A notorious career thief who was once France’s most-wanted man pulled off a daring jailbreak on Sunday, fleeing a prison near Paris by helicopter in a commando-style operation. Redoine Faid, 46, who previously said his life of crime was inspired by films such as “Scarface”, broke out of the prison with the help of three armed accomplices, according to sources close to the case. It is the second time Faid has pulled off a spectacular jailbreak — in […]
Tag: France
France charges 10 ultra-right suspects over plot to attack Muslims
PARIS, France (AFP) — French authorities have charged 10 suspected far-right extremists in connection with an alleged plot to attack Muslims, a judicial source said Thursday. The nine men and one woman aged 32 to 69 were arrested in raids across France on Saturday. They appeared before a judge on Wednesday evening and were charged with “criminal terrorist conspiracy”, the source said. Several were also charged with violations of firearms laws and the manufacture or […]
Alleged fake victim of Paris attacks faces fraud charge
PARIS, France (AFP) – A 32-year-old woman appeared in court in France on Wednesday accused of fraud after allegedly falsely claiming to be a victim of the Paris jihadist attacks. The woman had claimed to have been shot in the elbow or thumb, according to different accounts, during the attacks in which 130 people died and hundreds more were wounded at the national stadium and Paris nightspots on November 13, 2015. She said that two […]
Jacques Saade, founder of French shipping giant, dead at 81
by Francois BECKER Agence France-Presse MARSEILLE, France (AFP) — French-Lebanese businessman Jacques Saade, who founded CMA CGM, which went on to become the world’s third largest container shipping firm, has died, his company said. He was 81. “Jacques R. Saade dedicated his life to CMA CGM. A true visionary and unique entrepreneur, he made his business a world leader in the maritime container transport,” a company statement said in announcing his death on Sunday. “We have lost […]
Europe will strike back in case of new US tariffs: France
by Joseph Schmid Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – The European Union will retaliate again if US President Donald Trump imposes more tariffs on EU goods to remedy what he calls “unfair” trade relations, French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said Monday. The EU on Friday imposed a range of tariffs on goods worth 2.8 billion euros ($3.3 billion) in a tit-for-tat response to Trump’s decision to apply stiff tariffs on European steel and aluminium […]
Czech power group CEZ embarks on wind offensive in France
PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP)–Czech state-run power group CEZ is targeting the wind energy sector in France, a country where the segment has been on the rise for the past decade, a company official told AFP. France has vowed to raise the share of green power in its energy mix to 23 percent by 2020 and to 32 percent by 2030 as part of meeting EU-wide renewable energy targets. CEZ, which is 70-percent-controlled by the Czech […]
French priest suspended after slapping baby during baptism
PARIS, France (AFP) — A French Catholic priest was suspended Friday after a video of him smacking a crying baby during a baptism ceremony went viral, drawing widespread condemnation on social media. In footage posted on Twitter on Thursday, gasps can be heard when the 89-year-old priest, after ordering the infant he is holding to “be quiet”, sharply slaps his cheek. A few seconds later he smacks him again. The baby’s parents, visibly shocked, […]
Nationalist ‘leprosy’ spreading in Europe: Macron
PARIS, France (AFP) — French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday likened rising nationalism and anti-migrant sentiment in Europe to “leprosy”. On a visit to Brittany three days before a meeting of European leaders to try to resolve the continent’s migrant crisis, Macron urged the French not to give into anti-EU sentiment. “I’m saying to you in the gravest terms: Many hate it (Europe) but they have hated it for a long time, and now you […]
France vows to up the ante as World Cup rivals flounder
by Peter Stebbings © Agence France-Presse YEKATERINBURG, Russia (AFP) — With their title rivals failing to fire, France has vowed to ramp up the intensity and put their stamp on the World Cup with victory over Peru on Thursday. Didier Deschamps’s team were far from fluid against Australia in their opening game in Russia, needing VAR (the Video Assistant Referee) and consequent Antoine Griezmann penalty, then an own goal about 10 minutes from time, to snatch […]
Mozart manuscript expected to sell for 500,000 euros
PARIS, France (AFP) — The first draft of music Mozart wrote for the last act of his opera “The Marriage of Figaro” is expected to sell for half a million euros ($578,000) when it goes under the hammer in Paris. The “exceptional” manuscript from 1786 which will be auctioned on Wednesday in the French capital comes from the peak of the composer’s career in Vienna, the auction house Ader Nordmann said. Called “Scena con Rondo”, Mozart […]
WATCH: A new look for the Eiffel Tower
PARIS, France (AFP) — Videographic illustrating plans for a new perimeter fence and gardens at Paris’ iconic Eiffel Tower.
Griezmann hits historic VAR penalty as France squeezes past Australia
by Justin Davis Agence France Presse Antoine Griezmann scored the first VAR-assisted penalty awarded in the history of the World Cup as title hopefuls France battled to a 2-1 win over gutsy Australia in Kazan on Saturday. The Atletico Madrid star wrote his name into the history books after he went down under a tackle from Josh Risdon in the penalty box in the second half of the Group C fixture. Referee Andres Cunha from […]
