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Monday evening the leaders of 20 European nations gathered at the Elysee Palace in Paris (France's White House) for a conference on military support for Ukraine. There was agreement among many of those nations to send long-range weapons to Ukraine a disturbing sign of escalation in the conflict in and of itself. This was announced by President Emmanuel Macron at the end of the conference a 'ninth coalition of nations' to provide those long-range weapons for Ukraine. But what caused a splash inside France and around the world Macron's remarks... ..the French Foreign Minstry tried to 'clarify' the remarks. But...

The elusive striped "cat-fox" familiar mostly to Corsican shepherds and as a source of intrigue to scientists, is indeed its own species specific to the French Mediterranean island, the French office for Biodiversity (OFB) announced Thursday. New genetic analysis has "revealed a unique genetic strain to the wild cats" found in the remote forest undergrowth of northern Corsica, it confirmed. Genetic sampling clearly distinguishes the ring-tailed Corsican cat-foxes from mainland forest felines and domestic cats, said the OFB in a statement. While resembling house cats in some ways, the cat-fox earned its name from its length—measuring 90 centimeters (35 inches)...

A French pilot has filed a legal complaint after being subjected to a traumatic hazing ritual in which he was tied to a target and had fighter jets open fire around him. The unnamed man had just been posted to an airbase in the south of the island of Corsica in March 2019 when he was grabbed by colleagues and tied up with adhesive tape. After having a bag put over his head, the recruit in his 30s was then transported to a live-fire target range, tied to a target, and then heard fighter jets open fire and drop munitions...

Archaeologists in Corsica have uncovered a necropolis containing some 40 tombs dating from the 3rd to the 6th century.The surprise discovery, at an excavation site in the town of Ile-Rousse, on the western coast, consisted of bodies mostly buried in African [sic] amphorae, or cylindrical jars, from Tunisia...Since late February, French archaeologists have been excavating two sites in the centre of the town, both about 600 m2.Amphorae – often used to import wine, olive oil and brine from Carthage between the 4th and 7th centuries – was used as "receptacles for the deceased", the institute said.While burial within these large...

Yet another Jovian fireball? On May 26th, amateur astronomers recorded a rare impact flash in Jupiter's north polar region. Jupiter just got beaned for the sixth time (that we know about)! On the evening of May 26th, between 19:24.6 and 19:26.2 Universal Time, Sauveur Pedranghelu, a French amateur from Corsica, detected an impact flash live on video in Jupiter's north polar region. The flash was very brief, lasting only about 0.7 second, and displayed two brightness peaks. A bright dot — about the size of Europa when seen in transit — marked the site of impact at latitude 51° north...

An Etruscan hypogeum which is 'considered exceptional within the western Mediterranean' has just been discovered within this ancient cemetery on Corsica... which is believed to date all the way back to between the 4th and 5th centuries B.C. According to Forbes, this burial ground in southern Aléria was first spotted after a new home was slated to be built. However, it was swiftly discovered that this was already the enormous home to the many people who had been buried here thousands of years ago. ...at one point in time it was much larger, with a history that stretches straight back...

France recently seized an unannounced number of third century A.D. Roman gold coins as well as an ancient gold plate allegedly with a pedigree linking the material to the Lava Treasure... first encountered about 25 years ago when three Corsicans diving for sea urchins spotted gold in the shallow waters there... the official French national police statement released Oct. 27 in which it says, "This submerged treasure, identified as a maritime cultural asset, belongs to the state." ...As Ancient Coin Collectors Guild spokesman Wayne G. Sayles commented in the October 2010 issue of The Celator magazine, "[coins are] utilitarian objects...

A New Paleolithic Revolution Image Caption: The ‘Rangki Papa’ (‘Father of all Rafts’) built using Palaeolithic technology and approaching the coast of Komodo, Bali, having succeeded in crossing from Sumbawa, 7 October 2004. The vessel travelled 36.4km in 9 hours 22 minutes Jerome M. Eisenberg, Ph.D. and Dr Sean KingsleyJuly/August 2007 For decades archaeologists have rightly respected the Neolithic period c. 8500 BC as a revolutionary era of the most profound change, when the wiring of mankind’s brain shifted from transient hunter-gathering to permanent settlement in farming communities. Hearths, temples, articulated burials, whistling ‘wheat’ fields and security replaced the...

An alliance of those who believe the French region of Corsica should have greater autonomy and those who want it to become fully independent have scored a resounding victory in last night’s election. After winning in the first round of voting, yesterday’s final vote saw Pe a Corsica pick up 41 of 63 seats in the Assembly, receiving over 56% of the vote. The movement is led by the pro-autonomy Gilles Simeoni and the pro-indy Jean-Guy Talamoni. Following the result, Simeoni said: “Paris today has to take stock of what is happening in Corsica.”

