Latest news with #OrlyAirport
The Sun
04-07-2025
- Business
- The Sun
PM Anwar arrives in Paris for official visit to France
PARIS: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has arrived in Paris for his first official visit to France at the invitation of President Emmanuel Macron. The Malaysian delegation landed at Pavillon d'Honneur Orly Airport at 4.10 pm local time after concluding a three-day working visit to Rome. Malaysia's Ambassador to France, Datuk Eldeen Husaini, along with French officials, welcomed Anwar upon arrival. The visit underscores France's commitment to strengthening diplomatic and economic ties with Malaysia since Anwar became prime minister in 2022. Tonight, Anwar will engage with 250 members of the Malaysian diaspora in France. On Friday, he is scheduled for a one-on-one meeting with Macron at the Élysée Palace, where discussions will cover trade, investment, renewable energy, semiconductors, defence, education, digital economy, and artificial intelligence. Both leaders are also expected to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Anwar will also attend Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque of Paris, one of France's oldest mosques, before delivering a lecture titled 'Southeast Asia and Europe: Recalibrating the Terms of Engagement' at Sorbonne University. The prime minister is accompanied by several ministers, including Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and Investment, Trade, and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz. A key focus of the visit is attracting French investment, with Anwar set to meet industry leaders from companies such as Imerys, Arkema, Airbus, and Thales. France is among Malaysia's top five trading partners in the EU, with bilateral trade reaching RM15.95 billion in 2024. After France, Anwar will travel to Brazil for the BRICS Leaders Summit from July 5 to 7.
Indian Express
26-06-2025
- Climate
- Indian Express
‘My heart will go on': Paris police car plays ‘Titanic' theme amid deadly storms; the Internet is divided. WATCH
A series of deadly storms, accompanied by torrential rains, hit central France and Paris on Wednesday, turning the City of Lights into a city of havoc. According to a report in the Independent, two people were killed in the storms while 17 were injured as several trees were uprooted and streets in Paris flooded. Amid the devastation, a video of a police car playing an ironic tune to alert residents during a patrol has caught the Internet's attention. The viral video shows the police car playing the Titanic theme song, My Heart Will Go On, as it navigates through the flooded streets. Several other vehicles can be seen passing by amid the torrential rain. Sharing the video, @brutamerica wrote, 'A Paris police vehicle was caught blasting the Titanic theme song as it drove through a flooded street after heavy storms. ' Watch the video here: A post shared by Brut (@brutamerica) The unusual choice of tune during a real-life flooding situation struck many as ironic, and reactions online were swift, with many social media users irked by the incident, calling it 'insensitive'. 'How rude,' a user reacted. 'Romantique in every situation,' another user commented. 'Sense of French humor … That's why the French emblem is a rooster,' a third user reacted. According to the Independent, France's civil defence agency reported that one person was critically injured as powerful storms swept across the country following a heatwave. The storms also left around 110,000 homes without power. According to French media, a 12-year-old child was killed after a tree fell in the southwest, while in the northwest, a man lost his live after his quad bike crashed into a tree brought down by the storm. The weather conditions also led to multiple flight delays at Paris' Orly Airport, while Charles de Gaulle Airport recorded wind gusts reaching 53 mph as the storms swept through the area.
Indian Express
07-06-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
June 7, 1985, Forty Years Ago: Clashes In Northeast
At least 25 police personnel were killed and several injured in a continuous exchange of fire for the past three days between Assam and Nagaland police at Merapal on the inter-state border. Official sources said that 20 of those killed were Assam policemen. In Guwahati, Assam Home Commissioner Jatin Hazarika confirmed the death of 10 state policemen and indicated that the casualties might be higher. PM In France Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi arrived in Paris to a warm and affectionate welcome and straightaway went into talks with President Francois Mitterrand. The French government rolled out the red carpet for Gandhi and the PM, Laurent Fabius, set aside protocol to personally greet Gandhi at Orly Airport on his arrival from Cairo on a five-day official visit. Colombo's Outreach A three-month truce with separatist Lankan guerillas is being worked out behind the scenes by politicians in Colombo, New Delhi and Madras as a direct result of last week's Indo-Lankan summit, well-informed sources said. At the summit meeting between Sri Lankan President Junius Jayewardene and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, an agreement had reportedly been reached that violence of any sort should end as a pre-condition for any political solution to Sri Lanka's ethnic violence. Curfew In Ludhiana The calm which was prevailing in Punjab for the last two days was disturbed when a curfew was clamped in the industrial town of Ludhiana as a precautionary measure after a fire broke out in the Society Cinema hall there. According to official reports, the fire broke out in the cinema hall due to a short circuit. It has been controlled and there was no loss to life or property.
