French police arrest two men for parachuting off Eiffel Tower
The men signalled they wanted to jump and leapt off the tower around 6 am local time. Police arrested them once they had landed and also detained a third person who had been near the monument but had not taken part in the climb, the source said.
Completed in 1889 for Paris's Universal Exhibition, the Eiffel Tower is owned by the city of Paris. One of the world's most visited monuments, it attracts around seven million people every year, around three quarters of them from abroad, according to its website.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Euronews
6 hours ago
- Euronews
Bored of your beach read? Dive into these politicians' steamy novels
They say that inspiration comes from the most unexpected places. But who would have thought that a public office setting could inspire romantic – and oftentimes dark and even forbidden- erotic fantasies? Those politicians from Spain, France, Austria or the UK used their own experience and put on paper their romantic or sexual life. Here are their stories. Think of this not as a reading list, but as a peek into a rather unexpected literary niche. Thomas Oberreiter, Austrian Ambassador to the European Union (2023-2025) At the end of July, a story made jaws drop in Brussels: Austria's representative to the EU institutions was accused of running a blog with highly explicit content. Written from a female perspective, the blog includes scenes depicting sadomasochistic encounters – and at times, descriptions of non-consensual sex – allegedly authored by the 59-year-old male diplomat. Despite Oberreiter denying any involvement in the blog, media investigations traced its posts to IP addresses and devices belonging to the Austrian Foreign Ministry. The blog was reportedly updated during working hours and from within official premises. After more than 30 years as a diplomat in Europe and Mexico, Oberreiter resigned as the controversy erupted in Brussels. He has not responded to requests for comment. Quote to remember (or you wish you could forget): 'We were meat, nothing more. Women. Vessels for men's semen.' Marlene Schiappa, in the French government from 2017 to 2023. Secretary of State for Gender Equality (2017-2020), Minister Delegate in charge of Citizenship (2020-2022) & State Secretary for the Social and Solidarity Economy (2022-2023) Long before entering ministerial office, Marlène Schiappa had already turned to erotic writing under the pen name Marie Minelli. Among her titles are Osez les sexfriends, Comment transformer votre mec en Brad Pitt en 30 jours, and Sexe, mensonge et banlieues chaudes. When the existence of these books was revealed at the time of her appointment as Secretary of State for Gender Equality, she faced numerous attacks, which she described as sexist. 'I have a colleague in government who is well known to have written a novel. No one ever teases him about it, no one even mentions it. It's seen as normal: it's a bit cheeky, but that's fine, he's a man, he's allowed,' she once remarked. Ultimately, she has not hidden her past and has defended these works as a way of challenging society's views on women's relationship to sexuality. Schiappa is a prolific author. During her time in office, she published 11 books under her own name and one through her 'romantic' alter ego, Marie Minelli. She has not only faced criticism for the time spent writing, but also for posing for Playboy magazine. When she appeared on the cover of the April 2023 issue, her then boss, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, reportedly called her to say the interview was 'inappropriate'. Three months later, when the government was reshuffled, her name (as well as the one of Marie Minelli) was quietly left off the list. Quote to remember (or wish you could forget): 'I open my mouth as wide as I can, and Amaury ejaculates uncontrollably all over my face, shouting in a high-pitched voice: 'Vive la France! Vive la France! Vive la France!'' Minelli, M. (2014). Sexe, mensonges et Banlieues Chaudes. La Musardine. Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy, Finance, Industrial and Digital Sovereignty (2017-2024) Another minister in the same government also published books containing erotic scenes. Bruno Le Maire, who has served as Minister of the Economy since Emmanuel Macron's election in 2017 and previously held office under then-president Nicolas Sarkozy, is generally known for his serious, polished demeanour. But in 2023, at the height of the pension reform crisis, the publication of his novel Fugue américaine revealed a different side of the minister's personality. In this nearly 500-page novel, Le Maire tells the story of two brothers visiting Cuba in 1949 for a concert by pianist Vladimir Horowitz. Rather than the musical reflections or the cultural clash between East and West, it was a particularly explicit passage involving a young man named Oskar that drew public attention. The scene was widely shared on social media, sparking mockery online – particularly given the tense political climate – and posed a challenge for the government's communications strategy. However, this was not Bruno Le Maire's first time. In 2004, he published Le Ministre, a narrative based on his experience as adviser to Dominique de Villepin, then Minister of Foreign Affairs. In it, he recounts an intimate moment with his wife: 'I let myself be enveloped by the warmth of the bath, the light of the lagoon floating through the frosted glass door, the scent of green tea soap, and Pauline's hand gently caressing my sex.' Quote to remember (or wish you could forget): "She turned her back to me; she threw herself onto the bed; she showed me the brown swell of her anus. 