The Local France

OPINION: Rows over Benzema and the French football anthem show race is still the key issue for Marine Le Pen

Wed, 26 May 2021 14:36:37 +0200

Whatever she may say, the new rows over the make up of France's football squad for the Euro2020 tournament and the choice of the team's anthem prove race is still a core issue and principal political platform for presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, writes John Lichfield.

Islamo-gauchisme - what does it mean and why is it controversial in France?

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 18:16:33 +0100

If you follow French news reports you will have seen recently a lot of controversy about 'Islamo-gauchisme' - but what exactly does this term mean and is it really the French version of 'woke'?

The tours that challenge the stereotype of Paris 'no-go zones'

Wed, 12 Aug 2020 11:06:06 +0200

Branded a "no-go zone" by Fox News in the wake of the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attacks, the Goutte d'Or neighbourhood of northern Paris has often been branded as a den of crime, prostitution and drugs.

New York Times blasts France for ‘failing to face up to racism’

Thu, 28 Dec 2017 17:28:24 +0100

The New York Times has blasted France for “shamefully caving in to racism” after a prominent black journalist was sacked from a government-sponsored internet advisory body because of her controversial views.

Gabart, the record breaking French sailor in a hurry

Sun, 17 Dec 2017 12:43:14 +0100

A sailing prodigy, Frenchman Francois Gabart on Sunday crushed the world record for the fastest non-stop solo navigation of the world on his first attempt.

Sailor seniors risk life and limb in round-the-world race

Tue, 01 Nov 2016 10:53:51 +0100

The Vendee Globe solo round-the-world yacht race is not for the faint-hearted, but at 66 Rich Wilson is ready to risk injury, exhaustion and hurricane force winds a second time.

The least PC comments from French politicians

Mon, 12 Oct 2015 17:47:15 +0200

After a French politician recently said "France is a country of white race", we take a look at some other less-than-PC statements made by French politicians over the years.

Race: Lines blur between French right and far-right

Thu, 08 Oct 2015 10:50:30 +0200

The row over a French MP's comments about France being "a country of white race" has highlighted the "tightrope" Nicolas Sarkozy's party is walking as it desperately tries to win votes from Marine Le Pen's far-right.

France could remove word 'race' after scandal

Thu, 01 Oct 2015 19:42:20 +0200

The outrage caused by a notorious French politician’s claim that France is a “country of white race” could bring about symbolic and perhaps significant change in the constitution.

French F1 driver Jules Bianchi dies

Sat, 18 Jul 2015 18:12:47 +0200

French Formula One driver Jules Bianchi died Friday night from head injuries he suffered in a crash at last season's Japanese Grand Prix, after spending nine months in a coma.

Far-right mag's racial slur on minister nets fine

Thu, 30 Oct 2014 19:11:21 +0100

A far-right publication that compared France's justice minister, who is black, to a monkey was hit on Thursday with a €10,000 fine for making racist statements.

Probe after French cops 'black up for negro party'

Wed, 11 Jun 2014 20:22:00 +0200

A group of police officers based in a Paris suburb are under internal investigation after photos of them at a “negro party” with their faces painted black, surfaced on social media.

France refuses to pay slavery reparations

Fri, 10 May 2013 17:29:20 +0200

French President François Hollande announced on Friday that France would not be paying reparations for the role of the state-owned CDC bank in the slave trade, despite allegations that a €21 billion debt has crippled Haiti for centuries.

Miss France slammed for being 'white as snow'

Mon, 10 Dec 2012 19:00:00 +0100

A black rights group on Monday slammed the latest Miss France competition for producing a "white as snow" winner from a field it claimed was unrepresentative of the country's ethnic make-up.

Guerlain guilty of racism

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 16:46:00 +0200

A Paris court on Thursday found Jean-Paul Guerlain, the former "nose" behind the world-famous perfume brand, guilty of racial insults after televised remarks he made about "negroes" and fined him.

Court to rule on Guerlain 'negro' comment

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 12:20:00 +0200

A Paris court was to decide Thursday whether Jean-Paul Guerlain, for decades the "nose" behind the world-famous perfume brand, was being racist when he said that he "worked like a negro."

Anti-Jewish killer posts videos from jail

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:28:00 +0100

Youssouf Fofana, the leader of a gang known as the Barbarians is suspected of posting anti-Semitic videos online. Fofana was jailed in 2009 for torturing and killing a Jewish man in the Paris suburbs.

Marine le Pen backs father's Norway comments

Fri, 05 Aug 2011 19:37:00 +0200

The head of France's far-right National Front party, Marine Le Pen, has said she "did not disagree" with the party's founder, her father Jean-Marie, when he blamed Norway's attacks on government "naivety."