The Local France

Mob attacks Paris police station with fireworks and metal bars

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 14:40:19 +0200

Around 40 people staged an hour-long fireworks attack against a police station outside Paris early Sunday, authorities said, the latest in a string of incidents targeting security forces in recent months.

Discrimination testing for companies: How Macron plans to improve life in France's poor suburbs

Tue, 22 May 2018 20:23:54 +0200

President Emmanuel Macron announced on Tuesday that France's biggest companies will be tested in the next three years to see if they discriminate against ethnic minorities as one of the measures to tackle the problem of France's under-privileged and marginalized banlieues (suburbs).

Hollande wants justice over alleged police rape while Le Pen 'pours fuel on fire'

Tue, 14 Feb 2017 15:05:56 +0100

While French president François Hollande appealed for justice and calm, the alleged rape of a young man with a police baton and the ensuing anti-police violence has quickly become a hot campaign issue for presidential election candidates.

Eleven arrested as tensions flare again in Paris suburbs

Mon, 13 Feb 2017 09:41:37 +0100

Eleven people were arrested on Sunday night as unrest continued to sweep through the Paris suburbs.

Boring banlieues? Why you'll regret choosing to live in the Paris suburbs

Wed, 08 Feb 2017 16:27:19 +0100

While the suburbs around Paris may be greener, cheaper, and more family friendly - there are downsides. A lot of them, apparently.

Why would you live in Paris when you can live in the banlieues?

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 15:58:10 +0100

The suburbs around Paris do not have a great reputation, it has to be said, but you'd be foolish to dismiss the idea of leaving the City of Light to live on the other side of the Périphérique.

Alarm over steep rise in poverty in Paris region

Mon, 11 Apr 2016 19:51:40 +0200

It's time for a "radical change in planning policy", says one French charity, after its latest study found a growing inequality across the wider Paris region.

Thousands march against racism in Paris

Mon, 02 Nov 2015 09:54:04 +0100

Condemning racism and police heavy-handedness, thousands of people attended a "march of dignity" rally in Paris at the weekend to mark a decade since the deaths of two youths sparked nationwide riots.

Clichy-sous-Bois - Ten years after the riots

Mon, 26 Oct 2015 22:24:09 +0100

A decade has passed since thousands of youths rioted for weeks through the suburbs of Paris and other French cities. In Clichy-sous-Bois, where the violence began after the death of two teenagers, residents tell The Local that little has changed.

‘Hopelessness’ ten years after French riots

Sat, 24 Oct 2015 13:37:24 +0200

Ten years on from the riots that shook France's suburbs, many residents say almost nothing in their lives has changed, and they feel excluded from the country's narrative and abandoned by politicians.

How France could fight 'social apartheid' in 2015

Fri, 06 Mar 2015 15:50:00 +0100

French PM Manuel Valls caused a storm in the aftermath of the January terror attacks saying France must face the reality of "social and ethnic apartheid". One MP has done just that and listed 24 measures for how France could tackle the problem of its suburban ghettos.

France to pump millions into hard-up ‘hoods’

Wed, 17 Dec 2014 13:14:00 +0100

French President Francois Hollande has set his sights on tackling inequality in France by confirming his government will stump up €5 billion to revamp the country’s most disadvantaged neighbourhoods. It's alongside a new bill to prioritize funds for struggling schools.

'Unlike the US the French don't blame the poor'

Fri, 17 Oct 2014 18:51:00 +0200

After a new poll suggested French people had less and less sympathy for the poor, an expert in the field considers whether poverty in France, where there is a noticeable homeless population and record unemployment, is as bad as it's made out to be.

'Paris is pointless if you live in the suburbs'

Fri, 04 Apr 2014 18:04:00 +0200

Would you consider living in the suburbs of Paris? For the first in our series of tête-à-têtes, The Local France's Josh Melvin (left) and Ben McPartland (right) square up to each other on the issue of whether life is better inside or outside the Périphérique. Who do you side with?

France's growing poor: Where do they live?

Tue, 28 Jan 2014 14:55:00 +0100

France is facing its highest rates of poverty since 1997 as unemployment climbs to record levels. However, hard times are clearly not spread evenly across the country with some towns avoiding the worst and others clearly hit hard. Find out where is worst affected.

French teen 'attacked for wearing Muslim veil'

Tue, 13 Aug 2013 20:09:00 +0200

France witnessed another apparent incident of violent Islamophobia on Tuesday, after it was reported that a 16-year-old girl in the suburbs of Paris was attacked and had her Islamic veil torn off her face.

Free police who 'started' 2005 riots: prosecutor

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 16:28:00 +0200

An appeals court prosecutor has argued that two French policemen implicated in the fatal electrocution of two fleeing teens be freed of charges. The incident sparked social unrest across France in 2005,

Grand Paris 'supermetro' finally gathers speed

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 18:47:00 +0100

French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was set to unveil the government's ‘Grand Paris’ (Greater Paris) project on Wednesday – an ambitious transport and housing master-plan for the Paris region, which will include an all new automatic 'supermetro'.

Petrol sales limited to cut New Year car torchings

Fri, 30 Dec 2011 09:02:00 +0100

Sales of petrol and other combustibles will be limited on New Year's Eve in a bid to curb what has become an annual tradition of revellers torching hundreds of cars, police said.

Top chef trains up women from disadvantaged suburb

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 11:14:00 +0100

Twelve women from the Paris suburb of Sarcelles have been awarded cooking qualifications in a scheme sponsored by Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse.