Category Archives: France

‘We want our riches back’ – the African activist taking treasures from Europe’s museums

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Mwazulu Diyabanza has been fined and jailed for entering museums and forcibly removing ‘pillaged’ African artefacts. He tells our writer why the British Museum is now in his sights

Mwazulu Diyabanza makes no secret of why he is in France. If coronavirus had not closed most of Europe’s museums, the Congolese activist would probably be inside one right now, wresting African objects from their displays to highlight what he sees as the mass pillaging of the continent by European colonialists.

And it’s not just the mighty museums. Diyabanza and his supporters also plan to include smaller galleries, private collections and auction houses in their campaign. “Wherever the riches of our heritage and culture have been stolen,” says the 42-year-old, “we will intervene.” As the leader of a pan-African movement called Yanka Nku (Unity, Dignity and Courage), Diyabanza is on a mission is to recover all works of art and culture taken from Africa to Europe. He calls his method “active diplomacy”.

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Outrage over French girl’s rape case sparks demand for law to protect minors

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Campaigners call for the introduction of an age of consent as 20 firefighters face charges

Protests will take place across France on Sunday in support of a woman allegedly raped by 20 firefighters when she was between 13 and 15 years old. Her case is being examined in the country’s highest court this week and campaigners hope it will lead to an age of sexual consent being enshrined in law as it is in the rest of the European Union.

Julie* says she was raped by Parisian firefighters over a period of two years, having been groomed by Pierre, a firefighter who had assisted her during a severe anxiety seizure when she was 13 in early 2008. Three of the accused have admitted they had sex with her but say it was consensual. In a journal written shortly afterwards Julie says she was “terrified and paralysed with fear” at the time.

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A quarter of people in France, Germany and the US may refuse Covid vaccine

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Survey finds hesitancy related to trust in government, and more acute in younger people

Nearly four in ten people in France, more than 25% of those in the US and 23% in Germany say they definitely or probably will not get vaccinated against Covid-19, according to a survey that underlines the challenge facing governments.

Hesitancy was markedly lower in Italy (12%), the UK (14%) and the Netherlands (17%), according to the seven-country survey, which revealed a close correlation between people’s reluctance to be vaccinated and their trust in central government.

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Court convicts French state for failure to address climate crisis

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State found guilty of ‘non-respect of its engagements’ aimed at fighting global warming

A Paris court has convicted the French state of failing to address the climate crisis and not keeping its promises to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

In what has been hailed as a historic ruling, the court found the state guilty of “non-respect of its engagements” aimed at combating global warming.

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French minister criticises UK’s ‘risky’ Covid vaccine strategy

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Clément Beaune says French would not accept such risks, as he defends EU’s slower progress

Britain has taken “a lot of risks” in its Covid vaccination programme that would be intolerable to the French public, France’s Europe minister, Clément Beaune, has said in defence of the EU’s record on vaccines.

With 14% of the UK adult population having received a first jab, compared with 3% of people across the 27 EU member states, there is growing discontent in the bloc.

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Tens of thousands protest against new French security bill

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Demonstrators, including gilet jaunes activists, also protested against Covid restrictions

Tens of thousands of protesters turned out in dozens of French cities on Saturday to oppose a security bill they say will restrict the filming and publicising of images of police brutality.

Demonstrators also protested against the restrictions imposed to halt the spread of coronavirus and to stand up for the cultural sector, which has been especially hard-hit by the measures.

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From lockdowns to pool parties: how Covid rules vary around the world

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Countries have adopted different rules on business activity, education, socialising and travel

Curfews and lockdowns Restrictions have largely been relaxed in most of Brazil’s 26 states, although several continue to limit opening hours for bars, restaurants and shops. A round-the-clock curfew was imposed this week in Brazil’s biggest state, Amazonas, after hospitals were overwhelmed.

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‘Half-friends is not a concept’: UK should decide who its allies are, says Macron

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‘History and geography don’t change – I don’t think British destiny is different to ours,’ says French president

Emmanuel Macron has warned that Boris Johnson’s government has to decide who its allies are, insisting that “half-friends is not a concept”.

“What politics does Great Britain wish to choose? It cannot be the best ally of the US, the best ally of the EU and the new Singapore … It has to choose a model,” the French president said, in an interview with the Guardian and a small group of other media.

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Napoleon’s manuscript on victory at Battle of Austerlitz goes on sale

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Dictated account of military success in 1805 contains several corrections made by the exiled French leader

Napoleon Bonaparte’s account of his victory at the Battle of Austerlitz, dictated and annotated during his exile on the island of St Helena, has gone on sale in Paris for €1m (£880,000).

The description of the battle, the strategy behind which is still taught in military schools, is viewed by historians as evidence of Napoleon’s desire to record his hour of glory for posterity after his 1815 humiliation at Waterloo and subsequent capture by the British.

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Lupin’s Omar Sy: ‘We wanted to show what the French are capable of’

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The actor stars in Netflix’s biggest French-language hit as a gentleman thief. He and the director, Louis Leterrier, explain how the drama drew in 70 million fans worldwide

“We wanted to show what the French were capable of in terms of making a series, but frankly we didn’t expect it to do what it has.” Omar Sy, the star of the latest Netflix smash hit, Lupin, is speaking over the phone from Senegal. The line between London and Dakar isn’t great, but the charm that has helped his slick, charismatic character – a modern day gentleman thief – connect with audiences around the world is still evident.

