Latest news with #Boulogne
France 24
20 hours ago
- Climate
- France 24
Van der Poel drops out of Tour de France with pneumonia
Van der Poel is the top one-day rider in cycling and while he is too large physically to win a mountainous Grand Tour, he lit up the first 10 days of this 21-day slog in the first section in the north. The 30-year-old Dutchman won stage two in Boulogne to claim the overall leader's yellow jersey and kept it until stage five. But his heroic failure against massive odds on stage nine wrote a page of cycling folklore as his 'all or nothing at all' attitude pushed him to go for broke over 150km, being caught just 700m from the line in Chateauroux. The 2023 world champion was taken to hospital on Monday, after cold symptoms worsened. "Mathieu had been showing symptoms of a cold for several days, but yesterday afternoon his condition deteriorated significantly. In the evening, he developed a fever and was taken to Narbonne hospital for tests," the Belgian team said. "Medical tests revealed that Mathieu was suffering from pneumonia. In consultation with the medical staff, it was decided that he cannot continue the race. His health is the priority." Van der Poel won Paris-Roubaix and Milan-San Remo in 2025 and is a multiple champion at cyclocross and mountain biking. "This one hurts a lot," he said on Instagram after his team's announcement. Race leader Tadej Pogacar said on Sunday he was getting over a cold that had affected half the peloton. "It's all the ice packs against the heat and the air-conditioning," Pogacar said of the nasty cold that has dogged Tour de France riders throughout the race. Stage 16 is a 171.5km ride starting in southern city Montpellier before a culmination atop the iconic Mont Ventoux at 1,910m altitude.
The Guardian
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
UK government backs French police immobilising small boats, minister says
French police slashing the boats of people smugglers was not 'pleasant' but the right tactics, a UK cabinet minister has said, saying the government welcomed the new tactics from the authorities. It comes as Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are expected to announce new plans for French police to do more to block small boats crossing the Channel when the French president arrives for his state visit in London this week. However, there is still doubt over plans for a touted 'one in, one out' wider deal on returning asylum seekers. The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, said the new tactics by French police, filmed by broadcasters, were not easy to watch but would discourage dangerous journeys. On Friday, French police were filmed as they used knives to puncture a boat near Boulogne in northern France, although it is not known if this was a one-off. 'I think that footage that we saw, whilst it wasn't pleasant to see, in terms of the action that the French authorities were taking to cut those boats, to prevent people leaving the French shores, that's action that we are supporting,' Alexander said. She told Times Radio: 'We're working very closely with the French authorities, and the visit of President Macron this week is another opportunity to continue those discussions. 'I'm not going to speculate on the coverage of this possibility of a one in, one out agreement with France. We've seen in the last couple of days, haven't we, that the French authorities are now using some new tactics to stop the boats in shallow waters. 'We welcome that and we want to build on it. I know that the prime minister spoke with President Macron at the weekend … We've been honest that this is a problem that we're not going to fix overnight.' Macron arrives on Tuesday for a state visit which is scheduled to include an Anglo-French summit as well as an address to parliament. Sign up to Headlines Europe A digest of the morning's main headlines from the Europe edition emailed direct to you every week day after newsletter promotion France is expected to announce it will allow police to intervene in shallow waters up to 300 metres (985ft) from shore in order to stop small boats leaving. This would require changes to existing protocol that do not contravene the UN convention on the law of the sea, which bars any intervention at sea that is not a rescue. Starmer is under considerable pressure to reduce the number of people arriving on small boats across the Channel. More than 20,000 people have crossed to the UK in the first six months of this year, up 48% on the equivalent period in 2024. Asked whether the hundreds of millions of pounds given to France to stop the small-boat crossings was 'value for money', Alexander told Times Radio: 'We will always spend our money in the public interest, in the national interest.'
