At trial over banner targeting Aya Nakamura, far-right activists stand by their actions
Heirs to the far-right group Génération Identitaire, which was dissolved in 2021, Les Natifs – who have 10,000 followers on Instagram and 19,000 on X – specialize in actions involving hostile posters and banners, often targeting immigration or promoting the defense of "European civilization." Recently, activists plastered portraits of Joan of Arc and Sainte Geneviève over images of veiled women displayed at the Basilica of Saint-Denis, in the northern Paris suburb.
Posted on their X account and viewed nearly 4.5 million times, the photo of the anti-Nakamura banner was accompanied by a short text lamenting President Emmanuel Macron's supposed plan: "To replace French elegance with vulgarity, to Africanize our popular songs, and to sideline the native population in favor of extra-European immigration." The message demanded that "France be represented by an artist embodying our heritage, our values and our identity!"
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4 hours ago
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How France and the UK are preparing for the Bayeux Tapestry's big move
ADVERTISEMENT For almost a thousand years, the Bayeux Tapestry has told the story of how a French duke defeated an English king in battle – and changed the course of European history. Now, as France prepares to lend the 70-metre-long masterpiece to the UK, planning is underway behind the scenes to make the historic loan a reality. The embroidered tapestry, which depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is due to go on display at the British Museum from September 2026 to July 2027. The loan itself has already been announced – but the complex work of moving and preserving one of Europe's most fragile treasures is only just getting started. When French President Emmanuel Macron confirmed the loan during his 2025 state visit to the UK – the first by an EU leader since Brexit – the symbolism wasn't lost on either side of the Channel. After years of chilled relations, the move was seen as a gesture of renewed cultural warmth. But it's not just about politics. Historians widely believe the tapestry was actually stitched in England, using wool thread on linen. That makes its temporary return something of a 'homecoming', says Bayeux Museum curator Antoine Verney. 'For the British, the date – the only date – that all of them know is 1066,' Verney told AP. It's that sense of shared ownership – and shared story – that's giving fresh momentum to this complex loan, which will see pieces from the British Museum that represent all four nations of the UK, including the Lewis chess pieces, travel to museums in Normandy. Moving any 900-year-old textile is risky. Moving one made of nine joined pieces of linen, depicting 626 characters, 41 ships and 202 horses? Even more so. 'There is always a risk. The goal is for those risks to be as carefully calculated as possible,' said Verney. The tapestry has survived invasions, revolutions and world wars. Napoleon displayed it in Paris in 1804, and the Allies rolled it out again in 1944 after liberating France. But even with that pedigree, its age is showing. 'The textile fibres are 900 years old. So they have naturally degraded simply due to age,' Verney said. 'But at the same time, this is a work that has already travelled extensively and been handled a great deal.' Details of how it will be moved remain under discussion. The transfer is being worked out between the British and French governments, with conservation teams weighing every option – from humidity control and vibration monitoring to custom-built containers. Verney is confident the British Museum won't take any unnecessary risks. 'How can one imagine, in my view, that the British Museum would risk damaging, through the exhibition, this work that is a major element of a shared heritage?' he said. 'I don't believe that the British could take risks that would endanger this major element of art history and of world heritage.' While the tapestry is away, the Bayeux Museum will be undergoing its own transformation. The site is closing to visitors from 1 September this year for a major renovation costing tens of millions of euros. When it reopens in 2027, the star attraction will return to a state-of-the-art home, where it will be displayed on a custom-built, inclined 70-metre-long table. Verney says the redesign will completely change how people view the work – not just as a medieval marvel, but as a piece of storytelling and design that still resonates. At the British Museum, curators are already preparing for what's expected to be one of the biggest exhibitions in its history. The tapestry will be shown in the museum's Sainsbury Exhibition Gallery, with conservation staff on alert throughout the show. The tapestry was likely commissioned by Bishop Odo, William the Conqueror's half-brother, to mark the building of a new cathedral in Bayeux in 1077. For centuries, it lay mostly out of sight, stored in a chest. Today, it's not just a rare survivor, but a powerful artefact of national identity for both France and Britain. The images, stitched in dramatic sequence, have often been described as a kind of medieval comic strip. But they carry weight: themes of power, invasion, resistance and fate still resonate, even in a modern museum.
Euronews
5 hours ago
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European leaders show cautious optimism towards Ukraine talks outcome
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Euronews
6 hours ago
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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.