Corsicans are not like Northern Europeans. In fact, although they’re ostensibly French, and speak a French patois (at least I think it’s a French patois — I can’t really understand it at all, unless they say “merde” or something), they’re not like the French, nor even the Italians. Their general cultural characteristics are more Sicilian than anything else. Last Sunday we posted about a confrontation between North African Muslims and Corsican natives on a beach near Sisco. The trouble plainly originated with the culture-enrichers, who attacked the natives with machetes and at least one harpoon, among other weapons. The natives...

Hatchets and harpoons were thrown in a beach brawl that broke out after a tourist was seen taking pictures of women wearing burkinis in Corsica. The fracas between a group described as North African ‘Muslim families’ and local youths broke out a day after a ban on the head-to-toe swimsuits was upheld by a judge in Cannes. A tourist was seen taking pictures of women wearing the full-body swimwear on a creek near the village of Sisco on the French island. When the bathers objected, a group of local teenagers are said to have come to the photographer’s defence. Local...

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls has rejected nationalist demands to give the Corsican language a "co-official" status alongside French, insisting that it was a "red line" issue. On a visit to the Mediterranean island on Monday Valls refused to bow to the demands made by nationalists, who recently won a historic and shock win in Corsica's regional elections. "The Republic has only one official language, French, because it is used by everyone," Valls said during a speech to the Corsican Assembly. "We will not go back on that principal," he said. The French Prime Minister also rejected nationalist demands for...

A Muslim prayer hall was seriously damaged by fire overnight in the capital of the French island of Corsica, local authorities said, four months after a separate Muslim prayer hall there was ransacked. No one was injured in the fire in Ajaccio, which police are investigating as criminal after finding two separate sources of fire inside the hall. "This is unacceptable," Ajaccio mayor Laurent Marcangeli told iTELE newschannel. "Those sites are not sufficiently protected." In late December, the island was rocked by days of racial tension after firemen in Ajaccio were attacked on a housing estate with a large immigrant...

A crowd vandalized a Muslim prayer room in Corsica a day after an ambush injured two firefighters responding to an emergency in a housing project, the state prefect on the French island said Saturday. Prefect Christophe Mirmand said police reinforcements were being called into the Corsican capital of Ajaccio from mainland France, and prayer rooms and mosques were being guarded. Two separate investigations were opened, one into the attack on firefighters Thursday and the other into the damage to the prayer room Friday, he said on iTele TV station. ...

Demonstrators ransacked a Muslim prayer hall and attempted to burn copies of the Koran on the French island of Corsica Friday, police said, following a night of violence that left two firefighters injured. Tensions had mounted in Ajaccio on Christmas Day after two firefighters and a police officer were wounded overnight in Jardins de L'Empereur, a low-income neighbourhood of the city when they were "ambushed" by "several hooded youths", authorities said. On Friday afternoon around 150 people had gathered in front of police headquarters in the island's capital in a show of support for the police and firefighters, officials said...

A team of Spanish police experts flew to the French island of Corsica on Tuesday to retrieve a masterpiece by Pablo Picasso that was smuggled out of Spain, where it is considered a national treasure. A spokesman for Spain's Civil Guard said four police experts in national heritage and several Culture Ministry officials flew to recover the painting, "Head of a Young Woman," which is valued at 24 million euros ($26 million). The officer said they expect to return with the painting later Tuesday. The work is owned by Spanish banker Jaime Botin, brother of the late Emilio Botin, former...

Considering the Crusades in the Context of the Current Conflict with Radical Islamists By: Msgr. Charles PopeRecent and persistent attacks by radical Muslims, especially the most recent beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians, have many asking what can or should be done to end such atrocities. Military actions by numerous countries, including our own, are already underway. Most feel quite justified in these actions and many are calling for more concerted efforts to eliminate ISIS and related zealots who seem to know no pity, no reason, and no limits. I do not write here to opine on the need for...

Ötzi the ice mummy may have met his death in the Alps some 5300 years ago, but his descendants live on – on the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia. The finding comes from an analysis of Ötzi's DNA, which also reveals he had brown eyes and hair, and was lactose intolerant. The ice mummy was found in 1991 on an Alpine glacier between Austria and Italy, where he met a violent end in the Neolithic.....

The exceptional discovery of burials about 9,000 years old - probably containing the oldest human remains ever found in Corsica (France) - will allow a better understanding of the history of early settlement of the island and of the Mediterranean. On a hill near the village of Sollacaro, Southern Corsica, nestled under a huge ball-shaped block of eroded granite which served as a shelter for prehistoric peoples, the location has been excavated by a team of archaeologists from several French universities, assisted by a Danish colleague... Having uncovered the bones of four or five adults, a teenager, and a baby...

From Corsica, French Jets Roar Into Action Over Libya by Eleanor Beardsley March 30, 2011 The French air force was the first to go into action over Libya. And since then, French aircraft have flown more missions enforcing the United Nations resolution than any other country except the United States. Most of those missions have been launched from an air base on the French island of Corsica. From a runway wedged between snowcapped mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, Rafale and Mirage jets roar into the sky, one after the other, their metallic skins flashing in the morning sun. It takes...