Author: Julius Garza

The world-famous Michelin Guide, the red gastronomic bible that awards stars to the best restaurants, is to begin rating hotels using key symbols. Guide editors say they want to create a “trusted reference” to help travellers navigate the large and varied offers of accommodation on the internet by flagging up “establishments offering exceptional hotel and travel experiences”. The new benchmark will be introduced next year. Preselected group of more than 5,300 hotels in 120 countries are up for the award, which is based on five criteria, including whether the establishment gives visitors a “local experience” as well as its design and…

Bird protection campaigners have accused the French government of flouting European regulations after it rescinded a ban on traditional hunting. They accuse ministers of giving in to lobbying by powerful hunting groups to allow the trapping of thousands of birds as part of an “experimental study”. Most traditional trapping methods were banned in France in 2021 under the threat of fines from the European Commission. The ministry of ecological transition has now temporarily overturned the embargo on two practices: using large nets placed horizontally in the path of birds – usually attracted by the calls of a caged bird – and wire…

Paris is burning its luggage and bed linen as it battles a “scourge” of bedbugs, stoking fears of infestation around the world as pest controllers report an uptick in inquiries and transport operators and hoteliers seek to assuage concerns. The city of light is reportedly under siege from the nocturnal bloodsuckers, leading the French transport minister, Clément Beaune, to meet transport operators. “It’s a real nightmare,” says Yacine, a schoolteacher in Paris who declined to give his surname. “I’m so afraid to take the Métro, I don’t go to the cinema – it’s very alarmant.” With the city having just hosted Paris fashion…

A shocked Lewiston resident has told the BBC News Channel that the whole city was put in lockdown after mass shootings that left at least 16 people dead and dozens injured. Billie Jayne Cooke, who is running for the city council, said she was just leaving a public event on Wednesday evening when she first heard of the attack and that the shooter was on the run. “The entire ride home was just solid sirens, one siren after another. Helicopters, sirens, I’ve never heard so much activity in my life in this city. “We have police from all over the…

In a small office in northern Paris, journalists are preparing for an extremely rare and somewhat risky event: the launch of the first new print newspaper in France for 10 years. “With the Covid crisis, people rediscovered long-form articles and books – they want a special moment of reading time at the weekend, which is what we’re appealing to,” said Jean-Christophe Tortora, president of La Tribune Dimanche, a new Sunday paper that goes on sale this weekend. The launch of the paper, a mix of news, regional reporting, culture and lifestyle content, flies in the face of declining print sales across Europe and France’s…

Several European countries say they will examine concerns the iPhone 12 is emitting too much electromagnetic radiation, after France ordered Apple to stop sales. Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany are now also looking into the issue. France’s regulator has given the tech giant two weeks to respond to its probe, which German authorities say could lead to Europe-wide measures. Apple said it had provided proof it was complying with radiation regulations. France’s National Frequencies Agency (ANFR) said on Tuesday that radiation tests on the iPhone 12 had come back higher than allowed. The halt on French sales “could have a…

France is set to ban disposable e-cigarettes – known locally as “puffs” – because of the danger they pose to the environment and public health. Speaking recently on RTL radio, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne said the measure was part of a new anti-smoking plan being drawn up by the government. It should be in force by the end of the year, campaigners said. Several other countries in Europe, including Germany, Belgium and Ireland, have announced similar bans. The UK is also said to be considering one. Sold over the counter by tobacconists, disposable vapes in France cost around €9 (£7.70)…

In a speech to the Corsican Regional Assembly, Emmanuel Macron proposed a constitutional text to build Corsican autonomy within the French State. Corsica held its breath this morning as Emmanuel Macron addressed the Regional Assembly in Ajaccio. France’s President proposed a constitutional text to Corsica’s elected representatives to build autonomy for the island “without any disengagement from the state”. “It will not be autonomy against the State, nor autonomy without the State, but autonomy for Corsica and within the republic,” he explained. This unique proposal comes at the end of several months of discussions between the government and local political…

France has ordered Apple to stop selling the iPhone 12 for emitting too much electromagnetic radiation. On Tuesday, the French watchdog which governs radio frequencies also told the tech giant to fix existing phones. The ANFR has advised Apple that if it cannot resolve the issue via a software update, it must recall every iPhone 12 ever sold in the country. But the World Health Organization has previously sought to allay fears about radiation emitted by mobile phones. It says on its website there is no evidence to conclude that exposure to low level electromagnetic fields is harmful to humans.…

A 24-year-old woman has died after a stray bullet aimed at a drug-dealing hotspot hit her in the head in her flat in the French city of Marseille. The bullet was fired at random and pierced a window panel in the woman’s bedroom, prosecutors said. Marseille has been rocked by escalating violence between drug gangs, leaving at least 40 people dead this year. The woman, called Socayna, is at least the third innocent member of the public killed in such attacks. She was initially left brain-dead after a burst of Kalashnikov gunfire hit the third-floor flat she lived in with…