times by the House on charges including abuse of power; Sarkozy is now contemplating a spell in prison for the same. \'The charges against Sarkozy, who was president between 2007 and 2012, were centered around the question whether the former French leader was behind a deal with a magistrate to illegally receive information on inquiries linked to him, using false names and unofficial phone lines,\' explained my colleague Rick Noack. \'According to the prosecution, Sarkozy and his then-lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog attempted to bribe the magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, by offering him a high-profile position in return for information. The incident took place after Sarkozy had left office.\'\r\nSarkozy also faces other legal woes, including allegations that he received campaign funding from the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2007, an investigation into whether he fraudulently overspent in his failed 2012 reelection bid and a probe launched January into alleged influence-peddling after Sarkozy signed a lucrative contract with a Russian insurance company.\r\nIn court, Sarkozy rejected the various charges against him. \'Never abused my influence, alleged or real,\' he said in December. \'What right do they have to drag me through the mud like this for six years? Is there no rule of law?\'\r\nBut prosecutors argued that he was finally facing the consequences for his abuse of power. \'The events would not have occurred if a former president, as well as a lawyer, had kept in mind the magnitude, the responsibility, and the duties of his office,\' prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told the court in Paris as the trial concluded.\r\nThe legal dragnet is tightening around Trump, too. While Republican senators guaranteed his second acquittal on impeachment charges last month, Trump as a private citizen still faces a crowded slate of criminal and civil litigation, including his role in stoking the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, his pre-presidency business dealings and defamation claims by women who allege he assaulted them, claims he has denied. The allegations are in some instances far more grave than those associated with Sarkozy.\r\nBut though the stain of illegal activities doomed Sarkozy’s attempt at a political comeback in 2016, Trump seems still in pole position to make a new bid for the presidency in 2024. He took center stage Sunday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference and, unrepentant, once more delivered his customary airing of grievances and falsehoods. Rather than work to sideline the former president, the bulk of the Republican Party appears still in his thrall.\r\n\r\nThat may change as the legal cases against Trump and some close allies start to catch up. \'There has to be some consequence for telling these lies — because when you lie to people, they take action based on what they think is true,\' said Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, a Republican who received threats after false allegations of fraud in the counting of the city’s votes, to The Washington Post. \'Because it’s such a dangerous new thing that occurred, there has to be some reconciliation. Moving on isn’t enough.\'\r\n','2021-03-02','',1,1),(159,'A third national lockdown seems likely in France as hospitals are overwhelmed.','The New York Times','Health',2,48,'https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/31/world/covid-france-lockdown.html','N/A','PARIS — More than a year after the government in France ordered its first national lockdown to fight back the Covid-19 pandemic, the authorities now seem to have little choice but to do the same again, as infections rise sharply across the country and hospitals in Paris are overflowing.\r\nPresident Emmanuel Macron will address the country at 8 p.m. on Wednesday and is expected to announce new restrictions, possibly bringing in a third national lockdown, which he has long tried to avoid.\r\nFrance on Tuesday reported more than 5,000 people in intensive care units for the first time since last April, with bed shortages in hospitals in the most affected areas becoming acute. And the slow vaccine rollout has not prevented an outburst of infections, as an average of about 37,000 daily new cases have been reported over the past week.\r\n\'The outlook is worse than frightening,\' Jean-Michel Constantin, the head of the intensive care unit at the Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital in Paris, told RMC radio on Monday.\r\n\'We’re already at the level of the second wave and we’re quickly getting close to the threshold of the first wave,\' he said. \'April is going to be dreadful.\'\r\nNew restrictions were introduced on the regional level in mid-March in an attempt to stave off a third wave of infections, affecting about a third of the population, including the Paris region. The rules forced businesses that are considered nonessential to close, ordered residents to limit their outdoor activities to places within six miles of their homes and banned travel to or from regions where infections were rising.\r\nBut as infections nonetheless stubbornly rose, pressure has been building on Mr. Macron to implement tougher measures.\r\nWriting in Le Journal du Dimanche, 41 doctors from the Paris region warned that hospitals may soon become so stretched that they will have to choose which patients to try to save.\r\n\'All indicators show that the current measures are and will be insufficient to quickly reverse the alarming curve of contaminations,\' they wrote.\r\nMr. Macron, in the same newspaper, said that he would \'look at the effectiveness of the containment measures in the coming days, and we’ll take others if they are necessary.\'\r\nIn late January, Mr. Macron made a calculated gamble of resisting a new national lockdown, hoping that his government could tighten restrictions just enough to fight back a rise in infections.\r\nThat strategy seemed to be working until mid-March, when infections rose sharply and the vaccination campaign failed to gather speed, amid the disarray of the rollout of the AstraZeneca vaccine.\r\nThe health authorities on Tuesday said that about 8.3 million people had received at least a first shot of the coronavirus vaccine, or about 12 percent of the total population. The government plans to vaccinate 10 million people by mid-April and 30 million by the summer.\r\nBut France still lags behind some other Western countries in its vaccine rollout. Britain has vaccinated 46 percent of its population and the United States 29 percent, according to data from The New York Times.\r\nMany doctors and epidemiologists are calling for a lockdown comparable to that of early 2020, when the authorities enforced some of the strictest Covid-19 restrictions in Europe, ordering people to stay inside except for a few exceptions. Schools, which France has kept open since last June, unlike many of its neighbors, could also be forced to close as the virus is increasingly spreading in classrooms.\r\n','2021-03-31','',0,1),(160,'Long-lost Fragonard painting resurfaces in France','France24','Politics',1,48,'https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20210325-long-lost-fragonard-painting-resurfaces-in-france','N/A','Article 5\r\nLong-lost Fragonard painting resurfaces in France\r\nA painting by the Rococo master Jean-Honore Fragonard not seen in over two centuries has been discovered in eastern France and will be put up for sale in June, the auction house managing the sale said Thursday.\r\nThe small oval portrait of a \"Philosopher Reading\" was discovered hanging high on a wall in a home by an expert at the Encheres-Champagne auctioneers in Epernay, who had been tasked with an estate inventory.\r\nThe family had not paid any attention to the painting in years, but the expert noticed a barely legible inscription of the artist\'s name on the back of its gilded frame.\r\n\"Despite the layers of dust and the yellowed varnish, the energy of his painting remains perfectly recognisable,\" said Stephane Pinta of the Turquin expertise firm in Paris that authenticated the work.\r\nUnlike the sensual pastel scenes that secured Fragonard\'s place in the pantheon of 18th-century masters, the muted illustration of the philosopher poring over his texts was one of just a handful of aged men he depicted.\r\nIt dates from 1768-1770, when Fragonard was moving beyond his more whimsical scenes of stolen kisses in gardens to explore more contemplative subjects that nonetheless exalted the pleasure of painting.\r\nIt also appears to have been executed with the artist\'s trademark virtuosity and speed, Pinta said: \"The paint seems to be moulded or sculpted, at times even applied directly with a finger.\"\r\n\"The artist has reached the summit of his talent. Freed from the extreme minutia of the Rococo style, his brush strokes are quick, precise and incredibly expressive,\" he said.\r\nIts value has been estimated at 1.5 to two million euros ($1.8 to $2.4 million) for a sale set for June 26 in Epernay.\r\n','2021-04-05','',0,1),(161,'Millions of websites offline after fire at French cloud services firm','Reuters','Business & Economy',3,48,'https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-ovh-fire-idUSKBN2B20NU','N/A','Millions of websites offline after fire at French cloud services firm\r\nPARIS (Reuters) - A fire at a French cloud services firm has disrupted millions of websites, knocking out government agencies’ portals, banks, shops, news websites and taking out a chunk of the .FR web space, according to internet monitors.\r\n\r\nThe fire, which broke out on Wednesday shortly after midnight at OVHcloud, destroyed one of four data centres in Strasbourg, in eastern France, and damaged another, the company said.\r\nThere was no immediate explanation provided for the blaze, which erupted just two days after the French cloud computing firm kicked off plans for an initial public offering.\r\nEurope’s largest cloud services provider told clients including the French government, the Centre Pompidou and cryptocurrency exchange Deribit to activate their disaster recovery plans following the blaze.\r\n“Firefighters were immediately on the scene but could not control the fire” in the affected data centre, founder and chairman Octave Klaba said on Twitter. He said the plan for the next couple of weeks would include rebuilding the centres’ equipment and checking their fiber optic connections.\r\nSome 100 firemen fought the blaze which sent a thick plume of black smoke into the night sky. Video images showed firefighters dousing one smouldering, multi-storey building in the early morning as they cooled down the site.\r\nFounded by Klaba in 1999, OVHcloud competes against U.S. giants Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Corp’s Azure and Alphabet Inc’s Google Cloud, which dominate the market.\r\n“OVH is a pretty important hosting company on the internet,” said Mike Prettejohn, who directs UK-based network security company Netcraft. He said the affected servers hosted 3.6 million websites, including niche government platforms in France, Britain, Poland and the Ivory Coast.\r\nPrettejohn estimated that just under 2% of the sites with the French .FR domain extension had been affected.\r\nFrench politicians have championed OVHcloud as a possible alternative to U.S. cloud services providers, but it has so far lacked the scale and financial clout to dent their market share.\r\nThe company said on Monday it had started the process for a potential IPO, without giving details.\r\nThe Strasbourg centres were among OVHcloud’s 17 data centres in France, and 32 globally.\r\nSeveral clients said their websites had gone offline or emails could not be accessed. There was no immediate news of any major data losses.\r\nThe Centre Pompidou, one of France’s best known art complexes, said its website was down. Cryptocurrency exchange Deribit said its blog was down but that trading had not been impacted, free chess server Lichess.org said it had lost 24 hours’ worth of games history and news outlet eeNews Europe said its websites were offline.\r\nPR agency Caroline Charles Communication said its data was held at another site but that it had lost access to emails in the middle of Paris Fashion Week.\r\nOVHcloud declined to comment on its fire safety protocols. The site did not pose a toxic risk, it added.\r\n','2021-04-05','',0,1),(162,'France and Germany swoop to buy Russia\'s Sputnik vaccine','CITY AM','Politics',1,48,'https://www.cityam.com/france-and-germany-swoop-to','Poppy Wood','France and Germany held discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin last night to supply doses of the country’s Sputnik Covid vaccine as suspicions over the Astrazeneca jab continue to proliferate across the continent.\r\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a video call with the Russian premier to discuss \'co-operation\' over vaccine supplies.\r\nIt comes after fresh limitations on the Astrazeneca jab in several European countries over mounting fears about potential side effects.\r\nGerman authorities last night suspended the use of the vaccine in under-60s after identifying 31 cases of blood clots known as cerebral sinus vein thrombosis. Among the cases, 29 involved women and nine resulted in death.\r\nMerkel said it was not possible to ignore potential risks associated with the jab, despite its widespread approval from global health bodies including the European Medicines Agency.\r\nUnder-60s in Germany are still able to take the vaccine but only after \'consultation with the doctor… and with an individual risk analysis\', ministers of Germany’s 16 states said in a statement last night.\r\nScientists said it was possible the blood clots were just chance events among the 2.7m doses of the Astrazeneca jab delivered in Germany so far. \r\nCanada also restricted the use of the jab to under-55s yesterday, while France has yet to authorise its use for younger age groups.\r\nNumber 10 last night reiterate its support for the Astrazeneca vaccine, insisting it was \'safe, effective and has already saved thousands of lives\'.\r\n\'Over 30m people have already received their first dose of a vaccine, and we are on track to offer jabs to all over-50s by 15 April and all adults by the end of July,\' said a Downing Street spokesperson.\r\nHousing and communities secretary Robert Jenrick also voiced his support for the jab this morning, telling Sky News: \'We’re 100% confident in the efficacy of the vaccine, that’s borne out by study after study, by our own independent world-class regulators\r\n\'Recent research, for example, by Public Health England [showed] that thousands of people’s lives have been saved since the start of this year alone thanks to our vaccine programme.\'\r\nRussia has already signed a deal with Swiss company Adienne Pharma & Biotech, allowing a subsidiary to begin producing the Sputnik vaccine in Italy by July.\r\nMerkel said last week: \'On the Russian vaccine, I have been of the opinion for some time that we should use any vaccine that has been approved by the European medicines regulator.\'\r\n','2021-03-31','',0,1),(163,'France\'s COVID-19 cases slow but hospitalisations creep up','Reuters','Health',2,49,'https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/number-french-covid-intensive-care-patients-increases-second-day-running-2021-05-03/','N/A','France\'s new daily COVID-19 infections fell to an almost two-months low on average on Monday, a figure warranting the government\'s decision to start unwinding the country\'s third lockdown.\r\nBut after falling for five days in a row, the number of people hospitalised for the disease went up by 132, a second consecutive increase, at 28,950.\r\nAnd among those, the total amount of patients in intensive care units also rose for the second day running, by 45, at 5,630.\r\nThat total is down by almost 400 from a recent peak of 6,001 reached a week ago but is still twice as high than the 2,500-3,000 range the government had set itself to exit France\'s second lockdown on Dec 15.\r\nThis Monday, a restriction limiting people to a 10 kilometre (6.21 mile) radius from their homes was lifted and secondary schools partly reopened.\r\nFrom May 19, France will start relaxing a 7 p.m. nightly curfew - enforced since mid-December - and allow cafes, bars and restaurants to offer outside service.\r\nFrench health authorities reported 3,760 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, at 5.66 million, the world\'s fourth-highest.\r\nThe 2.76% week-on-week increase stayed below the 3% threshold for the second day running, a sequence unseen since end July.\r\nAnd the seven-day moving average of daily new infections, which evens out reporting irregularities, stood at 21,716, going below the 22,000 limit for the first time since March 10 versus more than a recent peak of 42,225 reached on April 14.\r\nThe COVID-19 death toll increased by 311, at 105,310, the eighth-highest globally.\r\nDespite the pressure still weighing on the hospital system, the government is hoping an acceleration in the vaccination drive will allow it to keep on shelving restrictive measures.\r\nMore than 16.1 million person in France received at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot, a total representing 24.1% of the country\'s population and 30.7% of the adult population.\r\nAlmost 6.7 people received two shots, meaning 10% of the population is now fully vaccinated, versus, for example, 32% in the United States.\r\n','2021-05-03','',0,1),(164,'French banks told to speed up response to climate change','Reuters','Business & Economy',3,49,'https://www.reuters.com/article/climate-change-fra','Hew Jones','LONDON (Reuters) - French banks and insurers should speed up their response to climate change, France’s banking regulator said on Tuesday, after publishing what it called the world’s first climate-related stress test of banks.\r\n\r\n\r\nOther financial watchdogs around the world will also be conducting similar tests on the finance industry to help to reduce the impact of climate change on economies. Banks and other finance companies will have to disclose to investors the impact of climate change on their balance sheets under proposed European Union rules.\r\nThe ACPR, the banking supervisory arm of the Bank of France, conducted a voluntary pilot test on nine banks and 15 insurers - accounting for nearly all their respective sectors - to measure resilience to common \'scenarios\' like a slow response to climate change.\r\nIt covered a 30-year period from 2020 to 2050, looking at risks from “transitioning” or moving from polluting to more climate-friendly assets and from physical risks like fires and floods.\r\nThe watchdog found that the companies’ exposures to transition risks were \'rather moderate\', but the expected increase in claims and premiums for some insurance risks was particularly noticeable.\r\nThere are also uncertainties over how fast climate change will unfold and data gaps, the watchdog said.\r\n\'In the light of these results, banking institutions and insurers now need to step up their efforts to combat climate change by integrating the risks associated with climate change into their financial risk assessment process,” Bank of France First Deputy Governor Denis Beau told reporters.\r\nThe results will have no impact on how much capital the financial firms must currently hold, and there will be no specific, follow up actions.\r\n\'The aim of the exercise was.. to stimulate thought, analysis and promote a better integration of climate risks into risk management at firms,\' Beau said.\r\nThe French Banking Federation, an industry body, said the results showed the resilience of French banks, with relatively modest exposures to sectors like mining, oil and agriculture.\r\nThe Bank of France is host to the secretariat for the Network for Greening the Financial System, a group of central banks creating best practice in regulating banking risks from climate change.\r\nThe ACPR said its pilot would help to inform the Bank of England’s own climate stress test in June, and a test the European Central Bank will conduct in 2022.\r\nThe ACPR’s own test will become a regular event, with the next one scheduled for 2023/2024\r\n','2021-05-04','',0,1),(165,'Covid-19: French vaccine appointments go unclaimed, reviving debate on who should qualify','France 24','Politics',1,49,'Internet','N/A','Covid-19: French vaccine appointments go unclaimed, reviving debate on who should qualify\r\nhttps://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210428-covid-19-french-vaccine-appointments-go-unclaimed-reviving-debate-on-who-should-qualify\r\nSome Covid-19 vaccination centres in France have been offering time slots but are struggling to find takers. Faced with this situation, several elected officials and members of the scientific community are calling for more people to be eligible for vaccination. For now, however, the government is keeping its current rules – only those 55 and over qualify – in place.\r\nThe numbers are impressive: 6,591 vaccination time slots were available in Rouen in France’s northwest on Wednesday according to the website Vite Ma Dose, which lists all available appointments at vaccination centres and pharmacies. The number of slots hit 11,700 in Marseille and was almost quadruple that at 43,000 in Lyon. In total, the platform listed 273,163 available vaccination slots in France on Wednesday. \r\nWhile France wants to accelerate its vaccination campaign – the country passed the symbolic mark of 20 million injections on Tuesday – some people who have been granted access to a jab now seem reluctant to make an appointment.\r\nInternet users have been sharing screenshots of dozens of unused time slots on social networks in recent days. Under the hashtag #LesJeunesVeulentLeVaccin (#YouthWantTheVaccine), many are also calling for a relaxation of the criteria for access to vaccination so that young people, in particular, can receive their first dose.  \r\nCurrently in France, only people over 55 years old; people over 50 with a comorbidity (certified by a doctor’s note); people of any age with one of the high-risk conditions listed by the government; and workers in certain high-risk professions can be vaccinated.   \r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\"We have an epidemic that currently causes 300 deaths per day on average,\" epidemiologist Catherine Hill told FRANCE 24. \"It is therefore necessary to vaccinate the population as soon as possible.”\r\n\"It was logical, at the beginning, to vaccinate the people most at risk,\" she said. “But if, from now on, we have available doses that are not being administered to priority recipients, then we might as well administer them to younger people.”\r\n‘It is urgent to expand vaccination’\r\nThe gigantic “vaccinodrome” at the Stade de France just north of Paris is among the vaccination centres that are struggling to find takers, a somewhat surreal situation as the incidence rate of Covid-19 in Seine-Saint-Denis, the working-class département (administrative territory) that includes the stadium, is 550 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data published by France’s National Health Agency. \r\nThe population there is younger, on average, than it is nationwide, said Stéphane Troussel, the council chairman of Seine-Saint-Denis. \"With the vaccinodromes multiplying in Île-de-France (the Paris region) and the allocation of additional doses, it is urgent to expand vaccination, in particular to frontline workers in the most affected areas with the youngest populations,\" he said on Twitter.\r\nTroussel’s top health deputy said that all doses are currently finding takers in an interview on France Info Tuesday, but admitted “drawing from the waiting lists more and more often\" even if it that means vaccinating people who are not currently within the government’s approved categories.\r\nTroussel\'s call to expand vaccination is shared by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who wants to relax age limits for vaccine recipients. \"It\'s a scandal that doses are not being used when so many people want to be vaccinated. It is time to be more flexible and pragmatic,\" she told France Info.\r\nVincent Maréchal, a professor of virology at the University of Paris-Sorbonne, fears that the current waiting period will discourage young people from getting vaccinated when their time comes. \"We are in a country where there is a real mistrust of the vaccine,\" he told FRANCE 24. \"And yet we have people ready to get vaccinated who cannot. We don\'t want this situation to result in a flurry of discouraged people in a few weeks.”\r\n\"We know that vaccinating helps protect against severe forms of Covid-19,\" Maréchal said. \"There is also increasing evidence that vaccination can limit the circulation of the virus. But for that, we need to vaccinate en masse.”\r\nNo lack of demand \r\nStanislas Niox-Chateau, the head of Doctolib, an online medical booking platform, tried to sound reassuring at a Wednesday press conference. \"The vaccination campaign against Covid-19 does not suffer from a lack of demand,” he said. “At least, in the vaccination centres offering BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.\"\r\nNiox-Chateau doesn’t see unfilled vaccination time slots as resulting from a shortage of willing recipients, but rather the increased number of doses delivered to France each week. It is perfectly normal that with more doses there will be more appointments, he said.\r\n\"Every day, Doctolib offers about 250,000 appointments. Every day, these appointments are taken,\" he said, specifying that the waiting time between making an appointment and getting the jab is currently nine days on average.\r\nNiox-Chateau explained, however, that he has no data on people who make same-day appointments, especially at the last minute. \"Doctolib connects individuals with vaccination centres,\" after which the centres themselves decide whether to accept off-target people or not.\r\n\"Moreover, it would be very difficult to accelerate vaccination with BioNTech/Pfizer and Moderna,\" Niox-Chateau added, noting the very high usage rates for the two vaccines. According to France’s Regional Health Directorate, the utilisation rate of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine was 91 percent, up from 89 percent on March 30, and 82 percent for the Moderna vaccine against 65 percent a month before.   \r\n\"Vaccine supplies are improving every day,\" said virologist Maréchal. \"If the demand is there, why not extend vaccination now? Why not, for example, open up vaccination but create a system so that priority people remain priority?\"\r\nRather than calling for an expansion of France’s vaccination programme, Niox-Chateau said that there are still many slots available for the AstraZeneca jab with Paris doctors and pharmacists.\r\nThe AstraZeneca vaccine is administered at a rate of 45,000 doses per day when \"we could reach 100,000 to 150,000\", he said. The rate of use of the AstraZeneca vaccine, shunned by part of the French population in the wake of reports of blood clotting in a small number of recipients, was at only 73 percent on April 25.\r\nThe potential for more daily jabs should first benefit the \"7 million French people over 60 who still don’t have an appointment”, he said.\r\nFrance’s Health Minister Olivier Véran acknowledged Tuesday that a number of large vaccination centres had open slots and called on those eligible for vaccination \"to rush to their phone or computer to look if the centre closest to them has openings\".\r\n“An expansion of the vaccination programme\" would be \"premature\" at this stage, Prime Minister Jean Castex said after a Cabinet meeting Wednesday. But he did not close the door on an eventual expansion of the eligible categories if it is confirmed that available appointments were “not being honored”.\r\n','2021-05-11','',0,1),(166,'Resume French way of life: Macron lays out four-stage plan for lifting France’s lockdown','The Local','Politics',1,49,'Internet','N/A','French President Emmanuel Macron detailed on Thursday how France will lift its \"partial lockdown\" in a series of steps including ending the nighttime curfew and reopening cafés, bars and gyms\r\n\r\nDetailing the long-awaited reopening plan, the president chose an interview with a group of French regional newspapers, rather than his usual TV broadcasts.\r\nThe president has opted for a four-stage process, with three weeks between each stage in order to assess the impact on Covid numbers.\r\nAs with previous reopening plans, the latter stages are dependent on the health situation remaining under control and could be pushed back if numbers start to climb again.\r\nThere is also an option for regional measures if some places still have high Covid rates.\r\nMacron in his interview with papers including Le Parisien said: “I am confident that the whole of France will be able to move to the May 19th stage.\r\n“The measures will be national, but we will be able to activate ’emergency brakes’ in areas where the virus is circulating at too high a rate.”\r\nReopening could be delayed in any town or département which has a 7-day incidence rate of more than 400 new cases per 100,000 people, a sudden jump in rates and intense pressure on local health services.\r\nThe reopening plan will now be the subject of consultation with businesses and other stakeholders, before Prime Minister Jean Castex presents a more detailed version during the week of May 10th.\r\nHere’s the outline of the plan:\r\nMonday, May 3rd\r\nTravel rules will be lifted with the end of the 10km rule and no more need for attestations for anyone out between 6am and 7pm.\r\nSecondary schools go back to in-person classes after four works of holidays and distance learning while high schools (lycées) return to a minimum of 50 percent of in-person classes. The percentage of in-person versus online teaching will be set by each school.\r\nAll other rules remain the same.\r\nThe following will happen only if the health situation allows, and could be done on a regional basis:\r\nWednesday, May 19th\r\n•	Curfew will be pushed back to 9pm from the current 7pm start.\r\n•	Reopening of the “non-essential” shops which are currently closed\r\n•	Reopening of cinemas, theatres and museums, with number restrictions\r\n•	Reopening of open-air sports facilities\r\n•	Cafés, bars and restaurants will be able to reopen their outdoor terrace spaces only, with a maximum of 6 people per table\r\n•	Gatherings of up to 10 people allowed again in public places\r\n•	Reopening of open-air or covered sports facilities to spectators, with number restrictions\r\n•	Wednesday, June 9th\r\n•	Implementation of a pass sanitaire – a ‘health passport’ showing either a vaccine certificate or recent Covid test that will be compulsory to access certain areas or events\r\n•	Curfew pushed back to 11pm\r\n•	Cafés, bars and restaurants allowed to reopen indoor spaces, with a maximum of 6 people per table\r\n•	Possible public events including concerts and sports matches with a maximum of 5,000 people – only with a pass sanitaire\r\n•	Opening borders to non-EU tourists and visitors – only with a pass sanitaire, more details HERE\r\n•	Relaxation of the rules on remote working to allow people back to offices and workplaces\r\n•	Reopening of public meeting rooms with a maximum of 5,000 people – only with a pass sanitaire\r\n•	Reopening of indoor sports centres and gyms\r\nFull details of exactly how the ‘health passports’ will work have not yet been revealed, but here’s what was involved in a pilot scheme of the pass.\r\nFor people in France wanting to access large gatherings, concerts etc this would be via the TousAntiCovid tracker app, which has recently been updated to allow test results and vaccine certificates to be scanned. The app then creates a QR code which can be read by staff at events or concert venues.\r\nExactly how this will work for international travellers is for the present less clear, especially since the EU are also in the process of creating a digital pass which France is keen to use.\r\nWednesday, June 30th\r\n•	End of the curfew\r\n•	Possibility of events of more than 1,000 people, indoors or outdoors. Entrants will need a valid pass sanitaire\r\nDuring the interview, Macron said it was time to start “resuming our French-style way of life”, citing the need for “conviviality”, culture and sport.\r\nBut people needed to remain “careful and responsible”, he said.\r\nMacron, who is expected to seek re-election next year, drew strong criticism for rejecting calls by medical experts to order a third national lockdown in late January to bring down a stubbornly high coronavirus caseload.\r\nTwo months later he finally relented and introduced a partial lockdown from April 3rd.\r\nIn the interview with regional media he defended his handling of the health crisis, saying: “We were enlightened by science and took the decision to prioritise the human aspect above all.”\r\nHe added: “The daily life of the country cannot be reduced to the evolution of infection curves. I am obliged to look at the consequence of the closure of a school, when a child will not have a meal a day; or the consequence when a business is asked to close for several weeks. I know their distress today. We must take all of this into account.”\r\nThe president said that the big difference between this and previous reopenings was the vaccine programme, although he resisted calls to scrap the priority groups system and allow everyone to access a vaccine.\r\nHe said: “We will continue to prioritise by age because it is the most effective. Vaccinating the most vulnerable reduces the pressure on hospital services.\r\n“But we have doses in stock. We are therefore going to open up vaccination to all those over 18 years of age who are seriously overweight (BMI greater than 30) as of May 1st. I invite the 2.3 million French people concerned to go to the vaccination centers starting this weekend.”\r\n','2021-05-11','',0,1),(192,'France: More than 2,500 break virus restrictions at illegal rave','BBC','Health',2,44,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55513167','N/A','An illegal warehouse rave that began on New Year\'s Eve in France in defiance of coronavirus precautions has been shut down by police after arrests and clashes.\r\nSome of the 2,500 ravers in Lieuron near Rennes in Brittany had planned to party until Tuesday.\r\nPolice issued fines to revellers found leaving and the organisers were being identified as the party ended.\r\nA number of party-goers were from the UK and Spain, police said.\r\nAttendees clashed with police, setting fire to a car and throwing objects at officers attempting to shut the event down. At least three officers were injured.\r\n\r\nA driver was apprehended with turntables, speakers and a generator in the boot of the vehicle, according to French TV station BFM TV.\r\nPolice trying to stop the event faced \'fierce hostility from many partygoers\', a statement from local authorities said.\r\nBut at 05:30 local time on Saturday the ravers began to accept the party was over and started to leave the two disused warehouse hangars, the local prefecture said.\r\nInterior Minister Gérald Darmanin said on Twitter that trucks, sound equipment and generators were seized at the scene and an investigation has been opened.\r\nMore than 1,200 fines were issued for non-compliance with the curfew, not wearing a mask and attending an illegal gathering, Mr Darmanin said.\r\n\r\nOn Friday authorities said they had opened a sanitary cordon around the party and anyone leaving the event was urged to self-isolate for seven days.\r\nOne of the party-goers, who gave his name as Jo, told the AFP news agency that \'very few had respected social distancing\' at the event.\r\nA number of people slept in their cars before returning to dance, Le Monde newspaper reports.\r\nOne reveller told Le Monde that the rave was \'very well organised\' with food stalls inside.\r\nAnother, who came with four friends from Finisterre in north-west France, told the newspaper that she had wanted to \'escape\' for a few hours.\r\nOn Friday an interior ministry crisis meeting was held and all vehicle exits from the rave were blocked as police sought to shut down the party.\r\n\r\nFrance introduced strict rules ahead of the New Year including a curfew from 20:00 until 06:00.\r\nMore than 100,000 police officers were deployed across the country to break up parties and enforce the curfew.\r\nOfficers were instructed to break up underground parties as soon as they were reported, fine participants and identify the organisers.\r\nFrance has recorded more than 2.6 million coronavirus cases and 64,892 deaths since the pandemic began.\r\nOfficers elsewhere in Europe have also had to break up events in recent days.\r\nPolice dispersed a mass gathering near the Spanish city of Barcelona on Saturday where 300 people had been partying for more than 40 hours.\r\n','2021-01-03','',0,1),(193,'Brexit: Boris Johnson\'s father applies for French citizenship','BBC','Politics',1,44,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55499773','N/A','The father of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is applying for French citizenship now that Britain has severed ties with the European Union.\r\nStanley Johnson told France\'s RTL radio he had always seen himself as French as his mother was born in France.\r\nThe 80-year-old former Conservative Member of the European Parliament voted Remain in the 2016 Brexit referendum.\r\nHis son Boris spearheaded the Leave campaign and later took the UK out of the EU as prime minister.\r\n\r\nStanley Johnson explained his reasons for seeking French citizenship in an interview broadcast on Thursday, hours before the UK was due to leave EU trading rules.\r\n\'It\'s not about becoming French,\' he told RTL. \'It\'s about reclaiming what I already have.\'\r\nHe pointed out that his mother was born in France to a French mother. \'I will always be European,\' he added.\r\nStanley Johnson won a seat in the European Parliament when direct elections were first held in 1979, and later worked for the European Commission. As a result, Boris spent part of his childhood in Brussels.\r\nBrexit issues have divided the Johnson family. The prime minister\'s sister, the journalist Rachel Johnson, left the Conservative Party to join the Liberal Democrats ahead of the 2017 election in protest against Brexit.\r\nTheir brother, the Conservative MP Jo Johnson, resigned from the cabinet in 2018 to highlight his support for closer links with the EU.\r\n','2020-12-31','',0,1),(194,'France under pressure to speed up coronavirus vaccine rollout','Politico','Health',2,44,'https://www.politico.eu/article/france-under-pressure-to-speed-up-coronavirus-vaccine-rollout/','Helen Collis','Doctors and politicians in France are calling on the government to ramp up its COVID-19 vaccination drive, warning the current strategy risks increasing skepticism around the vaccine.\r\nA letter by the National Academy of Doctors, reported in Le Monde on Thursday, said procedures like collecting consent, checking for medical concerns in a vulnerable population and observing the patient for fifteen minutes after injection are slowing the rollout.\r\n\"These excessive precautions risk ... giving rise to a growing misunderstanding of the campaign, whose kick-off seems to lack determination,\" the letter read.\r\nFewer than 100 people were vaccinated in the first three days — far fewer than other EU countries.\r\nThe academy called for vaccination procedures in nursing homes to be simplified and sped up, and for doses to be prioritized for the most affected regions.\r\nVaccine skepticism in France has long been a problem. An Ipsos Mori poll this week showed that even as infection rates increased, only 40 percent of French respondents said they would take the vaccine when it becomes available — 14 percentage points lower than the same survey in October.\r\nPoliticians from all sides are calling on the government to change tack.\r\nValérie Rabault, president of the Socialist Party in the National Assembly, called for quicker administration of the vaccine to caregivers in an interview with L’Obs on Wednesday. \r\nWhile MPs Damien Abad and Jean Leonetti, from the center-right Les Républicains, called for an emergency hearing with Health Minister Olivier Véran to discuss the vaccine strategy. France, they said, was \"wearing Europe\'s dunce cap,\" according to France Info.\r\n\r\nEarlier in the week, Véran defended the strategy, telling France 2 that collecting consent before vaccination, \"is a sign of confidence.\"\r\n','2021-01-05','',0,1),(195,'We\'ve got UK\'s crabs!\' French fishermen boast of new haul BEFORE getting Brexit licence','Express','Politics',1,44,'https://www.express.co.uk/news/politics/1449045/brexit-news-fishing-france-french-fishermen-uk-waters-latest-france-permit-Boulogne-VN','Claire Anderson','A French fishing captain, identified only as Laurent, has admitted he caught crabs, lobsters, sea snails and other fish before he secured a permit to access British waters. He told Sky News he did not have time to wait for paperwork to be processed because his livelihood relied on it. Laurent said that he needed to access crab and lobster pots in British waters but would not wait for his papers to arrive. \r\nLaurent said: \"These are Mr Johnson\'s crabs! Happy New Year.\"\r\nHis admission makes a mockery of the Brexit deal, signed just days ago with specific focus on ensuring Britain secured control of its own waters. \r\nLaurent added: \"When the news came through on December 24 that we wouldn\'t immediately be affected by Brexit, we were relieved.\r\n\"But then came a panic in the early hours of December 30, when we were told that we would still need a permit in order to fish in UK waters in the future.\"\r\nFishermen need fishing permits from Friday to access British waters after a deal was signed on December 31.\r\n\r\nBoris Johnson said he recognised it would be a \"difficult period\" for the EU during the adjustment period over fishing rights.\r\nHe told MPs: \"I\'ve always recognised that this was going to be a difficult period for our European friends and partners because they\'ve been fishing in these waters for decades, if not centuries.\r\n\"And first, as the House will know, they sought an adjustment period of 14 years, but our negotiators whittled that down to five and a half years during which the UK\'s share, in that five and a half years the UK\'s share of our fish in our waters will rise from over half today to around two-thirds.\r\n\"And of course we\'d have liked to have done this more quickly, but it\'s also true that once the adjustment period comes to an end, there will be no limit other than the limits that are placed by the needs of science and conservation on our ability to make use of our marine wealth.\"\r\nBut Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer branded the EU deal \"thin\".\r\nHe said: \"It\'s often said there\'s nothing simple about Brexit but the choice before the House today is perfectly simple. Do we implement the treaty that has been agreed with the EU or do we not?\r\n\"That is the choice. If we choose not to, the outcome is clear, we leave the transition period without a deal, without a deal on security, on trade, on fisheries, without protection for our manufacturing sector, for farming, for countless British businesses and without a foothold to build a future relationship with the EU.\r\n\"Anyone choosing that option today knows there is no time to renegotiate, there\'s no better deal coming in the next 24 hours, no extensions, no humble addresses, no SO24s, so choosing that option leads to one place - no deal.\"\r\n\r\nTory Sir Bill Cash added: \"There remain challenges on fishing and in relation to Northern Ireland. We must use our new and renewed sovereignty to exercise the political muscle it gives us to resolve these challenges, we can and I believe we will. Regaining our right to govern ourselves is a true turning point in our great history.\"\r\nThe evolution of modern parliamentary democracy he said \"has been the bedrock of our freedom and enabled us with the leadership of Churchill to repel the danger of conquest in May 1940\".\r\nRecalling a conversation with Margaret Thatcher on Europe, he added: \"Our Prime Minister Boris Johnson has achieved what all those years ago I was told was impossible. I refused to believe them, so did the Maastricht rebels, and last year the 28 Tory Spartans which opened the way to where we are today.\r\n\"We have now won back our sovereignty despite those European pieces of paper, we owe our Prime Minister - the country owes him - our deepest congratulations on his achievement.\"\r\n','2021-01-05','',0,1),(196,'French judge rules \'noisy\' frogs of Grignols must go','The Guardian','Society',4,44,'Internet','N/A','French judge rules \'noisy\' frogs of Grignols must go\r\nMichel and Annie Pécheras told to drain pond after nine-year legal battle with neighbour\r\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/15/french-judge-rules-noisy-frogs-grignols-must-go\r\n\r\nThe French courts have had their final word: Grignols’ grenouilles (frogs) must go.\r\nThe frogs of a Dordogne village have been served notice after a judge decided they make so much noise during the mating season that they are a nuisance to the neighbours.\r\nAfter nine years of legal battles, Michel and Annie Pécheras have been told they have 90 days to drain the 300 sq-metre pond at their home in the village of Grignols: population 587, and get rid of the amphibians.\r\nEnvironmental campaigners say some of the frogs are protected species.\r\nMichel Pécheras says he re-excavated the historic pond that had been filled in and moved it away from his neighbours’ property 12 years ago.\r\nHe told journalists his neighbour Jean-Louis Malfione did not complain at the time and even asked who had done the work so he could create a pond on his own property.\r\nHowever, in 2012 Malfione brought legal action, backed by a bailiff who claimed the noise the frogs made at certain times of the year reached 63 decibels when recorded from the open window of the neighbour’s bedroom.\r\nIn 2014 the case was first thrown out by a local court but later upheld by a Bordeaux judge. Since then it has bounced back and forth between legal jurisdictions. An appeal by environmental campaigners for the frogs to be moved before the pond was destroyed also failed.\r\nUnder threat of hefty fines and prison after a judgment this month, the Pécheras have begun emptying the pond, also home to fish and ducks and an oasis for passing wildlife including herons, deer and wild boar.\r\nIn the meantime, the environment group Société pour l’Étude et l’Aménagement de la nature dans le Sud-Ouest is appealing to the cour de cassation, the highest court in France. The Association Cistude Nature claims there are six protected species of frog in the pond.\r\n','2021-01-16','',0,1),(197,'French snail farmers lament sluggish year as Covid crisis dents sales','The Guardian','Business & Economy',3,44,'Internet','N/A','French snail farmers lament sluggish year as Covid crisis dents sales\r\n\r\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/01/french-snail-farmers-lament-sluggish-year-as-covid-crisis-dents-sales\r\n\r\nFor France’s heliciculteurs, or snail farmers, 2020 was a desperately sluggish year.\r\nWith seasonal festivities all but cancelled, Christmas markets called off, a lack of tourists and restaurants shut down because of the coronavirus crisis, business has slowed to, well, a snail’s pace.\r\nEscargots, edible land snails often served in their shells with butter and garlic, are a classic hors d’oeuvre at the traditional end-of-year celebrations in France and snail farmers usually expect to make up to 70% of their sales in November and December. Now they are wondering what to do with their escargatoire.\r\n“We sell essentially for the end-of-year celebrations, but with the Christmas markets cancelled it’s been a difficult time,” Grégory Laude, a snail farmer near Dunkirk told his local newspaper.\r\nFrance has about 400 snail farmers producing for this specific seasonal market. Several have branched out in recent years into hosting tourists, many of them from the UK and US, but they too have been absent in 2020.\r\nTo make matters worse, the producers say they have been excluded so far from government schemes intended to help small farmers and businesses during the Covid-19 pandemic.\r\nHervé Ménelot, a snail farmer in Burgundy, said: “We’re not organised as a federation at the national level and we’re defending small operations so it’s not easy to make ourselves heard … unlike foie gras and cider apple producers. All we’re asking for is the same treatment.”\r\nFour representatives wrote to ministers in the autumn to alert them to snail farmers’ difficulties. As a result, agriculture ministry officials say they will benefit from emergency financial aid to the “festive sector”, added to the list of financial beneficiaries from the Covid-19 recovery fund in December.\r\nArchaeologists in southern Europe have uncovered large quantities of snail shells among stone tools and animal remains in pits used for cooking during the early Gravettian era, suggesting that Palaeolithic humans in Spain began eating snails around 30,000 ago.\r\nThe Romans considered escargots a food for the elite. In French cuisine, they are taken from their shells, killed, cooked with garlic butter, wine or stock and put back in the shells with the sauce. They are usually served in special dishes with individual depressions for 12 snails.\r\nOne snail farmer, Hubert Hédoin, however, told Vendée television all was not lost and that the leftover snails, currently hibernating, would be pickled or canned.\r\n','2021-01-16','',0,1),(198,'Covid-19: Top adviser warns France at \'emergency\' virus moment','BBC','Health',2,45,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55791459','N/A','France\'s top medical adviser said on Sunday that a third national lockdown would probably soon be needed to combat coronavirus in the country.\r\nA strict curfew was implemented last weekend, but cases continue to climb.\r\nProf Jean-Francois Delfraissy, head of the scientific council that advises leaders on Covid-19, said \'there is an emergency\' and this week was critical.\r\nHe called for swift government action, amid rising concerns about the spread of new variants of the coronavirus.\r\nProf Delfraissy said data showed a new more transmissible variant first detected in the UK now makes up between 7-9% of cases in some French regions and will be hard to stop.\r\nHe said the country was in a better situation than others in Europe, but described the new variants as the \'equivalent of a second pandemic\'.\r\n\'If we do not tighten regulations, we will find ourselves in an extremely difficult situation from mid-March,\' the advisor warned during an interview with BFM television.\r\nThe French government is expected to meet on Wednesday to decide if further measures are needed.\r\n\r\nOfficials have so far resisted implementing a third national lockdown, preferring an overnight curfew system which allows schools to stay open.\r\nBut daily infection numbers are rising - with the seven-day moving average now above 20,000 despite the 18:00 curfew.\r\nFrench Prime Minister Jean Castex previously said restrictions could be imposed \'without delay\' if the situation deteriorated further.\r\n\r\nThe country\'s virus death toll topped 73,000 on Sunday, as the country tightened restrictions on arrivals into the country.\r\nUnder new rules anyone entering from inside the EU by air or ferry must now present a negative Covid-19 test result within 72 hours of travel. Those entering France from the EU by road, including cross-border workers, will not be required to take a test.\r\nPresident of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said last week that all non-essential travel \'must be strongly advised against\' but EU nations have so far agreed to keep borders open.\r\n','2021-02-25','',0,1),(199,'Covid-19: France closes borders to most non-EU travel','BBC','Health',2,45,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-55863069','N/A','France has imposed new Covid-19 border restrictions, but has once again resisted a new nationwide lockdown.\r\nAll but essential travel from outside the EU has been banned, while testing requirements on travellers from within the EU has been tightened.\r\nPM Jean Castex said France\'s night curfew would be more tightly enforced and large shopping centres would close.\r\nBut the measures were seen as mild and favouring the economy. Some doctors fear they will not curb infections.\r\nWhat are the new border measures?\r\nMr Castex said that from Sunday, apart from exceptional reasons, \'any entry into France and any exit from our territory to or from a country outside the European Union will be prohibited\'.\r\nA number of countries are exempted, as they are not considered at risk. They are Australia, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, Singapore and Thailand.\r\nIn addition, arrivals from inside the EU, and several other neighbouring states - Andorra, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Norway, San Marino, the Vatican and Switzerland - will have to present a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.\r\nAll arrivals, not just by air and sea, but by land too, must comply with the test rule.\r\nThere are exemptions, including cross-border workers and hauliers, and other groups such as students, health workers and diplomats, although the list is not fully defined.\r\nThe new Covid variants are the main motivating factor, and travel to the UK, which has been hit by the UK - or Kent - variant, is \'strongly discouraged\'.\r\nThere were few specific details about how the measures would be enforced, particularly on those arriving by road and having to provide test results.\r\nWhat are the other measures?\r\nThe closure of all non-food shopping centres with a surface area greater than 20,000 sq m (215,000 sq ft)\r\nIncreased police presence to check non-compliance with the overnight curfew that runs between 18:00 and 06:00, as well as clampdowns on illegal restaurant openings and clandestine parties\r\nWorking-from-home rules to be reinforced so that it is encouraged wherever possible\r\nThe shopping centre rule affects some 400 malls and 25,000 businesses. Small traders were relieved not to be be included.\r\nThe other measures appeared more general, with French media saying they were fairly mild and an attempt to slow the virus without harming the economy further.\r\nFor now, schools remain open across the country.\r\nSome health sector experts were unconvinced the measures would be of use in controlling rising infections.\r\nMahmoud Zureik, professor of public health at the University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin, told French news network BFMTV: \'Unfortunately I fear it is too late. It is not enough.\'\r\nWhy no lockdown?\r\nThe threat of a third national lockdown in France has loomed large all week, following warnings by top health officials that one would be needed amid high hospital rates and the spread of new variants.\r\n But there is a lot of public opposition - more than 50% in an Elabe Institute poll oppose a strict lockdown, compared to 93% support last spring.\r\nMr Castex said in his televised statement on Friday a lockdown could still be prevented.\r\n\'We know the grave impact [of a lockdown]. Tonight, looking at the data of the past few days, we consider that we can still give ourselves a chance to avoid one,\' he said.\r\n\'The coming days will be decisive. Let\'s be very vigilant.\'\r\nWhere is France with the virus?\r\nFrance reported 820 new deaths on Friday, taking the total recorded nationally to more than 75,000. It has recorded the sixth highest number of infections in the world.\r\nMore than 25,000 people are in hospital with the virus - including more than 3,000 in intensive care - but Mr Castex said the health situation was \'better controlled in France than in many of our neighbours\'.\r\nHealth Minister Olivier Véran warned this week that the new, more transmissible variants were now \'actively spreading\' in France, despite the current restrictions.\r\nFriday\'s announcement also comes amid a growing row between the EU and vaccine companies about supply shortfalls.\r\nFrench officials say they have given first doses to 1.45m people so far, but delivery shortages from Pfizer and Moderna are further slowing their rollout.\r\nWhat are other countries doing?\r\nFrom Saturday, Germany has banned most travellers from countries hit hard by new variants. The countries are the UK, Ireland, Portugal, Brazil, South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini.\r\nThe move is expected to last until 17 February.\r\nAlso from Saturday, the Czech Republic has banned non-essential entry into the country, again to try to curb the new variants.\r\nPortugal on Thursday banned non-essential overseas travel by air, land or sea for its citizens for a fortnight.\r\nBelgium on Wednesday banned non-essential trips out of the country until 1 March.\r\nIn contrast, Italy said on Friday it would move more areas into less-restrictive rules from Monday, despite health officials warning it was risky. No areas would be classified as \'red\', which brings tough travel and business restrictions.\r\n','2021-02-01','',0,1),(200,'Resistance in the kitchen: French restaurateurs strap on aprons in defiance of Covid-19 closures','France 24','Society',4,45,'https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210129-resistance-in-the-kitchen-french-restaurateurs-strap-on-aprons-in-defiance-of-covid-19-closures','Louise NORDSTROM','Ever since France\'s stringent Covid-19 restrictions were put in place last March, leading to the temporary – and in some cases permanent – closure of the country\'s restaurants, a resistance movement has quietly been brewing in French kitchens. On Wednesday, one restaurateur made the fight public by opening his doors for lunch, in open defiance of the ban. Others say they plan to strap their aprons back on, too.\r\n\r\n\"O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao!\" The Italian folksong later linked to the World War II anti-fascist partisan movement could be heard Wednesday reverberating off the walls of Poppies, a bistro in the Mediterranean city of Nice. The song, delivered over steaming hot plates of gnocchi or lentils, rang out in protest at the government\'s ban on in-house dining and in support of the restaurant\'s owner, Christophe Wilson, who moments later would be taken to the local police station.\r\n\r\nWilson\'s open act of defiance underscores the growing frustration felt by many French restaurateurs, whose businesses have been among some of the hardest hit as France tries to curb another wave of Covid-19 infections.\r\nAfter a two-month closure during the country\'s first lockdown in the spring, restaurants and bars were once again ordered to close – except for take-away food orders– during a second lockdown that began October 30. When the latest lockdown was lifted in mid-December, non-essential shops and other services were allowed to reopen, but restaurants, bars and cafés have remained closed in order to avoid gatherings in restricted spaces without face masks.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nThe government has said they will remain shuttered until at least mid-February, but many such businesses have already been forced to permanently shut their doors. \r\n\"When I see Carrefour or Prima and all these multinationals where hundreds of people are massed together, I can no longer accept it,\" Wilson told reporters during the controversial re-opening of his restaurant, which saw an estimated 100 lunch guests gathering to show their support. \"Someone needs to get everyone fired up, and if I have to be the one who takes that risk, so be it,\" he said.\r\nWilson was released on Thursday, Nice-Matin newspaper reported, saying the restaurant owner had not been detained by police for his act of civil disobedience, but because his chef was found to have expired working papers. \r\nMass disobedience on February 1\r\nBut the fire has already started. In early January, Stéphane Turillon, a restaurant owner in the eastern commune of Doubs, declared he would no longer suffer in silence.\r\n\"We\'re at war. This time I\'m going to war and I\'ll open my restaurant on February 1, 2021, at noon [and even] if the government doesn\'t allow me, I\'ll open with force. Please share en masse,\" he wrote on his Facebook page.\r\nTurillon\'s announcement has since grown into a nationwide campaign, with restaurateurs across France vowing to get in on next week\'s disobedience act en masse. \r\n\"More than 200,000 restaurants in France are suffering, and many of them are in agony. Let\'s show our solidarity with France\'s gastronomic culture,\" the campaign\'s main Facebook group \"My restaurant opens on February 1\", stated. On Thursday, the page had attracted more than 21,300 supporters.\r\nClandestine openings\r\nThe kitchen resistance movement in France has expanded in other ways. French daily newspaper Le Parisien last week published an investigative report on the increasing number of clandestine restaurants operating in the capital.\r\nThe journalists (who visited many of the restaurants themselves) recounted how they, at one upscale restaurant, entered the premises via a service door and were then ushered into a fully packed back room where they were seated alongside both police officers and judges.\r\n\"We\'re fully booked at every lunch service. It\'s true that with the [government] assistance and this illegal opening we can survive. If we stopped, it would be the death of us,\" the restaurant owner told the paper.\r\n\"Eating in a restaurant isn\'t any more dangerous than taking the [crowded] metro, or going to a company cafeteria,\" he said.\r\nAccording to Paris police, more than 390 restaurants and bars in the capital and its suburbs have been fined since November for breaching the in-house service ban.\r\nNot everyone is enthusiastic about the French underground restaurant movement, however. Although support has poured in on Twitter for Nice restaurateur Wilson under the hashtag #LiberezChristophe (release Christophe), his decision has also triggered criticism.   \r\n\"Oh please… The guy opens up his restaurant even though it\'s prohibited by decree […] He deserves everything he\'s getting. Zero pity. Zero tolerance,\" Twitter user IanMontpellier wrote. \r\nJogaouTV was more measured in his Twitter critique: \"About the Nice restaurant that opened, on the one hand I can understand it because they are suffering. But the fact that there were no anti-Covid precautions in the photos I have seen totally annoys me. There\'s not even any distance between the tables… Help.\"\r\nTwitter user JoelMistigri35 applauded the fact that Wilson had been apprehended by police, and drew parallels between his act of defiance and Ireland\'s sharp rise in Covid-19 cases. \"VERY GOOD. The explosion of Covid cases in Ireland is due to their obstinate refusal to close bars and restaurants. It reminds me of the young man who went blind after refusing  to wear [protective] tinted glasses when watching a solar eclipse.\"\r\nIn addition to hefty fines, those who flount France\'s onsite eating ban could find themselves stripped of any financial assistance they have been receiving during the Covid-19 epidemic (currently set at €10,000 a month or 20% of turnover up to €200,000 a month, based on 2019 revenues), and be forced to close their establishments for an additional two to three months.','2021-02-05','',0,1),(201,'France Says Europe Vaccine Strategy Safer Than U.K.\'s','Bloomberg','Society',4,45,'https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-02-02/france-says-europe-s-vaccine-strategy-is-safer-than-the-u-k-s',' Ania Nussbaum ','France is taking the lead in defending Europe\'s faltering vaccine program, and a jab at the U.K. in the process.\r\n\"The Brits are in an extremely difficult health situation,\" France\'s junior minister for European Union affairs, Clement Beaune, said on France Inter radio. \"Understandably, they are taking many risks in this vaccination campaign.\"\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nBeaune cited the U.K.