Paris: A Muslim convert suspected of stabbing a French soldier in a religiously motivated attack was placed under formal investigation on Friday over an apparent act of terrorism, prosecutors said, a move that could lead to a trial.
Alexandre Dhaussy, 22, was brought before an anti-terrorism judge who determined there was enough evidence of what prosecutors called a terror-related assassination attempt to proceed with an investigation.
Under French law, a formal investigation means there exists "serious or consistent evidence" of a suspect's probable implication in a crime and is an important step towards a trial.
France has been on heightened security alert since January 2013, when its military intervened in Mali to help repel al Qaeda-linked Islamist rebels who had been seized control over the north of the former French colony....
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06:50 AM, Jun 01, 2013
Paris: Tens of thousands of people protested against France's new gay marriage law in central Paris on Sunday, and police clashed with right-wing demonstrators. The law came into force over a week ago, but organizers decided to go ahead with the long-planned demonstration to show their continued opposition as well as their frustration with President Francois Hollande, who had made legalizing gay marriage one of his keynote campaign pledges in...
09:44 AM, May 27, 2013
Paris: The stabbing of a French soldier near Paris by a man who is still on the run bore the hallmarks of Islamist terrorism, the interior minister said on Sunday, and police said it may have been inspired by the murder of a British serviceman in London. Anti-terrorism investigators are hunting for a bearded man aged about 30, possibly of North African origin, who fled into a crowded train station...
06:50 AM, May 27, 2013
Paris: French anti-terrorism investigators were combing video surveillance tapes on Sunday as they continued their manhunt for a suspect who stabbed a soldier in the throat in the commercial district of La Defense outside Paris. The 23-year-old soldier, Cedric Cordier, was in uniform patrolling the busy underground corridors where shops and crowded public transport lines converge beneath the famous Arch of La Defense. Saturday's stabbing came days after a British...
01:07 AM, May 27, 2013
Paris: A French soldier was stabbed in the throat in a busy commercial district on the outskirts of Paris on Saturday, and France's President said authorities are investigating any possible links with the recent slaying of a British soldier. President Francois Hollande said the identity of the attacker was unknown and cautioned against jumping to conclusions about the assault on the uniformed soldier in the La Defense shopping area. The...
08:30 AM, May 26, 2013
London: Two men with butcher knives hacked another to death on Wednesday near a London military barracks and one then went on video to explain the crime - shouting political statements, gesturing with bloodied hands and waving a meat cleaver. Soon after, arriving police shot and wounded the unidentified assailants and took them into custody. The brutal daylight attack galvanized this city and raised fears that terrorism had returned to...
08:30 AM, May 23, 2013
Paris: France's constitutional council has rejected a challenge by conservative lawmakers to the country's new gay marriage law, saying the law was constitutional. That means France could see its first gay marriages by the end of May. France's Parliament passed the law legalizing gay marriage in April after a wrenching national debate. Opponents led by the conservative UMP party immediately challenged the law in France's Constitutional Council, which rejected their...
12:46 PM, May 18, 2013
New Delhi: The six Indian nationals injured in a shooting in the Central African Republic in March have been brought here this morning and are receiving treatment in AIIMS. The injured were brought in a special French military flights from Chad, where they had been receiving medical treatment earlier, sources in External Affairs Ministry said. The Indians, transferred straight from the airforce station to AIIMS where arrangements were made to...
10:00 AM, Apr 15, 2013
French President Francois Hollande has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressing regret over the "inadvertent" killing of two Indians in the Central African Republic, where a rebel leader seized power during the weekend. ...
04:45 AM, Mar 26, 2013
The al Qaeda-linked North African warlord Abou Zeid was killed in combat with French troops in Mali in February, France said on Saturday, ending weeks of uncertainty about whether one of the group's leading commanders was dead. ...
09:00 PM, Mar 23, 2013
British Prime Minister David Cameron is arriving in Mumbai on Monday morning on his second state visit to the country. Cameron, on a three-day visit, comes to the city close on the heels of French President Francois Hollande, who was in the megapolis last Friday as a part of his state visit and met the head honchos of India Inc. ...
12:30 PM, Feb 17, 2013
French President Francois Hollande on Friday urged India "to trust" his country's nuclear technology and extended France's support to the Indian nuclear power generation programme. ...
03:40 AM, Feb 16, 2013
France, a key player in the P5 1 talks with Iran on its contentious nuclear programme, today asked India to "convince" its "close friend" Tehran to enter into serious negotiations and respect international obligations with regard to nuclear non-proliferation. ...
04:08 PM, Feb 15, 2013
Sikhs members of BJP on Thursday urged their senior leader Sushma Swaraj to raise the issue of ban on turban with French President Francois Hollande. In a letter to Sushma, they said turban was not merely a religious symbol. It was a mandatory article of faith, which very much defines the core identity of a Sikh. ...
10:44 PM, Feb 14, 2013
Refusing to take sides in a case in which an employee of French consulate in Bangalore was charged with raping his daughter, French President Francois Hollande on Thursday said he has full faith in Indian judicial system. ...
10:40 PM, Feb 14, 2013
Enhancing cooperation in the key areas of defence, nuclear energy, counter-terrorism and trade will be focus of French President Francois Hollande's first visit to New Delhi but $ 10-billion deal for Rafale fighter aircraft will not be inked during his two-day stay starting Thursday. ...
06:17 PM, Feb 11, 2013
French President Francois Hollande will be on a two-day state visit to India from Feb 14 along with his companion Valerie Trierweiler at the invitation of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. ...
03:55 PM, Feb 11, 2013
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on February 11 that talks with India to finalise the purchase of French Rafale war planes were looking up. ...
11:57 AM, Feb 11, 2013
French Minister for Transport Frederic Cuvillier will have a dialogue with French investors in Tamil Nadu in Chennai on February 15. A release from the office of French Consul General here said Cuvillier is part of the delegation of Ministers accompanying French President Francois Hollande during his two-day State visit to India from February 14. ...
10:54 AM, Feb 11, 2013
French warplanes pounded Islamist rebel camps in the far north of Mali on Sunday, military sources said, a day after French President Francois Hollande was hailed as a saviour during a visit to the West African country. Thierry Burkhard, spokesman for the French army in Paris, said the overnight raids targeted logistics bases and training camps used by the al Qaeda-linked rebels near the town of Tessalit, close to the...
09:21 AM, Feb 04, 2013
