Musée d’Orsay adds AI and VR to display of artist’s last works, never previously seen together
For a man who died in 1890, Vincent van Gogh seemed remarkably au fait with 21st-century parlance.
Asked why he had cut off his left ear, the artist replied that this was a misconception and he had in fact only cut off “part of my earlobe”. So why did he shoot himself in the chest with a revolver, causing injuries from which he died two days later?
Continue reading...Exclusive: Defence and trade affected by poor post-Merkel rapport, says chair of foreign affairs committee
Poor relations between France and Germany are slowing down key decisions in the EU including deals on defence in Ukraine and trade, an influential German MEP has claimed.
David McAllister, chair of the European parliament’s foreign affairs committee and a key figure in the opposition Christian Democrats party, says he is concerned that the lack of contact between the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, is causing delays on key decisions on battle tanks and fighter jets, and a future trade deal with Latin America.
Continue reading...Countries including France, Germany and Poland all had their hottest Septembers on record
Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Poland and Switzerland have all experienced their hottest Septembers on record, with unseasonably high temperatures set to continue into October, in a year likely to be the warmest in human history.
As 31C (88F) was forecast in south-west France on Sunday and 28C in Paris, the French weather authority, Météo-France, said September’s average temperature was 21.5C, between 3.5C and 3.6C above the norm for the 1991-2020 reference period.
Continue reading...Exhibition honours French impressionist whose landscapes have helped island create jobs and forge global ties
The island of Guernsey may be best known as a tax haven for the super-wealthy, a pleasant holiday destination, and for the rich milk its docile cows produce.
But thanks to a brief sojourn by Pierre-Auguste Renoir 140 years ago, and the bold thinking of culture lovers on the island, it is becoming a draw for art fans.
Continue reading...Revisions to figures show stronger performance than Germany and France but momentum starts to stall
The UK economy made a faster recovery from the Covid pandemic than previously estimated, according to revisions to official figures revealing a stronger performance than Germany and France.
In a boost for Rishi Sunak before the Conservative party conference in Manchester beginning this weekend, revised figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed gross domestic product was 1.8% above pre-pandemic levels at the end of the second quarter this year.
Continue reading...‘World’s most beautiful avenue’ in French capital will undergo urgent cosmetic changes after years of decline
On paper and in urban legend, the Champs-Élysées is the most beautiful avenue in the world. For the last 30 years, however, Parisians have lamented the slow decline of the capital’s famous street.
The pavements flanking what is now an eight-lane highway used by an average 3,000 vehicles an hour have become an obstacle course of uneven paving stones and electricity cables and a hotchpotch of restaurant, bar, cafe and brasserie terraces of all shapes, sizes and colours.
Continue reading...Report urges changes in the law to make it easier to take down content and prosecute its makers
As much as 90% of pornographic content online features verbal, physical and sexual violence towards women, and a significant amount of violence shown is punishable under existing laws in France, a report by the government-nominated equality watchdog has found.
France’s high council for equality between women and men on Wednesday handed the government a damning report on illegal porn-industry practices, urging changes to the law to prosecute makers of pornography and to take down content in order to protect those who have been filmed.
Continue reading...Advisers of detained Mohamed Bazoum say French withdrawal removes coup leaders’ pretext for power grab
Aides and supporters of Niger’s deposed president, Mohamed Bazoum, have welcomed the decision of France to withdraw its diplomatic staff and military from the country, saying it will deny the military junta a “scapegoat” to disguise its failings.
Bazoum, a French ally whose election in 2021 had boosted hopes of stability in the unstable Sahel state, was detained on 26 July by members of his guard. Senior soldiers took power in the unstable Sahel state shortly afterwards.
Continue reading...The 50-point plan also aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 55% and includes new projects for offshore wind farms
Emmanuel Macron has unveiled a national “ecological plan” to reduce France’s greenhouse gas emissions by 55% and end the use of fossil fuels by 2030.
Speaking after a special ministerial council at the Elysée, the French president said an extra €10bn (£8.7bn) would be put towards the 50-point programme, which he described as “ecology à la Française”.
Continue reading...Emmanuel Macron says he will consult coup leaders on withdrawal after two months of defying their expulsion order
France will withdraw its ambassador from Niger followed by the French military contingent in the next months, Emmanuel Macron has said in the aftermath of the coup in the west African country that ousted the pro-Paris president.
The French president’s announcement appeared to end two months of defiance in which Paris’s ambassador had been kept in place in Niamey despite coup leaders ordering him to leave.
Continue reading...Five of ‘afro-trap’ pioneer’s fellow defendants also imprisoned over killing in what prosecutors said was a fight between rival gangs
French rapper MHD has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the 2018 murder of a young man in Paris who was rammed with a car before being set upon by a mob and stabbed.
Five of his fellow defendants were also jailed over the killing, receiving terms of between 10 and 18 years over what prosecutors said was a fight between rival gangs. Three other men were acquitted.
Continue reading...Once dismissed as a swimming pool drink, rosé is becoming the go-to wine for the French as traditions change
For the French, a glass of chilled blush rosé was once considered a delicate but not entirely serious “swimming pool drink”; a summer apéritif for lightweight, often female, tipplers.
Real wine lovers would select a red heavy with tannins, or a traditional white – both considered the true expression of French terroir, the untranslatable concept encompassing not just the soil in which the vines grow but also the natural, geological climatic and cultural elements associated with it.
Continue reading...Pontiff says rescuing those making Mediterranean crossings is a ‘duty of humanity’ on first visit by a pope to Marseille in 500 years
Pope Francis has decried what he called the “fanaticism of indifference” as people risked their lives on dangerous journeys by boat from north Africa to Europe, amid growing political debate over migration.
Opening an overnight visit to Marseille, the pontiff presided over a silent moment of prayer at a memorial dedicated to sailors and people who died at sea, surrounded by faith leaders and migrant rescue organisations from the Mediterranean port city.
Continue reading...Trip designed in part as show of friendship to reset UK-French relationship after Brexit years
King Charles was welcomed at a lavish state banquet at the Palace of Versailles on Wednesday night, at the start of a state visit to reinforce the renewed London-Paris relationship after the near total collapse in trust during the Boris Johnson years after Brexit.
In Versailles’ Hall of Mirrors, the famed 17th century gallery built by the “Sun King” Louis XIV to project the power and majesty of the French monarchy, King Charles and Emmanuel Macron were to make toasts celebrating French-British relations after a pre-dinner music recital.
Continue reading...Archaeologists to survey waters off coast of northern France using latest technology to scour seabed
Churchill called the mass evacuation of allied forces from the beach and pier at Dunkirk a “miracle of deliverance”, but the operation to rescue more than 330,000 troops trapped by German forces in May 1940 came at a heavy cost.
Of the up to 1,000 vessels, from military warships to fishing boats, lifeboats and pleasure craft, that scrambled to help the stranded men, hundreds were sunk during the nine-day Operation Dynamo with the loss of many lives.
Continue reading...Ariane Lavrilleux, who reported on leaked documents alleging French intelligence used to target civilians in Egypt, is in custody
France has been accused of an unacceptable attack on press freedom after the arrest of an investigative journalist who reported on leaked documents that alleged French intelligence was used to target civilians in Egypt.
Police arrived at the home of Ariane Lavrilleux at dawn on Tuesday and took her into custody after searching her property. The news agency AFP reported that she was being questioned by agents of the DGSI, France’s domestic intelligence agency.
Continue reading...Rishi Sunak’s government seen as less competent that Boris Johnson’s administration
The UK economy is set to witness the highest inflation rate of the world’s G7 advanced economies this year, according to new forecasts, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) also increased its predicted average UK inflation rate for 2023 compared with its previous estimate.
Economists at the globally recognised organisation also reduced their UK growth forecast slightly for next year amid pressure from higher interest rates.
Continue reading...Talks between Labour leader and French president at Élysée described as ‘warm and engaging’
Keir Starmer has completed his international mini-tour by meeting Emmanuel Macron in Paris for symbolically significant if low-key talks that skirted around specifics of Brexit or migration policy.
After discussions in The Hague with EU law enforcement officials, and weekend meetings with Justin Trudeau and others in Montreal, the Labour leader held 45 minutes of one-to-one talks with the French president at the Élysée Palace.
Continue reading...Artistic director Olivier Rousteing posted that a van travelling between a Paris airport and the firm’s main office was hijacked
Balmain artistic director Olivier Rousteing has said robbers have made off with more than 50 pieces of the new collection that his Paris house intended to show at fashion week later this month.
Posting overnight on Sunday on Instagram, Rousteing said a group of people hijacked his delivery driver on the way from an airport to Balmain’s Paris headquarters. He said they made off with the last pieces he had been expecting for the 27 September womenswear show – more than 50 items in all. He did not give a breakdown of the stolen items.
Continue reading...Works by painter, whose turbulent life often overshadowed his short career, go on display in Paris
The life of the Russian-born French artist Nicolas de Staël was short, turbulent and ultimately tragic.
Forced into exile by the 1917 revolution, orphaned, a loner who was hopelessly romantic but unlucky in love, De Staël died at the age of 41 after he threw himself out of the window of his Côte d’Azur atelier after the woman with whom he was obsessed rejected him.
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