Up To Date france

The son of a popular right-wing French member of the EU parliament has been required to attend a court hearing on rape charges filed by his brother, according to judicial sources on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old Guillaume de Villiers is charged of raping Laurent, his younger brother who is now 25 years old. The rape allegedly occurred sometime between January 1995 and December 1996 when both men were just minors.

Guillaume and Laurent are sons of 61-year-old Viscount Philippe Le Jolis de Villiers de Saintignon, who is a known eurosceptic leading the Movement for France. He is also the Euro-MP of western France’s Vendee region.

Working as a global development consultant, the now-married and father of three children Guillaume has long since denied the accusations made by his brother. The issue first became known to the public after the filing of a formal complaint back in 2006.

He is now facing trial on the allegations before an Yvelines criminal court. On Friday, a probing magistrate in Versailles decided that the case needed answers.

The senior De Villiers, who fathered a total of seven children, has stood twice for France’s president riding on a conservative-nationalist ticket. However, he was also dropped twice on the first round.

Outside the French nation, he is popularly know for his connection to the Libertas movement, which is against further European integration.

Established by Irish businessman Declan Ganley, Libertas started a campaign for a no-vote back in the Lisbon Treaty’s 2008 Irish referendum. It also backed a network of known eurosceptic candidates in the European election in 2009.

Eurotunnel, which controls the tunnel link between France and Britain, received criticism on Wednesday for an ad that claims its services continues despite any weather condition. The criticism stemmed from last year’s delay in operations, which was caused by heavy snow.

The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) of Britain, ruled out that an e-mail promo with the title “France in just 35 minutes” which states “whatever the weather” was no doubt misleading, hence it will not be shown again.

The advertisement was questioned by one customer who got stranded at the Eurotunnel check-in for a couple of hours last December. The delay was due to the malfunction of five Eurostar passenger trains inside the tunnel which forced the suspension of the entire cross-Channel services.

Eurotunnel argued that the malfunction, which caused a three-day shutdown of operations and left thousands of people stranded in the Christmas holiday, was never their fault.

Eurostar was a separate company and Eurotunnel trains continued to be functional, the firm insisted, based on ASA documents.

The company further added that the weather conditions that time were “very unusual, in the same way that a hurricane or tsunami was”. They also believe that their ad campaigns don’t have to take into consideration such “exceptional circumstances”.

Despite the firm’s defence, the ruling said, “We considered that the conditions of December 2009 could not be placed in the same bracket of exceptional weather as a hurricane or tsunami and it could not be assumed that they would never be repeated”.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and French First Lady Carla Bruni took a walk Monday on the Champs Elysees, the avenue in Paris that became a large farm as part of an event to draw focus on the agriculture crisis in France.

The first couple petted cows, shook hands, and offered farmers assurances that their plight on high costs of production as well as dropping prices of food was seriously taken. The young farmers’ association of France brought many trees, plants, flowers, as well as livestock, to the most famous boulevard in France on Saturday to start the two-day campaign called, “Nature Capital.”

More than 800,000 visitors went to the Champs Elysees during the first day of the event, said organisers and police. The people behind the event are hoping for a turnout of more than 2 million visitors.

On Monday, Sarkozy was greeted with “Bravo” and “we need” you chants from farmers who traditionally comprise part of the voter base of his right-wing party.

“Look he’s Aquarius like me”, Sarkozy mentioned when a farmer gave him a calf born in January.

The president also said to another farmer “I’m with you”, during his 30-minute visit.

Meanwhile, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was given a crash-course on cattle feeds.

“The president has come to hear what people have to say”, stated Young Farmers’ Association President William Villeneuve, who personally gave the first couple a tour on the Champs Elysees gardens.

The alleged military commander of the ETA, a Basque militant group, is due to make an appearance before a magistrate in France on Monday to face charges of terrorism, according to prosecutors.

Portrayed by Spain’s government as the military chief and supreme leader of the ETA, Mikel Karrera Sarobe was taken into custody by French police last Thursday in a raid in Bayonne, southwest France.

Sarobe, 37-years-old, was arrested together with a pair of suspected accomplices. One of the alleged accomplices, Arkaitz Aguirregabiria del Barrio, was believed to be Sarobe’s right-hand man. The other was a female militant.

