Paris votes to ban rental e-scooters - BBC

Chesnot

Parisians have voted to ban rental electric scooters in their city, dealing a blow to scooter operators and a triumph for road safety campaigners.

Almost 90% of votes cast on Sunday favoured a ban the battery-powered devices, official results showed.

But under 8% of those eligible turned out to vote.

The referendum was called in response to a rising number of people being injured and killed on e-scooters in the French capital.

Of the 1.38 million people on the city's electoral register, just over 103,000 took part, according to offical figures. Of these, over 91,300 voted against the scooters.

Paris was one of the first cities to adopt the electric vehicles - but critics argue they were causing more harm than good.

There was growing concern with the way some people were driving the scooters - weaving through traffic, dodging pedestrians on pavements, and getting up to speeds of 17mph (27km/h).

Riders often did not wear helmets and children as young as 12 could legally hire the e-scooters.

There was also criticism that groups of parked e-scooters were cluttering pavements.

In 2021, a 31-year-old Italian woman was killed after being hit by an e-scooter carrying two people. She fell and hit her head on the pavement, suffering a cardiac arrest.

But operators of the e-scooters argued the vehicles made up a small proportion of overall traffic accidents in the city.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo called the referendum, where voters could say if they were for or against free-floating e-scooters. Privately-owned vehicles were not part of the vote.

The pro-cycling Socialist leader supported a ban and announced the vote in January to allow the people to decide.

"I'm committed to respecting the choice of voters, purely and simply," she told reporters as she placed her own vote.

"It's very expensive - five euros (£4.40; $5.40) for 10 minutes - it's not very sustainable, and above all, it's the cause of a lot of accidents," she added.

Fearing that their mainly young customers would not turn out to vote, the three main operators - Lime, Dott and Tier - used social media to urge people to vote in their favour. They also offered free rides all day on Sunday.

New laws introduced in 2019 - including a requirement to wear high visibility clothing and not ride against the traffic flow - imposed a fine of €135 (£116; $146), and up to €1,500 for going over the speed limit.

Meanwhile, dumped scooters had also become a significant problem in Paris, with many being found in the city's parks and squares.

A ban on parking the dockless scooters on pavements largely went unheeded despite the threat of a €35 fine.

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Parisians vote to ban e-scooters from French capital - Reuters.com

PARIS, April 2 (Reuters) - An overwhelming majority of Parisians voted to ban electric scooters from the streets of the French capital on Sunday, in a non-binding referendum that city authorities have said they would follow.

The ban won between 85.77% and 91.77% of the votes in the 20 Paris districts that published results, according to the City of Paris website on what was billed as a rare "public consultation" and prompted long queues at ballot boxes around the city.

"I preferred to vote against, because in Paris it's a mess," railway worker Ibrahim Beutchoutak, 47, told Reuters TV. "The way it's organised, the danger that it creates in Paris, the visual pollution, it's not good."

Cities worldwide are tightening regulations on e-scooters, limiting the number of operators as well as speed and where they can park.

In 2021, 24 people died in scooter-related accidents in France, including one in Paris. Last year, Paris registered 459 accidents with e-scooters and similar vehicles, including three fatal ones.

"In my work, we see a lot of road accidents caused by scooters, so we really see the negative effects," general physician Audrey Cordier, 38, told Reuters after voting against the scooters.

Electric scooters accessed through smartphone apps have operated in Paris since 2018, but following complaints about their anarchic deployment, Paris in 2020 cut the number of operators to three.

It gave them a three-year contract, required that scooters' speed be capped at 20 km/hour and imposed designated scooter parking areas. The current contracts will run until September.

Operators had offered further regulations, including checking users were over 18, fixing licence plates so police could identify traffic offenders and limiting to one passenger.

On Sunday, operators such as Tier and Lime sent free voucher codes to users to encourage them to vote against the ban.

Some voters said they would have rather had tighter regulations than an outright ban.

