Category Archives: France

‘Vandalism’: outcry over plans to replace Notre Dame Cathedral’s chapel windows

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Thousands sign petition challenging Macron-backed restoration that would add contemporary design to building

A plan backed by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, to replace stained-glass windows in Notre Dame Cathedral’s side chapels with contemporary creations has been criticised as “vandalism”.

A petition has been signed by more than 120,000 people to retain the original windows. Critics say the change would destroy the architectural harmony of the historical building that was ravaged by fire in April 2019.

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Ski resorts battle for a future as snow declines in climate crisis

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International Ski Federation urged to cut emissions, while activists warn of damage through heavy use of snowmaking

After promising early dumps of snow in some areas of Europe this autumn, the pattern of recent years resumed and rain and sleet took over.

In the ski resorts of Morzine and Les Gets in the French Alps, the heavy rainfall meant that full opening of resorts was delayed until two days before Christmas, leaving the industry and the millions of tourists planning trips to stare at the sky in hope.

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Christmas getaway travel disruption likely to continue through weekend

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Weather warnings issued for drivers and London’s King’s Cross and Paddington stations will be closed

Christmas getaway travel disruption is expected to continue throughout the weekend, with millions of car journeys under way and major London railway stations due to close on Sunday.

The AA estimated that 16.4m car journeys will take place on Saturday and warned of “lengthy jams”.

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Christmas getaway disruption continues amid Dover, road and rail delays

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Eurostar and Eurotunnel services resume on Friday but drivers face 60-minute queue for French border controls

Christmas getaway disruption was continuing on Friday with long queues for cross-Channel journeys, motorway closures and train cancellations on one of the busiest days of the year for travel.

In the late afternoon the Port of Dover in Kent said it was taking about 60 minutes to process cars before French border controls.

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French police botched Michel Fourniret case, say UK victim’s parents

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Roger Parrish and Pauline Murrell say police might have stopped serial killer and his accomplice sooner

The parents of Joanna Parrish, the British student who was murdered by the French serial killer Michel Fourniret 33 years ago, have said their daughter and other victims could have been saved if police in France had done their job properly.

Roger Parrish and Pauline Murrell believe chances were missed to get to Fourniret before he beat, raped and killed their daughter and threw her body in a river in 1990.

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Emmanuel Macron denies controversial immigration bill is victory for far right

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French president defends law on prime time TV, saying it has not sparked a political crisis following health minister’s resignation

A combative Emmanuel Macron has defended his controversial immigration bill, including the measures supported by the far right.

The French president appeared on a prime time news discussion programme to answer questions about the bill and denied the law passed by MPs on Tuesday had provoked a political crisis in his centrist government, despite the resignation of a high-profile minister.

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France jails former doctor for 24 years over role in 1994 Rwanda genocide

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Sosthene Munyemana is sixth person to be tried and convicted in France over involvement in slaughter of Tutsi minority

Former Rwandan doctor Sosthene Munyemana has been jailed for 24 years by a French court for his involvement in the 1994 genocide of Tutsis.

The 68-year-old former gynaecologist was on Wednesday found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and participation in a conspiracy to prepare these crimes.

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France passes controversial immigration bill amid deep division in Macron’s party

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Strict new law contains so many hardline measures that the far-right Marine Le Pen has claimed it as an ‘ideological victory’

The French government is facing a political crisis after the health minister Aurélien Rousseau offered his resignation in protest over a hardline immigration bill.

Emmanuel Macron’s ruling centrist party was divided and soul-searching on Wednesday after a strict new immigration law was approved by parliament but contained so many hardline measures that the far-right Marine Le Pen claimed it as an “ideological victory” for her own anti-immigration platform.

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Ex-wife of French serial killer found guilty of complicity in Joanna Parrish’s murder

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Twenty-year-old British student killed by Michel Fourniret, Monique Olivier’s ex-husband, in 1990

The ex-wife of the French serial killer Michel Fourniret has been found guilty of complicity in the murder of British student Joanna Parrish and two other French victims.

Monique Olivier, 75, had admitted the accusations, but a panel of three judges and six jurors still took more than 10 hours to find her guilty after a three-week trial.

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Gérard Depardieu accused of rape by Spanish journalist and author

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Ruth Baza, 51, said previous allegations against Depardieu provoked ‘flashes’ of memory of alleged 30-year-old assault

A Spanish journalist and author has filed a criminal complaint in Spain against Gérard Depardieu, claiming that the film star raped her nearly 30 years ago in Paris.

Ruth Baza, 51, told AFP she filed the complaint with Spanish police on Thursday, saying the alleged rape happened when she interviewed the actor in Paris on 12 October 1995, for the magazine Cinemania.

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French couple lose court case over rare African mask worth millions

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Couple sold mask to dealer for €150 in 2021 before it was sold to unidentified buyer for €4.2m

A French couple who sold an “extremely rare” African mask for €150 only to discover it was worth millions have had a request to cancel the artefact’s sale thrown out in court.

