France

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>

Big Names Lined Up for Close of Games

Report: Billie Eilish, Snoop, Red Hot Chili Peppers will wrap up Games from LA; HER to sing anthem

(Newser) - The Summer Games come to a close on Sunday at the Stade de France on the outskirts of Paris, and it will be a star-studded event, with some familiar Olympic faces and some new ones. Sources tell Variety that Billie Eilish and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are set to...

Olympic Swimmer Has a Scary Ending to Her Race

Slovakia's Tamara Potocka, 21, suffered apparent asthma attack, collapsed after emerging from pool

(Newser) - Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka collapsed poolside Friday morning after a qualifying heat of the women's 200-meter individual medley at the Paris Olympics. Potocka, 21, collapsed as she got out of the water and almost immediately was surrounded by a half-dozen medical attendants, who put her on a stretcher after...

Seine Problems Get Olympic Event Postponed
The Seine Finally
Cleans Up Its Act
UPDATED
Jul 31, 2024 2:31 AM CDT

The Seine Finally Cleans Up Its Act

Men's, women's triathlons will be held Wednesday

(Newser) - After days of delays and uncertainty over water quality in the Seine River, the women's and men's Olympic triathlon races will go forward Wednesday with a swim in the famed Paris waterway, the AP reports. The organizers said early Wednesday the latest tests of the water showed compliance...

Paris' 'True Olympic Flame' Isn't Really a Flame

Appearance of flickering light and smoke comes from LEDs and water vapor

(Newser) - It was a sight to behold as the Olympic cauldron was lit up Friday beneath a hot-air balloon that rose to the sky above Paris' Tuileries Garden, as it will every night of the Olympic Games. But the Olympic flame isn't a flame at all. In fact, it's...

France Hit With 2nd Bout of Vandalism Amid Games

Nation's government says telecommunications lines have been affected in multiple areas

(Newser) - The French government says multiple telecommunications lines have been hit by acts of vandalism, affecting fiber lines and fixed and mobile phone lines as cities around France are hosting events for the 2024 Paris Olympics. The scale of the impact is unclear, as is whether it has affected any Olympic...

This Isn't a Mistake on Korea You Want to Make at Olympics

Games organizers apologize after introducing South Korean team as North Korea's competitors

(Newser) - Olympic Games organizers said they "deeply apologize" for introducing South Korea's athletes as North Korea during the opening ceremony in Paris. As the South Korean athletes waved their nation's flag on a boat floating down the Seine on Friday evening, they were announced in both French and...

On Eve of Games, 'Malicious Acts' Paralyze France's Rail Network

High-speed train lines hit by 'massive attack' hours before Olympics opening ceremony

(Newser) - The French national rail company SNCF said Friday that high-speed lines were hit by several "malicious acts" that heavily disrupted traffic on the day of the Olympics' opening ceremony. Lines in the west, north, and east of France were affected, SNCF announced. Trains to neighboring Belgium and to London...

Olympics Off to Rocky Start in One Area: Food

Athletes complain that eggs, other items are in short supply

(Newser) - Olympic athletes are hungrier than expected—not for medals, but for eggs. French newspaper L'Équipe reports on apparent food shortages in Paris' Olympic Village, where eggs had to be rationed at breakfast on Wednesday. Catering company Sodexo Live! confirmed certain items were in "very high demand" and...

Dutch Child Rapist Is Competing in Olympics

Beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde sexually assaulted 12-year-old girl a decade ago

(Newser) - Beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde will compete in the Paris Olympics, but he won't be staying in the athletes village, and he won't be talking to reporters, as per the Dutch Olympic Committee. That's because the 29-year-old competitor from the Netherlands served time in prison...

Simone Biles Has a New Option at the Olympics

Team USA says star gymnast doesn't have to compete in any finals events if she doesn't want to

(Newser) - Simone Biles will be back at the Olympics this summer, three years after she pulled herself out of multiple events at the Tokyo Games to contend with mental health issues. This time around, however, the 27-year-old gymnast will have more say in how and when she competes—meaning she won'...

