France

PARIS (AP) — France saw fewer of the car burnings that usually blight the arrival of a new year as the Olympic host country celebrated the start of 2024, the interior minister said Monday.

The 380 arrests made nationwide overnight was a 10% drop compared with a year ago, said Gerald Darmanin, citing preliminary early morning figures.

Authorities counted 745 vehicle fires, also 10% fewer than last year, Darmanin said.

About 40 police officers suffered slight injuries, a 40% drop on last year, he added.

PARIS, Dec 30 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The French government said it will deploy more than 95,000 police and military personnel for New Year’s Eve celebrations, adding that a heightened “terrorist threat” required tight security.

Paris alone, where up to one million revellers are expected on the Champs-Elysees Sunday night – twice as many as last year – will get 6,000 security forces to keep order.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told reporters that Sunday’s deployment was motivated by “a context of a heightened terrorist threat due to the conflict in Israel and Palestine”.

VATRY, France (AP) — A charter plane grounded in France for a human trafficking investigation departed Monday for India with 276 Indians aboard, authorities said. The passengers had been heading to Nicaragua but were instead blocked inside a rural French airport for four days in an exceptional holiday ordeal.

Associated Press reporters outside the Vatry Airport in Champagne country saw the unmarked Legend Airlines A340 take off after the crew and passengers boarded the plane.

VATRY, France (AP) — About 300 Indian citizens heading to Central America were sequestered in a French airport for a third day Saturday after a dramatic police operation prompted by a tip that those aboard might be victims of human trafficking, authorities said.

Those aboard included children and families. The youngest passenger is a toddler of 21 months, and among the children are several unaccompanied minors, according to the local civil protection agency.

PARIS, Dec 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Former Rwandan doctor Sosthene Munyemana was jailed for 24 years by a French court for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis.

The 68-year-old former gynaecologist was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in a conspiracy to prepare these crimes.

His lawyers said they planned to appeal the verdict.

The public prosecutor had sought a sentence of 30 years, arguing that the “sum total” of his choices showed “the traits of a genocidaire”.

LE PECQ, France (AP) — The vehicle’s headlights silhouetted the exhausted teenager walking alone in the rain in deepest rural France, with a skateboard tucked under his arm.

“I said to myself, ‘That’s strange. It’s 3 am in the morning, it’s raining, he’s all by himself on the road between two villages,” delivery driver Fabien Accidini recounted.

From there, the story gets stranger still. The youngster, it turned out, was Alex Batty, a 17-year-old from Britain who had been missing since 2017.

PARIS, Dec 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of journalists killed in the line of duty fell this year, despite reporter deaths in Gaza in the past two months, media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said Thursday.

In the first 11 months of 2023, 45 journalists were killed carrying out their work, down from 61 last year, according to the annual report by RSF.

It was the smallest number since 33 died in 2002, largely due to a major drop in Latin America.

PARIS, Dec 11 (Reuters) - French lawmakers will decide on Monday whether to cut short any debate on the government's immigration bill, which would effectively send flagship legislation back to the drawing board.

The immigration bill has been a key plank of President Emmanuel Macron's attempts to show he can be tougher on law and order issues while keeping France's doors open to foreign workers who can help the French economy.

PARIS, Dec 9 (AA/APP): The Paris prosecutor’s office said on Friday that far-right politician Marine Le Pen will stand trial for alleged embezzlement of EU funds to fund her National Rally party’s activities.

The former presidential candidate will be in a court in March along with 26 other National Rally (RN) party members over the embezzling allegations.

They are accused of using EU parliamentary funds to pay for assistants who worked for the National Rally party, formerly called the National Front.

PARIS, Dec 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — This year will be the hottest in recorded history after November became the sixth record-breaking month in a row, Europe’s climate monitor said Wednesday, piling pressure on the COP28 talks to act on climate change.

“The extraordinary global November temperatures, including two days warmer than 2C above pre-industrial (levels), mean that 2023 is the warmest year in recorded history,” said Samantha Burgess, deputy head of the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service.