Four people drown in Channel, French police say
Four people drowned in the Channel overnight, French maritime police said today, AFP reported.
The people drowned off Boulogne-sur-Mer on France’s northern coast while trying to cross to the UK.
Maritime police told AFP that a navy patrol boat went to the site after being alerted and that four people taken out of the water by helicopter were dead.
Others were rescued alive, the police said.
Reuters cited a French coast guard spokesperson as saying that a total of 67 people were aboard the boat and that 63 of them were rescued by an operation involving four ships and one helicopter.
Key events
Wilders mocks Biden gaffes
Dutch far right politician Geert Wilders has mocked Joe Biden’s gaffes.
“President Putin meets Vice President Trump,” he wrote, posting photos of Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Kamala Harris.
Yesterday, Biden introduced the Ukrainian president as “President Putin” before correcting himself and saying “we’re going to beat Putin.”
The American president also misnamed Harris. “I wouldn’t have picked vice-president Trump to be vice-president, if she’s not qualified to be president,” he said.
Meanwhile in France…
Gabriel Attal, the caretaker prime minister and an ally of Emmanuel Macron, has formalised his candidacy to lead the Renaissance group in the national assembly.
Trump ‘man of peace’ and ‘will do it again’, Orbán says after Florida meeting
Hungary’s far right prime minister, Viktor Orbán, met with Donald Trump in Florida yesterday.
In a post this morning, the Hungarian leader wrote: “We continued the peace mission in Mar-a-Lago. President Donald Trump has proved during his presidency that he is a man of peace. He will do it again!”
Four people drown in Channel, French police say
Four people drowned in the Channel overnight, French maritime police said today, AFP reported.
The people drowned off Boulogne-sur-Mer on France’s northern coast while trying to cross to the UK.
Maritime police told AFP that a navy patrol boat went to the site after being alerted and that four people taken out of the water by helicopter were dead.
Others were rescued alive, the police said.
Reuters cited a French coast guard spokesperson as saying that a total of 67 people were aboard the boat and that 63 of them were rescued by an operation involving four ships and one helicopter.
Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome back to the blog.
Today we’ll be looking at the latest news and analysis from around Europe.
Send tips and comments to lili.bayer@theguardian.com.