Free Republic

LANDERNEAU, France - A small town in western France has set a world record for the greatest number of smurf-costumed people gathered in the same place, according to organisers, who counted over 3,000 this weekend. Landerneau, population 16,000, on the far western tip of France’s Britanny region, had tried twice before to wrest the record from Lauchringen, a town in Germany that managed to gather together a seemingly unassailable 2,762 smurfs in 2019. But on May 17, the French challengers finally pulverised that record, assembling 3,076 people clad and face-painted in blue, wearing white hats and singing smurfy songs. “We...

May 19, 2025:The somber face of Caitríona Perry reporting on Netanyahu getting basic aid trucks into Gaza. Caitríona Perry is current anchor of BBC America. Just like typical BBC bigoted propaganda "journalists" only so happy if and when they can bombard Israelophobia. They, constantly, stream genocidal Hamas provided or/and controlled footage - to shock. Amazingly they can't show adult terrorists being eliminated. Adults - the key. And of course they wouldn't mention cruel Palestine Hamas using = robbing aid as a controlling power.

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — The U.K., France and Canada on Monday threatened “concrete actions” against Israel, including sanctions, for its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, calling on Israel to stop “egregious” new military actions in Gaza and immediately allow in humanitarian aid.The sharply worded statement came shortly after Israel and the United Nations said the first few trucks of aid had entered Gaza after nearly three months of an Israeli blockade, as Israel acknowledged pressure from allies.The joint statement called Israel’s decision to allow a “minimal” amount of aid into Gaza “wholly inadequate.” There was no...

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening issued a statement responding to the UK, Canada and France’s ultimatum to Israel to end the war in Gaza or face sanctions. “By asking Israel to end a defensive war for our survival before Hamas terrorists on our border are destroyed and by demanding a Palestinian state, the leaders in London, Ottawa and Paris are offering a huge prize for the genocidal attack on Israel on October 7 while inviting more such atrocities,” he said. “The war began on October 7 when Palestinian terrorists stormed our borders, murdered 1,200 innocent people and abducted...

Summoned Israeli ambassador to Two-tier's Presence, demand that Israel surrender. Lots of sanctimonious platitudes. Halted trade talks. More threats. Israel: GFYS Transcript linked below video.

There are around 400 caves in France and Spain that contain painted art made between 40,000 and 12,000 years ago. Many of these bear hand prints or paintings created by children between the ages of two and 12. Experts have long wondered why such young children were taken into some of the deepest and darkest caves in Europe on treks that would have been quite treacherous. A new study suggests that children may have played a special role as mediators between the physical and spiritual worlds, according to a statement released by Tel Aviv University. The prevailing hypothesis has been...

The white marble bust of the “Riders on the Storm” singer — made by Croatian artist Mladen Mikulin — was placed at the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris on the 10th anniversary of Morrison’s death in 1981. The infamous sculpture, weighing nearly 300 pounds, did not appear damaged beyond the graffiti and its broken nose, which were already there when the bust went missing 37 years ago, according to newly released pictures. Morrison’s gravesite — situated in an area called the “Poets Corner”– has attracted hordes of fans since the 27-year-old was laid to rest in 1971, according to the...

France’s civil aviation authority asked airlines to reduce flights by 40% at Paris-Orly airport on Sunday evening after air traffic control systems suffered a breakdown.. The authority, known as DGAC, said in a statement that some “regulation” was needed involving a significant reduction in the number of flights. The statement didn´t provide details on the cause of the breakdown. Paris-Orly airport serves domestic and international flights, including to most European countries and the U.S. Flights to Spain, Denmark, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Ireland and several French cities were canceled on Sunday while many others were delayed. More...

MOSCOW (Reuters) -The founder of the Telegram messaging app said on Sunday he had refused a request by a Western government, which he did not name but appeared to imply was France, to silence conservative voices in Romania ahead of a presidential election run-off there.

On Tuesday night French President Emmanuel Macron doing a "town hall" format meeting on TF 1 television in the style of American politicians like Donald Trump. Macron taking questions from prominent opponents... On Friday as Israel launched its new expanded offensive in Gaza President Emmanuel Macron said he hope to discuss it with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President... A contentious hearing as President Macron's Prime Minister Francois Bayrou appeared before a legislative committee... This week 76-year-old actor Gerard Depardieu giving an 18-month suspended sentence for sexual assaults involving groping incidents...Reaction very sharp from 90-year-old French screen legend...

SNIP “In my country, we are fighting like hell for the democracy we once took for granted. That affects all of us here because the arts are democratic. Art is inclusive, it brings people together. Art embraces diversity and that’s why art is a threat, that’s why we are a threat to autocrats and fascists,” he said. “America’s philistine president has had himself appointed head of one of our premier cultural institutions,” he continued. “He has cut funding and support to the arts, humanities and education. And now he has announced a 100% tariff on films produced outside of the...

CANNES, France (AP) — Cannes is a short trip from Bono’s seaside villa in Eze-sur-Mer. He bought it with The Edge in 1993, and considers himself grateful to a coastline that, he says, gave him a “delayed adolescence.” “I can tell you I’ve slept on beaches close to here,” Bono says with a grin. “I’ve woken up in the sun.” But that doesn’t mean the Cannes Film Festival is a particularly familiar experience for the U2 frontman. He’s here to premiere the Apple TV+ documentary “Bono: Stories of Surrender,” which captures his one-man stage show. Before coming, Bono’s daughter, the...

Cannes (France) (AFP) – Hollywood heavyweights Joaquin Phoenix, Pedro Pascal, Riz Ahmed and Guillermo del Toro have added their names to a letter condemning the film industry's silence on what it called "genocide" in Gaza, the organisers confirmed Friday. The petition, signed by more than 370 actors and filmmakers, also denounced Israel's killing of Fatima Hassouna, the young Gaza photojournalist featured in the documentary "Put Your Soul in Your Hand and Walk", which premiered at the Cannes film festival Thursday. The organisers of the letter said the French actor Juliette Binoche, who is chairing the jury at Cannes, also added...

Discover Rome's little-known, grand sister city, right in the middle of Europe. 🏟🏛️ Autun is a small town in Burgundy. But not even 2000 years ago, it was France’s second largest city. Known as, "Augustodunum," after Augustus, the famous Roman emperor, it was twice as big as Paris, and the oldest center of Christianity in France, with far reaching influence. Considered a "sister" to Rome, Autun was miraculously built in just a few decades to replace the ancient, mythical capital of the Aedui: Bibracte. Rome's Mirror Sister: The Hidden Legacy of Autun - Full Documentary | 52:20 Easy Documentary |...

Two orcas and 12 dolphins have been stuck in bleak living conditions in an abandoned marine park since January. The majestic creatures remain confined in Marineland Antibes, a French marine park near Cannes that shut its doors four months ago. Disturbing drone footage released by animal activist group TideBreakers shows the orcas Wikie, 23, and her 11-year-old son Keijo wandering aimlessly around the abandoned park. The video also shows the algae-infested pool where the remaining dolphins are kept. But despite their despairing condition, French authorities have yet to identify a suitable site in Europe for the orcas and have rejected...

Flailing and struggling amid a brutal assault, this is the moment the daughter of a major cryptocurrency company executive and her two-year-old child were the victims of a violent attempted kidnapping in Paris. The 34-year-old was walking down Rue Pache in the capital yesterday morning when three armed men approached her. The group tried to force her and her toddler into a white van after hitting the child's father, who tried to intervene. Footage filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window also shows the woman - believed to be the daughter of a top crypto exec - grab a...

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio discussed the "way forward for a ceasefire" in Ukraine with European counterparts, including the foreign ministers of Britain and France, and the EU's foreign policy chief, the State Department said on Monday. Ukraine's foreign minister Andrii Sybiha and his German and Polish counterparts were also on the call, according to the readout.

On the way back from Kyiv, journalists unexpectedly entered the leaders’ cabin. German advisor Merz hid a spoon used for cocaine, while French President Macron concealed a bag of it. ... What’s this? Reporters walk in, and boom - Merz hides a coke spoon, Macron tucks a bag. Awkward ride back from Kyiv. ... OLD BUT STILL RELEVANT: Traces of cocaine have been found in several toilets in the Reichstag (parliament) and in the Berlin House of Representatives. The drug had been detected in a test "in quantities where a drug dog would react” ... Macron in slow-mo ... You...

French President Emmanuel Macron suffered an embarrassing moment during a train ride into Ukraine on Sunday. Reporters filmed Macron during a train ride from Poland to Ukraine with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.The three leaders are on their way to Kiev to discuss the ongoing war with Russia and potential peace talks.Rumors quickly began to spread that Macron possessed cocaine after he quickly grabbed a crumpled-up tissue. Others speculated that Merz tried to cover a straw or a spoon.WATCH at link. Three men and a bag of white powder.Notice how Macron sneakily and deftly swipes...

Startling revelations by French intelligence experts back David Shayler's alleged 'fantasy'about Gadaffi plot Martin Bright, home affairs editor Sunday November 10, 2002 The Observer British intelligence paid large sums of money to an al-Qaeda cell in Libya in a doomed attempt to assassinate Colonel Gadaffi in 1996 and thwarted early attempts to bring Osama bin Laden to justice. The latest claims of MI6 involvement with Libya's fearsome Islamic Fighting Group, which is connected to one of bin Laden's trusted lieutenants, will be embarrassing to the Government, which described similar claims by renegade MI5 officer David Shayler as 'pure fantasy'. The...