This is Beirut

From Excitement to Frustration: Louvre Visitors Caught Off Guard by Closure

This is Beirut, 20/10 16:15 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

Louvre Tourists State of mind Theft France Culture

Visitors pressed against the Louvre's iron gates on Monday, peering through bars locked after thieves pulled off a daylight jewel heist inside the world-famous museum the day before. Would-be museum-goers queued outside the famed tourist attraction for the scheduled 0900 (0700 GMT) opening, a day after robbers stole precious jewelry and fled on ...

Louvre Closes for Second Day as France Hunts Jewel Thieves

This is Beirut, 20/10 13:39 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Emmanuel Macron France Louvre Heist Jewelry

The Louvre was closed for a second day Monday as police hunted for thieves who broke in and stole priceless jewels in a spectacular daylight robbery. Officials said a team of 60 investigators was working on the theory that an organised crime group was behind the theft Sunday of nine pieces of jewellery, one of which -- a crown covered in ...

Power Tool-Wielding Robbers Flee Louvre with 'Priceless' Jewels

This is Beirut, 19/10 14:55 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

France Paris The Louvre

Robbers wielding power tools broke into the Louvre on Sunday and made off with priceless jewels from the world-renowned museum, taking just seven minutes for the broad-daylight heist, sources and officials said. Police were hunting the culprits on Sunday afternoon, but a 19th-century crown covered in diamonds and emeralds was found damaged near ...

French Cinema Legend Brigitte Bardot, 91, Returns Home After Brief Hospitalization

This is Beirut, 18/10 10:30 - Reading : 1 minute(s)

Film Brigitte Bardot Icon Health France Culture

Former French screen icon Brigitte Bardot was briefly hospitalized for an operation but is back home and convalescing, her office told AFP in a statement on Friday. The health of the 91-year-old, who lives in Saint-Tropez in the south of France, had been the subject of persistent rumors in recent days. The former actor spent a few days at the ...

PSG Fightback Denies Strasbourg in Six-Goal Ligue 1 Thriller

This is Beirut, 18/10 01:05 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Football PSG France Ligue 1

Paris Saint-Germain produced a second-half fightback to draw 3-3 with an impressive Strasbourg on Friday as Luis Enrique's injury-hit side held on to top spot in Ligue 1. Bradley Barcola gave reigning French and European champions PSG an early advantage at the Parc des Princes, but Strasbourg came roaring back to lead 3-1 thanks to a Joaquin ...

Fashion’s Glass Runway: Women Designers Missing from Top Roles in SS26

This is Beirut, 17/10 15:30 - Reading : 5 minute(s)

Fashion Women Lead designers France Italy Culture

In fashion at the moment, as seen on catwalks: frills, corsets, big shoulder pads, and "naked dresses". Out of fashion: employing women as chief designers. In the most recent Spring-Summer 2026 womenswear Fashion Weeks in Paris and Milan, the effects of a huge reshuffle at the top of the European luxury clothing industry were plain to see. From ...

French Films Thrive in Russia Despite Deep Political Divide

This is Beirut, 15/10 14:00 - Reading : 4 minute(s)

Cinema Russia France Culture Art

On a cold autumn evening in Moscow, Alexandra was headed to a cinema, hoping to escape reality for a few hours by taking in a new French comedy. With Hollywood boycotting the Russian market over Moscow's offensive on Ukraine, French films are one of the few cultural windows Russians have left to the West. And even as relations between Paris ...

Macron Praises Lebanon’s Efforts to Consolidate State Authority

This is Beirut, 14/10 17:55 - Reading : less than a minute

Lebanon Emmanuel Macron Lebanese Army UN Security Council United Nations Joseph Aoun France UNIFIL

French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hailed what he described as Lebanon’s “courageous decisions” aimed at ensuring that arms remain solely in the hands of legitimate state forces. In a letter to his Lebanese counterpart, President Joseph Aoun, Macron reaffirmed his commitment to convening two international conferences in support of ...

Iran Hands Down Prison Sentences to Two French Nationals for Spying

This is Beirut, 14/10 16:05 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Iran France

Iranian authorities on Tuesday handed down lengthy prison sentences to two French nationals after convicting them on multiple charges, including spying for Israel, the judiciary said. The two unidentified French nationals were arrested in March 2023, according to the judiciary's Mizan Online website, which did not provide details on the ...

Qatar Reveals Ownership of Courbet Masterpiece, Loans It to Paris’s Musée d’Orsay

This is Beirut, 14/10 14:50 - Reading : 2 minute(s)

Painting Museum Gustave Courbet Qatar France Diplomacy Culture

Qatar has revealed itself as the owner of a famous self-portrait by French realist master Gustave Courbet and will loan the painting to Paris's Musee d'Orsay for five years, museum officials said on Monday. "The Desperate Man" depicts Courbet with a wild-eyed stare looking out of the canvas in a work that is one of his best known alongside "The ...

Boualem Sansal Elected to Belgium’s Royal Academy While Imprisoned

This is Beirut, 13/10 10:30 - Reading : less than a minute

Boualem Sansal Algeria France Literature Prize Culture

Franco-Algerian writer Boualem Sansal, who has been imprisoned in Algeria for nearly a year, has been elected to the Royal Academy of French Language and Literature of Belgium, the Academy’s permanent secretary Yves Namur told AFP on Sunday. “Boualem Sansal embodies the creative spirit of the writer, which is inseparable from the freedom it ...

France Unveils New Government in Political Crisis

This is Beirut, 13/10 05:25 - Reading : 3 minute(s)

France Politics Government

France's President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a new government on Sunday, after marathon talks to cobble together a cabinet and prevent the country from slipping deeper into a political crisis. The lineup, a mix of old and new faces, is Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu's second attempt at bringing together a team to overcome months of ...

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