Holocaust memorial and three synagogues in Paris sprayed with green paint
Police found the paint damage early on Saturday on the Shoah Memorial, which is the Holocaust museum in Paris, three synagogues and a restaurant in the historic Jewish neighbourhood of Le Marais, the source said.
Interior minister Bruno Retailleau said on X that he was disgusted by these 'despicable acts targeting the Jewish community'.
It was not yet known who committed the damage, or why. The Interior Ministry did not respond to a request for comment on details of the incidents.
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France has seen a rise in hate crimes. Last year police recorded an 11 per cent rise in racist, xenophobic or antireligious crimes, according to official data published in March. The figures did not break down the attacks on different religions.
- Reuters
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Irish Times
20 hours ago
- Irish Times
A French woman in Dublin: ‘It was obvious from the start of my Erasmus that I was really happy here. My family could see it'
Dr Nina Cnockaert-Guillou believes that her mother's stories first sparked her love of Irish history. Though Cnockaert-Guillou was raised in Normandy , she spent much of her childhood in Brittany where her mother's family are from. Brittany has been classified as one of the Celtic nations because of how its language, history and traditions align with the other Celtic nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. Cnockaert-Guillou described a childhood spent immersed in Celtic culture and history. 'My mum would tell me the most amazing stories about King Arthur and things like that.' This fascination with Celtic history brought Cnockaert-Guillou to a university in Paris , where she studied history. An interest in languages while at school meant that her English was proficient enough for her to go on exchange to an English-speaking country. Her first choice was University College Cork , as it offered classes in medieval and modern Irish for exchange students. READ MORE 'I actually didn't know very much about Ireland or Irish Celtic history when I signed up to go on exchange. I knew that I loved Celtic history and languages and that this would be an opportunity to me to see if Irish history was something that I wanted to pursue. 'Once I started learning Irish, I just couldn't stop there. The material in the classes really fascinated me. UCC is also a great campus to be a student.' The staff at UCC noticed Cnockaert-Guillou's enthusiasm and talent for languages and asked her if she was interested in applying for a master's in medieval Irish literature there. She was. 'I had this fantastic lecturer at UCC who taught me old Irish from scratch and I was just so enthused by everything that I did.' Ultimately it was Ireland's incredible collection of medieval manuscripts which convinced Cnockaert-Guillou to specialise in Irish medieval history. Though I have enjoyed living in Dublin I would prefer to live in Cork 'The manuscripts are really fascinating and beautiful, and the fact that there are so many texts just sitting there, which have either never been studied or not studied in hundreds of years, really intrigued me.' After her master's Cnockaert-Guillou secured funding to do a PhD at the University of Cambridge in medieval Irish. She traced the evolution of an Irish story first written down in the 12th century and repeated in manuscripts until the 19th century. 'I studied how the text was changed, why it was changed in these ways and where the new bits of the story were coming from. I was the first person ever to study this story and publish about it.' The study of history can sometimes attract criticism for being 'male, pale and stale', both in terms of the people studying it and the how the records that survive nearly always centre on men. 'First of all you have to understand when you are studying the medieval period that that was just the way society was. I work on texts that are anonymous so while it is likely that they were written by men, we will never know for sure. [ A Breton in Ireland: 'My wife calls me a culchie, which I completely embrace' Opens in new window ] 'When reading a medieval manuscript you shouldn't focus on the fact that they are mainly about men as it can detract from the fascinating material that's there. There are characters who have survived hundreds of years and who I think that they would still make for brilliant characters if they were being written today. It would be a shame not to study these stories. 'Academia is still to some extent very male-dominated, and that won't change unless more women come into the field and take up space. I have seen change happening though and I do think that we are going in the right direction.' While Cnockaert-Guillou enjoyed her time at Cambridge, she always planned to move back to Ireland. 'As I work on Ireland specifically, this is where most the jobs and work are.' It was, however, more than work that brought Cnockaert-Guillou back to Ireland. 'It was pretty obvious from the start of my Erasmus exchange in Ireland that I was really happy here. My family at home could see it as well. I think that Irish people are really welcoming, lovely and easy to talk to. 