- Hawaii's Kilauea volcano erupts, spewing columns of lava
- El Salvador Congress votes to end ban on metal mining
- Five things to know about Panama Canal, in Trump's sights
- NBA fines Minnesota guard Edwards $75,000 for outburst
- Haitians massacred for practicing voodoo were abducted, hacked to death: UN
- Inter beat Como to keep in touch with leaders Atalanta
- Man Utd boss Amorim questions 'choices' of Rashford's entourage
- Trump's TikTok love raises stakes in battle over app's fate
- Is he serious? Trump stirs unease with Panama, Greenland ploys
- England captain Stokes to miss three months with torn hamstring
- Support grows for Blake Lively over smear campaign claim
- Canada records 50,000 opioid overdose deaths since 2016
- Jordanian, Qatari envoys hold talks with Syria's new leader
- France's second woman premier makes surprise frontline return
- France's Macron announces fourth government of the year
- Netanyahu tells Israel parliament 'some progress' on Gaza hostage deal
- Guatemalan authorities recover minors taken by sect members
- Germany's far-right AfD holds march after Christmas market attack
- Serie A basement club Monza fire coach Nesta
- Mozambique top court confirms ruling party disputed win
- Syrian medics say were coerced into false chemical attack testimony
- NASA solar probe to make its closest ever pass of Sun
- London toy 'shop' window where nothing is for sale
- Volkswagen boss hails cost-cutting deal but shares fall
- Accused killer of US insurance CEO pleads not guilty to 'terrorist' murder
- Global stock markets mostly higher
- Not for sale. Greenland shrugs off Trump's new push
- Acid complicates search after deadly Brazil bridge collapse
- Norwegian Haugan dazzles in men's World Cup slalom win
- Arsenal's Saka out for 'many weeks' with hamstring injury
- Mali singer Traore child custody case postponed
- France mourns Mayotte victims amid uncertainy over government
- UK economy stagnant in third quarter in fresh setback
- African players in Europe: Salah leads Golden Boot race after brace
- German far-right AfD to march in city hit by Christmas market attack
- Ireland centre Henshaw signs IRFU contract extension
- Bangladesh launches $5bn graft probe into Hasina's family
- US probes China chip industry on 'anticompetitive' concerns
- Biden commutes sentences for 37 of 40 federal death row inmates
- Clock ticks down on France government nomination
- Mozambique on edge as judges rule on disputed election
- Mobile cinema brings Tunisians big screen experience
- Honda and Nissan to launch merger talks
- Police arrest suspect who set woman on fire in New York subway
- China vows 'cooperation' over ship linked to severed Baltic Sea cables
- Australian tennis star Purcell provisionally suspended for doping
- Luxury Western goods line Russian stores, three years into sanctions
- Wallace and Gromit return with comic warning about AI dystopia
- Philippine military says will acquire US Typhon missile system
- Afghan bread, the humble centrepiece of every meal
Hiker's death revives hunting debate in French presidential fight
The accidental killing of a hiker by a teenage hunter in central France has rekindled debate among the country's presidential hopefuls over a divisive tradition that critics say needs more strict regulation.
The victim, a 25-year-old woman, was walking with a friend along a marked trail near Aurillac, in the heavily forested Cantal region, when she died after being hit by a stray bullet on Saturday.
The shot came from a 17-year-old girl taking part in a group hunt for wild boar, who was initially treated in hospital for shock before being taken into custody for questioning, which continued late Sunday.
Even though France's love of its rural heritage runs deep, the tragedy added to the growing pressure for tougher rules on hunting in a country with the largest number of hunters in Europe.
There are around one million permit-holding hunters in France, according to the FNC hunters' federation, and together with their supporters and families they could represent a pool of around five million voters, out of around 48 million registered to cast ballots.
"We urgently need more regulation of this activity," Yannick Jadot, the Greens candidate for the April presidential vote, said Saturday.
Jean-Luc Melenchon, who is leading in the polls among leftwing candidates hoping to unseat President Emmanuel Macron, called to prohibit hunting on weekends and during school holidays "because that's when there's the biggest risk."
Macron will likely face questions at his scheduled appearance at the Paris Agriculture Show on Saturday, a crucial annual visit for all politicians looking to court the rural vote.
According to French daily Le Monde, citing France's biodiversity office, there have been 3,325 hunting accidents in France since 2000, resulting in 421 deaths.
- 'Tighten the rules' -
France is one of the few European countries that do not prohibit hunting on certain days during the season, instead allowing hunters to shoot at all times as long as they alert others of their activity -- a requirement decried by critics as insufficient.
A petition last autumn seeking to outlaw hunting on Sundays and Wednesdays, when many schools do not have class, garnered 120,000 signatures and prompted the Senate to create a panel to assess its safety.
Macron's government has always steered clear of expressing hostility to the traditional practice of hunting but has repeatedly left open the possibility of a more restrictive approach.
"If it turns out we need to tighten the rules further, we will do so," Macron's secretary of state in charge of biodiversity, Berangere Abba, told AFP, noting that France has announced the creation of an app that could indicate areas where hunts are taking place.
But such apps are often opposed by hunting groups, who say they could be used by anti-hunting activists to disrupt organised hunts.
Abba said the young hunter, who had tested negative for drug or alcohol use, had obtained her permit when 16.
"We need to verify that the hunt was correctly communicated and marked," Abba added, in particular with posted signs to alert hikers and others.
Willy Schraen, head of the FNC, which has long resisted limits, said on Facebook that local chapters were being contacted "to remind everyone of all the safety rules."
France has in recent months banned traditional hunting techniques of birds in line with a 2009 EU directive, such as hunting with nets or bird cages or glue hunting.
Macron, who is favourite to win the election, has yet to formally declare his candidacy and speculation is fizzing over whether the announcement will be made before or after the agriculture fair.
O.Gaspar--PC