Category: Paris

‘Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris’ ABC documentary revisits bravery, first-hand accounts of 2019 fire

The infamous Notre-Dame cathedral fire of 2019 shocked the world. Now, in a two-hour documentary special, ABC will revisit first-hand accounts of the disaster in “Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris.”

Together with harrowing footage from within the inferno, “Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris” features interviews with firefighters, clergy, local officials, and those who were inside the cathedral on April 15, 2019, to tell the story of the fire watched around the world.

The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is one of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, and is also the keeper of some of Christianity’s most priceless and revered relics.

The fire was broadcast live throughout the world. People looked on helplessly as 500 Parisian firefighters were losing the battle against a raging fire that was destroying it all.

The world cried and prayed, powerless as the flames threatened to wipe out nearly 900 years of history.

Ultimately, the president of France and the general in charge of the Paris Fire Brigade made the significant decision of sending a commando of elite firefighters to an extremely perilous, even suicidal mission to save the cathedral.

“Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris” highlights the events of that fateful night, and highlights the brave and extraordinary efforts to save the very soul of Paris and Europe’s most precious monument.

Don’t miss “Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris” on Wednesday, September 16 at 9 p.m. on ABC.Source: ‘Notre-Dame: Our Lady of Paris’ ABC documentary revisits bravery, first-hand accounts of 2019 fire – ABC11 Raleigh-Durham

Paris Is About to Change

The city was hit hard by the pandemic, but French leaders know transformation is necessary.

The pandemic hit Paris hard. It hit poor Paris suburbs harder. Paris had already staked its future on merging with a wide ring of banlieue towns to form the new Metropolis of Grand Paris—an environmentally resilient 21st-century capital. But the coronavirus made clear how urgent that transformation really is.

Last year, more than 38 million people visited Paris. This summer, international travel bans sent hotel occupancy down 86 percent. The greater Paris metropolitan area has seen economic activity fall by more than 37 percent during the pandemic compared with the same period last year. In Île-de-France, the region that metropolitan Paris calls home, 100,000 jobs have been lost since mid-March.

The strict national lockdown from mid-March to mid-May did succeed in reducing infections, hospitalizations, and deaths. But after it was eased, the virus began to spread once more. Though current hospitalization rates remain manageable and death rates are relatively low, the number of new cases has risen alarmingly in recent weeks, with cases surging in the Paris metropolitan area. On August 27, Prime Minister Jean Castex declared 21 of France’s 101 administrative departments, including Paris and its neighboring departments, COVID-19 “red zones.”
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As Coronavirus Infections Rise, Masks In Paris Become Mandatory In All Public Places : Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR

“We are in a period of epidemic growth,” Prime Minister Jean Castex said. “We want to do everything to avoid a new lockdown.” The order goes into effect Friday.

The French government announced Thursday that face masks will become mandatory everywhere in Paris and its suburbs, including all outdoor public spaces. The heightened mask requirement comes as the number of new COVID-19 cases in France jumped to more than 5,000 in the previous 24 hours — the highest increase since the country came out of lockdown in mid-May.

The order goes into effect at 8 a.m. Friday. The Paris region is one of 21 high-risk “red zones” in France. But until now, masks were largely mandatory only inside shops and on public transportation. People were not required to wear them outdoors, except at street markets and in certain densely packed areas. The new rule means that now cyclists and scooter users will have to mask up as well.

Prime Minister Jean Castex, speaking at a press conference Thursday morning, said France had reached a critical threshold of 50 infections per 100,000 residents, a red line.

“We are in a period of epidemic growth,” said Castex. “We want to do everything to avoid a new lockdown.” [ . . . ]

More at NPR: As Coronavirus Infections Rise, Masks In Paris Become Mandatory In All Public Places : Coronavirus Live Updates : NPR

French prosecutors open rape probe against former deputy mayor of Paris

French prosecutors said Tuesday they were opening a preliminary rape investigation into a former deputy mayor of Paris after a man accused him in a newspaper article of years of sexual abuse.

The probe against Christophe Girard will look at charges of alleged “rape by a person in a position of authority”, Paris prosecutor Remy Heitz said in a statement.

The move came swiftly after the New York Times reported the allegations of Aniss Hmaid, now 46, that Girard had sexually abused him over nearly a decade after they met in Tunisia when he was 15.

Hmaid claimed Girard sexually abused him when he was 16, and then coerced him into sex on about 20 further occasions over several years.

The prosecutor’s statement said the investigation would aim to determine if the allegations “could be characterised as a crime” and also, given that the alleged events date back several decades, whether they can still be prosecuted.

Girard resigned as deputy to Mayor Anne Hidalgo in July afer opposition politicians and women’s groups demanded his suspension over ties to Gabriel Matzneff, an award-winning writer who has never hid his preference for sex with adolescent girls and boys.

After the prosecutor’s announcement, Girard said he would also step back from his remaining duties as a member of the Paris city council “for the duration of the preliminary enquiry and to better defend myself”.

His lawyer, Delphine Meillet, criticised Hmaid Tuesday for having gone to the media with his story rather than the authorities.

Now, she said, “the prosecutor feels obliged to open an investigation in the light of media pressure, which is particularly sensitive on these subjects…”

But Meillet insisted “there is no offence” and even if there had been, it was legally too late to prosecute now [ . . . ]

Continue at FRANCE24: French prosecutors open rape probe against former deputy mayor of Paris