\'s decision to focus on the first vaccine jabs and its reliance on AstraZeneca Plc despite doubts over its efficiency on older people. \"I don\'t think citizens would accept us taking risks that contradict scientific recommendations,\" he said.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nWith nations all over the world counting on Covid-19 vaccines to return normality as swiftly as possible, delivery delays in Europe announced by vaccine-makers Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca sent chills through the bloc -- which is trailing the U.K. when it comes to vaccination -- and gave ammunition to anti-EU politicians like Marine Le Pen in France.\r\nBeaune defended the EU\'s decision to purchase the doses in common, an approach that avoided a race between member states and put the bloc\'s less affluent countries on an equal foot with its richest countries such as Germany or France.\r\nMore from\r\nGlaxo, CureVac Team Up to Create Next Wave of Covid-19 Shots\r\nGlaxo Joins CureVac; WHO Experts Visit Wuhan Lab: Virus Update\r\nAstra Shot Shows 82% Efficacy With U.K.\'s Two-Dose Interval\r\nWhy the Mutated Coronavirus Variants Are So Worrisome\r\n\r\nHad countries purchased vaccines on their own, \"each government -- imagine Germany, France, Italy -- would be calling labs to have doses delivered to get in ahead of their neighbors,\" Beaune said on Monday. Buying the vaccine in common also allowed the EU to obtain better prices.\r\n\r\nAnother plank in Macron\'s plan to revive the European project is set to advance on Wednesday when EU government envoys in Brussels will seek a common stance on the \"Conference on the Future of Europe\" -- a debate lasting several months that aims to bring member states closer together.\r\nThe conference \"is an opportunity to underpin the democratic legitimacy and functioning of the European project as well as to uphold the EU citizens support for our common goals and values, by giving them further opportunities to express themselves,\" according to the document the EU government envoys are due to adopt.\r\nThe concept is based on ideas laid out by the French president in 2017 from Pnyx, a hill that was the center of Athenian democracy more than 2,500 years ago. It was later adopted by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.\r\nFrance\'s most immediate problem however remains the vaccine rollout. Of 67 million inhabitants, about 1.5 million have received the jab. It plans to give the first dose to 2.4 million more patients by end February, compared to an initial target of 4 million. Government officials have defended their strategy by insisting on the need to focus on most vulnerable people first, and on obtaining their consent as well as following scientific guidelines on doses.\r\nLater on Tuesday, France\'s Health Agency is set to give its green light to AstraZeneca\'s vaccine, but it\'s unclear if it will be recommended for people over 65.\r\nAcross the Channel, British politicians have been ready to use France to score cheap points.\r\n\"We\'ve got the very best people in this country and we\'ve obviously got the best medical regulator, much better than the French have, much better than the Belgians have, much better than the Americans have,\" Education Secretary Gavin Williamson told LBC Radio in December. \"That doesn\'t surprise me at all because we\'re a much better country than every single one of them.\"\r\nWith some French hospitals starting to transfer patients to relieve pressure on intensive-care units and more contagious forms of the virus on the rise, the French government is closely monitoring indicators and remains ready to move quickly if a third lockdown is needed.\r\nFor now, President Emmanuel Macron is holding off calls for a full lockdown, as he seeks to navigate pressure from doctors to contain the new coronavirus variants and the need to protect the economy, while avoiding the risk of civil disobedience amid mounting fatigue. Instead, he strengthened curfew controls, imposed extra border checks and announced the closure of malls.','2021-02-05','',0,1),(202,'Tens of thousands protest against new French security bill','The Guardian','Society',4,45,'Internet','N/A','Article 5\r\nTens of thousands protest against new French security bill\r\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/30/tens-of-thousands-of-people-across-france-protest-against-new-security-bill\r\n\r\nTens of thousands of protesters turned out in dozens of French cities on Saturday to oppose a security bill they say will restrict the filming and publicising of images of police brutality.\r\nDemonstrators also protested against the restrictions imposed to halt the spread of coronavirus and to stand up for the cultural sector, which has been especially hard-hit by the measures.\r\nThose joining the demonstrations included activists from the gilets jaunes (yellow vests) movement that gripped France for more than a year before the pandemic restricted large-scale protests.\r\nAmong the protesters were young people calling for the right to hold rave parties, such as one in Brittany that attracted 2,400 people at the start of the year.\r\n“I have two reasons for coming today – the comprehensive security law and also to support culture,” said Kim, a 24-year-old civil service intern.\r\n“Lots of stores are open, the Metro is packed, yet cultural sites are closed, even though we can apply protective measures [against coronavirus],” she said.\r\nThe demonstrators are protesting against draft legislation that would ban the filming of police activities, which the ruling La République En Marche party of Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, has said it would rewrite.\r\nBut people are also protesting against the use of surveillance tools such as drones and pedestrian cameras.\r\nFootage of white police beating a black music producer in his Paris studio on 21 November has fuelled anger over the legislation, condemned by many as signalling a swing to the right by Macron.\r\nAccording to interior ministry figures, 32,077 people turned out to protest across France, significantly down on the 133,000 they said attended the largest protest against the measures, back in November – although organisers put the true turnout then at more than half a million people.\r\nOrganisers put the fall in numbers down to the coronavirus restrictions, poor weather and the fact that this was just the latest in a long series of such protests.\r\nFrance has recorded 75,000 deaths from coronavirus since the outbreak began and the country is bracing for another possible lockdown.\r\nIn Paris, the large Place de la République was half full, AFP journalists reported, while about 3,000 people gathered in Montpellier, southern France.\r\nAt about 5pm, an hour before the start of the overnight 6pm to 6am curfew now in place as a measure against coronavirus, clashes broke out between a group of about 50 young people and police.\r\nAfter being pelted with projectiles, the police used water cannon to clear the square. The Paris prosecutors office said 26 people had been detained.\r\nHundreds turned out for similar rallies in other cities.\r\nThe government argues that the proposed law is needed because police officers have become the targets of attacks and of calls for violence against them posted on social media.\r\nBut French media say a “new national plan of law enforcement” is being used to limit media coverage of demonstrations.\r\nThe proposed security law, which has already been approved by the National Assembly, is to be examined by the Senate, France’s upper parliamentary chamber, in March.\r\n\r\n','2021-02-10','',0,1),(203,'Social distancing alarms cause a stink at French hygiene firm','France24','Politics',1,45,'Internet','N/A','Social distancing alarms cause a stink at French hygiene firm\r\nhttps://www.france24.com/en/france/20210114-social-distancing-alarms-cause-a-stink-at-french-hygiene-firm\r\n\r\nA global maker of wipes and toilet paper has created a stink among its French employees after asking them to carry a device that goes off if they violate social distancing rules in the workplace.\r\n\r\nThe personal alarm system emits a warning sound of 85 decibels -- about the same as a lawnmower -- if the wearer gets too close to a colleague, according to outraged union representatives at the group.\r\nIt is set to be trialled at the French sites of personal hygiene specialist Essity, a Swedish company that makes hand soap, tissues, sanitary products and napkins. \r\nThe CFDT union denounced the alarms as \"a system comparable to ones that try to dissuade dogs from barking,\" adding that it would be stressful and \"infantilising\" for employees. \r\nReached for comment at the company\'s headquarters, spokesman Karl Stoltz told AFP that \"it is just tested in France\". \r\n\r\nEmployees have been told that the alarms are for their own safety and that the devices will be deactivated in the company canteen, toilets and medical areas.\r\nThe sensors will not be personalised and do not have a system enabling the company to locate them, according to management.\r\nThe proposals are set to be discussed at a personnel meeting next week, but employees are already warning that the devices will end up like many of the company\'s single-use products.  \r\nChristine Duguet, a union representative from the CFDT, predicted that \"they\'ll finish in the rubbish bins or stay in a cupboard. This is complete nonsense.\"\r\n','2021-02-10','',0,1),(204,'Sarkozy’s conviction carries echoes for Trump','The Washington Post','Politics',1,47,'https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2021/03/02/sarkozy-convicted-trump-similarities/','Ishaan Taroor','The ex-president was a polarizing figure, a firebrand who relished in ruffling the feathers of opponents to the left. At home, he demonized immigrants and ethnic minorities and aped the rhetoric of the far right. His penchant for shattering norms, including efforts to politicize the judiciary, drew the ire of critics. Abroad, he raised eyebrows after conspicuously courting Middle East potentates. His glamorous wife, at least for a time, was more admired than him.\r\nEventually, the public tired of his act and the support of a motivated base proved insufficient; he became a one-term president, cast out of power by a national electorate eager for a return to \'normalcy.\' Stripped of the shield of presidential immunity, he then found himself mired in spiraling legal battles. He raged against the \'grotesque\' witch hunt against him, but could not forestall an ignominious reckoning.\r\nNo, we’re not talking about former president Donald Trump. On Monday, a French court found former French president Nicolas Sarkozy guilty of corruption and influence peddling. He was given a three-year sentence, two years of which were suspended. He may still avoid actual jail time following appeals, but the reputational damage, at the very least, is done — Sarkozy is only the second head of state in modern France to be convicted of corruption.\r\nThe echoes of what’s happening to Sarkozy ought to be ringing loud for Trump. Despite considerable differences in the political contexts where they operated, the two share elements of a political style. In his memoir published last year, former president Barack Obama described Sarkozy as an incorrigible narcissist, \'his chest thrust out like a bantam cock’s … never straying from his primary, barely disguised interest, which was to be at the center of the action and take credit for whatever it was that might be worth taking credit for.\'\r\n\r\nBoth Trump and Sarkozy demanded absolute loyalty from those around them — as a Le Monde editorial once noted, with Sarkozy it was either \'allegiance or vengeance.\' And they harnessed a divisive, angry agenda to get their way. \'After Sarkozy’s million-miles-an-hour presidency, France — like America now — was running on fumes,\' wrote CNN’s Cyril Vanier last year. \'The country was exhausted. For many voters, the passions unleashed, the acrimony, the national soul-searching hadn’t been sustainable.\'\r\n\r\nTrump was impeached an unprecedented two times by the House on charges including abuse of power; Sarkozy is now contemplating a spell in prison for the same. \'The charges against Sarkozy, who was president between 2007 and 2012, were centered around the question whether the former French leader was behind a deal with a magistrate to illegally receive information on inquiries linked to him, using false names and unofficial phone lines,\' explained my colleague Rick Noack. \'According to the prosecution, Sarkozy and his then-lawyer and longtime friend Thierry Herzog attempted to bribe the magistrate, Gilbert Azibert, by offering him a high-profile position in return for information. The incident took place after Sarkozy had left office.\'\r\nSarkozy also faces other legal woes, including allegations that he received campaign funding from the late Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2007, an investigation into whether he fraudulently overspent in his failed 2012 reelection bid and a probe launched January into alleged influence-peddling after Sarkozy signed a lucrative contract with a Russian insurance company.\r\nIn court, Sarkozy rejected the various charges against him. \'Never abused my influence, alleged or real,\' he said in December. \'What right do they have to drag me through the mud like this for six years? Is there no rule of law?\'\r\nBut prosecutors argued that he was finally facing the consequences for his abuse of power. \'The events would not have occurred if a former president, as well as a lawyer, had kept in mind the magnitude, the responsibility, and the duties of his office,\' prosecutor Jean-Luc Blachon told the court in Paris as the trial concluded.\r\nThe legal dragnet is tightening around Trump, too. While Republican senators guaranteed his second acquittal on impeachment charges last month, Trump as a private citizen still faces a crowded slate of criminal and civil litigation, including his role in stoking the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, his pre-presidency business dealings and defamation claims by women who allege he assaulted them, claims he has denied. The allegations are in some instances far more grave than those associated with Sarkozy.\r\nBut though the stain of illegal activities doomed Sarkozy’s attempt at a political comeback in 2016, Trump seems still in pole position to make a new bid for the presidency in 2024. He took center stage Sunday at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference and, unrepentant, once more delivered his customary airing of grievances and falsehoods. Rather than work to sideline the former president, the bulk of the Republican Party appears still in his thrall.\r\n\r\nThat may change as the legal cases against Trump and some close allies start to catch up. \'There has to be some consequence for telling these lies — because when you lie to people, they take action based on what they think is true,\' said Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, a Republican who received threats after false allegations of fraud in the counting of the city’s votes, to The Washington Post. \'Because it’s such a dangerous new thing that occurred, there has to be some reconciliation. Moving on isn’t enough.\'\r\n','2021-03-02','',0,1),(205,'https://www.france24.com/en/sport/20210301-french-rugby-chief-says-coach-galthi%C3%A9-breached-covid-19-bubble','France 24','Sport',5,47,'https://www.france24.com/en/sport/20210301-french-rugby-chief-says-coach-galthi%C3%A9-breached-covid-19-bubble','N/A','France head coach Fabien Galthié did not stay inside the team\'s bubble before a COVID-19 outbreak in the French squad that has led to the postponement of a Six Nations game, according to the French rugby federation president.\r\n\r\nSpeaking to French television station France 3 on Sunday, Bernard Laporte confirmed that Galthié left the team bubble to watch his son play a rugby match after France thrashed Italy last month in its opening Six Nations match.\r\nLaporte stopped short of criticizing Galthié, though.\r\n\'I don\'t see where the problem could be. But then again, I\'m not a doctor,\' Laporte said, insisting that he continues to have confidence in his coach.\r\n\'For me, he has the right to leave from the moment he is masked. He was outside and masked,\' Laporte said.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nGalthié was among the members of the French squad who tested positive for coronavirus. The outbreak prompted the postponement of France\'s match against Scotland last weekend. France had won its previous two matches.\r\nInvestigations have been launched into the outbreak by the federation and the government.\r\nThe initial accusations are focused on Galthié after the L’Equipe newspaper first reported that he breached health protocols that were tightened so the tournament itself could go ahead. L’Equipe said Galthie broke the rules before the win against Ireland and reported that some players went out to eat in Rome before routing Italy 50-10.\r\nLaporte said the players who went out to eat waffles in Rome had been tested again upon their return. He added that \'obviously, zero risk does not exist.\'\r\nFrance Sports Minister Roxana Maracineanu has ordered an internal investigation and its conclusions are expected later this week. The Six Nations was in jeopardy until her government gave its go-ahead to the tournament three weeks ago only after approving the French federation\'s stricter sanitary controls.\r\nA new date for the game between Scotland and France has yet to be announced\r\n','2021-03-01','',0,1),(206,'On the COVID-19 frontline but half of French care home workers don\'t trust vaccine','www.reuters.com','Society',4,47,'https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-france-vaccines/on-the-covid-19-frontline-but-half-of-french-care-home-workers-dont-trust-vaccine-idUSL5N2KZ6I2','N/A','On the COVID-19 frontline but half of French care home workers don\'t trust vaccine\r\nhttps://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-france-vaccines/on-the-covid-19-frontline-but-half-of-french-care-home-workers-dont-trust-vaccine-idUSL5N2KZ6I2\r\nPARIS (Reuters) - Marie-France Boudret, who works in a French home for the elderly, watched a patient suffocate to death in front of her because COVID-19 had infected his lungs. But when her employer offered her a vaccine against the virus, the nurse hesitated.\r\n\r\n“I have some doubts,” said Boudret, 48. “I prefer to wait.”\r\nAround half of health workers in French care homes do not want to be vaccinated, according to the group of experts guiding the state’s vaccine rollout - compared to only 20% of the residents who have not been inoculated.\r\nIf significant numbers of care home workers do not get the jab, they could transmit the disease to residents who are not vaccinated and at high risk of serious illness, say advocates for the elderly.\r\nOne reason for the scepticism is that those recommending the vaccine are the same people - the French state - whom care home workers blame for their low pay and tough working conditions, said Malika Belarbi, a care worker and trade union official.\r\n“There’s a complete loss of trust,” she said.\r\nThe issue is not unique to France.\r\nIn Germany, care home operator BeneVit Group surveyed staff in November and found only 30% wanted to get vaccinated.\r\nPeter Burri, head of ProSenectute, Switzerland’s biggest advocacy group for seniors, said at most half of nursing staff in the medical sector were willing to get inoculated.\r\nGETTING THE JAB?\r\nAt a care home in Clamart, south of Paris, on Monday, 66-year-old Marie-Dominique Chastel was playing a parlour game with residents. Chastel, an activity coordinator at the home, declined the jab because she said her own immune system could fight off COVID-19.\r\nShe said some relatives of residents had asked if she was going to get vaccinated. “My response was: ‘I’m going to wait a bit’,” she said.\r\nBoudret, the care home nurse, recalled fighting in vain to save her patient during the first wave of the virus. The same day two more of her patients died.\r\n“That day, I broke. It was the last straw,” she said. She said she felt neglected and under-appreciated by the state, citing short-staffing and problems with equipment.\r\nSince then, she has had COVID-19. She was unwell for a couple of days, but is now fully recovered.\r\nStaff at her care home, in the Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt, were offered appointments to get the vaccine.\r\nBoudret said she was not in a high-risk group and felt there had not been time to properly assess the jab.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nRegulators around the world have repeatedly said speed will not compromise safety and vaccine developers have said they will not cut corners in testing for safety and efficacy.\r\nThe quicker results have stemmed from conducting in parallel trials that are usually done in sequence and can take years.\r\nTrials for the shots developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson have shown only temporary side-effects.\r\nFrance’s state drug safety watchdog has said the procedure for approving the vaccines ensures they are safe and that it monitors side-effects and has seen nothing to warrant stopping their use.\r\nThe number of French care home workers declining the vaccine is half what it was in December, said Patrick Peretti-Watel, head of research at France’s National Institute for Health and Medical Research.\r\nBut Peretti-Watel, also a member of the government’s vaccine strategy steering committee, said getting more of them inoculated would require tackling the harm done by disputes over pay and working conditions.\r\n“It’s a question of winning trust,” he said.\r\n','2021-03-09','',0,1),(207,'Tempers fray over France’s vaccine strategy','ft.com','Society',4,47,'https://www.ft.com/content/8cb348fd-e5f1-4450-9178-246cd4a8e549','N/A','Tempers fray over France’s vaccine strategy\r\nhttps://www.ft.com/content/8cb348fd-e5f1-4450-9178-246cd4a8e549\r\n\r\n\r\nFrance’s vaccination campaign, which has been heavily criticised for its slow progress, is beginning to reduce Covid-19 infections, hospitalisations and deaths among people over 80. But with cases rising among younger adults, the government must decide whether more restrictions are needed to contain the spread of the virus. President Emmanuel Macron tried to sound optimistic on Monday when he was asked by a young man in the Paris suburb of Stains whether the government could make life easier by having the 6pm-6am nationwide coronavirus curfew start an hour later each night. “We have to hold on for a few more weeks, four to six weeks,” Macron said. A few hours later, Macron’s health minister Olivier Véran had to spell out the bad news: the target date was a minimum, and people should not count on any relaxation soon because “the curfew and the current restrictions will be in place for at least the next four to six weeks”. Since the New Year, France has teetered on the brink of imposing lockdown measures as demanded by many doctors and epidemiologists, and as adopted in Germany and the UK, but so far rejected by Macron. He hopes that vaccinations and existing controls — including the continued closure of restaurants and bars — will be enough to protect hospitals from an unmanageable surge of new Covid-19 patients.\r\n\r\n\r\nMore than 85,000 of France’s 67m people have been killed by the pandemic in the past year, but Macron is wary of imposing another nationwide lockdown on a weary population. There has been a fierce debate in recent weeks over the merits of his determination to keep schools open unlike elsewhere in Europe, but at the same time many French flout the current rules by holding secret parties or ignoring the curfew. Nor does the president want to inflict further damage on the economy. “It’s a risky bet but remains similar to strategies seen elsewhere in Europe,” said Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva. “Basically leaders wait till the situation is extreme to respond with tough measures — as in the UK or Portugal around Christmas.”\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nFlahault recommends a “zero Covid” strategy of complete suppression, not least because of the rapid spread in Europe of new variants of the virus. These variants are more infectious than the early forms of the virus and in some cases will sap the effectiveness of the vaccines slowly being rolled out across the continent. “The situation is very tense because it can escape from control at any moment with an exponential rise in the infection curve,” he said, noting that new cases in France had risen from an already high plateau of about 11,000 per day in December to 20,000 now, which made it impractical to trace contacts or contain clusters. In the UK, which has a similar-sized population, the latest data show nearly 6,400 new cases per day. After two nationwide lockdowns in the spring and autumn of last year, the French government has so far this year adopted a piecemeal approach to dealing with steadily rising infections. It has imposed weekend-only lockdowns on Dunkirk in the north and Nice in the south and placed 20 départements, including the whole of the Paris region, under increased surveillance.\r\n \r\nIf Macron’s lockdown decisions have had mixed reviews — some in France say they are too strict and others insist they are not strict enough — his handling of the other anti-Covid weapon at his disposal, vaccination, has been roundly condemned on all sides. That is partly because the EU as a whole has been slower than the UK and the US in producing and procuring vaccines, which has left Macron and Clément Beaune, his Europe minister, on the defensive as they sing the praises of the EU’s joint procurement policy. “The message here is, ‘We have to show that the EU works and is benefiting us,” said Georgina Wright of the Institut Montaigne think-tank in Paris. Yet even when compared with its EU neighbours, the country’s vaccination programme has fallen short. “This is the biggest problem for France,” said Wright. “It’s shocking and it really is a French problem.” France has struggled to accelerate its vaccination campaign since it began in late December, but still aims to have offered a jab to all adults who want one by the end of summer. The country has administered 6.7 vaccine doses per 100 people in its population as of February 28, according to Our World in Data, putting it at the back of the pack in the EU and far behind global pacesetters such as the UK with 31, the US on 23 and Israel on 95. In Europe, Denmark had managed 10.8, Spain 8.2, Germany 7.6, and Italy 7.2.\r\n\r\n\r\nHealth officials in France insisted one reason for the slow rollout is that they initially focused narrowly on the elderly living in care homes and the otherwise vulnerable. They also believed they had to move carefully given the exceptionally high levels of scepticism about vaccines among the French. Another more embarrassing reason is France’s failure to make the most of the AstraZeneca vaccine deliveries that began arriving a month ago and will increase significantly in March and April. Macron himself said wrongly at the end of January that all the indications were that AstraZeneca was “almost ineffective” for the over-65s, when in fact there was simply insufficient data at the time. This week the government reversed its decision not to use AstraZeneca for the over-65s, and the pace of vaccination is expected to pick up. Still, as of Monday, France had used only 24 per cent of the 1.1m Oxford/AstraZeneca doses it had received, according to health ministry data. In contrast, France had used about 90 per cent of the 4.2m doses of the BioNTech/Pfizer vaccine it has received to date. “France managed the first part of the pandemic better than the UK, but the second part, since we’ve had vaccines, has been much better managed in the UK than in France,” said Nicolas Bouzou, economist at consultancy Asterès. “They added errors on top of errors on vaccination.” The question now is whether the French vaccination programme can be accelerated in time to avert the need for harsh new lockdown measures. “The bet that the infections will fall with current restrictions is not totally impossible so political leaders may pin their hopes on it,” said Flahault. “But if the infections surge then these countries will have lost valuable time.”\r\n\r\n','2021-03-09','',0,1),(208,'France blasts \'pathetic\' attempts to discredit Pfizer vaccine online','Reuters','Health',2,50,'https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/france-blasts-pathetic-attempts-discredit-pfizer-vaccine-online-2021-05-25/','Stephane Mahe','Several French social media sites say they have been approached by a communications agency which offered them money to spread negative publicity about the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine, a ploy the health minister described as dangerous and irresponsible.\r\nLeo Grasset, whose DirtyBiology Youtube channel has more than a million subscribers, said on his @dirtybiology Twitter account that he had been offered money to criticise the Pfizer shot.\r\n\'I have received a partnership proposal to bust the Pfizer vaccine in video. Huge budget, a client who wants to remain anonymous .... if you see videos about this, you will know that it is a set-up,\' he tweeted.\r\nHe added that the address of London-based agency which had contacted him was a fake.\r\nIt was not clear how many people had received such requests, where they originated or why they targeted the Pfizer vaccine, the most commonly administered in France, a country which has a tradition of vaccine skepticism.\r\nPfizer did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.\r\nPfizer (PFE.N) and German partner BioNTech last November became the first drug manufacturers to report successful initial data from a large coronavirus vaccine clinical trial.\r\nIn April, a European Union report said that Russian and Chinese media were systematically seeking to sow mistrust in Western COVID-19 vaccines in their disinformation campaigns aimed at the West.\r\nOne of the operators of \'Et ca se dit medecin\' (\'And that calls itself a doctor\'), which has about 30,000 followers on Twitter and 90,000 on Instagram, also said on RMC TV he had been offered money to discredit the Pfizer vaccine.\r\nI do not know where this comes from, from France or abroad,\' French Health Minister Olivier Veran said on BFM TV on Tuesday. \'It is pathetic, it is dangerous, it is irresponsible and it does not work.\'\r\n','2021-05-06','',0,1),(209,'French police protest in Paris to demand a government crackdown on attacks','France 24','Society',4,50,'https://www.france24.com/en/france/20210519-french','News wires','French police officers held a huge demonstration outside parliament Wednesday to press for a law that protects the protectors who are feeling vulnerable to attacks, angry and useless. \r\n\r\nThe rally by security forces represented a bold and unusual move for members of an institution that stresses duty and discretion. The protest also morphed into what looked like a campaign stop for politicians ahead of regional elections next month and a presidential race next year, with security a top concern.\r\nInterior Minister Gerald Darmanin showed up at the start, squeezing through a packed crowd of hundreds waving labor union flags. Representatives from the far-right National Rally and a multitude of other parties were expected to attend. The politicians clearly hope to send a message that security matters and police officers, a considerable voting pool, are their friends.\r\n\'You must help us, Mister Minister,\' an officer said with emotion to Darmanin.\r\n\'Every morning when I awake, every night when I sleep, I think of you,\' Darmanin said, adding that his presence at the protest was \'normal\' given his role as France\'s top cop.\r\n \r\nPolice unions gave notice ahead of the rally that politicians would not be allowed to make speeches. \'No one will confiscate the words of police or citizens,\' said a statement by 10 unions holding the demonstration.\r\nWith two officers killed in recent weeks - one in a terrorist attack and another by a suspected 19-year-old delinquent - and constant encounters with young people who throw objects and fireworks, police are angry.\r\n\'Paid to Serve, Not to Die\'\r\n\'Paid to Serve, Not to Die\' read a giant banner in front of the National Assembly, the lower chamber of parliament.\r\nPolice are calling for a law that guarantees jail time for those who assault them and for a justice system that punishes the small-time offenders they arrest and re-arrest after courts set them free.\r\nPolls show broad support for police, but critics cite instances of brutality, including a man who died this year after a beating. A group of organizations filed a lawsuit in January contending systemic racism in France\'s security forces.\r\nOfficers reject what they label as \'police bashing\' that undermines their work.\r\nDarmanin\'s presence at Wednesday\'s protest triggered a deluge of criticism. The hardline interior minister has made chasing down neighborhood drug dealers a priority.\r\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron, who is expected to run for reelection in 2022, has put security high on his agenda. However, police want more than a list of promises, such as guaranteeing a 30-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of killing an officer.\r\n','2021-05-19','',0,1),(210,'French Open: Japan’s Naomi Osaka could be kicked out of tournament over media boycott','scmp.com','Sport',5,50,'Internet','N/A','French Open: Japan’s Naomi Osaka could be kicked out of tournament over media boycott\r\n\r\nCiting mental health reasons, the four-time grand slam champion said she would not be speaking to the press at Roland Garros stadium in Paris\r\n•	Osaka has been fined US$15,000 for refusing to fulfil her media commitments after a first-round victory over Romania’s Patricia Maria Tig\r\n\r\nNaomi Osaka has been warned she faces being thrown out of the French Open should she continue her media boycott.\r\nThe four-time grand slam champion announced on social media ahead of the tournament that she would not be doing any press at Roland Garros, citing mental health reasons.\r\nIt has not gone down well with the tournament and drew an unusually punchy joint statement from the four grand slams, who threatened Osaka with severe sanctions should she not reconsider her stance.\r\nA statement on Sunday said: “We have advised Naomi Osaka that, should she continue to ignore her media obligations during the tournament, she would be exposing herself to possible further code of conduct infringement consequences.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n“As might be expected, repeat violations attract tougher sanctions including default from the tournament and the trigger of a major offence investigation that could lead to more substantial fines and future grand slam suspensions.”\r\nOsaka has been fined US$15,000 for refusing to fulfil her media commitments after a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) first-round victory over Patricia Maria Tig.\r\nThe statement continued: “The Roland Garros teams asked her to reconsider her position and tried unsuccessfully to speak with her to check on her well-being, understand the specifics of her issue and what might be done to address it on site.\r\n“A core element of the grand slam regulations is the responsibility of the players to engage with the media, whatever the result of their match, a responsibility which players take for the benefit of the sport, the fans and for themselves.\r\n“As a sport, there is nothing more important than ensuring no player has an unfair advantage over another, which unfortunately is the case in this situation if one player refuses to dedicate time to participate in media commitments while the others all honour their commitments.”\r\nDespite her media snub, Osaka did take part in a short and rather awkward on-court interview for the few hundred fans allowed into Court Philippe Chatrier following her victory over Romanian Tig.\r\n“I’m very glad that I won,” said the 23-year-old, who skipped the tournament last year after winning her third slam title at the US Open.\r\n“It’s a very beautiful court. I’ve only played two matches here, one was before the roof and one is right now. Hopefully I’ll keep it going.”\r\nRegarding her movement on clay, Osaka, who next meets another Romanian in Ana Bogdan, said: “I would say it’s a work in progress. Hopefully the more I play, the better I’ll get.”\r\nPetra Kvitova, a semi-finalist last year, saved a match point in the second set against Greet Minnen before coming through 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.\r\nAngelique Kerber has won titles at the other three slams but her chances of completing the set appear remote after a third successive first-round loss.\r\nThe German, twice a quarter-finalist in Paris, was beaten 6-2, 6-4 by a very in-form player in qualifier Anhelina Kalinina, who has now won her last 14 matches.\r\nAmerican Danielle Collins, who is back on tour after undergoing surgery for endometriosis, battled to a 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 victory over China’s Wang Xiyu.\r\nRussian Elena Vesnina, meanwhile, defeated Olga Govortsova 6-1, 6-0 in her first singles match at a grand slam since taking maternity leave in 2018.\r\n\r\n','2021-06-01','',0,1),(211,'French lawmakers approve COVID \'health pass\' at second attempt','Reuters','Politics',1,50,'Internet','N/A','French lawmakers approve COVID \'health pass\' at second attempt\r\n\r\nFrance\'s National Assembly approved on Wednesday the creation of a COVID-19 \"health pass\" that people can use to attend sports events, festivals and theme parks with large crowds, a hotly contested government measure to help safely re-open the economy.\r\nThe health pass, which will come into effect from June 9, will provide proof that a person has either been vaccinated against the coronavirus, holds a recent negative PCR test, or is recovering from COVID-19 and therefore has natural antibodies.\r\nThe proposal was initially shot down in the lower house on Tuesday evening over fears it would impinge on civil freedoms, a rare defeat for President Emmanuel Macron\'s ruling party, after centrist MoDem allies rebelled.\r\nMoDem lawmakers accused the government of being deaf to the party\'s red lines.\r\nThe health pass was approved on a second vote in the early hours of Wednesday after the government shortened the transition period during which it will be able to re-impose restrictions such as a curfew without the permission of parliament once France\'s state of emergency is lifted on June 2.\r\nFrance has begun slowly unwinding a third national lockdown despite registering nearly 20,000 new cases every day and with intensive care wards still saturated.\r\nOn May 19, restaurants, cafes and bars will be allowed to reopen for outdoor service and shops, museums and cinemas will reopen. Three weeks later, places of worship and sports stadiums will be allowed to admit up to 5,000 people and foreign tourists will be allowed to visit the country.\r\nMacron has said the health pass, which can be digital or paper-based, will curb the spread of the virus at events with crowds of more than 1,000 people. It will not be used for every day venues such as restaurants and cinemas or for access to public transport.\r\nThe legislation now passes to the Senate.\r\n','2021-06-01','',0,1),(212,'Spectator speaks out after causing ‘worst Tour de France crash ever seen’','news.com.au','Sport',5,51,'https://www.news.com.au/sport/cycling/spectator-speaks-out-after-causing-worst-tour-de-france-crash-ever-seen/news-story/ec5d87b8d6a3c01a96609b11178871ec','N/A','The spectator who caused a horrific Tour de France crash then fled the scene has spoken up as the disturbing reaction to her act was revealed.\r\nTour de France organisers will withdraw their legal complaint against the spectator who caused a mass pileup in the iconic race on Saturday.\r\nAn arrested cycling spectator told investigators she feels ashamed of her \'stupidity\' and is worried about the huge public interest in her case, a prosecutor said.\r\nThe 30-year-old woman, who has not been named, was arrested on Thursday, five days after the accident on Saturday that left dozens of cyclists nursing cuts and bruises and one with fractured hands — described by some as the \'worst crash ever seen\' at the Tour de France.\r\nWearing a bright yellow coat, she was caught on camera during the first stage of the race in northwestern Brittany holding up a large cardboard sign with the words \'Go! Grandpa and granny\' in front of the cyclists.\r\nRiding on the outside of the tightly packed peloton, German cyclist Tony Martin was unable to avoid colliding with the sign and the ensuing pileup led to a five-minute delay as riders and bikes were untangled.\r\n\'The suspect has expressed her feelings of shame and fear about the consequences of her act,\' local prosecutor Camille Miansoni told reporters at a press conference that was shown live by some French TV channels.\r\n\'She said she is worried about the media attention for what she has called her ‘stupidity’,\'Miansoni added from the city of Brest.\r\n\r\nThe accident has sparked a debate about safety and spectator conduct at the Tour de France, where fans are allowed to line the roads, but has also inflamed passions and led to widespread abuse of the woman on social media.\r\nLocal police chief Nicolas Duvinage said that an appeal for witnesses posted on Facebook led to more than 4000 messages, some of which \'were verging on incitement to violence\'.\r\n\'We need to stay reasonable and calm on social networks,\' he told the press conference. \'The suspect has some personal vulnerabilities and we need to avoid a lynching in the media or on social media.\'\r\nProsecutor Miansoni explained that the woman had gone to watch the race with her partner as it passed several kilometres from their home in rural Brittany.\r\nThe message on her sign — which she showed in the direction of television cameras, meaning her back was turned to the riders — was intended for her grandparents who were watching on TV at home like millions of others.\r\nMiansoni added that she had no previous criminal record and a decision would be made shortly on whether to charge her with putting others in danger through negligence and causing unintentional bodily harm.\r\nEarlier, the organiser of the Tour de France race said it was withdrawing its legal complaint against her.\r\n\'The incident has been blown out of all proportion,\' director Christian Prudhomme told AFP.\r\n\'So we’d like to calm things down now that the message has got across that the roadside fans need to be careful.\'\r\n\r\nMartin, a six-time Tour de France stage winner, had earlier called for a severe punishment.\r\n\'Not only did she fail to stick around and help us get up from the floor, she didn’t present herself to the police or present her excuses,\' the 36-year-old told German publication Bild.\r\nMartin, who competes for Team Jumbo-Visma, is still in the Tour but Spain’s Marc Soler is one of the riders who had to leave after the crash in which he fractured both hands.\r\nSoler told Spain’s La Vanguardia newspaper on Wednesday he intended to lodge an official complaint about the woman.\r\n\'People come to the race to mess around and at the end of the day they go home alight, but we cyclists pay for it with our bodies,\' he said\r\n','2021-07-02','',0,1),(213,'France elections: Tough lessons for presidential rivals','BBC','Politics',1,51,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57640200','Hugh Schofield','Here are five takeaways from the elections, which present a more complicated picture than many had expected.\r\n1. Nothing inevitable about hard right\r\nMarine Le Pen\'s far-right party is being cast as the big loser in the regional vote. Which is a trifle unfair. In the PACA (Provence-Alpes-Côte d\'Azur) region on the Mediterranean her candidate probably would have won but for the left-winger standing down. It shows that the far right - even as the biggest party - is still highly vulnerable when its opponents gang up against it.\r\nNo, if the National Rally (RN) is the loser it is because it was expected to be the winner. Before the first round there was talk of it gaining not just PACA but maybe two or three other regions. Instead it has nothing - and its chance to prove its credentials as a trustworthy party of power has gone.\r\nThis is going to lead to unhappy ructions within the party, which holds its annual conference in Perpignan next weekend. There are voices calling for Marine Le Pen to return to her party\'s core values: opposition to immigration and Islam, and support for national sovereignty. She has gone soft, these voices are saying, and look where it\'s got us.\r\n2. Don\'t misinterpret the pro-incumbent vote\r\nSome are calling these elections a triumph for democracy, because for once the incumbents all got re-elected. In other words, the French voter has moved on from his/her obsession with ousting those in power and is now reflecting maturely on their merits.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nNothing could be further from the truth. There is no encouragement at all for President Emmanuel Macron in these results. Far from being the end of anti-incumbency, they are the furtherance of anti-incumbency. Because for most French voters, the incumbent is him.\r\nThe president may feel protected by his strong personal ratings (as opposed to his party\'s dismal ones), and by the knowledge that the presidential race is a very different affair from the regionals.\r\nBut the anti-Paris, anti-establishment feeling that first manifested itself with the yellow vest protesters (gilets jaunes) is very much alive in the country and waiting for a chance to bite. President Macron is in fact very vulnerable.\r\n\r\n3. Left-right has not disappeared\r\nThe old parties of right and left have been waiting for this moment for nearly five years. Tired of being told that the new politics is about Macron versus Le Pen, open versus closed, forward versus backward, they are delighted to be able to show that competence, organisation and yes, ideology, still count for something.\r\nAll 12 French mainland regions were retained by the parties that ruled them already - and this offers both a vindication and a boost for those centre-righters and centre-lefters who now want to enter the presidential fray.\r\nInevitably it is the centre-right which is drawing the most succour from the results. This is because the battleground to decide who will be the challenger against Mr Macron next year is situated on the right. It is Ms Le Pen versus Xavier Bertrand or Valérie Pécresse or Laurent Wauquiez.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n4. French politics is splintering\r\nIn several of the second-round regional votes on Sunday there were four candidates competing. In two of them there were five candidates (a quinquagulaire in French). This is unprecedented and not what the system was designed for.\r\nThe two-round vote - which also applies in presidentials - was built on the assumption of two broad camps, one left and one right. In the second round, the champions of each would rally their side and slug it out.\r\nBut the changing face of politics means there are now several parties with a reasonable chance of making it to the second round. In regional elections the qualification is a minimum 10% first-round vote - which is why so many made it through.\r\nIn the presidentials it is different: only the top two candidates go through. But that means that the first round suddenly becomes crucial. What if Macron, Le Pen, a centre-right candidate, a Green-Socialist alliance candidate and a far-left candidate like Jean-Luc Mélenchon are all hovering around the 17% mark? Fancy a Le Pen-Mélenchon run-off anyone?\r\n\r\n5. Abstention makes the heart grow fonder\r\nYes, abstention was indeed the big winner at the regionals - 66% not voting is a record (if you exclude referendums). It means the results are impossible to interpret and even those who did badly - like Ms Le Pen and Mr Macron - can use abstention to explain away their disappointment.\r\n\r\nSome say it is part of a democratic crisis. What is more obviously true is that the French - like others - view politics through a national prism. Regional elections do not excite - except when there is a chance to give the government a kicking. And as we have seen, in these elections there was no such chance because Macron\'s party barely exists in local politics.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nBut next year\'s presidentials are a different matter. There, the people will turn up to vote.\r\n\r\n','2021-07-28','',0,1),(214,'16km slick off Brittany coast after ship accidentally dumps oil in sea','Connexion France','Business & Economy',3,51,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/Oil-slick-off-Brittany-coast-after-ship-accidentally-dumps-100-litres-near-wind-farm-site','N/A','16km slick off Brittany coast after ship accidentally dumps oil in sea\r\n\r\nThe ship was working as part of a new offshore wind farm project when the accident happened. Authorities are now working to prevent the oil washing up on the Breton coast\r\nA 16km-long oil slick has been reported off the Brittany coast, after a drilling ship helping to build a new wind farm accidentally dumped oil into the sea.\r\nThe 138-metre-long drill ship Aeolus was working in the bay of Saint-Brieuc, near the site of a future wind farm run by Breton wind farm company Ailes Marines, when the accident happened yesterday, at around 06:30 on June 14.\r\nThe commander of the ship raised the alert. \r\nThe Brest maritime authority took charge of the report, and said: “The pollution, first observed by the Cleanseanet satellite, then confirmed by a customs plane at 14:20, caused a slick 16 kilometres long and 2.7 kilometres wide.”\r\n\r\nAn anti-pollution ship, Le Sapeur, has arrived on-site today (June 15). It will work to ensure the slick does not wash up on the Breton coast.\r\nLe Sapeur is owned by la Marine nationale in Brest, specialists in dealing with sea pollution. It is accompanied by a 300-metre-long barge, which has absorbent pads designed to soak up the oil.\r\nPlane and satellite observation of the slick will also continue today.\r\nThe Aeolus is owned by Dutch shipping company Van Oord, which has been served notice that it must work to stop causing danger by pollution.\r\n\r\nAiles Marines, the Breton company in charge of developing, constructing, and running the planned offshore wind farm, has told the maritime authorities in Brest that the Aeolus has been ordered to leave the bay of Saint-Brieuc this morning, and return to a Dutch port to have its drilling components checked.\r\nMaritime authorities have not yet confirmed the scale of risk that the pollution may cause to the Breton coast. A plane is set to fly over the area this morning to give more precise information.\r\nHowever, authorities have confirmed that the dumped oil is less viscous and less difficult to clean up than heavy fuel oil, and may evaporate and dissolve into the seawater.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n \r\nMystery oil spill in Corsica\r\nIt comes as Corsica is still dealing with the after-effects of a 35km-long oil spill off its coast four days ago.\r\nYesterday it was confirmed that another beach – Targo, in Conca – had been evacuated and closed due to the spill, with black lumps reported on the sand. \r\nIt is the third beach to have been closed as a result of the slick; Favone beach in Corse-du-Sud closed first, followed by Solaro beach, near Solenzara.\r\nSeveral tonnes of oil were already cleaned up over the weekend.\r\nFrançois Chazot, prefect director in Corse-du-Sud, said: \"Mayors have issued orders to close beaches [polluted by oil]. A range of methods are being used to fight against this oil patch.\r\n“We have had some sporadic arrivals [of oil] on the beaches, and are dealing with them on a case-by-case basis. The mayor has organised clean-up operations with the resources of the local council, the fire brigade and the civil security service, to enable the beaches to be reopened.”\r\nInvestigations ongoing\r\nThe spill was discovered on Friday June 11 during a military exercise. Maritime and air authorities are now observing the area to ascertain the extent of the damage. Investigators are still searching for the ship suspected of dumping the oil.\r\nChristine Ribbe, spokeswoman for the Mediterranean maritime prefecture, told the AFP on Monday 14: “Very scattered and very fine micro pellets [of oil] were observed by [our] planes.”\r\nThe Marseille prosecutor has opened an investigation into the spill, and said in a press release yesterday that “everything is being done to identify the captain and the company responsible for this pollution”.\r\nAnalysis on the weather, sea currents, wind and the state of the sea will be used in an effort to determine where the oil may have been dumped, and by what ship. The condition of the slick suggests that the oil was dumped recently, authorities said.\r\nThree ships have been identified as possible perpetrators so far, but other ships may be contacted for information. If the spill is found to be illegal, and the perpetrators found guilty, the captain and shipping company responsible could face fines running to many millions of euros.\r\n','2021-07-08','',0,1),(215,'French court dog helps soothe anxious victims of crime','BBC','Society',4,51,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-57481565','N/A','French court dog helps soothe anxious victims of crime\r\n\r\nA man in handcuffs sits on a bench waiting to appear before a judge. He\'s been escorted to court by two police officers from a nearby jail.\r\nMeanwhile, a mother and her two daughters are huddled with their lawyer, fine-tuning their strategy before their imminent court appearance in what sounds like a messy divorce.\r\nIt\'s the type of scene familiar in courtrooms across France - except for one detail. The chief prosecutor in this part of south-west France is wandering the corridors in his legal robes with a beautiful, trim but muscular, black Labrador on a lead.\r\n\r\nJaded lawyers and harried judicial staff rush out of their offices to stroke five-year-old Lol the dog.\r\nTwo years ago, Lol became what\'s thought to be the first dog in Europe to provide official judicial support in court to crime victims, especially those who have suffered from violence or sexual abuse. He knows this court house better than any repeat offender.\r\nProsecutor Frédéric Almendros heard about a similar experiment in the north-western US city of Seattle and decided to give it a try in his court.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nTrained to stay calm\r\nOn the day I meet Lol, it is his day off, and with temperatures above 30C, he would clearly rather spend it in his kennel at the nearby fire station where he lives.\r\nThe Labrador has been trained to remain calm with strangers, including young children. He can handle tense, vocal and emotional situations such as cross-examinations, where a tearful rape victim comes face to face with their attacker.\r\n\"After examining a case I call for the dog\'s help if I believe its comforting presence will help victims open up about what happened, or even when they have to testify in court,\" says Mr Almendros. \"The dog sitting next to them in court has often helped victims handle the stress of a trial.\"\r\nSo far Lol has appeared in 80 different criminal investigations with victims ranging from three to 90 years old.\r\nIn one case an elderly couple traumatised by a violent burglary were only able to explain to police officers what happened with the dog in their presence.\r\nAlexia Mesthe runs a local branch of a national charity called France Victims. She and her colleagues, including social workers and jurists, assist around 600 people a year, of whom many are victims of domestic sexual abuse.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\"Lol has been trained to nuzzle up next to victims, and that physical touch reassures them and helps them confront the legal challenges they will face,\" she says.\r\nBringing \'humanity\' to the legal system\r\nUnlike courts in the big French cities where drugs-related offences are common, here in the rural department of Lot it is sex abuse and domestic violence that make up the majority of criminal cases.\r\nInitially Mustapha Yassfy, a family lawyer and head of the local Bar association, had to persuade his reluctant colleagues to get involved in the trial project. But now lawyers call for Lol\'s intervention when they think it can help move a case forward.\r\n\"We believe in this programme, the dog has a specific role, he participates in the whole judicial process by bringing humanity to the legal system,\" he told the BBC.\r\n\r\nThe scheme has proven so successful over the past two years that other courts across France have \"borrowed\" Lol. Several now have their own dogs, including the towns of Nevers and Nîmes.\r\nThe Palais de Justice - a massive court house in the Paris suburb of Bobigny, and one of the busiest in France - will get its own dog too.\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\nIn fact, 20 French court jurisdictions are expected to have dogs by the end of next year. Golden retrievers have proven as useful as Labradors.\r\n\r\nAt the moment, the dogs in court have no official legal status but that could change soon.\r\nFrench MP Huguette Tiegna from President Macron\'s ruling La République en Marche party, along with 20 colleagues are pushing a bill through parliament that would give the animals judicial recognition on the grounds they help victims.\r\n\"If the bill becomes law it will also provide state financing from the ministry of justice for the dogs - a crucial step, as training Lol for his role cost €17,000 (£14,600, $20,600) and 11 eleven months,\" Ms Tiegna told the BB\r\nLol is making a name for himself well beyond south-west France.\r\nHe has been driven to the European Parliament to participate in a seminar on crime and how to assist victims. And when President Macron, who owns a cross-breed black Labrador, spent two days in the Lot this month he asked the team looking after Lol what he eats and about his temperament.\r\nThe Lot department\'s chief prosecutor, Frédéric Almendros, says the next experiment starts at the end of the month to see whether Lol can help reform violent criminals.\r\nIn his words: \"If anyone can turn a repeat offender, its Lol.\"\r\n','2021-07-08','',0,1),(216,'UK’s restrictions on travellers from France excessive, says French minister','The Guardian','Politics',1,52,'https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jul/19/uks-restrictions-on-travellers-from-france-excessive-says-french-minister','Angelique Chrisafis','Despite rise in Covid cases, France’s infections stand at less than a third of daily reported cases in Britain\r\n\r\nBritain’s restrictions on travellers from France seem excessive, the French European affairs minister has said as France attempts to contain rising Covid cases – which stand at less than a third of the daily reported cases in the UK.\r\n\'We don’t think that the United Kingdom’s decisions are totally based on scientific foundations. We find them excessive,\' Clément Beaune told BFM TV after the UK decided that visitors would need to quarantine for 10 days after arriving from France amid concern over the Beta variant.\r\nFrench authorities have said the bulk of its cases of the Beta variant come from the overseas territories of La Réunion and Mayotte in the Indian Ocean, rather than mainland France, where it is not widespread.\r\nThe French ambassador to the UK, Catherine Colonna, said in a tweet on Monday that the Beta variant represented 9% of cases in France, including its overseas territories, and was in decline. It represents 3% of cases in Paris, she said.\r\nData gleaned from random samples of positive tests showed that Beta prevalence has actually fallen from about 7% in late April to 2.8% by the end of June in mainland France, according to data published on Monday.\r\nSylvia Richardson, the director of the MRC biostatistics unit at the University of Cambridge and president of the Royal Statistical Society, said she started looking into the data when the UK decision on quarantine policy for fully vaccinated travellers returning from France was announced. “I had some suspicion that there was some confusion,” she said, adding that the UK government should have conferred with the French authorities before making their decision.\r\nThe responses come as France attempts to limit the rapid spread of the more contagious Delta variant, which has led to a jump in new infections. France reported more than 12,500 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the third day that the tally has held above 10,000. In the UK, new daily cases stood at almost 40,000 on Monday.\r\n\'From now on, it’s either generalised vaccination or a viral tsunami, there is no alternative,\' the French government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said as parliament prepared to began the process to set into law Emmanuel Macron’s new \'health pass\'.\r\n\r\nThis pass is designed to pressure people to vaccinate by making it compulsory to have proof of a vaccination or negative test to enter restaurants, shopping centres, long-distance trains or hospitals.\r\nAn Ipsos poll last week found 62% of French people were in favour of a health pass. Hundreds of thousands of people signed up for vaccinations after the president unveiled the plans last week. More than 43% of French people have had two doses.\r\nAbout 114,000 people protested on the streets across France on Saturday against the stricter vaccination rules, which include compulsory jabs for healthcare workers and retirement home staff. Some legislators have received death threats after supporting the new vaccination rules. The Bayonne public prosecutor has launched an arson investigation after a vaccination centre was set on fire in Urrugne in the Pyrénées-Atlantique in south-western France on Saturday night. Firefighters put out the blaze at a tent set up to house a vaccination centre. The prosecutor said flammable products had been found nearby.\r\nThere was outrage from the government, human rights groups and relatives of holocaust survivors in France after some protesters used the symbol of the yellow star – imposed on Jewish citizens in Nazi-occupied Europe to mark them out for segregation discrimination and deportation to death camps.\r\n\r\nJoseph Szwarc, 94, who escaped the wartime roundup of Jews at the Vel d’Hiv cycling track in Paris, used a commemoration speech in the capital to express his indignation at the \'odious\' use of the yellow star by anti-vaccination protesters. He said: \'You can’t imagine how this affected me. Tears came to my eyes. I wore the yellow star, I know what it is, it’s in my flesh.\' He called on \'all our citizens\' to not allow what he called \'the current wave of antisemitism and racism\' to continue.\r\nThe lawyer Arno Klarsfeld, a member of the association Sons and Daughters of Jewish Deportees from France, said: \'The yellow star was a passport that led you to death, whereas the vaccine allows people to save lives.\' He said it was shocking that organisers of the march had not excluded people wearing yellow stars. \'To those who are ignorant, I want to say: two-thirds of the Jews of Europe were wiped out.\'\r\nThe Licra, France’s International League against Racism and Antisemitism, said the use of the yellow star in these protests amounted to negationism.\r\nAttal said there was a \'tiny minority of people who used the yellow star against the health pass\', calling it \'absolutely scandalous\'.\r\nHe called demonstrators against the health pass and vaccines \'a capricious and defeatist fringe, which was very much in the minority\'\r\n','2021-07-19','',0,1),(217,'French Country Adventures Provides ‘Local’ French Tours in the Pastoral Paradise of Southwestern France','Frenchly','Travel',6,52,'https://frenchly.us/french-country-adventures-provides-local-french-tours-in-the-pastoral-paradise-of-southwestern-france/','Catherine Rickman','After a year and a half under lockdown, we’ve all got the travel bug. But the idea of getting on a plane full of people and going to a busy city full of strangers might still fill some of us with anxiety. It’s time for nature. It’s time to take things slow. It might even be time to visit somewhere you’ve never heard of.