In leaked memo to culture minister, Laurence des Cars sounds alarm over state of Paris art gallery
Visiting the Louvre has become a “physical ordeal” as the throngs of tourists, leaks and substandard catering take a toll on the world’s most-visited museum, its director has said in a leaked memo.
The document, written by Laurence des Cars for the French culture minister, Rachida Dati, but leaked to the media on Thursday, sounded the alarm over the state of the Paris museum.
Continue reading...Friedrich Merz says he will boost border controls if he wins power in next month’s elections
Germany’s opposition leader has pledged to strengthen border controls and step up deportations if he becomes chancellor after elections next month, a day after an Afghan man was arrested over a knife attack in which two people died.
Friedrich Merz, whose conservative CDU/CSU alliance is leading in polls, said he would not allow attacks like the one in the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg on Wednesday to become a “normal affair”.
Continue reading...Nine Real Sociedad football fans were injured, one seriously, in central Rome late on Wednesday, allegedly after being violently attacked by hardcore “ultra” Lazio supporters.
According to reports in Italian media, the Spanish fans were among a group of about 70 allegedly set upon by what appeared to be about 80 Lazio ultras, who were armed with clubs, chains and knives and hammers, outside a pub on Via Leonina in the Monti district of the Italian capital. Security in the city has been upped before the Europa League match at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico on Thursday night.
Continue reading...Family complained food was ‘uneatable’ and room was dirty and smelly at four-star Club Med hotel in Provence
A British family who claimed they “went home miserable” from a luxury French hotel after they were given stale croissants and a smelly room have won thousands of pounds in damages.
Damen Bennion, 52, told his children “Daddy would get things sorted” when they arrived at their holiday in Provence and found the four-star hotel did not meet their expectations.
Continue reading...Report reveals solar power generated 11% of Europe’s electricity, surpassing coal at 10%
Europe made more electricity from sunshine than coal last year, a report has found, in what analysts called a “milestone” for the clean energy transition.
Solar panels generated 11% of the EU’s electricity in 2024, while coal-burning power plants generated 10%, according to data from climate thinktank Ember. The role of fossil gas fell for the fifth year in a row to cover 16% of the electricity mix.
Continue reading...US president tells his Russian counterpart to ‘settle now and stop this ridiculous war’ or face repercussions
Donald Trump has threatened Russia with taxes, tariffs and sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not struck soon, as the new US president tries to increase pressure on Moscow to start negotiations with Kyiv.
Writing in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday, Trump said Russia’s economy was failing and urged Vladimir Putin to “settle now and stop this ridiculous war”.
Continue reading...Félix ‘the Cat’ Bingui due to appear in Marseille court on multiple charges including money laundering
One of France’s most wanted suspected drug traffickers was due in court in Marseille after his extradition from Morocco.
Félix Bingui, known as “the Cat” and reportedly head of the notorious Yoda clan, was arrested in Casablanca last March.
Continue reading...Martin’s formal appointment as taoiseach blocked after day of ‘utter disgrace’ in Irish parliament
Ireland’s incoming prime minister, Micheál Martin, has accused opponents of a “subversion of the Irish constitution” after formal election to the role was cancelled amid chaotic scenes in the Irish parliament.
The outgoing taoiseach, Martin’s coalition partner, Simon Harris, called Wednesday’s events in Dáil an “utter disgrace [with] so many pressing issues” facing the country, as a spiralling row over the speaking rights of independent TDs torpedoed the first day of Martin’s new term in office.
Continue reading...Chancellor Olaf Scholz condemns ‘act of terror’ in Aschaffenburg that killed two people including toddler
A 28-year-old Afghan man has been arrested after a knife attack in a park in the German city of Aschaffenburg that killed two people, including a toddler, in what the country’s chancellor, Olaf Scholz, condemned as an “act of terror”.
With a month left in a campaign for snap elections dominated by debate on immigration and asylum policy, Scholz demanded authorities “explain immediately why the assailant was even still in Germany”.
Continue reading...Case of Osama Najim puts spotlight on controversial migration pact between Italy and Libya
Giorgia Meloni’s government is under pressure to clarify why a Rome court refused to approve the arrest of a Libyan general accused of war crimes, allowing him to return home to a hero’s welcome on an Italian secret services flight in what critics believe was a tactic to shield alleged abuses committed in the north African country as a result of a migrant pact with Italy.
Osama Najim, also known as Almasri, was detained in Turin on Sunday on a warrant issued by the international criminal court (ICC) before being freed on Tuesday owing to a procedural technicality.
Continue reading...Witnesses say people used bed sheets or jumped to try to get out of the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel after fire broke out early in the morning
Seventy-six people died and 51 others were injured when a fire engulfed a popular ski resort hotel in Turkey’s Bolu mountains, forcing guests to jump out of windows or attempt to use bed sheets to flee the building.
The fire broke out at about 3.30am on Tuesday in the restaurant of the 12-storey Grand Kartal hotel in the resort of Kartalkaya in Bolu province, north-west Turkey.
Continue reading...Some say it was an unambiguous Nazi salute but others are unsure and say focus should be on Musk’s stated support for far-right
There were angry reactions across Europe to Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned for its Nazi links in Germany, where some condemned it as malicious provocation or an outreach of solidarity to far-right groups.
Michel Friedman, a prominent German-French publicist and former deputy chair of the Central Council of Jews in Germany, described Musk’s actions – at an event after Donald Trump’s swearing in as US president – as a disgrace and said Musk had shown that a “dangerous point for the entire free world” had been reached.
Continue reading...Ukrainian president tells Davos that Europe must establish itself as an ‘indispensable’ player on the global stage
Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that “at least 200,000” allied troops would be needed to enforce any peace deal in Ukraine as he urged Europe to “take care of itself” as Donald Trump returns to power in the US.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelenskyy said European leaders should not ask themselves what Trump would do next, and said that they instead needed to take collective steps to defend their continent at a time when it was under aggressive attack by Russia.
Continue reading...MPs say the need for consent-based law was highlighted again by trial of 51 men over abuse of Gisèle Pelicot
France should update its rape law to add a clear reference to consent, a parliamentary report has found, months after French society was shaken by the trial of 51 men over the repeated drugging and rape of Gisèle Pelicot.
The report, to be presented on Tuesday, said action must be taken urgently to update the law. “Almost 10 years after the start of the #MeToo movement, and as the [Pelicot] trial showed once again, the fight against rape culture must be a priority: the fight against rape culture needs a law that is clearer,” it found.
Continue reading...Osama Najim was arrested amid claims he used detained migrants in ‘a form of slavery’, but then freed after after a mistake by prosecutors
A Libyan general wanted for alleged war crimes and violence against inmates at a prison near Tripoli has been arrested in the northern Italian city of Turin – and then released after an apparent mistake by prosecutors.
Osama Najim, also known as Almasri, was detained on Sunday on an international arrest warrant after a tipoff from Interpol, a source at the prosecutors office for the Piedmont region confirmed.
Continue reading...Some in Kyiv think deal touted by US president is unrealistic but others have he will help end the war
People in Kyiv expressed a mixture of hope and scepticism on Tuesday that Donald Trump can end the war in Ukraine, as Volodymyr Zelenskyy praised the US president as a “decisive” leader who would bring about a “just peace”.
Trump described himself as a “peacekeeper” who would avoid entangling the US in damaging foreign wars in his inauguration speech, but did not mention Ukraine, or explain how he might persuade Vladimir Putin to engage in negotiations almost three years after his full-scale invasion.
Continue reading...Most leaders were diplomatic about their differences, while others more ideologically aligned with the new US president voiced their joy
International leaders have responded with a mixture of wariness, anger and enthusiasm to Donald Trump’s inauguration as US president, with Panama pushing back on his pledge to retake the Panama Canal and Mexico vowing to defend its people ahead of a crackdown on migrants.
After Trump declared that the Panama Canal was a “foolish gift” to Panama that “should never have been made” during his inauguration speech, Panama’s President José Raúl Mulino said the waterway “is and will continue to be Panamanian”.
Continue reading...Leadership at international criminal court fears new US administration will move quickly to shut it down
The international criminal court is bracing itself for Donald Trump to launch aggressive economic sanctions against it this week, amid fears such a move could paralyse its work and pose an existential threat.
ICC officials are preparing for Trump’s new US administration to act quickly once in office to impose draconian financial and travel restrictions against the court and senior staff, including its chief prosecutor and judges.
Continue reading...Exclusive: William Blake-inspired artwork to feature alongside new paintings in artist’s biggest exhibition
A previously unseen painting by David Hockney has been revealed for the first time before its unveiling in the biggest exhibition to be devoted to one of Britain’s foremost living artists.
Titled After Blake: Less is Known than People Think, the work will be among hundreds of previously unknown Hockneys that are to be displayed alongside his famous masterpieces at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris from April.
Continue reading...Rents spiral and neighbourhoods lose charm as cities report tourist flat boom and surge in housing speculation
Ciutat Vella, the old city of Barcelona, was once quirky and mysterious.
Now it has become a parody of itself, a place from which the local population has been exiled in the interests of tourism and maturing investments. Doorways have sprouted combination key safes, a telltale sign of an apartment given over to tourist lets. A 100-year-old apothecary and shirtmaker that stood on La Rambla for two centuries have been replaced by shops selling flamenco dolls and ceramic bulls.
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