Management ask visitors to ‘choose clothing in keeping with the decorum of the theatre’ after complaints
Operagoers have been warned they will be banned from entering Milan’s prestigious La Scala theatre if they turn up wearing shorts, tank tops or flip-flops. Kimonos, however, are acceptable.
The venue’s management team reminded people how not to dress for an opera after complaints that some spectators were donning attire more suitable for the beach.
Continue reading...The American designer balances a homage to the past with a nod to his own fashion story
After a year of musical chairs in fashion, September is gearing up to be one of its biggest show months ever: with debut collections slated from new creative directors at brands including Matthieu Blazy at Chanel and ex-Balenciaga designer Demna at Gucci.
On Sunday in Paris, Michael Rider, who recently succeeded Hedi Slimane at Celine, decided to get a head start.
Continue reading...About 1,000 swimmers a day will be allowed to use three bathing sites after €1.4bn clean-up programme
Parisians and tourists flocked to take a dip in the Seine River this weekend after city authorities gave the green light for it to be used for public swimming for the first time in more than a century.
The opening followed a comprehensive clean-up programme sped up by its use as a venue in last year’s Paris Olympics after people who regularly swam in it illegally lobbied for its transformation. The outgoing mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, also helped to champion the plans, jumping in the river herself before the Olympics.
Continue reading...Home secretary says working with French is vital to stop boats crossing, as UK prepares for Emmanuel Macron visit
Yvette Cooper has lauded new tactics used by the French to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats, before Emmanuel Macron’s visit to the UK this week, during which new initiatives are likely to be announced.
It is understood that a French review of how police could intervene to block boats that are already in the water has been completed, and French and British officials were continuing talks this weekend about what more could be done.
Continue reading...A third of emergency responses are to clubs, largely to attend to people having bad experiences with drugs
The ambulance service on the Spanish island of Ibiza says it is at risk of collapse because of frequent callouts to attend to clubbers having bad experiences with recreational drugs.
The local ambulance union says up to a third of emergency calls are to clubs, the largest of which has a capacity of as many as 10,000 partygoers, and are largely drug-related. It is calling on club owners to contract private ambulance services.
Continue reading...Pressure grows on Pedro Sánchez to call snap election as latest resignation adds to corruption allegations
Pedro Sánchez’s efforts to reset Spain’s ruling socialist party after damaging corruption allegations that threatened to topple his coalition government have suffered a severe setback after a party official resigned over accusations of sexual harassment.
The prime minister had hoped this weekend’s meeting of the federal committee of his Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE) would help the party move past weeks of scandals that have undermined the ethical and anti-corruption pledges on which it came to power seven years ago.
Continue reading...Almost 300 researchers have applied for for positions at Aix-Marseille University after Trump unleashed his attack on academia
It was on a US-bound flight in March, as Brian Sandberg stressed about whether he would be stopped at security, that the American historian knew the time had come for him to leave his home country.
For months, he had watched Donald Trump’s administration unleash a multipronged attack on academia – slashing funding, targeting international students and deeming certain fields and even keywords off limits. As his plane approached the US, it felt as though the battle had hit home, as Sandberg worried that he would face reprisals over comments he had made during his travels to the French media on the future of research in the US.
Continue reading...EU says it ‘favours a negotiated solution’ but is prepared for potential trade war with retaliatory duties
Donald Trump threatened to impose 17% tariffs on food and farm produce exports from Europe during talks in Washington this week, it has emerged.
Such tariffs would hit everything from Belgian chocolate to Kerrygold butter from Ireland and olive oil from Italy, Spain and France, all big sellers in the US.
Continue reading...Tehran now places little faith in the European countries who played a key role in brokering the Iranian nuclear deal
Exposed as divided and marginalised during the Iran crisis, European nations are scrambling to retrieve a place at the Middle East negotiating table, fearing an impulsive Donald Trump has diminishing interest in stabilising Iran or the wider region now he believes he has achieved his key objective of wiping out Tehran’s nuclear programme.
On Tuesday the EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, was the latest senior European figure to phone the Iranian foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, offering to be a facilitator and urging Tehran not to leave the crisis in a dangerous limbo by keeping UN weapons inspectors out of Iran.
Continue reading...US munitions slated for Ukraine held up over shortage as Trump ‘disappointed’ by Putin’s refusal to make concessions
Donald Trump spoke with Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, on Friday as the US president appears increasingly disheartened over his chances of fulfilling a campaign pledge to end the war between Russia and Ukraine.
The call with Zelenskyy comes as Washington has halted its latest shipment of military aid to Ukraine including Patriot air defense missiles and other crucial munitions meant to support the country’s defenses.