\r\nDeep in the heart of southwestern France, in a land filled with chateaux, farmers markets, wineries, Armagnac distilleries, artisan studios, antique fairs, and over 200 bastides (fortified villages), is the region of Gascony. Known as \'the Tuscany of France,\' a former English colony, land of d’Artagnan and Cyrano de Bergerac, \'It’s still rural, not much has changed since the 1950s. They have no desire to move into the modern age. But I like that about the area… You can drive on the road and not see another car all day. You see vineyards for miles and miles, and beautiful blonde Aquitaine cows,\' explains Sue Aran, founder of French Country Adventures. \'The people are very welcoming… They’re wonderfully mercurial and private but friendly and welcoming, and so it’s been a really special experience to get to know them… They’re absolutely enthused that Americans want to come to this area.\'\r\nAran has been obsessed with the region since the age of 16, when she moved to Gascony to live with a local family, where she was raised by the granddaughter of the French sculptor Antoine Bordelle in a house full of Napoleon furniture. Her grandfather was born in the Pyrenees in Val d’Aran, on the French-Spanish border, and when she went to the region to try and find more information on her grandfather, she was met with the pleasant surprise that just about everything in the region bares her last name… though it did make her genealogical research a bit more difficult.\r\nAfter renting a house in Gascony in skiing territory and joking with her husband about retiring there, they discovered a beautiful ruin for sale and decided to buy it and renovate it. A former architect and designer in Seattle, Aran decided to remodel the ruin and try to live between Seattle and France. After a six year legal battle with a faulty builder involved in the renovations, followed by a divorce, she was left wondering what to do now that she had worked so hard to stay in France. Without the proper French credentials to continue working as an architect, she decided instead to open a small tourism company in 2013. She had been building a following since 2006 through her blog about Gascony (which she writes to this day), and by contributing to magazines like Bonjour Paris and France Today, and her business began to spread quickly by word of mouth.\r\nNow, she focuses on a trend known as \'slow travel.\' \'My philosophy is, ‘do less, experience more.’ I wanted people to get a feeling for what it’s like to live here in a slower community, and what it feels like to live like a local.\' And people are into it. Visitors from the U.S., U.K., and Australia come year after year to explore small local villages with Aran. \'I think the best part of the trip for most people is meeting the local producers, the winemakers, the Armagnac makers, and because of the relationships I’ve developed with them, they are accepted into the households and the gardens and the wineries in a way that other people would not be. So it becomes a very personal experience for them.\'\r\nAfter doing only one tour during lockdown (for two Netherlands-based American diplomats looking for a one-day \'Armagnac extravaganza\'), Aran is now approaching sold-out tours through the end of the year. She feels that, post-Covid, people are looking for something a little more out of their comfort zone. \'I think people really want to experience daily living slowly in other cultures, it’s so rewarding and educational, and, I think, important, because for most people Covid has pointed out that life is short, and it makes everything else more meaningful in your life.\'\r\nFrench Country Adventures focuses on tours of Gascony; the Basque region; and Tarn, Gard, & Bouches-du-Rhône; priced at $3,895 per person (double occupancy). Each tour has a cap of six people, and all must be over the age of 21 (unless otherwise arranged). Smaller trips and custom trips are also available. Reserve your place here\r\n','2021-07-26','',0,1),(218,'Olympics preview: France aims for 40 medals at Tokyo 2020','xinhuanet.com','Sport',5,52,'http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2021-07/22/c_1310076766.htm','N/A','Olympics preview: France aims for 40 medals at Tokyo 2020\r\n\r\n\r\nPARIS, July 22 (Xinhua) -- French athletes will definitely catch some eyes at the upcoming Tokyo Olympic Games, scheduled from July 23 to August 8, as the capital of the country will host the next Summer Olympics in 2024.\r\nA total of 378 athletes, 212 men and 166 women, will represent France to compete in 31 sports in Tokyo, including the four newly-added events: surfing, skateboarding, climbing and karate.\r\nClaude Onesta, the manager of high performance at the National Sports Agency (ANS), reveals that Team France aims for a similar outcome from the Rio 2016 Games.\r\n\"The lack of analysis for our athletes and the competitions makes the projections even more uncertain,\" Onesta said earlier this month. \"We will be at an equivalent level to that in Rio, around 40 medals.\"\r\nThe Blues won 42 medals five years ago in Brazil, with 399 athletes - 10 gold, 18 silver and 14 bronze, which was their best post-war record.\r\nHowever, the ambition is far beyond this.\r\nAs Paris is going to host the Olympic Games for the third time three years later, the country is biding to improve its status in the medals standings and this is why ANS was established in 2019.\r\nThis new sports governing body was split into two sub-divisions, one of which managed the development of sports practice and the other elite performance. Onesta, the former head coach of the glorious French handball team, was appointed the head of the high level performance division.\r\nThe goal of the high level performance division is to identify the potential Olympic medalists and ensure financial support for them to prepare for the Games. There are already 404 athletes that have been included in the program, as each of them can get a minimum income of 40,000 euros per year.\r\nSo, Tokyo 2020, to some degree, is just a warm-up for the French delegation, and Onesta has revealed their target for Paris 2024 - double the medals tally to 80.\r\nIn Tokyo, handball is one of some sports that France can place the title hope on, with both the men\'s and women\'s teams are the main contenders for a medal or even the gold.\r\nNicknamed \"Les Experts,\" the men\'s team won two straight golds at Beijing 2008 and London 2012, before losing to Denmark in the final of Rio 2016. Although they only ranked fourth at the world championships earlier this year in Egypt, nobody can look down upon them when it comes to the Olympic stage. France will take on European champions Spain, as well as Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Norway in Group A.\r\nOn the women\'s side, the Rio 2016 runners-up have shown their consistency over the past five years, winning the world championship title and Euro title. With Olivier Krumbholz at the helm, everybody knows what to expect from France; a sharp defense, devastating fast breaks and low-scoring games, yet few teams have deciphered their blueprint and beaten \"Les Bleues\" in the past years.\r\nFrench athletes have won 716 medals at the Summer Olympic Games, with fencing and cycling as the top medal-producing sports. In Tokyo, the fencers and cyclists are bidding to add more titles to the honors list.\r\nThe French fencing team is the title favorites for men\'s team foil and epee, and women\'s team foil and sabre. The 29-year-old Lefort Enzo will try to clinch a medal in individual foil.\r\nIn cycling, Pauline Ferrand-Prevot and her young teammate Loana Lecomte are very likely to bring a gold in cross-country racing.\r\nJudo is another sport which French athletes are worth looking forward to as the flag bearer at the opening ceremony Clarisse Agbegnenou and two-time Olympic champion Teddy Riner are both title favorites in their category.\r\nAnd don\'t forget football, the 1984 Olympic champions are looking to grab another gold this summer in Tokyo. Even without World Cup winner Kylian Mbappe, the French team are still strong contenders with Malang Sarr and Jonathan in the side, as well as experienced Florian Thauvin. Enditem\r\n\r\n','2021-08-04','',0,1),(219,'France Expects 50 Million Foreign Tourists This Summer','Bloomberg','Business & Economy',3,52,'https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-08-01/france-sees-50-million-foreign-tourists-in-summer-minister-says','N/A','France Expects 50 Million Foreign Tourists This Summer\r\n\r\nTourism to France is rebounding versus last year, when the pandemic shut borders, though U.S. and Asian visitors remain limited, said Tourism Minister Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne.\r\n \r\nFrance expects 50 million foreign tourists this summer, up from 35 million in the comparable period last year but down from 90 million in 2019, Lemoyne said.\r\nA so-called health pass -- proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test -- is required to enter museums and theme parks, and that will be extended to bars, restaurants and long-distance trains starting Aug. 9.\r\n“A period of teaching will be necessary for the French to get used to the health pass,” Lemoyne said in an interview with the Journal du Dimanche newspaper. “But it is essential to keep all these establishments open.”\r\nThe best way to ensure a strong tourist season is for everyone to get vaccinated, he said.\r\nEuropean tourists are back in force, except for British visitors because the U.K. government is requiring a 14-day isolation upon return from France, the minister said.\r\nWhile a few Americans are starting to travel again, Asian customers largely won’t be back until next year, he said.\r\nOpponents of the health pass, who say it infringes on their freedom, took to the streets in Paris and other cities on Saturday in a third weekend of protests against the measure.\r\nMore than 204,000 people marched, including more than 14,000 in the capital, Agence France-Presse reported, citing Interior Ministry figures.\r\nMore than half of French people don’t support the protests against the health pass, according to a poll last week by Harris Interactive for television news channel LCI. The survey found 40% back the marches, while 8% were indifferent.\r\nAlmost 65% of French adults are fully vaccinated, according to government figures.\r\n','2021-08-04','',0,1),(220,'More French women are avoiding nude beaches in fear','New York Post','Art & Culture',7,53,'https://nypost.com/2021/08/26/french-women-avoiding-nude-beaches-fearing-photographers/','Hannah Sparks','Women of France are slipping into something a little less comfortable on the country’s famed nude beaches.\r\nJust 19% of breasted sunbathers in the country now say they feel comfortable removing their tops at the beach. Compare that with 2009, when 34% said they do, or in 1984 with 40%.\r\nAround half of the respondents cited concerns that perverts would attack, harass or otherwise violate them while topless, reported Le Parisien.\r\nFrench pollster Ifop conducted the survey in conjunction with \'World Topless Day\' on Thursday, which includes responses from over 5,000 Europeans, including 1,000 French women.\r\nFor 48% of French ladies, physical safety was the primary concern; 46% also said they feared photos of their bare chests might end up on social media.\r\nWomen are also exhibiting a healthy fear of skin cancer as 53% said they opt to cover up to avoid unnecessary sun damage.\r\nThe French are notorious for their unrepressed sexuality as long depicted in the media and reflected in pop culture. In step with the women’s liberation movement seen across the US and Europe, topless sunbathing was popularized in the country in the 1960s as a response to the double standard — arguing that women had a right to sunbathe their bodies just like men.\r\nAs French starlets such as Brigitte Bardot were happily photographed (with consent) on the shores of Cote d’Azur, conservative establishments, including the Vatican, denounced the act of going topless in public.\r\n\r\nSo, naturally, French youth became even more attracted to the indiscretion.\r\nLawmakers attempted to draw a hard tan line on the issue when a proposal to ban nudity at beaches was introduced in the 1970s. Upon the bill’s landmark defeat, topless sunbathing became a point of pride for the French progressive zeitgeist — a movement that appears to be evolving with the age of consent.\r\nWhile the new survey suggests that times have changed for the French, that is a trend seen less so in other countries. Nearly half of Spanish respondents said they still sunbathe topless, and 34% of Germans said the same.\r\nDespite the apparently waning tradition, some French called it a \'threat to our culture\' last year when three beachgoers in Montpellier were ordered to put their tops back on — after a nearby family on their vacation complained.\r\nSaid Gérald Darmanin, France’s interior minister at the time of the incident, \'It was wrong that the women were warned about their clothing. Freedom is something precious.\'\r\n','2021-08-26','',0,1),(221,'Why the world is becoming more French','Newstatesman','Politics',1,53,'https://www.newstatesman.com/world/europe/2021/08/why-world-becoming-more-french','Jeremy Cliffe','From industrial policy and nuclear power to \'strategy autonomy\' and the 35-hour week, the 2020s are popularising many French instincts about world affairs and the state.\r\n\r\nFor decades France has been the red cape to the bull of liberal Atlanticist orthodoxy. Lukewarm on a transatlantic alliance others treated as sacrosanct, ¬wedded to Gaullist multipolarity in a ¬seemingly unipolar age, enduringly statist in defiance of Hayekian economics, heavy-handedly dirigiste in an age of decentralisation and networked power, at points it has appeared like the village in the Astérix books; the stubborn Gallic holdout against the end of history.\r\n\r\n\'Buy Taiwan, hold Italy, sell France\' advised Thomas Friedman in The Lexus and the Olive Tree, his 1999 paean to liberal ¬globalisation. Around the time of the Iraq War, the French were dismissed as \'Old Europe\' by Donald Rumsfeld, then the US ¬secretary of defence, and \'cheese eating surrender monkeys\' elsewhere. \'If the French social model is so great, why is the country in flames?\' sighed Peter Mandelson in 2005 as riots gripped Parisian suburbs.\r\nDespair about France often tracks liberal hubris in the Anglo-Saxon world. It was in 2012 – the year of peak Osbornism in Britain and of the Cameron-Obama \'bromance\' – that the Economist declared France \'a country in denial\' in an editorial tutting: \'French voters are notorious for their belief in the state’s benevolence\'. It was in 2017 – with the UK and US reeling from Brexit and Donald Trump respectively – that the revisionist case for optimism about France, now under the leadership of Emmanuel Macron, started appearing once more.\r\nRecent events have reminded me of this pattern. As I predicted he would in this ¬column last October, Joe Biden has shocked US allies by preserving elements of Trump’s \'America First\' foreign policy. Europeans were blindsided by the US withdrawal from Afghanistan.\r\nAs Tony Blair wrote recently, \'for Britain, out of Europe and suffering the end of the Afghanistan mission by our greatest ally with little or no consultation, we have serious reflection to do\'. Armin Laschet, a candidate for German chancellor, decries Biden’s \'debacle\' and says that \'the EU has to be in a position to act without the US\'\r\nYet one capital appeared less shocked than others: Paris. Gloomy about the US’s ability to orchestrate an orderly withdrawal, France had begun to evacuate Afghans who had worked for its forces in May, and had pulled out its last combat troops in 2012. Macron has long propounded \'strategic autonomy\', a serious European ability to act in the world without relying on the US; in 2019 he went as far as calling Nato \'braindead\'. The Afghanistan mess is giving such ideas new momentum in European capitals where they once prompted derision.\r\n\r\nTo be sure, for now Europe remains too comfortable beneath the US security umbrella to seek a meaningful autonomous replacement. Yet that does not preclude stepwise change. The EU tends to evolve in the heat of crisis. It is not too hard to imagine crises over the next decade gradually transforming its existing patchwork of task forces, cooperation frameworks and joint procurement initiatives into something closer to a E¬uropean army by the 2030s. The point is the direction, the zeitgeist; and the zeitgeist is becoming markedly more French.\r\nForeign policy is not the only such topic. France’s love of nuclear power has given it one of the lowest per-capita carbon emission levels of any rich economy; others such as Poland are now looking to follow its example. French industrial policy, once deeply unfashionable, is taking hold elsewhere as even Anglo-Saxon governments recognise the value of a strategic state in an era of pandemics, climate crisis and geopolitical competition. Big infrastructure projects are back, with the UK and US embarking on their first serious high-speed rail networks as France marks 40 years of the TGV. France’s 35-hour week looks less outlandish in an age when many are exploring four-day working weeks (France now has a higher GDP per capita than the UK and its productivity per hour worked is around a third higher).\r\nFrance is also ageing more slowly than some of its neighbours thanks to generous maternity and childcare policies that have kept the birth rate among Europe’s highest. Recently, Macron has essentially subjected non-vaccinated French citizens to a new lockdown, which has prompted a surge in vaccinations. Identity cards and gendarmerie-style policing have certain benefits in an age of crisis.\r\nDiplomatically, too, France has underrated strengths. Brexit has led to it overtaking Britain as Europe’s top destination for foreign investment; Germany’s next chancellor will be both weaker and more temperamentally pro-French than Angela Merkel; and Italy’s Mario Draghi makes a natural Macron ally. If he secures re-election next April, France’s president will be the pre-eminent leader in Europe.\r\nNone of which is to say that France doesn’t have its problems. The country’s anti-Jihadist missions in the Sahel risk becoming its own Afghanistan. At home, deep divides persist: between depressed suburbs and charmed city centres, provincial gilets jaunes and urban Macronistes; between a culture of secularism and Muslim citizens trying to reconcile faith and belonging in a society too often blind to racism. A win by Marine Le Pen next year is not probable, but remains entirely possible.\r\nBut the picture is more complicated, and becoming more so, than Anglo-Saxon despair about France often allows. As old liberal orthodoxies are challenged and rewritten, so too are some of the French stereotypes about a dirigisme once seen as outdated, a sclerosis once considered endemic and an independent-mindedness about foreign policy once dismissed as tedious Gaullist chest-puffing. The world is changing. And by and large – whisper it softly, mes amis – it is becoming more French.\r\n','2021-08-25','',0,1),(222,'Barnier keen to run against Macron in French election','N/A','Politics',1,53,'N/A','N/A','Barnier keen to run against Macron in French election\r\nMichel Barnier, the EU\'s former Brexit negotiator, has said he wants to run in next year\'s French presidential elections.\r\n\"In these grave times, I have taken the decision and have the determination to stand … and be the president of a France that is reconciled, to respect the French, and have France respected,\" he said in an interview on France\'s TV1 broadcaster on Thursday (26 August).\r\nThe 70-year old, centre-right politician took aim at president Emmanuel Macron\'s elitist image, saying France\'s needed a leader with \"strength, vision, but also humility\".\r\n\"The president must lead, bring people, set a path towards the horizon, but he cannot do everything on his own,\" Barnier said.\r\nHe also promised to be tough on immigration and to reform EU bureaucracy, in an environment in which the xenophobic and eurosceptic far-right candidate, Marine Le Pen, is neck-and-neck with Macron in opinion polls.\r\nBarnier pledged to \"restore the authority of the state\" and to \"limit and take control of immigration\" with a five-year ban on letting in new people.\r\nHe said he would \"decarbonise the economy\".\r\nAnd he said that his \"extraordinary\" experience as Brexit negotiator meant he knew how to work \"with the heads of state and government [in the EU] to preserve the unity of all the European countries\".\r\n\r\n\"We are in demanding times. The world around us is dangerous, unstable, fragile. Our country is doing badly,\" Barnier also said in French newspaper Le Figaro on Friday.\r\nBarnier\'s Les Republicans (LR) party has not yet decided on its candidate for next April\'s vote or if it will hold a primary to do so.\r\nThe party\'s Xavier Bertrand, Valerie Pécresse, Bruno Retailleau, and Laurent Wauquiez had also signalled interest in running, but Wauquiez said, on Thursday, that he was bowing out of the race.\r\nA recent poll by Challenges, a financial weekly, said Bertrand would win 16 percent of the vote if he ran for president while Pécresse would get 13 percent.\r\nMacron and Le Pen would get 24 percent each in the first round, the pollsters added, but Macron would defeat Le Pen by 55 percent against 45 percent in the run-off.\r\n\"With his [Barnier\'s] European experience, he is in the best position to see the flaws in the system. We can be pro-European and defend France,\" Brigitte Kuster, an LR MP, told French newspaper Le Monde on Friday.\r\n\"He [Barnier] has the ability to unite and appease a fractured country. Like [president] Joe Biden in the United States, he has the experience, the height of visio,n and the international stature that one expects from a French president,\" Daniel Fasquelle, an LR mayor in the town of Touquet-Paris-Plage in northern France, also said.\r\n','2021-09-07','',0,1),(223,'French Covid permit scheme extended to Paris department stores','The Guardian','Health',2,53,'N/A','N/A','French Covid permit scheme extended to Paris department stores\r\nhttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/aug/15/french-covid-permit-scheme-extended-to-paris-department-stores\r\n\r\nFrance’s pass sanitaire health permit system will be extended to more than 120 major department stores and shopping centres on Monday in areas where levels of Covid infection are causing concern, including Paris and the Mediterranean coast.\r\nThe decision to extend the measure restricting entry to customers who can prove they have been vaccinated, have had a negative Covid test or have recovered from coronavirus was made by local officials.\r\nThe pass will be required for shoppers entering Paris department stores such as Galeries Lafayette, Printemps, BHV, Le Bon Marché and La Samaritaine, and others mainly in the south of the country.\r\nSeveral large shopping centres around the Channel ports popular with British tourists had feared being included but were given a reprieve as the local Covid infection rates are lower than the national average.\r\nLocal prefects are imposing the pass on large stores and shopping malls in areas where the infection rate is above 200 per 100,000 people. Although Paris has not reached this level, officials are concerned about the high number of cases especially among young people in the neighbouring areas of Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne.\r\nThe worst-hit areas are in departments along the Mediterranean coast. In the Bouches-du-Rhône, which includes the popular holiday areas of Provence, the Côte d’Azur, Marseille, Arles and Aix-en-Provence, the rate has reached 693 per 100,000.\r\nThe health pass scheme was introduced in June and extended a week ago. The pass is now required to enter public buildings – including cinemas, theatres, gyms, swimming pools, health centres and museums, but not shops – and long-distance trains and coaches. Local prefects were given the power to impose the pass on shops larger than 20,000 square metres and shopping malls in their area if there was a rise in Covid infections.\r\nFrance’s Constitutional Council has ruled the measures legal, but opponents of the pass sanitaire claim it infringes their personal and civil liberties.\r\nOn Saturday, there were protests against the measure for a fifth consecutive weekend. The interior ministry said there had been a total of 215,000 demonstrators, fewer than the previous week but high for a public holiday weekend in August. Protest organisers have accused the government of underestimating the turnout.\r\nSince President Emmanuel Macron announced on 12 July that the pass sanitaire would be necessary for French people wishing to enjoy everyday activities, the number of people who have had at least one dose of vaccine has risen by almost 10 million.\r\nOn the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, where a health emergency has been declared, the rate of infection is 2,225 per 100,000 people on Guadeloupe and 1,188 on Martinique.\r\n','2021-09-07','',0,1),(224,'Anti-vaccine fanatics keep protesting like crazy in France','Global Times Canada','Politics',1,53,'https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202108/1232120.shtml','N/A','Anti-vaccine fanatics keep protesting like crazy in France\r\n\r\nTens of thousands of people demonstrated in the streets of France again on Saturday against the government\'s COVID-19 vaccination policies amid concern from rights groups about anti-Semitic sentiment in the protest movement.\r\n\r\nSaturday\'s marches were called for the sixth weekend in a row to denounce a \"health pass\" system announced by President Emmanuel Macron that they say unfairly restricts the rights of the unvaccinated.\r\n\r\nThe Ministry of the Interior put the number of people turning out at around 175,000 at 220 demonstrations nationwide, including 14,700 in Paris, as of 1900 GMT.   \r\n\r\nUnder the new pass system, introduced progressively since mid-July, anyone wishing to enter a restaurant, theater, long-distance train, or large shopping center must show proof of vaccination or a negative test.\r\n\r\nAt the head of the Paris march, people held up flags and banners with the word \"Liberty\" on them and shouted: \"Macron! We don\'t want your pass!\" \r\n\r\nThe protest movement has brought together conspiracy theorists, anti-vaxxers, former members of the \"Yellow Vest\" anti-government movement, as well as people concerned that the system unfairly creates a two-tier society.\r\n\r\nAround 200,000 people have marched in previous weekends, according to interior ministry figures. \r\n\r\nThe government insists the pass is necessary to encourage vaccination uptake and avoid a fourth national lockdown, with unvaccinated making up eight or nine out of every 10 COVID-19 patients admitted to hospital.\r\n','2021-09-07','',0,1),(225,'Thousands evacuated in French Riviera due to forest fire','apnews','Politics',1,53,'https://apnews.com/article/europe-business-fires-forests-5f16e1fe10d9b8c14dd16a83a39da30c','N/A','Thousands evacuated in French Riviera due to forest fire\r\n\r\n\r\nLA GARDE-FREINET, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron said firefighters have been able to “stabilize” the blaze that raced Tuesday through forests near the French Riviera, forcing thousands of people to flee homes, campgrounds and hotels in a picturesque area beloved by residents and tourists alike.\r\nIt was the latest blaze in a summer of wildfires that have swept across the Mediterranean region, leaving areas in Greece, Turkey, Italy, Algeria and Spain in smoldering ruins.\r\nThe wildfire started Monday evening, in the height of France’s summer vacation season, about 40 kilometers (24 miles) inland from the coastal resort of Saint-Tropez. Fueled by powerful seasonal winds coming off the Mediterranean, the fire had spread across 5,000 hectares (12,000 acres) of forest by Tuesday morning, according to the Var regional administration.\r\nSome 6,000 people were evacuated from homes and a dozen campgrounds while others were locked down in a holiday center for Air France employees. At least 22 people suffered from smoke inhalation or minor fire-related injuries and two firefighters were among the injured, officials said.\r\nMacron, who has been vacationing in a nearby coastal fortress, visited the fire zone on Tuesday.\r\n“The worst has been avoided,” Macron said, praising the efforts of over 900 firefighters and the deployment of 11 water-dumping planes.\r\nThe destroyed landscape is “absolutely terrible in terms of biodiversity and of natural heritage ... but lives have been protected,” he said.\r\nWater-dumping planes and emergency helicopters zipped back and forth Tuesday over hills lined with chestnut, pine and oak trees. Images shared online by firefighters showed black plumes of smoke leaping across thickets of trees as the flames darted across dry brush.\r\nCarlo Zaglia, spokesman for the region’s firefighters, described “a violent fire” raging in the low mountain range of the Maures, making it “very difficult for firefighters to reach the trees and battle the fire.”\r\nOne evacuee told France-Bleu that smoke enveloped his car as he returned to his campsite and he barely had time to grab his baby daughter’s milk and basic belongings before fleeing. Another told BFM television about escaping as his hotel caught fire.\r\nLocal authorities closed roads, blocked access to forests and urged caution. Officials warned that the fire risk would remain very high through Wednesday because of hot, dry weather. Temperatures have reached 40 degrees C (104 F) in recent days.\r\nSuch extreme weather is expected happen more frequently as the planet is warming. Climate scientists say there’s little doubt that climate change from the burning of coal, oil and natural gas is driving extreme events, such as heat waves, droughts, wildfires, floods and storms.\r\nIntense heat and wildfires have also struck other Mediterranean countries in recent weeks, with fires killing at least 75 people in Algeria and 16 in Turkey.\r\nIn Greece on Tuesday, hundreds of firefighters backed by water-dropping planes were battling a large forest fire that forced the evacuation of a nursing home and several villages northwest of Athens. Hundreds of wildfires have burned across Greece t his month, fueled by the country’s longest and most severe heat wave in decades.\r\nAlso Tuesday, Israeli firefighters worked for a third consecutive day to contain a wildfire that has consumed a large swath of forest west of Jerusalem.\r\nWorsening drought and heat — linked to climate change — have also fueled wildfires this summer in the western United States and in Russia’s northern Siberia region.\r\n','2021-09-07','',0,1),(226,'France postpones vaccine mandate after violent unrest in Martinique and Guadeloupe','FRANCE 24','Politics',1,54,'https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211126-france-postpones-vaccine-mandate-after-violent-unrest-in-martinique-and-guadeloupe','REUTERS','France has postponed implementing a COVID-19 vaccination mandate for health workers in Martinique and Guadeloupe after the measure spurred widespread protests on the French territories in which police officers were injured and journalists attacked. \r\nAdvertising \r\nThe two Caribbean islands have been hit by unrest over the last week after the French government imposed tougher measures to curb the spread of the virus.\r\nCompulsory vaccinations for health workers, a measure already introduced on the French mainland, had fuelled resentment among the islands\' majority Black population.\r\nThe French health ministry said in a statement after a crisis government meeting on Friday that it had decided to postpone to Dec. 31 \"finalising the implementation of the vaccine mandate\" in Martinique and Guadeloupe.\r\nIt had put those who refused inoculation on unpaid leave but now says it will give those suspended more time for individual \"dialogue\" with their managers while still getting paid.\r\nAdvertising\r\nSome on the islands have called the mandate a throwback to France\'s slavery era, insisting that they should be allowed to make their own choices about health treatment.\r\nJournalists attacked\r\nThe French government meeting came as the riots in Martinique were still ongoing, a source close to the French overseas minister said.\r\n\"Last night was clearly more intense than the nights before,\" a local spokesman for the French state told Reuters on Friday.\r\nDaily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning\r\nSubscribe \r\nFrench Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said authorities in Martinique and Guadeloupe had made 10 arrests after shots were fired on Thursday night, injuring several people.\r\nJournalists from French television, news and photo agencies were attacked on Thursday night, media group Altice said in a statement, confirming earlier remarks by the minister. One police officer was seriously injured and needed surgery, local authorities said.\r\nProsecutors said masked protesters had also tried to set fire to the gate of the official residence of the prefect, the most senior representative of the French central state there, but no significant damage had been caused.\r\nIn Guadeloupe, where protests began last week, there is a historic mistrust of the government\'s handling of health crises after many people were systematically exposed to toxic pesticides used in banana plantations in the 1970s.\r\n(REUTERS)\r\n','2021-11-26','',0,1),(227,'Éric Zemmour, Far-Right Pundit, Makes French Presidential Run Official','NEWYORK TIMES','Politics',1,54,'https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/30/world/europe/eric-zemmour-france-president.html','By Aurelien Breeden and Constant Méheut','After months of speculation, Mr. Zemmour, an anti-immigration writer and right-wing television star, said he was running in the presidential elections next year to “save” France.\r\n\r\nBy Aurelien Breeden and Constant Méheut\r\n\r\n\r\nPARIS — Éric Zemmour, a polarizing far-right writer and television star, announced on Tuesday that he was running for French president in elections next year, ending months of speculation over a bid that upended the race before he had even made it official.\r\nMr. Zemmour, 63, is a longtime conservative journalist who rose to prominence over the past decade, using prime-time television and best-selling books to expound on his view that France was in steep decline because of Islam, immigration and leftist identity politics, themes he returned to in his announcement.\r\n“It is no longer time to reform France but to save it,” Mr. Zemmour said in a video with dramatic overtones that was published on social media, conjuring images of an idealized France and then warning about outside forces that threatened to destroy it.\r\nHe has fashioned himself as a Donald J. Trump-style provocateur lobbing politically incorrect bombs at the French elite establishment — saying, for instance, that the law should require parents to give their children “traditional” French names — and rewriting some of the worst episodes from France’s past. He has been charged with inciting racial or religious hatred several times over his comments, and twice convicted and fined.\r\nMr. Zemmour spoke over 1950s footage full of men in hats and vintage Citroën cars, contrasted with recent clips of crowded subways, crumbling churches, burning cars and violent clashes with the police.\r\n“You feel like a foreigner in your own country,” Mr. Zemmour said, reading from notes at a desk in front of old bookshelves in a way that seemed intent on replicating Charles de Gaulle’s posture when he issued a call to arms against Nazi Germany from London in June 1940.\r\nMr. Zemmour said that he was running “to prevent our children and our grandchildren from experiencing barbarity, to prevent our daughters from being veiled and our sons from being subdued.”\r\nHe accused the elites — journalists, politicians, judges, European technocrats — of failing France, which he said was represented by a long list of illustrious men and women, including Joan of Arc, Louis XIV and Napoleon.\r\n“We will not be replaced,” added Mr. Zemmour, who has espoused the theory of a “great replacement” of white people in France by Muslim immigrants — a conspiracy theory that has been cited by extremists in several mass shootings.\r\n\r\nThe announcement, after months of barely veiled hints that Mr. Zemmour intended to run, surprised no one. It also came after the yet-to-be-declared candidate had endured a dip in the polls and a series of setbacks in recent days — including a disastrous visit to Marseille, in southern France, that ended with him flipping off a protester. The vulgar gesture gave ammunition to critics who say Mr. Zemmour is not fit to be president.\r\n“One may have doubts as to his ability to represent our country and serve in its highest office,” Gabriel Attal, a French government spokesman, told Europe 1 radio on Tuesday.\r\nMr. Zemmour has already reshuffled the political calculus for several candidates in the presidential elections, which will be held in April next year.\r\nFrench presidential elections use a two-round system, with the top two candidates in the first round advancing to a runoff. Recent polls have put Mr. Zemmour in third place, with roughly 14 to 15 percent support, behind President Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, the leader of the far-right National Rally party, who met in the runoff of the last presidential election in 2017.\r\nEven so, Mr. Zemmour has drawn in some of Ms. Le Pen’s supporters with his hard-line stance on immigration and identity. He has also pushed Les Républicains, France’s traditional conservative party, further to the right. The party is expected to pick its own candidate this week.\r\nMr. Zemmour’s latest book, “France Has Not Said Its Last Word Yet,” which he released in September to mark his unofficial entry into the presidential race, has sold more than 250,000 copies.\r\nSome of his books have contained incendiary statements about women and minorities. They have also contained historical inaccuracies as Mr. Zemmour attempted to clear France of wrongdoing in some of the worst episodes of its past, including in World War II and Algeria’s war for independence from France.\r\nMr. Zemmour is the son of parents from Algeria, and he styles himself as a defender of France’s Christian civilization against the influence of Muslim immigrants. But he himself is Jewish, and his repeated attempts to rehabilitate France’s collaborationist government and its leader, Marshal Philippe Pétain, have been condemned in vigorous terms by leaders of the French Jewish community, even as some Jews have identified with his anti-Islam message.\r\nOlivier Faure, the head of France’s Socialist Party, quipped on Twitter that Mr. Zemmour had used “De Gaulle’s microphone but Pétain’s speech” for his announcement.\r\n“Beethoven’s music but the wrong notes of a fantasized past for a caricatured present,” he added, referring to the soundtrack Mr. Zemmour used in Tuesday’s video.\r\nMr. Zemmour has excelled as a right-wing television pundit deploying virulent nationalist, anti-immigrant rhetoric. In 2019, he joined CNews, a Fox-style news network, which provided a platform for him to express his ideas to hundreds of thousands of viewers.\r\nMr. Zemmour experienced a rapid rise in the polls over the past few months, fueled by feverish media coverage of his latest book tour, but he has stumbled in recent weeks.\r\nSeveral supporters, including a key French financier who had lent him money, have distanced themselves, describing his campaign as disorganized and amateurish.\r\nMr. Zemmour is not backed by a powerfully established political force, like Mr. Trump was with the Republican Party, and it remains unclear whether he can gather the official support of 500 elected representatives — a requirement to run for president in France.\r\nSome recent moves have also cast doubt on Mr. Zemmour’s ability to handle the challenges and pressures of the campaign trail.\r\nHe was widely criticized for making political statements to journalists in front of the Bataclan concert hall in Paris on the sixth anniversary of the terrorist attacks there, and in Marseille, he was heckled by protesters and was photographed flipping off a woman who had made the same gesture toward him.\r\n“He has a lot of qualities as a polemicist, a lot less as a presidential candidate,” Ms. Le Pen, the far-right leader, told Sud Radio on Tuesday, accusing Mr. Zemmour of being “disconnected” from the French working class and of dividing voters. “If you want to be president, you have to unite.”\r\n','2021-11-30','',0,1),(228,'Making history again, Josephine Baker enters Panthéon of French heroes','FRANCE 24','Art & Culture',7,54,'https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20211130-making-history-again-josephine-baker-enters-panth%C3%A9on-of-french-heroes','FRANCE 24 with AFP','The American-born dancer, singer, actress and civil rights activist Josephine Baker will become the first Black woman to enter France’s Pantheon mausoleum of revered historical figures on Tuesday, nearly half a century after her death. \r\n\r\nBaker will be just the sixth woman to be honoured in the secular temple to the “great men” – and, belatedly, great women – of the French Republic, which sits on a hill in Paris’s Left Bank.\r\nShe will also be the first entertainer to be immortalised alongside the likes of Victor Hugo, Emile Zola and Marie Curie.\r\nThe “pantheonisation” of the world’s first Black female superstar caps years of campaigning by Baker’s family and admirers to give her the rare posthumous honour.\r\nPresident Emmanuel Macron granted the request in August to recognise the fact that Baker’s “whole life was dedicated to the twin quest for liberty and justice”, his office said last week.\r\n\r\n \r\nThe extraordinary life of Josephine Baker © Creative Department - France Médias Monde \r\nBaker is buried in Monaco, where her body will remain.\r\nDuring Tuesday’s ceremony a coffin containing handfuls of earth from four places where she lived – the US city of St. Louis where she was born; Paris, her \"second love\"; the Château de Milandes where she lived in southwest France; and Monaco – will be placed in the tomb reserved for her in the Pantheon’s crypt.\r\nThe coffin will be carried into the building by members of the French air force, commemorating her role in the French Resistance during World War II.\r\nEscaping segregation\r\nMacron will deliver a speech and some of Baker’s relatives will read short texts written by the trailblazing performer.\r\nBaker’s name will also soon be added to the name of the Gaîté metro station next to the Bobino theatre in southern Paris, where she last appeared on stage a few days before her death in 1975.\r\nBorn Freda Josephine McDonald into extreme poverty in Missouri in 1906, Baker left school at 13.\r\nAfter two failed marriages – she took the name Baker from her second husband – she managed to land herself a place in one of the first all-black musicals on Broadway in 1921.\r\n\r\nLike many black American artists at the time, she moved to France to escape racial segregation back home.\r\nThe woman nicknamed the “Black Venus” took Paris by storm with her exuberant dance performances, which captured the energy of the Jazz Age.\r\nWorld’s first Black superstar enters France\'s Pantheon\r\n \r\n14:39 \r\nOne of the defining moments of her career came when she danced the Charleston at the Folies Bergère cabaret hall wearing only a string of pearls and a skirt made of rubber bananas, in a sensational send-up of colonial fantasies about Black women.\r\n‘France made me’ \r\nThe performance marked the start of a long love affair between France and the free-spirited style icon, who took French nationality in 1937.\r\nAt the outbreak of World War II, she joined the Resistance against Nazi Germany, becoming a second lieutenant in the French air force’s female auxiliary corps.\r\nShe also became a spy for France’s wartime leader-in-exile General Charles de Gaulle, obtaining information on Italian leader Benito Mussolini and sending reports to London hidden in her music sheets in invisible ink.\r\n“France made me who I am,” she said later. “Parisians gave me everything... I am prepared to give them my life.”\r\nDaily newsletterReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nShe also waged a fight against discrimination, adopting 12 children from different ethnic backgrounds to form a “rainbow tribe” at her chateau in the Dordogne region.\r\nShe died on April 12, 1975, aged 68, from a brain haemorrhage, days after a final smash-hit cabaret show in Paris celebrating her half-century on the stage.\r\nShe is the second woman to be entered by Macron into the Pantheon, after former minister Simone Veil, who survived the Holocaust to fight for abortion rights and European unity.\r\nIn a sign of the universal affection in which Baker is still held in France, there was no public criticism of the decision to honour her, including from far-right commentators that are generally scathing of anti-racism gestures.\r\n\r\n(FRANCE 24 with AFP)\r\n\r\n','2021-11-30','',0,1),(229,'New French study reveals places where Covid infections most likely','The Connexion','Society',4,54,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/French-news/New-French-study-reveals-places-where-Covid-infections-most-likely      ','Hannah Thompson ','Researchers said the results show how important ventilation and barrier gestures still are in combatting the virus\r\n\r\nnew study from Institut Pasteur has shown the places where people are most likely to be infected by Covid, with the riskiest places including bars and nightclubs.\r\nFor the study, which was published yesterday (November 25) in the journal The Lancet Regional Health Europe, researchers analysed the locations connected to more than 12,000 positive cases of the Delta variant, and 5,000 individuals between May 23 and August 13, 2021.\r\nThis was just after leisure and culture areas reopened. People taking part in the study also filled in questionnaires about where they had been exposed to the virus.\r\nBars and nightclubs riskiest places\r\nThe riskiest places were found to be bars and nightclubs. People aged 40 or under who had been to a bar had 90% more chance of later testing positive. \r\nThis chance went up as high as 350% if they were attending a private party. Gathering in bars to watch sports matches such as the football Euros also increased the risk.\r\nPublic transport spaces were also a risk, although not as much as bars.\r\nRestaurants, shops, cinemas and hairdressers less risky\r\nIn contrast, visiting restaurants during this time did not appear to significantly increase people’s risk.\r\nEpidemiologist Professor Arnaud Fontanet, lead researcher on the study, said: “That’s probably because it was midsummer and we could open windows and have people on the terrace.”\r\nThe study also found that many other places that were closed during the pandemic were also less likely to be sites of infection; such as cinemas, theatres, shops, and hairdressers. \r\nProfessor Mahmoud Zureik, professor of epidemiology and public health at Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines University, said that this is likely because “we don’t necessarily stay in those places for a long time, or we respect barrier gestures \r\nChildren increase risk of infections\r\nHaving children living at home was also shown to increase the risk of people becoming infected. \r\nParents aged 40 or above with children of collège age (11-15) had a 30% higher risk of being infected, and this risk shot up to more than 90% for children aged under three.\r\nChildren under 12 in France have still not been offered vaccinations, meaning that this younger age group can still become infected and spread the virus more easily. Ministers have so far said that they will not make a decision on whether to vaccinate under-12s until early 2022.\r\nProfessor Fontanet said: “This shows how important it is to keep all measures in place in schools, such as providing ventilation and wearing masks.”\r\nThe professor said that scientists had not been clear enough on the importance of good ventilation in combatting the virus. He said: “Even an open door onto a corridor in a classroom, for example, is something; even if it’s better to open a window.”\r\nIt comes after the government announced new measures to fight the fifth wave of the virus, including opening booster jabs to everyone aged 18 and over, and making masks mandatory in public spaces, including where the health pass is required for entry (such as restaurants and cinemas).\r\nProfessor Fontanet said that he recommends that people wear FFP2 masks rather than fabric or surgical ones in places that represent an especially high risk. He said: “For me, when you’re in very high-risk situations, putting on an FFP2 makes sense.”\r\n\r\n','2021-11-28','',0,1),(230,'Calais activists: Migrants call us from boats asking for help : ','BBC News, Calais','Politics',1,54,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59444335',' Toby Luckhurst','Just outside Grande-Synthe to the west of Dunkirk lies the encampment. Scores of tents straddle a railway track and curve around by a canal, wedged in between a main road and an industrial estate. \r\nPeople have come from all over the world to be here - searching for a way to cross the Channel and start a new life in the UK. \r\nThere is a whole community of people whose lives are bound up with these migrants on their doorstep. \r\nEve-Marie Dubiez, a local to the area, is one of half a dozen volunteers doling out sandwiches and hot chocolate on Friday morning. Her group provides breakfast here twice a week, armed also with rain ponchos, socks, and sometimes shoes, when they can get them. \r\nShe is confident there will be a solution to the migrant crisis in northern France. \"But these are the ones paying the price for the moment,\" she says, gesturing to the people collecting food from her colleagues. \r\nEve-Marie has spent the last 15 years working in camps like these. She says police regularly move people on, demolishing camps or pushing people further along the coast. \"Everybody wants to get rid of them one way or the other,\" she says. \r\n\"Smugglers don\'t help,\" she adds. \"They\'re not the reason for this mess, but they take advantage.\"\r\n \r\nImage caption, \r\nEve-Marie Dubiez has worked at these camps for 15 years\r\nFor decades, the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region in north-east France has played host to thousands. \r\nSome in Calais see the migrants as at best a nuisance, and at worst a menace. In 2016 anti-Islamic demonstrators clashed with police in a protest against them; today, you can find posters for Marine Le Pen\'s far-right National Rally party in the city, calling for \"Zero immigration\".\r\nMs Le Pen is one of several MPs from her party elected in this region. Immigration is already shaping up to be a key issue in France\'s 2022 presidential election, with many demanding tighter controls. \r\nMichel Barnier, the former EU Brexit negotiator, is running for the right-wing Republicans party and has vowed to crack down on immigration. \r\nBut away from the politics, the human faces of this crisis are found all across this city and the surrounding area. \r\nAli Omar (not his real name) has been in Calais for three months. He says he fled Sudan after the Janjaweed militia, now known as the Rapid Support Forces, tried to kill him. \r\n\"For me, it\'s about the language,\" he says when asked why he wants to come to the UK. \"I face a lot of difficulty integrating with people here.\"\r\nBut even after the deaths of 27 people in the Channel last week, Ali Omar remains undeterred. \"I will keep trying to go to the UK,\" he insists. \r\nThat attitude shows the need for change, Marguerite Combes says. The 22-year-old is the Calais coordinator for Utopia 56, a French association set up in 2016 to give legal and practical support to migrants. \r\nHer group regularly receives calls from people as they cross the Channel, looking for help from any number they have as their flimsy boats sink. The organisation also arranges burial plots and funerals for those who die en route, as well as repatriation of bodies for bereaved families. \r\nMarguerite remembers one group of five three weeks ago who attempted the crossing in a kayak. Only two made it back to France alive, with a third lying dead at the bottom of their small vessel. \r\n\"They spent something like 27 hours on the boat,\" she says. The body of a fourth member was later found on a beach near Wissant, west of Calais. \r\n\"We buried him Wednesday morning. It was a really big story, also for the people who stayed alive because they saw three of their friends dying.\" Just hours later, news came through of the 27 who died.\r\n \r\nImage caption, \r\nMarguerite Comes and her group are one of several aid organisations working from a warehouse outside Calais\r\nShe tells me if she could say one thing to the government in the UK, it\'s that all tightening borders does is encourage people to \"take more risk\". \r\n\"The only ones who won\'t arrive in the UK are the ones who die in the Channel,\" she says. \r\nMarguerite also criticises the French authorities. While she dismisses suggestions France isn\'t doing enough to try to stop the crossings - calling it a \"huge effort\" from police - she argues the authorities should build shelters, give out food, and allow people the chance of a life. \"Welcome people with dignity to the EU,\" she says. \"Not only an administrative welcome, not just giving them papers, but giving them language lessons, give them a place [and a chance] to go to school, to work, to have a driving licence.\"\r\nFather Philippe Demeestère agrees on the need for practical change. On Saturday night migrants and locals have gathered at his dinner table in his home in the north of the city. The evening before, volunteers from the Refugee Community Kitchen gave out generous portions of pasta to groups of young men gathered just outside, chatting and laughing in the November cold. \r\nIn recent months Father Philippe became known across France after starting a hunger strike to protest against the destruction of migrant camps as winter draws in. He managed 25 days, while his two fellow demonstrators, Anaïs Vogel and Ludovic Holbein, stayed without food for 38 days each. \r\n\"I was never hungry - I was very fine with it. It was something very ordinary,\" the 72-year-old says as he chews peanuts before the meal begins. \r\n \r\nImage caption, \r\nFather Philippe Demeestère went on hunger strike for 25 days this year\r\nOver the phone Anaïs is angry about how authorities responded to their strike - opening up a shelter for 300 people in the city. \"At the time there were 1,500 people [living] outside. So, okay, it\'s 300 people less in the street for one night but it\'s nothing. And when we stopped the hunger strike they closed this place,\" she says.\r\nBut the response from locals was overwhelming, she says. They came to the church daily to discuss the situation with the hunger strikers. \"They feel really sad. They have this feeling that they don\'t know what to do,\" she says.\r\nShe and her partner Ludovic only moved to Calais this year but have now set up their own aid group to help those who come here. \"We didn\'t know the situation about Calais. We said, let\'s stay for a few days. And now it\'s nine months later,\" she says.\r\nLudovic shares her frustration with the government. \"They apply the same solution for 30 years now, and the solution doesn\'t change anything,\" he says. \r\nThe 38-year-old believes that many of the people now trying to reach the UK didn\'t plan to when they first arrived in Europe but after years of sleeping rough decide the UK is the only option. \r\n\"Europe doesn\'t accept them, doesn\'t offer them a real life with the possibility to have a good job and to rent a flat,\" he says. For him, this is not an abstract debate - there need to be practical measures to stop people making the dangerous sea crossing, which are continuing even during the riskier winter months.\r\n\"It\'s not about, what do you think about the migrant situation?\" he says. \"People are here now. We cannot let people die.\"\r\n','2021-11-28','',0,1),(231,'Migration row intensifies between U.K. and France after English Channel deaths','Released by Washington Post ','Politics',1,54,'https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/english-channel-drowning-talks-uninvited-france/2021/11/26/2d4bd0b0-4e9c-11ec-a7b8-9ed28bf23929_story.html','By Rick Noack and Karla Adam','CALAIS, France — A European migration dispute intensified Friday, as France accused Britain of lacking seriousness and scrapped a high-level meeting in the aftermath of a tragedy in the English Channel that left at least 27 migrants dead Wednesday.\r\nFrench President Emmanuel Macron reacted angrily to a letter from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson — which Johnson also posted in full on social media on Thursday night — that called for joint border patrols, as well as for France to take back migrants who succeed in the dangerous crossing of the channel.\r\nThese ideas have been proposed by Britain before — and rejected by France.\r\n“We do not communicate from one leader to another on these issues by tweets and letters that we make public,” Macron said at a news conference Friday.\r\n“The ministers will work seriously on serious questions with serious people,” Macron added. “We will see with the British how to work effectively when they decide to be serious.”\r\nEarlier Friday, France announced that Britain’s interior minister, Home Secretary Priti Patel, was no longer invited to weekend talks.\r\nThe interior ministers of France, Britain and several other European countries were to meet in Calais on Sunday to discuss joint efforts to combat people-smuggling in the region, after France called for more support from its neighbors. The French see the crisis as a shared European problem, with some of the migrants entering France from neighboring countries.\r\nFrance and Britain spar over illegal migration, after at least 27 drown in English Channel\r\nIn the letter that caused offense in France, Johnson renewed calls for “joint patrols” by British and French security forces, or private contractors, along the coast of France — something that raises concern in Paris about sovereignty.\r\nHe also demanded a pact that would allow migrants to be sent back to France. Because Britain left the European Union, there is no established mechanism for transferring people back to mainland Europe.\r\nMore than 25,000 people have crossed the channel this year, many of them from the Middle East or Africa. Some are fleeing conflict or persecution. Some are seeking to reunite with family. Others are desperate to find work and expect more opportunities in Britain than on the continent.\r\nPeople can apply for asylum in Britain only if they are physically there — leaving many to feel compelled to take deadly risks in rickety boats with traffickers.\r\n \r\nA damaged inflatable dinghy is seen at Loon Beach in northern France on Nov. 25, the day after at least 27 migrants died when their dinghy deflated as they tried to cross the English Channel to Britain. (Johanna Geron/Reuters)\r\nJohnson said in the letter that he welcomed the invitation for the British home secretary to meet in Calais with her counterparts from France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany, and that he would be willing to “upgrade this meeting to a Leaders’ Level Summit.”\r\nConfirming that France had canceled British participation, French government spokesman Gabriel Attal on Friday morning called the letter “bereft of substance” and “totally inappropriate in terms of form.”\r\nAdvertisement\r\nHe said the letter did not reflect what Macron and Johnson discussed when they spoke on the phone Wednesday night, shortly after the incident in the English Channel.\r\n“We are sick of double speak,” Attal said.\r\nNicholas Dungan, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, said Johnson’s letter was viewed in France as “one more act of bad faith” from “someone they increasingly don’t trust.”\r\n“Johnson posted a private letter — it’s ‘Dear Emmanuel,’ not a policy statement, not something cleared by the French, it wasn’t a readout,” Dungan said. “It was a unilateral ‘This is what I want’ statement, and even if it’s couched in conciliatory terms, it wasn’t expected.”\r\nDungan added: “The strong view in France is that Boris Johnson is someone who will say anything, do anything, and given the lack of trust, at very first sign he’s misbehaving again, they will come down hard.”\r\nBritish Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told the BBC on Friday that Johnson’s proposal was made “in good faith” and that he hoped France would reconsider retracting the invitation.\r\nAfter the Wednesday call between Macron and Johnson, Downing Street said the leaders had agreed to step up “joint efforts.” But the French readout spoke only of “shared responsibility” and said Macron had urged Johnson to “refrain from exploiting a dramatic situation for political purposes.”\r\nThe past months have been rocky for relations between France and Britain. The two countries sparred after Britain joined a pact that derailed a major French submarine deal with Australia.\r\nThey’ve also been engaged in a fight over post-Brexit fishing rights. On Friday, French fishermen temporarily disrupted Britain-bound shipping traffic at the ports of Calais and Ouistreham, and blockaded the Channel Tunnel’s freight traffic access, to add pressure on the British government.\r\nOn migration, Britain and France have said they share the same goal — curbing illegal migration and human smuggling in the English Channel — but their ideas on how to achieve that aim differ greatly.\r\nFrance said it will expand sea monitoring in the region after Wednesday’s incident, which is known to have cost the lives of 17 men, seven women and three presumed minors. But to combat human smuggling, French officials say, other nations need to step up their support.\r\nCharities and aid agencies on both sides of the channel have long called on the British government to open safe routes for asylum seekers.\r\nThe French government additionally accuses Britain of failing to act against traffickers, as well as businesses that employ undocumented migrants.\r\nIn a radio interview Thursday, French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin also named Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany as countries linked to trafficking networks. He added that one of the five people suspected of being involved in Wednesday’s crossing attempt had bought boats in Germany. The five were among more than 1,500 smugglers the French government says it has caught in the region since the beginning of the year.\r\n','2021-11-26','',0,1),(232,'Conservative Pécresse looks to establish herself as the ‘only threat’ to Macron','FRANCE 24','Politics',1,56,'https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211221-conservative-p%C3%A9cresse-looks-to-establish-herself-as-the-only-threat-to-macron','Tom WHEELDON ','The only candidate to have edged Emmanuel Macron in any poll for the all-important second round of the French presidential election, Valérie Pécresse has enjoyed surging ratings since she won the conservative Les Républicains party primary in early December. Analysts say Pécresse poses a formidable threat to the president as she targets his voters on the centre ground of French politics.\r\n\r\nFor much of Macron’s term France expected – and did not want – a replay of the 2017 Macron vs. Le Pen duel in the 2022 presidential election second round.  \r\n\r\nIn this landscape, traditional conservatives Les Républicains (LR) looked trapped in a constricted political space between President Macron and the Rassemblement National\'s Marine Le Pen, then unassailable as the far-right’s standard-bearer.  \r\n\r\nBut new developments have changed the dynamic.  \r\n\r\nAs political scientist Jérôme Jaffré put it, just like Eric Zemmour “shook” Le Pen by outflanking her on the extreme right, Pécresse is “shaking” Macron as she encroaches on his territory – the far more vote-rich centre ground. \r\n\r\nMacron the ‘pale imitation’? \r\n\r\nPécresse established her attack line against Macron at the end of summer, long before she became the LR candidate. Knowing that the president has moved to the right along with the centre ground of the French electorate, Pécresse cast Macron as a “pale imitation” of a centre-right leader. She said he promised to transform France but has done “almost nothing” except manage crises. \r\n\r\nNow Pécresse has imposed herself as a major threat to Macron in the second round – as demonstrated by an Elabe survey in early December showing her beating him in the runoff, amid a polling surge after her LR primary triumph.\r\n\r\nWhile Pécresse’s campaign is keen to entrench her in the French public consciousness as the only viable alternative to Macron, her climb in the ratings has only gone so far. Politico’s first-round polling aggregate puts Macron at 24 percent and Pécresse at 17, with Le Pen at 16 and Zemmour at 13. And historically French elections have often confounded early polls.\r\n\r\nNevertheless, that Elabe poll was like an “electric shock”, an anonymous figure close to Macron told Le Journal de Dimanche. \r\n\r\nMacron took recourse to the Élysée machinery, using the airtime only a president enjoys to give a lengthy TV interview last week. Months after Pécresse charged him with “inertia”, Macron defended his credentials as an economic reformer, saying he “couldn’t do everything” in one term.\r\n\r\nExperts say the president recognises Pécresse as the biggest danger to his bid for a second term.\r\n\r\nThe threat to Macron’s re-election will come “only from Pécresse; it will not come from the hopelessly divided left or the unelectable far right”, said Jim Shields, a professor of French politics at Warwick University. “Before Pécresse entered the race, Macron was heading comfortably for re-election with no viable challenger. Now he faces a mainstream conservative opponent who threatens part of his own centre-right base.” \r\n\r\nIn portraying herself as an original and Macron as a copy, Pécresse is playing the “card of authenticity for voters on the right who might have inclined to Macron by default”, Shields added. \r\n\r\n‘Straddling divides within the right’ \r\n\r\nMacron won many of these votes well before his pivot to the right as president. Polls showed LR’s François Fillon on track to win the 2017 presidential contest until a financial impropriety scandal torpedoed his candidacy. Much of his support went to Macron and propelled the young contender into first place.\r\n\r\n“A big concern for Macron will be that Pécresse can capture back the Filloniste voters he won last time,” said Andrew Smith, a professor of French politics at the University of Chichester. \r\n\r\nIn that astonishing rise to power five years ago, Macron gave himself a broader appeal than Fillon, accumulating support from centre-left and centre-right by taking ideas from both sides – the famous en même temps (“at the same time”) approach. \r\n\r\nThis time Pécresse looks to pull off a similar manoeuvre and rake in votes across the broad spectrum of French conservatism, encompassing a centre ground that has shifted to the right since Macron took office.  \r\n\r\nThe LR candidate is trying to build on her reputation as a technocratic moderate from her past six years running the Paris region – promising to streamline the state and curb France’s public debt, which is expected to reach 116 percent of GDP by the end of the year. Simultaneously, Pécresse vows to toughen French laws on security and immigration. \r\n\r\n“She is a big threat to Macron because she can pull off her own en même temps, straddling the divides within the right,” Smith noted. “She has one foot in the technocratic, centre-right approach to matters like economic policy; and another foot in the rather more identitarian politics of order, security and France’s Catholic heritage – issues that can be addressed without going as far as the extreme right.” \r\n\r\nYet over the course of a long campaign that still has months to run, Smith cautioned, Pécresse could end up walking “a bit of a tightrope” as she pursues this en même temps. On one front, she is targeting Macron’s voters. On another, she is fighting Zemmour and Le Pen for a ticket to the second round.\r\n\r\nZemmour is keen to win over mainstream conservatives — and his presence on the extreme right risks fracturing the LR coalition. Hard-right MP Eric Ciotti – who said last autumn he would back Zemmour against Macron if the two were in the second round – narrowly won the first stage of the LR primary before Pécresse’s decisive victory in the runoff. Although he called on Zemmour supporters to back Pécresse instead, Ciotti also bewailed her refusal to countenance his Zemmour-style proposal for a French version of the US military-run prison at Guantanamo Bay.\r\n\r\n“A danger for Pécresse is someone like Ciotti flipping to Zemmour and disturbing her campaign,” Smith observed. \r\n\r\nBut Zemmour’s ratings have sunk after his autumn ascent. Analysts say he is seen as too toxic and lacking in credibility for most traditional conservative voters. Meanwhile his new political vehicle Reconquête has nothing like the well-rooted party infrastructure LR enjoys across France.  \r\n\r\nNone of Pécresse’s three main rivals boast comparable get-out-the-vote machinery – which played a crucial role in powering LR to the top of France’s regional polls in June.\r\n\r\n“One of the biggest threats posed by Pécresse is her party’s ability to wage an electoral ground war,” Shields said. “LR remains a formidable campaigning machine with a deeply embedded presence across the towns, departments and regions of France and a newly energised and expanded membership. This contrasts with Macron, Le Pen and Zemmour, none of whom have anything like the same capacity to mount an extensive ground campaign and rally grassroots support across the country.” ','2021-12-21','',0,1),(233,'COVID: Omicron variant prompts France to drastically restrict travel to and from UK','Euronews','Politics',1,56,'https://www.euronews.com/2021/12/16/france-to-tighten-entry-requirements-for-uk-arrivals-over-omicron-covid-variant','By Alasdair Sandford  with AFP','France is to heavily tighten entry conditions for people travelling both to and from the United Kingdom in order to limit the spread of the Omicron variant, the government said on Thursday.\r\n\r\nThe prime minister\'s office at Matignon confirmed that from midnight on Friday into Saturday, travellers will need to give \"compelling reasons\" in order to visit the UK and return to France, regardless of vaccination status.\r\n\r\nA government statement cites the British government\'s admission that an Omicron \"tidal wave\" is expected to hit the country as justification for the move.\r\n\r\nTravel for tourism and business will not be allowed, the statement says. However, \"these compelling reasons will nevertheless not apply to French citizens as well as their partner and their children who will still be able to come to France,\" it explains.\r\n\r\nAn attached list of what constitutes \"compelling reasons\" for travel in both directions also includes, for the UK, a \"foreign citizen joining their country\".\r\n\r\nThe new measures also mean that COVID-19 tests are required to enter France within the previous 24 hours, instead of the current 48 hours. They apply to all arrivals whether or not people are vaccinated.\r\n\r\nMatignon confirmed that the tests can be either PCR or lateral flow -- although home tests are not valid -- and proof must be in the form of a recognised certificate.\r\n\r\nPeople arriving in France from the UK will also need to self-isolate, and to register their address online in advance, via an app that will generate an isolation order from the prefecture. The quarantine can be lifted after 48 hours once a negative COVID-19 test is provided.\r\n\r\nThe French government is calling on travellers who had planned to go to the UK to delay their journey.\r\n\r\nThe new measures will be \"more drastic\" than those which exist at the moment, government spokesman Gabriel Attal acknowledged in an interview with BFMTV and RMC earlier on Thursday.\r\n\r\nHe said that quarantine for visitors from the UK would be subject to \"checks by the security forces\".\r\n\r\nThe new conditions for entry into France from the UK have now been published in English by the French consulate in London.\r\n\r\nAccording to the French government list, those deemed to have \"compelling reasons\" to visit the UK include \"a foreign citizen joining their country\", visits after the death of a close family member, or if such a person is in a life-threatening condition.\r\n\r\nThose allowed to return to France include French and EU nationals and their families, as well as Britons \"benefitting from the agreement\" on Brexit — meaning registered UK residents in the EU — plus nationals of other countries residing in the EU.\r\n\r\nOther exemptions to the travel ban include civil servants travelling professionally, police, customs officials and Channel tunnel workers, health workers and registered students, and transport workers including lorry drivers carrying goods. Air passengers changing planes in France can enter airport transit zones for up to 24 hours.\r\n\r\nThe announcement comes the day after the UK registered 78,610 daily COVID-19 cases — the highest number since the beginning of the pandemic as the highly transmissible new Omicron variant spreads.\r\n\r\nBritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson said last Sunday that an Omicron \"tidal wave\" was expected to hit the country. In some areas, the number of Omicron cases is doubling every two days, he added on Wednesday.\r\n\r\nSo far, France has detected 240 Omicron cases on its territory. The new restrictions concerning the UK were designed to \"tighten the net\" to reduce the number of cases of the variant entering the country and slow down its spread, Gabriel Attal said.','2021-12-17','',0,1),(234,'Covid: French ski season in disarray as UK tourists banned',' BBC News, Chamonix ','Politics',1,56,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59712015','By Mark Lowen ','The early season snow on the pine-filled slopes of Mont Blanc is the best Chamonix has seen for years. There just aren\'t the British skiers to enjoy it.\r\n\r\nIt had looked like being a bumper Christmas for France\'s ski resorts, with flights and ferries from Britain fully booked.\r\n\r\nBut then came a warning from France\'s government last Thursday of \"a landslide\" - not on its own mountains, but of the Omicron coronavirus variant careering through the UK.\r\n\r\nAll non-essential travel from Britain was to be banned. And suddenly cancellations replaced arrivals.\r\n\r\n\"I feel sad, disappointed and angry,\" says Thomas Mathieu, the owner of Brasserie les Marmottons, adding he has had to lay off three employees, anticipating the drop in business.\r\n\r\n\"Everything is ready here: we put on masks, we have the [vaccination] passes, we have everything right by our government. It\'s very confusing for us,\" he adds.\r\n\r\nOne in four tourists in Chamonix before the pandemic was British. Britons are the largest foreign cohort of visitors to the French resorts.\r\n\r\nBut France\'s Prime Minister Jean Castex has compared Omicron to \"lightning\" - and his government appears willing to take the hit, accelerating its booster programme in the meantime.\r\n\r\nSome from the UK arrived just before the drawbridge came up on Friday night, counting their luck as businesses count their losses.\r\n\r\nHugh Kocheta had just skied down from 2,100 metres - the pistes wide open with so few Brits here. \"We\'re missing a few people from different families who were supposed to come over, but who are probably just not going to be able to come out now,\" he says. \"It\'s obviously a bit gutting for certain people.\"\r\n\r\nAlison Hands and her family were driving down from Calais on Thursday as they heard the news. \"Being here makes it feel like a normal Christmas again because I\'ve come every year since I was born - apart from the last one,\" says her eight-year-old son Moss.\r\n\r\nAnd that is the fear here - that the ban on British tourists evokes a worrying déjà-vu of last Christmas when strict lockdowns followed. For those catering for the British market, the emptiness is devastating - and an ominous sign of what more could come.\r\n\r\nDave Searle works with the British Association of Mountain Guides in Chamonix, and cancellations have flooded in.\r\n\r\n\"If this continues this season, it\'ll be a big loss of earnings… up to 50% of my annual earnings is through the winter. I guess I\'m worried it\'s just going to keep doing this every winter. And if I\'m losing half my earnings every year, I need to find a new profession.\"\r\n\r\nDoes he understand the French decision, I ask?\r\n\r\n\"It does make sense in some ways and it\'s all about keeping people safe and hospitals empty,\" he replies. \"But perhaps it does also feel like a bit of a kneejerk reaction, singling out one country.\"\r\n\r\nFrance\'s confirmed Omicron cases are a fraction of those in the UK, though French scientists do far less genetic sequencing of new variants than their British counterparts. And intensive care units are once again filling up fast here.\r\n\r\nBeside the Christmas lights in the centre of beautiful Chamonix, festive cheer is fading. The hope is that this may be a short blip, not a lost season.\r\n\r\nFrance is buying time with this measure - and paying a high price for its mountain resorts to sparkle again.','2021-12-19','',0,1),(235,'Paris venues prepare for social festive season despite Omicron','FRANCE 24','Politics',1,56,'https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20211218-paris-venues-prepare-for-social-festive-season-despite-omicron',' By: Joanna YORK ',' The French government announced new restrictions yesterday in light of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. While some events have been cancelled, many venues in Paris are still preparing for year-end festivities. \r\nAdvertising\r\n\r\nFrench Prime Minister Jean Castex on Friday asked mayors to cancel traditional New Year’s Eve firework displays and festivities, and urged people to take self-tests before attending get-togethers over the Christmas period. \r\n\r\nThe Paris town hall confirmed the cancellation of its public parties the following day, amid a sharp rise in Covid-19 infections in France with cases averaging nearly 50,000 per day in the past week. Fears of the highly contagious Omicron variant are also soaring, as the prime minister announced that France would change its health pass into a vaccination pass, meaning that from January it can only be used by people who are fully vaccinated. \r\n\r\nHowever, studies suggest that there is still an appetite for in-person events this festive season. \r\n\r\nFigures from government study CoviPrev indicate that while adherence to all barrier measures has gone up among people in France in the past month, social restrictions are the least likely to be respected. While 70% of people said at the beginning of December they now always wear a mask in public places, only 31% planned to avoid in-person gatherings with loved ones outside of their household.  \r\n\r\nAnd, unlike last year when a near-lockdown was imposed, many venues will stay open over the festive period in 2021. \r\n\r\n‘Things are looking good’ \r\n\r\nJazz bar Café Laurent, in Paris’s 6th arrondissement (district), plans to host its annual New Year’s Eve concert as usual. Tickets cannot be reserved in advance but a staff member told FRANCE 24: “I think a lot of people will come, I’ve worked here for eight years and there’s always a lot of people for New Year.” \r\n\r\nThe bar, which is attached to a hotel in the touristy Saint Germain neighbourhood, is expecting even more attendees than usual due to a rise in local customers in recent months. \r\n\r\n“If between now and New Year’s Eve there are new health rules put in place, that could have an unfortunate effect on the concert. But for now everything can go ahead as expected and we’re crossing our fingers that nothing changes.” \r\n\r\n“With the new announcements yesterday evening, things are looking good,” he said. \r\n\r\nThe Moulin Rouge, in the 18th arrondissement in northeast Paris, is also expecting a full house for its New Year’s celebrations. “We’ve been fully booked for a while, and we haven’t had any cancellations,” a spokesperson told FRANCE 24. The only difference this year is that the final hour of the evening with a DJ after the cabaret show has been cancelled, as the audience is not allowed to dance due to Covid restrictions. \r\n\r\nReservations have poured in over the Christmas period, with demand growing to the extent that the famous cabaret is now running seven days a week, up from four since September. \r\n\r\nIn the affluent 6th arrondissement (district), Hotel Lutetia is also expecting a lot of customers for festive meals in its restaurant on December 24 and 25. A staff member told FRANCE 24, “For the moment the health rules haven’t changed. There’s just the health pass and we are used to that now and it’s not complicated to manage.” \r\n\r\n‘People came, and they loved it’ \r\n\r\nDemand for in-person events has also been high at Saint Michael’s Church in Paris, especially as many more formal social gatherings have been cancelled. \r\n\r\nAlthough the French government has not set a hard limit on gatherings over the festive season this year, the prime minister called for reductions and restraint in a speech on December 10. “Until the holidays we need to take our foot off the gas, stop, protect ourselves and protect our ability to enjoy Christmas as well,” Castex said. \r\n\r\nWork Christmas parties were not the only casualties of this guidance. Jonathan Clark, Chaplain at Saint Michael’s Church in Paris, told FRANCE 24: “We’ve had to cancel our social events and they’re important to people, particularly the lonely, so it\'s really hard.” \r\n\r\nConsequently, demand for in-person services over the festive season has been high, to the extent that the church had to introduce advance reservation for its carol services. “They’re our most popular services and we completely sold out. People came and they loved it. People who don\'t normally come to church came, and it was great.” \r\n\r\nBy now safety protocols have become a habit. “We wear masks the whole time. We distance, we separate groups of people, we halve the number of people at a service, and we have to ventilate so we keep doors open.” \r\n\r\nAlong with fans running to keep air circulating, this typically means wearing coats during the service to keep warm. But Clark says staff are putting all of their energy into the in-person services, to make sure that people can still come to church and find some joy in community over the festive season this year. “The services are running as normal, because for some people, it\'s the only social contact they\'re going to get to come to church and see some people.” \r\n\r\n“And we can sing behind masks. Last year we couldn\'t sing – that was much harder.” ','2021-12-18','',0,1),(236,'France\'s green hydrogen pioneers aim to revolutionise energy production','RFI','Politics',1,56,'https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20211222-france-s-green-hydrogen-pioneers-aim-to-revolutionise-energy-production','Text by: Sarah Elzas',' Green hydrogen sounds almost too good to be true: a fuel made from water, that can be stored and transported, and does not produce carbon emissions. France is banking on it, and a startup in Brittany has started to produce it. But will it catch on?\r\n\r\nWhen French President Emmanuel Macron announced in October that France would be investing nearly two billion euros in green hydrogen technologies, as part of its 2030 investment plan, Matthieu Guesné felt vindicated.\r\n\r\n“Back in 2017 when we started the company, we were not even pioneers, we were visionaries. Nobody had this idea, and nobody was aware of the need for green hydrogen,” he said recently, standing in the main building of his company, Lhyfe, in the small Breton fishing village of Bouin, on the west coast of France, which has been producing 300 kilograms of green hydrogen a day since September.\r\n\r\nHydrogen is used in steel manufacturing and fertilisers, and it is increasingly being considered for transportation to fuel cars and lorries without greenhouse gas emissions.\r\n\r\nMost hydrogen today is extracted from fossil fuels. Green hydrogen is made using electrolysis with renewable electricity running through water to separate the oxygen and hydrogen molecules.\r\n\r\nThis is done using electrolysers. Lhyfe’s are behind a thick concrete wall, connected by a series of colourful tubes funnelling water in, and oxygen and hydrogen out.\r\n\r\n“An electrolyser is a big tube, inside of which you put demineralised water and electricity,” explains Antoine Hamon, Lhyfe’s operations director. “At the end of that you have two pipes, one with hydrogen and the other with oxygen.”\r\n\r\nIt’s a simple process that, in this case, uses seawater and electricity generated from four wind turbines two kilometres away.\r\nNo wind, no hydrogen\r\n\r\n“This site is really synchronised with the production of the wind turbines,” says Hamon. “If there’s no wind, there’s no hydrogen.”\r\n\r\nThis is difference between this facility and other green hydrogen plants, which have turbines or other sources of renewable electricity feeding into the general electricity grid, which they pull from when they want to produce hydrogen.\r\n\r\nOn a platform above the production floor, several computer screens show the water levels and amount of electricity coming from the turbines.\r\n\r\nLhyfe currently produces 300 kilograms of hydrogen a day out of three cubic metres of seawater. At full capacity, the goal is to triple the output, to get to a tonne.\r\n\r\nA hydrogen car driving 100 kilometres uses one kilogramme of hydrogen  A long-haul truck would consume 20 to 30 kilograms a day.\r\n\r\nThe hydrogen gas that comes out of Lhyfe’s electrolysers is compressed into long metal gas canisters and transported to users in the area.\r\n\r\n“The main advantage of hydrogen is it\'s a gas, so you can transport and store it,” explains Guesné, Lhyfe’s CEO. “Gas is convenient, which is why our societies run on diesel and gas. You can store it in a pipe, on a truck, in a boat. It can wait an hour, or a day or a week.”\r\n\r\nElectricity cannot be stored easily. Batteries are inefficient, and use components that are difficult or dangerous to acquire.\r\n\r\nAnd for larger vehicles travelling long distances, like lorries, or trains, batteries would be too big and heavy to be practical.\r\nHydrogen experiments in Nantes\r\n\r\nThe city of Nantes, an hour inland from Bouin, which likes to see itself as a technological innovator, has been putting itself forward as a hub for green hydrogen.\r\n\r\nIts public transit authority, the Semitan, has been running experiments using hydrogen vehicles for a few years.\r\n\r\n\"As far as Nantes is concerned, it\'s important to promote renewal energy - it\'s a political ambition. And also as an engineer, I am interested in this technique, to know what is good and what is not,” says technical director Stephane Bis.\r\n\r\nSemitan has two hydrogen utility vehicles - electric Renault Kangoo vans that use hydrogen to extend their batteries’ ranges, from 100 to 300 kilometres.\r\n\r\nOne of the Semitan\'s two hydrogen vehicles, filling up at its station at a bus depot. The station puts pressurised hydrogen into the tank, extending the vehicle\'s range from 100 to 300 kilometres.\r\n\r\nHydrogen cars have fuel cells that transform hydrogen, stored in their tanks, into electricity to power an electric motor. The output is water and oxygen – a small tube on the side of the vehicle drips out water, and the oxygen is released into the atmosphere.\r\n\r\nSemitan uses its hydrogen cars like their dozens of other utility vehicles, but as a kind of proof of concept that hydrogen can work.\r\n\r\nThey fuel up the cars at a hydrogen service station they have set up at a bus depot northwest of the city centre. It\'s a collection of tall gas cannisters which are fed through a machine that pressurises the hydrogen into the car. The sound is like a balloon being filled.\r\n\r\nSemitan is looking into hydrogen for public transit. Unlike the city of Le Mans, which has been experimenting with a hydrogen bus since last year, Nantes has decided to focus on water transport.\r\n\r\nIn 2019 the city introduced a hydrogen-powered ferry to take commuters across the Erdre river in the north of the city.\r\n\r\nThe ferry needed regular maintenance, and is currently docked for a full overhaul.\r\n\r\nBis says it’s been a good experiment.\r\n\r\n“I wouldn’t say hydrogen is the energy of the future, but it is part of the future,” he says, about the prospects of expanding the use of hydrogen.\r\n\r\n“I think the future will include hydrogen, that is sure, especially for heavy load vehicles- lorries. For large transit, I think hydrogen is a very interesting subject.”\r\nHydrogen in the future\r\n\r\nOf course, Guesné, of Lhyfe, is much more expansive in his predictions for hydrogen, driven by the urgency of decarbonising France and Europe’s energy to curb the effects of greenhouse gas emissions on the climate.\r\n\r\n    IEA roadmap for clean power shines light on EU\'s addiction to gas\r\n\r\n“We need to address the climate change. We need to reduce CO2 emissions by 55 percent, and when you do the math and look at the solutions we have today, you figure out that you cannot achieve that without hydrogen,” he says.\r\nMatthieu Guesné, CEO, Lhyfe, green hydrogen producer, in Bouin, France\r\nMatthieu Guesné, CEO, Lhyfe, green hydrogen producer, in Bouin, France © Sarah Elzas/RFI\r\n\r\nHis vision for green hydrogen in France is a series of production plants serving local communities, using local renewable energy sources.\r\n\r\n“We want to avoid the refinery model, where you have only three refineries in a country like France that can supply the whole country with oil,” he says.\r\n\r\n“There is always local energy. In some areas there are solar panels. Here there’s a lot of wind so we are relying on wind turbines. But it can be energy from waste, from biomass, from hydropower.”\r\n\r\nWhile Guesné anticipates 25 to 30 per cent of French fuel consumption will be hydrogen by 2030, others estimate it will be more like six to 10 percent.\r\n\r\nBut whatever the amount, hydrogen is a part of the future.\r\n\r\n    Airbus to launch hydrogen-powered commercial aircraft by 2035\r\n\r\n“There will never be enough resources to have batteries for everybody. There is not enough biomass to produce biogas for all heating needs,” he says. “Today we have smart grids, we have batteries, we have renewables. But there was a problem for lorries and busses. Hydrogen was the missing piece of the puzzle.”','2021-12-22','',0,1),(237,'Settled French territory or powder keg: what next for New Caledonia after failed bid for independence?','The Guardian','Politics',1,56,'https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/23/settled-french-territory-or-powder-keg-what-next-for-new-caledonia-after-failed-bid-for-independence','Hamish McDonald','While French politicians are hailing the result of the referendum as ‘final’, indigenous Kanaks say their future is anything but settled\r\n\r\nIn the wake of the third New Caledonian referendum on independence from France, French president Emmanuel Macron declared that “France is more beautiful because New Caledonia decided to stay.”\r\n\r\nThe vote in the 12 December referendum – supposedly the finale of a 30-year process of preparation and consultation – was an overwhelming 96.5% against independence.\r\n\r\nMacron’s centre-right Republican rival, Valérie Pécresse, has hailed the vote a “massive choice” to stay, while the emerging far-right candidate Eric Zemmour said the decision was final.\r\n\r\nBut New Caledonia’s future as a French territory is anything but settled and a return to the violence that wracked New Caledonia a possibility.\r\n\r\nOnly one side turned up to vote, and the result was entirely predictable. Only 43.9% of eligible voters cast their ballot as against nearly 86% in the previous referendum.\r\n\r\nThe abstainers were mostly indigenous Kanaks, who have been agitating since the 1980s to follow their fellow Melanesians in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu into independent statehood.\r\n\r\nUntil recent months, the Kanaks were willing participants in the consultation process, then the Delta variant of Covid-19 arrived in early September, quickly infecting over 12,000 people and causing 280 deaths, about 60% among Kanaks, and other Pacific islanders.\r\n\r\nMany Kanak communities were plunged into traditional mourning rituals that can take up to a year. In addition, a lockdown restricted campaigns by Kanak parties, which typically rely on villages meetings and tours by leaders.\r\n\r\nThe Kanak parties appealed to Macron to postpone the referendum but he refused. A last-minute court appeal for delay also failed. So the Kanak coalition called a boycott of the referendum.\r\n\r\n“This isn’t over, and people who are saying it’s over are misreading the strength of the boycott,” says Nic Maclellan, a veteran commentator on Pacific affairs in Australia.\r\n\r\nNot only did nearly all Kanaks heed their parties’ call for “non-participation” they did so peacefully. Paris had sent 2,000 extra gendarmes and 30 armoured cars to maintain security – they were not needed.\r\nA woman looks at a flyer from anti-independence movement Les Voix du Non in Nouméa’s Rivière Salée market\r\nCovid, mourning and the fear of violence: New Caledonia prepares for blighted independence vote\r\n\r\n\r\nA key question now is whether electoral rolls in any future referendum or local government elections will be thrown open to more recent arrivals to New Caledonia. Until now, only Kanaks and long-established settlers have been allowed to vote.\r\n\r\nTo open the vote to all the residents of New Caledonia would be “recolonisation” and definitively end the Kanak dream of independence, said Mathias Chauchat, professor of public law at the University of New Caledonia in Noumea.\r\n\r\n“In essence, opening the electoral roll would give power to the whites. It would revert to the colony like before, with the French in power and the Kanaks like an aboriginal minority. They would be left with their customs on the margin, all the while saying that their identity was recognised. It would be a system of apartheid that doesn’t say its name.”\r\n\r\n“The situation is explosive because the Kanaks would never accept this recolonisation,” Chauchat added. “We are on a powder-keg. It needs only a spark for it to explode.”\r\n\r\nFor their part, the seven pro-independence parties based among the Kanaks said dialogue had been broken by the “stubbornness” of the French government, which had been “unable to reconcile its geo-strategic interests in the Pacific with its obligation to decolonise New Caledonia.”.\r\nBallot papers in the third referendum on independence for New Caledonia.\r\n\r\nNew Caledonia’s regional neighbours have dismissed the referendum result. The Melanesian Spearhead Group – representing Papua New Guinea, the Solomons, Vanuatu and Fiji – issued a statement proclaiming the results “null and void due to the ‘non-participation’ of the indigenous people of Kanaky.”\r\n\r\nThe Pacific Islands Forum – a wider regional grouping – noted the boycott and said that “civic participation was an integral component of any democracy and critical to the interpretation and implications of Sunday’s poll.”\r\n\r\nWhile some strategists worry about France walking out, leaving a destitute mini-state open to Chinese influence, it is worth considering exactly what kind of independence is being proposed by the Kanaks.\r\n\r\n\r\nChauchat said the Union Calédonienne, one of the main Kanak parties, has been considering the “free association” link of the Cook Islands to New Zealand, whereby Wellington looks after the islands’ defence and foreign policy in consultation with the Cook Islands government. The small nation has membership of many international agencies, though not a UN seat.\r\n\r\nAdrian Muckle, a historian at the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, said another Kanak party, UNI-Palika, had also evoked in its manifesto the idea of a partnership or association with France.\r\n\r\n“They have sought to discuss in advance of the final referendum what that might look like in more detail, but Paris and ‘loyalists’ have actively refused to engage, suggesting that such discussions could only take place after a vote for independence and that nothing can be discussed until then,” Muckle said.\r\n\r\n“Their concern, I think, is that any fleshed-out ideas on independence-in-association might make a ‘yes’ vote more attractive.”\r\n\r\nSince the vote, Sébastien Lecornu, France’s minister for overseas territories, has called for submissions on a permanent status for New Caledonia within France, to be finalised within 18 months. The Kanak parties have said they will wait until after next year’s French elections before resuming dialogue with Paris.\r\n\r\nThey would have little traction until then anyway. With Macron now fighting for re-election from the centre against the right and far-right, electoral considerations will not allow much flexibility in thinking about New Caledonia’s future.\r\n\r\n    Hamish McDonald is a former foreign editor of The Sydney Morning Herald and regional editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review, and is an Inaugural Fellow of the Australian Institute of International Affairs.\r\n','2021-12-22','',0,1),(238,'The “New Erasmus Generation” Conference: Developing European mobility for apprentices, 20 January 2022','France 22','Society',4,57,'https://presidence-francaise.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/press-release-developing-erasmus-for-apprentices-an-objective-for-the-french-presidency-of-the-council-of-the-eu/','France 22','During the ministerial conference held under the French Presidency of the Council of the EU, on the occasion of the 35th anniversary of the Erasmus+ programme, the European ministers notably demonstrated their commitment to strengthening partnerships between Member States to foster the European mobility of young trainees.\r\n\r\nEvery year, Erasmus+ enables thousands of European students to continue their training or studies in another EU country. Since 1987, more than 10 million Europeans have studied abroad thanks to this programme. Apprentices, however, whether under apprenticeship contracts or professional training contracts, currently represent only 8% of participants in the Erasmus+ programme.\r\n\r\nIn line with the Porto declaration of May 2021, the task at hand is now ensuring that these young apprentices benefit more from Erasmus+.\r\nApprenticeships are a path to excellence and a critical lever to combat youth unemployment. Furthermore, European mobility offers the opportunity for young people to develop new professional skills and expertise, by opening a gateway to another way of learning and doing. It thus represents an additional asset to boost their employability: 86% of those that took part in the Erasmus+ programme found that their employability increased following their training abroad.\r\n\r\nLastly, increasing mobility for apprenticeships contributes to the aim of making a European experience a possibility for all young people on all learning paths, as well as strengthening their sense of belonging to Europe.\r\n\r\nMeasures to develop Erasmus for apprentices\r\nTo strengthen European mobility for apprentices, the ministers agreed to reinforce partnerships between Member States in order to develop European networks and make it easier for apprentices to choose to learn abroad.\r\nDiscussions also covered the schemes and measures to support mobility in different training and learning programmes. To this end, the European Commission presented its ideas on how these measures can evolve in order for apprentice mobility to grow.\r\n\r\nLastly, the ministers discussed how to better spread information about the proposed schemes. In this respect, Élisabeth Borne announced the creation of a webpage dedicated to Europe, on 1jeune1solution.gouv.fr, the website for youth employment in France. This page will offer mobility opportunities to young French people in their training pathways or job searches. Portals to look for a job and to look for an internship will therefore redirect them towards European search motors and offers. Portals for young people looking for a mission in Europe or wishing to complete part of their training in Europe will also be available, and allow for different types of experiences in Europe to be presented.\r\n\r\nEmployment and youth are at the heart of considerations of the French Presidency of the Council of the EU. We must work to make Erasmus more accessible to all young people, regardless of their training pathways. This is one of our goals to develop skills among our young people and introduce them to new competencies and new methods of learning. It is also a way for us to deepen the sense of belonging to Europe and thus contribute towards building the new generation of Europeans.\r\n— Elisabeth Borne, Minister of Labour, Employment and Economic Inclusion\r\n\r\nToday, more and more students are able to benefit from European mobility. Apprentices must be offered the same possibilities of training abroad in Europe especially because the funding is available. Mobility enriches young people’s learning and adds value to it. The Commission, working closely with the Member States, aims to facilitate mobility for young apprentices in order for them to develop new skills.\r\n— Nicolas Schmit, European Commissioner for Jobs and Social Rights','2022-01-17','',0,1),(239,'French elections: Divided left fight doomed race of their own','BBC News, Paris','Politics',1,57,'2-	https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-60059542 (Politics)','By Hugh Schofield','Pity the French left-winger as he or she contemplates the upcoming presidential elections.\r\n\r\nFor the first time in living memory, there is not a single candidate from their camp among the front-runners ahead of the April vote.\r\n\r\nThe highest-ranking leftist, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, is in fifth place at about 9% in the polls, outperformed by a centrist President Emmanuel Macron, a conservative in Valérie Pécresse and two far-right wingers in Marine Le Pen and Eric Zemmour.\r\n\r\nDaggers drawn\r\nAs things stand, the chances of a left-wing candidate making it through to the second round - let alone winning the election like François Hollande in 2012 and François Mitterrand years before - look like a pipe dream.\r\n\r\nWhat\'s more, despite the voters\' anguished pleas for unity, the party machines have merely responded with yet more division.\r\n\r\nWith 11 weeks to go until Round One, the Socialists and the Greens are at daggers drawn over which of their respective candidates, Anne Hidalgo and Yannick Jadot, is the true champion of the mainstream left.\r\n\r\n\r\nThen there is the Communist, Fabien Roussel, determined to keep his party\'s identity alive. And he\'s not doing badly, given that at 3% he is equal with Ms Hidalgo. Add to that anti-capitalists Nathalie Arthaud and Philippe Poutou, fighting their own battle on the fringe.\r\n\r\nSeven in race for the left\r\nOne left-wing candidate, ex-minister Arnaud Montebourg, has decided to call it a day, arguing that to continue in the race with such a multitude of candidates would be to \"add disorder to confusion\".\r\n\r\nBut that was more than offset by the declaration of another former minister, Christiane Taubira. So there are still seven left-wingers in the running.\r\n\r\nFrance\'s former Justice Minister and candidate for the 2022 presidential election Christiane Taubira poses as she participates in a news broadcast of France 2 TV channel in Paris, on January 15, 2022\r\n\r\nHailed by many, especially the young, as an inspirational figure because of her battles against racism and for gay marriage, Ms Taubira was hoping to play a \"deus ex machina\" kind of role, uniting the discordant tribes behind her.\r\n\r\nWorking in Christiane Taubira\'s favour has been a grassroots project called the \"Popular Primary\", in which at the end of next week left-wing supporters who register on a website will get to choose which candidate best expresses their vision and should therefore represent the left in April.\r\n\r\nWith enough participation in the so-called primary, the argument goes, whoever emerges as the most popular leader on the left will have the moral authority to demand that the others all stand aside, which they will of course do in the interests of the greater good.\r\n\r\nIt may sound plausible. In reality the project is doomed.\r\n\r\n\'Too many heads\'\r\nMr Mélenchon and Yannick Jadot have both said they want nothing to do with the business, believing it was conceived by supporters of Christiane Taubira to boost her entry into the race.\r\n\r\nAnne Hidalgo feels the same, but her position is complicated because some in her Socialist Party may actually be rooting for Ms Taubira because they think Ms Hidalgo has made such a lousy campaign of it so far.\r\n\r\nAdd to the picture that in this popular primary there are also three other potential candidates - the totally unknown Anna Agueb-Porterie, Charlotte Marchandise and Pierre Larroutourou - and you can see why the average left-wing voter might be tempted to start tugging the rug.\r\n\r\n\"There are simply too many heads on too small a stage,\" as Libération newspaper, house journal of the French left, put it this week. \"True, no-one really believed in a grand union of the left. But who would have thought the fingers on one hand would be insufficient to count the candidates?\"\r\n\r\nOf course in the French system having a multiplicity of candidates on the left or right is not necessarily a handicap.\r\n\r\n\r\nIt has been 10 years since a left-winger won the presidency in François Hollande\r\nThat\'s as long as there is a clear front-runner who, having qualified for the run-off, can count on the first-round votes of their erstwhile rivals, who would now be ministerial hopefuls.\r\n\r\nWhat went wrong for French left\r\nWhen Mitterrand won the presidency in 1981, he was up against five left-wing and environmentalist candidates in Round One. However, his first-round vote was 25% and his nearest rival was the Communist, Georges Marchais, on 9%, the same as the highest-ranking leftist Jean-Luc Mélenchon is polling today.\r\n\r\nIn late-night sessions in Paris salons the arguments roll on about why things have come to this pass:\r\n\r\nIs it because the French left is too doctrinaire, too wedded to theory and not sufficiently pragmatic like the German Social Democrats, who are now in power?\r\n\r\nIs it because of a fault-line dividing old-style one-nation Socialists from the new identity politics brigade?\r\nIs it because the dream of the left was shattered by the mediocrity of François Hollande? Is it because the Fifth Republic system needs big beasts to be in charge, and the left congenitally cannot produce them?\r\n\r\nIs it because, paradoxically, France is already a left-wing country, economically speaking, so people who vote far right actually want to keep all the good things that Socialism has achieved? Is it that the left is scared of talking about immigration and crime?\r\nOr is it simply that Emmanuel Macron craftily mastered this all along, splitting the left apart in 2017? The one thing it has not spent the last five years doing is getting back together.','2022-01-21','',0,1),(240,'French holiday bookings surge after rule change','BBC News','Lifestyle',8,57,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59977978','Reuters','France will relax its restrictions for those travelling from the UK from Friday, the government has announced.\r\n\r\nVaccinated travellers will no longer need a compelling reason to enter France, and will not have to self-isolate when they arrive.\r\n\r\nBut a negative Covid test, taken 24 hours before leaving the UK, will still be required for all those arriving.\r\n\r\nTravel companies welcomed the news - with Jet2 reporting a \"sharp\" spike in flight bookings to ski destinations.\r\n\r\nFrench holiday bookings surge after rule change\r\nFrance brought in the restrictions on 18 December in an attempt to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.\r\n\r\nPeople who are not vaccinated will still need a compelling reason to enter France, and must still isolate for 10 days upon arrival.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe country is battling a surge in Covid-19 infections. On Thursday, there were a record 368, 817 new cases and 341 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.\r\n\r\nHow can I tell I have Omicron?\r\nWhat tests do I need to go on holiday?\r\nHalf of Europe will catch Omicron - WHO\r\nBoth holidaymakers and the travel industry have welcomed the change.\r\n\r\nMelissa Hamblett from Gloucester has had to reschedule a trip to Disneyland for their son Max\'s birthday five times since they originally booked in 2020.\r\n\r\n\"Our son doesn\'t know the update yet, he\'s at school right now,\" she said. \"He\'s going to be so happy.\"\r\n\r\nShe said it has been \"really disappointing\" having to keep rescheduling. \"I was convinced [it] would be happening again. I got bored of getting my hopes up.\"\r\n\r\nMelissa Hamblett, husband James and son Max outside the magical castle at Disneyland\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,MELISSA HAMBLETT\r\nImage caption,\r\n\"We\'ve got a countdown chalkboard in our kitchen,\" says big Disney fan Melissa Hamblett\r\nEurostar welcomed the change and said it would increase the number of its services in the coming weeks, while Brittany Ferries called it a \"great relief\".\r\n\r\n\"I can only hope that we have seen the last border closure of the Covid crisis,\" said Christophe Mathieu, boss of the ferry company.\r\n\r\n\"Thousands of Brittany Ferries passengers have been disrupted and millions of pounds in income has been lost as a consequence of draconian measures like border closures.\"\r\n\r\nAround 17 million British nationals visit France every year - and ABTA, which represents travel firms, said it was one of the most popular destinations for UK holidaymakers.\r\n\r\n\"Thousands of people head there for ski breaks at this time of year, so this will be a huge relief for customers with holidays booked there for the next few weeks, who have been waiting anxiously for news,\" said ABTA.\r\n\r\n\"We are still waiting for more details from the French government on entry requirements such as the rules that will apply for children. Travellers should continue to monitor the Foreign Office travel advice.\"\r\n\r\nJet2 announced it was resuming flights to French ski destinations, with its boss adding: \"This is the positive news that skiers and snowboarders have been looking forward to, and the spike in bookings for ski flights has been both sharp and immediate.\"\r\n\r\nA Christmas tree and properties in Chamonix, France\r\nImage caption,\r\nBritons accounted for one in four tourists in Chamonix before the Covid pandemic\r\nFrance tightened its restrictions earlier this month, making remote working compulsory for those who can, and limiting public gatherings for indoor events. Eating and drinking on long distance transport is banned, cafés and bars can provide table service only and nightclubs are closed.\r\n\r\nOn Thursday, the French Senate approved a controversial pass, which requires people to be fully vaccinated to visit a range of spaces, including bars and restaurants. It also removes the option of showing a negative test to get in.\r\n\r\nThousands protested against the pass on Saturday, with many angry at President Emmanuel Macron who has said he wants to \"piss off\" unvaccinated citizens.\r\n\r\nIn total, 12.6 million people have been infected in France, and more than 127,000 have died.\r\n\r\n','2022-01-13','',0,1),(241,'Press Release - Significant progress made at the informal meetings of the ministers for the environment','France 22','Politics',1,57,'https://presidence-francaise.consilium.europa.eu/en/news/press-release-significant-progress-made-at-the-informal-meetings-of-the-ministers-for-the-environment/','France 22','Human and environmental health and protecting the natural environment were central to the discussions that took place from 20 to 21 January in Amiens as part of the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The ministers gathered to address major issues throughout several sessions: chemicals, imported deforestation, agroecology, the just transition, and interactions between the environment, climate and energy, in particular challenges surrounding forests.\r\n\r\nFrom 20 to 21 January, the environment ministers met to discuss biodiversity and human and environmental health. Two joint sessions bringing together the environment and energy ministers addressed the role of forests in climate, energy and environmental policy, and discussed the concept of the “just transition”.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nFirst working session of the environment ministers\r\nTheme: The agroecological transition: EU coherence and harmonisation concerning plant protection products\r\nThis exchange made it possible to:\r\n\r\nshare best national practices for reducing the use of pesticides and to take account of the ambitious policies put in place by several Member States;\r\nidentify the most relevant measures to be collectively retained at European level in order to cut pesticide use in half by 2030, which is a major component of the agroecological transition;\r\nemphasise the need for a coordinated effort to find alternatives to plant protection products and to offer farmers solutions;\r\ndraw particular attention to “mirror clauses”, in particular with the aim of demanding imported products be subject to the standards in force in the European Union.\r\nto take account of the Member States’ marked interest in the principle of banning exports to third countries of chemical products prohibited in the EU.\r\nThis initial working session falls under the upcoming recasting of the Directive on the sustainable use of pesticides, which will be discussed in Agriculture Council meetings. The purpose of the Directive is to help achieve the goals of the European Green Deal and the EU’s Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The environment ministers will have the chance to revisit this issue during the Environment Council meeting in June.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nWorking lunch with the Environment Ministers\r\nTheme: Implementing the European sustainability strategy in the field of chemical products\r\nThis working lunch provided the opportunity to identify the Member States’ priorities to inform the main upcoming legislative initiatives in 2022 and to collectively move forward with removing dangerous chemicals from the market.\r\n\r\nSeveral major initiatives are expected by the end of the year:\r\n\r\nthe cross-cutting definition of the concept of endocrine disruptors in the CLP Regulation (Classification, Packaging and Labelling Regulation);\r\nthe proposed revision of the REACH Regulation on the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals;\r\nthe restrictions applicable to these substances.\r\nThe implementation of the concept “a substance/an evaluation” and the need to have a harmonised definition of nanomaterials were examined.\r\nOnce again, the discussions addressed the challenges associated with banning exports of chemicals banned in the European Union.\r\n\r\n\r\nSecond working session of the environment ministers\r\nTheme: Combatting imported deforestation\r\nCombatting imported deforestation, one of the French Presidency’s priorities, is at the heart of the talks between the Member States. This working session provided an opportunity to gather more precise information on the main elements of the Member States’ positions regarding the Commission’s legislative proposal and to open up the debate on the challenges surrounding cooperation with third countries. The Commission’s proposal received a very positive response on this subject, which would allow Europeans to consume products in the knowledge that they have not contributed to the destruction of tropical forests.\r\n\r\nSeveral provisions will be debated over the coming weeks:\r\n\r\nextending the Regulation’s scope to other basic products such as rubber;\r\ntaking into account the impact of the production of these materials on other fragile and biodiversity-rich ecosystems, such as grasslands and wetlands, and possibly bringing it under the scope of the Regulation;\r\nTechnical discussions will now be stepped up to build an effective, controllable European mechanism that can serve as a benchmark for the rest of the world.\r\n\r\n\r\nJoint working session with the Environment and Energy Ministers\r\nTheme: The role of forests and the wood sector in environmental, energy and climate policies\r\nThis session reaffirmed the complex and key role of forests and the wood sector in the success of EU climate, environmental and energy policies. Common points of understanding were identified in order to define ambitious, compatible goals, in particular within the framework of the negotiations on the LULUCF regulation and the RED III revision of the Fit for 55 package. A significant number of ministers emphasised the shared commitment to promoting the uses of wood to build up carbon sinks in the Member States, while preserving forest ecosystems. Several major focuses emerged from the discussions:\r\n\r\nthe essential role of forest carbon sinks in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, and reinforcing public action in support of forests;\r\nthe increased use of wood moving toward long-term usages;\r\nimproved recycling and energy recovery of biomass wastes; and\r\nthe relevance of the principle of “cascade utilisation” of biomass, which must be applied with discernment.\r\n\r\nJoint working lunch with the Environment and Energy Ministers\r\nTheme: The just transition\r\nDuring the joint working lunch, the ministers held a constructive discussion on the opportunities offered by the low-carbon transition and on the concept of the “just transition”. A number of ministers stressed the importance of ensuring a just transition, through support measures to facilitate re-training for workers and the transition for companies as well as helping households, while prioritising the most vulnerable. Discussions nonetheless remain open regarding the methods and means to be implemented, at both national and European level, to achieve this. With regard to extending the carbon market to the road transport and construction sectors, this proposal was not met with consensus and must be further discussed in depth, including alternative approaches. Discussions also highlighted the need for vigilance with regard to the high volatility of carbon prices, as well as the importance of ensuring that prices are comprehensible to encourage long-term investment and the emergence of disruptive technologies.','2022-01-21','',0,1),(242,'French oil giant TotalEnergies withdraws from Myanmar over \'worsening\' human rights abuses','France 24','Politics',1,57,'https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220121-french-oil-giant-totalenergies-withdraws-from-myanmar-over-worsening-human-rights-abuses','By AFP','French oil giant TotalEnergies on Friday said it would withdraw from Myanmar over \"worsening\" human rights abuses committed since the country\'s military took power in a February 2021 coup.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\"The situation, in terms of human rights and more generally the rule of law, which have kept worsening in Myanmar... has led us to reassess the situation and no longer allows TotalEnergies to make a sufficiently positive contribution in the country,\" the company said.\r\n\r\nTotal will withdraw from its Yadana gas field in the Andaman Sea, which provides electricity to the local Burmese and Thai population, six months at the latest after the expiry of its contractual period.\r\n\r\nThe company said it had not identified any means to sanction the military junta without avoiding stopping gas production and ensuing payments to the military-controlled Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise (MOGE).\r\n\r\nAround 30 percent of the gas produced at Yadana is sold to the MOGE for domestic use, providing about half of the largest city Yangon\'s electricity supply, according to Total.\r\n\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\nInternational diplomatic pressure and sanctions have been building against Myanmar\'s military junta since last year\'s coup ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.\r\n\r\nThe European Union has imposed targeted sanctions on the Myanmar military, its leaders and entities, while Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor this week sold its stake in a Burmese digital payments service over the coup.\r\n\r\nMore than 1,400 civilians have been killed as the military cracks down on dissent, according to a local monitoring group, and numerous anti-junta militias have sprung up around the country.\r\n\r\nSuu Kyi this month was convicted of three criminal charges and sentenced to four years in prison and now faces five new corruption charges.','2022-01-21','',0,1),(243,'Heydemann on course to become first woman to lead Orange -sources','Reuteurs','Society',4,57,'https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/christel-heydemann-course-become-next-orange-ceo-sources-2022-01-23/','By Mathieu Rosemain','PARIS, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Orange (ORAN.PA), France\'s biggest telecoms operator, is on course to name Christel Heydemann as its new chief executive, making her the first woman to lead the former monopoly amid a revamp of its governance, two sources said on Sunday.\r\n\r\nFew women hold top executive roles at France\'s biggest listed companies. Heydemann would become the third CEO of the Paris CAC 40 (.FCHI) blue-chip index, after Engie\'s Catherine MacGregor and Estelle Brachlianoff, who is slated to take the reins of utility group Veolia (VIE.PA) on July 1.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe board of Orange, on which Heydemann has sat since 2017, is scheduled to meet on Friday to formally appoint her as the new boss, the sources close to the matter added.\r\n\r\nHeydemann currently heads European operations at French electric equipment group Schneider Electric (SCHN.PA). She was not immediately available for comment on Sunday.\r\n\r\nA graduate of France\'s elite engineering school Polytechnique, Heydemann, 47, will replace Stephane Richard at the helm of the state-controlled group after a court convicted him of complicity of misuse of public funds. read more\r\n\r\n\r\nRichard, who has led Orange for the past 12 years, denies any wrongdoing.\r\n\r\nThe Orange board meeting was formally scheduled on Monday, but was postponed to Friday to solve some issues such as the date when Heydemann would formally take over and a potential temporary extension of Richard\'s operational role, the sources said.\r\n\r\nRichard was initially slated to quit the group on Jan. 31. His role as chairman remains to be filled, as the split of chairman and CEO positions is part of the governance revamp.\r\n\r\n\r\nHeydemann\'s name has been circulating for days in the French press and presented as the favoured candidate of France\'s finance ministry, which holds sway over the governance of Orange, in which the state owns a combined 23% stake.\r\n\r\nFrance\'s weekly JDD was first to report Heydemann\'s likely appointment at a board meeting on Friday.\r\n\r\nThe new Orange boss will take the reins of the company as it keeps on deploying the new generation of internet mobile networks and broadband fibre optic infrastructure - capital-heavy investments that have pressured its margins as its two biggest markets, France and Spain, remain highly competitive.\r\n\r\nThe group is deemed strategic by the government and scrutinised by the finance ministry and the Elysee Palace, an important factor to take into account for any new CEO willing to embark in a transformative deal.\r\n\r\nOrange has managed to stabilise its revenues after the arrival of Iliad\'s low-cost Free Mobile in France in 2012 triggered a price war, and it has expanded its activities in West Africa, Poland, Romania as well as in cybersecurity and banking services.\r\n\r\nBut its recent financial underperformance, especially in Spain where it had to cut staff, has disappointed investors, with shares now trading at a price that is about a third lower than five years ago.','2022-01-23','',0,1),(244,'Key Trends for Travel and Expense in 2022: France Highlights','TripActions + Skift','Travel',6,58,'Key Trends for Travel and Expense in 2022: France Highlights','TripActions','Skift Take\r\nAs the corporate travel recovery gathers steam in France, remote work, health and safety guidelines, and governmental restrictions will affect its trajectory. Travel, corporate card, and expense technology will lead the way for corporations to navigate these new, unfamiliar paths in 2022 and the years ahead.\r\n\r\n TripActions\r\n\r\nShare\r\nFacebook Logo\r\nTwitter Logo\r\nLinkedIn Logo\r\nEmail icon\r\nThe corporate travel, card, and expense landscape will evolve quickly in 2022 to meet the demands of a new operational environment. These changes will include adjusting for hybrid and remote work, developing and disseminating health and safety guidelines as Covid evolves, and reacting to the unpredictable ebbs and flows of governmental restrictions.\r\n\r\nAs business travel rebounds in France, travel and expense policies will lead the way as corporations navigate new, unfamiliar paths. Technology will drive companies’ ability to manage changes — and just as importantly, communicate those changes to enable employee compliance. Doing so will be critical in creating revenue opportunities through business travel and maximizing profitability through corporate cards and expense management.\r\n\r\nFrench Businesses Expect a Strong Corporate Travel Rebound\r\nSkift and TripActions conducted a survey of 376 business travelers and corporate travel decision makers (CTDMs) from France in December 2021. The results showed that travel is primed for a big return in 2022. For example, 75 percent of business travelers said that they expect to take three or more trips in 2022. Nearly one-third (31 percent) said they will take at least six business trips this year.\r\n\r\n\r\nUnderscoring the fact that corporate travel is a critical activity driving economic recovery, 84 percent of both travelers and CTDMs either “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that business travel is important to driving their companies’ growth.\r\n\r\n“Each time restrictive measures have been lifted, we have seen a surge in business travel bookings,” said Zahir Abdelouhab, vice president for SEMEA, TripActions. “I am confident we will see this once again — nothing replaces the value of face-to-face meetings, and we know from our customers that there is pent-up demand.”\r\n\r\nWhile travelers and CTDMs agreed broadly about travel’s importance, their top reasons to take business trips differed. Business travelers in France said that they would most likely travel for essential client meetings, to close a deal, or to attend conferences and events, while CTDMs said they would prioritize travel that either establishes or fosters client relationships.