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
French police are slashing boats but migrants are still determined to reach the UK
ECAULT BEACH, France (AP) — Across the English Channel, the U.K.'s white cliffs beckon. On fine days, men and women with children in their arms and determination in their eyes can see the shoreline of what they believe will be a promised land as they attempt the perilous crossing clandestinely, ditching belongings to squeeze aboard flimsy inflatable boats that set to sea from northern France. In a flash, on one recent crossing attempt, French police swooped in with knives, wading into the water and slashing the boat's thin rubber — literally deflating the migrants' hopes and dreams. Some of the men put up dispirited resistance, trying to position themselves — in vain — between the boat and the officers' blades. One splashed water at them, another hurled a shoe. Cries of 'No! No!" rang out. A woman wailed. But the team of three officers, one also holding a pepper-gas canister, lunged at the boat again and again, pitching some of those aboard into the surf as it quickly deflated. The Associated Press obtained video of the police boat-slashing, filmed on a beach near the French port of Boulogne. Growing numbers are getting through France's defenses France's northern coast has long been fortified against invasion, with Nazi bunkers in World War II and pre-French Revolution forts. Now, France is defending beaches with increasing aggression against migrants trying at a record pace to go the other way — out to sea, to the U.K. Under pressure from U.K. authorities, France's government is preparing to give an even freer hand to police patrols that, just last week, were twice filmed slashing boats carrying men, women and children. The video obtained by AP was filmed Monday. Four days later, on Écault beach south of Boulogne, the BBC filmed police wading into the surf and puncturing another boat with box cutters, again pitching people into the water as it deflated. An AP journalist who arrived moments later counted multiple lacerations and saw dispirited people, some still wearing life jackets, clambering back up sand dunes toward woods inland. There, AP had spent the previous night with families and men waiting for a crossing, sleeping rough in a makeshift camp without running water or other basic facilities. Exhausted children cried as men sang songs and smoked around a campfire. The French Interior Ministry told AP that police haven't been issued orders to systematically slash boats. But the British government — which is partly funding France's policing efforts — welcomed what it called a 'toughening' of the French approach. The U.K. is also pushing France to go further and let officers intervene against boats in deeper waters, a change the government in Paris is considering. Campaigners for migrant rights and a police union warn that doing so could endanger both migrants and officers. Of the slashing filmed Friday by the BBC, the Interior Ministry said the boat was in distress, overloaded and riding low in the water, with migrants "trying to climb aboard from the back, risking being caught by the propeller.' 'The gendarmes, in water up to their knees, intervened to rescue people in danger, pull the boat to shore and neutralize it,' the ministry said. For migrants, boat-slashing is infuriating Around the campfire, the men stared into the flames and ruminated. Deniz, a Kurd with an infectious laugh and a deep singing voice, wanted more than anything to cross the channel in time to celebrate his 44th birthday in August with his 6-year-old daughter, Eden, who lives with her mother in the U.K. Like nearly all the migrating people that AP interviewed, surviving in camps that police frequently dismantle, Deniz didn't want to give his full name. Refused a short-stay U.K. visa, Deniz said he had no other option than the sea route, but four attempts ended with police wrecking the boats. He said that on one of those occasions, his group of around 40 people begged an officer patrolling alone to turn a blind eye and let them take to sea. 'He said, 'No,' nobody going to stop him. We could stop him, but we didn't want, you know, to hurt him or we didn't want to argue with him,' Deniz said. 'We just let him, and he cut it with a knife.' He believes that U.K. funding of French policing is turning officers into zealots. 'I say, 'Because of the money, you are not France soldiers, you're not France police. You are the English dogs now," he said. The cat-and-mouse between migrants and police The coastal battle between police and migrants never lets up, no matter the hour or weather. Drones and aircraft watch the beaches and gendarmes patrol them aboard buggies and on foot. On Écault beach, a WWII Nazi gun emplacement serves as their lookout post. Inland waterways have been sealed off with razor wire and floating barriers to prevent launches of so-called 'taxi boats." They motor to offshore pickup points, where waiting migrants then wade into the sea and climb aboard, children in their arms and on their shoulders. AP saw a 6 a.m. pickup Friday on Hardelot beach south of Boulogne. Many dozens of people squeezed aboard, straddling the sausage-like inflated sides — one foot in the sea, the other in the boat. It left about a half-dozen people on the beach, some in the water, apparently for lack of room. Gendarmes on the beach watched it motor slowly away. Campaigners who work with migrants fear that allowing police to intervene against boats farther offshore will panic those aboard, risking casualties. French officials are examining the possibility of police interventions up to 300 meters (980 feet) from the water's edge. 'All that will happen is that people will take greater and greater risks,' said Diane Leon, who coordinates aid efforts for the group Médecins du Monde along the coast. 