This French Life

Tragic French police dog Diesel to receive supreme honour for gallantry

Heroic French police dog, Diesel, who was tragically killed as he led a raid on a Paris terror cell last month, is to receive the PDSA Dickin Medal – recognised worldwide as the animals’ Victoria Cross.

The medal was instituted by the UK charity, the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), in 1943 and it is the highest animal honour in the world and Diesel’s will be the 66th PDSA Dickin Medal to be awarded.

Diesel, a seven-year-old Belgian Malinois, served with the French National Research, Assistance, Intervention and Deterrence special anti-terrorism force (RAID).

On the morning of Wednesday 18 November, five days after the Paris attacks which killed 130 people, the French national police forces, including RAID, were involved in a security operation in the suburb of St-Denis.

Major RULP Jean-Marc Lenglet from the French National Police, said: "Diesel’s handler has been deeply affected by the death of his dog, as have many thousands of well-wishers who sent messages of condolence for Diesel who died in the service of his country."

The formal presentation of Diesel’s PDSA Dickin Medal will be made in 2016. PDSA Director General, Jan McLoughlin, said: "Following the tragic terrorist events in Paris last month, where many innocent people lost their lives, Diesel was instrumental in helping the French police locate and deal with the perpetrators.

"When news emerged of Diesel’s death there was a huge outpouring of grief . As guardians of the world’s most prestigious animal awards programme, we were inundated by messages from members of the public to recognise his heroism.

"The PDSA Dickin Medal recognises conspicuous devotion to duty in the theatre of conflict and Diesel is a truly deserving recipient. His gallant actions helped to protect human life in the face of imminent danger and we are very proud to honour him in this way."

Since the introduction of the medal by PDSA founder Maria Dickin CBE in 1943 it has been awarded to 30 dogs (including Diesel), 32 World War Two messenger pigeons, three horses and one cat.

French mosques to hold open days

Grande Mosquée de Paris. By LPLT - Wikimedia Commons
Mosques in France are to hold open days on the weekend of the anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terror attacks in Paris.

The Muslim representative group Le Conseil Français du Culte Musulman (CFCM) has asked mosques across France to invite non-Muslims to visit on 9 and 10 January, 2016 to let people ask questions and find out more about the religion.

The move comes as tensions remain high in Corsica after a mob attacked a prayer room on Friday in the regional capital, Ajaccio, following an attack on firefighters and a police officer.

A directory of mosques is available on the CFCM website.

Merry Christmas from this corner of France

I WANT to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and hope you have a happy and healthy New Year. So I'll say Joyeux Noël et Bonne Année!!! Many thanks for continuing to drop in on This French Life. Regards, Craig

More cases of bird flu in the poultry trade in south west France

The French ministry of agriculture has said it now suspects there has been a total of 30 cases of bird flu H5N1 in the south west of France.

In an update on the ministry website the authorities say 15 new instances of bird flu have been discovered since the beginning of the week.

These new cases total nine in les Landes, three in the Dordogne, two in the Gers and one in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques.

Some poultry and egg producers in the region have experienced a fall in demand, while some countries notably Japan and South Korea have banned poultry products from France.

However, it is being stressed that it is safe to eat cooked poultry and eggs, as the virus dies with cooking over 70°C, but with the festive period upon us many producers could be facing difficult times.

Direct from Colombia: 2.4 tonnes of cocaine seized in the English Channel

A joint operation involving UK and French law enforcement has resulted in the seizure of around 2.4 tonnes of cocaine from a freighter a few miles off the UK’s south coast.

Acting on intelligence from the National Crime Agency and the French Customs investigation service DNRED, the Moldovan flagged MV Carib Palm was intercepted in the Eastern Channel on Thursday 10 December.

It had sailed from Colombia and was on its way to Gdansk in Poland.

Christmas flower arranging workshop in Loubejac: 19 December

Create a Christmas themed table decoration in an afternoon during a hands-on workshop in Loubejac, in the south of the Dordogne.

Hosted by award wining flower arranger Terry Barnard, attendees will learn how to make an arrangement based around a candlestick.

Last year the Christmas flower arranging workshop featured a table arrangement constructed on a bundle of twigs.

The event takes place at the salle des fêtes in Loubejac on Saturday 19 December, starting at 14:30.

There is a fee of ‎€9 per person, for more information and a list of items to bring on the day contact Terry Barnard at: terry.barnard@aliceadsl.fr

Reaching out to develop and value the production of bio chestnuts

Yves Amiguet, third from right, explains the grafting process
A recruitment drive is underway to increase the number of producers of bio chestnuts in the Dordogne, as demand for the nuts continues to rise in Europe and across the world.

Last week around 50 people took part in an afternoon of information and hands-on advice at the foyer rural in Villefranche-du-Périgord that looked to offer help to owners of small chestnut woods, or those who were keen to transform other plots of land.