'And it's really not that far from France. It's a very short flight so I have never felt that far from home.' These days Cnockaert-Guillou is a postdoctoral scholar at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Fellows in their school of Celtic studies, where she began working after finishing her PhD. She hosts a podcast called Ní Hansae ('Not Difficult' in old Irish) where she interviews other scholars at the Dublin Institute and gets them to explain their area of research in simple terms. 'Though I have enjoyed living in Dublin I would prefer to live in Cork. I grew up in a small town so I am feel more comfortable in Cork city. There I can go nearly everywhere on foot and I kind of know where everything is. It was also the first place that I lived in Ireland so I will always have this affinity with Cork.' In her spare time, Cnockaert-Guillou is working towards being fluent in modern Irish. 'For my master's I worked more on Old Irish and during my PhD I worked mainly on medieval and early modern Irish, but throughout this time I have been learning modern Irish as well. 'I hope to get to a point in the next few years where I will be fully fluent in Irish but I am not there yet.' We would like to hear from people who have moved to Ireland in the past 10 years. To get involved, email newtotheparish@ or tweet @newtotheparish
Irish Times
4 days ago
- Irish Times
Catherine Connolly says we ‘cannot trust' the US, England and France
Presidential election candidate Catherine Connolly has said the European Union has 'lost its moral compass' and that we 'cannot trust' the United States , England and France . She said Irish people should resist a 'trend towards imperialism' in the EU, as the bloc is becoming 'increasingly militarised'. Ms Connolly, the only confirmed candidate for the upcoming election, has also renewed her criticism of Russia, Nato and countries such as the US,, the UK and France, when asked about her stance on certain international issues. Setting out her position in response to questions posed by The Irish Times, Ms Connolly said: 'The US, England and France are deeply entrenched in an arms industry which causes bloodshed across the world – as a staunch advocate for neutrality, this behaviour must be condemned.' During a Dáil speech last February Ms Connolly referred to Government plans to scrap the 'triple lock' on the deployment of Irish troops abroad – a proposal she opposes, arguing it threatens Ireland's neutrality. She agreed with another contributor that there are countries 'we certainly cannot trust' adding: 'America is one of those and England and France are others. READ MORE 'What is behind their motivation is simply an arms industry, more war' and 'making huge profits'. She said: 'That needs to be called out over and over.' The left-wing Independent TD is the only confirmed candidate in the race for Áras an Uachtaráin after Fine Gael politician Mairead McGuinness dropped out for health reasons. Ms Connolly, who has the backing of the Social Democrats, Labour and People Before Profit to enter the election, has long been a campaigner for Irish neutrality and has been vocal on the horror of the war in Gaza. Her stance on global issues such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine are coming under scrutiny now that she is running for president. The Galway West TD has condemned Russia and branded its president Vladimir Putin a 'dictator' during Dáil statements on the conflict and has spoken of the need to 'show solidarity with the people of Ukraine'. She has also strongly criticised the Nato military alliance, accusing it of engaging in 'warmongering' on the eve of the conflict. In response to questions on this, Ms Connolly said: 'Russia is conducting an illegal invasion of Ukraine – it must immediately end its horrific assault.' She also said: 'I have criticised Nato as its warmongering and escalation towards conflict over the years is at odds with achieving peace in regions across the world.' She accused US president Donald Trump of 'supporting Israel trampling on international law and reducing Gaza to nothing'. Asked if she would meet Mr Trump should he visit Ireland, Ms Connolly replied: 'If elected, I would meet all heads of state as mandated by the Constitution and the office of president.' She also said she supports the EU but argued that it has 'lost sight of its foundations: a project developed to promote and preserve peace'. She contended that: 'The EU has become increasingly militarised under the leadership of Ursula von der Leyen and the European People's Party – this direction can only bring pain. 'As Irish people, we must resist this trend towards imperialism and show support for Palestine and Ukraine as Europeans. 'The EU has lost its moral compass.' Meanwhile, Ms Connolly has also been joined by former Independent TD Maureen O'Sullivan in defending a 2018 trip they took to Syria with then-fellow TDs Clare Daly and Mick Wallace at a time when brutal dictator Bashar al-Assad was still in power and a civil war was raging. Ms O'Sullivan said the trip was 'humanitarian visit' insisting: 'We weren't going there to support Assad.'