\r\n\r\nLatest News\r\nUpdated Mar. 1, 2022\r\n\r\nSpain’s Melia On Track to Beat Pre-Pandemic Bookings this Summer\r\nTripActions Inherits Swedish Travel Agency to Strengthen Europe Footprint\r\nTUI Group’s Largest Shareholder Hit With European Union Sanctions\r\n\r\nThese slightly differing results suggest that if further lockdowns and border restrictions manifest, or if large in-person events continue to be scaled back or run virtually, travel managers may be more likely than travelers to pull back — especially if their definition of “essential” differs from that of their employees, or if they are more inclined to reduce potential liabilities.\r\n\r\nChanging Policies Reflect Rapidly Changing Times\r\nRecent operational changes have required reviews, and in some cases, substantial revisions, of corporate travel, card, and expense policies. Some of the updates are Covid-specific, related to health and safety guidelines or entry requirements at a destination. Others more broadly address emergent trends unearthed by the pandemic such as remote working protocols or how to handle last-minute bookings and cancellations. Those revisions are likely to have a lasting impact.\r\n\r\nIn France, exactly half (50 percent) of CTDMs said their companies have made temporary changes to their policies, and more than one-third (35 percent) said that they’ve made changes that will be permanent.\r\n\r\nCommunicating these policy changes will continue to be one of the biggest challenges in today’s travel environment. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of business travelers reported that timely information about travel procedures was their biggest concern when returning to work trips after the pandemic. CTDMs also reported this issue as their biggest concern, although just two-thirds (67 percent) said the same. Across the board, there were gaps between travelers and managers with respect to their concerns about safety, destination entry requirements, and updates about travel policies.\r\n\r\n\r\nAs any manager knows, the smallest deviations from policy can cause giant headaches. Disseminating information to ease these varied concerns is no simple task. Therefore, travelers and managers emphasize the need for technology to help fill the gaps and ease the transitions into new ways of working.\r\n\r\nTechnology Takes Travel and Expense Management Into the Next Era\r\nTravelers and CTDMs both understand that the landscape will look different in 2022. And they both recognize that they will need enhancements to their travel and expense tools in order to make it work.\r\n\r\nFor example, the ability to process and manage employee expenses — a perpetual challenge among travel managers and finance departments — will only become more acute in 2022 as the purpose, frequency, cost, and need for flexibility for business travel evolves rapidly. Forty percent of CTDMs in France said that employees paying with personal expenses was a major concern. By comparison, a study from Skift and TripActions from earlier in 2021 found that 31 percent of CTDMs in Germany and 37 percent in the UK shared the same concern.\r\n\r\nCTDMs in France also said that their employees were most likely to pay with a personal credit card — 43 percent compared to 36 percent in Germany and just 33 percent in the UK. Meanwhile, less than half of CTDMs in France (48 percent) said their employees paid with a company card, as compared to 60 percent in the UK and 54 percent in Germany.\r\n\r\n\r\nThese sentiments have important implications for the tools that French businesses adopt for travel, corporate cards, and expense management, leading many to search for an upgrade. Among French business travelers, just 60 percent rated their current travel management platform between an “8” and “10,” and only 62 percent of CTDMs offered the same rating to theirs.\r\n\r\nA majority of travelers (67 percent) and CTDMs (72 percent) either “strongly” or “somewhat” agreed that their company’s travel solutions support them well on a trip, make it easy to change plans, and provide quick response times when issues arise. However, the breakdown tells a richer story. Just 21 percent of travelers and 29 percent of CTDMs strongly agreed with that statement, meaning that even among those that reported satisfaction with their tools, there’s room for improvement.\r\n\r\n“Companies have the challenge of bringing together disparate teams for collaboration, team building, and defining company culture whilst ensuring duty of care,” said Abdelouhab. “As the recovering economy creates pricing fluctuations, managing budgets and expenses will be harder without a fully integrated travel and expense management solution.”\r\n\r\nTechnology innovation didn’t take a break during the pandemic, and tools that allow bundling of travel, corporate cards, and expense management into one platform are becoming increasingly more sophisticated. To maintain high program adoption and success, it’s important for companies to choose a platform that offers at least an equal — if not superior — user experience, Abdelouhab said.\r\n\r\nFurthermore, companies are looking at how bringing back business travel will impact their overall financial health, and many are looking for capabilities that allow them to weave policy into corporate cards and combine all expenses into one single view to support that process and provide full cost visibility.\r\n\r\nIn France, 69 percent of CTDMs indicated that they were interested in a travel solution that provides a more unified travel and spend platform, rather than separate solutions, in comparison to 66 percent of UK CTDMs and 62 percent of Germans.\r\n\r\n\r\n“Employees are interested in three things: A technology solution that brings together all their travel information and bookings in one place, an easy-to-use app, and the flexibility to make changes easily,” said Abdelouhab. “The benefit of a unified platform for travel managers and finance teams alleviates the complexity of managing a technology stack that can significantly burden processes, hinder productivity, and prevent teams from having global visibility into employee travel plans and company expenses.”\r\n\r\nTechnology has been the key for businesses to survive the pandemic, but it lacks the capability to foster the deeper human interaction that business travel enables. Moving into 2022 and beyond, companies have the opportunity to be more imaginative in bringing teams and customers together, and they can ease these transitions by automating travel, corporate card, and expense solutions.\r\n\r\nTo learn more about key corporate travel, card, and expense trends worldwide in 2022, please download the recent Skift and TripActions report.\r\n\r\nThis content was created collaboratively by TripActions and Skift’s branded content studio, SkiftX.\r\n\r\n','2022-03-01','',0,1),(245,'‘Take the oligarchs’ Riviera villas’: Ukraine war hijacks French presidential campaign','France 24','Politics',1,58,'https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20220228-take-oligarchs-riviera-villas-ukraine-war-hijacks-french-presidential-campaign','France 24','The Communist candidate in France’s presidential election has suggested storming the winter palaces of Russian oligarchs on the French Riviera and handing them over to Ukrainian refugees as presidential hopefuls scramble to adjust their pitches in a campaign hijacked by the war in Ukraine.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nWith the first round of France’s presidential election less than six weeks away, a lacklustre campaign already overshadowed by the lingering Covid-19 pandemic has been thrown further off course by Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.\r\n\r\nForeign policy is typically a sideshow in French presidential campaigns, but Europe’s biggest military invasion since World War II has left France’s presidential hopefuls with no option but to venture into geopolitics and test their credentials as future commanders-in-chief. \r\n\r\nWith a few notable exceptions, candidates for the Élysée Palace have scrambled to adjust their schedules, swapping campaign events for pro-Ukraine rallies and attempting to clarify – or rectify – past comments on Russia’s president.\r\n\r\nFrench presidential election\r\nFrench presidential election © France 24\r\nFabien Roussel, the Communist Party candidate best known for his defence of French beef, has come up with perhaps the most eye-catching proposal: requisitioning the Russian elite’s luxury possessions on the French Riviera.\r\n\r\n\"Russian oligarchs close to Putin own numerous billionaires\' villas on the Côte d\'Azur. I propose that the state requisitions them to welcome refugees from Ukraine,\" the head of the Communist Party posted on his Twitter feed on Saturday. He also called on all French towns and villages to take in at least one or two Ukrainian families displaced by Putin’s war.\r\n\r\nPutin sympathisers on the back foot\r\n\r\nRoussel is one of several left-wing candidates polling in the low-single digits in the run-up to the election. They include Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, the struggling Socialist candidate, whose campaign rally in Bordeaux on Saturday was almost entirely focused on the war in Ukraine.\r\n\r\n?? En solidarité avec le peuple ukrainien sur la place de la République à Paris.\r\n\r\nLeur liberté est la nôtre !#StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/1TrRtSTuDo\r\n\r\n— Anne Hidalgo (@Anne_Hidalgo) February 24, 2022\r\nHidalgo’s team had originally envisaged a festive event, installing a large screen for the crowd to watch France’s Six Nations rugby match against Scotland. Instead, the stage was decked in the blue-and-yellow flag of Ukraine, while Hidalgo’s speech was rewritten from start to finish.\r\n\r\nAppearing on stage with a young Ukrainian girl, the Socialist nominee called for steeper sanctions against Russia and urged the European Union to launch a fast-track membership process for Kyiv. She also lambasted rivals accused of sympathising with Putin’s Russia – in a tactic mirrored by other mainstream candidates.\r\n\r\n>> Ukraine crisis highlights stark divisions among France\'s presidential candidates\r\n\r\nOn the right of the political spectrum, conservative candidate Valérie Pécresse said those “who defended” the Russian leader in the past were “now discredited to govern France”. The jab was aimed at far-right pundit Eric Zemmour, who has frequently expressed his admiration for Putin’s nationalist pitch, and National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, who famously paid Putin a visit during the 2017 presidential campaign.\r\n\r\nQuizzed on the matter at the weekend, Le Pen said the invasion of Ukraine had “partly changed [her] opinion of Putin”, accusing the Russian leader of “crossing a red line”. Like Zemmour, however, she warned against imposing crippling sanctions on Russia, which she said would hurt the French public too.\r\n\r\nMacron’s ‘bow and arrow’\r\n\r\nEven before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, galloping inflation had pushed the cost of living to the top of French voters’ concerns – forcing President Emmanuel Macron’s government to take urgent measures to shore up citizens’ purchasing power. \r\n\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\nThe war in Ukraine has allowed Macron, who is yet to declare his candidacy, to remain above the fray and make use of his presidential prerogatives. However, it has also complicated the matter of how and when he should declare his re-election bid, with just days to go before a March 4 deadline.\r\n\r\nOn Saturday, Macron made a brief visit at France’s annual farming fair in Paris – traditionally a can’t-miss event for incumbent presidents and challengers alike. He warned that the conflict in Ukraine “will last” and “we must prepare to face the consequences”.\r\n\r\nWorldwide protests take place in solidarity with Ukraine\r\n\r\n00:48\r\nOne candidate certain to skip the agricultural fair was leftist firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who has refused to alter his campaign over the war in eastern Europe. Touring the Indian Ocean island of La Réunion at the weekend, Mélenchon said: “In a democracy, we don’t just stop because Russia has invaded Ukraine.”\r\n\r\nLike Zemmour and Le Pen, Mélenchon has faced a barrage of criticism since the start of Russia’s military offensive, with critics rounding on his recent remarks that NATO had provoked Putin with plans to “annex Ukraine”. \r\n\r\nWhile criticising the Kremlin’s “unbearable” attack on Ukraine, Mélenchon stuck to his “non-aligned” pitch on Sunday, stressing that France should steer clear of the tussle between Russia and the US-led Atlantic alliance. He also slammed the French government’s decision to send defensive military equipment to Ukraine, urging Macron to press for a ceasefire instead of “gesticulating like a little boy with bow and arrows”.','2022-02-28','',0,1),(246,'Macron to launch re-election race, as rivals face pro-Russia allegations','The Guardian','Politics',1,58,'https://www.theguardian.co m/world/2022/feb/27/macron-to-launch-re-election-race-as-rivals-face-pro-russia-allegations','Angelique Chrisafis in Paris','Macron to launch re-election race, as rivals face pro-Russia allegations\r\nThe war in Ukraine is the biggest international crisis to overshadow a presidential race in decades\r\n\r\nRussia-Ukraine crisis: live news\r\nA Greenpeace activist wearing a Macron mask\r\nA Greenpeace activist wearing a Macron mask at the Paris agriculture fair. The president cut short his visit, usually a big event on the political calendar. Photograph: Geoffroy van der Hasselt/AFP/Getty Images\r\nAngelique Chrisafis in Paris\r\n@achrisafis\r\nSun 27 Feb 2022 14.18 GMT\r\n\r\nThe French president, Emmanuel Macron, is expected to launch his campaign for re-election this week in a race shaken by the war in Ukraine, with key candidates under attack over previous pro-Russia stances.\r\n\r\nMacron has left the official declaration of his candidacy to the last minute because of the war, but he must make a move before the 4 March deadline to register.\r\n\r\n“This war will last,” Macron warned as he cut short his visit to the Paris agricultural fair this weekend, which is usually one of the key fixtures of the political calendar.\r\n\r\nThere are only six weeks until the first-round presidential vote on 10 April, with the war in Ukraine the biggest international crisis to have hit a French presidential race in decades.\r\n\r\nAdvertisement\r\nPolls show Macron can win a second term, but there is a rise in support for far-right identity politics in France, with two far-right candidates in the race: Marine Le Pen, who is running for a third time, and a newcomer, the TV pundit Éric Zemmour, who has convictions for incitement to racial hatred.\r\n\r\nBoth Le Pen and Zemmour have been challenged over their previous pro-Kremlin stances and have been criticised for backpedalling after the Russian invasion.\r\n\r\nLe Pen, who Macron defeated with 66% of the votes in the presidential final in 2017, is in the lead position to face him again in the final round, according to polls. But Le Pen accepted a loan from a Russian bank in 2014 to fund her 2017 campaign during which she paid a high-profile visit to Putin, praising him. Since the Russian invasion, she has been criticised by other candidates for her earlier pro-Russia stance.\r\n\r\nIn a statement, she called for “an immediate end to military operations” and said the invasion must be “condemned without ambiguity”.\r\n\r\nWith Macron’s eyes on Ukraine, the far right is dominating the French election\r\nCole Stangler\r\nRead more\r\nZemmour, who had downplayed the risk of war and suggested last year that Putin was not an aggressor, but was instead being treated aggressively by the international community, said he “condemned without reservation” what he called Russia’s “unjustifiable” military intervention.\r\n\r\nJean-Luc Mélenchon, the hard-left presidential candidate, has in recent days pulled ahead of other candidates on the divided left, according to polls. He condemned the Russian invasion “as an extremely serious act of war” and “an unacceptable violation of the principles of international law”. But he was forced to defend his long-term position of France staying “non-aligned”, insisting in a live TV interview: “I have never supported Vladimir Putin, ever.”\r\n\r\nThe Russian invasion has become a key issue for political debate. Clément Beaune, the Europe minister and Macron ally, said Le Pen, Zemmour and Mélenchon were “prisoners of their own contradictions and backpedalling” and were neither “coherent nor credible”.\r\n\r\nValérie Pécresse, who is standing for Nicolas Sarkozy’s Les Républicains party, said at a rally this weekend that the war in Ukraine was “a turning point” in the French presidential campaign because it had allowed “masks to fall” and revealed what she called shameful geopolitical positions of rival candidates. She criticised Zemmour, Le Pen and Mélenchon and called them “discredited”.\r\n\r\nBut Pécresse, who has slipped in the polls, had been under pressure over the stance of Sarkozy’s former prime minister, François Fillon. On the board of two large Russian energy firms, Fillon had been criticised for saying, just as Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, that “the west won’t listen” to Moscow’s demands concerning Nato. Fillon announced in the Journal du Dimanche on Sunday that he would quit the petrochemical firm Sibur and oil company Zarubezhneft.\r\n\r\n…','2022-02-27','',0,1),(247,'More than 70 French companies will take part  at MWC as exhibitors, including 56 at the French Tech pavilion','Business France Middle East','Politics',1,58,'https://world.businessfrance.fr/middle-east/2022/02/28/france-returns-to-the-mobile-world-congress-with-56-exhibitors/','Business France Middle East','More than 70 French companies will take part  at MWC as exhibitors, including 56 at the French Tech pavilion\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n\r\nUnited Arab Emirates- 18thFebruary 2022- The Mobile World Congress will be held in Barcelona from 28 February to 3 March 2022. More than 70 French companies will take part as exhibitors, including 56 at the French Tech pavilion. Highly innovative in the fields of 5G, AI, Cloud, Fintech and the Internet of Things, the French companies present are keen to return to face-to-face meetings with prospects, investors and partners on the lookout for the latest trends in the telecoms and Internet markets.\r\n\r\n “Once again, this year, France has a major presence and is asserting its position as one of the largest national pavilions operating in the sectors of telecoms infrastructure and IoT, mobile applications and services, artificial intelligence, hardware and software. 2022 marks the grand return of the French Tech pavilion, which will this year celebrate 13 years at the Mobile World Congress. With the rise of 5G, the MWC is becoming even more of an unavoidable event in so far as concerns connectivity. It is as a result of the support of the Guadeloupe Chamber of Commerce, the SCS competitiveness cluster and the South region, as well as of Bretagne Commerce International, that Business France will be attending this major Telecoms sector event,” said Etienne Savin, Business France’s MWC event leader.\r\n\r\nTailor-made support for French businesses\r\n\r\nOrganised by Business France, the La French Tech pavilion will occupy an area of 344 m² in Hall 5 on stands 5B41 & 5B61. This support is part of France’s export development strategy aimed at increasing the visibility of French products and services with international decision-makers. New products and services will be demonstrated to visitors during the 4 days of the event. The Business France teams based in countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East have organised a number of meetings at the show designed to take full advantage of discussions between French exhibitors and foreign professionals. The collaboration between national pavilions such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Switzerland will also enable specially arranged meetings between French and international businesses.\r\n\r\nA programme of visits by French officials to the French Tech pavilion is also planned with the arrival of Christophe Lecourtier, Managing Director of Business France, on 28 February and that of Laure de la Raudière, President of ARCEP, on 2 March.\r\n\r\nThe Middle East zone, a market favored by French companies\r\n\r\nA total of 20 French companies exhibiting on the French pavilion have joined the meeting and support programs in the Middle East zone via the support of local Business France offices. The telecom market is particularly flourishing for French technologies. Indeed, the Global Competitiveness Report 2020 ranks the United Arab Emirates 2nd in the world in terms of adoption of new technologies and 4th for the adaptation of its legal framework to the digital sector (e-commerce, fintech). The legal framework now allows the establishment of 100% foreign companies throughout the UAE and a very advantageous tax framework makes the United Arab Emirates attractive to tech companies.','2022-02-28','',0,1),(248,'Covid rules: What changes in France on Monday','The Local','Politics',1,58,'https://www.thelocal.fr/20220222/french-health-minister-reveals-the-conditions-to-lift-covid-restrictions/','The Local','France\'s health minister has laid out the criteria that must be met before further relaxations of the country\'s Covid rules can take place.\r\n\r\nPublished: 22 February 2022 11:22 CET\r\nFrench health minister reveals the conditions to lift Covid restrictions\r\nFrance\'s Health Minister Olivier Veran. Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP\r\nIn recent weeks France has relaxed several of its Covid-related rules and another change – a relaxation on mask rules – comes into force on Monday, February 28th. \r\n\r\nHowever two major restrictions remain in place; the requirement for a vaccine pass to enter a wide range of venues and mask rules in many indoor venues.\r\n\r\nCALENDAR: When is France relaxing Covid rules?\r\n\r\nThese rules currently have no end date, but in recent weeks government figures have talked about ending them as soon as mid March.\r\n\r\n(article continues below)\r\n\r\nSee also on The Local:\r\n\r\nBut now the health minister Olivier Véran, in a presentation to the Senate, has laid out three criteria that must be met before these rules can be relaxed or scrapped altogether.\r\n\r\nThey are:\r\n\r\nFewer than 1,500 Covid patients in intensive care across the country;\r\nAn incidence rate (cases per 100,000 people) of between 300 and 500;\r\nAn R rate below 1.\r\nHe added that if present trends continue, those goals could still be met by mid March or early April, but that a relaxation of the rules would not come before the middle of March.\r\n\r\nCurrent stats\r\n\r\nOn Tuesday, France had 2,904 Covid patients in intensive care, a 12 percent fall on the week before and the continuation of a slow but steady decline observed over the past few weeks.\r\n\r\n\r\nHaving more than 3,000 Covid patients in hospital is regarded as a danger point, at which health services begin to struggle to cope and routine operations may need to be postponed in some areas. The current ICU occupancy for Covid patients is 57 percent.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nGraphs from Covidtracker.fr show, left, Covid patients in intensive care and, right, hospital Covid deaths. Graph: Covidtracker.fr\r\nThe national incidence rate is 884 although areas including the south west of France and the north east areas on the Belgian border are still reporting a rate of over 1,000 cases per 100,000 people.\r\n\r\nThe incidence rate has been steadily declining overall, but a faster fall has been recorded in areas such as Paris, where the Omicron wave peaked earlier.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThis map from Covidtracker.fr shows the incidence rate by département – orange is between 500 and 1,000, red is over 1,000. Map: Covidtracker.fr\r\nThe current incidence rate is 0.57, well within the minister’s target. Covid case numbers have been falling rapidly for several weeks, albeit from an extremely high rate at the peak. \r\n\r\nTargets\r\n\r\nAt previous points in the pandemic French authorities have imposed targets around case numbers and hospitalisation rates that needed to be met before restrictions could be relaxed.\r\n\r\nThese have generally been followed, although the lifting of lockdown in time for Christmas 2020 went ahead, despite the case rate target not quite being met.\r\n\r\nThe French government had initially been talking about July as a possible date for lifting restrictions, before several ministers floated the idea of April or May – this lead to accusations of electioneering, as Macron was accused of wanting to bring in popular moves just ahead of the presidential elections in April.\r\n\r\nLittle detail has been given on what new rules will look like, so we don’t know whether we’re talking about a complete end to mask rules and the vaccine pass or simply a relaxation.\r\n\r\nVéran said the vaccine pass will be lifted in “all or part of the places where it is required”.\r\n\r\nTesting and self-isolation\r\n\r\nSo far there has been no political discussion around changing the rules for self-isolation in case of a positive Covid test, or changing the rules on free Covid tests.\r\n\r\nTests are currently free to all fully vaccinated residents of France who are registered within the French health system, and can be accessed for any reason (including travel).\r\n\r\nUnvaccinated residents only qualify for free tests if they have symptoms or are a contact case, while tourists are required to pay for tests in all circumstances. The government has capped the price of tests at €22 for an antigen test or €54 for a PCR test. Home-test kits sell for a maximum of €6, but since February 15th can only be bought in pharmacies.\r\n\r\nVaccines\r\n\r\nVéran also told the Senate that at present there was no evidence that people who are not in high-risk groups require a second vaccine booster shot, and these would continue being offered only to high-risk groups such as people with long-term illnesses.\r\n\r\nHowever he added that if a dangerous new variant arose making a fourth dose necessary, the government’s “hand would not tremble”. \r\n\r\nThe vaccine is available to everyone aged five and over in France.\r\n\r\nTravel\r\n\r\nVéran did not mention any relaxation of travel rules and these tend to be discussed separately from domestic French rules.\r\n\r\nFrance recently lifted the requirement for a negative Covid test for all fully-vaccinated arrivals, meaning that if you’re vaccinated you can travel to France relatively easily.\r\n\r\nHowever non-vaccinated arrivals are still banned from all orange and red list countries – which includes most non-EU countries including the UK, USA and Canada – unless they meet the criteria for essential travel.','2022-02-28','',0,1),(249,'Closing in on Macron: Could Le Pen’s blandest campaign be her most successful yet?','France 24','Politics',1,59,'https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220331-closing-in-on-macron-could-le-pen-s-blandest-campaign-be-her-most-successful-yet',' Benjamin DODMAN','Unruffled by defections and the rise of a far-right challenger, Marine Le Pen has steadied her ship in the final stretch of France’s presidential campaign, pulling ahead of rivals as she closes in on a replay of her 2017 duel with Emmanuel Macron.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nAs he walked off the stage following his latest fiery address in Marseille on Sunday, an exhausted Jean-Luc Mélenchon spoke candidly to reporters about his chances in the upcoming presidential contest.\r\n\r\n“Either the quartiers populaires vote in droves on April 10, or I’m a dead man,” he sighed, referring to the working-class suburbs of Paris and other French cities, where many tend to shun the polls. Turning to the principal obstacle standing in his way, the veteran leftist added: “I don’t understand how Marine Le Pen can keep rising in the polls without even campaigning, whereas we have to chase down each vote with our teeth.”\r\n\r\nThe upcoming presidential contest marks the third time Mélenchon and Le Pen have a shot at the Élysée Palace. It is also the third time the two candidates are vying for the elusive vote populaire – the working-class electorate that was once solidly left-wing but has since drifted to the far right.\r\n\r\nFrench presidential election\r\nFrench presidential election © France 24\r\nAs in the past two elections, the leader of the far-right National Rally has enjoyed a comfortable headstart over her left-wing rival in what has always been a lop-sided contest. With just 10 days to go before the first round on April 10, Le Pen is polling in second place behind the incumbent, President Emmanuel Macron. Crucially, polls suggest she is 3% to 7% ahead of third-placed Mélenchon, meaning she is likely to qualify for the all-important run-off on April 24.\r\n\r\nSecond-round data also looks encouraging for Le Pen, who has significantly narrowed the gap with Macron since she lost by more than 20 percentage points five years ago. A poll by the Ifop-Fiducial group published on Monday indicated Macron would win by just 53% versus 47% for Le Pen – a gap narrow enough to send alarm bells ringing in the president’s camp. \r\n\r\nPollsters have warned that such figures are to be taken with a pinch of salt, pointing to an unprecedented number of voters who are unsure who to vote for or indeed whether to vote at all. Still, Le Pen’s solid ratings underscore the resilience of the National Rally leader, who was upstaged by her noisier rival on the far right – the former pundit and political upstart, Éric Zemmour – for much of the campaign.\r\n\r\nBattle on the far right\r\nZemmour’s provocative outbursts offered him unrivalled exposure during the first months of campaigning, while his ability to poach high-profile figures from Le Pen’s entourage – including her own niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen – suggested a possible changing of the guard on the far right.\r\n\r\n>> Pushing far-right agenda, French news networks shape election debate\r\n\r\nInstead, the leader of the National Rally appears to have seen off her turbulent challenger, who is now regarded as a very long shot for the April 24 run-off.\r\n\r\n“Le Pen may have lost some of her cadres, but the voters who have long backed her and her party are still there,” said Jérôme Sainte-Marie, head of the PollingVox institute, in an interview with FRANCE 24. “She is simply rebuilding her electorate from 2017.”\r\n\r\nFar from weakening the National Rally, Zemmour’s incendiary attacks on immigrants and Muslims have helped trivialise his vision of the far right while allowing Le Pen – who has toned down her rhetoric – to come across as more respectable and “presidential”. This has helped Le Pen advance her great endeavour since she took over from her father, Jean-Marie, in 2011: to detoxify a party long seen as a racist, anti-republican hideout for nostalgics of the colonial era. \r\n\r\n“Just like in 2012, when she benefited from a positive comparison with her father’s excesses, Marine Le Pen is able to capitalise on Zemmour’s extreme radicalism, which in contrast makes her come across as calm, composed, open-minded and less divisive,” said Cécile Alduy, a professor at Stanford University and research associate at Sciences-Po in Paris, who has recently published a book on Zemmour’s rhetoric.\r\n\r\n“Le Pen has one clear advantage, she has learned from her father the pitfalls politicians must avoid if they are to broaden their appeal: the gaffes, the wrong words, the ill-judged statements that forever haunt candidates and banish them to the fringes,” she told FRANCE 24.\r\n\r\n>> Spooked by immigration, Islam and ‘woke’ ideas: Who are Éric Zemmour’s supporters?\r\n\r\nThe National Rally leader has noticeably softened her speech on the campaign trail, steering clear of controversy and putting a lid on the vituperations that once defined her party. Without renouncing her anti-immigrant stance, she has studiously avoided talk of the “great replacement” conspiracy theory championed by Zemmour, which even the struggling conservative candidate, Valérie Pécresse, has clumsily referenced. \r\n\r\nInstead, the veteran far-right candidate has demonstrated a measure of empathy and flexibility, said Alduy, noting that she “immediately spoke in favour of welcoming Ukrainian refugees when war broke out” – whereas Zemmour shocked the public by declaring that they should settle in Poland instead.  \r\n\r\nFar-right hopeful Zemmour toughens already tough line on immigration\r\nFar-right poll hopeful Zemmour defends \"ministry of remigration\"  during campaign outing.\r\nFar-right poll hopeful Zemmour defends \"ministry of remigration\" during campaign outing. © AFP\r\n11:58\r\nThe strategy appears to be paying off. According to an Ipsos study published by Le Monde on Monday, the number of people who see Le Pen as a threat has dropped two points since January to 51%. While 50% of people surveyed said they would “under no circumstance” vote for her, the figure was higher for both Zemmour (64%) and Mélenchon (53%).\r\n\r\nOn the surface, her party’s election platform has also undergone a makeover, abandoning some of the more controversial policies from 2017. Gone are the promises to quit the Eurozone, achieve “zero immigration” or ban dual nationality. Le Pen has also softened her stance on societal issues, dropping her opposition to gender-parity policies and shelving plans to call a referendum on reinstituting the death penalty.\r\n\r\nWhen Zemmour surged in the polls in late 2021, critics suggested Le Pen had gone too far in her efforts to “normalise” the former Front National – turning it from radical to bland. But party officials have welcomed the shift in perception, noting that some analysts have stopped labelling the National Rally “far right”, adopting alternative labels such as “national populists”.\r\n\r\nJordan Bardella, the party’s youthful number two, defended the strategy earlier this month at a gathering of rival right-wing candidates hosted by the ultra-conservative magazine Valeurs Actuelles, which has actively pushed Zemmour’s campaign.\r\n\r\n“All the changes we have made over the past five years have been designed to transform what had long been a protest pitch into a path that is politically viable, juridically applicable and politically serious – in short, into a platform for government,” he said, striking a pragmatic tone that contrasted markedly with anti-systemic language of past campaigns.\r\n\r\nThe cost of war\r\nLe Pen’s best efforts to appear “presidential” could easily have been derailed by the outbreak of war in Ukraine, which upended a lacklustre campaign and offered Macron a wartime bump in the polls.\r\n\r\nLike Zemmour, Le Pen has spoken admiringly of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin in the past, laughing off suggestions that he might pose a threat to Europe. Fears that this might hurt her campaign prompted some party officials to hurriedly get rid of brochures that feature a picture of the National Rally leader posing with Putin at the Kremlin.\r\n\r\nInstead, the war has highlighted Le Pen’s ability to turn an apparent setback into an opportunity, shutting out Zemmour’s identity politics and placing the debate firmly on her preferred terrain: surging prices and the plight of France’s hard-up.\r\n\r\n“Le Pen was very quick to blame Putin for the war and then shift the discussion to the war’s impact on people’s purchasing power, which has been her mantra since the start of the campaign,” Alduy noted.\r\n\r\nWhile condemning Putin’s aggression, the far-right leader has criticised Western sanctions against Russia, flagging their impact on French households already saddled with surging energy prices. She has promised to tax the big energy companies that make “fat profits” from the crisis, a stance popular with her core, working-class electorate. At the same time, she has bolstered her ideological credentials with talk of limiting benefits to French nationals.\r\n\r\nMarine Le Pen poses for a selfie during a campaign stop in Courtenay, central France, on March 19, 2022.\r\nMarine Le Pen poses for a selfie during a campaign stop in Courtenay, central France, on March 19, 2022. © Guillaume Souvant, AFP\r\nThe campaign’s general shift towards the concerns of low-income workers has played into Le Pen’s hands, validating her decision to shun large rallies in favour of small-scale gathering in towns and villages – both a tactical choice and a consequence of her party’s dire financial straits.\r\n\r\nWhile her rivals have bickered on TV sets and Macron has focused on the international stage, the National Rally leader has spent much of her time mingling with crowds in depressed areas, showcasing her ability to connect with ordinary people. She has cast herself as the “candidate of concrete solutions”, detailing how she plans to curb the price of gas, petrol, wheat and other staples. \r\n\r\nA lot of this has taken place below the media’s radar, fostering the impression that – as Mélenchon claimed in Marseille – Le Pen was somehow rising in the polls “without even campaigning”.\r\n\r\nMacron’s polar opposite\r\nWhile both Mélenchon and Le Pen have put purchasing power at the heart of their platforms, the latter’s pitch is likely to appeal more directly to voters, said Alduy, noting that “Mélenchon’s discourse is more political and ideological, whereas Le Pen talks about prices in supermarkets, fuel costs for fishermen and keeping people’s homes warm, all the while campaigning on the ground.”\r\n\r\nThe strategy is aimed at drumming up support among what is already a consolidated voting group, said PollingVox’s Sainte-Marie.\r\n\r\n“Le Pen’s electorate has become a class-based one, combining blue-collar workers and employees, most of them low-earners from the private sector,” he said. “Their vote signals both support for Le Pen and her platform, and also a form of social identity.”\r\n\r\nThat social bloc has identified the National Rally leader as Macron’s polar opposite, and the one with the best chance of defeating him in the second round on April 24, Sainte-Marie added: “She represents a vision of the world and social categories that are the exact opposite of ‘Macronism’, making her a natural recipient of the anti-Macron vote.”\r\n\r\nThe trouble for Le Pen is that her working-class voters are also among those most likely to shun the polls. It was the case in last year’s regional elections, when the National Rally suffered its worst defeat in years amid record levels of abstention. \r\n\r\nLosing faith in democracy: France\'s abstention problem\r\nLosing faith in democracy: France\'s abstention problem\r\nLosing faith in democracy: France\'s abstention problem © FRANCE 24\r\n11:05\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\n“We’re talking about an economically vulnerable segment of the population that is typically torn between voting against the system or shunning the system,” Sainte-Marie explained. “In the absence of a mobilising campaign, anti-systemic parties tend to be hurt most by abstention, as was the case in the latest regional elections.”\r\n\r\nLe Pen has clearly identified the threat of low turnout among her voters as the main obstacle en route to the second round. She has pleaded with supporters to turn out in large numbers on April 10.\r\n\r\n“Don’t listen to those who claim all is lost and Macron will win,” she told a crowd of several hundred in the northern town of Bouchain earlier this month. “They’re trying to demobilise you, to demoralise you, to make you give up – in truth, to switch off the people of France. But we won’t let them. Rise up to say enough is enough!”\r\n\r\nWhether or not Le Pen’s supporters “rise up” will depend, in large part, on their perception of her chances of victory, said Sainte-Marie. \r\n\r\n“It’s the big unknown factor, whether voters will resign themselves to the inevitability of Macron’s re-election,” he said. “Frankly, the circumstances of this campaign are so extraordinary we simply cannot make a prediction.”','2022-03-31','',0,1),(250,'Five years of Macron: A gap between words and action on presidential priorities (Part 4 of 4)','France 24','Politics',1,59,'https://www.france24.com/en/france/20220330-five-years-of-macron-the-gap-between-words-and-action-on-president-s-priority-issues-part-4-of-4','Romain BRUNET','French President Emmanuel Macron hit the campaign trail once again in March, seeking re-election following a five-year term fraught with crises. FRANCE 24 takes a look at how Macron\'s actions as president measured up to his promises – or didn\'t.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nThis is the final installment of FRANCE 24\'s four-part series on Emmanuel Macron\'s record as French president on foreign policy, economics, social spending and keeping campaign promises.\r\n\r\nFrom the fight against climate change to the gender equality Macron touted as the \"great cause\" of his five-year mandate, Macron\'s term in office showed he could wax lyrical when it comes to the big issues. But in hindsight, the centrist leader\'s lofty speeches could also prove conspicuously short on follow-through. FRANCE 24 looks at four examples of early Macron priorities that didn\'t quite pan out.\r\n\r\nCleaning up politics\r\nMacron won office five years ago partly on the back of conservative rival François Fillon\'s scandalous downfall. Les Républicains candidate Fillon, a former prime minister and one-time frontrunner in the 2017 presidential race, saw his chances plummet after he was accused of corruption in a fake-jobs scheme involving his wife and public funds. Macron, who had never before been elected to public office before his meteoric rise to the Élysée Palace, was able to present himself as a politician without any skeletons in his closet while condemning \"practices from a bygone world\". Macron was prodded by veteran centrist François Bayrou – who conditioned his support for the political neophyte\'s fledgling party upon it – to pledge sweeping legislation meant to clean up politics.\r\n\r\nNamed justice minister under a freshly elected Macron, Bayrou himself was charged with drafting the new law. It proposed concrete reforms like banning parliamentarians from hiring family members, capping the number of consecutive terms one can serve, and monitoring lawmakers\' expense accounts. But five years on, it bears noting that Macron\'s early golden rule of probity in politics has not always been respected in practice.\r\n\r\n>> Five years of Macron on the international stage: Spirited, disruptive, impotent? (Part 1 of 4)\r\n\r\nBayrou and two fellow members of his centrist Modem party were obliged to leave the cabinet in June 2017, just a month after Macron\'s election, amid an inquiry into the party\'s use of parliamentary assistants in the European Parliament. The same fate befell Macron ally Richard Ferrand that same month over allegations in a separate private health insurance case. But the lofty principles were really left in tatters in 2018 after the Benalla Affair. That summer, Macron lashed out at the press and the justice system in defence of his longtime bodyguard Alexandre Benalla, who had been caught on film assaulting demonstrators during a May Day protest. From then on, the French president appeared to cast many of his pledges aside.\r\n\r\nFerrand, for one, was returned to the mix in September 2018, becoming speaker of the National Assembly. When he was placed under formal investigation a year later in the same private health insurance scandal that had seen him evicted from cabinet at the start of Macron\'s term, Ferrand was permitted to stay on in the prestigious post. (The case against him was finally dismissed in 2021.) Gérald Darmanin, for his part, was named interior minister in 2020, despite allegations against him by two women for rape and abuse of the vulnerable (a case also later dismissed). Justice Minister Éric Dupond-Moretti, meanwhile, was placed under formal investigation in 2021 over an illegal conflict of interest offence allegedly committed during his time in the job, but he was allowed to remain justice minister.\r\n\r\n>> French feminists criticise choice of justice, interior ministers over sexism and rape claims\r\n\r\nA collaborative, lateral style \r\nMacron was quick to grasp the public\'s weariness and distaste for politicians and traditional political parties. On the campaign trail in 2017, he promised to \"do politics differently\". It was a key factor in launching his rise to power, attracting armies of volunteers and activists to his En Marche (On the move) movement, drawn in by the prospect of building a political platform collaboratively. At that point, the idea was self-management at the local level, a lateral structure, shared decision-making and dialogue with opposition parties.\r\n\r\n>> Five years of Macron: France’s economy trickles down in drips and drops (Part 2 of 4)\r\n\r\nBut over the course of Macron\'s term, and in particular during the Covid-19 pandemic, he has in practice espoused top-down decision-making and wielded power vertically. France\'s parliament, and his party\'s majority lawmakers, have mainly acted as a registry office for decisions handed down from above. Indeed, when the deputies freshly elected under Macron\'s La République en Marche banner first took their seats in the lower-house National Assembly in 2017, they had to pledge not to oppose reforms. Furthermore, just like in that \"bygone world\" Macron once derided, the lawmakers had to commit to not supporting propositions tabled by the other groups in parliament.\r\n\r\nA police officer points a 40-millimetre rubber defensive bullet launcher LBD (LBD 40) towards protesters during an anti-government demonstration called by the \'Yellow Vests\' (gilets jaunes) movement for the 23rd consecutive Saturday, on April 20, 2019 in Paris.\r\nA police officer points a 40-millimetre rubber defensive bullet launcher LBD (LBD 40) towards protesters during an anti-government demonstration called by the \'Yellow Vests\' (gilets jaunes) movement for the 23rd consecutive Saturday, on April 20, 2019 in Paris. © Zakaria Abdelkafi, AFP\r\nSometimes, the practice of power under Macron has verged on the authoritarian. His controversial pension reform was forced through parliament without a vote in February 2020 (before the pandemic shelved its implementation). Law enforcement on his watch violently put down anti-government protests led by the Yellow Vest movement in 2018 and 2019, by one count seriously wounding 82 demonstrators, including 17 who lost an eye and four who lost a hand amid the unrest.\r\n\r\nIn March 2019, the United Nations asked France to investigate cases related to \"the excessive use of force\". Earlier, the Council of Europe had called for France to \"suspend the use of LBDs (which shoot rubber bullets) during operations aimed at maintaining public order\" and said protesters\' reported injuries \"raise questions about the compatibility of the methods used in operations aimed at maintaining public order with due regard for [human] rights\".\r\n\r\n\'Make Our Planet Great Again\'\r\nMacron also began his term with heady promises on environmental issues. After pledging to invest €15 billion in France\'s ecological transition and coaxing the environmentalist (and former TV star Nicolas Hulot) to join his cabinet to lead the battle, Macron used Donald Trump\'s June 2017 withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement to launch his own high-impact green appeal with a Trump paraphase: \"Make Our Planet Great Again\".\r\n\r\nBut the hope spurred by that early publicity coup soon gave way to disappointment as Macron ceded ground on a number of environmental commitments, rolling back his pledge to ban the herbicide glyphosate and the neonicotinoid insecticides harmful to bees, while implementing a Canada-EU trade deal (Ceta) despite concerns over its environmental impact. Hulot would ultimately quit the cabinet in frustration in 2018, denouncing the \"presence of lobbies in the circles of power\" when he left.\r\n\r\npic.twitter.com/3g5LYO9Osj\r\n\r\n— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) June 1, 2017\r\nAnd yet Macron does have some checkmarks to show on his environmental ledger. Under his watch, France abandoned plans for an airport in Notre-Dame-des-Landes, near Nantes, in 2018, quashed a mining project in French Guiana in 2019, and ended the massive Europacity commercial and leisure zone project in greater Paris later that same year – all plans environmental activists had fought against.\r\n\r\n>> Five years of Macron: Yellow Vests, Covid-19 stymie plans for social cuts (Part 3 of 4)\r\n\r\nMacron can also boast of having launched France\'s Citizens Convention for Climate, a forum launched in the wake of the Yellow Vest protests that had begun in response to a carbon tax hike on fuel. The citizens\' assembly tasked 150 people chosen at random with putting forward proposals that could enable France to meet its carbon commitments while taking social justice concerns into account. Their labours hatched 146 such proposals in the summer of 2020. But critics charged that the proposals that the government managed to translate into policy were partial or watered down. For example, the assembly pitched a ban on domestic flights whenever a train journey under four hours could serve in their place. But when the legislation was tabled, it stopped short of that ambition, opting to nix flights replaceable by 2.5-hour train journeys instead.\r\n\r\nUnder Macron, France has also fallen short on its renewable energy commitments. With renewables responsible for only 19.1 percent of the country\'s energy, France was the only member of the European Union in 2020 not to meet the 23 percent mark set by the bloc.\r\n\r\nIn February 2021, a domestic court condemned the French State for \"wrongful deficiencies\" in its climate change fight and later ordered the pertinent French cabinet ministers and the prime minister to \"take all useful measures likely to mend the ecological prejudice\" by December 31, 2022.\r\n\r\nGender equality\r\nMacron came to power touting equality between men and women as one of the great causes of his term in office. But in practice, the issue hasn\'t appeared all that important, relegated as it was until 2020 to the responsibility of a junior ministry under the onus of the prime minister.\r\n\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\nDuring a five-year term that coincided with the #MeToo movement globally, progress was made, nevertheless. Macron kept his promise to broaden legal access to medically assisted reproduction to single women and lesbian couples. Time limits for women seeking an abortion were extended from 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy. And access to free contraception was broadened to girls under 15 in 2020 and women up to the age of 25 in 2022.\r\n\r\nBroad consultations on domestic violence in 2019 led to extending the courts\' power to urgently protect victims, without having to wait for a formal complaint to be filed. France also established the use of electronic bracelets to keep violent men away from their victims as well as a 24-hour hotline (3919) for women suffering domestic violence.\r\n\r\nAnd yet feminist groups say French women\'s domestic violence fight has never been granted the resources it needs. The organisations have long appealed for €1 billion to fight femicide and domestic violence generally – a budget that could help create 20,000 places in specialised shelters. But according to a March 2022 Oxfam report, the government has pledged only about a third of the requested amount. The budget dedicated to promoting gender equality in 2022 amounts to just €50 million, out of the government\'s total €883 billion budget, or about 0.25 percent.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, salary equality in France remains dire. Despite the equality index established in 2018 to fight pay disparities, men are still being paid 30 percent more than women, according to the French statistics agency Insee. \"Job insecurity, salary inequality at all levels, and raises for professions primarily occupied by women, including skilled ones like nurses, midwives and teachers, have been set aside,\" the economist Rachel Silvera told Alternatives Économiques magazine.','2022-03-31','',0,1),(251,'C’est Drôle! Netflix’s Standing Up is a love letter to Paris’s comedy scene','The Guardian','Art & Culture',7,59,'https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2022/mar/31/drole-netflix-standing-up-comedians-france','Brian Logan','C’est Drôle! Netflix’s Standing Up is a love letter to Paris’s comedy scene\r\nThe showrunner of Call My Agent! is back with a winning series about France’s young comics and how their onstage routines and real lives intersect\r\n\r\nPerfectly convincing … Younes Boucif as Nezir in Standing Up.\r\nPerfectly convincing … Younes Boucif as Nezir in Standing Up. Photograph: Mika Cotellon/Netflix\r\nBrian Logan\r\nBrian Logan\r\nThu 31 Mar 2022 00.01 BST\r\n8\r\nIs there a gap in the market for an ensemble TV show about comedians’ lives? At least since Seinfeld, there has been no shortage of telly shows about standup, tangentially or otherwise, from Louie to Hacks, and from I’m Dying Up Here to The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. And yet, Standing Up – on Netflix – feels fresh to me: its characters are engaging, its insights into the standup life are sometimes schematic but faithful to the unglamorous yet folk-heroic reality. The twist – and maybe the source of its freshness – is that Standing Up (AKA Drôle) is from France, whose standup scene is younger and more distinctively diverse than its UK and US equivalents.\r\n\r\nI wrote about this last year, quoting a joke by the Franco-Ivorian act Shirley Souagnon: “Do you know the difference between theatre and standup? The colour.” Standing Up – created by the showrunner of the terrific Call My Agent!, Fanny Herrero – focuses on the ups-and-downs of four standups, centring around titular comedy club Le Drôle. There’s French-Algerian Nezir, living in the banlieues with his disabled dad, struggling to make ends meet. There’s Aïssatou, who is Black, and on the threshold of stardom after a video goes viral, even as her intimate standup throws her personal relationships into disarray. Add into the mix washed-up Bling, the son of Vietnamese immigrants, who runs the club but whose standup career is in freefall, and rookie Apolline, concealing comedy ambitions from her well-heeled family, and you have enough narrative plates spinning to easily sustain this enjoyable six-part show.\r\n\r\nFanny Herrero, creator of Standing Up.\r\nFanny Herrero, creator of Standing Up. Photograph: Mika Cotellon/Netflix\r\nThe point, of course, is to show how these characters’ standup interacts with their hectic lives. On one level, that’s about sweet Nezir and simpering Apolline seducing one another through comedy. On another, it’s about Bling’s midlife panic expressing itself through the misanthropy of his jokes. Standing Up also enacts the scorched-earth effects of comedy on a performer’s family – rather too starkly for my tastes, as Aïssatou’s husband gets the hump at being the butt (in more ways than one) of her most notorious joke.\r\n\r\nWhat I can’t promise is that those standup routines will have you clutching your aching sides. I found the cast, who are actors, perfectly convincing as standups. (Actual standups – including Souagnon – feature in the writing team and in background roles.) But we only ever see snippets of their acts, which in any case are in French. We have to take it on trust when Aïssatou’s “sketch” about fingering her husband’s anus goes viral. Out of context and on our screens, it’s not hilarious.\r\n\r\n\r\nBut that’s not what the show’s trying to do. Its interest in standup – and this is instructive of how the artform is now considered, at least in dramatic terms – is in its relationship to the artists’ personal lives. “What I found interesting,” Herrero has said, “is that standups are able to reveal things about themselves in their acts that they wouldn’t in their everyday lives.” We see it in Mrs Maisel, and we see it here: the standup stage as a place where performers immediately refashion real-life incident into comedy. It’s a fantasy version of an artform in which the route from real-world experiences into effective comedy is seldom a straight line.\r\n\r\nAdvertisement\r\n\r\nIt’s also a trope that fetishises authenticity and elevates one particular brand of standup (personal, confessional), forgetting that comedy is as broad as the human imagination. No place here for prop comics, one-liner merchants, surrealists, anti-comics, character comics – or any of the myriad other ways that a solo performer can make audiences laugh.\r\n\r\nBut I get it: those kinds of comedy are harder to dramatise. They don’t let you see characters working out their emotional issues and developing their authentic voice in public, in-the-moment – which in storytelling terms is inherently satisfying. That’s certainly the case here, in a show that’s winningly fond of its characters, and makes something quietly heroic of their determination to get onstage at the end of every fraught day, to raise a smile and tell their truths. It is insightful too, into the trade-offs that standups (particularly those, perhaps, from marginalised backgrounds) can face as the mainstream beckons. Or into the taboo around joke thievery, which is especially sharp in a standup culture recently rocked by a plagiarism row. Four episodes in, it’s got me hooked, and has burnished my faith in the democratic romance of club comedy.','2022-03-31','',0,1),(252,'EXPLAINED: How France’s fuel price rebate works','The Local Fr','Society',4,59,'https://www.thelocal.fr/20220401/explained-how-frances-fuel-price-rebate-works/','thelocal.fr','From April 1st, the French government has put in place a rebate to help motorists cope with the soaring cost of fuel. Here\'s how it works and how much you can expect to save when filling up your vehicle.\r\n\r\nPublished: 1 April 2022 09:57 CEST\r\nEXPLAINED: How France\'s fuel price rebate works\r\nThe fuel price rebate comes into effect on April 1st. Photo by SEBASTIEN BOZON / AFP\r\nSoaring fuel prices, impacted by the invasion of Ukraine and sanctions against Russia, are causing financial misery for drivers across Europe.\r\n\r\nRather than cut fuel taxes, the French government has instead opted for a rebate on the price of petrol and diesel, which comes into force on Friday, April 1st. Here’s how it works.\r\n\r\nWho?\r\n\r\nThis concerns anyone filling up a vehicle at a service station in France, private or professional. There is no requirement to be a resident of France.\r\n\r\nArticle continues below video\r\n\r\n\r\nThe rebate is offered on almost all types of fuel – petrol (SP95, SP98-E5 and SP-95-E10), diesel, liquefied petroleum gas fuel (LPG-c), compressed or liquefied natural gas, super ethanol (E85) and diesel ethanol (ED95).\r\n\r\nIt also concerns fuels such as agricultural diesel and fishing-boat diesel, while certain sectors including agriculture, fishing and haulage get extra financial aid through the government’s relief plan.\r\n\r\nIf you drive for work, as well as benefiting from the fuel rebate, you could also be eligible for a tax rebate.\r\n\r\nHow much?\r\n\r\nThe rebate is 18 centimes per litre.\r\n\r\nFuel prices in many parts of France have topped €2 a litre, although the average price has now fallen back to just below €2, so the rebate works out at a saving of about €11 to fill an average 60-litre fuel tank.\r\n\r\n\r\nIt’s estimated that it will cost the government €3 billion.\r\n\r\nIn recent days French supermarkets have also been engaged in something of a discount battle on fuel prices, offering various types of discounts, or vouchers when people fill up, so it’s worth checking out prices and deals at supermarkets near you.\r\n\r\nHow does it work?\r\n\r\nThe rebate operates as a discount when you pay. \r\n\r\nFrom Friday, filling stations discount the 18c per litre per customer and the government reimburses each 18c to the filling station.\r\n\r\nThe prices displayed outside filling stations will include the discount, plus VAT, so expect to see a sudden fall in prices on the display boards.\r\n\r\nHow long does it last?\r\n\r\nThis rebate is in place until July 31st, but there is the option to extend it and it seems likely that this is what the government will do, depending on the international context.\r\n\r\nAny other help?\r\n\r\nAs mentioned above, if you drive for work you may also be entitled to claim a tax rebate.\r\n\r\nThe French government has frozen gas and electricity prices to a maximum rise of 4 percent until June and the €100 chèque energie – to help people on lower incomes cope with rising fuel prices – has been arriving in bank accounts over the past few weeks.\r\n\r\n','2022-04-01','',0,1),(253,'What would France do if Russia cuts off the gas supply?','The Local Fr','Lifestyle',8,59,'https://www.thelocal.fr/20220331/what-would-france-do-if-russia-cuts-off-the-gas-supply/','Local.fr','French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire has said that the country is making \"preparation\"s should Russia decide to cut off the gas supply.\r\n\r\nPublished: 31 March 2022 17:30 CEST\r\nFrench Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced that France was preparing for the possibility that Russia might cut off the gas supply.\r\nFrench Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire announced that France was preparing for the possibility that Russia might cut off the gas supply. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / POOL / AFP)\r\nFrance and Germany are preparing for a cut in Russian gas deliveries, France’s economy minister said Thursday, as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Moscow will turn off the taps for those who refuse to pay in rubles.\r\n\r\n“On the sanctions against Russia, we will not accept the payment of gas in any other currency than stated in the contract,” said Bruno Le Maire following talks in Berlin with his German counterpart Robert Habeck.\r\n\r\n“There could be a situation tomorrow in which there is no longer any Russian gas. It’s up to us to prepare for these scenarios and we are preparing.” \r\n\r\nArticle continues below video\r\n\r\n\r\nOn Tuesday the head of France’s main gas distribution network, Laurence Poirier-Dietz, said the government may be required to pass a load-shedding decree, in which parts of the country have gas cut off on a rotating basis to ration supply. Hospitals, schools and retirement homes would be spared. \r\n\r\n“We have enough gas coming from other sources and supplies to get by until next winter,” she said in an interview with Sud-Ouest. \r\n\r\n“The question will be asked about how to fill reserve stocks during the summer.” \r\n\r\nFrench newspaper Les Echos report that filling the reserve stocks would cost in the region of €10 billion. \r\n\r\n\r\nFrance has the option of importing gas from other countries like Norway, Libya or Azerbaijan. It also has its own supplies of subterranean gas in the northern département of Pas-de-Calais and a number of methane plants, the biggest of which is in Seine-et-Marne. \r\n\r\n“We can try to stimulate investment and double production capacity,” said Carole Mathieu a researcher with the French Institute of International Relations, during an interview with France Info. “That would bring us to 40 billion cubic metres at the European level, but Russia produced 155 billion cubic metres last year. There is work to do.”\r\n\r\nThe French government said that load-shedding would be a last resort. \r\n\r\nEarlier in March, Prime Minister Jean Castex announced that the government would seek to end French dependency on Russian gas and oil supplies by 2027. ','2022-03-31','',0,1),(254,'Berlin, Paris agree close-knit exchange and plan for new sanctions','EURACTIV.com','Society',4,59,'https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/news/berlin-paris-agree-close-knit-exchange-and-plan-for-new-sanctions/','By Nikolaus J. Kurmayer','German and French governments have agreed to closer communication and cooperation on supporting the economy amid record-high energy prices and plans for new sanctions.