'The police entering the water — this was something that, until now, we saw only rarely. But for us, it raises fears of panic during boarding or of boats arriving farther and farther out, forcing people to swim to reach the taxi boats.' In an AP interview, police union official Régis Debut voiced concerns about potential legal ramifications for officers if people drown during police attempts to stop departures. He said officers weighed down by equipment could also drown. 'Our colleagues don't want to cross 300 meters to intercept the small boats. Because, in fact, we're not trained for that,' said Debut, of the union UNSA Police. 'You also need to have the proper equipment. You can't carry out an arrest wearing combat boots, a police uniform and the bullet-proof vest. So the whole process needs to be reconsidered.' Migrants say crossings are atrocious but worth the risk Around the campfire, men laughed off the risks of the crossings that French authorities say claimed nearly 80 lives last year. They had nothing left to lose and the channel was just one more hardship after tortuous journeys to France filled with difficulties and misery, they said. 'We will never give up,' Deniz said. According to U.K. government figures, more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of this year, up by about 50% from the same period in 2024, and potentially on course toward a new annual record. About 37,000 people were detected crossing in 2024, the second-highest annual figure after 46,000 in 2022. Qassim, a 26-year-old Palestinian, messaged AP after crossing last week with his wife and their daughters, aged 6 and 4. The boat labored through waves for eight hours, he said. 'Everyone was praying,' he wrote. 'We were patient and endured and saw death. The children were crying and screaming.' 'Now we feel comfortable, safe, and stable. We are starting a new page," he wrote. 'We will do our best to protect our children and ourselves and to make up for the difficult years we have been exposed to." ___ Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's global migration coverage at
Arab News
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
French police are slashing migrant boats but they're still determined to reach the UK
ECAULT BEACH: Across the English Channel, the white cliffs of the U.K beckon. On fine days, men and women with children in their arms and determination in their eyes can see the shoreline of what they believe will be a promised land as they attempt the perilous crossing clandestinely, ditching belongings to squeeze aboard flimsy inflatable boats that set to sea from northern France. In a flash, on one recent crossing attempt, French police swooped in with knives, wading into the water and slashing at the boat's thin rubber — literally deflating the migrants' hopes and dreams. Some of the men put up dispirited resistance, trying to position themselves — in vain — between the boat and the officers' blades. One splashed water at them, another hurled a shoe. Cries of 'No! No!' rang out. A woman wailed. But the team of three officers, one also holding a pepper-gas canister, lunged at the boat again and again, pitching some of those aboard into the surf as it quickly deflated. The Associated Press obtained video of the police boat-slashing, filmed on a beach near the French port of Boulogne. Growing numbers are getting through France's defenses France's northern coast has long been fortified against invasion, with Nazi bunkers in World War II and pre-French Revolution forts. Now, France is defending beaches with increasing aggression against migrants trying at a record pace to go the other way — out to sea, to the UK Under pressure from UK authorities, France's government is preparing to give an even freer hand to police patrols that, just last week, were twice filmed slashing boats carrying men, women and children. The video obtained by AP was filmed Monday. Four days later, on Écault beach south of Boulogne, the BBC filmed police wading into the surf and slashing another boat with box cutters, again pitching people into the water as it deflated. An AP journalist who arrived moments later counted multiple lacerations and saw dispirited people, some still wearing life jackets, clambering back up sand dunes toward woods inland. There, AP had spent the previous night with families and men waiting for a crossing, sleeping rough in a makeshift camp without running water or other basic facilities. Exhausted children cried as men sang songs and smoked around a campfire. The French Interior Ministry told AP that police haven't been issued orders to systematically slash boats. But the British government — which is partly funding France's policing efforts — welcomed what it called a 'toughening' of the French approach. The UK is also pushing France to go further and let officers intervene against boats in deeper waters, a change the government in Paris is considering. Campaigners for migrant rights and a police union warn that doing so could endanger both migrants and officers. Of the slashing filmed Friday by the BBC, the Interior Ministry said the boat was in distress, overloaded and riding low in the water, with migrants 'trying to climb aboard from the back, risking being caught by the propeller.' 'The gendarmes, in water up to their knees, intervened to rescue people in danger, pull the boat to shore and neutralize it,' the ministry said. For migrants, boat-slashing is infuriating Around the campfire, the men stared into the flames and ruminated. Deniz, a Kurd with an infectious laugh and a deep singing voice, wanted more than anything to cross the channel in time to celebrate his 44th birthday in August with his 6-year-old daughter, Eden, who lives with her mother in the UK Like nearly all the migrating people that AP interviewed, surviving in camps that police frequently dismantle, Deniz didn't want to give his full name. Refused a short-stay UK visa, Deniz said he had no other option than the sea route, but four attempts ended with police wrecking the boats. He said that on one of those occasions, his group of around 40 people begged an officer patrolling alone to turn a blind eye and let them take to sea. 