Streaming services have been the dominant source of cultural output in the past year, so the chances are that you have at least heard of Lupin, even if you haven’t got round to bingeing Netflix’s biggest French language hit to date. Ranking in the Top 10 on the platform in multiple countries – climbing to No 2 in the UK and the US – as well as being projected to have reached 70 million households in the first month of streaming, Lupin is a family-friendly show – perhaps one of the elements that has given it an edge over the likes of Bridgerton and The Queen’s Gambit.

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Ageing Pompidou Centre in Paris to close for four years for renovation

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French culture minister says it will be quicker and cheaper to close the cultural landmark entirely

The Pompidou Centre, one of Paris’s top cultural attractions and home to Europe’s biggest modern art collection, is to close from 2023 for four years of renovations, France’s culture minister has said.

Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Richard Rogers, the Pompidou Centre opened in 1977 and is showing visible signs of ageing.

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‘We will go after aggressors’: France to tighten incest laws, vows Macron

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President promises legislative changes after book accuses top commentator of abusing stepson

France will tighten its laws on incest, the president, Emmanuel Macron, said in a series of tweets on Saturday, after the publication of a book accusing a top French political commentator of abusing his stepson sparked outrage across the country.

Macron said on his Twitter account that France needed to adapt its laws to better protect children from sexual violence and that he had asked the justice minister to chair a consultation aimed at quickly making legislative proposals. “We will go after the aggressors,” Macron said.

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Icelandic man receives world’s first double-arm-and-shoulder transplant

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Patient lost both arms in work accident 23 years ago and it took years to find suitable donors for the complex operation

An Icelandic man who got the world’s first double-shoulder-and-arm transplant is recovering well after the operation, two decades after the accident that cost him both limbs, doctors have said.

They said it was still uncertain how much mobility Felix Gretarsson, 48, will recover following the operation earlier this month in the southeastern French city of Lyon.

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Google threatens to leave Australia – but its poker face is slipping

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Analysis: tech firm’s refusal to pay news publishers comes as it agrees to do exactly that in France

The biggest companies in technology love an ultimatum but rarely do they spell out their threats. This week, however, Google has done exactly that, telling an Australian parliamentary hearing that a proposed law forcing the company to pay news publishers for the right to link to their content “would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia”.

The threat, from the company’s Australian managing director, Mel Silva, is the latest escalation in a war of words over the proposal, which seeks to undo some of the damage online business models have dealt to the country’s publishing industry.

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‘In Paris, we are terrified of vulgarity’: lessons in French style from Call My Agent!

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The costume designer from the hit French show on how the clothes make the characters – and how you can channel their effortless chic

In France, the hit Netflix series Call My Agent! is called Dix Pour Cent in reference to the fee charged by French cinema agents. For those in the know, the name says it all. For others, like me, the reference was opaque at first, but it sent the message that this is a show – unlike others representing a cliched take on French life, such as Emily in Paris – that positions itself as an insider’s peek into the capital and its movie business.

The many cameos from A-list actors playing themselves – with Charlotte Gainsbourg and Sigourney Weaver lined up to appear in season four; Weaver called the series “a love letter to the business” – similarly underlines the show’s proximity to the authentic professional world, something that is subtly shown, too, through its clothes.

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France passes ‘sensory heritage’ law after plight of Maurice the noisy rooster

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Senators approve law to protect the noises and smells of the countryside following high-profile cases

From crowing roosters to the whiff of barnyard animals, the “sensory heritage” of France’s countryside will now be protected by law from attempts to stifle the everyday aspects of rural life from newcomers looking for peace and quiet.

French senators on Thursday gave final approval to a law proposed in the wake of several high-profile conflicts by village residents and vacationers, or recent arrivals derided as “neo-rurals”.

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Previously unseen dog painting by Manet to be sold at Paris auction

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Artist painted pet as present for Marguerite Lathuille, whose family has owned picture for last 140 years

A previously unseen painting of a pet dog by Édouard Manet will be sold for the first time at an auction in Paris next month.

The French modernist artist dashed off the small work in 1879 as a present for Marguerite Lathuille, the daughter of a Paris innkeeper whose portrait he painted around the same time.

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Blow for French ski resorts as Covid rules hit holiday season

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Government says restrictions likely to remain in place through vital half-term period

French ski resorts have been warned they are unlikely to be allowed to fully reopen in time for the half-term school holidays, normally one of the busiest times of the year.

The government has announced that lifts and cable cars must remain closed due to the continuing Covid-19 spread. Ski resorts had been hoping to restart the lifts on 1 February in time for what are known as the winter sports holidays, when they are usually packed.

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Brexit has driven 2,500 finance jobs and €170bn to France, says bank governor

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Bank of France chief claims ‘50 British entities’ have moved over the Channel, while Dublin, Amsterdam and Frankfurt have also benefited

The Bank of France’s governor has said that Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union has driven almost 2,500 jobs and “at least €170bn in assets” to France.

London remains the continent’s foremost financial centre but Amsterdam, Dublin, Frankfurt and Paris have all scrambled to attract businesses that wanted to remain active in the 19-nation eurozone.

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