Author: Julius Garza

Stars of David have been found graffitied on buildings in the Paris area, in acts that political leaders have said “recall the 1930s”. Some 60 Stars of David were painted on walls in the 14th arrondissement of Paris on Monday night. France is grappling with a big rise in antisemitic incidents. More than 850 such acts have been reported in France since the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October, says Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. Paris authorities announced that an investigation into degradation of property aggravated by racist intent would be launched. “I am crying, because I am once again…

Flooding has hit dozens of towns in northern France, leaving roads sometimes only passable in boats and dozens of schools closed, authorities said Tuesday. Two rivers — the Aa and the Liane — were placed on red alert for flooding in the northern Pas-de-Calais department after heavy showers overnight from Monday to Tuesday. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on X (formerly Twitter) that seven people were injured but did not provide further details. He said that more than 1,500 firefighters were mobilised in the region. Coming on the heels of Storm Ciaran which battered Western Europe last week, the floods…

A Russian billionaire has been detained in France suspected of violating EU sanctions and tax fraud. In one of the first actions of its kind in France since the Ukraine war began, Alexei Kuzmichev was detained in Saint-Tropez on the French Riviera. Police raided properties in both Saint-Tropez and Paris which are linked to the tycoon, an ally of President Vladimir Putin. Lawyers for Mr Kuzmichev were not immediately available for comment. A co-founder of Russian finance consortium Alfa Group, he was detained on Monday in connection with alleged money laundering, tax evasion and violating international sanctions, French financial prosecutors…

France and Taiwan on Thursday signed a wide-ranging agreement to enable their film and TV industries co-operate on a higher level. At a signing ceremony in Taipei at the Taiwan Creative Culture Fest (TCCF) convention, government representatives of both territories stressed shared values at the political level and in the audiovisual sphere. “We have the same philosophy of a cultural exception and commitment to democratic values,” said Franck Paris, director of the Bureau Francais de Taipei. Homme Tsai, head of TAICCA, referenced the same shared values and said, “we now have international co-productions and cooperation to look forward to.” “Taiwan is…

A Paris court on Wednesday began hearing former president Nicolas Sarkozy’s appeal against his conviction for illegal campaign financing in a failed 2012 re-election bid. The 68-year-old former French head of state appeared relaxed as he appeared for the hearing in a grey suit, speaking with people in the public gallery before proceedings began. Conservative Sarkozy has faced a litany of legal problems since his one term in office from 2007 until 2012, and has been charged separately with corruption, bribery, influence-peddling, and breaking campaign financing laws. In the so-called “Bygmalion affair”, the former head of state was sentenced to one year in prison in September 2021…

An auction in France of items belonging to the first Senegalese president has been delayed, as the government in Dakar negotiates to buy them directly. Léopold Sédar Senghor’s possessions – including military medals and jewellery – were to be sold in the city of Caen. The current president of Senegal, Macky Sall, urged the culture minister and the embassy in Paris to hold discussions with the auctioneers. Senghor led Senegal for 20 years after independence from France in 1960. He was a distinguished poet who pioneered Négritude – an anti-colonialist movement that championed African cultures – alongside Martinican poet Aimé…

There was never any mystery about the fact that Louis Feutren, a French teacher at St Conleth’s school in south Dublin, was a Nazi collaborator. He had a taste for violent punishments and bizarre humiliations that terrorised pupils. He liked to reminisce about the second world war, when he had joined a Breton nationalist group that fought on the side of Germany. And he showed pictures of himself in uniform. To have a staff member who was a known Nazi collaborator and fugitive from French justice was accepted at St Conleth’s, which employed Feutren from 1957 until his retirement in…

Bankrobber and serial prison escapee Jacques Mesrine had many names during his two-decade criminal career in the 1960s and 70s. In disguise and on the run from police, he made headlines as “the man of a thousand faces” and “public enemy number one”. In Canada and the US with his girlfriend, Jeanne Schneider, the couple were nicknamed France’s Bonnie and Clyde. Now hundreds of letters Mesrine wrote to Schneider during more than 10 years in prison are to be auctioned in Paris. Like the notorious Al Capone, Ronnie Biggs and Jesse James, Mesrine has entered popular culture as the 21st century’s ideal antihero, despite…

The world-famous Michelin Guide, the red gastronomic bible that awards stars to the best restaurants, is to begin rating hotels using key symbols. Guide editors say they want to create a “trusted reference” to help travellers navigate the large and varied offers of accommodation on the internet by flagging up “establishments offering exceptional hotel and travel experiences”. The new benchmark will be introduced next year. Preselected group of more than 5,300 hotels in 120 countries are up for the award, which is based on five criteria, including whether the establishment gives visitors a “local experience” as well as its design and…

Bird protection campaigners have accused the French government of flouting European regulations after it rescinded a ban on traditional hunting. They accuse ministers of giving in to lobbying by powerful hunting groups to allow the trapping of thousands of birds as part of an “experimental study”. Most traditional trapping methods were banned in France in 2021 under the threat of fines from the European Commission. The ministry of ecological transition has now temporarily overturned the embargo on two practices: using large nets placed horizontally in the path of birds – usually attracted by the calls of a caged bird – and wire…