\r\n\r\nAt a news conference on Thursday (31 March), Bruno Le Maire, France’s minister for the economy, announced the joint decision “cooperate very closely on the economic response,” while his German counterpart Robert Habeck noted that additional measures to alleviate the strain of energy prices on industry were in the pipeline.\r\n\r\nPreviously, both German and French governments – the former newly installed, the latter imminently up for re-election – had largely put consumer support measures in place.\r\n\r\nBoth countries subsidised petrol at upwards of 15 cents per litre.\r\n\r\nOn the one hand, the two governments would closely cooperate on supporting their energy-intensive industries while planning beyond the current crisis, Habeck explained.\r\n\r\nThe goal was a European “hydrogen backbone network,” he said.\r\n\r\nIn February, the French and German ministers had agreed to work toward the EU’s technical and economic sovereignty. Le Maire said it must be based on “common industrial projects”, such as electrical networks, electric batteries, and hydrogen.\r\n\r\nThe countries also agreed to implement working groups to resolve conflicts between their respective industrial and hydrogen strategies in a bid to further the two countries’ future economic cooperation.\r\n\r\n\r\nFrance and Germany to work on \'common industrial projects\'\r\nFrance and Germany will work on “common industrial projects” such as electrical networks, batteries and hydrogen, French Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said after receiving his German counterpart Robert Habeck in Paris on Monday (7 February).\r\n\r\nTo facilitate this close cooperation on economic and energy policy, both ministries would establish task forces to stay in contact daily, while the ministers would confer once a week, Habeck and Le Maire told journalists on Thursday.\r\n\r\nHaving “close coordination would ensure that the measures would be as impactful as possible,” emphasised Le Maire.\r\n\r\nSanctions were another topic up for discussion at the high-level Franco-German meeting.\r\n\r\n“The previous sanctions package should not and must not be the last one,” explained Habeck, adding that France and Germany were thinking beyond the sanctions agreed amongst EU leaders.\r\n\r\nThe two had discussed “which sanctions could hinder Putin and discussed measures” but would not comment on the exact nature of the discussions.\r\n\r\nGermany had reportedly been one of the last holdouts on more severe energy sanctions against Russia, such as an embargo on energy commodities.','2022-03-31','',0,1),(255,'French pensions, food bills or EU: What’s top of Macron’s to-do list?','The Locale ','Politics',1,60,'https://www.thelocal.fr/20220426/french-pensions-food-bills-or-eu-whats-top-of-macrons-to-do-list/','By the Locals','French pensions, food bills or EU: What’s top of Macron’s to-do list?\r\nThe newly re-elected president Emmanuel Macron once said that he was \"not made to lead in calm weather\" - and that\'s fortunate because he\'s likely to face some storms ahead. Here are just some of the things he will need to tackle.\r\n\r\nPublished: 26 April 2022 09:46 CEST\r\nFrench pensions, food bills or EU: What\'s top of Macron\'s to-do list?\r\nNewly-elected Emmanuel Macron has a challenging in-tray. Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP\r\nForming a government and winning parliamentary elections\r\n\r\nAlthough the presidential elections are over we’re not finished with voting just yet – parliamentary elections are held in June and if Macron’s party doesn’t manage to win a majority he will struggle to pass any legislation over the next five years.\r\n\r\nTo this end, this week Prime Minister Jean Castex will resign and dissolve the government – this is done to allow Macron to reshuffle his government and bring in new people.\r\n\r\nREAD ALSO When are the French parliamentary elections and why are they important?\r\n\r\nTraditionally it’s the prime minister, not the president, who campaigns for the parliamentary elections so securing a majority for Macron will be the number one priority for the new PM, whoever that is. \r\n\r\n\r\nCost of living crisis\r\n\r\nMacron will need to focus immediately on the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, which his rival Marine Le Pen made a central plank of her campaign.\r\n\r\n“The cost of living is our top priority,” a Macron staffer briefed French daily Le Parisien.\r\n\r\nMacron’s government has already brought in a package of financial help aimed at the agriculture, transport and fishing industries – those worst affected by rising fuel prices. He has also introduced a 18 cents-per-litre fuel rebate – in place until July – and frozen gas and electricity prices until June.\r\n\r\n\r\nBut with an eye on the parliamentary elections, Macron’s government is likely to look at offering more to help out struggling voters. \r\n\r\nPreviously discussed measures include the scrapping of the annual TV licence, which is usually billed in the autumn, and the introduction of a ‘food cheque’ for people on low incomes. We have little detail on how this would work yet, but it’s likely to be similar to the chèque energie – a one-off payment of around €100 put directly into people’s bank accounts. The payment is likely to be means-tested – the chèque energie was based on tax returns.\r\n\r\nThere are also plans to triple the annual ‘Macron bonus’ from €1,000 to €3,000 – this is a payout to employees. It’s actually voluntary on the part of companies, but firms that pay out dividends to shareholders have to offer either the Macron bonus or a profit-share scheme to their staff. In 2020, 6 million people received it.\r\n\r\nIn the longer term, there are plans to reduce social charges for self-employed workers and change the indexing of pensions and certain social benefits.\r\n\r\nPension reform \r\n\r\nThis was Macron’s big campaign trail pledge and is really a bit of unfinished business from his first term.\r\n\r\n\r\nIn the early years of his presidency, Macron brought in a wide-ranging pension reform that simplified the French system – with its 42 different pension regimes – and got rid of the ‘special regimes’ that let people in certain jobs retire from the age of 55. \r\n\r\nThe original reform – which sparked months of demonstrations and transport strikes – did not change France’s pension age of 62. The reform was passed in the parliament but implementation was delayed because of the pandemic.\r\n\r\nNow Macron wants to implement his reforms, but also raise the retirement age from 62 to 65, a proposal that is already causing controversy. On the election trail he seemed to be backpedalling slightly on this issue, saying that it could be put to a public vote or referendum.\r\n\r\nREAD ALSO French pensions – what does Macron want to change?\r\n\r\nEnvironment\r\n\r\nIn Macron’s victory speech he vowed to make France a “great green nation”, but many are sceptical of his environmental credentials.\r\n\r\nAlthough not a climate sceptic like his opponent Le Pen – her policy was to scrap all plans for new wind farms and dismantle the existing ones – Macron has been accused of acting too slowly on the environment.\r\n\r\nNow needing to capture green voters and those on the left, Macron is expected to step up his ecological commitments in the weeks and months to come.  \r\n\r\nEU reform \r\n\r\nOne thing Macron has never been accused of is a lack of ambition, and despite the multiple challenges he faces at home, he’s also keen to implement changes to the EU.\r\n\r\nFrance still holds the presidency of the EU until June 30th, but even after this date Macron is likely to push forward with his ideas for greater EU integration and greater co-operation on defence issues.\r\n\r\nOn the international front, there’s also the ongoing war in Ukraine and Macron has been at the forefront of international efforts to bring a diplomatic solution to the conflict. He still speaks regularly to Ukrainian president Volodymr Zelensky and has recently authorised arms shipments from France to Ukraine.\r\n\r\nThis hefty to-do list would seem to explain why Macron’s finance minister Bruno Le Maire told British journalist Matt Frei that trying to establish a more ‘cordial’ relationship with Boris Johnson was not a French priority right now. \r\n\r\n\r\nThe Local\r\nnews@thelocal.fr\r\n@thelocalfrance','2022-04-26','',0,1),(256,'Cannes Film Festival selects French actor Vincent Lindon to preside over jury','Text by: NEWS WIRES','Art & Culture',7,60,'https://www.france24.com/en/culture/20220426-cannes-film-festival-selects-french-actor-vincent-lindon-to-preside-over-jury','By AFP','Cannes Film Festival selects French actor Vincent Lindon to preside over jury\r\n\r\nIssued on: 26/04/2022 - 19:21\r\n\r\nFrench star Vincent Lindon at the Cannes Film Festival for \'Titane\' in 2021.\r\nFrench star Vincent Lindon at the Cannes Film Festival for \'Titane\' in 2021. © Mehdi Chebil\r\nText by:\r\nNEWS WIRES\r\n2 min\r\nVeteran French actor Vincent Lindon will head the main jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival which awards the coveted Palme d’Or top prize, organisers said Tuesday.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\nThe jury under Lindon, who co-starred in the 2021 winner “Titane”, will choose between 21 movies in the main competition at the film fest which runs from May 17 to 28.\r\n\r\nLindon, 62, will be accompanied by eight fellow jurors.\r\n\r\nThey are British actress and director Rebecca Hall, Indian actress Deepika Padukone, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace, Italian actress and director Jasmine Trinca, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, French director Ladj Ly, American director Jeff Nichols, and Norwegian director Joachim Trier.\r\n\r\nThe line-up for this year’s festival, the 75th Cannes edition, is a mix of cult arthouse directors and Hollywood glamour.\r\n\r\nCanadian horror maestro David Cronenberg, US filmmaker James Gray and France’s Claire Denis are among the competitors for the Palme d’Or.\r\n\r\nThey are expected to bring a bevy of stars to the red carpet, with Cronenberg’s sci-fi/horror cross-over “Crimes of the Future” starring Kristen Stewart, Lea Seydoux and Viggo Mortensen.\r\n\r\nFrench actor Vincent Lindon is the Jury President of the 75th Festival de Cannes! Along with his eight jury members, he will reward one of the 21 films in Competition with the Palme d\'or, on Saturday May 28, during the Closing Ceremony. #Cannes2022\r\n? https://t.co/8CTJtGOIQ6 pic.twitter.com/U6bdPGq1Xy\r\n\r\n— Festival de Cannes (@Festival_Cannes) April 26, 2022\r\nDenis returns with a thriller set in Central America—“The Stars at Noon”—featuring Taron Egerton and Robert Pattinson.\r\n\r\nGray’s entry, “Armageddon Time”, is a tale based on his New York adolescence featuring Anne Hathaway, Oscar Isaac, Cate Blanchett and Anthony Hopkins.\r\n\r\nTom Cruise will attend the much-delayed world premiere of “Top Gun: Maverick”, the sequel to his 1986 blockbuster, playing out of competition.\r\n\r\n‘Upheaval of the many events’\r\nAnd Tom Hanks will be in town for “Elvis”, in which he co-stars as the rock’n’roll star’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, in the latest from Australian director Baz Luhrmann who previously lit up Cannes with “Moulin Rouge!” and “Gatsby”.\r\n\r\nIn a statement Tuesday Lindon said he was “extremely proud to be given, amid the upheaval of the many events we are going through in the world, the splendid and heavy task of presiding the jury”.\r\n\r\nHe and his jury would “strive to take good care of the films of the future which all harbour the same secret hope of courage, loyalty and freedom”, Lindon said.\r\n\r\nWhen announcing this year’s lineup earlier in April, festival director Thierry Fremaux had already given a nod to the difficult global situation, saying the announcement came “after two years of crisis that we won’t recover from quickly, and at a time of sadness and war in Europe.”\r\n\r\nA Ukrainian film will play out of competition—“The Natural History of Destruction” from director Sergei Loznitsa about the destruction of German cities by Allied bombers in World War II.\r\n\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\nThe main competition will also mark the third nomination for Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov, who was unable to attend last year when his film “Petrov’s Flu” was in competition due to an embezzlement conviction that his supporters say was revenge for his anti-authoritarian stance.\r\n\r\nHe relocated to Germany this year after his travel ban was lifted and returns to Cannes with “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” about the private life of the famous composer.\r\n\r\nHe told AFP in an interview published Tuesday that Russia was “self-killing” with its war in Ukraine and that domestic support for the invasion was the result of “many years of terrible propaganda.”\r\n\r\nSerebrennikov said he felt “just horror, sadness, shame, pain” about the invasion.\r\n\r\n(AFP)','2022-04-26','',0,1),(257,'Why are French troops leaving Mali, and what will it mean for the region?','BBC NEWS','Politics',1,60,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60419799','BBC NEWS','President Emmanuel Macron has announced he will be pulling French forces out of the West African nation of Mali, where they have been fighting Islamist militants since 2013.\r\n\r\nThere are 5,000 French troops in Mali and surrounding countries, fighting groups such as al-Qaeda and Islamic State.\r\n\r\nBut over the past eight years, the French presence has become increasingly unpopular with Mali\'s government and its public.\r\n\r\nWhat is the terrorist threat in Mali and the Sahel region?\r\nBoth the Islamic State group and al-Qaeda have decided to focus on the Sahel region of Africa, after suffering setbacks in the Middle East.\r\n\r\nThe Sahel is a strip of semi-arid land beneath the Sahara Desert that stretches across the continent from east to west. It includes parts of Chad, Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.\r\n\r\nMap of the Sahel region in North Africa with an indication of which Jihadist groups operate in each country\r\nImage caption,\r\nIS and al-Qaeda\'s JNIM are both active in the Sahel region where they compete for power\r\nIslamic State in the Greater Sahara (ISGS) and al-Qaeda\'s affiliate, called Jamaat Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin (JNIM), have carried out terror attacks in the region which have killed several thousand people, displaced tens of thousands of others and caused thousands of schools to close.\r\n\r\nThere are two other jihadist groups active in the Sahel: Ansaroul Islam and Boko Haram.\r\n\r\nIn April 2022, jihadists attacked three military bases in central Mali and one in Burkina Faso, killing six soldiers,\r\n\r\nWhy did France become involved?\r\nIn 2013, France sent 5,000 troops to Mali at the government\'s behest as it was facing an armed rebellion.\r\n\r\nAfter the ousting and killing of Libya\'s leader Muammar Gaddafi, Tuareg mercenaries who had been fighting for him returned home to Mali determined to fight for the independence of the north of the country.\r\n\r\nWith Gaddafi\'s weapons, they formed an alliance with al-Qaeda-linked Islamists who were to become the stronger partners. Together they took control of the north and threatened to seize control of the whole country.\r\n\r\nMali was a French colony until 1960. France\'s government said it wanted to protect the Malian population and the 6,000 French citizens living there.\r\n\r\nSoldiers of France\'s Barkhane mission patrol in I-n-Tillit in 2017 in Mali\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nImage caption,\r\nFrench troops have been part of Operation Barkhane against militants in the Sahel\r\nOf those troops 2,400 have been located in northern Mali, while the rest have been using drones and helicopters to hunt down jihadist cells that operate across Mali, Chad, Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania.\r\n\r\nThere are also 14,000 UN peacekeeping troops who operate alongside local military forces, patrolling across the deserts of the Sahel.\r\n\r\nWhy did the French presence become unpopular?\r\nThe French forces were warmly welcomed when they first arrived in Mali nine years ago, but relations have since soured.\r\n\r\nThe number of terror attacks in the country has steadily increased, and so has the number of Malians joining insurgent groups. In the past nine years, the Islamist militant threat has also spread to other countries such as Burkina Faso and Niger, with insurgents raiding in the region from their bases in the Sahara.\r\n\r\nMany local people feel that France, as an advanced military power, should have been able to solve the terror problem and that it should get out of the way if it cannot do so. Some have called the presence of troops from the former colonial power an \"occupation\".\r\n\r\nSince 55 French troops have been killed in the Sahel, it is not popular in France, either.\r\n\r\nMalians stage a protest against France at the Independence Square in Bamako\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nImage caption,\r\nThere have been regular protests In Mali against the French military\r\nThere have also been arguments between the French government and Mali\'s military junta, which seized power in a coup in August 2020 - the second time a civilian government has been overthrown in eight years.\r\n\r\nThe junta reneged on an agreement to hold democratic elections this February and says it will hold on to power until 2025. When France\'s ambassador objected, he was expelled.\r\n\r\nPresident Macron said: \"We cannot remain militarily engaged alongside de facto authorities whose strategy and hidden aims we do not share.\"\r\n\r\nIn April 2022, Mali\'s rulers announced they would hold elections two years later, in 2024.\r\n\r\nFrance has refused to negotiate a peace deal with Islamist groups, which is a policy favoured by many Malians.\r\n\r\nFrance was also angered by the decision of the Mali junta to invite mercenaries from the Russian company Wagner to help in the fight against the jihadist groups.\r\n\r\nFrance\'s Armed Forces Minister Florence Parly said that \"we will not be able to cohabit with mercenaries\".\r\n\r\nWhat happens now?\r\nThe French troops involved in Operation Barkhane will be withdrawn over the next four to six months.\r\n\r\nFrance will deploy troops in other countries in the Sahel, alongside the troops of other European nations serving with the Takuba Task Force. Countries involved in that say they will be setting out plans for how they will operate in the region in the future.\r\n\r\nThe governments of neighbouring countries are worried that France\'s withdrawal from Mali could further destabilise the region. Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara warned it would create a political vacuum.\r\n\r\n\"We will be obliged to increase our defence forces and increase the protection of our borders,\" he said.\r\n\r\nGhana\'s President Nana Akufo-Addo urged the UN to keep its peacekeeping force in Mali despite the French departure.\r\n\r\nThe arrival of the Wagner Group mercenaries has been welcomed by some Malians, who see it as politically neutral. However, many Western countries are suspicious of it and have accused the Russian government of helping it win its contract in Mali.\r\n\r\nIn April 2022, the French military accused Russian mercenaries of burying bodies outside a military base and blaming French troops for the killings.\r\n\r\nFrance says it is part of efforts to discredit its departing force. Russia has not commented on the allegations.\r\n\r\nWagner has been operating in several other African countries, including Mozambique, Sudan and the Central African Republic. It has also been linked to war crimes in Libya\'s civil war.','2022-04-26','',0,1),(258,'On the French Riviera, the discreet French \'cousins\' of the Calabrian mafia','Le monde','Society',4,60,'https://www.lemonde.fr/en/france/article/2022/04/28/on-the-french-riviera-the-discreet-french-cousins-of-the-calabrian-mafia_5981840_7.html','By Simon Piel and Thomas Saintourens','With a shaved head and a trimmed beard, a tall man in a black T-shirt with the Croatian soccer team\'s logo adjusts his shot under the discreet lens of undercover gendarmes. It is a beautiful day, this Tuesday afternoon in June 2019, in the region around Cannes.\r\n\r\nIn Vallauris (Alpes-Maritimes), it\'s time for pétanque (a popular French game with metal balls, also known as boules). Domenico, the shooter, loves the warm atmosphere of the club de la Boule amicale sportive. They tease each other. They laugh. The youngest compete with the oldest. Sometimes, after a successful competition, the best players have the honor of seeing their name appear in Nice-Matin.\r\n\r\nEveryone here knows \"Domi,\" 38, son of Serafino, grandson of Girolamo and nephew of Antonio. The Magnolis and their cousins, the Stanganellis and the Giovinazzos, arrived in the region three generations ago, when the famous pottery workshops in the area were hiring in droves.\r\n\r\nThe Vallauris city hall and its pétanque court, behind the row of shrubs, on April 8, 2022.\r\nThe Vallauris city hall and its pétanque court, behind the row of shrubs, on April 8, 2022. SARAH MAGE POUR « LE MONDE »\r\nDomenico Magnoli is the discreet type. He lives frugally, drives a Twingo and has worked since 2016 as a night watchman, with a monthly salary of 1,500 euros. He takes care of his two children, of whom he has joint custody. He lives in Valbonne, a little higher up in the Alpes-Maritimes department. He knows everyone there. He is a people person, liked by everyone. During the 2020 municipal elections, the campaign team of socialist senator and former mayor of Valbonne Marc Daunis even asked him to rally voters.\r\n\r\nThere aren\'t many days when \"Domi\" doesn\'t stop to greet another of his uncles, also named Girolamo. Girolamo owns La Petite Brasserie in Vallauris, a bar with a black sign located a few blocks from the center, between a pizzeria and the fire station. Domenico is a regular there. When he says he goes \"to the bar,\" it\'s as if there is no other bar in the area. He normally drinks a coffee and is on his way. From time to time, he sits down for a game of cards, checks on the family or chats with the community\'s gardener, a faithful customer. A few words of Italian sometimes slip out. Even though Domenico Magnoli was born in Cannes, the family roots are in Rosarno, in Calabria: at the tip of the boot, so to speak.\r\n\r\nThe front of La Petite Brasserie, in Vallauris, cited in the \r\nThe front of La Petite Brasserie, in Vallauris, cited in the \"Ponente Forever\" file, on April 8, 2022. SARAH MAGE POUR « LE MONDE »\r\nOn closer inspection, the attachment that the Vallauris pétanque players have to their land of origin is not just a matter of nostalgia. It is nourished by other alliances and business relationships of a particular kind. According to criminal investigations carried out in Italy, this small Franco-Italian colony is in fact linked to one of the main clans of the powerful Calabrian mafia, the \'Ndrangheta. The clan in question is the Piromalli-Molè, the historical \"masters\" of the port of Gioia Tauro. This port is the epicenter of trafficking, a few kilometers from Rosarno. According to the transalpine police, the Magnoli have long since pledged their allegiance to the Piromalli-Molè, to the point of having made Vallauris a sort of French link of the \"parent company.\" An unpublished investigation, conducted on both sides of the border, helps to better decipher these links: the \"Ponente Forever\" case, so named in reference to the Riviera that links Genoa to the French border.','2022-04-28','',0,1),(259,'Increasing suicide rates among French young people worry health professionals','Le Monde','Lifestyle',8,60,'https://www.lemonde.fr/en/science/article/2022/04/28/increasing-suicide-rates-among-french-young-people-worry-health-professionals_5981862_10.html','By Pascale Santi','Child health professionals are issuing a wake-up call to combat suicide attempts among young people, which have increased since the end of 2020 and are still continuing to rise today. All over France, they are calling for a collective response.\r\n\r\n\"Emergency room visits for suicidal acts, suicidal thoughts and mood disorders remain at high levels, comparable (for 11-14 year olds) and even higher (for 15-17 year olds and 18-24 year olds) than those observed at the beginning of 2021,\" said Santé publique France (SPF, the French national public health agency) in its latest report on mental health from early April. The ratio is five girls to one boy. Charles-Edouard Notredame, a psychiatrist at the Lille University Hospital, said, \"It has increased in all age groups among young people in 2022. It\'s instructive.\"\r\n\r\nBetween the 1st and the 11th week of 2022, SPF said that there were 6,418 emergency room visits for suicidal acts (up 27% from the same period in 2021). For the entirety of 2021 this figure was 23,791, compared with 17,333 in 2020 (the average being 19,586 for 2018-2019). Emergency room visits for suicidal thoughts have continued to increase since 2018-2019 (annual average of 4246). Their total was 5,210 in 2020, 9,003 in 2021 and 2,992 for the first 11 weeks of 2022.\r\n\r\nAnother piece of data is that while suicide \"decreased in all age groups during the first months of the pandemic (except in the elderly), there was then a significant increase in the number of adolescents hospitalized for suicide attempts, with a 27% increase from the end of 2020 compared to 2019 and young girls are overwhelmingly in the majority,\" said Fabrice Jollant, psychiatrist and researcher at Paris Cité University. \"It is very evident and very clear, and this high rate is continuing.\"\r\n\r\nAs for calls to the eight poison control centers (CAP) concerning the voluntary consumption of drugs or other toxic substances, \"this year almost twice as many calls concern people aged 12-24, with about 35 calls per day on average, compared to about 20 in 2019. Women are the most affected,\" said Dominique Vodovar, doctor at the CAP of Lariboisière Hospital in Paris.\r\n\r\nAlarm bell\r\nWorldwide, suicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year olds, behind road accidents. In France, it is the cause of death for between 300 and 350 young people per year in this age group, including three times more boys than girls (the latest available figures from 2017). On the other hand, the number of suicides had been decreasing for several years among adults, both men and women.','2022-04-28','',0,1),(260,'Do May’s high temperatures indicate a hot summer ahead?','The Connexion','Society',4,61,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/Do-May-s-high-temperatures-indicate-a-hot-summer-ahead','By Emma Morgan','Do May’s high temperatures indicate a hot summer ahead?\r\nThis month has been the hottest May on record, with temperatures around 3C higher than average \r\nEmailFacebookPrintTwitterWhatsAppMore\r\n31 May 2022 13:51\r\n\r\nIt is too early to say whether this summer will be hotter than average, although recent trends suggest it could be Pic: Ed Connor / Shutterstock\r\n\r\nBy Emma Morgan\r\nThe month of May has been particularly hot in France, leading some to wonder whether it heralds a summer of heat waves and record temperatures. \r\n\r\nIt is currently impossible to accurately predict how the summer will pan out, but if it follows the trend set during the last few years, it is likely to be hot and dry. \r\n\r\n“The May which we have just had will go down as the hottest since records began. We saw an anomaly of +3C on average, in comparison to the national indicator [which collects data on the temperature in regions across France],” Météo France forecaster Tristan Amm told La Dépêche.\r\n\r\nHowever, this does not mean that the summer will also be very hot. The second warmest May on record was in 2011, but the summer of that year was “not very hot,” Mr Amm added. \r\n\r\nIn recent years, meanwhile, it has always been hot and dry: “Even summer 2021, which had a gloomy, damp feel, brought average temperatures which were just above normal for the season.\r\n\r\n\r\n“It is not possible to forecast a canicule heat wave at this stage,” Mr Amm said. “However, we can say that it is a phenomenon that is becoming more and more frequent with climate change; [these heat waves] can even become longer and more intense.”\r\n\r\nCanicules – periods of three days or more when temperatures are very hot in the day and stay high at night – normally begin occurring from the end of June onwards, but in recent years have happened earlier in the summer and lasted later into September.\r\n\r\nThere was no canicule in 2021 but there were several drawn-out heat wave periods in 2019.\r\n\r\nEven before the hottest weather of this summer arrives, some 24 French departments have already been placed under drought restrictions and 92 decrees limiting water usage have been put in place by prefectures. \r\n\r\nParts of Vendée, Vienne and Loiret are already on the highest alert level – ‘crisis’ – under which non-essential water usages are banned, including on farms.\r\n\r\nTemperatures range between 15C and 25C today in France, but could reach 30C in southern areas tomorrow. ','2022-05-31','',0,1),(261,'Power dressing: The Queen\'s unique style','BBC News','Art & Culture',7,61,'https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-61593081','By Emma Atkinson','She\'s one of the most photographed women in history and over the past 70 years has defined what it means to dress like a queen.\r\n\r\nNot trendsetting or daring, but iconic.\r\n\r\nShe\'s become famous for her brightly coloured dresses and coats paired with a matching hat, accessorised with her signature square handbag, a string of pearls and a jewelled brooch. It sounds simple but the Queen\'s style has become a powerful formula.\r\n\r\nIt\'s a style that has been honed and refined over seven decades, helped by the close relationships she has developed with trusted designers and dressers.\r\n\r\n\"Royal fashion is fun, powerful and steeped with meaning,\" says author and royal fashion commentator Elizabeth Holmes. \"Her image is a huge part of her legacy.\"\r\n\r\nADVERTISEMENT\r\n\r\nDazzling and intricate\r\nThe Queen has always had a very clear idea of what she wanted to look like, says historian Michael Pick.\r\n\r\n\r\n\"People have said she has no idea about clothes, but that is simply not true. She is very astute about what suits her,\" Pick says.\r\n\r\nWhen she was in her 20s, Princess Elizabeth began working with designer Norman Hartnell, a relationship she inherited from the Queen Mother. Full-skirted dresses with a nipped in waist, influenced by French couture, were paired with white fur stoles and diamond tiaras.\r\n\r\nAs she took on her new role as Queen, Hartnell helped her to dazzle her way through state banquets and royal tours in a host of tulle and satin gowns, intricately embellished with seed pearls, crystals and beads.\r\n\r\nHartnell also created two of the most important dresses she would ever wear - her wedding dress and the gown she wore for her coronation. He describes the process as a collaboration. \"For her coronation dress Hartnell produced about eight designs and she chose elements from them all and made it her own,\" Pick says.\r\n\r\nQueen Elizabeth II in four different jewelled evening gowns\r\nFor the Queen, working with the same people was not just about trust, but was also down to necessity. Hartnell had the largest couture house in London along with the largest embroidery workroom, and for someone as busy as the Queen who needed hundreds of new outfits each year, it meant he had the capacity to design and produce what she needed.\r\n\r\nStill, the scale of the job meant she also asked designer Hardy Amies to work with her, beginning with a wardrobe of looks for a tour of Canada in 1951.\r\n\r\nAmies led the Queen into a slightly more crisp and understated look, with tailored day clothes and sleeker eveningwear. Then Ian Thomas took her through the 1970s and 1980s in a flurry of brightly coloured chiffon, floral prints and bows.\r\n\r\nFor the last 24 years her outfits have been designed and produced in-house by a small team of around 10 people, led by her personal dresser Angela Kelly.\r\n\r\nEach item the Queen wears is bespoke, and before the pandemic she was attending more then 300 engagements a year. \"It\'s a huge amount of work,\" Pick says. \"You don\'t want the monarch wearing something someone else is wearing. The public expects something different.\r\n\r\n\"Hartnell and Amies made her more individual, while Angela Kelly has been very clever and managed to take her individual style and make it sparkle.\"\r\n\r\nHat, bag, shoes\r\nWhen the Queen steps out in public every aspect of her appearance has been meticulously planned.\r\n\r\nFabrics are checked to see how they drape or might behave in a breeze. The bright colours, chosen for the season and occasion, give instant impact so that she stands out in a crowd. A hat gives her slight stature more height and highlights her face.\r\n\r\nShe wears sensible block-heeled shoes - handmade and worn in by Kelly herself to make sure they are comfortable - and there is always a clear umbrella with a colour-matched trim on standby, so even the unpredictable British weather won\'t get in her way.\r\n\r\nQueen Elizabeth II in colour matching coats and hats\r\nThis uniform-way of dressing maximises her comfort on long days, but also helps define her role, says Elizabeth Holmes.\r\n\r\n\"Her job is to be a calm and consistent presence. Her clothes are a mix of knowing what to expect but also with an ability to surprise and delight.\r\n\r\n\"Even in the casual moments there is a sense of uniform, with her headscarf and wellies. It keeps the continuity and also shows she is never off duty.\"\r\n\r\nArguably the most iconic part of the Queen\'s look is the thing that has remained virtually unchanged throughout her reign: her famous shampoo and set is almost identical to the style she wore when she came to the throne in 1953.\r\n\r\nBut for the change in colour as she got older and embraced her natural grey, it has retained the two distinctive wave curls at the front and firm and structured curls around the back, formed perfectly to host a crown or hat.\r\n\r\nThe traditional style, set on rollers under a dryer, was the hairstyle of choice for many of Britain\'s fashion conscious women in the post-war years but while trends have moved on the Queen has been loyal to it ever since.\r\n\r\n\"Her hair is quite conventional for a woman her age, but it is a strong look, softened by curls to give it a gentleness,\" says royal and celebrity hairdresser Richard Ward. \"I think her hair sums up what we all really value about her,\" he says. \"It is sensible, practical and elegant.\"\r\n\r\nQueen Elizabeth II in silk headscarf\r\nAnother of the Queen\'s most iconic style points is the famous top-handled Launer handbag.\r\n\r\nUnlike other classic designer bags such as the Hermes Birkin or the Chanel 2.55, which are popular with women aged from their 20s to their 70s, Launer is not as fashionable or desirable for younger women, says Charlotte Rogers, a luxury accessories expert.\r\n\r\nBut there is still a big market for them in other countries, especially the Middle East. The Queen\'s royal seal of approval changes everything for a brand. \"The fact the Queen still uses Launer bags is huge,\" Rogers says. \"Royals are the ultimate influencers.\"\r\n\r\nThe handbags retail for around £1,500-£2,000, and the Queen is said to have a collection of over 200 in different colours and styles.\r\n\r\nIt seems in her Jubilee year the Queen has become more influential than ever, which is no mean feat for a woman in her 90s, says Rogers.\r\n\r\n\"She\'s age appropriate, a style much like my grandmother used to wear for special occasions and I think she is influential to older ladies,\" she says. \"Pins and brooches were seen as so unfashionable and now I can\'t buy enough of them. They sell so quickly.\"\r\n\r\nRoyal influence\r\nThe Queen\'s clothes are not just style choices but also brand statements, steeped with meaning and influence. Whether she\'s wearing a jewelled gown or a tweed skirt every outfit says something about her and her role as an ambassador and figurehead.\r\n\r\n\"Her wardrobe is her communication,\" says Matthew Storey, curator at Historic Royal Palaces.\r\n\r\nShe has to be prepared, reliable and traditional. But while walking the line of being accessible and reassuring her clothes also \"have to be worthy of royalty,\" Holmes says.\r\n\r\nQueen Elizabeth II, Camilla Duchess of Cornwall and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge all wearing red outfits\r\n\"It\'s part of the bedazzling of the crown. With the Queen her clothes are bespoke. You can\'t buy them but it means they can be seen and admired.\"\r\n\r\nThere\'s also a diplomatic role, subtle nods to a country or event shown in emblems or colours she wears.\r\n\r\n\"The subtle pink coloured dress she wore to the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games was chosen because it was on none of the national flags. It stood out but it also wasn\'t showing any allegiance,\" Storey says.\r\n\r\nLike other iconic brands she also means many different things to people.\r\n\r\n\"Like a work of art you interpret her in your own way,\" says Jeetendr Sehdev, author and celebrity branding expert.\r\n\r\n\"Do we really know who she is? I\'m not sure we do. But what we do know is what she means to us and the things she stands for - her strength, boldness and authenticity - remain relevant even among young people.\"\r\n\r\nYounger royals like Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, are clearly inspired by her, but the Queen stands far and above, he says.\r\n\r\nThere\'s great affection for how she looks, Holmes says. She has a signature style that will forever remind people of her.\r\n\r\n\"No-one else dresses like her,\" she says. \"That\'s her job and it\'s profound.\"\r\n\r\nAll pictures are subject to copyright','2022-06-01','',0,1),(262,'French company to face charges of complicity in human rights violations. ','BBC News','Politics',1,61,'https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/business/lafarge-human-rights-violations.html','By Liz Alderman','Lafarge faces a court battle over allegations that it put employees at risk and financed terrorist groups in a bid to keep operating in Syria.\r\n\r\nA production site of French cement manufacturer Lafarge in Paris. The company faces a lengthy legal battle over its operations in Syria.\r\n\r\nBy Liz Alderman\r\n			May 18, 2022\r\n\r\nA French court issued a precedent-setting ruling Wednesday that will allow Lafarge, one of France’s biggest companies, to be charged with aiding and abetting crimes against humanity after it was accused of financing terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, while operating in Syria during the country’s bloody civil war.\r\nThe ruling by the Paris Appeals Court against Lafarge, a global cement maker, is the first time that a company, as a legal entity, has been indicted in France for complicity in human rights violations. The judgement sets the stage for a lengthy legal battle in a scandal involving high-level corporate officials that came to be known in France as “l’affaire Lafarge.”\r\nA French judicial investigation found that between 2012 and 2014, the company, through its Syrian subsidiary Lafarge Cement Syria, paid up to 13 million euros (about $17.5 million at the time) to various armed groups, including the Islamic State. The subsidiary made these payments in order to keep its cement factory in northeastern Syria running despite the ongoing war and kidnappings and the security threats faced by its employees, according to the investigation.\r\nA New York Times inquiry showed that Lafarge paid intermediaries who were suspected of funnelling payments to armed groups, and eventually the Islamic State, in a bid to allow the factory and its employees to continue operating without interference.\r\n\r\nEight former company executives, including two former chief executives, were indicted in 2018 on charges of financing terrorism and putting the lives of their workers in Syria at risk. All of those officials resigned, and the company merged with the Swiss cement giant Holcim in 2015.\r\nIf found guilty of that charge, the former officials could face penalties of up to 10 years in prison.\r\n\r\nThe penalties for a company found aiding and abetting crimes against humanity were not immediately clear.\r\nHolcim did not comment immediately after the ruling Wednesday. The company has said it had nothing to do with the acts of former Lafarge executives and that the events described by the judicial investigation were hidden from Holcim during the merger and the legal audit that preceded it.\r\nThe lawsuit was brought on behalf of 11 Syrian former employees by the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights and Sherpa, a French anticorruption organization that pursues humanitarian abuses by corporations. The employees, in the lawsuit, claim that the company ignored the dangers they faced and pressured them to keep working even as the civil war waged around them.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nThe Paris Appeals Court ruled last year that Lafarge could not be charged with complicity in crimes against humanity. But after France’s highest court, the Cour de cassation, ordered the appeals court to review its judgment, the lower court reversed course on Wednesday.\r\n\r\n\r\nFrench judicial investigators said that while Lafarge evacuated top-level executives running the plant, it kept Syrian employees on site, partly in hopes of maintaining business for the eventual rebuilding of Syria after the war.\r\nBut in 2014, as the fighting moved closer to the plant, which was located on Syria’s northern border with Turkey, a number of employees said they were forced to flee the factory just before the Islamic State attacked it. The factory was subsequently shut down and converted into a strategic base for the United States military until Washington withdrew its forces from Syria in 2019.\r\nThe lawsuit underscores the costs and complexity of doing business in war-torn regions, a challenge faced by companies around the world, especially those in the energy and industrial sectors. In the case of Lafarge, those trade-offs left it exposed to a French criminal investigation and claims by employees that the company ignored the dangers they faced.\r\n“This ruling should be a strong wake-up call for companies doing business in conflict zones,” said Cannelle Lavite, co-director of the business and human rights program at European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights. “If they enable or fuel crimes — even if they only pursue commercial purposes — they might be complicit and should be held accountable,” she said.\r\nThe case could take months or even years to go to trial. All of the former Lafarge executives have denied the charges against them\r\n','2022-05-18','',0,1),(263,'What will (likely) be included in France’s July spending power law','The Connexion','Politics',1,62,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/What-will-likely-be-included-in-France-s-July-spending-power-law','By Thomas Brent','The government is aiming to bring in measures such as food vouchers and rent caps to ease the rising cost of living\r\n28 June 2022 12:15\r\n\r\nThe government faces difficulties in getting their spending power bill through parliament without heavy amendments after the legislative elections earlier this month resulted in a hung parliament for President Emmanuel Macron’s ruling coalition. \r\nRent control and housing aid\r\nFrench finance minister Bruno Le Maire confirmed yesterday (June 27) that the government is aiming to cap rent price increases at 3.5% for a one-year period. This will be done by limiting the indice de référence des loyers (rent reference index), a scale to which rent increases are calibrated. \r\nMr Le Maire, who is calling the price cap a “bouclier loyer” (rent shield), said that without intervention rent prices could rise by “five to six percent”. \r\nFrance’s national housing body the Conseil national de l\'habitat has backed this proposition.\r\nThe government is also aiming to increase housing aids, known as aides personnalisées au logement (APL), by 3.5% from July 1, subject to parliamentary approval. \r\n\r\nFood voucher\r\nAnother measure that will be tabled separately to the spending power bill is a possible food voucher (chèque alimentaire). \r\nFinal details on this have not been confirmed but it is expected that the voucher will be worth €100 plus €50 for every child in the household. \r\nIt will be given to those receiving benefits such as the back-to-work support called the revenu de solidarité active (RSA), disability benefits called the allocation adultes handicapés (AAH), the pension top-up support commonly called the minimum vieillesse (ASPA) and the housing support aide personnalisée au logement (APL). \r\nAround nine million households should benefit from the food vouchers, the Journal du Dimanche reported. \r\nThe money will be paid directly into eligible people’s accounts from September, assuming the bill is approved in parliament. \r\n\r\nFrance previously offered a €100 inflation-compensation voucher to everyone earning under €2,000. That wider payment, announced in October last year, was to counteract rising fuel costs. Around 38 million people received the voucher. \r\n\r\nEarlier this month, French Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne announced that the energy price cap will be extended to the end of this year.\r\nThe bouclier tarifaire, first introduced in November last year, froze gas prices at October 2021 rates and also limited electricity prices from increasing by more than 4%. The measure was supposed to end on June 30 but has now been extended. \r\n\r\nThe government announced today that the salaries of civil servants, including teachers, will increase by 3.5% on July 1.\r\n“This is the biggest rise since 1985,” a spokesperson for Minister of Public Transformation and Service Stanislas Guerini said. “To this, we may add the automatic individual increases, which average 1.5% per year. \r\n“Today, we have 700,000 civil servants on minimum wage. With this measure, there will no longer be any.” \r\n\r\nThis announcement has not satisfied certain public sector unions, with the CGT calling for a “10% minimum” pay rise applied retroactively from January 1.\r\n“We estimate that spending power has fallen by 10-11% since 2010, and we continue to lose it” said Céline Verzeletti, the CGT’s confederal secretary.\r\nGeneral civil servant salaries have not been put up since February 2017, and have only risen by 1.2% since 2010.\r\n\r\nTransport allowance to increase\r\nThe transport allowance (prime transport) allows employers to cover part of the cost of the fuel used for work-related driving. It was previously only given to people working outside of Ile-de-France but will now be opened up to everyone. \r\nThe government is planning to increase the upper limit of the amount that employers can give out for this bonus from €200 to €400, AFP reported.  \r\nAdditionally, staff will be able to combine this bonus with a public transport allowance that allows up to 50% of their costs to be covered. \r\n','2022-06-28','',0,1),(264,'June 2022: a record-breaking month for weather in France','The Connexion','Society',4,62,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/June-2022-a-record-breaking-month-for-weather-in-France','By Emma Morgan','June 2022: a record-breaking month for weather in France\r\nSome seven departments are still under orange storm alerts this morning, as a month of hot temperatures and record lightning strikes draws to a close\r\n\r\n24 June 2022 10:30\r\n\r\nBy Emma Morgan\r\nThis month of June has seen various weather records broken in France, from temperature highs to lightning strike counts. \r\nDuring the heatwave earlier this month, and its highs of 39-40C, 11 heat records were broken: on June 16, for example, Niort (Deux-Sèvres) saw temperatures of 40.1C, while Saintes (Charente-Maritime) saw 40.2C and Rochefort (also in Charente-Maritime) 40.6C.\r\nEqually, on Saturday June 18, Météo France noted \"peaks close to 42-43°C\" in the Southwest with 42,9°C in Biarritz (Nouvelle-Aquitaine).\r\nSince 2000, extreme heat episodes have been growing more common in France: for 117 of the country’s 145 weather stations, the hottest temperature ever recorded has been in the last 20 years.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nJune 2022 has also seen the highest number of lightning strikes in France for the month since records began in 1989, with 190,000 recorded since June 1.\r\nThis is over 17,000 more than the previous record of 172,600 in June 1993, which just topped June 2021 and its 170,000 strikes. \r\nThe most lightning strikes ever recorded fell in July 2006, when there were 370,000.\r\nJune’s high instance of lightning strikes does not necessarily augur a stormy summer ahead. \r\nMétéo France forecaster Frédéric Nathan told Ouest France that: “It depends on the year, on the month [...] With climate change, there will potentially be more big hail storms, but we cannot be sure.” \r\nHowever, heatwaves will become more common as global warming continues, and the mass of hot air that they bring with them is particularly conducive to storms. \r\n“Cumulonimbus clouds form because of the difference between the ground temperature and the temperature at altitude. The bigger the difference, the more violent the storm,” Mr Nathan said. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n“For several days, we have had all the ingredients for storms. \r\n“The hot air has been stored up during the heatwave and the cold air of higher in the sky is moving over France. There are therefore hailstones, heavy rainfall, lightning and violent gusts of wind.” \r\nSome seven French departments remain under orange storm alerts today (June 24). These are: Aveyron, Tarn, Ardèche, Drôme, Isère, Savoie and Haute-Savoie.\r\nA further 79 departments are on yellow warnings for storms and floods. \r\n\r\nYesterday’s stormy weather brought the equivalent of a month of rain down over the city of Auxerre (Yonne) in just one hour yesterday evening (June 23), provoking flash floods in the streets and submerging cellars in water. \r\nThe episode lasted for one hour but saw firefighters called out to 100 incidents, fire and rescue crew deputy director Christophe Guichard-Nihou told BFMTV.\r\n“The street was more than a stream, it was a river,” a local resident said, adding that the storm was “very very impressive, it was banging on the windows.” \r\nAround 1,000 homes lost power around Auxerre, but the issue was resolved for most over the course of the evening.\r\n','2022-06-24','',0,1),(265,'Paris attacks: Survivors who found friendship in marathon terror trial','BBC News','Society',4,62,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61967284','By Lucy Williamson','They call themselves the \"potages\" - a mash-up of the French words for buddies and hostages.\r\nA unique friendship group, forged in the shared experience of being caught up in France\'s worst peace-time attack six years ago, when Islamist jihadists killed 130 people at locations across Paris, including bars, restaurants, the national football stadium and the Bataclan concert hall.\r\nLater on Wednesday, some of the potages will file into a specially built courtroom in Paris, to hear verdicts handed down to 20 men accused of involvement in those attacks in November 2015.\r\nIt is the end of a marathon nine-month process that has left its mark on France.\r\n\"The end of the trial is going to mark a new beginning,\" one of the potages, David Fritz Goeppinger, told me. \"I\'m not sure how to feel about it.\"\r\nFor him, the most important part of the trial was the testimony of hundreds of victims, including his own.\r\n\"For the first time, justice heard us [and] something shifted,\" he said. \"I shared some details that I never shared in my book, or with my wife. I needed to share the entirety of what happened.\"\r\n\r\nDavid, a photographer, was one of the last hostages to escape the Bataclan that night. He\'s spent most of the past year taking portraits of victims, police officers, even the former French president, François Hollande, as they turned up to testify at court.\r\n\"For me, it was very, very important not to be passive,\" he said. \"As a victim, going through nine months of the trial, with all that psychological pain, I needed to take the bull by the horns.\"\r\n\r\nOne of the witnesses David photographed at court was his friend, Arthur Dénouveaux, who escaped from the Bataclan shortly after the gunmen entered, and now heads the victims support group Life for Paris.\r\n\"I feel relieved that the trial existed,\" Arthur told me. \"I found some answers. But more than that, I feel a bit disgusted about November 13th, in a sense that we\'ve gone into so much detail that now I\'m not really interested in talking about it anymore - and I think that\'s the best part.\"\r\nAs well as the victims themselves, David has taken portraits of defence lawyers, victims\' lawyers, court reporters, expert witnesses, and a member of the band that was playing in the Bataclan on the night of the attacks.\r\n\r\nThe one group he has never asked to photograph is the defendants themselves.\r\nThe key defendant in this trial is Salah Abdeslam, believed to be the only surviving attacker from the night. Prosecutors have requested life in prison without parole for him, and two others.\r\n\"I had only ever seen him on TV and suddenly there he was, in real life,\" David said. \"I remember telling myself, \'Oh, I\'m bigger than him.\'\"\r\nIn his closing statement this week, Salah Abdeslam apologised to victims and said his thinking had \"evolved\" since he first stridently introduced himself to the court as a soldier for the so-called Islamic State group at the start of the trial.\r\n\"I made mistakes, it\'s true,\" he said in his closing remarks to the judges. \"But I\'m not a murderer, I\'m not a killer - and if you convict me, you will be committing an injustice.\"\r\n\"It was very brutal, hearing [Salah Abdeslam] say to the court that he was a soldier [of Islamic State],\" David said, \"I thought about taking a picture of him, but I don\'t know if it\'s my place to do that. I can\'t be the victim and also the photographer.\"\r\n\r\nThe shift between observer and participant has sometimes been a difficult one for David.\r\nLast October, the court played a previously unheard audio recording of one of three attackers inside the Bataclan concert hall.\r\n\"The first who gets up, I shoot. The first one who moves, I put a bullet in his head. Is that clear? Whoever tries to be a vigilante, I will kill him. Is that understood?\"\r\nThe sound recorder was meant to capture the atmosphere of the concert. Instead, it recorded David\'s exchange with one of the gunmen as they took him and a dozen others hostage.\r\nHearing the recording in court \"changed everything\", David said. \"Because [in that moment] it wasn\'t just me talking to the terrorist: justice was listening, and the court was listening. It created a tunnel from the Bataclan attack that night to today, and for me that was the most healing experience of all.\"\r\nGetting the court to agree to play the tape was a months-long battle, led by his friend Arthur Dénouveaux.\r\n\"We had psychiatrists saying, \'I\'m not sure it\'s a good idea.\' We had lawyers worrying about consequences. We had the court saying, \'maybe it\'ll be too traumatic\',\" Arthur told me. \"And we were saying we can do this. We know what we want.\"\r\nOn the day the audio was played, Arthur says, more victims came to court than during Salah Abdeslam\'s testimony.\r\n\"It proved we were right,\" he says.\r\nOf all the hundreds of portraits that David has taken throughout the trial, his favourite is a group shot of the potages. Seven men and women, who met as hostages, bundled into the upper corridors of the Bataclan, unsure whether they would ever make it out alive.\r\nDavid himself is in the picture, on the far-left-hand side.\r\n\"The trial has brought home to me that the friendships I\'ve grown in the last six years came from something painful,\" he said.\r\nI ask how his life will be different once the trial is over, and the verdicts are out.\r\n\"Technically nothing will change,\" he told me. \"But in our minds, we\'ll remember that we went through those nine months together. And for the first time, we\'ll know that we are not alone.\"\r\n','2022-06-29','',0,1),(266,'€50million Notre-Dame Cathedral landscaping project approved in Paris','The Connexion','Art & Culture',7,62,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/French-news/50million-Notre-Dame-Cathedral-landscaping-project-approved-in-Paris ','By Hannah Thompson','€50million Notre-Dame Cathedral landscaping project approved in Paris\r\nThe plans will increase the green space by 36% and aim to make the area more comfortable for visitors during hot weather\r\n28 June 2022 15:05 \r\nBy Hannah Thompson\r\nA €50million project for the redevelopment of the square in front of the Notre-Dame cathedral has been approved in Paris.\r\nThe plans will aim to increase vegetation and improve the appearance of the façade, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed on June 27. \r\nA team by Brussels architecture and landscape group Bas Smets has been contracted for the project. The company will also work with the architectural and urban planning firm GRAU and the architectural firm Neufville-Gayet.\r\nThe project is set to be completed by 2027, but visitors will be able to access the area, as it grows, from 2024.\r\nThis coincides with the work being done to restore the cathedral after the devastating fire of April 2019, which destroyed its spire and much of its roof.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nIt is being funded entirely by the Ville de Paris council.\r\nThe team was chosen by the jury chaired by the Mayor of Paris, together with representatives of the public establishment in charge of Notre-Dame (EPRNDP) and the Diocese of Paris.\r\nThe plans are set to include long stretches of land with trees, to offer shade to visitors in hot weather. A total of 131 new trees will be planted, and “no tree will be felled” in the project, which will increase the area’s green space by 36%, the mayor’s office said.\r\nMs Hidalgo tweeted: “The Seine and the environment have a major place in our project by the Bas Smets team, chosen by the jury. All the better to highlight our beautiful cathedral and show it off, while respecting its history.”\r\n\r\nPart of the plans aim to face up to climate change and intense heat. There are even plans to offer a cool space for visitors with technology designed to enable water run-off on the forecourt.\r\nA lawn behind the cathedral will also offer a good view of the architectural elements and stained glass windows of the gothic building. \r\n\r\nAriel Weil, mayor of the Paris Centre sector, said: \"The link between the forecourt and the Seine has been created with great finesse.”\r\nThere will be a remodelled visitors’ car park on the underground level, plus an interior pathway that will lead to the crypt, and will open onto a riverside Seine walkway.\r\nThe Bas Smets team is already known as a rising star within the fields of architecture and urban garden design, having created the Parc des Ateliers around the Luma tower in Arles, and the future redeveloper of the centre of Brussels.\r\n','2022-06-28','',0,1),(267,'Airbnb permanently bans parties and events around the world','BBC News','Politics',1,62,'https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61976350','By Annabelle Liang','Airbnb permanently bans parties and events around the world\r\nBy Annabelle Liang\r\nBusiness reporter\r\n			\r\nAirbnb has permanently banned parties and events at homes on its platform, after a temporary measure during the pandemic proved popular with hosts.\r\nThe firm says the rule has become \"much more than a public health measure\" since it was introduced in August 2020.\r\n\"It developed into a bedrock community policy to support our hosts and their neighbours,\" the San Francisco-headquartered firm said.\r\nHowever, it also removed a limit on how many people can stay at homes.\r\nAirbnb said in a statement that the number of complaints about parties dropped by 44% since the measure was first introduced.\r\nExceptions to the global ban may be made for \"specialty and traditional hospitality venues\" in the future, it added.\r\nAirbnb also said it would remove a limit on the number of people its listings are allowed to accommodate at any one time.\r\nIt previously imposed a 16 person limit to occupants because of concerns over the spread of Covid-19.\r\nThe firm said \"several types of larger homes are capable of comfortably and safely housing more than 16 people - from castles in Europe to vineyards in the US to large beachfront villas in the Caribbean\".\r\n\"Removing this cap is meant to allow those hosts to responsibly utilise the space in their homes while still complying with our ban on disruptive parties,\" it said.\r\nThe company started putting restrictions on parties in 2019. It banned \"open-invite\" parties and so-called \"chronic party houses\" that were a nuisance to neighbours.\r\nDuring the pandemic, Airbnb introduced an indefinite ban on parties \"in the best interest of public health\".\r\nMore than 6,600 guests had also been suspended from using the platform last year for breaking the rules.\r\n\"This new and long-term policy was enacted to help encourage and support community safety,\" Airbnb said.\r\n\"We look forward to sharing updates in the coming weeks and months on our efforts to complement our community policies on parties,\" it added.\r\n\r\n','2022-06-28','',0,1),(273,'Do non-residents pay more French tax on second homes than residents?','The Connexion','Business & Economy',3,64,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/Your-Questions/Money/Do-non-residents-pay-more-French-tax-on-second-homes-than-residents','By Hugh Macdonald','Do non-residents pay more French tax on second homes than residents?\r\nSince Brexit there can be an additional expense for Britons - the fees for a fiscal representative to calculate capital gains tax when you sell. This has been the case for other non-EU citizens for some time\r\n\r\n3 September 2022 09:31\r\n\r\nResident or non-resident, the tax on second homes remains the same \r\n\r\nBy Hugh Macdonald\r\nReader Question: We are UK residents intending to buy a holiday home in France. Am I right that recent French legislation means taxes we face as non-residents (eg. taxe foncière) are stiffer than before? Are they the same as for French residents with a holiday home?