Latest news with #FêteDeLaMusique
Yahoo
23-06-2025
- Yahoo
145 People Jabbed With Needles at French Music Festival
As millions took to the streets across France for the annual Fête de la Musique, 12 people were detained nationwide for stabbing at least 145 people with needles, the interior ministry reported.
CNN
23-06-2025
- CNN
145 people pricked with syringes at France street music festival
French police detained 12 people on Sunday after 145 individuals reported being pricked with syringes during a nationwide street music festival, according to France's interior ministry. The attacks took place across France, with Paris police confirming at least 13 cases in the capital. According to the interior ministry, it remains unclear whether the cases of 'needle spiking' – in which attackers use syringes to inject victims typically in the arm, leg or buttocks – involved date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol or GHB, which can leave individuals disoriented, unconscious and vulnerable to assault. 'The ministry is taking this very seriously,' a spokeswoman from the interior ministry told CNN on Monday. 'Toxicology tests are being done and the investigation is ongoing.' Millions of people took to the streets over the weekend for the nationwide celebration Fête de la Musique, with officials describing the crowds in Paris as 'unprecedented.' Speaking to French broadcaster CNews, Laurent Nuñez, the Paris police chief, said there were three to four times as many people in Paris as normal. Ahead of the festival, feminist influencers like Abrège Soeur warned that calls had been made on social media for women to be targeted with syringes. 'These are extremely serious incidents,' Nuñez told CNews, calling the online calls to inject women 'completely idiotic.' In Paris, prosecutors said investigations were opened after three people, including a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old man, reported being pricked in separate incidents across the city. All three said they felt unwell afterward, according to CNN affiliate BFMTV. In addition to the needle attacks, police arrested 371 people across France on Saturday night for various incidents, nearly 90 of them in Paris, the ministry said.
New York Times
23-06-2025
- New York Times
Nearly 150 Report Being Jabbed With Needles at French Music Festival
French officials said Sunday that 145 people across the country, including 13 in Paris, reported that they had been stabbed with needles at an annual nationwide music festival on Saturday. Twelve people were arrested in connection with the stabbings. 'Some victims were taken to the hospital for toxicological tests,' the ministry said. French officials did not provide any details about the people who were arrested or about what substances the syringes may have contained. While the number of victims was small compared with the millions of people who attended Fête de la Musique events across France, the reports were among a number of alarming episodes in recent years in which people have reported being injected without their knowledge or consent in crowded spaces like clubs or bars. A British Parliament report, published in 2022 after a sudden increase in spiking incidents, said there had been more than 1,000 cases of needle attacks in the country between September 2021 and the end of December 2022. The report, which surveyed more than 3,000 victims and witnesses, cited police data showing that about 90 percent of needle spiking incidents occurred during the evening in venues like pubs and nightclubs, though some also happened at festivals and house parties. The report noted that there was not enough information to determine the overall prevalence of needle spiking and that there could be many more attacks that are not reported. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Guardian
23-06-2025
- The Guardian
Arrests in France after scores report being attacked with syringes at street music festival
French police have detained 12 suspects after 145 people reported being pricked with syringes during the country's annual street music festival, officials said on Sunday. Millions of people took to the streets across France on Saturday evening for the Fête de la Musique, with authorities reporting 'unprecedented crowds' in Paris. Before the party, posts on social media had called for women to be targeted during the festivities. The interior ministry said 145 victims across the country had reported being stabbed with needles. Paris police reported 13 cases in the capital. Officials did not say if these were cases of so-called needle spiking with date-rape drugs such as Rohypnol or GHB, used by attackers to render victims confused or unconscious and vulnerable to sexual assault. 'Some victims were taken to hospital for toxicological tests,' the ministry said. In Paris, investigations were opened after three people, including a 15-year-old girl and an 18-year-old male, reported being stabbed in separate incidents across Paris, prosecutors said. All three reported feeling unwell. Across France, 12 suspects have been arrested, the interior ministry said. Among them were four people in the south-western city of Angoulême suspected of having targeted about 50 victims, said a police source. Apart from those suspects, more than 370 people were detained during the festival on various charges, including nearly 90 people in Paris. Fourteen participants in the festivities were seriously injured, including a 17-year-old hospitalised after being found sitting on the street with stab wounds to the lower abdomen. Thirteen members of law enforcement were also injured. The prefect of the Paris police, Laurent Nuñez, said that 'no major incident has been reported'.
CTV News
21-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Worldwide French music celebration hits high note in Halifax
Musicians are pictured performing in the Halifax public gardens as part of Fête de la musique on June 21, 2025 (Vanessa Wright/CTV Atlantic) Haligonians joined a worldwide celebration Saturday when they enjoyed the sights and sounds of this year's Make Music Day event. 'In French, it's called 'Fête de la musique' because it's a French initiative,' says Melanie Koehnemann, the culture and communications officer for Alliance Française. 'It was born in France in the 80s.' Performances took place at two Halifax locations this year, one at Public Gardens, and the other at a Northwood Care retirement facility. Music fan A music fan claps along during a performance at Fête de la musique in Halifax public gardens on June 21, 2025 (Vanessa Wright/CTV Atlantic) Koehnemann says the event has a history of bringing music outside for everyone to celebrate, anywhere. 'The idea is to propose something different, something accessible and free, because there is no cost to this event,' says Koehnemann. The celebration brought together artists of different genres from the francophone community for the public to enjoy. 'The whole idea of this music is to have people sing and perform it outside – amateurs, professionals,' says musician Suzie Quackenbush, who has performed at the event for about ten years. '(I sing) a lot of folk and I will alternate between English and French.' Robert Brushedd – a musician and member of Alliance Française – also took centre stage at public gardens, performing with his guitar. 'What I did play is just stuff that I've been playing in my apartment over the last while, and I had the guitar since 1983,' says Brushedd. Koehnemann says seeing people from different backgrounds of different ages enjoying Fête de la musique is what they strive for all year. Performances at the Halifax public gardens and Northwood Care retirement facility will wrap up Saturday at 7:15 p.m. music festival A crowd watches a performance at Fête de la musique in Halifax public gardens on June 21, 2025 (Vanessa Wright/CTV Atlantic) For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
