Grasse

Cimate crisis threatens Grasse, French perfume's raw materials capital

France — Link

Extreme weather patterns such as droughts, heatwaves, and excessive rainfall are threatening the future of fragrant crop production in Grasse, close to the French Riviera, where a microclimate that allows fields of may rose, tuberose, lavender and jasmine to blossom, and where the latter sells for a higher price than gold.

Teenager held after gun attack on French school, up to four wounded

France — Link

A heavily armed 17-year-old pupil of a secondary school in the town of Grasse, south-east France, was arrested by police after shooting four people including the school's headmaster who reportedly intervened to try and stop the attack.   

Several wounded in school shooting in south-east France

France — Link

A heavily-armed gunman, carrying grenades and explosives and reportedly aged 17, shot and wounded at least three people, including a headmaster, at a secondary school in Grasse, close to Nice, in south-east France.

France’s ‘police of police’ whip up a storm on the Riviera

France

In 2013, the French police internal investigation agency, the IGPN, opened a branch in Nice, the capital of the French Riviera where an environment of organised crime, prostitution and drugs trafficking feeds accusations of corruption within the local police. But the actions of the IGPN branch, and notably the methods of its commander, have shaken the morale of officers and sparked an internal inquiry into what one drugs squad chief called “unspeakable and unjust procedures, bordering on harassment”. Hélène Constanty reports.

Families of girls switched at birth sue French clinic for €12 million

France — Link

The families of the two babies only found out about the hospital mix-up in the south of France when the girls were aged ten.