Author: Jourdain David

French counter-terrorism police have shot and wounded an unarmed woman in a full veil after she threatened train passengers, Paris authorities say. Officers opened fire eight times when the woman refused to comply with police orders, a source told the BBC. The alarm was raised by passengers on an RER suburban train in the 13th district in southern Paris. The Paris prefect said police then intervened at the Bibliothèque François-Mitterrand train station. The woman was reportedly heard shouting “Allahu Akbar,” or “God is greatest”. “Police feared for their safety,” the source added. She is said to be critical but stable…

A convicted Holocaust denier who spent two years on the run in Scotland is to appeal an order to extradite him to France. Lawyers for Vincent Reynouard, 54, will address appeal judges in January, arguing a sheriff was wrong to allow his return to his homeland. He was apprehended in Fife in November 2022 on an international warrant. Reports say he was using a false identity while working as a private tutor. Sheriff Chris Dickson ordered Reynouard to be sent to France to stand trial on charges including “public trivialisation of a war crime” and “public incitement to hatred” at…

One visible result of President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Israel and its neighbours is the dispatch of a French navy vessel to the eastern Mediterranean. The Tonnerre has been widely but erroneously described as a “hospital-ship”. Its main role in the conflict zone will be humanitarian, helping to deliver medical relief to the people of Gaza. But the Mistral class amphibious helicopter-carrier is one of the most important vessels in the French navy. The Tonnerre is capable of landing hundreds of troops with tanks and armoured vehicles on a foreign shore, though this mission will be quite different. The ship…

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has briefed US lawmakers that Azerbaijan may attack Armenia after its victory in Nagorno-Karabakh. PARIS — France is selling military equipment such as air defense systems to Armenia, the French government said Monday, as fears grow that Azerbaijan could follow up its seizure of Nagorno-Karabakh last month with assaults on its neighbor’s territory. The announcement on French arms comes just a month after Azerbaijan declared victory following a lightning military offensive in Nagorno-Karabakh, forcing more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians living in the breakaway region to flee their homes. The concern — as raised by U.S. Secretary of State Antony…

PARIS — France’s interior minister on Thursday ordered local authorities to ban all pro-Palestinian demonstrations amid a rise in antisemitic acts since Hamas attacked Israel over the weekend. President Emmanuel Macron urged French people not to allow the war in the Mideast erupt into tensions at home. Soon before Macron spoke in a televised address to the nation about the Mideast conflict, Paris police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had defied a ban and demonstrated Thursday against the Israeli government. ’’Let us not bring ideological adventures here (to France) by imitation or by projection.…

France will mobilize up to 7,000 soldiers to increase security around the country after a teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people wounded in a school attack ARRAS, France — France will mobilize up to 7,000 soldiers to increase security around the country after a teacher was fatally stabbed and three other people wounded in a school attack by a former student suspected of Islamic radicalization, the president’s office said Saturday. Some schoolchildren, parents and personnel returned to the Gambetta-Carnot school in the northern city of Arras as it reopened Saturday morning to reconnect and seek support, after the attack…

PARIS — The Louvre Museum in Paris and Versailles Palace evacuated visitors and staff Saturday after receiving bomb threats, police said. The French government started deploying 7,000 troops to increase security around the country after a fatal school stabbing by a suspected Islamic extremist. The evacuations of two of the world’s most-visited tourist sites come amid heightened vigilance around France following Friday’s school attack, and global tensions linked to the war between Israel and Hamas. President Emmanuel Macron’s government is worried about fallout from the war in France. Alarms rang out through the Louvre when the evacuation was announced, and in the underground shopping…

A teacher has been killed and two people seriously injured in a knife attack at a school in France. The attack happened at Gambetta high school in the northern city of Arras at about 11:00 local time (09:00 GMT). The attacker has been arrested and is now in custody. Witnesses say he shouted “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”, during the attack. Visiting the school, President Emmanuel Macron condemned the “barbarity of Islamist terrorism”. Mr Macron called on French people to stay “united” in the face of the attack, to “not give in to terror or let anything divide us”.…

State compensates homeowners for bat nuisance The French government has been ordered to pay almost €100,000 in compensation to a couple in south-west France after their home was invaded by bats. The bats are classed as a protected species in France, meaning they cannot be exterminated or removed, and successive renovation works failed to prevent the bats from causing excessive damage. The property’s value has fallen by an estimated 30% because of the bats’ destruction, and the homeowners claimed they could no longer live in the property due to the smell of the animals’ urine. Property manager faces compensation bill…

PARIS — France’s justice minister went on trial Monday on charges of using his office to settle personal scores, in an unprecedented case that has raised concern about checks and balances in French democracy. Justice Minister Eric Dupond-Moretti’s refusal to resign — or at least to step aside from his role overseeing France’s justice system during the trial — has drawn criticism. He denies wrongdoing and called the case against him ‘’illegitimate’’ as the two-week trial began. ’’The presumption of innocence has been trampled. I’ve been confronted with insults and lies,” he told the court. Once a high-profile lawyer, Dupond-Moretti is…