English

Teen wounded in French town drive-by shooting dies

France — Link

The death was announced Saturday of a 15-year-old boy who was shot in the head during a drive-by shooting on Thursday in Poitiers, north-west France, which left four others wounded and which was described by the authorities as related to drugs  dealing, while French interior minister said the number of similar shootings across the country has left it at a 'tipping point'. 

The alarming side effects of Parkinson's drugs

Santé — Investigation

It is estimated that around 274,000 people in France suffer from Parkinson’s disease. The vast majority of them follow a treatment of dopaminergic drugs to compensate for their lack of the chemical messenger dopamine, a condition which causes many of the debilitating symptoms of the disease. But the drugs, and in particular dopamine agonists, can have alarming side effects, ranging from making compulsive purchases, daily gambling, the pursuit of sexual obsessions and, in one of the several cases detailed here, a murderous rampage against animals. As Rozenn Le Saint reports, some of the patients are unaware of the risks of the drugs, which can leave them and  their families, the collateral victims, with huge debts and psycological trauma.

Drive-by shooting in Poitiers wounds five, prompts mass brawl

France — Link

Five people were wounded, including three minors, in a drive-by shooting against a bar in Poitiers, north-west France, and which was followed by a mass brawl involving up to 600 people, according to local authorities who said the incidents were related to drug trafficking.

Actor who plays illegal immigrant hopes for French papers

International — Link

Abou Sangaré, who plays the lead role of illegal immigrant in the recent French film L’Histoire de Souleymane, for which he won a best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival, has seen his applications for a residency permit in France rejected on three occasions, leading to a deportation order, but since his stardom the government has invited him to apply again.

Mass rape trial upturns the sleepy French village of Mazan

France — Link

In Mazan, southern France, where Gisèle Pelicot and her ex-husband lived together until it was discovered he spent years sedating her into a comatose state and inviting more than 80 men to rape her on separate occasions, Dominique Pelicot's trial in nearby Avignon has sent shockwaves through the normally tranquil village. 

Legal clouds hang over France's lucrative deals in Western Sahara

International

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday wounded up his official visit to Morocco, in which he sealed a re-warming of relations with the kingdom after several years of tensions. One of the major factors in that process was his recognition of Moroccan sovereignty over the disputed territory of Western Sahara. Macron led a delegation of French companies on his visit, which have signed multi-billion dollar deals to invest in the territory. However, as Ilyes Ramdani reports from Rabat, there are doubts over the legality of the economic incursion into a land annexed by Morocco, but also claimed by an independence movement of the local Sahrawi people, while considered by the UN to be the last “non-self-governing” terrirory on the African continent.

Macron renews support for Morocco over Western Sahara dispute

International — Link

On the second day of his three-day official visit to Morocco, French President Emmanuel Macron ended ambiguity over his approach to the issue of independence for the territory of Western Sahara, telling the Moroccan parliament that French companies 'will support the development' of the former Spanish colony whose 'present and future' belong under 'Moroccan sovereignty'. 

New rules threaten to disrupt French school trips to UK

International — Link

An 'electronic travel authorisation' to be introduced in Britain in April and which requires all EU visitors to register before arrival using a passport threatens to end a special arrangement agreed between the UK and France last December whereby French school parties can arrive using identity cards, and non-EU pupils among them are not required to have visas. 

Depardieu sexual assault trial postponed

France — Link

The trial of in Paris of Gérard Depardieu on charges of sexually assaulting two women on the set of a film in 2021 opened briefly on Monday but was soon postponed until next March after the absent actor's lawyers produced medical certificates attesting to his poor health.

Man dies after dinghy used to cross Channel to UK deflates

International — Link

A man reported to be of Indian origin died in the early hours of Sunday morning from cardiac arrest after a dinghy he was in with around 50 other migrants deflated shortly after beginning an attempt to cross the Channel from France to England.

Actor Gérard Depardieu stands trial on sexual assault charges

France — Link

The French actor, 75, will stand trial in Paris on Monday charged with physically abusing two women during filming of Les Volet Verts in 2021, and is accused by a total of 21 women of sexual assault, including rape, prompting six investigations.

Rare typescript of The Little Prince to go on sale in UAE

International — Link

A typed text of The Little Prince, one of the most translated books worldwide, containing handwritten notes and doodles by its author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who disappeared in mysterious circumstances while flying over the Mediterranean for the Free French forces in 1944, will be sold at the at the Abu Dhabi Art Festival in November for 1.25 million dollars.

Why Macron is hardening his relations with Netanyahu

International — Analysis

In a riposte at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that his country is waging a war of civilisations, French President Emmanuel Macron last Thursday said he was “not sure that one defends a civilisation by spreading barbarism oneself”. It was the latest example of Macron’s hardening stance towards the Israeli government, which has included his calls for sanctions on arms sales, and the strained relations with Netanyahu in particular. Ilyes Ramdani reports on the background to the French president’s shifting position over the Middle East conflict.

French mass rape trial defendants describe 'game' and 'shame'

France — Link

During the seventh week of an unprecedented mass rape trial in the southern French town of Avignon, more of the 51 defendants, accused of separately raping Gisèle Pelicot over a nine-year period as she lay unconcious from drugs secretly administered by her husband, took to the stand and denied knowingly raping her. 

French fundraising conference for Lebanon raises 1bn dollars

International — Link

An international conference hosted by France to raise funding for humanitarian missions and military aid for Lebanon, increasingly ravaged by the war between Israel and Hezbollah, has attracted a total of 1 billion dollars in pledges, announced French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot.