Royal Navy warship shadows Russian submarine through English Channel
The HMS Tyne kept a check on the kilo-class submarine Krasnodar as it travelled back to Russia. Source link
All posts tagged: French
Poorer pupils shut out by teacher shortage
Last year 37 per cent of teachers were recruited to teach computer science A-levels Last year 37 per cent of teachers were recruited to teach computer science A-levels More from this theme Recent articles Almost a third of schools in the poorest areas do not offer computer science A-level, leaving pupils “shut out of one of the best paid career paths” because of teacher shortages. Research by Teacher Tapp found 31 per cent of schools in the most disadvantaged areas did not offer computer science A-levels. The figure for the wealthiest areas was just 11 per cent. The schools in the poorest areas were also much more likely to shun French (23 vs 3 per cent), Spanish (17 vs 6 per cent), music (17 vs 5 per cent) and physics (9 vs 1 per cent). The government has repeatedly failed to meet its teacher recruitment targets in all five subjects. Last year, just 37 per cent of the necessary computing teachers and 31 per cent of the necessary physics teachers were recruited. The poll found …
At least six French prisons targeted with arson and gunfire
On the night between April 15 and 16, new attacks targeted French prisons and staff, including vehicles and buildings set on fire. France’s justice minister Gérald Darmanin says attempts are underway to destabilize the state through intimidation. This follows earlier incidents involving arson, graffiti, and even automatic gunfire. The attacks have occurred outside several prisons across the country. Minister Darmanin blames drug traffickers and promises a firm response. Camille Knight has this story. Source link
French Couple Owns Site Where van Gogh Made His Final Painting
A lengthy legal dispute over a patch of land in Auvers-sur-Oise, France, that is believed to be the place where Vincent van Gogh made one of his final paintings, has come to an end, with a court ruling in favor of the French couple that owns the land. Auvers-sur-Oise’s mayor, Isabelle Mézières, has for five years argued that the embankment was public property, but earlier this month, an appeals court in Versailles sided with Jean-François and Hélène Serlinger, the owners of a residence that includes where van Gogh made Tree Roots (1890). Related Articles The judge affirmed that the site does belong to a part of the public road, as the mayor has argued, and ordered the municipality to cover €2,000 in legal expenses. The Serlingers purchased the property at 48 Rue Daubigny in 2013. At the time of the purchase, the couple was unaware of the site’s significance within van Gogh’s oeuvre. In 2020, Van Gogh Institute director Wouter van der Veen learned of the plot of land after comparing an early 20th-century image …
Serop Simonian Returns to Germany with French Court Summons
Serop Simonian, the alleged leader of an Egyptian antiquities trafficking ring, mysteriously left Paris for Hamburg during his jail sentence in January. The now 83-year-old dealer is believed to be behind the sale of allegedly smuggled Egyptian antiquities to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Louvre Abu Dhabi for a collective €60 million ($64 million). In 2022, following a criminal investigation, several objects were seized including a gold sarcophagus and five other antiquities from the Met, as well as the indictment of seven dealers, collectors, and curators such as the former president of the Musée du Louvre Jean-Luc Martinez. Related Articles French authorities issued a warrant for Simonian’s arrest, which prompted the criminal investigation. He was charged with trafficking and laundering in September 2023 and was subsequently jailed in Paris. Simonian’s lawyer Chloé Arnoux told the Art Newspaper that he “suffers from health problems and needs the assistance of a walker, was authorised to leave Paris by a magistrate on 31 December, to go back to his hometown. After 15 months of detention, the magistrate …
Study Shows 86% Increase In Sexual Violence On French Public Transport
Authored by Paul Joseph Watson via Modernity.news, There has been an 86% rise in sexual violence on public transport in France since 2016, with much of the surge happening as a result of mass migration. Figures released by the National Observatory on Violence against Women (Miprof) show that sexual violence in 2024 increased by 6 per cent over the previous year and 9 per cent over 2022 numbers. Since 2016, after which France experienced a surge in mass migration, the figure is up by a whopping 86 per cent. 44 per cent of victims were located in the Paris region, with women being the victims on 91 per cent of occasions, with 75 per cent of victims being under the age of 30 and 36 per cent of those being minors. “It should be noted that this data comes at the same time that France’s migration population has exploded,” reports Remix News. “With 63 percent of those arrested for sexual assault and 92 percent for petty theft in public transport being foreigners, according to data from 2019. …
Nazi salutes and anti-Semitism under investigation at French universities
The first provocation took place on January 30 at the Sciences Po Lille university in northern France, during a mock session of the Assemblée Nationale on real equality, organized by the Le Parlement des Etudiants organization. The debate quickly became “heated, to the point of insults such as ‘cunt’,” said one student (who wishes to remain anonymous). The session was then suspended and “the organization asked the insulting students to leave.” At this point, two of the students concerned, from the most right-wing group in the mock parliament, made Nazi salutes. The very next day, Etienne Peyrat, director of Sciences Po Lille, launched an internal investigation, and the two students were quickly identified. They came from “ESPOL [European School of Political and Social Science],” said Peyrat. “We therefore decided, together with the director of ESPOL, to press charges against both of them for the promotion of war crimes and crimes against humanity, as a moral, political and civic obligation.” The investigation is ongoing. When contacted, the Lille prosecutor did not respond to our request for …
Simone Weil: Did George Herbert Convert the French Mystic?
Published Mar 4, 2025written by Avery Rist, MA Comparative Literature Despite living about 300 years before her, George Herbert drastically influenced the life of Simone Weil, a Jewish philosopher of the early to mid-20th century. Weil, accustomed to terrible migraines, was reading one of Herbert’s poems when she had an experience that changed her life. Who Was Simone Weil? Simone Weil, 1909–1943. Source: Wikimedia Commons Born in Paris in 1909, Simone Weil received an education to foster her innate perspicacity. Studying at Lycée Henri IV, one of France’s most prestigious high schools, she discovered a passion for social activism. She was even one of the first women to graduate from the college École Normale Supérieure, a rigorous and respected program. But she was not just smart — she was also deeply compassionate in a way that inspired true action. As a young girl, she had heard about the rations given to World War I soldiers and told her parents she wanted to give up sugar. Similarly, she once got news about …
The tiny autonomous region in the Alps with loads of castles and 3 languages | World | News
Europe is home to numerous enclaves and autonomous regions, many of which remain largely unknown beyond their borders. These unique areas, often tucked away in remote landscapes, have preserved their distinct identities, cultures, and traditions, making them fascinating remnants of Europe’s rich history. Italy, in particular, is home to five autonomous regions, each granted special statutes that allow them self-governance with benefits in areas such as taxation and trade. One of the most intriguing of these is the Aosta Valley (Valle d’Aosta), a breathtakingly scenic region in the northwesternmost corner of Italy. It is bordered by France to the west, Switzerland to the north, and the Piedmont region of Italy to the south and east, making it a crossroads of cultures and influences. With a population of around 128,000, the Aosta Valley is the smallest, least populous, and least densely populated region of Italy. Despite its size, it boasts a rich and complex history. The area was first inhabited by the Salassi, a Celtic-Ligurian people who settled there in the 4th century BC. Their dominance …
French movie ‘Emilia Pérez’ fires up criticism in Mexico
Mexican film critic Gaby Meza talks about the film “Emilia Pérez” during an interview in Mexico City, January 16, 2025. MARCO UGARTE/AP Few films have caused as much reaction in Mexico as Jacques Audiard’s musical Emilia Pérez. Its official presentation in October 2024 at the Morelia International Film Festival had hardly triggered any reactions in the country, but since the film won four awards at the Golden Globes on January 5, then racked up 13 Academy Award nominations on January 23, the controversy has been continuously growing. Mexicans have been criticizing the film for many things, and have found a host of details that do not reflect their reality and their country, right from the very first scene: “No one uses a laptop in the night markets, as Zoe Saldana does, or prints documents in a street market,” wrote journalist Sofia Otero in the feminist magazine Volcanicas. She noted many errors, such as the lawyer’s degree from a university that doesn’t exist in Mexico or the representation of the Mexican judicial system, which is a copy …