"I voted for (the scooters) because I'm against the rather binary choice we're given in this referendum. I don't want scooters to do whatever they wants on pavements, but banning them is not the priority," Pierre Waeckerle, 35, said.

Reporting by Michel Rose and Clotaire Achi; Editing by Josie Kao

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Prominent Russian military blogger killed in St. Petersburg cafe blast - CNN

CNN  — 

A well-known Russian military blogger was killed in an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg on Sunday, officials said, in what appeared to be an audacious attack on a high-profile pro-Kremlin figure.

Vladlen Tatarsky died when a blast tore through the cafe where he was appearing as a guest of a pro-war group called Cyber Front Z. Authorities said they were treating the case as suspected murder.

Twenty-five other people were injured in the blast, 19 of whom were hospitalized, the city’s governor said. The Russian Ministry of Health said six people were in critical condition. Investigators were questioning everyone who was inside the cafe, state media reported. Photos of the scene showed extensive damage to the building in which the cafe was located.

Russia’s Investigative Committee for St. Petersburg said it had opened a murder investigation. Investigators and forensic specialists were on scene, the agency said, and that it was working to establish the circumstances surrounding the explosion. Russia’s Interior Ministry also confirmed Tatarsky was killed in the blast.

St. Petersburg’s prosecutor Viktor Melnik traveled to the scene to coordinate the actions of emergency services and law enforcement agencies, TASS reported.

Investigators and members of emergency services work at the site of an explosion at a cafe in St. Petersburg, Russia on April 2, 2023.

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Reports: Explosive hidden in a ‘figurine’

Russian media reports suggested that Tatarsky may have been killed by a device hidden in a figurine presented to him by a woman before the blast. Russian state news media, citing law enforcement agencies and eyewitness accounts, said the woman was attending the event at which Tatarsky was speaking.

Ria Novosti quoted one witness as saying: “This woman sat at our table. I saw her from the back as she was turned away. When she gifted him the figurine, she went to sit in a different place by the window and forgot her phone at our table.”

The witness added: “The host at the stage took the figurine from the box and showcased it, Vladlen held it for a bit. They put it back and shortly after the explosion happened… I was running and my ears were blocked. There were many people with blood on them.”

The independent Telegram channel Astra Press quoted a witness as saying: “Everyone rushed to the exit when explosion happened. I myself saw the girl only until the moment of the explosion, when she gave a gift. She looked like an ordinary person.”

CNN is not able to independently verify the claims.

The blast occured during an event hosted by the “Cyber Front Z” movement, a pro-war Telegram society. “Dear friends and colleagues,” the group said in a post Sunday. “During our regular event in a cafe we rented, there was a terrorist attack. We took certain security measures, but, unfortunately, they were not enough. Our condolences to the families and friends of the victims.”

“Separate condolences to everyone who knew the wonderful war correspondent and our good friend Vladlen Tatarsky. Now we are cooperating with law enforcement agencies and we hope that all those responsible will be punished,” the post said.

Who was Tatarsky?

Tatarsky supported the war in Ukraine and had gained popularity since the start of what Russia calls its “special military operation” by providing analysis and commentary.

Tatarsky, whose real name is Maxim Fomin, created his Telegram channel in 2019, naming it in honor of the protagonist of Victor Pelevin’s novel “Generation ‘P,’” according to Russian state news agency Vesti. He had since written several books.

Before that, in 2014, Tatarsky fought against Ukrainian nationalists with the Donbas resistance, according to Vesti, citing public sources.

Tatarsky had more than half a million followers on Telegram, and while he was aggressively pro-war, he had sometimes been critical of Russian setbacks in Ukraine.

In May last year, he told CNN that he was not criticizing the overall operation, rather “individual episodes,” and that he still believed Russia would achieve its goals in Ukraine.

Tatarsky gained prominence after attending the ceremony in the Kremlin that marked the illegal annexation of four Ukrainian regions.

