Free Republic

Judges in the French city of Avignon will hand down verdicts on 51 men on Thursday in a mass rape trial that has turned a 72-year-old woman into a feminist icon. For almost a decade, Gisèle Pelicot was drugged by her ex-husband Dominique, who then invited dozens of men he had recruited online to have sex with her in her bed at home while she was unconscious and unaware. It was her decision to waive her anonymity and throw this trial into the open - in her words, making "shame swap sides" from the victim to the rapist. Although he...

President Obama is living the life of a former king, vacationing these days at a palatial estate in the south of France. At what point has he made enough? Silly us for asking. Daily Mail has a report with a lot of photographs: Former US president Barack Obama and his family arrived in Avignon in the south of France for a week's holiday just days after they were pictured celebrating daughter Sasha's graduation from high school. The Obamas are reportedly staying at a luxurious 18th century farmhouse on Bathelasse island, near the Provencal city. Barack, 57, his wife Michelle, 55,...

Presidential week in Provence: Obamas arrive in south of France on private jet for vacation at $60,000-a-week, 18th century farmhouse - just days after Sasha graduated from high school Former US president Barack Obama and his family arrived in Avignon, in south of France on Friday The Obamas are reportedly staying at a luxurious 18th century farmhouse Bathelasse island The seven-bedroom property called Le Mas des Poiriers, was rented at 55,000 euros for the week The main house features seven double bedrooms, a family room with large windows that allow for natural light illuminate the lavishly decorated space. It also...

Two gunmen opened fire on a crowd outside a mosque in south France leaving eight injured. Police in Avignon are now searching for the suspects who fled the scene. Two 'hooded' men arrived at the scene outside Arrahma mosque at around 10.30pm in a Renault Clio, La Provence newspaper reports.

France’s far-right National Front party (FN) hailed an “exceptional” showing in the first round of the country’s local elections Sunday, after winning historic levels of support in a number of towns and cities. Early estimates showed FN candidates leading in the eastern town of Forbach and the southern towns of Fréjus, Avignon, Perpignan, Villeneuve-sur-Lot and Beziers, putting the party in pole position for the second round of voting on March 30th. The news was even better for the FN in the northern town of Henin-Beaumont, where the party’s candidate Steeve Briois took a majority of the vote at 50.26 percent,...

If this southern French city had a motto, it might be, "Say what you like about me, just make sure you spell my name right." This summer, the annual theater festival in Avignon, arguably the best known in France, appeared to be putting that age-old publicity strategy to the test. First, the papers reported booing and catcalls accompanying a performance directed by the choreographer Christian Rizzo. Many in the audience could not stand an electronic buzzing that accompanied the show. Then most of the audience walked out of a play, called "After/Before," by the French director Pascal Rambert. Much of...

NPR.org, April 2, 2005 · "Tip O'Neill was correct," says Father Tom Reese, editor in chief of America, the Catholic weekly magazine. "All politics is local... even in the Catholic Church." Reese suggests that instead of focusing on the possible papal candidates as a bookie would look at horses in the starting gate, try to think about the election from the point of view of the electors, the cardinals who cast the votes. "Each cardinal is thinking, how will this candidate go over in my diocese?" Reese says. "If you're from the Third World, you're concerned with people who are...