France

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Paris Thieves Nab $5.6M in Highway Heist

Luxury car with two Qatari sisters is forced off the road

(Newser) - Armed robbers near Paris made off with $5.6 million Monday—from a highway, not a bank. Police say two Qatari sisters in their 60s were traveling along the A1 motorway from Paris' Le Bourget airport when robbers forced the driver of their Bentley to pull over near a service...

French Voters Reject Sarko Comeback
French Voters
Reject Sarko Comeback

French Voters Reject Sarko Comeback

He unexpectedly loses party primary

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy isn't going to get a second shot at the French presidency: The former president was unexpectedly defeated in a primary for the center-right Republican party, reports Reuters . After his defeat, Sarkozy endorsed former prime minister Francois Fillon, who will face Alain Juppe, another former PM, in a...

End of the 'Jungle': Migrant Camp Coming Down in France

Thousands of refugees near Calais being bused out to temporary centers

(Newser) - A camp that has come to symbolize Europe's struggle to handle an ever-growing wave of migrants is being emptied and dismantled near Calais, France. Nicknamed the "Jungle," the camp has been home to somewhere between 7,000 and 10,000 people, and a mass evacuation got started...

Poland Delivers Ultimate Diss to France— About Forks

It's getting nasty

(Newser) - Note to self: Don't anger Poland's deputy defense minister, or he'll remind you about your country's uncouth eating habits from the 1500s. That was Bartosz Kownacki's reaction after France apparently rescinded Poland's invite to the Euronaval maritime defense fair next week, the Guardian reports....

Lawyers Abandon 'Silent' Paris Suspect

Abdeslam 'will use his right to remain silent'

(Newser) - Know an attorney in want of a challenge? The two lawyers representing the only living suspect in the Paris terror attacks have dropped Salah Abdeslam's case. Abdeslam's French lawyer Frank Berton says his client "will not talk and will use his right to remain silent," leaving...

Details Emerge in Kardashian Robbery

Some are whispering Paris incident may have been an inside job

(Newser) - More details are emerging about Kim Kardashian's terrifying ordeal in Paris on Sunday night, report E! Online and NBC News . The 35-year-old reality-TV star was said to have been bound, gagged, and held at gunpoint, with NBC noting she was robbed in a room in a private mansion. A...

French Man's Destruction of Apple Store Très Sophisticated

He was apparently upset about a refund

(Newser) - Geez, the French are even sophisticated while performing wanton acts of destruction. The Verge reports a young man was caught on video calmly and methodically wrecking up an Apple Store in France over a refund disagreement. The man used a steel ball—apparently the kind used in a French lawn...

France Is World's First Nation to Ban Plasticware

No more plastic plates, cups, utensils unless they're biodegradable

(Newser) - Visit Paris and you'll spot people picnicking near the Eiffel Tower—but don't be surprised if they're soon scarfing down their jambon croissants off of napkins or real dishware. That's because a measure passed last month has made France the first country to ban single-use plastic...

World's Longest Lightning Bolt Traveled Nearly 200 Miles

Another record-setting bolt lasted more than 7 seconds

(Newser) - Even among lightning, these two bolts shone bright. For the first time ever, the World Meteorological Organization has added official records for lightning to its list of notable temperatures, winds, and rains, USA Today reports. That means we now know the longest traveling lightning bolt was over Oklahoma in June...

Priest Murdered by ISIS Already on Path to Sainthood

Jacques Hamel was murdered in his church in France

(Newser) - An 85-year-old French priest murdered in his own church by Islamic militants in July is already being prepped for sainthood, Reuters reports. Speaking during a Mass Wednesday at the Vatican, Pope Francis called Jacques Hamel a "good, humble man" and a martyr. "He gave his life for us...

Police: Boy, 15, Was Planning Paris Terrorist Attack

He was arrested Saturday

(Newser) - French police have arrested a 15-year-old boy at his Paris home to thwart what they feared was a planned weekend attack, as the prime minister warned on Sunday some 15,000 people in the country could be in the process of being radicalized, the AP reports. The arrest of the...

'Air Surgery' Saves 110 Trapped in Cable Cars Overnight

Tangled cables stopped the cars initially

(Newser) - Dozens of tourists, including a 10-year-old child, were safely rescued Friday after being trapped in cable cars dangling above the slopes of Mont Blanc in the Alps overnight. The mountain rescue service in the French city of Chamonix says cables entangled Thursday were repaired, and the cable cars were able...

110 People Trapped in Cable Cars Above Alps

They're being evacuated by helicopter

(Newser) - A series of cable cars became stuck over the Mont Blanc massif in the Alps, trapping 110 people who were being evacuated by helicopter on Thursday, French officials said. Chamonix Mayor Eric Fournier said that "there's nothing fundamentally to fear." Fournier, who spoke to BFM-TV, said that...

ISIS Attack on Paris Meant to Be Much Worse: Report

CNN probe into terror strikes reveals more operatives and more targets—including the Netherlands

(Newser) - The Paris terror attacks last November were horrifying, but Islamic State operatives had planned for even more devastation, an in-depth CNN investigation reveals. The news group says it spent months sifting through about 90,000 documents and photos culled from cellphone records, interviews, and European sources looking into the attacks....

Huge Cocaine Shipment Found in Coca-Cola Plant

They're not going back to the old recipe

(Newser) - Coca-Cola has been cocaine-free since 1903—unlike its factory in Signes, southern France, where a massive shipment of the drug was discovered this week. Prosecutors say there's no sign that the 815-pound haul of the drug, which is one of the biggest seizures made in French history, had anything...

French High Court Rules on Town's Burkini Ban

Council of State says women on resort's beaches can wear full-body swimsuit if they want

(Newser) - France's tussle with the burkini was just dealt a strong blow by the country's top administrative court, which on Friday overturned one resort town's ban against the full-body beachwear, the AP reports. The ruling from the Council of State comes during a summer of high-profile cases along...

Burkini Inventor: Who's Worse, Taliban or French Politicians?

Aheda Zanetti says she invented the burkini to give women freedom

(Newser) - The inventor of the burkini believes France and others who want to ban it have fundamentally "misunderstood" what the garment is all about. Aheda Zanetti, writing in the Guardian , says she invented the burkini in 2004 after watching her niece try to play netball in a makeshift skin-covering athletic...

Cops on French Beach Make Muslim Woman Remove Tunic
Cops on French Beach Make
Muslim Woman Remove Tunic
the rundown

Cops on French Beach Make Muslim Woman Remove Tunic

Controversy over burkini ban intensifies

(Newser) - The ban of the body-covering worn by Muslim women known as the burkini at several French beaches seems to grow more controversial by the day. The latest incident to make headlines comes from Cannes, where four police officers surrounded a Muslim woman and forced her to remove a veiled tunic...

Mayor Bans 'Burkinis' From Cannes' Beaches

Says they're a 'symbol of Islamic extremism'

(Newser) - Many would consider a full-body swimsuit less offensive than a skimpy bikini. Not the mayor of Cannes, apparently. David Lisnard says "burkinis"—modest swimwear worn by some Muslim women—are a "symbol of Islamic extremism" and aren't allowed on the French city's beaches. Should a...

Bar Fire in French City Kills 13

Birthday candles blamed for Rouen blaze

(Newser) - A fast-moving fire swept through a birthday party in the basement of a bar in the northwest French city of Rouen, killing at least 13 people and injuring six others, the AP reports. More than 80 firefighters battled the blaze after midnight Friday at the downtown bar in the city...

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