Sunday’s blast has echoes of the car bombing that killed Darya Dugina, the daughter of influential ultra-nationalist philosopher Alexander Dugin in August 2022. Alexander Dugin is credited with being the architect, or “spiritual guide,” to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Dugina and Tatarsky moved in the same circles, and they had been photographed multiple times together.

Accusations of blame

No evidence has yet been presented about who carried out the attack on Tatarsky, but Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova pointed the finger at Ukraine, without citing evidence.

“Russian journalists are constantly experiencing threats of reprisal from the Kyiv regime and its inspirers, which are increasingly being implemented,” Zakharova said.

A Ukrainian official suggested the killing was due to in-fighting in Russia. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the President’s office, wrote on Twitter: “Spiders are eating each other in a jar. Question of when domestic terrorism would become an instrument of internal political fight was a matter of time.”

Zakharova paid tribute to Tatarskiy. “The professional activities of Vladlen Tatarskiy, his service to the Motherland aroused hatred among the Kyiv regime. He was dangerous for them, but boldly went to the end, doing his duty.” Zakharova said.

CNN’s Tim Lister and Taras Zadorozhnyy contributed to this story.

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Pope Francis defends the "marginalised" at Palm Sunday mass - Euronews

Pope Francis has presided over Palm Sunday Mass, a day after leaving hospital due to bronchitis. In his homily he defended the "abandoned" of the world.

"No one can be marginalised," he said before thousands of faithful, with his voice still weak.

On a cloudy morning, Francis wore a long, ivory-coloured coat as he was driven into the square.

Ahead of him, scores of prelates and priests and tens of thousands of rank-and-file faithful clutching palm or olive branches filled the square.

Francis, 86, received antibiotics administered intravenously during his three-day stay in hospital. His last previous appearance in St. Peter's Square was for his regular Wednesday public audience. He was taken to Rome's Gemelli Policlinic that same day after feeling ill.

Palm Sunday opens a heavy schedule of Holy Week appointments for him.

At the start of the Mass, Francis took his place in a chair before the towering obelisk as a procession of cardinals in bright-red vestments and other faithful moved through the square.

The ceremony recalls Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem in the time leading up to his crucifixion, which Christians mark on Good Friday.

The Vatican on Saturday said Francis would preside at the Holy Week ceremonies, which culminate with Easter Sunday Mass in the square on April 9.

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Finnish PM Sanna Marin set for defeat in national vote - POLITICO Europe

Finland’s center-right National Coalition Party was on course to take power in a general election Sunday after voter concerns about the economic outlook fed dissatisfaction with Social Democrat incumbent Sanna Marin, a star of the European left. 

With 99 percent of votes counted, the National Coalition Party (NCP) under the leadership of Petteri Orpo had secured 48 of Finland’s 200 parliamentary seats, pushing Marin’s party into third place with 43. The far-right Finns Party was second with 46 seats. 

The defeat of Marin would represent the latest blow for the European left with Germany’s Olaf Scholz under pressure at home and Sweden’s Magdalena Andersson voted out at a general election last September. Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen won a second term last fall only after a sharp shift to the political right. 

Marin pushed a traditional left-leaning campaign in the run-up to Sunday’s vote, railing against proposed public spending cuts by the center-right and calling on Finns to back fiscal investments she said would lead to greater employment and economic growth. 

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But in the end, fears about rising public debt, a deep-seated concern in Finland, appeared to have undermined Marin’s prospects with NCP leader Orpo’s messaging on fiscal discipline winning voters to his side. 

“This was a big win,” Orpo told supporters as the end of the vote count neared. “Our message has got through, the support is there, and Finns believe in the National Coalition Party.”

Orpo is now set to get the first shot at forming a government and he is likely to seek to include the anti-immigration Finns Party. He could also try to strike a deal with the Social Democrats to govern together although that looks less likely, experts say, after repeated clashes over economic policy between the two over recent months. 

If Orpo were to fail to form a government, Marin could be offered a chance to build a coalition. She has said she doesn’t want to govern with the Finns, a party she has accused of making openly racist statements.