'Are you coming, Oskar? I'm more dilated than ever.'" Le Maire, B. (2023). Fugue américaine: Roman. Gallimard. Esteban González Pons, Spanish Member of the European Parliament (since 2014) A well-known figure on Spain's centre-right, Esteban González Pons has served as a senator and is now a Member of the European Parliament. He is Vice-President of the Parliament and a member of the Budget Committee - positions that stand in sharp contrast to his side career as a writer of romantic and erotic fiction. In 2020, he published Ellas ('They,' in the feminine, in Spanish), a novel reflecting the author's deep love for his homeland and aimed at the generation that grew up during Spain's Transition in the 1960s and 70s. The protagonist decides to reconnect with his first love, and, in a dramatic gesture to catch her attention, sends her a suicide letter. What surprises readers are the rather explicit passages, which have drawn comparisons to Fifty Shades of Grey with some media renaming him 'González Porn'. In a 2022 interview, he brushed off these criticisms: "Journalists are very shocked when a love novel includes sex. Maybe it's because sexual education is lacking in journalism faculties". Quote to remember (or wish you could forget): "…that indifferent nudity conveyed the fullness of a mother goddess whose mons veneris would have welcomed the charge of a warrior galloping last night. She rested as pleased as a sexual praying mantis, exhausted after having swallowed her lover through the vagina, digested him in the womb, and finally expelled him again, allowed him to be reborn." Pons, E. G. (2020). Ellas. Espasa. Cleo Watson & Edwina Currie, United Kingdom Cleo Watson, a former Conservative political aide and special adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, made headlines in 2023 with her debut novel, Whips. The book blends Westminster intrigue with office romances and personal entanglements. The novel ranges from a clandestine romance between rival Tory and Labour candidates who meet on a dating app, to the Prime Minister secretly watching porn, and even a Secretary of State answering committee questions while wearing a discreet vibrating device. Cleo Watson was part of the 'PartyGate' that led to the fall of Boris Johnson – and was even fined for it – she then published a follow-up in 2024, Cleavage. But she was not the first to write an erotic book using the UK political scene. Edwina Currie, Conservative MP for South Derbyshire from 1983 to 1997 and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health under Margaret Thatcher, also turned to fiction after leaving politics. Her 1994 novel, A Parliamentary Affair, interweaves Westminster manoeuvres with intimate relationships, exploring the personal dramas of those working in the high-pressure world of politics. Currie's writing is partly reconstructed from her real-life affair with former UK Prime Minister John Major.
LeMonde
3 days ago
- LeMonde
France discussing 'unjustified' arrest of citizen in Mali
France's Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, August 16, that it was in talks with Mali over the arrest of a Frenchman accused of working with intelligence services to "destabilize" the country, calling the claims "unjustified." "Discussions are underway to clear up any misunderstanding" and obtain the "immediate release" of the French embassy employee in Bamako, the ministry said. Mali authorities said Thursday that the French national had been arrested on suspicion of working for the French intelligence services, and accused "foreign states" of trying to destabilize the country. The West African country's ruling junta, which came to power after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, also said that dozens of soldiers had been detained for allegedly seeking to overthrow the government. France's Foreign Ministry said the arrested employee was covered by the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, meaning he should be released. Impoverished Mali has been gripped by a security crisis since 2012, fueled notably by violence from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadist group, as well as local criminal gangs. The junta, led by President Assimi Goita, has turned away from Western partners, notably former colonial power France, to align itself politically and militarily with Russia in the name of national sovereignty.
LeMonde
4 days ago
- LeMonde
Mali junta accuses foreign powers of destabilization plot
The authorities in Mali on Thursday, August 14, said a French national had been arrested on suspicion of working for French intelligence services, and accused "foreign states" of trying to destabilize the country. The ruling junta, which came to power after back-to-back coups in 2020 and 2021, also said that dozens of soldiers had been detained in recent days for allegedly seeking to overthrow the government. Impoverished Mali has been gripped by a security crisis since 2012, fueled notably by violence from groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State jihadist group, as well as local criminal gangs. In a statement read on national television, the military said "fringe elements of the Malian armed security forces" were held for seeking to "destabilize the institutions of the republic." "These soldiers and civilians" are said to have obtained "the help of foreign states," the government said. The French national was held on suspicion of working "on behalf of the French intelligence service." Security sources told AFP that at least 55 soldiers had been arrested, and the government said it was working to identify "possible accomplices." The junta confirmed the arrest of two generals, including Abbas Dembélé, a highly respected figure in the army and a former governor who was recently dismissed from his position. Security sources told AFP the arrests were made mainly within the national guard – a branch of the army from whose ranks emerged Defence Minister Sadio Camara, a key figure in the junta. Several observers noted that some of those arrested were close to Camara, but he has not been questioned so far. 'Misappropriation' On Tuesday, Mali's civilian former prime minister Choguel Maiga and a number of his former colleagues were taken into custody as part of an investigation into claims of "misappropriation of public funds." Maiga, a former junta heavyweight, was appointed prime minister in 2021 before being dismissed at the end of last year after criticizing the military government. He had criticized being excluded from decisions about the continued leadership of the generals, who had initially promised to hand power back to elected civilians in March 2024. No connection has been made between his arrest and those of the soldiers accused of wanting to overthrow the government. The junta, led by President Assimi Goita, has turned away from Western partners, notably former colonial power France, to align itself politically and militarily with Russia in the name of national sovereignty. The Malian army and its Russian mercenary allies have been tasked with hunting down the jihadists and are regularly accused of committing abuses against civilians.