Police Will Stand Every 6 Feet Along Seine on Friday

Unprecedented 77K security personnel are in Paris for Olympic Games

(Newser) - At the 2012 London Olympics, the last Olympic Games held in Europe, there were about 25,000 security personnel on hand. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, there will be three times as many. The French capital is "rolling out the largest peacetime security operation in the country's history"...

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy Hit With Her Own Charges

Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is accused of witness tampering in case involving ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy

(Newser) - Former supermodel and French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy received preliminary charges Tuesday for involvement in alleged efforts to pressure a witness who accused ex-President Nicolas Sarkozy of receiving illegal campaign financing from Libya. Bruni-Sarkozy was placed under judicial supervision on Tuesday, which included a ban on contact with all those...

Pistols Napoleon Planned to Use to End His Life Are Sold

They were auctioned for $1.8M

(Newser) - As the story goes, French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte intended to shoot himself on April 12, 1814, after he was forced to abdicate. But the BBC reports his grand squire, Armand de Caulaincourt, emptied Napoleon's two pistols of their gunpowder; he instead consumed poison but vomited and survived. Those pistols...

Macron Won't Accept PM's Resignation After Shock Elections

It's a 'government in limbo' in France, with no coalition claiming enough seats to assume control

(Newser) - After a surprising turn in France's snap elections that kept the far-right National Rally out of power , but with no faction in complete control of the government, President Emmanuel Macron made moves on Monday to attempt to create some structure as the dust settles. First order of the day:...

French Version of Excalibur Is Missing

Legends say Durandal was embedded in rock for 1.3K years

(Newser) - The French equivalent of Excalibur has been stolen—but unlike the sword in the legend of King Arthur, whoever pulled the Durandal sword from a rock is more likely to be proclaimed a thief than a true king. The sword is missing, believed stolen from the village of Rocamadour, where...

In This Nation, Getting to Work Takes Just 17 Minutes

Denmark boasts shortest commute time in the world, per AHTI Games stats

(Newser) - Looking for the shortest, sweetest commute? Consider Scandinavia. That's per AHTI Games, which crunched the numbers to figure out how long it takes to get from home to work across the globe, per Digital Journal . Denmark tops the list, with an average commute time of just 17 minutes. Neighbor...

French Director Charged With Raping 2 Women

Actress says Benoit Jacquot groomed her when she was 16, he was 52

(Newser) - French film director Benoit Jacquot has been charged with rape and banned from directing minors or having any other contact with them. The 77-year-old was charged Wednesday with raping actresses Julia Roy, 34, and Isild Le Besco, 41, years ago, the New York Times reports. Jacquot was charged with raping...

France as We Know It Looks Set to Change
France as We Know It
Looks Set to Change
the rundown
Jul 1, 2024 10:20 AM CDT

France as We Know It Looks Set to Change

Marine Le Pen's National Rally took the lead in the first round of legislative elections

(Newser) - France's National Rally surged into the lead in the first round of legislative elections, according to results released early Monday, bringing the far-right party to the brink of power and dealing a major blow to President Emmanuel Macron's centrists in an election that could set the country, and...

Far Right Swamping Macron's Centrists So Far

Projections show president's party could come in a distant third in elections' first round

(Newser) - France's high-stakes legislative elections propelled the far-right National Rally to a strong but not decisive lead in the first-round vote Sunday, polling agencies projected. At this rate, President Emmanuel Macron's grouping of centrist parties could finish a distant third in the first-round ballot, the AP reports. That alliance...

Marcon&#39;s Gamble Draws Heavy Turnout
Macron's Gamble Draws
Heavy Turnout
Jun 30, 2024 11:10 AM CDT

Macron's Gamble Draws Heavy Turnout

Elections could leave president weakened by far right or left and the nation in political deadlock

(Newser) - Voter turnout in France on Sunday was running historically high—reflecting the stakes and interest in elections that could weaken Emmanuel Macron's presidency and have major effects on domestic and foreign policy. All 577 seats in the lower and more critical house of Parliament are up for grabs. Macron...

Stories 21 - 40 | << Prev   Next >>