pollution

The anti-pollution move concerns Monday to Friday daytime access and will become an outright ban in 2020, when access for pre-2011 cars will be restricted.

The French oil company Maurel & Prom has come under fire from French and local non-governmental organisations after it abruptly left a drilling platform in the Peruvian Amazon that was no longer deemed economically viable following the fall in world oil prices. In particular it has been accused of leaving behind environmental problems and of playing down the risks of pollution to local communities. Meanwhile the French Parliament has been considering a law that would force multinationals to operate a “vigilance plan” to avoid environmental and other problems in the future. Karl Laske reports.

 Michel Sapin said tests are also needed on French-made cars though he says he has no 'particular reason' to suspect wrongdoing.

The affected farms are near the north-east town of Verdun, scene of heavy battles during WW1, where many unexploded munitions lie in the soil.

A Senate report said the estimated costs were mostly on medical care, but included lower crop production and cleaning of blackened buildings.

The French capital was again placed on alert for Friday, with heavy trucks banned, after three days of particularly high pollution levels.

Vehicles allowed to circulate in the city will be only those with odd-number registrations on odd-number dates, and the reverse on even dates.

The pall of pollution that has shrouded the French capital for days briefly made it the most polluted of 60 cities monitored around the world.

Restaurants relying on foreign imports and west coast growers call for emergency state aid as mussel production plummets 90 per cent.

The French government, fearful of seepage from stricken liner as it passes near Corsica for demolition in Genoa, demands assurances from Italy.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the start of World War One (WWI), when numerous commemorations will be held on the former battlefields of north-east France in tribute to the more than nine million combatants who died during the conflict. The war toll was one of the worst in history, due in part to the emergence of a massive weapons industry. At the end of the war in 1918, huge amounts of unused munitions, including highly toxic ordnance, were hurriedly disposed of in France, buried or sunk in natural sites, while former battlefields which contained unexploded and abandoned munitions were simply sealed off. Many of these remain scattered around France today, where the corroding arsenals pose a serious threat to the health and safety of local populations and surrounding environments, as illustrated in this photo-reportage by Olivier Saint Hilaire.

The Environmental Research Group at King’s College London claims the French capital's chronic pollution is affecting south-east England.

Candidates to become the next mayor of the French capital have seized on row over pollution to try to score points over opponents.

Around 4,000 motorists faced on-the-spot fines for defying curbs on car use as pollution eased in French capital.

Around 700 police will enforce number plate scheme where only half of city's drivers will be allowed on French capital's roads on any given day.