The couple, in their 80s, sold the wooden mask in September 2021 to a secondhand goods dealer as part of the sale of a number of antiquities including African artefacts that they had kept in their secondary home in southern France.

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French museum removes Gérard Depardieu waxwork after assault claims

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Likeness on display at Grévin Museum since 1981 is removed as allegations against actor are back in spotlight

A French museum has removed a wax likeness of Gérard Depardieu, the latest measure taken against the actor since he faced allegations of sexual assault.

The Grévin Museum in Paris said on Monday it had taken away the waxwork “following the negative reactions of visitors” passing in front of it, as well as comments on social media.

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Alex Batty’s French hosts say he wanted ‘normal life’

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Owners of gite where formerly missing British boy spent time say he enjoyed sharing in their family life

The owners of a remote French gite where teenager Alex Batty stayed on and off for two years have said he was eager to go to school and “get back to a normal life”.

Ingrid Beauve and Fred Hambye said they treated Alex as part of their family and had no idea of his true identity until last week.

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Alex Batty back in UK six years after vanishing on holiday in Spain

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Teenager whose disappearance, aged 11, sparked an international police hunt, flies home after being found in France

Teenager Alex Batty has returned to the UK six years after disappearing while on holiday in Spain with his mother and grandfather, police said on Saturday.

Detectives told a press conference at Greater Manchester police HQ that the teenager, who was 11 when he went missing, met his step-grandfather at Toulouse airport earlier on Saturday before flying back to the UK.

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New Notre Dame rooster marks pivotal moment in cathedral’s restoration

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Crane installs weathervane symbolising resurrection, resilience and hope following devastating 2019 fire

The installation by a crane of a new golden rooster on Notre Dame, reimagined as a dramatic phoenix with licking, flamed feathers, goes beyond being just a weathervane atop the cathedral spire.

It symbolises resilience amid destruction after the devastating April 2019 fire – as restoration officials also revealed an anti-fire misting system is being kitted out under the cathedral’s roof.

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Alex Batty to return to UK six years after going missing during holiday

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Teenager believed to have been abducted by mother in 2017 was found in France earlier this week

Alex Batty, the British teenager who has been missing for six years, will return to the UK on Saturday afternoon.

The 17-year-old is expected to be reunited with his grandmother, Susan Caruana, his legal guardian, who has not seen her grandson since he disappeared in 2017.

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Nobel laureate sues French concrete maker Lafarge over alleged Islamic State support

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Nadia Murad and 430 US citizens of Yazidi background suing conglomerate over payments it made to terrorist group

About 430 Americans of Yazidi background and Nobel laureate Nadia Murad accused French conglomerate Lafarge of supporting brutal attacks on the population through a conspiracy with the Islamic State, according to a complaint reviewed by AFP.

The civil suit, filed in a New York court by attorneys that include human rights lawyer Amal Clooney references a $778m US Department of Justice fine and guilty criminal plea in October 2022 by Lafarge, which was acquired by Swiss company Holcim in 2015.

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Bardonecchia in Italy trumps Bulgarian resorts as best value ski spot

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Piedmont town near French border is now best budget ski resort in Europe for adults, figures show

The ski resorts of Bulgaria have long been seen as the best option for British skiers hoping to hit the slopes on a budget. Borovets and Bansko might not have the glitz of Verbier, the after-ski buzz of St Anton, or the picturesque villages of the Trois Vallées, but as the solid, wallet-friendly option, Bulgaria has been unbeatable for more than a decade.

All that has changed, however, with the Bulgarian resorts this year being eclipsed by an unlikely budget rival: Bardonecchia in Italy. The Piedmont town, 96km from Turin and a few minutes’ drive from the border with France, is now the best value ski resort in Europe for adults, according to research.

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Orbán must not hold EU hostage over Ukraine, Macron says

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French president accuses Hungarian PM of being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing aid

Viktor Orbán must not be allowed to take the EU “hostage”, Emmanuel Macron has said, after the Hungarian prime minister blocked a €50bn EU aid package for Ukraine in the early hours of Friday.

As leaders of the European Union start working on the details of Plan B to raise the money through cash and loans, the French president said Orbán was being dishonest to the public about his reasons for vetoing the financial package and would ultimately come around.

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Alex Batty fled across Pyrenees after mother planned Finland move, French police say

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British teen allegedly kidnapped in 2017 told passing driver ‘I need a future’ after he was found in remote corner of France

A British teenager allegedly kidnapped by his mother six years ago fled across the Pyrenees after she announced plans to take him to Finland, French police have said.

Alex Batty, 17, told a passing driver “I need a future” after he was found in a remote corner of south-west France in the early hours of Wednesday, carrying only a skateboard and €100 in cash.

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