Author: Cesar Jacobs

At least 18 people have been arrested after a wave of hoax bomb threats prompted evacuations across France. The Palace of Versailles, the Louvre, as well as schools, airports and hospitals have all been targeted. Those behind the disruption are mostly minors, authorities say. The threats come at a time of heightened tension in France, after a teacher was fatally stabbed by an alleged jihadist last week at a school in the northern city of Arras. Fifteen regional airports had threats made against them on Friday, from Biarritz, Bordeaux, Nice and Toulouse in the south to Lille and Brest in…

A major search for a man who fell overboard from a cruise ship in the sea off the coast of Kent has ended. HM Coastguard was alerted at about 09:00 BST on Sunday after a crew member disappeared from the German vessel AIDAperla off Ramsgate. A nine-hour search for the man was unsuccessful and the AIDAperla resumed its journey to Spain on Sunday night. AIDA Cruises said its thoughts were “with the family of the missing person and his colleagues”. “In addition, we are in close contact with his family and the AIDAperla crew,” it said. The Maritime and Coastguard…

France will dispatch sniffer dogs to inspect trains and the Paris Métro for bedbugs after dozens of reports of infestations, the transport minister has promised, but he made clear there was no evidence of an outbreak. Clément Beaune said there had been about 10 traveller reports about the bloodsucking pests to the Paris public transport operator, RATP, and 37 to the national rail operator, SNCF, in recent weeks. All were checked but “zero” were proved, the minister said. “When there is a problem, we deal with it, we won’t deny it. There is no outbreak of bedbugs in public transport,” Beaune said in comments made…

The UK risks seeing its manufacturing sector fall behind rival economies if the government does not offer certainty over policies on shifting to green energy, according to the head of FTSE 100 packaging maker DS Smith. Miles Roberts, the company’s chief executive, said British government decarbonisation policy has lacked the clarity of European rivals, meaning DS Smith has moved ahead with a €90m (£78m) investment in a paper mill in Rouen, northern France, while waiting for more clarity from government before investing in upgrades in the UK. The EU’s Green Deal and the US Inflation Reduction Act have offered enormous subsidies to help…

Germany’s antisemitism commissioner has condemned the country’s recent increase in anti-Jewish violence, warning that it risks transporting the country back to its “most horrific times”. In an interview with the Guardian, however, Felix Klein said he was also worried about an erosion of basic rights as officials sought to crack down on expressions of support for the Palestinian people. The remarks tap into a debate that has played out across Europe, and in particular in Germany and France – home to the EU’s largest Jewish and Muslim communities – as officials scramble to contain the spillover of tensions sparked by the Israel-Hamas…

The stalled Ukrainian offensive could be a huge political issue for Volodymyr Zelensky in the United States. CNN writes about it. This could heighten questions within the US about support for a war that could spill over into a year of “violent” presidential elections. And even if Trump is not the Republican nominee, “dwindling public support for the war could hurt Biden.” According to a new CNN/SSRS poll, 55% of voters say Congress should not authorize additional funding to support Ukraine. About 51% said the US has already done enough to help, while 48% say they should do more. Therefore, from the…

When it comes to fighting off China’s electric vehicle invasion, Europe’s carmaking superpowers are split straight along the Rhine. Germany’s big three automakers — Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz — see the prospect of antagonizing Beijing with an all-out trade war over clean cars as an unthinkable nightmare, while executives at their partially French state-owned rivals Renault and Stellantis have much to gain from pulling up the drawbridges and protecting domestic industry with tariffs. That’s the strategic calculation the European Commission’s trade defense team has to weigh up as it decides whether to declare war on China’s EVs. As reported this month, the…

Trouble appears to be brewing on Afghanistan’s border with the remote Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Region, or GBAO, in eastern Tajikistan. Or at least it appears to be. As is often the way in Tajikistan, relying on the official narrative for a sense of the unfolding events is proving more confounding than enlightening. On April 28, Khovar state news agency reported that a high-ranking security services officer was earlier that day killed during an armed clash with an alleged gang of drug smugglers trying to cross into Tajik territory. The State Committee for National Security, or GKNB, said in a statement that three of…

Armed supporters of the terrorist group PKK assaulted Turkish citizens in southern France who were trying to do their civic duty and vote, according to diplomatic sources. Turks living in France who went to the polls in the port city of Marseille on Monday were attacked by terrorist PKK supporters. No one was injured, the sources added. A video shared on social media showed the assault, where PKK supporters armed with sticks and knives attacked the Turkish citizens, including women and children, waiting in line for their turn to cast their vote. The sources noted that security forces, the Turkish…

Government in Paris congratulates victors and pledges to ‘continue to improve the daily life of our Polynesian fellow-citizens.’ French Polynesia has elected a pro-independence party, giving fresh impetus to long-standing calls for a referendum in France’s sprawling overseas territory in the South Pacific. The Tavini Huiraatira party, led by former president Oscar Temaru, won an absolute majority in the Assembly of French Polynesia, taking 38 of the 57 seats, French newspaper Le Figaro reported. The assembly will elect a president of the territory for a five-year term later this month, who could then push an independence bid. French Polynesia already has a degree…