France

Grandmother of French teen shot dead by police officer pleads with rioters to stop the violence

PARIS (AP) — The grandmother of the French teenager shot dead by police during a traffic stop pleaded Sunday for rioters to stop after five nights of unrest, while authorities expressed outrage at an attack on a suburban mayor’s home that injured family members.

The grandmother of 17-year-old Nahel, identified only as Nadia, said in a telephone interview with French news broadcaster BFM TV, “Don’t break windows, buses ... schools. We want to calm things down.”

France has a 5th night of rioting over teen’s killing by police amid signs of subsiding violence

PARIS (AP) — Young rioters in France clashed with police into early Sunday and targeted a mayor’s home with a burning car, injuring members of his family, as the country saw a fifth night of unrest after the police killing of a teenager. However, overall violence appeared to lessen from previous nights.

Police made 719 more arrests, bringing the total number of people detained to more than 3,000 following a mass security deployment aimed at quelling France’s worst social upheaval in years.

PSG head coach Galtier in police custody for alleged racist remarks in 2021

01 July 2023; AA: Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) head coach Christophe Galtier was reportedly placed in police custody on Friday following allegations of making racist remarks against Black and Muslim players during his time at OGC Nice, his former club.

French daily Le Parisien reported that Galtier, 56, was held by the Nice police to provide a statement regarding the alleged remarks made during his tenure in 2021.

Macron cancels trip over French riots as family buries teenager

PARIS, July 1 (Reuters) - More than 1,300 people were arrested in France during a fourth night of rioting and President Emmanuel Macron cancelled a trip to Germany on Saturday as the funeral took place of teenager Nahel M, whose shooting by police sparked nationwide unrest.

Macron's government deployed 45,000 police officers as well as armoured vehicles overnight to tackle the worst crisis for his leadership since the "Yellow Vest" protests which paralysed much of France in late 2018.

France arrests more than 1,300 people after fourth night of rioting over teen’s killing by police

PARIS (AP) — Rioting and looting raged in cities around France for a fourth night despite a huge police deployment and 1,311 arrests, as family and friends prepared Saturday to bury the 17-year-old whose killing by police unleashed the unrest and forced the French president to cancel an important trip abroad.

France’s Interior Ministry announced the new figure for arrests around the country, where 45,000 police officers fanned out in a so-far unsuccessful bid to quell days of violence that was triggered after the teen’s death on Tuesday.

Riots in France after racist police officer 'execute' teenager at point blank

30 June 2023; MEMO: All options, including putting the country in a state of emergency, will be considered to restore law and order after a third night of protests over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old French-Algerian, the French prime minister said today.

Elisabeth Borne told reporters that the government will be examining "all the options" with President Emmanuel Macron, who will hold an emergency meeting in the afternoon.

France: Mother of teen driver killed by police officer alleges racial motivation in his death

30 June 2023; MEMO: The mother of a 17-year-old delivery driver who was shot and killed by a police officer earlier this week during a traffic check in a Paris suburb said, Thursday, that she believes her son's death was driven by racial motivations, Anadolu Agency reports.

Nahel M.'s mother, Mounia, said during an interview broadcast on the France 5 TV channel that the police officer "saw the face of an Arab, a little kid" and "wanted to take his life".

French president urges parents to keep teens at home, faults social media as rioting spreads

PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron urged parents Friday to keep teenagers at home and proposed restrictions on social media to quell rioting spreading across France over the fatal police shooting of a 17-year-old driver that has resulted so far in the arrests of 875 people.

After a second crisis meeting with senior ministers, Macron maintained that social media platforms such as Snapchat and TikTok played a “considerable role” in fueling copycat acts of violence during this week’s unrest.

France unrest: Riots spread, thousands march in memory of shot teenager

NANTERRE, France, June 29 (Reuters) - President Emmanuel Macron fought to contain a mounting crisis on Thursday as unrest erupted for a third day over the deadly police shooting of a teenager of Algerian and Moroccan descent during a traffic stop in a Paris suburb.

Forty thousand police officers were to deploy across France -- nearly four times the numbers mobilised on Wednesday -- but there were few signs that government appeals to a de-escalation in the violence would quell the widespread anger.

UNESCO member states expected to approve US decision to rejoin the UN’s cultural agency

PARIS (AP) — UNESCO’s 193 members states are gathering Thursday for a two-day meeting in Paris aimed at voting on the United States’ plans to rejoin the U.N. cultural and scientific agency after a decade-long dispute sparked by the organization’s move to include Palestine as a member.

The U.S. announced earlier this month, that it wanted to return, five years after it withdrew from the agency during the presidency of Donald Trump.

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