The Eiffel Tower is set for a starring role during the Paris Olympics this year, but the landmark and its park have become symbols of the capital's struggles with cleanliness and crime.- Street crime - Around seven million people ascend the Eiffel Tower each year and many more pose for photos, eat picnics, or play ballgames in the Champ-de-Mars.
France on Thursday ordered a two-month nighttime curfew for minors in a Guadeloupe city after a surge in youth violence in the overseas territory.Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced the 8:00 pm curfew while on a visit to the economic capital of Pointe-a-Pitre as part of efforts to tackle crime on the Caribbean island, one of France's many overseas territories spanning the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans.
The United States on Thursday spoiled a long-shot Palestinian bid for full United Nations membership, vetoing a Security Council measure despite growing international distress over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.The United States, Israel's main ally, has not hesitated in the past to use its veto to protect Israel, and did not hide its lack of enthusiasm for Palestinian UN membership in the weeks leading up to the vote.