Continue reading...Mourners gathered on Friday morning to honour Liverpool footballer Diogo Jota at a wake in Portugal
Mourners have gathered at a wake in Portugal to commemorate Diogo Jota and his brother, André Silva, following their deaths in a car accident.
Jota and his 25-year-old sibling died when the Lamborghini they were travelling in careered off a road in north-western Spain in the early hours of Thursday. The bodies of the two professional footballers were returned to Portugal later that day. Jota was 28 and had married his long-term partner, Rute Cardoso, 11 days before his death. They had three young children.
Continue reading...Russia launches record number of drones and ballistic missiles in seven-hour assault shortly after its leader spoke to US president
Ukraine has accused Vladimir Putin of “publicly humiliating” Donald Trump after Russia launched a devastating attack with a record number of drones and ballistic missiles on Kyiv, hours after the two leaders spoke by phone.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy described the seven-hour raid as a “deliberate act of terror” which “immediately followed the call between Washington and Moscow”. It was one of the most severe assaults of the entire war and a “clear interpretation of how Moscow interprets diplomacy”, he added.
Continue reading...After initial concerns, pupils are said to be more focused and have better social interactions with each other
Bans on smartphones in Dutch schools have improved the learning environment despite initial protests, according to a study commissioned by the government of the Netherlands.
National guidelines, introduced in January 2024, recommend banning smartphones from classrooms and almost all schools have complied. Close to two-thirds of secondary schools ask pupils to leave their phones at home or put them in lockers, while phones are given in at the start of a lesson at one in five.
Continue reading...Syrian man, 32, was granted asylum in 2014 but lost refugee status because of a criminal conviction
Austria has returned a Syrian with a criminal conviction to his birth country in what it described as the first such deportation since the fall of the Assad regime.
“The deportation carried out today is part of a strict and thus fair asylum policy,” Austria’s interior minister, Gerhard Karner, said in a statement.
Continue reading...Sources say no complaint has been made to police – with expectation that garment will ‘turn up’
Lauren Sánchez packed 27 designer dresses for her wedding to the billionaire Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, in Venice last week, but left with only 26 after one went missing.
The couple, who are now honeymooning in Taormina, Sicily, were wed during a star-studded three-day celebration in the lagoon city.
Continue reading...Spokesperson Sean Parnell confirms defence department reviewing shipments may not affect only Ukraine
The Pentagon has said that it is reviewing weapons deliveries to allies around the world as reports grow of concerns over dwindling stockpiles of crucial munitions including anti-air missiles.
The announcement came after the White House confirmed that it was limiting deliveries of weapons to Ukraine to “put America’s interests first following a Department of Defense review of our nation’s military support and assistance to other countries around the globe”.
Continue reading...Chef with 10 Michelin stars has designed meals for Sophie Adenot’s trip to International Space Station next year
When the French astronaut Sophie Adenot travels to the International Space Station (ISS) next year, she will be heading for the stars – not quite in celestial but certainly in gastronomic terms.
Adenot will dine on not just freeze-dried space food staples but also French classics such as lobster bisque, foie gras and onion soup prepared specially for her by a chef with 10 Michelin stars, the European Space Agency (Esa) announced on Wednesday.
Continue reading...Damning report by MPs comes after inquiry into allegations of decades of physical abuse, rape and sexual assault at Notre-Dame de Bétharram school
The French prime minister, François Bayrou, failed to act to prevent physical and sexual abuse at a private Catholic school in south-west France when he served as education minister between 1993 and 1997, a parliamentary report has said.
The damning report issued by French lawmakers on Wednesday comes after a long parliamentary inquiry into allegations of decades of physical abuse, rape and sexual assault at the Notre-Dame de Bétharram boarding school near Pau in south-west France.
Continue reading...Detention of 18-year-old man part of anti-terror police force’s first case linked to involuntary celibate movement
An 18-year-old French man suspected of planning attacks on women has been charged in the country’s first case of a terror plot linked to the misogynist “incel” movement, officials said.
The suspect was arrested on Friday by the DGSI domestic intelligence agency near a public high school in the southeastern city of Saint-Etienne.
Continue reading...Ofgem opens investigation into National Grid as report finds incident that cut airport power was preventable
The root cause of the substation fire that shut Heathrow airport was a preventable technical fault that National Grid had been aware of seven years ago but failed to fix properly, investigators have concluded.
The final report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) on the incident said the fire that cut power to the airport on 21 March, affecting more than 1,350 flights, almost 300,000 passengers and cutting power to 67,000 homes, was “most likely” sparked by moisture entering the insulation around wires.
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