'He said, 'No,' nobody going to stop him. We could stop him, but we didn't want, you know, to hurt him or we didn't want to argue with him,' Deniz said. 'We just let him, and he cut it with a knife.' He believes that UK funding of French policing is turning officers into zealots. 'I say, 'Because of the money, you are not France soldiers, you're not France police. You are the English dogs now,' he said. The cat-and-mouse between migrants and police The coastal battle between police and migrants never lets up, no matter the hour or weather. Drones and aircraft watch the beaches and gendarmes patrol them aboard buggies and on foot. On Écault beach, a WWII gun emplacement serves as their lookout post. Inland waterways have been sealed off with razor wire and floating barriers to prevent launches of so-called 'taxi boats.' They motor to offshore pickup points, where waiting migrants then wade into the sea and climb aboard, children in their arms and on their shoulders. AP saw a 6 a.m. pickup Friday on Hardelot beach south of Boulogne. Many dozens of people squeezed aboard, straddling the sausage-like inflated sides — one foot in the sea, the other in the boat. It left about a half-dozen people on the beach, some in the water, apparently because there was no more room. Gendarmes on the beach watched it motor slowly away. Campaigners who work with migrants fear that allowing police to intervene against boats farther offshore will panic those aboard, risking casualties. French officials are examining the possibility of police interventions up to 300 meters (980 feet) from the water's edge. 'All that will happen is that people will take greater and greater risks,' said Diane Leon, who coordinates aid efforts for the group Médecins du Monde along the coast. 'The police entering the water — this was something that, until now, we saw only rarely. But for us, it raises fears of panic during boarding or of boats arriving farther and farther out, forcing people to swim to reach the taxi boats.' In an AP interview, police union official Régis Debut voiced concerns about potential legal ramifications for officers if people drown during police attempts to stop offshore departures. He said officers weighed down by equipment could also drown. 'Our colleagues don't want to cross 300 meters to intercept the small boats. Because, in fact, we're not trained for that,' said Debut, of the union UNSA Police. 'You also need to have the proper equipment. You can't carry out an arrest wearing combat boots, a police uniform and the bullet-proof vest. So the whole process needs to be reconsidered.' Migrants say crossings are atrocious but worth the risk Around the campfire, men laughed off the risks of the crossings that French authorities say claimed nearly 80 lives last year. They had nothing left to lose and the channel was just one more hardship after tortuous journeys to France filled with difficulties and misery, they said. 'We will never give up,' Deniz said. According to UK government figures, more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of this year, up by about 50 percent from the same period in 2024, and potentially on course toward a new annual record. About 37,000 people were detected crossing in 2024, the second-highest annual figure after 46,000 in 2022. Qassim, a 26-year-old Palestinian, messaged AP after crossing last week with his wife and their daughters, aged 6 and 4. The boat labored through waves for eight hours, he said. 'Everyone was praying,' he wrote. 'We were patient and endured and saw death. The children were crying and screaming.' 'Now we feel comfortable, safe, and stable. We are starting a new page,' he wrote. 'We will do our best to protect our children and ourselves and to make up for the difficult years we have been exposed to.'
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
French police are slashing migrant boats but they're still determined to reach the UK
ECAULT BEACH, France — Across the English Channel , the white cliffs of the U.K beckon. On fine days, men and women with children in their arms and determination in their eyes can see the shoreline of what they believe will be a promised land as they attempt the perilous crossing clandestinely, ditching belongings to squeeze aboard flimsy inflatable boats that set to sea from northern France. In a flash, on one recent crossing attempt, French police swooped in with knives, wading into the water and slashing at the boat's thin rubber — literally deflating the migrants' hopes and dreams. Some of the men put up dispirited resistance, trying to position themselves — in vain — between the boat and the officers' blades. One splashed water at them, another hurled a shoe. Cries of 'No! No!' rang out. A woman wailed. But the team of three officers, one also holding a pepper-gas canister, lunged at the boat again and again, pitching some of those aboard into the surf as it quickly deflated. The Associated Press obtained video of the police boat-slashing, filmed on a beach near the French port of Boulogne. France's northern coast has long been fortified against invasion, with Nazi bunkers in World War II and pre-French Revolution forts. Now, France is defending beaches with increasing aggression against migrants trying at a record pace to go the other way — out to sea , to the U.K. Under pressure from U.K. authorities, France's government is preparing to give an even freer hand to police patrols that, just last week, were twice filmed slashing boats carrying men, women and children. The video obtained by AP was filmed Monday. Four days later, on Écault beach south of Boulogne, the BBC filmed police wading into the surf and slashing another boat with box cutters, again