When a journalist from the Ivory Coast asked the newly-elected leader why there was no Marshall Plan for Africa, the billions of dollars in economic aid the United States poured into destroyed European countries after World War II, Macron responded with a three-minute soliloquy. “The challenge of Africa is completely different, it is much deeper. …
Charlie Hebdo draws ire with Barcelona attack cartoon
Critics have taken to the internet to condemn the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, over a front-page cartoon linking Islam to a recent deadly attack in Spain, saying it risked fanning Islamophobia. The latest edition of the magazine, which was attacked by gunmen in 2015, shows two people lying in a pool of blood having …
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Paris police evacuate 2,000 migrants
French police moved out around 2,000 migrants from a makeshift camp in an area north of Paris on Friday, the 35th evacuation operation in two years in the capital. A similar roundup of the mostly Afghan and African migrants around the Porte de la Chapelle area in July saw 2,800 moved from the streets into …
France provides toilets and taps for Calais migrants
French authorities on Wednesday set up portable toilets and water taps on a road near the northern port of Calais after losing a challenge to a court order to provide sanitation for migrants. Ten portable toilets and a bank of five taps were installed outside a centre run by the charity Secours Catholique a few …
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Muslim woman wearing burkini kicked out of pool in France, told to pay cleaning fees
A Muslim woman wearing a burkini who went to a community pool in Marseille, France was told to leave the pool and pay fees to clean the facilities, reports said Monday. The woman, identified as Fadila, reportedly went to the pool with her family on July 21. While she was swimming, pool officials told everyone …
Calais mayor rejects court order to provide refugees water
The local government of Calais has rejected a court ruling to provide better facilities for migrants, arguing it will only encourage more asylum seekers to flock there in the hope of crossing into the UK. Local judges upheld the decision made by another court in Lille last month, ordering officials to set up drinking fountains, …
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EasyJet passenger holding a baby ‘punched by Nice airport worker during flight delay’
EasyJet is “urgently” seeking answers from Nice Airport after a man holding a baby was allegedly punched by a member of staff as he endured a more than 13-hour wait to board a flight to London. A spokesman said the airline was “very concerned” after a picture of the incident, taken by fellow passenger Arabella …
French police ‘use beatings, tear gas and confiscation’ against Calais refugees
Police violence towards refugees in Calais has intensified to “excessive and life-threatening” levels, according to a new report, and the overall situation for unaccompanied minors has deteriorated markedly, a year after the refugee camp there was razed. The report by the Refugee Rights Data Project (RRDP) says French police tactics against the estimated 700 refugees …
French parents investigated after naming child ‘Jihad’
A couple is being investigated in France after calling their son “Jihad”. The boy was born at the beginning of August in the city of Toulouse. The registrar responsible for recording the birth certificate then passed the information onto local prosecutors. French law allows parents freedom to choose any name which is not considered harmful …
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Macron publicly ‘humiliates’ Burkina Faso president as French leader’s Africa trip goes wrong
Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Africa has been tainted not only by attacks and protest on his first stop in Burkina Faso. The president of the African nation apparently wasn’t so much into French humor either, leaving the room during Macron’s speech at a local university. Meeting with the students of the University of Ouagadougou in …