A change of government is expected to have little impact on Finland’s security stance, with the NCP a firm backer of the country’s accession to NATO and military support for Ukraine. 

A popular figure

Marin, who took over as Social Democrat leader in 2019, remains a popular figure both at home and abroad. Her handling of the COVID pandemic was seen as effective and her pivot to supporting Finland’s entry into NATO was well received. 

She also retained firm support among voters despite opposition claims that she lacked seriousness after she was filmed dancing and singing with friends at a party last summer. 

The Social Democrats’ 43 seats in parliament represented a rise of 3 from the previous election in 2019 and she sought to portray that as a win of sorts. 

“I am grateful that our support has increased and that we look set to receive more mandates,” Marin said as the results came in. 

However, NCP’s result increased by 10 seats, boosted by Orpo’s promise to impose fiscal discipline.

As Finland has sought to bounce back from the pandemic, debt relative to GDP has risen and stood at 73 percent in the fourth quarter of last year from 66 percent a year earlier, most recent data show.

As the voting came to an end, Orpo suggested reversing an expected recession would be his focus. 

“We are starting government negotiations with the economy as the core issue,” Orpo said. 

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Israeli police say man shot dead in Jerusalem had grabbed officer's gun - The Guardian

A man detained by Israeli police near a flashpoint mosque compound in Jerusalem grabbed an officer’s gun and fired it, prompting the unit to shoot him dead, the force said on Saturday, describing the incident as a terrorist attack.

The incident overnight at the edge of al-Aqsa mosque complex, an icon of Palestinian nationalism, came at a high point of Muslim attendance for the holy month of Ramadan.

The sacred site, known to Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount, remained relatively quiet on Saturday.

Police identified the dead man as a 26-year-old resident of Hura, a Bedouin town in south Israel. Mansour Abbas, a politician whose United Arab List party is popular in that area, said he was a medical student and questioned the police account.

Reuters could not immediately verify the account independently. Police said the incident took place at a spot not covered by security cameras. Footage of similar incidents in the past has usually surfaced within a short time.

Israeli-Palestinian tensions are simmering after months of violence in areas of Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank and friction at al-Aqsa has often set off violence in recent years.

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US-brokered peace talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, territories captured by Israel in a 1967 war, have stalled for almost a decade and show no sign of resumption.

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Andrew Tate and brother to be moved to house arrest - BBC

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By Robert Plummer

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Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are to be moved from custody to house arrest with immediate effect, a Romanian judge has ruled.

The ruling by the Court of Appeal in Bucharest replaces the latest period of custody, which was to end on 29 April.

Two associates, Georgiana Naghel and Luana Radu, are also being released.

All four have been ordered to stay in the buildings where they live, unless they have judicial permission to leave.

A spokeswoman for the Tate brothers told the BBC the brothers were "ecstatic".

The brothers have been detained since December and are being investigated on allegations of rape, people trafficking and forming an organised crime group. Both have denied wrongdoing.

Lawyers for Mr Tate have argued that keeping him in preventative custody is unnecessarily harsh, when other judicial options such as house arrest are available.

Leaked court documents, seen by the BBC, outlined testimony from alleged victims claiming to be forced to earn €10,000 (£8,800) a month on social media platforms, under the alleged threat of physical violence.

Court papers also described debts being used as "a form of psychological coercion".

Since investigations began last April, six women have been identified by prosecutors as victims.

However, no charges have yet been brought against the brothers or the two Romanian associates who were arrested alongside them.

In 2016, Mr Tate, a British-American former kickboxer, was removed from British TV show Big Brother over a video which appeared to show him attacking a woman.

He went on to gain notoriety online, with Twitter banning him for saying women should "bear responsibility" for being sexually assaulted. He has since been reinstated.

Despite social media bans, he gained popularity, particularly among young men, by promoting what he presented as a hyper-masculine, ultra-luxurious lifestyle.

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