In the Dordogne there are around 100 producers of bio chestnuts, a long way behind numbers in southern parts of France, yet the demand is there as the market for bio products has increased by about 10% a year.

James Bond to battle Spectre in Villefranche-du-Périgord: 18 December

The latest James Bond film, Spectre, rolls into Villefranche-du-Périgord this Friday with Daniel Craig set to battle the baddies and save the world once again.

In Spectre, a cryptic message from Bond’s past sends him on a trail to uncover a sinister organization. While M battles political forces to keep the secret service alive, Bond peels back the layers of deceit to reveal the terrible truth behind Spectre.

The showing, in Version Française, takes place on 18 December and starts at 20:30 at the foyer rural, Place de la Halle, Villefranche-du-Périgord.

News stops: Front National held at bay in regional elections, but for how long?

The second round of the regional elections in France saw the Front National held up as it searches for a position of political power, but for how long?

At present it seems the only tactic being adopted by the Socialists and the Republicans is to plead to people to vote against Marine Le Pen and the Front National, instead of giving people something to actually vote for.

Surely one day such pleading will fall upon deaf ears, and if the political elite are shocked this morning after such a close shave, what state will they be in if their horse-trading fails to work next time?

Here is a collection of news stories to let you get up to speed on the result, as well as the chance to check the official results for your own commune.

BBC: French far right National Front routed in key vote
France's far-right National Front (FN) has failed to win a single region in the second round of municipal elections.

The party was beaten into third place, despite leading in six of 13 regions in the first round of voting on 6 December.

Nicolas Sarkozy's centre-right Republicans finished ahead of the ruling Socialists.

Acknowledging defeat, FN leader Marine Le Pen pledged to keep fighting.

The Guardian: Front National held back in France – but its trajectory is on the up
The election night mood in France was one of grim introspection.

Even if the rising tide of the far right Front National (FN) had been held back – temporarily at least – by tactical voting and a leap in turnout, the lessons were clear to see. The nationalist, anti-immigration, anti-European party was here to stay.

There were no winners in an election that consisted of establishment parties running around at the last minute trying desperately to outwit what they warned was a racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic and overwhelmingly dangerous party.

Politico: 5 takeaways from the elections in France
The National Front failed on Sunday to convince voters to let it run any French region, even though the far-right party’s candidates together gathered more votes than leader Marine Le Pen received in her 2012 presidential run.

Both mainstream parties, the conservative Les Républicains led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, and sitting President François Hollande‘s Socialists, expressed relief at the failure of the National Front — and claimed responsibility for making it possible.

Both parties’ leaders also chose to shun the victory speeches customary on election nights, and warned that much remains to be done to address the problems that enabled the National Front’s rise — from mass unemployment to security and terrorism fears.

Elections régionales : les résultats
Le second tour des élections régionales 2015 a eu lieu le dimanche 13 décembre.

Front National’s Marine Le Pen: ‘This is a split between the globalists and the patriots’

Five things you need to know about the Paris climate deal

By Simon Lewis, UCL

The UN climate talks in Paris have ended with an agreement between 195 countries to tackle global warming. The climate deal is at once both historic, important – and inadequate. From whether it is enough to avoid dangerous climate change to unexpected wins for vulnerable nations, here are five things to help understand what was just agreed at COP21.

1. This is a momentous, world-changing event

The most striking thing about the agreement is that there is one. For all countries, from superpowers to wealthy city-states, fossil fuel-dependent kingdoms to vulnerable low-lying island nations, to all agree to globally coordinate action on climate change is astonishing.

And it is not just warm words. Any robust agreement has to have four elements. First, it needs a common goal, which has now been defined. The agreement states that the parties will hold temperatures to “well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”.

Second, it requires matching scientifically credible reductions in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas emissions. The agreement is woollier here, but it does state that emissions should peak “as soon as possible” and then be rapidly reduced. The next step is to:

Achieve a balance between anthropogenic emissions by sources and removals by sinks of greenhouse gases in the second half of this century, on the basis of equity …

Third, as current pledges to reduce emissions imply a warming of nearly 3°C above pre-industrial levels, there needs to be a mechanism to move from where countries are today, to zero emissions. There are five-year reviews, and “the efforts of all parties will represent a progression over time”, which means at each step countries should increase their levels of emission cuts from today’s agreements.

Finally, this all means developed countries need to rapidly move from fossil fuel energy to renewable sources. But the challenge is larger for the developing world: these countries must leapfrog the fossil fuel age. They need funds to do so and a key part of the agreement provides US$100 billion per year to 2020, and more than that after 2020.

There is a lot to like about this agreement: it gives a common goal to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the overall emissions cuts stated are reasonably credible, there is a mechanism to increase national emissions cuts over time towards “net zero”, and there is funding secured to help poorer countries harness the power of the sun, wind and waves instead of coal, oil and gas. It provides a roadmap to get the world off its dangerous addiction to fossil fuel energy.