\r\n\r\nProperty taxes are the same in buying a second home whether resident or non-resident, and this has not changed. The only French residence of a person with their main domicile in the UK is still considered a second home. \r\n\r\nIn terms of property taxes, the French resident and the non-French resident are liable to pay both taxe foncière and taxe d’habitation. \r\n\r\nUnder recent changes, French residents are mostly exempt from paying taxe d’habitation, but only on their principal private residence. \r\n\r\nLocal councils set the rates of both taxes, which in some areas include an additional surcharge on taxe d’habitation on second homes. This has applied for several years. \r\n\r\n\r\nAnother factor affecting the amount to be paid is the theoretical rental value of the property, called valeur locative cadastrale. MPs usually vote annually to increase this, related to rises in the cost of living. Other factors, including an extension to the home, can also affect this. \r\n\r\nA general revision of the values has long been proposed but has now been put off to 2026. \r\n\r\nThe amount of each of these taxes will vary across France for a similar property, but when buying a property, you should be informed in the sale details of the amount of the taxe foncière, and you can also request to know the amount of the taxe d’habitation. \r\n\r\nShould you rent out your property, UK tax residents must declare the income first in France, where non-residents are liable to a flat rate of income tax (usually 20%), which is then used as a credit against income tax liability in the UK when declaring the taxable French rental income figure. \r\n\r\nAlso due will be social charges, which should be only 7.5% – or 17.2% if you are not liable to social security in the UK. \r\n\r\nSince Brexit, in the event of selling a property for more than €150,000, one additional expense is the requirement to use a French fiscal representative to calculate the capital gains tax liability, costing around 0.5% of the sale price. This fee is deductible from the taxable gain.','2022-09-03','',0,1),(274,'Explainer: How does France’s two-year guarantee on all products work?','The Connexion','Business & Economy',3,64,'https://www.connexionfrance.com/article/Practical/Everyday-Life/Explainer-How-does-France-s-two-year-guarantee-on-all-products-work','By Thomas Brent','Explainer: How does France’s two-year guarantee on all products work?\r\nWe explain the garantie légale de conformité, which offers protection to consumers who have bought faulty or misleading products\r\n\r\n2 September 2022 13:12\r\n\r\nAll new products sold in France are guaranteed for two years Pic: Reshetnikov_art / Shutterstock\r\n\r\nBy Thomas Brent\r\nAll products sold in France - including digital subscriptions - are guaranteed by a protection called the garantie légale de conformité.\r\n\r\nThis guarantee is two years for all new products and, since January this year, one year for all second-hand products. This guarantee must be mentioned on all shop receipts.\r\n\r\nIt means that if, for example, you buy a new iPad but discover on delivery that it has a fault, is the wrong colour or does not match the general description provided by the seller, you can return it to the shop and you are fully covered. \r\n\r\nThe guarantee also applies to products whose packaging or instructions are damaged or any other issues that mean the product does not work as you expected it to. \r\n\r\nIn also applies to digital services, for example a subscription to a digital platform, purchase of an online video game, rental of an online film, etc. \r\n\r\n\r\nThis guarantee does not cover private sales between individuals. It does, though, apply to all products bought within the European Union. \r\n\r\nThis is not the same as a commercial guarantee that a shop may offer. To continue the iPad example, the seller at the shop at which you buy it may offer you to buy a guarantee provided by the shop. \r\n\r\nBe careful to assess whether you actually need this. Obviously if it only covers the product you are buying for two years under the same conditions as the garantie légale de conformité, you most probably do not. \r\n\r\nHow does the garantie légale de conformité work?\r\nThe responsibility falls to the seller so if you have a problem then you should notify the shop where you bought the item. You can either go in-person and present the receipt or you can write a letter outlining the issue(s). \r\n\r\nThe shop can contest your judgement if they think that you yourself damaged the product. If they do, you can ask for help from a consumer association such as UFC-Que Choisir or 60 Millions de Consommateurs. \r\n\r\nThe final recourse is to take legal action, which is free when it comes to items bought for under €5,000.  \r\n\r\nSix-month extension after repairs\r\nAs part of the garantie légale de conformité, if you have to get a product repaired within the first two years of buying it you get an extra six months added to your guarantee. \r\n\r\n\r\nFor example, you buy an iPad but it breaks after a year so you take it back to be repaired. The garantie légale de conformité on the iPad will then last for another 18 months, instead of 12. \r\n\r\nIf the product cannot be repaired and the shop offers you a replacement, then that product comes with a new garantie légale de conformité that will last for a further two years. ','2022-09-02','',0,1),(275,'How Pakistan floods are linked to climate change','BBC NEWS','Society',4,64,'https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-62758811','By Georgina Rannard BBC News Climate and Science  ','The devastating floods in Pakistan are a \"wake-up call\" to the world on the threats of climate change, experts have said.\r\n\r\nThe record-breaking rain would devastate any country, not just poorer nations, one climate scientist has told BBC News.\r\n\r\nThe human impacts are clear - another 2,000 people were rescued from floodwaters on Friday, while ministers warn of food shortages after almost half the country\'s crops were washed away.\r\n\r\nA sense of injustice is keenly felt in the country. Pakistan contributes less than 1% of the global greenhouse gases that warm our planet but its geography makes it extremely vulnerable to climate change.\r\n\r\n\"Literally, one-third of Pakistan is underwater right now, which has exceeded every boundary, every norm we\'ve seen in the past,\" Climate minister Sherry Rehman said this week.\r\n\r\nPakistan is located at a place on the globe which bears the brunt of two major weather systems. One can cause high temperatures and drought, like the heatwave in March, and the other brings monsoon rains.\r\n\r\n\r\nThe majority of Pakistan\'s population live along the Indus river, which swells and can flood during monsoon rains.\r\n\r\nThe science linking climate change and more intense monsoons is quite simple. Global warming is making air and sea temperatures rise, leading to more evaporation. Warmer air can hold more moisture, making monsoon rainfall more intense.\r\n\r\nScientists predict that the average rainfall in the Indian summer monsoon season will increase due to climate change, explains Anja Katzenberger at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research.\r\n\r\nBut Pakistan has something else making it susceptible to climate change effects - its immense glaciers.\r\n\r\nThe northern region is sometimes referred to as the \'third pole\' - it contains more glacial ice than anywhere in the world outside of the polar regions.\r\n\r\nGlacial ice in Pakistan\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nAs the world warms, glacial ice is melting. Glaciers in Pakistan\'s Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa regions are melting rapidly, creating more than 3,000 lakes, the the UN Development Programme told BBC News. Around 33 of these are at risk of sudden bursting, which could unleash millions of cubic meters of water and debris, putting 7 million people at risk.\r\n\r\nMap and photos show extent of Pakistan floods\r\nWorld\'s glaciers melting at faster rate\r\nClimate change swells odds of Pakistan heatwave\r\nPakistan\'s government and the UN are attempting to reduce the risks of these sudden outburst floods by installing early-warning systems and protective infrastructure.\r\n\r\nIn the past poorer countries with weaker flood defences or lower-quality housing have been less able to cope with extreme rainfall.\r\n\r\nA bridge damaged by a glacial lake outburst\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nImage caption,\r\nGlacial lake outbursts are already damaging infrastructure\r\nBut climate impact scientist Fahad Saeed told BBC News that even a rich nation would be overwhelmed by the catastrophic flooding this summer.\r\n\r\n\"This is a different type of animal - the scale of the floods is so high and the rain is so extreme, that even very robust defences would struggle,\" Dr Saeed explains from Islamabad, Pakistan.\r\n\r\nHe points to the flooding in Germany and Belgium that killed dozens of people in 2021.\r\n\r\nPakistan received nearly 190% more rain than its 30-year average from June to August - reaching a total of 390.7mm.\r\n\r\nHe says that Pakistan\'s meteorological service did a \"reasonable\" job in warning people in advance about flooding. And the country does have some flood defences but they could be improved, he says.\r\n\r\nPeople with the smallest carbon footprints are suffering the most, Dr Saeed says.\r\n\r\n\"The victims are living in mud homes with hardly any resources - they have contributed virtually nothing to climate change,\" he says.\r\n\r\nThe flooding has affected areas that don\'t normally see this type of rain, including southern regions Singh and Balochistan that are normally arid or semi-arid.\r\n\r\nSingh province awaits more devastation\r\nYusuf Baluch, a 17-year-old climate activist from Balochistan, says that inequality in the country is making the problem worse. He remembers his own family home being washed away by flooding when he was six years old.\r\n\r\n\"People living in cities and from more privileged backgrounds are least affected by the flooding,\" he explains.\r\n\r\n\"People have the right to be angry. Companies are still extracting fossil fuels from Balochistan, but people there have just lost their homes and have no food or shelter,\" he says. He believes the government is failing to support communities there.\r\n\r\nDr Saeed says the floods are \"absolutely a wake-up call\" to governments globally who promised to tackle climate change at successive UN climate conferences.\r\n\r\n\"All of this is happening when the world has warmed by 1.2C - any more warming than that is a death sentence for many people in Pakistan,\" he adds.','2022-09-02','',0,1),(276,'The French ‘finishing school’ educating the far-right leaders of tomorrow','CNN','Society',4,64,'https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/04/europe/france-far-right-school-intl-cmd/index.html','By Renee Bertini, CNN','Paris\r\nCNN\r\n — \r\nThe first time he walked through the doors of the Institut de Formation Politique (IFP), French student Jacques Smith noticed the cozy atmosphere and the elite feel of the place – but mainly, that he was “surrounded by right-wing people and right-wing lecturers,” he told CNN.\r\n\r\nAs an overtly right-wing student, Smith felt it was hard to find his place at the university he attended – Nanterre University, just outside Paris – which he perceived as “very, very on the left” – so he joined the Union Nationale Interuniversitaire (UNI), the right-wing national student union. It was during those early days of his studies that one of his mentors at UNI suggested he should consider training at IFP.\r\n\r\nOffering practical and theoretical classes in journalism, politics and business, IFP has become something of a “finishing school” for right-leaning youth in France. Having fostered networks and community for a new, politically minded class of right-wing – or even far-right – activists and professionals, the school has trained alumni who are sitting MPs, are organizing electoral campaigns, speaking on CNEWS – France’s equivalent of Fox News – or even working as far-right influencers on social media.\r\n\r\nIn a year when France’s far-right had its best-ever electoral results, IFP’s role as a nursery for its political class is more important than ever.\r\n\r\n“The aim of IFP is very clear to me,” said Smith. “It’s to shape right-wing youth to create a new generation ready to take on the challenges of the country.”\r\n\r\nIt’s already seen success in that. According to the school’s director, IFP has trained more than 2,200 students since it opened in 2004, and about 40% of them now have responsibilities in political settings.\r\n\r\nOf some 50 members of the close entourage of far-right pundit and former presidential candidate Eric Zemmour, identified by French daily Le Monde, at least one-fifth have ties with IFP – as former students, instructors, speakers, financial supporters or admirers.\r\n\r\n“We try to maximize their chances of having high-responsibility positions,” said Alexandre Pesey, director and co-founder of the institute, in an interview with CNN.\r\n\r\nFar-right pundit and politician Eric Zemmour, center, delivers a speech following the first round of voting in France\'s parliamentary elections, in Cogolin, on June 12, 2022.\r\nFar-right pundit and politician Eric Zemmour, center, delivers a speech following the first round of voting in France\'s parliamentary elections, in Cogolin, on June 12, 2022.\r\nVALERY HACHE/AFP via Getty Images\r\nProviding an ‘ideological backbone’\r\nFresh from his own studies, in 2004, Pesey decided to create the school with two colleagues. The trio felt like they were missing “a place for involved young people (…) who are attached to their country, their history, their culture and identity,” he said.\r\n\r\nThe director prefers not to politically qualify the education the school provides, but he admitted “on a scale from left to right, clearly, it’s quite on the right.”\r\n\r\nSome of its seminars are titled: “A lawyer faces the Islamist menace”; “Preserving our freedom of speech, a challenge of our times”; “The values of the right”; “Gender, Veganism, Nativism: decrypting the semantics of the left.”\r\n\r\nStudents can follow a core curriculum of seminars or get specific training in journalism, politics or entrepreneurship. Classes are held in person either in the evening or over the weekend, to fit with the students’ university or work schedules. They pay a fee to attend IFP but may get scholarships from school donors.\r\n\r\nIFP does not offer state-recognized qualifications or diplomas, so most students attend alongside formal university studies. “I see it as something extra to complete my education,” said Smith. “It’s given me the ideological backbone of the right.”\r\n\r\nNetworking opportunities\r\n“Beyond the intellectual and practical dimensions of their formation, there is a networking dimension,” said Pesey. The links students form are both horizontal – amongst their peers – and vertical – with guest speakers, mentors and like-minded professionals.\r\n\r\n“There are things that were created because people met at IFP,” said Samuel Lafont, 34. “It gives people concrete ideas.” Lafont was one of the early students of IFP, having first followed the school’s seminars in 2009. Today, he is mostly known for his role as digital strategist for Zemmour’s electoral campaign.\r\n\r\nHe was also one of the minds behind the “Manif pour tous” (Demonstration for all) movement, which organized protests against gay marriage in 2012 and 2013. He described it as a key moment when a lot of far-right and conservative youth groups came together and started connecting, both in person, and through online activism.\r\n\r\nSupporters of the anti-gay marriage movement \"La Manif pour tous\" (Demonstration for all) wave flags in front of the Eiffel Tower during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law.\r\nSupporters of the anti-gay marriage movement \"La Manif pour tous\" (Demonstration for all) wave flags in front of the Eiffel Tower during a mass protest on May 26, 2013 in Paris against a gay marriage law.\r\nFRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP via Getty Images\r\nThe high-flying contacts on offer at IFP might include media entrepreneurs, magistrates, MPs, or directors of prestigious research programs.\r\n\r\nIt’s a powerful opportunity. “I know that if I ever need to switch jobs (…) there are plenty of people that I know through IFP that I can call,” said Smith.\r\n\r\nTeaching against the current\r\nSchools like the Paris Institute of Political Studies, known as Sciences Po, or École Nationale d’Administration (now Institut National du Service Public) – the selective “grandes écoles” of France – are historical institutions, considered an express ticket to top-flight careers in the country.\r\n\r\nA voter casts his vote at a polling station during the French parliamentary elections in Saint-Savin, south-western France, on June 12, 2022. (Photo by Thibaud MORITZ / AFP) (Photo by THIBAUD MORITZ/AFP via Getty Images)\r\nFrench parliamentary elections overshadowed by low turnout\r\nHowever, for many on the right, they represent the mainstreaming of leftist teaching – and some are disparaging of what they offer.\r\n\r\n“It’s a lot freer at IFP,” Lafont told CNN. “Sciences Po really just teaches you a one-track way of thinking, it’s very mainstream, some things you can say and some you cannot,” he added.\r\n\r\nZemmour, who came in fourth in the first round of voting in the presidential election, has called IFP the “counter-Sciences Po,” underlining the reactionary nature of the kind of teaching it provides.\r\n\r\n“The idea had sprouted in the right that one of the reasons for their political defeat was the absence of an elite of intellectually formed executives,” said researcher and far-right expert Jean-Yves Camus, “and that the cause of this absence was that even if you enter university as a right-winger, you are shaped by a dominant teaching that is oriented to the left.”\r\n\r\nIFP alumnus Alice Cordier, pictured in 2021, is the president and founder of the far-right feminist group \"Collectif Némésis.\"\r\nIFP alumnus Alice Cordier, pictured in 2021, is the president and founder of the far-right feminist group \"Collectif Némésis.\"\r\nDaniel Derajinski/Hans Lucas/Reuters\r\n“Today, the right faces a certain censorship,” said Alice Cordier, 24, an IFP alum and now instructor. “We see woke ideology and other extreme ideologies that aim to censor people who think like me.” IFP advised her as she was laying the foundations of what is now the far-right feminist and anti-immigration group “Collectif Némésis,” with chapters all over France and in Switzerland.\r\n\r\nIFP, on the other hand, “facilitates the creation of ties between politicians and young people, something which, on the right, is not necessarily very developed,” said Cordier. Moreover, IFP encourages students to be more ambitious by showing them they “all have a role to play, no matter our status,” she said.\r\n\r\nCurrently, the right is the majority in France, said Camus, but “nevertheless I have the impression that they still feel as if they are the minority.” This may have played into IFP’s creation, he added.\r\n\r\nRight-wing politicians of tomorrow\r\nWhile some analysts are reluctant to credit IFP with any impact on French politics, the presence of its alumni in the political scene speaks volumes. Chief among them is perhaps Zemmour’s digital strategist Lafont, along with some 20% of Zemmour’s inner circle around election time – as identified by Le Monde – with links to IFP. Twenty-three-year-old IFP alum Stanislas Rigault founded the youth wing of Zemmour’s campaign, Génération Z.\r\n\r\nZemmour’s closest team members even called IFP directly to recruit young people trained there in the runup to the presidential race, according to the student Jacques Smith. “I think during the launch of Zemmour’s campaign, IFP was at the center of the game,” he said.\r\n\r\nMarion Maréchal, the niece and potential successor of far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen and former member of the French National Assembly, has even created her own school modeled on IFP, in Lyon.\r\n\r\nLafont and Cordier agree that a lot of what makes a school relevant in France is the power its name holds. They acknowledge that the “grandes écoles” so despised by the right still hold great power in the job market and political arena. “If you are in a good school you can relax,” said Lafont.\r\n\r\nHowever, they say that the IFP brand now carries the same weight in French right-wing circles.\r\n\r\n“It’s the best school that presently exists for truly educating oneself about themes that are important to the right,” Cordier told CNN. She often sends young women from her collective to follow seminars at the school.\r\n\r\nThe school says demand for places outstrips supply.\r\n\r\n“The right-wing politicians of tomorrow will all have gone through IFP,” said Cordier. “Of that I am almost certain.”','2022-09-04','',0,1),(277,'‘Serious problem’ if France and UK can’t tell if they’re friends or enemies, says Macron','The Guardian','Politics',1,64,'https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/26/serious-problem-if-france-and-uk-cant-tell-if-they-are-friends-or-enemies-says-macron-liz-truss','Jon Henley Europe correspondent','Serious problem’ if France and UK can’t tell if they’re friends or enemies, says Macron\r\nFrench president responds to ‘jury’s out’ comments by Tory leadership favourite Liz Truss about key ally\r\n\r\nMacron and Truss\r\n00:38\r\nMacron responds to Truss saying \'jury\'s out\' on whether French president is friend or foe – video\r\nJon Henley Europe correspondent\r\n@jonhenley\r\nFri 26 Aug 2022 11.50 BST\r\nFrance and Britain would be facing “serious problems” if they could not say whether they were friends or enemies, Emmanuel Macron has said, insisting that for Paris the UK would always be an ally no matter who was running it.\r\n\r\nThe comments came after Liz Truss, the clear favourite to become Britain’s next prime minister, told the penultimate Conservative leadership hustings on Thursday that “the jury is still out” on whether the French president was “friend or foe”.\r\n\r\nAsked for his response, Macron, on an official visit to Algeria, said it was “not good to lose your bearings too much”. If he was asked the same question, he said: “I wouldn’t hesitate for a second. France is a friend of the British people.”\r\n\r\nIf France and Britain “cannot say whether they are friends or enemies – and that is not a neutral term – then we are headed for serious problems”, the French president said.\r\n\r\nTruss told the hustings in Norfolk that as prime minister, she would judge Macron by “deeds, not words”. Macron said the UK remained “a friendly nation” and strong ally for France “regardless of its leaders, and sometimes in spite of its leaders and whatever little mistakes they may make in a speech from a soapbox”.\r\n\r\nLiz Truss: \'jury\'s out\' on whether Macron is a friend or foe of UK – video\r\n00:24\r\nLiz Truss: \'jury\'s out\' on whether Macron is a friend or foe of UK – video\r\nSpeaking later, Boris Johnson said he had always enjoyed “very good relations” with Macron, who was “a great fan of our country” and “un très bon buddy de notre pays”.\r\n\r\nThe outgoing prime minister added that relations between the UK had been “of huge importance … They have been very for a long time, ever since the Napoleonic era, basically, and I think we should celebrate that”.\r\n\r\nFormer senior diplomats and a former French minister condemned Truss’s remarks, saying it was irresponsible of someone likely to be Britain’s next prime minister to disparage a key ally and that the comment would further harm cross-Channel relations.\r\n\r\nPeter Ricketts, a former British ambassador to Paris, said Truss’s comments were ill-judged. “We are at the stage of the Tory leadership contest where the contestants need to start seeing themselves, and behaving, as future leaders of the country,” he said.\r\n\r\nBoris Johnson calls Macron \'très bon buddy\' of UK after Truss comments – video\r\n01:04\r\nBoris Johnson calls Macron \'très bon buddy\' of UK after Truss comments – video\r\nAdvertisement\r\n\r\n“France is our closest defence and security ally. We have a 50-year-old commitment to test our nuclear warheads in France. As Britain’s foreign minister, as its probable future prime minister, to insult the president of France, make a joke, indulge in silly point-scoring for cheap laughs, is just plain irresponsible.”\r\n\r\nNathalie Loiseau, a former French Europe minister who now chairs the European parliament’s EU-UK partnership assembly, said the comments were neither conducive to good relations between neighbours nor befitting of a future head of government.\r\n\r\n“From a future leader, one expects leadership,” Loiseau said. “And from a future stateswoman, one expects statesmanship. Her remarks fell into neither category.”\r\n\r\nSign up to First Edition\r\n\r\nFree daily newsletter\r\nArchie Bland and Nimo Omer take you through the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning\r\n\r\n\r\nPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain info about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. For more information see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.\r\nShe said the comments would do nothing to improve Anglo-French relations, already hit by Brexit and bilateral disagreements, but added: “For years now, France has applied in its dealings with the UK a motto that we owe to you: keep calm and carry on.”\r\n\r\nTensions that built up over five years of ill-tempered negotiations over the UK’s exit from the EU have been exacerbated by a series of cross-Channel rows including over migrant crossings in small boats, fishing licences and the Northern Ireland protocol.\r\n\r\nAnalysts say Paris no longer trusts London to keep its word, while London believes Paris is interested only in punishing it for Brexit. Hopes that relations might improve after the departure of Boris Johnson do not look likely to be fulfilled any time soon.\r\n\r\nAdvertisement\r\n\r\n“I hope Liz Truss was joking,” Loiseau tweeted. “Although it’s a very bad joke. The only one who will enjoy hearing this sort of comment among friends, neighbours and allies is Vladimir Putin. I suggest not to offer him such a pleasant moment.”\r\n\r\nSylvie Bermann, a former French ambassador to London, said it was important to realise that Truss’s words “were the words of a candidate”. Election candidates “tend to say what they think their electorates want to hear”, she said.\r\n\r\nBut she said it seemed unlikely that Truss, who is widely expected to be declared the new Conservative leader on 5 September and become the UK’s third female prime minister the next day, would preside over a thaw in Anglo-French relations.\r\n\r\n“We, of course, to use her phrase, will judge her by her deeds and not her words,” Bermann said. “But there are fundamental disagreements between Britain and France that are not going to disappear. And given what we know about her positions, I think it’s probable things will get worse.”','2022-08-26','',0,1),(279,'10 ways EU countries aim to cut energy bills and avoid blackouts this winter','The Local L','Society',4,65,'https://www.thelocal.com/20220915/10-ways-eu-countries-plan-to-cut-your-energy-bills-and-avoid-blackouts-this-winter/','By Claudia Delpero, ','10 ways EU countries aim to cut energy bills and avoid blackouts this winter\r\nThe European Union and individual national governments around Europe are taking a raft of steps to try to limit the impact of the energy crisis this winter. Here\'s a look at the stand-out measures.\r\n\r\nPublished: 15 September 2022 13:04 CEST\r\n10 ways EU countries aim to cut energy bills and avoid blackouts this winter\r\nEU and countries are taking steps to reduce energy bills and avoid blackouts this winter. Photo by John-Mark Smith on Unsplash\r\nThe European Commission has presented plans to tax extra profits of energy companies and reduce power consumption to cut electricity and gas prices that have skyrocketed following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.\r\n\r\nEU sanctions on Russia – to which Moscow has responded by cutting gas supplies – have dramatically increased energy prices, placing European households and businesses under financial strain.\r\n\r\n\r\nAt an emergency meeting last Friday, EU energy ministers asked the European Commission to flesh out initial proposals to reduce energy consumption and tax extra profits by energy companies, in order to support the most vulnerable people across the EU.\r\n\r\nThis week’s proposals will have to be endorsed by EU ministers at another meeting on September 30th.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, national governments have also been taking action – both to cut their energy usage to avoid blackouts and to help households deal with rising costs through caps on energy bills and more general financial aid.\r\n\r\nHere’s what is being planned this winter;\r\n\r\n1) Taxes on energy companies’ excess profits \r\n\r\nThe Commission has proposed a temporary ‘solidarity contribution’ on excess profits made by companies in the oil, gas and coal sectors.\r\n\r\nBecause of gas price increases “these companies are making revenues they never accounted for, they never even dreamed of,” European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said, speaking at the European Parliament.\r\n\r\n“In these times it is wrong to receive extraordinary record profits benefiting from war and on the back of consumers,” she argued.\r\n\r\nNational governments would therefore collect 33 percent on 2022 profits, above a 20 percent increase on the average profits made in the previous three years. The Commission is also proposing to cap temporarily the revenues of companies in the renewables, nuclear and lignite sector, which have lower costs and have also been making “exceptional” earnings because energy prices are tied to the gas price.\r\n\r\nThe Commission has proposed to set the revenue cap at €180 per megawatt hour, an amount that would not hit investments, with the extra collected by national governments.\r\n\r\nThese windfall taxes are expected to generate €140 billion, which should be redirected to energy consumers, “in particular vulnerable households, hard-hit companies and energy-intensive industries,” the Commission said.\r\n\r\n\r\n2) Energy rationing\r\n\r\nUnder the Commission proposal, EU countries will have to reduce electricity use by at least 5 percent at peak times, when prices are the highest.\r\n\r\nEach country will have to identify peak hours and determine ways to cut consumption. The Commission also proposes that EU countries reduce overall electricity demand by at least 10 percent until March 31st 2023.\r\n\r\n3) Reform of the electricity market \r\n\r\nUrsula von der Leyen also promised a “deep and comprehensive” reform of the electricity market, which would allow for the first time below-cost regulated electricity prices to help consumers and small businesses, with possible compensation for producers.\r\n\r\nThe Commission also wants to decouple the prices of gas and electricity and the temporary introduction of state aid to help energy utilities hit by the volatility of the market.\r\n\r\n4) Diversification of energy sources\r\n\r\nEarlier in the year, the EU had already adopted the ‘REPowerEU’ plan which seeks to reduce energy consumption by 15 percent and accelerate investments in renewable energy. The Commission announced on Wednesday the creation of a new bank to promote investments in hydrogen.\r\n\r\n5) Gas storage\r\n\r\nEU countries had also agreed to fill gas storage sites ahead of winter, securing supplies from countries such as the US, Norway, Algeria and Azerbaijan.\r\n\r\nThe Commission says the bloc’s gas reserves have hit 84 percent of capacity ahead of the October deadline and EU imports of Russian gas are down to 9 percent from 40 percent in March.\r\n\r\nMeanwhile, many national governments have also taken their own measures to deal with the crisis.\r\n\r\n\r\n6) Cap on energy prices \r\n\r\nCountries such as Austria, France, Denmark and Spain have capped gas and electricity prices and France intends to fully nationalise power company EDF (which is already 83 percent state-owned) to force it to take the hit.\r\n\r\nAt the EU level, energy ministers have so far failed to agree a temporary cap on the gas price, opposed mainly by Germany and the Commission because it could put at risk supplies from other countries. A cap on Russian gas only, on the other hand, would penalise EU countries that are more dependent on Moscow.\r\n\r\n7) Bilateral agreements \r\n\r\nIn a show of solidarity, France and Germany have agreed to support each other should they struggle with supplies this winter. French President Emmanuel Macron said France could deliver gas to Germany and Germany could contribute electricity to the French grid during peak hours.\r\n\r\n8) Cash payouts\r\n\r\nCountries such as Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden have already started to support households with cash payouts to the most exposed to the crisis, including low-income families, pensioners and students.\r\n\r\n9) Tax relief and social security support \r\n\r\nSeveral countries, including Austria, France, Italy, have reduced or paused taxes and levies on gas and electricity to help cut bills.\r\n\r\nIn order to help people deal with inflation and rising household bills, there is also a wide variety of financial aid – Austria also de-taxed employee bonuses up to €3,000; Germany reduced social security contributions for people with a monthly income below €2,000 and increased child allowances; France, Italy and Sweden raised benefits; Spain increased the amount of scholarships, grants and subsidies for students.\r\n\r\n9) Campaigns to reduce energy consumption\r\n\r\nMost countries are also trying to reduce energy consumption in public buildings and in the home. Austria aims to cut energy consumption by 11 percent and with the campaign “Mission 11” hopes to convince people to turn down the heating by two degrees, switch off devices and take a shower instead of a bath. A similar campaign was organised in Denmark over summer.\r\n\r\nIn France the aim to to lower the country’s total energy usage by 10 percent – the full energy-saving plan has not yet been finalised but among the measures already in place are – lowering the temperature in public swimming pools by one degree, to 25C; heating in public buildings will be limited to 19C while air-con cannot be lower than 26C; cities including Paris and Lille will stop lighting up public buildings at night (the Eiffel Tower will go dark at 11.45pm instead of 1am).\r\n\r\nSpain has also set a limit of 27C for air-con in public buildings and shops and a heating limit of 19C with shops switching off window lights at 10pm.\r\n\r\n\r\n10) Public transport \r\n\r\nFor summer, until the end of August, Germany allowed citizens to travel for a month on all buses, trams, metros and regional trains with a €9 ticket.\r\n\r\nThe extension of the programme, at a higher price, is currently in discussion. Spain introduced free travel on commuter trains for frequent users between September 1st and December 31st, with discounts available for other trains.\r\n\r\nThese measures were meant to reduce both transport costs and fuel consumption. Other measures by Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden focused on cost reduction cutting taxes on petrol and compensating motorists. Sweden extended incentives for the purchase of electric vehicles to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels.\r\n\r\nItaly planned to fund measures with a 10 percent windfall tax on energy companies.','2022-09-15','',0,1),(280,'Iran protests continue in defiance of warnings','Le Monde with AFP','Politics',1,65,'https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2022/09/26/iran-protests-continue-for-10th-night-defying-legal-warning_5998217_4.html','Le Monde with AFP','Iran protests continue in defiance of warnings\r\nWomen are burning their hijabs and cutting their hair in public protests, as the judiciary warns of ‘decisive action without leniency\'.\r\n\r\nLe Monde with AFP\r\nPublished on September 26, 2022 at 07h44, updated at 18h10 on September 26, 2022 \r\nTime to3 min.\r\nShare\r\n\r\nShare on Facebook\r\n\r\nSend by email\r\n\r\nShare on Messenger\r\nMore options\r\nIranians defied a warning from the judiciary and took to the streets for a 10th consecutive night on Sunday to protest the death of young Kurdish woman Mahsa Amini in morality police custody.\r\n\r\nEchoing an earlier warning by President Ebrahim Raisi, judiciary chief Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei on Sunday \"emphasised the need for decisive action without leniency\" against the core instigators of the \"riots\", the judiciary\'s Mizan Online website said.\r\n\r\nAt least 41 people have died since the unrest began, mostly protesters but also members of the Islamic republic\'s security forces, according to an official toll. Other sources say the real figure is higher.\r\n\r\nIran\'s largest protests in almost three years have seen security forces fire live rounds and bird shot, rights groups charge, while protesters have hurled rocks, torched police cars and set ablaze state buildings.\r\n\r\nOslo-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) on Sunday evening said the death toll was at least 57, but noted that ongoing internet blackouts made it increasingly difficult to confirm fatalities in a context where the women-led protests have spread to scores of cities.\r\n\r\nHundreds of demonstrators, reformist activists and journalists have been arrested during the mostly night-time demonstrations since unrest first broke out after Ms. Amini\'s death was announced on September 16.\r\n\r\nMs. Amini, whose Kurdish first name was Jhina, was detained three days before that for allegedly breaching rules mandating tightly-fitted hijab head coverings and which ban, among other things, ripped jeans and brightly coloured clothes.\r\n\r\nImages circulated by IHR showed protesters on the streets of Tehran, shouting \"death to the dictator\", purportedly after nightfall on Sunday.\r\n\r\nWitnesses told the press association Agence France Presse (AFP) that protests were continuing in several locations. Video footage showed demonstrations in Tabriz and Shiraz, among other places, with women removing their headscarves and protesters shouting against the authorities.\r\n\r\nRead more In pictures: The uprising of Iranian women across the world\r\n\'Rolling blackouts\'\r\nAmong the protesters were women who burnt their hijabs and cut off their hair. Some danced near large bonfires to the applause of crowds that have chanted \"zan, zendegi, azadi\" or \"woman, life, freedom\".\r\n\r\nVideo of demonstrations on Saturday, verified by AFP, showed students ripping down a picture of supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei outside a university in the northern province of Mazandaran. Web monitor NetBlocks noted \"rolling blackouts\" and \"widespread internet platform restrictions\" on Sunday, with WhatsApp, Instagram and Skype already blocked. This followed older bans on Facebook, Twitter, TikTok and Telegram.\r\n\r\n\r\nRead more French police use tear gas to thwart Iran protest in Paris\r\nProtests abroad in solidarity with Iranian women have been held in Athens, Berlin, Brussels, Istanbul, Madrid, New York and other cities. In Paris and London on Sunday, police clashed with demonstrators trying to reach Iran\'s embassies. French officers fired tear gas. In London, 12 people were arrested and five officers seriously hurt, police there said.\r\n\r\nEU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell deplored the Iranian security forces\' response to the unrest as \"disproportionate... unjustifiable and unacceptable\".\r\n\r\n\r\nIran, which has been hit with tough economic sanctions over its nuclear programme, has blamed \"foreign plots\" for the unrest. Iran\'s foreign ministry said Sunday it had summoned Britain\'s ambassador over what it described as an \"invitation to riots\" by Farsi-speaking media based in London.\r\n\r\nThe ministry also called in Norway\'s envoy over \"unconstructive comments\" made by his country\'s parliamentary speaker. Foreign ministry spokesman Hossein Amir-Abdollahian criticised \"the US interventionist approach in the affairs of Iran... including its provocative actions in supporting the rioters\".\r\n\r\nRead more Iran curbs demonstrations following woman\'s death in detention\r\nPro-government rallies\r\nIran has also organised large rallies in defence of the hijab and conservative values. At the main pro-government event held Sunday in central Tehran\'s Enghelab (Revolution) Square, demonstrators voiced support for mandatory hijab laws.\r\n\r\n\"Martyrs died so that this hijab will be on our head,\" said demonstrator Nafiseh, 28, adding that she opposed making the wearing of the head covering voluntary. Another demonstrator, 21-year-old student Atyieh, called for \"strong action against the people who are leading\" the protests.\r\n\r\nThe main reformist group inside Iran, the Union of Islamic Iran People\'s Party, however, has called for the repeal of the mandatory dress code.\r\n\r\nIHR reported on Sunday that an umbrella of Iranian teachers\' unions were calling on teachers and students to boycott classes on Monday and Wednesday in support of the protests.','2022-09-26','',0,1),(281,'Japan to reopen to mass tourism in October',' CNN ','Politics',1,65,'https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/japan-reopening-border-tourists/index.html','Aliza Kassim Khalidi,','(CNN) — Japan, one of the world\'s last major holdouts during the pandemic, is dissolving its Covid-19 restrictions and opening the door back up to mass tourism.\r\nBeloved for its unique mix of vibrant urban culture and natural beauty, the country is lifting its tight regulations on foreign tourists, according to a tweet Thursday from Taro Kono, Japan\'s minister of digital affairs.\r\n\r\n\"Finally, Japan will reopen the border,\" the tweet said. \"Visa waiver is back, no daily limit and free individual visits.\"\r\nThe new policies start on October 11.\r\n\"We will lift the ceiling of the number of entrants into Japan, lift the ban on individual travel and lift the ban over visa-less travel,\" Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Thursday at a news conference in New York City, where he was attending the UN General Assembly meeting.\r\nElaborating on the lifting of restrictions, Kishida said that \"on the same day, we plan to launch a campaign to offer domestic travel discounts and event discounts to residents of Japan and hope that many citizens will take advantage of the offer to support the hotel, travel and entertainment sectors that have suffered enormous blows during the pandemic.\"\r\nThe move marks a major policy shift after nearly 2 1/2 years of strict Covid-19 restrictions on who could enter the country and under what circumstances.','2022-09-23','',0,1),(282,'Vloggers rekindling the joys of India train journeys','BBC NEWS','Travel',6,65,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-62978056','By Cherylann Mollan','The video begins with the chugging sound of a train in motion.\r\n\r\nA yellow board with Rameswaram written in black lets you know you\'re departing the island town in India\'s southern state of Tamil Nadu.\r\n\r\nThen you see bucolic landscapes, and then the sea, streaking past the train\'s window. Vendors selling hot samosas (a popular Indian snack) file past you. You see families chatting; people dozing. You take a trip to the train\'s washroom and watch an argument break out between two passengers over more luggage room.\r\n\r\nBefore you know it, you\'ve reached your destination - Chennai in Tamil Nadu - a 10-hour-long journey condensed to a 13 minute video.\r\n\r\nThis is one of the many videos made by Himanshu Yadav, a 22-year-old who makes vlogs - or video blogs - on Indian trains.\r\n\r\nCarrying more than 13 million passengers every day the Indian railways - Asia\'s largest railway network and the world\'s fourth largest - is one of the most popular and affordable modes of transport.\r\n\r\n\r\nTrain vloggers the BBC spoke to say that they are on a mission to generate more interest in railways. Their videos capture what makes train journeys enjoyable, while some are trying to make a difference by highlighting problems commuters face.\r\n\r\nTrain vloggers\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,AKSHAY MALHOTRA\r\nImage caption,\r\nAkshay Malhotra shows his viewers a more luxurious side of Indian trains\r\nAkshay Malhotra\'s minute-long vlogs on Instagram show a more luxurious side of the trains.\r\n\r\nThe 25-year-old software engineer shoots his reels inside some of India\'s premium long-distance trains. He uploads these videos on his Instagram account @JourneyswithAK, which has racked up about 135,000 followers in the six months since he started it. A longer version of these vlogs goes up on his YouTube channel.\r\n\r\nIn his videos, one gets to experience the new glass-sided railway carriages, plush dining cars and private air-conditioned coupes. He reviews the food, bathing and washroom facilities, seating and sleeping arrangements and offers tips for those travelling with pets.\r\n\r\nMr Malhotra says he travels on his own money, and that a one-way luxury train ticket to a destination in India can cost up to 8,000 rupees ($100; £87). But he doesn\'t mind the expense.\r\n\r\n\"The thing about a train journey is that it gives you enough time to explore - whether that\'s a person, a route or a place,\" says Mr Malhotra.\r\n\r\nTrain vloggers\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,VS MONU / YOUTUBE\r\nImage caption,\r\nVlogger VS Monu highlights problems commuters face\r\nVishwajeet Singh, 25, on the other hand, likes to document what train travel is like for the lower middle-class.\r\n\r\nOn his YouTube channel - V S Monu vlogs - which has about 885,000 subscribers, Mr Singh uploads videos shot in compartments where ticket fares are cheaper, but there are fewer facilities and a lot more passengers.\r\n\r\nHailing from a small town in Bihar, Mr Singh began making vlogs five years ago. Since then, he has earned a reputation among his subscribers for \"showing reality\" and for highlighting \"scams taking place on trains\".\r\n\r\nIn his videos, he finds out whether the train is running on time; and whether the washrooms, berths and waiting rooms are clean. He checks out the quality and price of food and strikes up conversations with fellow passengers and railway staff.\r\n\r\nViewers thank him for highlighting the \"appalling conditions\" in some trains, while others ask him questions related to ticket prices or food or share details about bad experiences they\'ve had during their journeys. He says he also gets requests from people asking him to visit and review trains they\'ve had terrible experiences in.\r\n\r\nThe popularity of his videos has earned him several brand sponsorships and a YouTube silver play button - an award given to the most watched channels. But the vlogger says that this popularity is a double-edged sword. \"Many railway staff recognise me now, so they\'re extra careful when I\'m in the train,\" he says.\r\n\r\nTrain vloggers\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,HIMANSHU YADAV / YOUTUBE\r\nImage caption,\r\nHimanshu Yadav likes capturing scenic vistas seen from the train\r\nMr Yadav, who runs the YouTube channel Train Lovers HY and has about 165,000 subscribers, enjoys taking train journeys that are likely to result in \"captivating\" content.\r\n\r\nEarlier this year, he went on a three-hour-long journey from Banihal to Baramulla in Kashmir in -5C (23F) cold. His 11-minute video - shot from inside the train - has been viewed over a million times and captures snow-covered landscapes and blue-grey skies.\r\n\r\nAlong with filming scenic vistas, Mr Yadav also shares information about the history of trains and other trivia - like which is India\'s oldest sea bridge or longest train tunnel.\r\n\r\n\"I\'ve started including drone shots of scenic locations trains pass through in my videos,\" says Mr Yadav. \"They give the videos a cinematic quality and viewers love it.\"\r\n\r\nHe quit his job a year ago, and now earns up to 100,000 rupees a month through brand deals and YouTube ads.\r\n\r\n\"I have loved trains since I was a child,\" says Mr Yadav.\r\n\r\n\"Train journeys are full of possibilities and I try to capture the wonder and excitement I feel about train journeys in my videos.\"\r\n\r\n','2022-09-22','',0,1),(283,'Inside the new Met police unit investigating officer abuse claims','BBC NEWS','Politics',1,65,'https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-63162881','By Tom Symonds','The Metropolitan Police is investigating more than 600 domestic and sexual abuse allegations against its officers, the BBC has been told.\r\n\r\nThey are the focus of a specialist team established to restore public trust in the force following a number of scandals, including the murder of Sarah Everard by a serving officer. Their work is similar to fictional unit AC-12 in the BBC drama Line of Duty, but focusing instead on abusive cops, not \"bent cops\".\r\n\r\nShort presentational grey line\r\nIn an office high in the Met\'s most imposing and secure building, a team of detectives is hard at work. Listen closely to their phone calls and the nature of their investigations is revealed.\r\n\r\nDet Con Zoe Di Carlo is confirming the details of a witness statement with the victim who has made it.\r\n\r\n\"These are the physical assaults, this is the controlling behaviour,\" she tells the woman as she scrolls down the document on her laptop.\r\n\r\nThese detectives are investigating abusers, not among the general public, but within their own force. Many of the officers who work in the unit volunteered to do so, a significant proportion of whom are women.\r\n\r\nBBC iPlayer\r\nThe Real Line of Duty\r\n\r\nThe detectives hunting criminals in uniform, to restore trust in the police.\r\n\r\nWatch now on BBC iPlayer\r\n\r\nBBC iPlayer\r\nThe new Domestic and Sexual Offences Unit - or Daso unit - represents an attempt to sweep out the dark corners of a force with a trust problem.\r\n\r\nSince it was established in January, the team\'s caseload has grown to 625 allegations of sexual or domestic abuse against officers or police staff.\r\n\r\nSometimes the victims they are trying to protect from rogue police officers are members of the public, but sometimes they are other police officers. A significant number of cases involve domestic abuse situations where a couple are both in the police.\r\n\r\nSuch abuse often feeds on a power imbalance. The police is a service where uniforms, ranks and the law itself give officers the ability to exert power over other people, inside and outside the force. There is a risk that this might encourage unprofessional or criminal behaviour, or allow it to be covered up.\r\n\r\nThe female officer who reported her concerns\r\nImage caption,\r\nThis officer reported a colleague after learning he had inappropriately contacted other members of her team\r\nDressed in her uniform - a white shirt, black trousers, epaulettes and a black tie - one alleged victim, a young female officer, describes how she reported concerns about a colleague to the unit.\r\n\r\nThe woman - whose identity we agreed to protect - told the BBC how the male officer sent her text messages of an increasingly sexual nature.\r\n\r\n\"Expressing things that he did, or didn\'t do, sexually,\" she says. \"Asking is that stuff that I would be interested in? I just thought: \'Someone hasn\'t learned boundaries.\'\"\r\n\r\nBut it did not stop, and when she discovered he had targeted other women and young men in her team, she reported it to the detectives at Daso.\r\n\r\nIn another recent case, a police community support officer was convicted and sacked for masturbating in uniform, in broad daylight in a public park.\r\n\r\nSenior Daso officer Det Ch Insp Rich Williamson describes this behaviour as \"absolutely appalling. Off the scale.\"\r\n\r\nThe worst cases the team deals with involve rape and severe domestic abuse - all alleged to have been committed by police officers or staff.\r\n\r\nSarah Everard\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,EVERARD FAMILY\r\nImage caption,\r\nSarah Everard was murdered by a serving police officer\r\nThe unit is the response to a string of horrifying scandals which caused enormous damage to the reputation of the UK\'s biggest police force.\r\n\r\nThe rape and murder of Sarah Everard in March 2021 - by a police officer who pretended to be a plain-clothes detective to gain control of his victim - had a particularly devastating impact.\r\n\r\nThe case led to protests over police misogyny by women, who said something was wrong with the organisation\'s culture. Then in December, two police officers were jailed for taking pictures of the bodies of murdered sisters, Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman. The officers were supposed to have been guarding the crime scene.\r\n\r\nShortly afterwards, the report of a long-running investigation into a group of male officers at Charing Cross Police Station added further fuel to the fire. Codenamed Operation Hotton, it found the men had sent racist and sexist messages revealing attitudes no organisation could accept within its workforce, not least the police.\r\n\r\nThe then commissioner Dame Cressida Dick failed to convince the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan she could change things quickly enough, and was forced to resign.\r\n\r\nSeveral inquiries were launched. A \"super-complaint\" by lawyers at legal charity the Centre for Women\'s Justice resulted in three police watchdogs ruling that all forces needed to improve their handling of domestic abuse allegations against police officers.\r\n\r\nPreviously, internal investigations into police law-breaking or misconduct have been conducted by officers specialising in what the Met calls \"professional standards\".\r\n\r\nBut Daso is different because of the expertise of its officers.\r\n\r\nThe team\'s senior leader, Det Supt Annette Clark, says they have experience in safeguarding, rather than internal investigations. \"Particularly understanding domestic abuse, and understanding sexual offences,\" she explains. \"The impact that has on people and the victims.\"\r\n\r\nAchieving convictions for sexual offences and domestic abuse is notoriously hard, and the success rate currently extremely low. It is arguably harder when the alleged perpetrator is a police officer - and harder still when both the accuser and accused are in uniform.\r\n\r\nAnd when the allegation is not properly dealt with, the experience for the accuser can be devastating.\r\n\r\nGemma MacRae\r\nImage caption,\r\nGemma described the experience of accusing a police officer former partner of domestic abuse as devastating\r\nFormer officer Gemma MacRae blew the whistle at a different force, Police Scotland.\r\n\r\nWhen she accused a former partner - also a police officer - of domestic abuse, she knew she ran the risk of being \"labelled and not in a good way\" by colleagues.\r\n\r\nThe priority, she said, appeared to be protecting the reputation of the police rather than investigating the allegations.\r\n\r\n\"Essentially, it was a gang of bullies. And very much the boys\' club. If you were female, you weren\'t part of the crew,\" she says.\r\n\r\nHer initial claims morphed into dozens of secondary complaints about the way she had been dealt with as a whistleblower.\r\n\r\nPolice Scotland investigated but concluded no action should be taken against her partner. But, after several years, the force has finally apologised for not following established procedures for dealing with domestic abuse allegations, whether made against a police officer or not.\r\n\r\nOne of her colleagues, an officer named Scott Gallup, was convicted of sexually assaulting her. When Gemma confided in him about the alleged domestic abuse, she said he seemed more interested in coming on to her, at one point touching her bottom.\r\n\r\nThe whole experience was \"devastating\", she says. She left the police, Scotland and the UK - and now lives in rural Norway.\r\n\r\nDet Supt Annette Clark\r\nImage caption,\r\nDet Supt Clark says her team is determined to root out bad officers\r\nIn contrast, the Met\'s new approach is helping alleged victims. The female officer who accused a colleague of sending sexual messages says the involvement of Daso, with its expert abuse investigators, helped her.\r\n\r\n\"It just felt like they asked the right questions that made you feel like what you were saying was valid,\" she says. \"It\'s a specialism, you have to love it and that very much came across.\"\r\n\r\nHer allegations will likely amount to professional misconduct if proven, but the investigation continues.\r\n\r\nDet Supt Clark says her team are disgusted by the behaviour of abusive officers.\r\n\r\n\"We don\'t want them in the organisation and we need to get rid of them.\"\r\n\r\nAt least 1,600 allegations against police or police staff have been investigated across England and Wales in the past three years - our figures suggest - although several large forces, including Manchester and West Midlands Police refused to provide any figures, claiming it would be too costly to collate them.\r\n\r\nOne of the Met\'s experts on domestic abuse, Det Sgt Viran Wiltshire, says the rise in cases actually reflects the organisation\'s growing understanding of how the problem can present itself - by improving training in detecting it, and working with victims to get prosecutions.\r\n\r\n\"I think that\'s the shift that\'s happening within our Met culture,\" he says.\r\n\r\nWhatever the causes, the rising number of allegations looks bad for the force. \"It will get worse before it gets better,\" is a phrase heard often among senior Met officers.\r\n\r\nThe Met now has a new commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, and this issue is near the top of his inbox.\r\n\r\n\"It\'s about rooting out those who\'ve let us down,\" he said in a recent BBC interview. \"We\'ve failed to do that, and we will be doing that on my watch.\"\r\n\r\nThis will require determined police work by Det Supt Clark\'s team. But she says many officers tell her: \"I want to do this. I want to come and work in professional standards to ensure we get out the bad cops.\"','2022-10-13','',0,1),(295,'France works towards gender equality in top jobs while UK women are still struggling','RFI','Politics',1,66,'https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20221108-france-works-towards-gender-equality-in-top-jobs-while-uk-women-are-still-struggling','Michael Fitzpatrick','France works towards gender equality in top jobs while UK women are still struggling\r\n\r\nIssued on: 08/11/2022 - 10:54\r\nModified: 08/11/2022 - 10:56\r\n\r\n\r\n© FMM\r\nText by:\r\nMichael Fitzpatrick\r\n1 min\r\nAs larger companies in France move to meet new gender quotas for senior executives and management committee members, Britain\'s top firms have an \"appalling\" lack of women holding executive roles, a survey shows.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\n\r\n\"There is an appalling lack of progress of women into executive roles,\" concludes the survey compiled by the accountancy group EY and Cranfield University, published this week.\r\n\r\nThere are only nine women chief executives among Britain\'s top 100 companies, and 18 women boardroom chairpersons.\r\n\r\nWomen account for almost 40 percent of directors at firms on London\'s top-tier FTSE 100 shares index, but that proportion is skewed by the high number of non-executive directors, the report says.\r\n\r\n\"The research shows that FTSE businesses are increasingly hitting the targets set for female representation,\" Alison Kay, managing partner for client service at EY UK and Ireland, said in the report.\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nPUBLICITÉ\r\n\r\n\r\n\"However, they are falling woefully short of the intended outcome -- distributing the power and influence necessary to achieve true gender parity.\"\r\n\r\nOver the last 10 years, the number of women on FTSE 100 company boards has jumped to an average 40 percent from 12.5, according to recent government-commissioned data.\r\n\r\nWhat the statistics don\'t say\r\nBut the statistics conceal more than they reveal, with a growing tendency to appoint women to non-executive roles to boost the numbers while making sure the power remains in male hands.\r\n\r\n\"We need to tackle recalcitrant companies which do not take gender diversity seriously,\" says the EY report.\r\n\r\n\"And numerical parity is only a first step.\"\r\n\r\nFTSE 100 companies with women CEOs include NatWest bank, directed by Alison Rose; drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, run by Alison Rose; and  hotels group Whitbread has Alison Brittain at the helm.\r\n\r\nFrance already has gender quotas — a 2011 law phased in a 40 percent quota to improve the gender balance of management boards in companies listed on the stock exchange, or those with more than 500 employees and turnover exceeding €50 million over the previous three years.\r\n\r\nLegislation intended to accelerate economic and professional equality was passed by the French parliament in December 2021.\r\n\r\nGENDER\r\nINEQUALITY','2022-11-08','',0,1),(296,'Carmaker Renault starts major overhaul, looking to an electric future','RFI','Politics',1,66,'https://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20221108-carmaker-renault-starts-major-overhaul-looking-to-an-electric-future','Michael Fitzpatrick','Carmaker Renault starts major overhaul, looking to an electric future\r\n\r\nIssued on: 08/11/2022 - 11:09\r\n\r\nA Renault Zoe electric car.\r\nA Renault Zoe electric car. © Reuters\r\nText by:\r\nMichael Fitzpatrick\r\n1 min\r\nFrench car company Renault has unveiled a sweeping green revamp, splitting its operations in two: a new electric vehicle unit and a subsidiary for petrol, diesel and hybrid cars that will pair up with China\'s Geely. \r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\n\r\nThe car maker\'s flagship division following the reorganisation will be called Ampère, and will aim to produce a million electric vehicles by 2031.\r\n\r\nThe new division will employ around 10,000 staff in France.\r\n\r\nThe overhaul comes against a background of expectations that the electric vehicle market will grow rapidly in response to consumer worries about climate change.\r\n\r\nThe European Union last month agreed to phase out new CO2-emitting vehicles by 2035, a move set to turbo-charge the production of electric prototypes on the continent.\r\n\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\nAmpère will produce the new Renault 5 and Renault 4 in northern France and will target more than 30 percent growth annually over the next eight years.\r\n\r\nRenault said it would list Ampère on the Euronext Paris stock exchange in the latter half of 2023 and invite investment but will retain \"a strong majority\".\r\n\r\nRenault -- of which the French state and car maker Nissan each own 15 percent -- has still to confirm the part that its Japanese partner will play in the new electric division.\r\n\r\nChina and internal combustion  \r\nFor hybrid and internal-combustion vehicles, Renault plans to combine its technological, manufacturing and research and development activities with Chinese automaker Geely.\r\n\r\nThe 50-50 partnership with the Chinese group -- owner of Volvo -- will develop and produce engines, gear boxes and other components for hybrid and petrol and diesel vehicles.\r\n\r\nIt will employ 19,000 people in Europe, China and South America, and have 17 factories and five research and development centres.\r\n\r\n\"We are designing an agile and innovative organisation to manage the volatility and accelerated technological evolution of our time,\" said Renault chief executive Luca de Meo.\r\n\r\nIn the wake of the announcement, Renault shares climbed 3.77 percent on the Paris stock market.','2022-11-08','',0,1),(297,'COP27: Ukraine a reason to act fast on climate change - Rishi Sunak','BBC NEWS','Business & Economy',3,66,'https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-63548466','By Georgina Rannard','COP27: Ukraine a reason to act fast on climate change - Rishi Sunak\r\nPublished\r\n12 hours ago\r\ncomments\r\nComments\r\n\r\nShare\r\nRelated Topics\r\nClimate change\r\nWomen in traditional dresses pose in Congo Pavilion on the second day of the COP27 UN Climate Change Conference\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nImage caption,\r\nMore than 30,000 people are gathering in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt for climate negotiations\r\nBy Georgina Rannard\r\nClimate and science reporter, BBC News\r\nThe war in Ukraine is a reason to act faster to tackle climate change, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has told the UN climate summit COP27.\r\n\r\n\"Climate and energy security go hand-in-hand,\" he said in his first international appearance since taking office.