Irish Times
6 days ago
- Irish Times
France, Germany and UK call on Iran to resume nuclear discussions with US
France , Germany and the UK have told the UN they are prepared to trigger the reimposition of sanctions on Iran unless it resumes negotiations with the US over its nuclear programme. The foreign ministers of the three countries – known collectively as the E3 – wrote to the UN on Tuesday to raise the spectre of implementing a 'snapback' mechanism unless Iran takes action. But they said they had offered to extend a deadline to start the process if Tehran returned to the negotiating table. 'We have made it clear that if Iran is not willing to reach a diplomatic solution before the end of August 2025, or does not seize the opportunity of an extension, [the E3] are prepared to trigger the snapback mechanism,' the ministers said in the letter, which was obtained by the Financial Times. The European powers have to decide whether to invoke snapback a month before crucial clauses of a 2015 nuclear deal Iran signed with the E3, the Obama administration, Russia and China, expire in October. READ MORE The accord, under which Iran agreed to strict limits on its nuclear activity in return for sanctions relief, has been in a state of collapse since US president Donald Trump unilaterally abandoned it during his first term. Iran responded by aggressively expanding its nuclear activity and was enriching uranium at levels close to weapons grade before Israel launched its 12-day war against the Islamic republic in June . Before the conflict, the Trump administration and Iran had been holding indirect talks in an effort to resolve the long-running stand-off over its nuclear programme. But Israel's attack, which was launched 48 hours before Tehran and Washington were to hold a sixth round of talks, upended the diplomatic process. The US briefly joined Israel in bombing Iran's main nuclear facilities. The E3 told Iran at talks in Turkey last month that they could extend the snapback deadline if Tehran agreed to resume talks with the US and co-operation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. One western diplomat said the talks had been 'difficult'. On Tuesday, the E3 said their offer of an extension 'remained unanswered by Iran'. The ministers said a 'limited extension' would provide more time for talks aimed at concluding a new nuclear agreement, while maintaining the ability to reimpose sanctions to prevent nuclear proliferation. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi. Photograph: Sergei Karpukhin /AFP via Getty Images Following the Istanbul meeting in July, Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi told the FT that the E3 had no 'legal or moral grounds' to implement the snapback. He warned that Iran would exclude the European powers from future nuclear talks if they went through with the process. Mr Araghchi accused the E3 of failing to meet their commitments under the 2015 deal and said the snapback mechanism was 'not that important any more'. 'With the Europeans, there is no reason right now to negotiate because they cannot lift sanctions, they cannot do anything,' Mr Araghchi said. 'If they do snapback, that means that this is the end of the road for them.' In their letter, the E3 ministers said they were 'clearly and unambiguously' legally justified in reimposing sanctions on Iran because since 2019 – a year after Mr Trump withdrew from the nuclear accord – Tehran had 'wilfully' departed from its commitments under the deal. Tehran has said it remains open to talks with the Trump administration. But its stance hardened after Israel's assault. Mr Araghchi has said Iran wants assurances from the US that it will not be attacked during future talks, and wants 'confidence-building measures', including the US agreeing to compensate Iran for war damage. Iran announced after Israel's attack that it was suspending co-operation with the IAEA, which has had inspectors in the country. A senior IAEA official met with Iranian officials in Tehran on Monday, Iran's foreign ministry said, but the UN nuclear watchdog has not commented on the trip. The letter to UN secretary general António Guterres and the UN Security Council was signed by French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot, German foreign minister Johann Wadephul, and UK foreign minister David Lammy. It comes two months after the US and Israel struck nuclear sites in Iran. The Iranian mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the letter.- Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025
