Free Republic

Left-wing managers of a Paris theatre occupied by hundreds of homeless African migrants are set to abandon the building because of sex-related violence. They say the crisis at the Gaîté Lyrique – one of the French capital’s most historic arts venues – is now ‘so explosive’ that retreat by this Friday is their only option. Some 200 mainly young men moved in last December when the management gave them free tickets to a ‘Refugees Welcome in France’ conference. But when the conference was finished, the migrants, who mostly come from France's former west African colonies, refused to leave the venue....

President Macron was last night facing calls to impose a state of emergency after marauding gangs of rioters - some armed with stolen rifles - clashed with police in a fourth night of mayhem. Thousands of looters ransacked some of France's major cities as local police declared they were now at 'war' with 'savage hordes of vermin' - with officers from two of the country's biggest policing unions now threatening to revolt. Britain's Foreign Office issued an alert to tourists thinking of travelling to France, as the violence continued to deepen following the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Nahel Merzouk who...

For millions of pilgrims, a visit to Lourdes to take its miraculous healing waters is an intensely spiritual experience. Since Bernadette Soubirous witnessed the first of 18 apparitions of the Virgin Mary almost 150 years ago, the shrine has become a place of quiet contemplation and religious devotion. Hail Mary or Bloody Mary? Lourdes is home to tacky gift shops and numerous bars and clubs But now the town's peace is being shattered by thousands of British tourists whose behaviour has become so bad that officials have brought in riot police. The decision to deploy officers from the notorious...