Hugh Schofield

1 week ago | bbc.com | Hugh Schofield

They had been recruited via a Whatsapp group message for the West African Soninke ethnic community living in Paris, which promised "well-paid work" in the Champagne region. Aged between 16 and 65 at the time, the 48 men and nine women came from Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Many are attending Thursday's trial. "They shouted at us in Russian and crammed us into this broken-down house, with mattresses on the floor," Kanouitié Djakariayou, 44, told La Croix newspaper.

2 weeks ago | bbc.com | Bethany Bell |Hugh Schofield

School killings leave stunned Austria and France searching for answersBethany Bell & Hugh SchofieldMatej Povse/Getty ImagesThe attacks within two hours of each other in Graz and Nogent have left two countries in shockTwo shocking attacks within two hours of each other, in France and Austria, have left parents and governments reeling and at a loss how to protect school students from random, deadly violence.

1 month ago | bbc.com | Hugh Schofield

French MPs back law to allow assisted dyingHugh Schofieldrikirennes/Getty ImagesFrench MPs have voted to allow some people in the last stages of a terminal illness the right to assisted dying. The National Assembly approved the bill, which is backed by President Emmanuel Macron, by 305 votes to 199. It will now go to the upper house, the Senate, before a second reading in the National Assembly. Supporters hope it will become law by 2027.

1 month ago | bbc.com | Hugh Schofield

French report warns of Islamist 'entryism' as risk to national cohesionHugh SchofieldGetty ImagesPresident Macron asked for new proposals to be submitted to a security cabinet early next monthIslamists are infiltrating France's republican institutions and are a threat to national cohesion, according to a report presented to President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday.

1 month ago | bbc.com | Hugh Schofield

French police launch prison hunt for mini Chinese-made phonesHugh SchofieldFRENCH PROSECUTOR'S OFFICEThe contraband phones are the size of a cigarette lighterFrench authorities have launched a nationwide hunt for thousands of tiny Chinese-made telephones used by convicts to continue criminal activities from inside prison. The telephones, no bigger than a cigarette-lighter, are almost entirely plastic, and have a reputation for being virtually invisible to metal detectors.