pitching people into the water as it deflated. An AP journalist who arrived moments later counted multiple lacerations and saw dispirited people, some still wearing life jackets, clambering back up sand dunes toward woods inland. There, AP had spent the previous night with families and men waiting for a crossing, sleeping rough in a makeshift camp without running water or other basic facilities. Exhausted children cried as men sang songs and smoked around a campfire. The French Interior Ministry told AP that police haven't been issued orders to systematically slash boats. But the British government — which is partly funding France's policing efforts — welcomed what it called a 'toughening' of the French approach. The U.K. is also pushing France to go further and let officers intervene against boats in deeper waters, a change the government in Paris is considering. Campaigners for migrant rights and a police union warn that doing so could endanger both migrants and officers. Of the slashing filmed Friday by the BBC, the Interior Ministry said the boat was in distress, overloaded and riding low in the water, with migrants 'trying to climb aboard from the back, risking being caught by the propeller.' 'The gendarmes, in water up to their knees, intervened to rescue people in danger, pull the boat to shore and neutralize it,' the ministry said. Around the campfire, the men stared into the flames and ruminated. Deniz, a Kurd with an infectious laugh and a deep singing voice, wanted more than anything to cross the channel in time to celebrate his 44th birthday in August with his 6-year-old daughter, Eden, who lives with her mother in the U.K. Like nearly all the migrating people that AP interviewed, surviving in camps that police frequently dismantle, Deniz didn't want to give his full name. Refused a short-stay U.K. visa, Deniz said he had no other option than the sea route, but four attempts ended with police wrecking the boats. He said that on one of those occasions, his group of around 40 people begged an officer patrolling alone to turn a blind eye and let them take to sea. 'He said, 'No,' nobody going to stop him. We could stop him, but we didn't want, you know, to hurt him or we didn't want to argue with him,' Deniz said. 'We just let him, and he cut it with a knife.' He believes that U.K. funding of French policing is turning officers into zealots. 'I say, 'Because of the money, you are not France soldiers, you're not France police. You are the English dogs now,' he said. The coastal battle between police and migrants never lets up, no matter the hour or weather. Drones and aircraft watch the beaches and gendarmes patrol them aboard buggies and on foot. On Écault beach, a WWII gun emplacement serves as their lookout post. Inland waterways have been sealed off with razor wire and floating barriers to prevent launches of so-called 'taxi boats.' They motor to offshore pickup points, where waiting migrants then wade into the sea and climb aboard, children in their arms and on their shoulders. AP saw a 6 a.m. pickup Friday on Hardelot beach south of Boulogne. Many dozens of people squeezed aboard, straddling the sausage-like inflated sides — one foot in the sea, the other in the boat. It left about a half-dozen people on the beach, some in the water, apparently because there was no more room. Gendarmes on the beach watched it motor slowly away. Campaigners who work with migrants fear that allowing police to intervene against boats farther offshore will panic those aboard, risking casualties. French officials are examining the possibility of police interventions up to 300 meters (980 feet) from the water's edge. 'All that will happen is that people will take greater and greater risks,' said Diane Leon, who coordinates aid efforts for the group Médecins du Monde along the coast. 'The police entering the water — this was something that, until now, we saw only rarely. But for us, it raises fears of panic during boarding or of boats arriving farther and farther out, forcing people to swim to reach the taxi boats.' In an AP interview, police union official Régis Debut voiced concerns about potential legal ramifications for officers if people drown during police attempts to stop offshore departures. He said officers weighed down by equipment could also drown. 'Our colleagues don't want to cross 300 meters to intercept the small boats. Because, in fact, we're not trained for that,' said Debut, of the union UNSA Police. 'You also need to have the proper equipment. You can't carry out an arrest wearing combat boots, a police uniform and the bullet-proof vest. So the whole process needs to be reconsidered.' Around the campfire, men laughed off the risks of the crossings that French authorities say claimed nearly 80 lives last year. They had nothing left to lose and the channel was just one more hardship after tortuous journeys to France filled with difficulties and misery, they said. 'We will never give up,' Deniz said. According to U.K. government figures, more than 20,000 people made the crossing in the first six months of this year, up by about 50% from the same period in 2024, and potentially on course toward a new annual record. About 37,000 people were detected crossing in 2024, the second-highest annual figure after 46,000 in 2022. Qassim, a 26-year-old Palestinian, messaged AP after crossing last week with his wife and their daughters, aged 6 and 4. The boat labored through waves for eight hours, he said. 'Everyone was praying,' he wrote. 'We were patient and endured and saw death. The children were crying and screaming.' 'Now we feel comfortable, safe, and stable. We are starting a new page,' he wrote. 'We will do our best to protect our children and ourselves and to make up for the difficult years we have been exposed to.' ___ Associated Press writer Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report. ___ Follow AP's global migration coverage at