Sarobe would be the fifth military chief of the ETA to be arrested in a span of two years, as the Spanish and French governments have beefed up joint operations to arrest the Basque separatist group. Prosecutors in Paris mentioned that a formal inquiry had been started targeting the three suspects as well as a fourth individual, who was arrested in Urugne, also in southwest France.

Samples of Sarobe’s DNA matched those gathered from the crime scene of the December 2007 murder of two Spanish police personnel in Capbreton, according to prosecutors.

The ETA chief could have charges filed against him in connection to the murder, the prosecutors added.

For the last 40 years, ETA has been fighting an armed campaign for the independence of Basque, carved out from southwest France and northern Spain.

The ETA is listed as a terrorist group by the EU, and has been considered accountable for the killings of 829 people in the duration of its on-again-off-again campaign of bomb and gun attacks against Spanish targets.

The Champs Elysees became a large farm Sunday with trees, plants, and flowers displayed on the most popular avenue in Paris, France. The focus of the event was to shift attention towards the crisis-struck agricultural sector of the country.

The event, which was called Nature Capital, was expected to attract around two million visitors over the following two days. It was set up by the French forest industry and the Young Farmers association.

The Champs, which occupy a stretch of some 1.2 kilometres (0.8 miles) starting from the Arc de Triomphe halfway down to the Place de la Concorde, were filled with more or less than one hundred different grain, vegetables, and fruits.

The event also featured pigs, cows, lambs, and goats, which were presented in small numbers. The aim was to showcase some of the popular breeds like the large fat black-bottomed Limousin pigs, which are treasured for the quality of their meat.

“We are not there to complain about our situation, but rather to show off our work”, mentioned the Young Farmers’ association head William Villeneuve.

He wishes visitors on the Champs Elysees will ponder about “what is on their plates and become more active consumers”.

Farmers in France are becoming short on numbers, and one of the most dreaded crises in decades has caused further unease in the declining sector, which was fuelled by declining prices and higher costs of production.

The administration of President Nicolas Sarkozy has offered French farmers an aid plan through some 1.8 billion euros worth of loans ($2.3 billion) and 650 million euros worth for other types of support payments.

Three individuals who allegedly murdered four French tourists in 2007 in Mauritania said during the beginning of their trial Sunday that they see themselves as warriors of Al-Qaeda.

“I am a soldier of Al-Qaeda, I say it with pride. I have been trained in their camps”, said Sidi Ould Sidna, one of the defendants, during the trial held in the capital of Mauritania.

“I did not kill them but I confess that it would have been a great honour if I had carried it out”, stated Ould Maarouf Ould Haiba, another defendant.

Nouakchott was enveloped with tight security as the trial court started with its proceedings. The streets in the centre of the city were blocked by police.

The trio of suspect are being tried for the shooting of five French nationals on 24 December 2007 near Aleg City, south of Mauritania. Four of the tourists died, while the fifth sustained serious wounds.

Ould Chabarnou and Sidi Ould Sidna were taken into custody in January of 2008. They were captured in Guinea-Bissau, a country in West Africa, through the help of French intelligence.

Maarouf Ould Haiba, the third suspect, was captured later in Nouakchott.

All of the three Mauritania nationals are suspected of being part of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. The group has taken responsibility for a number of abductions in North Africa.

Nine more people are being tried for their involvement in the murders. Two of the 12 suspects are still at large and being tried in absentia.

The court started studying the cases of the nine alleged accomplices. On the morning of Sunday, the same trial court handed a man connected to the North African wing of Al-Qaeda a 10-year sentence.

A single burglar was able to break into a well-renowned gallery in Paris, stealing $120 million collection of modern artworks, including masterpieces of Picasso and Matisse, said officials on Thursday.

The thief clipped off a padlock at the gate and broke open a window to access the Musee d’Art Moderne. He then turned off the alarm system before proceeding with the heist.

The burglary was discovered just a few moments before the museum’s opening on Thursday. Sitting close to the Eiffel Tower, the famous museum was cordoned as authorities conducted investigations and searched for clues as to the identity of the thief. The robbery raised concerns regarding the state of museum security in Paris.

“According to estimates by the management of the Musee d’Art Moderne, the value of the stolen canvases totals between 90 and 100 million euros”, mentioned a Paris City Hall spokesperson.

Judicial and police sources earlier stated that the total amount of stolen artworks was around 500 million euros (617 million dollars). However, experts begged to disagree and said it was unlikely.

“The Picasso might be worth 40 to 50 million euros, the Braque 10 to 20″, stated Didier Rykner, who is the editor of The Art Tribune.

“But in any case, we’re talking about a theoretical value, they don’t have a market value, because you couldn’t openly sell them. They’re too well known”, he added.

New British Prime Minister David Cameron stated on Thursday that his administration will be supportive of the efforts of the Eurozone to manage its debt crisis, but added that he’s happy that the British use pound instead of the euro.

During his initial trip abroad as Britain’s prime minister, Cameron met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy during a working dinner held at the Elysee Palace in Paris. Cameron will be flying to Germany on Friday to meet German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

According to Sarkozy, he and Cameron took the liberty to discuss measures of reducing the other European countries’ budget deficits. The also talked about ending market speculations against the euro currency, which caused a stir in the past days.

“I think we were right to stay out of the euro”, Cameron told reporters in reference to the currency’s woes at the present. “But let me be absolutely clear: it’s in Britain’s interest that the eurozone is a success”, he added.

He also mentioned that his administration would pay uphold Britain’s deal to support eurozone finances, which was hammered out before he was elected.

Both the German and French leaders could be cautious regarding the future of the relations with the new Conservative leader’s government since Cameron is more cynical when it comes to Brtiain’s tie with the European countries compared to Labour’s Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.

Air France-KLM published record losses worth €1.55 billion Wednesday.

A new book regarding the airline’s safety record also added to the trouble seizing Europe’s biggest airline. The huge net loss for financial year 2009-2010 emerged as the Franco-Dutch carrier struggled with the financial crisis as well as the fallout from last year’s deadly accident. Decreasing air traffic, specifically for cargo, forced the company’s biggest loss since the merger of KLM and Air France last 2004. The most recent results came after €811 million in red ink last year.

“2009-10 will go on record as our ‘annus horribilis.’ The global economic crisis had a profound effect on the entire airline industry”, said chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon.

He also mentioned the company’s struggle after June’s accident that saw chief executive Pierre-Henri Gourgeon bound from Rio to Paris plunge towards the Atlantic. All 228 passengers were killed.

Against that failure, the airline wrote off its dividend payment for financial year 2009-2010.

According to Gourgeon, the reorganization of the company’s cargo business started to bear fruit during the fourth quarter even though the fuel bill increased for the initial time in the year because of the 31% surge of jet fuel prices.

The perspective for the present year was “subject to the definitive cost of the closure of European airspace” because of the ash cloud spewed by a volcano in Iceland, he added.

The numbers were published after the airline’s safety record was scrutinized with “The Hidden Face of Air France”, which is journalist Fabrice Amedeo’s probe into the alleged shortcomings of Air France’s management culture.

Muslims in France have reasons to celebrate on Thursday as construction starts at a mega-mosque located in Marseille, which will be the potent and largest symbol of Islam in France.

A day after the French government’s approval of a bill prohibiting the use of the full Islamic veil, Muslim community leaders will participate in a ceremony together with politicians to lay the foundation of at a dusk-filled construction site somewhere in northern Marseille.

The second French city has a Muslim population of around 250,000. Many of the Muslims here gather at improvised prayer houses in rented rooms, basements, and garages to practice their religion.

The Grand Mosque, which features a 25-metre high minaret, can accommodate around 7,000 worshipers inside its prayer room. The complex will also have a library, Koranic school, tea room and restaurant by the time it opens in 2012.

Muslim leaders in France have been campaigning for 60 years for the construction of such a mosque, which draw Muslims out of basements, allowing Islam to grow under the Mediterranean sun.

The pivotal point was in 2001 after Mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin, who is a part of the right-wing party of President Nicolas Sarkozy, opted to support the €22 million endeavour.

Just like the French President, Gaudin said support for new mosques will aid France’s large minority of Muslims integrate to the mainstream.

“This is the real face of Islam in France”, stated President Nourredine Cheikh of the association that campaigned for the mega-mosque.