\r\n\r\nLeaders from 120 countries are meeting in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt to discuss next steps in curbing climate change.\r\n\r\nKey topics are compensation and support for the most-affected countries.\r\n\r\n\"Putin\'s abhorrent war in Ukraine and rising energy prices across the world are not a reason to go slow on climate change. They are a reason to act faster,\" Mr Sunak said.\r\n\r\n\"We can bequeath our children a greener planet and a more prosperous future [...] There really is room for hope,\" he added.\r\n\r\nIn a series of speeches, leaders urged rich countries to stay the course in stopping further climate change, despite the war in Ukraine and global financial problems.\r\n\r\nNations on the front line of climate change laid out the stark impacts of higher temperatures, drought, and floods on people and the environment.\r\n\r\n\"We are on a highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator,\" UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the summit.\r\n\r\nHis stark warning was echoed by former US vice-president and environmentalist Al Gore who said nations must \"stop subsidising the culture of death\" of fossil fuels.\r\n\r\nThe big issues facing Egypt\'s COP27 climate summit\r\nA really simple guide to climate change\r\nWhat is the Paris climate agreement?\r\nIn an energetic speech French President Emmanuel Macron urged world leaders to deliver climate justice.\r\n\r\nFormer UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also in Egypt and said countries should not \"go weak and wobbly\" on climate action.\r\n\r\nGerman Chancellor Olaf Scholz said switching to renewable energy was \"a security policy imperative\", while Italy\'s new prime minister Giorgia Meloni said her country remained \"strongly committed\" to its climate goals.\r\n\r\nUS President Joe Biden is due to arrive at the summit on Friday, while John Kerry, his special envoy for the climate, is already in attendance.\r\n\r\nThough Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg is staying away from the summit, after she accused the UN of \"green-washing\", many other youth activists are in Sharm el-Sheikh.\r\n\r\nXiye Batista portrait in the conference room\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,XIYE BASTIDA\r\nImage caption,\r\nXiye Bastida is an indigenous climate activist from Mexico\r\nXiye Bastida, a 20-year-old activist from Mexico, is there to tell decision-makers that \"nature must be protected\".\r\n\r\nShe told BBC News she\'s pleased with progress so far in Egypt - including getting the words \"loss and damage\" on the agenda. The terms refer to money - as some form of compensation or reparations - for the effects of climate change on developing countries that did little to cause the problem.\r\n\r\nWhy the latest UN meeting matters\r\nWhat have leaders done on climate change in 2022?\r\nBut 24-year-old Mikaela Loach, from Scotland, said she\'s worried leaders are not fully committed to climate action that prioritises justice or human rights.\r\n\r\n\"Not all climate solutions are good for people. It\'s not just about cutting emissions, we must frame all our work about people and the world we are creating,\" she told BBC News.\r\n\r\nBarbados PM Mia Mottley spoke of \"horror and the devastation wrecked upon this Earth\" in the past year.\r\n\r\n\"Whether the apocalyptic floods in Pakistan, or the heatwaves from Europe to China, or indeed in the last few days in my own region, the devastation caused in Belize by tropical storm Lisa, or the torrential floods a few days ago in St Lucia. We don\'t need to repeat it,\" she said.\r\n\r\nThe fact that the summit is taking place in Africa, a continent that is extremely vulnerable to climate change, was repeated through the day.\r\n\r\nKenyan President William Ruto said time is of the essence: \"Further delay will make us busy spectators as calamity wipes out lives and livelihoods.\"\r\n\r\nUp to 700 million people in Africa will be displaced due to lack of water by 2030, he explained.\r\n\r\nTuesday will see speeches from the leaders of a number of other developing countries which are particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.\r\n\r\nThey include Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan, where the recent floods killed over 1,700 people, and Gaston Browne, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who will speak on behalf of the Alliance of Small Island States.\r\n\r\nCOP27 opened on Sunday with a warning from the UN that our planet is \"sending a distress signal\".\r\n\r\nA report released by the UN\'s World Meteorological Organization reveals that the past eight years were on track to be the warmest on record.\r\n\r\nAt last year\'s summit in Glasgow a number of pledges were agreed:\r\n\r\nto \"phase down\" the use of coal - one of the most polluting fossil fuels\r\nto stop deforestation by 2030\r\nto cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030\r\nto submit new climate action plans to the UN\r\nDeveloping nations are demanding that previous commitments to finance are upheld.\r\n\r\nMore on climate summit top strapline\r\nThe COP27 global climate summit in Egypt is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. More than 200 countries are attending the summit to discuss further measures to cut emissions and prepare for climate change, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.','2022-11-08','',0,1),(298,'Cost of living: Suffolk and Essex students share their struggles','BBC NEWS','Politics',1,66,'https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-suffolk-63488391','BBC NEWS','Cost of living: Suffolk and Essex students share their struggles\r\nPublished\r\n5 days ago\r\n\r\nShare\r\nstudents on seat\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nImage caption,\r\nUniversity students are facing greater financial pressures than ever before\r\nAs the cost of living rises, university staff and students share the struggles being faced by young people and what help there is for them.\r\n\r\nShort presentational grey line\r\n\'You get much less for your money\'\r\nEloise Churchman\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,JOHN FAIRHALL/BBC\r\nImage caption,\r\nEloise Churchman, who is studying at the University of Essex, says she has seen a \"drastic\" increase in the price of food and bills\r\nIt is not long into term time, but Eloise Churchman has already planned her Christmas holidays - to work most days to try to make ends meet.\r\n\r\n\"My maintenance doesn\'t even cover my accommodation, so I have to put around £300 towards it myself, so then food just comes out of my own money,\" says the University of Essex student.\r\n\r\n\"So I\'m working most days during the Christmas holidays to try and get together the money I can for my food shopping and just enjoyment money as well to socialise, because that\'s obviously a very important part of keeping up good mental health.\"\r\n\r\nThe second-year multimedia journalism student, who lives on campus and comes from Bishop\'s Stortford in Hertfordshire, says she has seen a \"drastic\" increase in the price of food and bills from last year.\r\n\r\nCOST OF LIVING: BBC News explainers and stories\r\n\"The worry is that it\'s going to continue,\" she says. \"You have to think carefully about if you can afford to go out for that cup of coffee or if you can afford to buy that textbook.\"\r\n\r\nShe says she also has to be careful when planning meals so she can \"eat properly while on a budget\".\r\n\r\n\"I freeze anything that I possibly can, I buy a lot of dry ingredients and if I buy fresh fruit and veg, I make sure that I definitely have a meal planned for it so it\'s not going to waste,\" she says.\r\n\r\nShort presentational grey line\r\n\'We need to break down barriers\'\r\nNashwa Alsakka, Students\' Union president\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,JOHN FAIRHALL/BBC\r\nImage caption,\r\nNashwa Alsakka, president of the Students\' Union at the University of Essex, urges students not to \"suffer in silence\"\r\n\"We know students that are currently holding two or three jobs where they simply cannot maintain living and the surviving, let alone having an experience,\" says Nashwa Alsakka.\r\n\r\nThe president of the Students\' Union at the University of Essex says they are seeing students who are \"literally going into a shop and having £5 and hoping that they will be able to make do for two or three days\' worth of meals\".\r\n\r\n\"I have a specific student who was budgeting for £20 a week for food, and in the situation that we\'re in where food is at a 15% inflation, how can he survive on £20 for food for one week? It\'s completely impossible,\" she says.\r\n\r\n\"It is not only about students having money to survive, but also how can a student who is having a sleepless night actually able to make money to survive and focus on their studies?\"\r\n\r\nMiss Alsakka says the university and union are doing \"as much as we can\", including providing subsidised meals and increasing the hardship fund.\r\n\r\nBut she is concerned about students who might be \"suffering in silence\".\r\n\r\nShort presentational grey line\r\n\'Not enough time to make money and study\'\r\nAlex Gooch\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,JOHN FAIRHALL/BBC\r\nImage caption,\r\nAlex Gooch, from the Students\' Union at the University of Suffolk, says there has been a lot of \"determination\" in tough times\r\nAt the University of Suffolk, the Students\' Union paints a similar picture.\r\n\r\n\"There\'s just not enough money to be able to socialise, to be able to buy new clothes, to be able to buy books. People are having to sacrifice and take up additional jobs,\" says Alex Gooch, the unions\' president of education.\r\n\r\n\"But there\'s not enough time in the day to make money and study.\"\r\n\r\nHe says it is \"not easy\" for any of the students and the union is trying to cater for a \"wide array\" with initiatives supported by the university through funding.\r\n\r\n\"We\'re making parking free, we\'re putting on free lunch bags, which go every day, we\'re putting on free teas and coffees, taking a hit from our own services because students can\'t afford to have these luxuries,\" he says.\r\n\r\nHe says even though times are tough, they are seeing \"quite a lot of determination and positivity\".\r\n\r\n\"People are coming together and uniting to work together and volunteer hours, people are donating clothes so that people can give them to their children and for themselves,\" he adds.\r\n\r\nShort presentational grey line\r\n\'Students don\'t like saying they need help\'\r\nProf Helen Langton, vice-chancellor and chief executive of the University of Suffolk\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,JOHN FAIRHALL/BBC\r\nImage caption,\r\nProf Helen Langton, from the University of Suffolk, says students are too proud to ask for help\r\nAt the Ipswich-based university, many of the students have \"complex lives\", says chief executive Prof Helen Langton.\r\n\r\nShe says 75% of their students are mature, meaning they are aged over 24, 65% are women and 75% do not live on campus or in Ipswich so they are commuter students.\r\n\r\n\"They come in for their session and they go home. They already have jobs before they come here, they have families, they have older parents they\'re looking after,\" she says.\r\n\r\n\"We find that the students don\'t like saying they need help. It\'s a pride thing, it\'s a mature [thing], \'I\'m trying to be all things to all people\'.\"\r\n\r\nProf Langton, who is also vice-chancellor, says they are encouraging students to admit they need help.\r\n\r\n\"We launched the Suffolk Community Foundation Winter Hardship Fund here at the university last week,\" she says.\r\n\r\n\"There are funds available. We just need to help students work out where to go.\"\r\n\r\nProfessor Madeline Eacott\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,JOHN FAIRHALL/BBC\r\nImage caption,\r\nProf Madeleine Eacott, from the University of Essex, says they want students to talk to them\r\nMeanwhile, at the University of Essex, \"practical help\" has been put in place, says Prof Madeleine Eacott, pro-vice-chancellor of education.\r\n\r\nThis includes subsidised meals and the hardship fund has been trebled from last year to £1.5m, she says.\r\n\r\n\"We have increased the range of things that our students can apply for this fund, so it might include travel costs, course costs, help with child care, a huge range of things,\" adds Prof Eacott.\r\n\r\n\"What we say to our students is that we know all your needs are different, so do talk to us if you are struggling and we can see how we can support you.\"\r\n\r\nShe says the university has frozen rents for those living on its Southend campus and at the Colchester campus it has limited the increase \"to much less than inflation so in real terms that is a decrease\".\r\n\r\n\"We really want to support our students to succeed with her studies, despite the fact, these are tough times,\" she says.\r\n\r\n','2022-11-03','',0,1),(299,'Your next job interview could take place in virtual reality','BBC NEWS','Politics',1,66,'https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63311886','By Elizabeth Hotson','Your next job interview could take place in virtual reality\r\nPublished\r\n31 October\r\n\r\nShare\r\nA woman doing a Bodyswaps interview\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,BODYSWAPS\r\nImage caption,\r\nHow would you like to have a job interview conducted in virtual reality by a computer?\r\nBy Elizabeth Hotson\r\nBusiness reporter\r\nGoing for a job interview is the stuff of nightmares for many people, while for others it is a chance to shine.\r\n\r\nEither way you are typically still interviewed by other human beings, either after walking into a scary office with one or more bosses sitting behind a desk, or via an equally nerve-wracking Zoom call.\r\n\r\nYet thanks to advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual reality (VR) technology, you may soon be interviewed for that job you really want... by a computer.\r\n\r\nEarlier this year students at Sandwell College in West Bromwich put on VR headsets to do some mock interviews.\r\n\r\nTheir avatars - cartoon-like, 3D representations of themselves - were put through their paces by another talking avatar representing the AI software system.\r\n\r\nA VR job interview\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,BODYSWAPS\r\nImage caption,\r\nThis is what the Bodyswaps\' VR job interviews look like\r\n\"I\'d never had an interview before in my life,\" says engineering student Ayyan Ahmed. \"But because there was no human judging me, and it was all online, I could actually express myself.\r\n\r\n\"And then, at the end of the process, he [the VR interviewer] told me what I did wrong, and what I did right. It really helped me to know what to do in my next interview.\"\r\n\r\nThe VR system the students were using is made by London-based company Bodyswaps.\r\n\r\nQuestions and requests that the interviewees get asked range from the straightforward \"tell me about your greatest achievements\", to the more challenging \"do you prefer to be loved or feared?\"\r\n\r\nThe user then gets feedback, not just on what they said, but how they say it, whether they are maintaining eye contact with the interviewer avatar, and even their posture.\r\n\r\nAyyan Ahmed\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,AYYAN AHMED\r\nImage caption,\r\nStudent Ayyan Ahmed says he felt he could talk freely to the computer interviewer\r\nBodyswaps\' chief executive Christophe Mallet says the idea is that people can keep practising with the simulated job interviews until they feel ready for a real-life one.\r\n\r\nHe believes that the technology has the chance to level the playing field for candidates from less well-off backgrounds who might not otherwise have the opportunity to practise for job interviews in a professional setting.\r\n\r\n\"Things like communication, empathy and leadership are the secrets to success [in interviews], but how can you practise those? If you are rich, you can get a coach. Otherwise you have e-learning [such as watching videos on the topic], but that doesn\'t work as you are lacking immersion.\r\n\r\n\"Using VR and AI we now have a way to immerse you safely in a simulation where you can practise interview conversations.\"\r\n\r\nChristophe Mallet\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,BODYSWAPS\r\nImage caption,\r\nChristophe Mallet says the aim is to help people more easily and effectively practise for interviews\r\nBodyswaps launched its interview simulations last year, and says it is mainly targeting schools, colleges and universities, so their students can practise before they enter the jobs market. Its business model is subscription based, with the amount an institution has to pay each year being dependent on how many people use the system.\r\n\r\nWhile Bodyswaps is currently focused on mock job interrogations, the AI technology of Swedish firm Tengai is already allowing firms out in the real world to get a computer to do their initial job interviews.\r\n\r\nThe AI software is represented as a talking cartoon head that appears on the screen of a candidate\'s computer or smartphone. It asks a set list of questions, and then the recorded answers are used to help recruiters draw up shortlists for jobs.\r\n\r\nA woman being interviewed by a Tengai computer\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,TENGAI\r\nImage caption,\r\nTengai\'s tech sees a software system interview people via a computerised face\r\nTengai\'s chief executive Elin Öberg Mårtenzon says that a central aim of the software is to avoid making wrong assumptions, such as judging someone on their appearance.\r\n\r\n\"We wanted to create a situation where you could actually look at objective data instead, by putting some sort of filter between the candidate and the recruiter,\" she says.\r\n\r\n\"And that filter is supposed to mitigate bias in the process… so that they know that they are not being judged by things other than those relating to the job description.\"\r\n\r\nBut while it might be tempting to see AI and VR technology as the magical solution for selecting the right candidate for a job, employment lawyer Susan Thompson says we need to be cautious.','2022-10-31','',0,1),(300,'French baguette voted onto UN World Cultural Heritage list','France 24','Politics',1,67,'https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20221130-french-baguette-voted-onto-un-world-cultural-heritage-list',' Christophe Archambault, AFP','The baguette – a mix of wheat flour, water, yeast, salt and a pinch of savoir-faire, and as much a symbol of France as the Eiffel Tower – has gained UNESCO recognition as the UN body on Wednesday voted to include the \"artisanal know-how and culture of baguette bread\" on its list of Intangible Cultural Heritage.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\n\r\nThe baguette, now a symbol of France around the world, has been a central part of the French diet for at least 100 years, and there are several myths about its origins.\r\n\r\nOne legend has it that the bakers of Napoleon Bonaparte came up with the elongated shape to make it easier for his troops to carry, while another posits that it was actually an Austrian baker named August Zang who invented the baguette.\r\n\r\nThese days a baguette - which means \"wand\" or \"baton\" - is sold for around €1 ($1.04) each. More than six billion are baked each year in France.\r\n\r\nMade only with flour, water, salt and yeast, baguette dough must rest 15 to 20 hours at a temperature between 4 and 6 degrees Celcius (39 to 43 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the French Bakers Confederation, which fights to protect its market from industrial bakeries.\r\n\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\nBut if the ingredients are always the same, each bakery has its own subtle style, and every year there are nationwide competitions to find the best baguette in the land.\r\n\r\n\r\nFeast on some of FRANCE 24\'s coverage of the baguette:\r\n\r\n>> Baguettes, a wine festival and Paris rooftops vie for a spot on UNESCO heritage list\r\n\r\n>> Armfuls of baguettes: French adapt bread buying habits to coronavirus lockdown\r\n\r\n>> World bread day: The secret of a perfect baguette\r\n\r\n>> Best baguette in Paris: French capital\'s bakers compete for prestigious title\r\n\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\n>> Discovering French bread and the rules of \'baguetiquette\'\r\n\r\nAlgerian Rai music and Tunisia\'s harissa condiment were also among this year\'s contenders for recognition as intangible cultural heritage by UNESCO, which started deliberations Monday in Morocco. \r\n\r\nThe 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage aims to safeguard and raise awareness about the \"intangible cultural heritage of the communities, groups and individuals concerned\".\r\n\r\n\"Intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity,\" it says.\r\n\r\n(FRANCE 24 with AFP, Reuters)\r\n\r\n','2022-11-30','',0,1),(301,'A quintessentially Irish way to travel','BBC NEWS','Travel',6,67,'https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221128-a-quintessentially-irish-way-to-travel?utm_source=bbc-news&utm_medium=right-hand-slot','By Susanne Masters','Ireland\'s peat bogs have heated Irish homes for centuries. But could cycling through them help fuel a slow travel revolution and save this landscape?\r\nStory continues below\r\n\r\n\r\nC\r\nCycling The Bog Road through Roundstone Bog in Connemara, County Galway, I met more sheep than cars as the free-range animals wandered across both the road and the spongy landscape. I stopped and stepped off the road to take a photo, and mud oozed around my foot. In Ireland\'s peat bogs, land is not separate from water.\r\n\r\nPedalling further into the bog, I saw turves (long skinny bricks cut from peat) stacked into a temple-like dome to dry in the wind – a man-made monument that echoed the distant peaks. Continuing through villages, houses along the roadside stored turves in open-fronted sheds in their gardens. After less than an hour of cycling through Roundstone Bog, it was clear that peat cutting is not a past tradition but still very much part of Irish culture today. \r\n\r\nWind flowing across the Atlantic Ocean to western Ireland breaks along Connemara\'s mountains, bringing frequent rain that nurtures peat bog, a type of wetland where dead plant material doesn\'t decay, but instead slowly accumulates. Cut from the ground and dried, peat is a fuel that has kept Irish households warm, infused whisky with flavour for centuries and served as a custodian of Ireland\'s history.\r\n\r\nSheep outnumber cars on the Bog Road through Roundstone Bog (Credit: Tim Graham/Alamy)\r\nSheep outnumber cars on the Bog Road through Roundstone Bog (Credit: Tim Graham/Alamy)\r\n\r\nDuring the 18th Century, when most of Ireland\'s forests had already been cleared, peat – which covers roughly 20% of Ireland – was a fuel tenant farmers could harvest from the bogs. Peat cutting became an industry, and as it was dug out of the depths, remnants from past cultures, such as jewellery and even human bodies were found. But this ecosystem isn\'t just a vast archaeological site, it\'s also an important resource that helps the planet, as globally, peat bogs hold twice as much carbon as all the world\'s woodlands. And while forests store carbon for decades or centuries, peat bogs store it for millennia. \r\n\r\nSince the low-lying landscape allows roads to follow flat routes between mountains, Connemara is an especially inviting cycling destination. Exposing myself to the wind and rain that have shaped Connemara\'s culture – as well as the scents and sounds of the peat bog itself – I set off on a leisurely, five-day, 200km ride along the area\'s small country roads and peated landscape. \r\n\r\nTo start, I took a bus out of Galway City to avoid cycling the busiest section of N59 (the national primary road that cuts across Connemara) and arrived in Clifden, \"the capital of Connemara\", where I hired a bicycle from Clifden Bike Shop. Cycling through Roundstone Bog, straight lines where peat had been hand-cut and stacks of turves were signs of human intervention in the landscape. But nature was at work, too. Plants, mosses and lichens grew on exposed peat and were reclaiming it as peat bog. \r\n\r\nLeaving Roundstone Bog and heading east, along local road L1205, hollows left by peat removal had refilled with bog water. I knelt down and picked up a handful of bright-green sphagnum moss from the water\'s edge and squeezed it. Water flowed out and ran down my wrist. Sphagnum moss can hold more than 12 times its own weight in water and acidifies it. It\'s also an ecosystem engineer, as it creates peat bog, and here, it was regrowing after small-scale peat cutting a few months earlier.\r\n\r\nPeat covers roughly 20% of Ireland and has served as custodians of its history (Credit: Chris Hill/Getty Images)\r\nPeat covers roughly 20% of Ireland and has served as custodians of its history (Credit: Chris Hill/Getty Images)\r\n\r\nI then stopped at Pearse Cultural Centre, home to a new interpretation centre that offers insights into the local landscape, as well as the restored cottage of Patrick Pearse. The Irish nationalist wrote with passion and nostalgia for rural Galway and was leader of the 1916 Rising of Irish Republicans against British rule. After Pearse and other leaders were executed following the rebellion, support for Irish independence grew, and in 1922 the Irish Free State – now Republic of Ireland – left the United Kingdom. \r\n\r\nOutside the interpretation centre, a sign attributes the shifting colour of the landscape to purple moor grass and ling heather, which grow in shallow peat. I was there in October and purple moor grass was golden with autumnal leaves. I had missed the end of summer ling heather bloom that shades blanket bogs in mauve – but I timed my visit perfectly to taste it. \r\n\r\nCycling through the small parish of Camus Oughter, I passed an honesty box filled with products made by Green Bee. I picked up some heather honey on impulse, and found that adding Green Bee\'s heather honey to tea infused it with flavour, sweetening and also giving it viscosity and a slightly woody-floral taste. I later emailed Green Bee\'s owners, Donna Sturm and Edwin Smyth, and asked why their honey tasted so much more complex and delicious than standard honey. \r\n\r\n\"Seasonal flower availability allows us to produce three different types of honey: summer honey, early autumn honey and heather honey,\" they responded. \"There are large amounts of ling heather plants growing in this part of Connemara due to blanket bogs that cover the area, and this heather produces the best quality heather honey.\"\r\n\r\nFlowering ling heather colours the landscape and flavours local honey (Credit: Susanne Masters)\r\nFlowering ling heather colours the landscape and flavours local honey (Credit: Susanne Masters)\r\n\r\nDonna and Edwin were hobbyist beekeepers who moved to Camus Oughter in hope of becoming full-time honey-makers. When I asked them how they chose this location, they said, \"There is little or no use of pesticides and herbicides in the area which could affect both our honeybees and the quality of our honey. The air that blows over this part of Connemara is considered to be the cleanest in Europe, after travelling over the northern Canadian wetlands, and then more than 3,000km over the Atlantic Ocean before reaching us here.\" \r\n\r\nI carried on to the village of Rossaveal and took a ferry to Inis Mór, the largest of the Aran Islands for a couple of days. On returning to the mainland, caught out by the appeal of looping along the coastal road past Carna and autumn\'s early sunset, I arrived at Ballynahinch Castle in the dark. My first view of the estate-turned-hotel was a cluster of lights mirrored in Owenmore River. After carrying my bicycle panniers to my room and changing out of muddy clothes, peated whisky from Micil Distillery was a warm welcome. \r\n\r\nBased in Galway City, Micil collects their turf from Galway bogs, and their spirits are served in pubs and bars around Connemara. They also make gin flavoured with local bog myrtle, and their poitín (an unaged spirit), made with a family recipe passed down through generations, incorporates bog bean – a white-flowered, bog-dwelling plant. While cycling, I kept seeing bog myrtle\'s grey-leaved tufts along road edges. Stopping to enjoy views and squelching between tussocks, I would catch its resinous aroma as I brushed against its twigs and leaves. \r\n\r\nThe next day, heading towards Derryclare Lough and past the Twelve Bens mountains, I followed a 6km-section of car-free path for pedestrians and cyclists that has been constructed so far for the new Connemara Greenway. Pines with an under footing of moss formed a wide buffer between Greenway and road. Last December, funding was allocated for what will eventually be a 76km-long car-free route from Galway City to Clifden.\r\n\r\nMany locals still hand-cut peat in the shadow of the Twelve Bens mountains (Credit: Peter Zoeller/Getty Images)\r\nMany locals still hand-cut peat in the shadow of the Twelve Bens mountains (Credit: Peter Zoeller/Getty Images)\r\n\r\nHaving seen plenty of bog from my bike, I didn\'t hike trails around the Connemara National Park Visitor Centre. Instead, I stopped to look at their displays on local culture and wildlife connected to bogs.\r\n\r\nGO FOR A RIDE\r\nThere are plenty of ways to enjoy the area\'s bogs on two wheels. On a day trip from Clifden, you can cycle The Bog Road through Roundstone Bog, then visit Roundstone village and return to Clifden on a coastal route via Errisberg and Ballyconneely. On a three-day tour, cycle from Clifden to the Connemara Park Visitor Centre, past Kylemore Abbey to Leenaun. Then, ride to Pearse Cultural Centre and on to Ballynahinch before going back to Clifden on The Bog Road or on the slightly longer coastal route.\r\n\r\nCasually displayed was a pine trunk radiocarbon-dated to be 8,600 years old – a relic of ancient forest subsumed and preserved by bog. Organic matter that would usually decay while exposed to air and weathering is conserved by bog conditions that inhibit bacterial growth and insulate it from extreme temperatures. \r\n\r\nIn a timeline display, I learned that peat bogs are the result of human intervention. Five thousand years ago, the first people to settle in Connemara cleared areas of primeval forest for farming using stone axes and fire. Bronze and iron axes brought by more recent arrivals accelerated this large-scale decline in forest cover. Deposits of charcoal from previous forest burning blocked soil drainage. As high rainfall accumulated, it nurtured the growth of peat bogs. \r\n\r\nToday, peat cutting continues, and some of it takes place illegally in protected bogs. A few weeks before my trip, the European Commission had notified Ireland that unless turf cutting in protected bogs ceases, the issue will proceed to the European Court of Justice. Yet, peat cutting for private use is so ingrained in local culture that it\'s likely to endure.\r\n\r\n\"Ireland is a global hotspot for peatlands,\" said Dr Clare Noone, researcher at Irish Climate Analysis and Research UnitS. \"Unfortunately, most Irish peatlands have been drained or degraded and [in this state] it is likely Irish peatlands are currently significant sources of carbon emissions, contributing to global warming. With careful management, this could be reversed. They could become an important sink and help slow down the impacts of climate change.\"\r\n\r\nPeat bogs are able to store carbon for millennia (Credit: Artur Widak/Alamy)\r\nPeat bogs are able to store carbon for millennia (Credit: Artur Widak/Alamy)\r\n\r\nAccording to Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, a local wetland ecologist, cycling enthusiast and president of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland the small-scale is very much less destructive than the industrial-scale peat cutting that becomes horticultural compost and fuel for power stations. \"Hand-cutting turf is very different from machine-cut turf: it is less destructive and slower to become extensive,\" she said. The UK has legislated to ban the sale of horticultural peat to gardeners, and Ireland\'s peat-burning power stations are being shut down. \r\n\r\nComing in from a cool day\'s cycling, the quiet glow of a turf fire made a warm welcome at Renvyle House Hotel on Connemara\'s northern coast. Standing by the fireplace, someone commented, \"I believe the planet is suffering. But until we get these bigger countries to cut their emissions, what damage are we doing with a few chimneys?\". The hope, however, is that if more people pedal through this unique landscape, it could help fuel a slow travel revolution that works to save this ecosystem. \r\n\r\nCycling around Connemara\'s bogs is a way of travelling that\'s congruent with the growing move away from peat and petrol as fuel. This unique landscape will remain tied to Irish culture as a repository for its archaeological past. But moving forwards, perhaps people will use peat less in fires and experience it more through scenic bike rides.','2022-11-29','',0,1),(302,'Philippines sees a pandemic boom in child sex abuse','BBC NEWS','Society',4,67,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63658818','By Laura Bicker','Seven-year-old Eric giggles, showing off a broad toothless grin, as he talks about space travel in the shade of a garden, surrounded by lush, thick forest, a few hours north of the Philippines\' capital Manila.\r\n\r\nEric dreams of flying a rainbow-coloured rocket to Saturn. He has just lost his baby teeth but he is small for his age. His white, checked shirt hangs off his tiny shoulders.\r\n\r\n\"What do you cry about during therapy?\" his social worker asks him. \"I cry about my parents,\" he says, looking at the ground.\r\n\r\nFedalyn Marie Baldo has spent months with Eric, his 10-year-old sister Maria and two older brothers to help them understand that theirs is not a normal childhood.\r\n\r\nFor years, when their neighbourhood was asleep and much of the Western world was awake, all four children were forced to perform live sex shows for paedophiles around the world.\r\n\r\nThey were raped and repeatedly sexually abused on camera by their mother. Their father, aunt and uncle also took part.\r\n\r\nIt was the children\'s father who eventually reported his wife and her family to the police, allegedly after a dispute. Investigators traced payments to the family from accounts in the UK and Switzerland.\r\n\r\nMonths later, Eric, his brothers and sister ended up at a home run by the charity Preda, which focuses on helping sexually abused children.\r\n\r\nThat has also been Ms Baldo\'s job for 17 years. In that time, images and videos of child sexual abuse have ballooned into a billion-dollar industry in the Philippines, now the world\'s largest-known source of such exploitation.\r\n\r\nGrinding poverty, high-speed internet access and an ability to accept instructions in English have all kept it going.\r\n\r\nEric and Maria\r\nImage caption,\r\nEric, Maria and two of their brothers all live at the centre\r\nThen came the pandemic. More than two years of lockdowns and some of the world\'s longest school closures left vulnerable children stuck at home with cash-strapped parents desperate to make money.\r\n\r\nA recent study by Unicef and Save the Children estimates that around one in five Filipino children are now at risk of sexual exploitation, putting the grim figure close to two million.\r\n\r\nMs Baldo fears that the abuse is becoming \"normalised\" in the Philippines and may become endemic in some of the country\'s poorest neighbourhoods.\r\n\r\nPresident Bongbong Marcos has declared an \"all-out war\" on child sexual abuse and the industry it has spurred. But so far, it\'s a war the Philippines is not winning.\r\n\r\nA global war\r\nIn Manila, as the clock ticks towards dawn, a team from the National Bureau of Investigation has gathered near a graveyard.\r\n\r\nFlashlights are kept low, guns are loaded, cameras are ready to film evidence as the team leader gives a final briefing. They are under pressure to get results.\r\n\r\nAmid the tombstones in this densely populated city, a family live among the dead. A 36-year-old mother is on her smartphone in a small wooden hut built against some of the largest monuments in the cemetery.\r\n\r\nShe thinks she is messaging a paying customer in Australia who is requesting a live sex show involving her three children. In truth, her texts are going to an undercover police officer.\r\n\r\nAs she switches on the camera, around a dozen officers rush through narrow paths to her door. The only warning is when the stray dogs start to bark.\r\n\r\nShe offers no resistance as a female officer takes the children to safety and others start to bag evidence: sex toys, smartphones, receipts detailing overseas payments.\r\n\r\nAs with many of these arrests, this one too is the result of a tip-off from abroad.\r\n\r\nThe Australian Federal Police told the BBC they caught a man at an airport with a storage device full of explicit child abuse videos. His phone allegedly contained messages between him and a woman in the Philippines requesting money in exchange for the videos.\r\n\r\nThe operation then took dozens of officers weeks to plan and led to two arrests. One in Manila and the other in Sydney.\r\n\r\nAustralian officials said they had recorded an increase of around 66% in reports of child exploitation in the last year.\r\n\r\nThey are working alongside teams from the International Justice Mission, the UK National Crime Agency and the National Police of the Netherlands, and officers in the Philippines, to try to find child sex offenders. Once they\'ve identified them, they try to track down the source of the material.\r\n\r\nBut often, the only way the abuse is reported is when the child comes forward. And even then it\'s a long road ahead.\r\n\r\nSeveral social workers say they have to spend days, even weeks, pushing local police to rescue the children and file charges against the parents.\r\n\r\n\"Sometimes we get the co-operation of law enforcement authorities, other times the actions of people who are supposed to really protect children are delayed. But we have to work around it,\" says Emmanuel Drewery from Preda.\r\n\r\nA boy wearing a facemask peers out from the window of a bus about to leave Manila before it is placed on lockdown on March 13, 2020 in Quezon city, Metro Manila, Philippines.\r\nIMAGE SOURCE,GETTY IMAGES\r\nImage caption,\r\nOne in five Filipino children are at risk from sexual exploitation\r\nThe organisation first set up a children\'s home for girls back in the 1970s near the port city of Olongapo, once home to a large American naval base.\r\n\r\nIt had become a hub for sex tourism - illegal prostitution between foreign men and Filipina girls often still in their teens and trafficked into the industry, or young women pushed into the sex trade by family pressure and economic desperation.\r\n\r\nYears on, social workers fear much of the sexual abuse here is generational, that many of the children\'s mothers were also raped or sexually assaulted. They believe their view is: \"It happened to me, I did this to survive and so must you.\"\r\n\r\nFather Shay Cullen, the founder of Preda, has been fighting for the rights of abused children in the Philippines since 1974. He wants a global solution to this new and growing problem.\r\n\r\n\"There has to be [an] international law. This is the only way. All national governments need to really put restrictions on the internet corporations. They must co-operate to restrict the passage of child abuse material and the online streaming of the sexual abuse of children.\"\r\n\r\nThings are changing, he agrees - but slowly.\r\n\r\nBut that\'s only one part of the war. For organisations like Preda, the bigger battle lies in rehabilitating the children.\r\n\r\n\'Why did you do this to me?\'\r\nSome of the toughest healing at Preda happens inside a dark room with soft music playing in the background.\r\n\r\nThere are large pads on the walls and floors - the kind gymnasts would use for a soft landing. The only light comes from the open door.\r\n\r\nAbout five children are kneeling, each in their own space. Most of them are facing the wall.\r\n\r\nThe overwhelming sound is the erratic thud of their fists and feet as they pummel the pads.\r\n\r\nEric\r\nImage caption,\r\nEric says he enjoys power dance and therapy at the centre\r\nThe first raw, anguished cries make your heart stop. And then it starts again, but it\'s difficult to keep listening, even from a distance, even for a few minutes.\r\n\r\nThe questions hurled at the cushioned walls - \"Why did you do this to me? Why me? What did I do?\" - are heart-breaking.\r\n\r\nA therapist kneels quietly inside, ready to help.\r\n\r\n\"It all begins in the room,\" says Francisco Bermido Jr, current president of Preda.\r\n\r\n\"If they are able to confront the abusers in the \'primal\' room, they can move on forward and confront these abusers in the court-room. These are emotions like hate towards their abusers, but also hate towards those they told, but who did not believe them.\"\r\n\r\nPreda has used this form of emotional release therapy - called primal - for decades to help children cope with the emotional impact of physical and sexual abuse.\r\n\r\nBut they are struggling for resources. Their centre near Manila can only afford to take around 100 children a year. But so many more need help.\r\n\r\nOnce a police report is filed, children can be sent to a number of homes or orphanages, but many don\'t have the training or experience to care for children who have suffered abuse.\r\n\r\nEric\'s older brother was first placed into a nearby orphanage without his siblings before he was moved to the Preda centre.\r\n\r\nSocial workers at the centre say that around 40% of abused children who\'ve been in their care go on to live a life safe from harm. And every success keeps them going.\r\n\r\nRoutine helps. The centre offers a daily schedule of schoolwork, sports like karate and volleyball, storytelling sessions and, of course, therapy.\r\n\r\n\"I love karate, power dance and primal,\" Eric shouts as he punches happily in the air.\r\n\r\nHe also enjoys singing - and he joins his friends in the playroom. When it\'s his turn for a solo, he sings softly at first, then his confidence grows and his voice soars around the room.\r\n\r\nChildren at Preda home take part in a karate session\r\nImage caption,\r\nSocial workers say routine - and sports like karate - help the children heal\r\nOne of his older brothers is still too traumatised to talk. Their sister Maria, Ms Baldo warns, also speaks little.\r\n\r\nBut on that day, a beaming Maria, clinging to either her prized pencil case or a soft toy, was surprisingly curious and full of questions. She really wanted to know what a snowflake felt like.\r\n\r\n\"When they arrived, they were very meek and docile and untrusting of the world and of others,\" Mr Bermido Jr says.\r\n\r\nBut months later, they are able to tell their story - every horrifying detail - to the social workers. All four children have also testified against their family, a requirement by Philippines\' courts.\r\n\r\n\"That\'s actually very important because that\'s where their quest for justice begins,\" he adds.\r\n\r\nBoth Eric and Maria attend the group storytelling session. He sits next to her and absently curls his fingers around his sister\'s ponytail.\r\n\r\nMs Baldo asks Maria about Cinderella, and she replies: \"Cinderella did not give up even during hard times, even in the toughest situation, she still had hope,\" she says, hugging her soft toy tighter.\r\n\r\n\"Just like us - even though our parents abused us, we should be like Cinderella.\"','2022-11-30','',0,1),(303,'Does College Still Prepare Students For Real Life?','By Bold','Lifestyle',8,67,'https://boldtv.com/luke-soloway/2022/12/05/does-college-still-prepare-students-for-real-life/','By Luke Soloway','LIFEDoes College Still Prepare Students For Real Life?\r\n\r\nByLuke SolowayPublished2 days ago\r\nA college student studying.Photo by George Dolgikh on Pexels.\r\nWhy Is Healthcare Expensive?\r\n\r\nWatch this video on YouTube\r\nThe writer Michel de Montaigne, in the 1500s, once wrote that he only studied that which instructed him “how to die well and how to live well.” Morbid “dying well” bit aside, do modern colleges help their students to “live well”? And is it fair to interchange “living well” with functioning well in society? If it is fair (even if it’s a drag), here are three ways colleges fail students. Especially when it comes to learning how to grapple with real-world challenges. Does college still prepare students for real life?\r\n\r\nEncouraging egocentric fallacy\r\nEgocentric fallacy is the (false) perception that you are the center of the universe; the idea that Galileo was wrong, that the earth does not revolve around the sun, but, instead, revolves around you. This is a fallacy, and the real world demands we understand it and act accordingly. The college experience is supposed to be a horizon-broadening journey. A safe place to garner independence, responsibility, and maturity. College should expose students to a variety of people, points of view, and ideas. It was a journey into the unknown. Students should approach higher education with a sense of humility and a hunger for knowledge. Today, colleges often fall short of this vision.\r\n\r\nToday’s college student’s mission is the fight for change rather than the struggle to adapt to the post-graduation world.  Today’s college students focus on the fight for justice. And we should fight for justice. Additionally, we should note today’s youth behave very admirably when they fight. For example, they fight for inclusivity and to destigmatize issues surrounding mental health. But, noble as that fight is, we mislead today’s college students, who arrive at college as children. They believe they already know everything. And that they must educate their elders (i.e., educators). When in reality, it is the other way around. This exacerbates and reinforces the false belief that the purpose of college is for the immature to improve the culture. First at the university level and then in the world at large. \r\n\r\nDoes college prepare students for real life?\r\nIt is true that young people will always have powerful insight to impart by virtue of real-world inexperience. It is also true that older generations generally have the wisdom to impart by virtue of their empirical experiences. Permitting college students to silence dissenting voices robs them of the chance to become resilient adults. The same goes if they drop “upsetting” courses and label anything they find uncomfortable with the name “triggering.”\r\n\r\nColleges should draw a line between literal and conceptual violence; we must not tolerate the former. But, the world abounds with unpleasant ideas and people. We only cripple students when we don’t acknowledge that there is often a difficult gap between idealism and reality. We must often tolerate this difference, at least partially, in hopes of having a chance to bridge that gap. \r\n\r\nTeenagers telling their professors how to teach is like a doughy couch potato telling their trainer how to exercise. When we combat distress by trying to eliminate it from life entirely, we fail at the attempt. Students cannot erase all distress from life – they cannot “cancel” its existence —such that it goes away. Colleges can, however, inhibit students’ capacity for distress tolerance. That individual inability to tolerate distress then becomes a national inability when today’s students become tomorrow’s adults. It is not intolerance to distress that changes the world, but rather distress tolerance; its opposite, “standing the heat” long enough to put out the fire. \r\n\r\nDevaluing engagement\r\nCollege should be the place to learn to conceptualize well. But theory is only one part of life; day-to-day social interactions and functioning in the world of actions requires a large degree of flexibility from us. Flexibility doesn’t mean accepting wrongdoing but, instead, learning how to gracefully confront less-than-ideal scenarios. Change requires patience; lasting change requires peace. Unfairly low wages are upsetting. Especially when compensation has not reflected productivity or cost-of-living increases.\r\n\r\nAccording to a 2020 job-seeker survey, 77% of college seniors say compensation is their top priority for entry-level positions. It seems like they put the cart before the horse. We should aim high. However, this is a change from the more common view that we shouldn’t dictate compensation in our first job. Being picky about what caliber job we accept is another matter. Traditionally, incomers seek to distinguish themselves through high-quality work and then make compensation demands. \r\n\r\nIn life, we come into contact with all types – those with good, bad, and unclear intentions. Colleges that don’t instill the social competency to navigate differing ideas fail in their responsibility to create resilient adults. Colleges should not only teach theories but theories in motion. Theories which help us deal effectively with the people we need to deal with… that is, those who do not tolerate our theories (I think I just gave myself a headache). \r\n\r\nCalling laziness bravery\r\nDoes college still prepare students for real life? When university administrations place prohibitions on behaviors that fall short of causing physical harm and refuse to tolerate words that are more provocative or irritating than hateful,  they do more than simply limit their students’ ability to build distress tolerance. They tempt students into mistaking laziness for bravery. Students should not be taught to believe that any discourse which causes discomfort is “hateful,” nor should they be taught that uncomfortable discourse is, in any sense whatsoever, physical harm itself. To label every moment of discomfort or irritation as “physical harm” handicaps the building of distress tolerance and leaves graduating classes believing true bravery consists in managing to never feel uncomfortable and never encountering distasteful people. \r\n\r\nObstacles exist in this world. Students should learn to confront them effectively. “Effective” engagement is crucial. Refusing to engage with a problem has never solved it. All of us should value building the distress tolerance necessary to engage with life patiently and thoughtfully– not just today’s students. Building healthy intra-national relationships has never been achieved by policies of disengagement and belligerence, nor has a workplace feud ever been resolved well in such a manner; the same can even be said for diplomatically insisting on the correct change from the deli guy who accidentally charged us $31.50 for a $13.50 sandwich… instead of yelling in his face!   ','2022-12-05','',0,1),(304,'Addressable Ads: The Future Of Advertising','By Bold','Politics',1,67,'https://boldtv.com/david-grasso/2022/12/03/addressable-ads-the-future-of-advertising/','ByDavid Grasso','Addressable Ads: The Future Of Advertising\r\n\r\nByDavid GrassoPublished4 days ago\r\nAddressable ads could be the future of marketing.Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.\r\nRussian Space Ads: What You Need to Know\r\n\r\nWatch this video on YouTube\r\nAre the advertisements on your phone or TV streaming services personalized? If you have cut the cord but still watch TV, you’ve probably noticed that the commercials you see are getting better, more personalized, and eerily accurate in predicting what you want to buy. These targeted advertisements are known as addressable ads. And the industry is already worth billions of dollars.\r\n\r\nAn advertisement revolution\r\nWe already receive great advertisements through social media platforms. The internet’s many algorithms constantly monitor our online activity. Cookies harness all that information and sell it to advertisers. Using that information and some AI machine learning, advertisers then create targeted ads based on our likes.\r\n\r\nAdmittedly, the advertisements we see today are great at knowing what we want. Even if you come from a different culture, addressable ads consider that when defining your interests. If you’re bilingual, you may have noticed ads in English and the other language(s) you speak. Somewhat more eerily, you might have noticed ads will also adapt based on your location. Aside from the future of advertising, addressable ads bring up many concerns over online privacy and the value of user data.\r\n\r\nAds are adapting to streaming\r\nAs more people decide to join cable cutters and rely exclusively on streaming services, addressable ads will continue to appear. Ads showing personalized offers for products or content you’re interested in, instead of generic advertisements, is definitely an improvement. However, the situation begs the question of where this is all headed. Some companies allegedly want to end internet cookies in the next few years. Google’s been trying for a while now. That would be a disaster for addressable ads since cookies are how they acquire information on our interests.\r\n\r\nHow do they work?\r\nSo how do addressable ads work? First, online cookies collect data from users’ online activity. According to a recent NordVPN study, social media sites have up to 160 cookies to collect data. The same study found the average website uses 48 data trackers to gather user information. Companies collect information about viewers, such as age, gender, interests, and more. Using machine learning, companies create customer profiles for specific advertisements to target. Algorithms then use that information to deliver addressed ads to users on sites we visit.\r\n\r\nThe future of advertisement\r\nMore likely than not, addressable ads are the future of advertising. Still, the will-they/won’t-they dance around tech companies getting rid of cookies will define a lot. As more countries worldwide scramble to improve online privacy, targeted ads could see a setback. The trend in online privacy is allowing users to opt out of sharing their data with the websites they visit. The UK and European Union already have opt-out measures on most sites. California’s recent online privacy law appeared to follow suit.\r\n\r\nSo, while addressable ads are clearly the future of marketing, the way they work could soon change. It seems, eventually, we may be able to choose whether we receive personalized ads or not. How addressable ads will survive if cookies are eliminated is a question for another time; in the meantime, they’ll likely be around for the foreseeable future.','2022-12-04','',0,1),(305,'Brexit: Mistakes were made on all sides, says Leo Varadkar','BBC NEWS','Politics',1,68,'https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64149139','By Charley Adams','Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has said mistakes were made on all sides in the way Brexit was negotiated.\r\n\r\nMr Varadkar said he would be \"flexible and reasonable\" when attempting to solve issues with the Northern Ireland protocol.\r\n\r\nHe admitted that \"perhaps\" the treaty was a \"little bit too strict\" and that the European Union was willing to make compromises.\r\n\r\nMr Varadkar became PM, or taoiseach, for the second time last month.\r\n\r\nThe Fine Gael leader has been unpopular with some unionists who see him as instrumental in the creation of the contentious protocol.\r\n\r\nAsked about this, he said: \"I\'m sure we\'ve all made mistakes in the handling of Brexit.\r\n\r\n\"There was no road map, no manual, it wasn\'t something that we expected would happen and we\'ve all done our best to deal with it.\"\r\n\r\nHe said he was looking forward to travelling to Northern Ireland early in the new year \"in an effort to find a solution\".\r\n\r\nThe Northern Ireland protocol has been a source of tension since it came into force at the start of 2021.\r\n\r\nThe protocol is a part of the Brexit deal that keeps Northern Ireland aligned with some European Union trade rules.\r\n\r\nPower-sharing in Northern Ireland is currently in a state of flux as a result of a Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) boycott of Stormont in protest over the protocol.\r\n\r\nThe DUP has said it would not return to devolved government unless radical changes are made to trading agreements.\r\n\r\nThe UK and EU remain in negotiations to reduce the impact of the deal.\r\n\r\nA simple guide to the Northern Ireland Protocol\r\nWhere does Rishi Sunak stand on the NI Protocol?\r\nVaradkar \'will not be deterred from visiting NI\'\r\nMr Varadkar said he understood that some unionists feel the treaty \"creates barriers between Britain and Northern Ireland that didn\'t exist before\".\r\n\r\nHowever, he said this was also true of Brexit which was imposed without cross-community consent.\r\n\r\nMr Varadkar said the protocol had worked without being fully enforced which is \"why I think there\'s room for flexibility and room for changes\".\r\n\r\nHe said this was also the position of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and vice-president Maros Sefcovic.','2023-01-03','',0,1),(306,'Brazil says final farewell to \'King\' Pele',' 2023 AFP','Sport',5,68,'https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20230103-brazil-says-final-farewell-to-king-pele',' 2023 AFP','Santos (Brazil) (AFP) – President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will lead the tributes Tuesday as Brazil says a final farewell to football legend Pele, widely regarded as the greatest player of all time.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\n\r\nAfter holding three days of national mourning, Brazil has been paying its last respects to the player known as \"The King,\" who died Thursday at age 82 after a battle with cancer.\r\n\r\nLula, who took office Sunday in a ceremony that started with a minute\'s silence for Pele, will travel to the southeastern city of Santos to \"pay his respects and tribute\" as the 24-hour wake for the late icon draws to a close at 9:00 am (1200 GMT), his office said.\r\n\r\nThousands of fans and football dignitaries, including FIFA president Gianni Infantino, have already filed past Pele\'s black coffin at the stadium where he first dazzled the world, the Vila Belmiro, home to his longtime club, Santos FC.\r\n\r\n\"Pele is eternal. He\'s a global icon of football,\" Infantino told journalists on Monday, saying football\'s governing body would ask all member countries to name a stadium in the player\'s honor.\r\n\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\nFinal farewell to Pele\r\nFinal farewell to Pele © Julia Han JANICKI / AFP\r\nAntonio Carlos Pereira da Silva, a 36-year-old artist, said he had arrived at midnight to be among the first inside when the wake began Monday morning.\r\n\r\n\"If I said I didn\'t cry when he died, I\'d be lying,\" he told AFP.\r\n\r\n\"Pele taught us so much. Not just Brazil, but the whole world.\"\r\n\r\nNeymar, Real Madrid\r\nBorn Edson Arantes do Nascimento, Pele exploded onto the scene at age 15, when he made his professional debut with Santos.\r\n\r\nHe went on to win the World Cup three times with Brazil, in 1958, 1962 and 1970 -- the only player in history to achieve the feat.\r\n\r\nThe wife of late Brazilian football legend Pele, Marcia Aoki (R), places a rosary on his coffin during his wake in Santos\r\nThe wife of late Brazilian football legend Pele, Marcia Aoki (R), places a rosary on his coffin during his wake in Santos © NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP\r\nTributes have poured in from around the world since his death, with a Who\'s Who of current and former football greats hailing his genius for the \"beautiful game.\"\r\n\r\nA stream of athletes, politicians, dignitaries and fans have traveled to Santos for the ceremony, though turnout may be dented somewhat by the New Year\'s holiday weekend.\r\n\r\nPele\'s coffin was carried into the stadium Monday morning by pallbearers dressed in black, led by his son Edinho.\r\n\r\nThe late icon\'s widow, Marcia Cibele Aoki, his third wife, whom he married in 2016, cried before his open casket as she reached out to touch his head. She also placed a rosary in his coffin.\r\n\r\nThe casket was draped in the flags of Santos and Brazil and was surrounded by white flowers, including bouquets from the likes of Real Madrid or current Brazil star Neymar, whose father was in attendance.\r\n\r\nLast parade\r\nOther tributes have come in from around Brazil.\r\n\r\nAt the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio, a giant poster with Pele\'s image bears the word \"eternal.\"\r\n\r\nFans lined up to pay tribute to Pele as they filed past the football great\'s coffin at the Vila Belmiro stadium, home to his longtime club, Santos FC\r\nFans lined up to pay tribute to Pele as they filed past the football great\'s coffin at the Vila Belmiro stadium, home to his longtime club, Santos FC © CARL DE SOUZA / AFP\r\nPele had been in fragile health, suffering from kidney problems and then colon cancer.\r\n\r\nBut he remained active on social media, cheering on Brazil from his hospital bed in Sao Paulo during the World Cup in Qatar and consoling the pre-tournament favorites when they were eliminated in the quarter-finals, three weeks before his death.\r\n\r\nThe funeral procession through Santos will go past the house of Pele\'s mother, 100-year-old Celeste Arantes, who is still alive.\r\n\r\nIt will end at Santos\'s Memorial Cemetery, where a Catholic funeral service will be held before Pele is interred in a special mausoleum.','2023-01-03','',0,1),(307,'EU to aim for coordinated approach to air travel amid Covid surge in China',' NEWS WIRES','Travel',6,68,'https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20230103-european-union-countries-to-aim-for-coordinated-approach-on-china-covid-policies',' NEWS WIRES','European Union nations will try again on Wednesday to mold a coordinated approach on if and how authorities should check incoming airline passengers from China for any new COVID-19 variants after several member nations announced individual efforts over the past week.\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\n\r\nBelgium said late Monday it would be checking wastewater from planes coming in from China to see if it yields new clues about any potentially dangerous variants. It said that it would urge visitors from China who do not feel well to take a COVID-19 test.\r\n\r\nMore should be done, but only in a coordinated approach among the 27 member states, said Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke. “It would be a good signal toward China if all EU nations would say together: ’If you come to Europe you have to be tested first,” he told VRT network.\r\n\r\nSweden, which holds the rotating EU presidency, said officials from the member states will hold an Integrated Political Crisis Response meeting on Wednesday to see if entry requirements throughout the bloc are necessary.\r\n\r\n“It is important that we get the necessary measures in place quickly,” said Swedish Health Minister Jakob Forssmed.\r\n\r\n\r\nADVERTISING\r\n\r\nEU nations France, Spain and Italy have already announced independent measures to implement tougher COVID-19 measures for passengers arriving from China.\r\n\r\nDaily newsletter\r\nReceive essential international news every morning\r\n\r\nSubscribe\r\nFrance’s government is requiring negative tests, and is urging French citizens to avoid nonessential travel to China. France is also reintroducing mask requirements on flights from China to France.\r\n\r\nSpain’s government said it would require all air passengers coming from China to have negative tests or proof of vaccination.\r\n\r\nItaly was the first EU member in requiring coronavirus tests for airline passengers coming from China, but several others have said such measures might not be the best option to protect local populations since new variants now coming from China have already been around in Europe, often for many months.\r\n\r\nThe United States announced new COVID-19 testing requirements Wednesday for all travelers from China, joining some Asian nations that had imposed restrictions because of a surge of infections.\r\n\r\n(AP)','2023-01-03','',0,1),