French hostages in Iran are at mercy of regime's bargaining
Terrified by the attacks, the 40-year-old woman was barely sleeping. "Every night, she hears explosions," her sister Noémie Kohler said by phone. Are they phantom noises or real gunfire? The family lives in anxiety and uncertainty. After three years in detention, Kohler and Paris were indicted in late June by a revolutionary court for "espionage on behalf of Mossad [Israeli intelligence services]," "plotting to overthrow the government" and "corruption on earth" – charges that carry the death penalty. Is there any hope for release? "We no longer believe in it," sighed Noémie Kohler. The couple has now been joined by Lennart Monterlos, an 18-year-old French-German cyclist, arrested "for an offense," according to Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghtchi in an interview with Le Monde on July 10, without providing further details. A fourth French citizen has recently been arrested in Iran, Le Monde has learned, though neither the Iranian authorities nor Paris has disclosed any information
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LeMonde
8 minutes ago
- LeMonde
French ski coach suspended after sexual assault complaints
Following Le Monde 's revelations concerning allegations of sexual violence against Joël Chenal, the French Ski Federation (FFS) announced in a statement on Wednesday, July 23, that it was opening "a disciplinary procedure with immediate provisional suspension" of the 2006 Olympic silver medalist who later became a coach. In the article published Wednesday, Le Monde revealed that five young women had made new allegations against Chenal, in addition to the seven testimonies detailed in the first part of the investigation, published July 4. One of them filed a complaint Monday for sexual assault. The prosecutor's office in Albertville, a town in the French Alps, told ICI pays de Savoie that "an investigation has been opened." As reported Wednesday, the FFS referred the case to its ethics committee after our initial investigation. On Wednesday, in light of the new and serious allegations against Chenal, FFS President Fabien Saguez decided to accelerate the disciplinary procedure, citing the organization's "ethical principles and its zero tolerance for violence and inappropriate behavior." 'Supporting the victims' Saguez, who was the French women's national team coach before becoming the federation's technical director in 2006, has led the FFS since 2022. He was therefore in charge during the period (2013-2017) when Chenal was also coaching French women skiers competing in the World Cup. In the first part of our investigation, Saguez said: "We parted ways with Joël because we no longer needed him as a coach." In the same article, the FFS added: "If any reprehensible acts had been proven, the federation would necessarily have taken immediate action." In its statement Wednesday, the FFS announced that it intended "to join the case as a plaintiff, thus affirming its commitment to supporting the victims, cooperating fully with judicial authorities and establishing the full truth about these unacceptable acts." "No leniency or silence will be tolerated. The FFS will relentlessly continue its efforts to prevent, report and sanction any violation of ethics and human dignity," the federation concluded. France's Ministry of Sports, contacted by Agence France-Presse, said it "takes note" of the FFS's decision and specified that an administrative investigation had been opened following the first part of Le Mond e's investigation. The ministry stated it was "closely monitoring the progress of this investigation and any measures that may be taken."
LeMonde
38 minutes ago
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Macron and Merz try to revive challenging French-German partnership in Berlin
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Euronews
2 hours ago
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EU Commission accused of mining secrecy in scramble for raw materials
The European Commission has failed to ensure adequate public consultation in its scramble to approve projects to mine critical raw materials, according to four Green MEPs who claim the executive has rebuffed requests for information and that they are mulling legal action against the executive. The EU adopted a Critical Raw Materials Act (CRMA) last May, listing minerals such as lithium and cobalt essential for electric cars and other clean energy applications, as well as digital and weapons technology. The EU is attempting to reduce dependency on single suppliers for these - such as China and the US - with the implementation of 60 extraction projects: 47 in the EU soil and 13 outside the Union. China's leadership in raw material extraction and production offer fierce competition to EU ambitions for production of electric vehicles and clean tech products. MEPs Maria Ohisalo, Sara Matthieu, Majdouline Sbaï and Ana Miranda, sought information on mining projects they considered problematic 'Despite several requests by MEPs and NGOs we have not been given access or provided information about the assessments of selected or upcoming projects,' the MEPs told Euronews, adding: 'We believe that transparency in these matters is not only a legal obligation, but an integral part of institutional accountability." Monitoring group has become an 'empty shell', claims MEP 'While the European Parliament has observer status in the CRM board, relevant information on the choice of projects has not reached us,' the French MEP Majdouline Sbaï from Les Ecologistes told Euronews. The Critical Raw Material (CRM) board is a monitoring group (MG) within the European Parliament committee for international trade established to offer MEPs access to confidential Commission information regarding trade. 'Since the start of the mandate, at least in the CRM MG, but I would say in all the monitoring groups we followed, the Commission keeps repeating information that is already made public. These MGs have thus become empty shells,' Sbaï told Euronews. The four MEPs sent a letter to the Commission in early May, seen by Euronews, asking access to the impact assessments of the mining projects. In addition, they also requested the names of the independent experts who conducted the assessments to verify their impartiality, the exact geographical locations of the projects, and details on how the Commission plans to monitor their progress. The MEPs told Euronews they received a response later in May from Kerstin Jorna, the European Commission's Director-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, which they described as vague and evasive. Euronews reached the Commission for a comment without receiving a reply at the time of publication. The projects The six projects eyeballed by the MEPs are: the Mina Doade in Spain; the Barroso mining project in Portugal; the Sakatti project in Finland; another in the Allier region of France, and two outside the EU, in Serbia and New Caledonia. Recursos Minerales de Galicia initially had its 2018 mining project for the 'Alberta I' area rejected by regional authorities in 2020. In 2024, the company resubmitted the project under the name 'Mina Doade', and it has since been approved by the European Commission under the CRM. Another project approved by the Commission is located in protected marshlands in Viiankiaapa, Finland. The site forms part of the EU Natura 2000 network of sites designated for bird and biodiversity conservation. 'Mining does not belong to protected areas,' Finnish MEP Maria Ohisalo told Euronews, claiming that mining such an area 'destroys the very basis of nature conservation'. A €1 billion lithium project in France's Allier region, set to be the country's largest mining operation in decades, is sparking local controversy. Over five months of public debates, residents have raised concerns about water contamination, high energy use, and chemical risks. 'Fast-tracking extraction without pursuing strategies to moderate demand for raw materials and seeking consent of local communities is a recipe for disaster,' Belgian MEP Sara Matthieu told Euronews. Similar concerns were raised for a project in Serbia where a year ago, the Jada mining project was unblocked to become the EU's largest supplier of lithium, following strong local protests.
