Can You Build a Great Wine Cellar Using Only American Bottles?
So sacrosanct is it that, 15 years ago, an extortionist threatened to poison the vines unless he received a €1 million ($1.3 million) ransom. Owner Aubert de Villaine and the Police Nationale set up a sting operation and caught the man, protecting an agricultural asset whose value has been estimated at more than €2 billion.
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Yahoo
14 hours ago
- Yahoo
French leader Macron vows justice after unknown attackers chop down tree honoring murdered Jew
PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron pledged Friday that no effort will be spared to track down and prosecute unknown attackers who chopped down an olive tree planted in homage to a French Jew murdered in 2006. The commemorative tree for Ilan Halimi, planted 14 years ago in the northern Paris suburb of Épinay-sur-Seine, was felled on Wednesday night, seemingly with a chainsaw. The town posted a photo on its Facebook page showing the tree's leafy, bushy top completely severed from its base, leaving just the stump poking from the ground. 'Cutting down the tree that honored Ilan Halimi is an attempt to kill him for a second time,' Macron posted on X. 'It will not succeed: the Nation will not forget this child of France, killed because he was Jewish.' 'All means are being deployed to punish this act of hatred. In the face of antisemitism, the Republic is always uncompromising.' he added. Halimi was found naked, handcuffed and covered with burn marks near railroad tracks in the Essonne region south of Paris on Feb. 13, 2006. He died on the way to the hospital after being held captive and tortured for more than three weeks. He was 23. The brutal killing revived worries in France about antisemitism and led to deep anxiety in France's Jewish community, the largest in western Europe. French Prime Minister François Bayrou, in a post on X, said the olive tree 'was felled by antisemitic hatred.' 'No crime can uproot memory. The never-ending fight against the deadly poison of hatred is our foremost duty,' he wrote. In a separate post, the Paris police chief condemned 'this ignoble act' and said an investigation has been launched. 'Everything will be done to find the perpetrators and deliver them to justice,' he pledged. Attackers have previously desecrated other efforts to keep Halimi's memory alive. In 2017, a commemorative plaque near Paris was ripped off, thrown on the ground and covered with antisemitic writing.
Yahoo
16 hours ago
- Yahoo
Man charged with north London murder committed 18 months ago after France extradition
A man has been extradited from France and charged with a murder carried out more than 18 months ago. Arlind Hashani, 22, was detained in Paris on Wednesday, July 30 before being returned to the UK. Metropolitan Police officers were called to the Abbey Estate in St John's Wood at around 19.30pm on Tuesday, December 29, 2023. Ahmed Ali Jama, 29, was found with stab wounds. He was taken to hospital where, despite the best efforts of medical professionals, he later died. Hashani, of Bray Fellows Road in Camden, appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Friday, August 15 where he was charged with murder. He was remanded in custody and is due to appear at Wood Green Crown Court on Tuesday, August 19.
Fox News
a day ago
- Fox News
Vandals chop down tree honoring Jewish man tortured and killed in antisemitic attack
French leaders are condemning vandals who chopped down a tree honoring a Jewish man who was kidnapped and tortured for over three weeks before dying on the way to a hospital. In 2006, a group that called itself the "Gang of Barbarians," led by Youssouf Fofana, kidnapped Ilan Halimi, a 23-year-old Jewish man. For more than three weeks, Halimi was held hostage and tortured. Believing an old antisemitic stereotype, Halimi's captors assumed his family was wealthy and demanded a ransom it could not afford. At least 27 people participated in Halimi's abduction and torture, but it is believed that more knew of the crime and did not report it to law enforcement. On Feb. 13, 2006, Halimi was found naked, handcuffed and barely clinging to life at a train station. He died while being transported to a hospital. The commemorative olive tree, planted in Halimi's honor 14 years ago, was cut down late Wednesday night. The Associated Press reported the felling appeared to be done with a chainsaw. French President Emmanuel Macron condemned the act, saying, "Cutting down the tree honoring Ilan Halimi is an attempt to kill him a second time. "It will not succeed: the nation will not forget this child of France who died because he was Jewish," he added. French Prime Minister François Bayrou said, "No crime can uproot his memory." In response, U.S. Ambassador to France Charles Kushner thanked Bayrou for his "strong and unequivocal" condemnation of the felling of the memorial tree. "I hope your clear condemnation, as the leader of the French government, stands as a model of principled leadership and zero tolerance toward the surge of antisemitism in France and worldwide. Your statement will resonate far beyond the immediate context, reassuring those targeted and inspiring all who cherish tolerance," Kushner wrote on X. Despite strongly condemning the incident, Macron was not praised by Israeli Minister of Diaspora and Combating Antisemitism Amichai Chikli. The Israeli official pointed to Macron's recent promise to recognize a Palestinian state and suggested the French president effectively "wielded the axe." "Macron rushed to condemn it — but I told him his own hands wielded the axe. No French president has been more hostile to the Jewish community since the Vichy regime," Chikli wrote. "By pushing recognition of a Palestinian state — under the heavy shadow of the October 7 atrocities, while our people rot in captivity — Macron places himself at the political vanguard of Hamas and of the surging tide of global antisemitism." In the years since Halimi's murder, France has grappled with antisemitic incidents, including a 2015 attack on the Hyper Cacher store in Paris that left four dead. In March, just over 10 years after the attack, the store was targeted again. An arsonist set a fire that damaged the front of the store and some of its interior, according to The Times of Israel. Antisemitism in France has persisted since the war in Gaza began in 2023 after Hamas' brutal Oct. 7 massacre. Jews in France have not only seen mass protests against Israel. They have been victims of antisemitic violence. In June 2024, a 12-year-old girl was raped by three teen boys who, according to police reports, uttered death threats and antisemitic remarks during the attack. The incident sparked outrage in France and was condemned by Macron. According to The Times of Israel, the boys were charged with sexual assault on a minor and recording and sharing sexual images, aggravated by religious motivation. The outlet reported that two of the attackers, who were 13 at the time of the rape, were sentenced to nine and seven years in prison. One assailant could not be sentenced to jail due to his age and would reportedly be placed in closed foster care for five years. Recently, the Israeli airline El Al has been a target for antisemitism in France. Earlier this month, the company's Paris offices were vandalized with red paint and anti-Israel graffiti. The vandals wrote that El Al was a "genocide airline." Just days later, a French air traffic controller broadcast "Free Palestine" to El Al pilots. The worker has since been suspended. El Al called the remarks "unprofessional and inappropriate." Fofana, who led the attack on Halimi, was sentenced to life in prison in 2009 and is not eligible for parole for 22 years. Two of his accomplices were sentended to 15 and 18 years in prison. A man who was a minor at the time of the attack was also sentenced to 15 years in prison. A girl who used to lure Halimi was sentenced to nine years in prison.