&w=3840&q=100)
First Post
20-05-2025
- Politics
- First Post
Is France repeating its colonial past by building a prison in the Amazon? The controversy, explained
France's plan to build a €400 million high-security prison in the Amazonian town of Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni has triggered fierce backlash from French Guiana's leaders. Touted as a tool against narcotrafficking, the project has revived painful memories of colonial-era penal colonies and left locals asking why they weren't consulted before such a massive decision read more French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to residents (not pictured) at a cafe, during a walk in Cayenne, French Guiana, October 28, 2017. File Image/Reuters A newly announced plan by the French government to build a high-security prison in the heart of the Amazon rainforest in French Guiana has been subject to criticism, putting a spotlight on deep-rooted colonial-era grievances. French Justice Minister Gérald Darmanin unveiled the project during a recent visit to the French overseas territory, presenting it as a strategic step in France's broader effort to disrupt organised crime, particularly narcotrafficking networks that originate in South America and reach into Europe. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The planned facility will be constructed in Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni, a northwestern border town near Suriname, a region historically associated with France's penal past. Critics have described the move as both politically provocative and historically insensitive, while French authorities maintain it is a necessary and calculated intervention to counter escalating violence and drug crime in the region. What we know about the French prison Darmanin, known for his strict stance on law enforcement from his prior tenure as Interior Minister, said the new prison will play a key role in France's multipronged campaign against narcotics trafficking. In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche, Darmanin explained, 'My strategy is simple – hit organised crime at all levels.' He added, 'Here in Guiana, at the start of the drug trafficking route. In mainland France, by neutralising the network leaders. And all the way to consumers. This prison will be a safeguard in the war against narcotrafficking.' The facility, which will cost an estimated €400 million (approximately $451 million), is scheduled to open in 2028 and will include 500 inmate slots, of which 60 will be designated for high-security detainees under an 'extremely strict' regime. An additional 15 spots will be allocated specifically for individuals convicted of radical Islamist activities. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni was selected because of its geographical significance as a trafficking corridor. The town is a primary point of departure for drug couriers, particularly those known as 'mules,' many of whom attempt to travel from neighbouring Brazil and Suriname to Paris's Orly Airport, often carrying cocaine internally or in their luggage. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A general view of the Oiapoque river, the border with French Guiana in Oiapoque, in the state of Amapa, Brazil, October 30, 2020. File Image/Reuters The justice minister said placing the prison in such a location would allow France to detain suspects at the earliest link in the supply chain. 'Crucially, the prison's location will serve to permanently isolate the heads of drug trafficking networks since they will no longer be able to contact their criminal networks,' Darmanin said. French prison aimed at tackling organised crime The proposed prison is also meant to alleviate chronic overcrowding in French Guiana's correctional system, which currently struggles to house both local and transferred inmates. Darmanin cited growing threats posed by powerful criminal gangs, saying they are often able to corrupt officials with illicit funds and continue orchestrating criminal activity even from within detention facilities. 'Citizens in overseas territories must be able to have the same level of security as those in mainland France,' the minister said, stating that French Guiana deserves the same level of institutional support and infrastructure as other French departments. According to French authorities, 49 high-level drug traffickers are already in custody in French Guiana and other French overseas territories. Darmanin noted that many of them are 'extremely dangerous' and are not being held under conditions secure enough to prevent continued criminal coordination from prison. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Recent national security legislation introduced by the French government is also part of this wider plan. It includes the creation of a special prosecutorial branch dedicated to tackling organised crime, increased investigative powers, stricter rules for prison visitation and communication, and protection protocols for informants. These reforms follow a string of violent incidents targeting prison infrastructure in mainland France, including attacks where vehicles were set ablaze and gunfire was reported, such as the incident at La Farlede prison in Toulon. Officials believe these assaults were orchestrated in retaliation against the state's tougher measures and may be aimed at intimidating the justice system. How local leaders have reacted The reaction among local political figures has been one of anger and disbelief. Jean-Paul Fereira, acting president of French Guiana's territorial collective, issued a strongly worded statement condemning the lack of prior consultation. 'It is therefore with astonishment and indignation that the elected members of the Collectivity discovered, with the entire population of Guiana, the information detailed in Le Journal Du Dimanche,' he wrote in a post on social media. Fereira stressed that while there is widespread support for stronger crime-fighting initiatives in the region, the original 2017 agreement with the French government outlined the construction of a standard correctional facility, not a high-security installation for France's most dangerous offenders. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'While all local elected officials have long been calling for strong measures to curb the rise of organised crime in our territory, Guiana is not meant to welcome criminals and radicalised people from (mainland France),' Fereira noted. Jean-Victor Castor, a member of the French National Assembly representing French Guiana, also denounced the move. In a written appeal to the French Prime Minister, he described the project as 'an insult to our history, a political provocation and a colonial regression.' Castor called on the government to reconsider and withdraw the plan altogether. What history tell us While the French government maintains the project is a rational response to escalating crime, its announcement has triggered significant backlash in French Guiana due to the region's infamous history as a penal colony. Between 1852 and 1954, France transported 70,000 prisoners to the area, including political detainees such as Captain Alfred Dreyfus, who was wrongfully convicted of espionage and exiled to Devil's Island — part of the now-defunct penal complex. Saint-Laurent-du-Maroni was the original disembarkation point for inmates, and many of the old prison structures remain visible today. The region's grim past has been immortalised in literature and film, most famously in Henri Charrière's novel 'Papillon', which was adapted into two Hollywood films, the first in 1973 starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD For many locals, the decision to reintroduce a carceral facility so close to this symbolic site is not only tone-deaf but a reminder of a traumatic legacy. Also Watch: With inputs from agencies
CNA
19-05-2025
- CNA
Paris airport chaos to enter second day after air traffic breakdown
ORLY, France: An air traffic control breakdown at Paris-Orly airport caused the cancellation and delay of hundreds of flights and the aviation authority said the chaos would extend into Monday (May 19). The breakdown hit on Sunday and has affected thousands of passengers with some already sat in planes at the French capital's second biggest airport when flights were cancelled. The control tower breakdown forced the cancellation of about 130 flights in and out of Orly Sunday, officials said. It had not been resolved by late Sunday and the DGAC French civil aviation authority said it was "asking airlines to reduce their flight schedules by 15 percent" on Monday and warned that "delays are expected". "The situation is improving but still requires traffic regulation," the DGAC said. The authority blamed an air traffic control "malfunction". An airport source said there had been a "radar failure". Flights to European and North Africa destinations and across France were among those hit. Long queues formed at terminals amid a frenzied rush to find alternative transport. "We were in the aircraft, all seated and strapped in, ready to go, when they made us disembark and collect our bags ... then began the ordeal," said Azgal Abichou, a 63-year-old business owner. "The only option is a 300 euro flight – and there's only one seat left, but there are two of us and we are not even sure it will take off," said Romane Penault, a 22-year-old student. "So for now, we're going home." Agnes Zilouri, 46, tried desperately to find a seat for her 86-year-old mother and six-year-old son in the terminal. The family should have taken a flight to Oujda in Morocco on Sunday evening to go to a funeral. "The flight is cancelled. Fortunately I am with my mother," she said.
