Latest news with #Amelie
NZ Herald
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Earthly creatures: Top picks in non-fiction for kids
My moko Amelie loves pekapeka – one of her most recently acquired fuzzy companions is a short-tailed bat, which some older friends find quite perplexing. Once again, the authors of Tuatara and Rūrū manage to slip a lot of
Daily Mirror
04-06-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
Madeleine McCann's brother strikes swimming gold ahead of fresh search
Sean McCann, 20, and his sister are both high-achieving athletes, with Amelie taking up running and triathlons while he racks up wins in a series of swimming competitions Madeleine McCann 's parents are helping their son realise his goal of becoming a gold medal Olympic athlete as investigators search for a trace of his missing sister. Madeleine, who went missing aged just three in 2007 while her family was on holiday in the Algarve, has two younger brothers who returned to the UK with Kate and Gerry McCann after her disappearance. Another round of searches began this week, with Portuguese and German investigators combing through land in the municipality of Lagos, near Praia da Luz in search for a trace of the girl who would now be aged 22. But, back in Britain, elite swimmer Sean McCann is training for a possible shot at Olympic glory. Sean and his twin sister Amelie were just two years old when their sister disappeared 18 years ago. In the nearly two decades since she went missing, the 20-year-old has become a highly accomplished swimmer tipped to join Team GB in Los Angeles in 2028. He was captured on camera with a gold medal around his neck earlier this year after competing in a Mediterranean open water swimming lesson. He has racked up a series of other impressive achievements, with both he and his sister currently doing well in their studies at university. Speaking to the Daily Mail, Brian Kennedy, the pair's great-uncle, said Kate and Gerry have been very "pleased" with the twins' achievements. Sean is studying chemical engineering, and has been swimming competitively for nearly a decade, revealing in 2023 that he has braved 4m starts to swim before school since he was 11. He added that he also visits the gym for intense training three times a week. He next plans to represent Scotland at the 2026 Commonwealth Games. He recently wrote on a local website that he has been a high-flying swimmer for some time, having won "multiple county titles" after being selected to swim at City of Leicester. He wrote: "At the age of ten, I was selected to swim at City of Leicester, and I have since gone on to win multiple county titles, as well as becoming regional and national champion in my age group. In order to have achieved this, I have had to remain extremely dedicated, getting up at 4am multiple mornings each week to train." Sean represented Team Scotland at the Commonwealth Youth Games in 2023, making it to the 400 and 1500m Freestyle finals. He's also know to be a keen Open Water swimmer, and is part of the country's National Open Water Development Squad. Meanwhile, Amelie has her own sporting achievements, having competed in a series of cross country and triathlon events while studying at a university in the north of England.
New European
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New European
How to stop rape culture
There is one thing you may have missed, however. It doesn't seem like much on the surface: a mere 1,000 euro fine, which Depardieu must now pay to each of the defendants. It was barely mentioned in most stories about the trial. That was a mistake, given what that fine represented. You have almost certainly heard of the court case that made the headlines in France for several years, concerning actor Gerard Depardieu. You probably even know that, last week, he was found guilty of sexually harassing two women on the set of a movie, and given a suspended jail term of 18 months. Depardieu was, on top of everything else, found guilty of 'secondary victimisation', a relatively new legal concept. It first appeared in 2014, and was written into what became the Istanbul Convention, a Council of Europe treaty aiming to oppose violence against women. Behind it is the belief that survivors of sexual violence often get harmed twice; first by their abuser, then by a sexist, biased, needlessly aggressive justice system. Gisele Pelicot famously spoke of it last year, saying that she had been left feeling 'humiliated' by court proceedings, despite being the victim and not the perpetrator. Back at the Depardieu trial, the actor's barrister called his client's two victims 'hysterical', and told them, point blank, that 'we don't believe you'. 'I can understand that Amelie doesn't read [broadsheet] Le Monde as it's too complicated, but she could at least read [gossip magazine] Closer', he said of one of them. Speaking to the press later, Amelie called the trial 'torture', and 'even more violent than the assault itself'. Sadly, this sn't an isolated issue, or one confined to France. In 2021, the European Court of Human Rights intervened in the aftermath of a case in Italy, where a young woman was raped by seven men in a parking lot. In its judgement, the Florence Court of Appeal called the victim 'uninhibited, vulgar, lascivious', and mentioned her 'ambivalent attitude towards sex'. The ECHR found that the comments were 'guilt-inducing, moralising and conveyed sexist stereotypes', and recognised the case as one of 'secondary victimisation'. That both this case and Depardieu's were recognised for what they were is unalloyed good news, but ought to only be the beginning. In France, Italy, Britain and elsewhere, pundits keep wondering why survivors of sexual assault struggle to come forward. The answer, sadly, is often hiding in plain sight: it is unlikely that the perpetrator will be found guilty and, even if they are, the cost demanded of the victim for putting them behind bars is far too high. Suggested Reading Welcome home to Gilead Matthew d'Ancona The rate of PTSD for victims of sexual violence is higher than for soldiers who have spent time in warzones. We should, as a society, make sure that these survivors aren't being traumatised further when choosing to do the right thing, and try to make sure that an abuser will be taken off the streets. As things stand, however, misogyny still leaks through every pore of every justice system around the world. Any woman deemed not to be the perfect victim, pure as snow and without a single flaw, will be treated as inherently suspicious. It apparently doesn't matter that false accusations of rape are so rare they're practically non-existent: the assumption somehow always seems to be that the woman is, in some way, in the wrong. Of course, making more courts and barristers aware and afraid of the concept of secondary victimisation won't solve everything, but it does feel like one hell of a step in the right direction. It is also encouraging that it was mentioned in a court case as high-profile as Depardieu's, as it has given much of the French press a reason to discuss it. The more people know about it, the better. This is also why this column exists: rape culture will not be destroyed in one go, but must instead be dealt a thousand blows, one after the next. The British justice system doesn't currently recognise secondary victimisation, but the country did sign up to the Istanbul Convention in 2022. I can't offer much more than words, but justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has it in her power to spring into action. Let's hope she kept an eye on that Depardieu trial.
Daily Tribune
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Daily Tribune
2025 Tour de France adds Montmartre suspense to final stage
AFP | Paris The 2025 Tour de France will make three circuits of the historic Paris district of Montmartre on its last stage in what organisers said yesterday would add a competitive finale to the world's greatest bike race. The new format of the final stage on July 27 is unlikely to decide who wins the 21-day race, but it adds a new edge to the traditional parade-like ending. The riders will race a total of 16.8km in Montmartre before the peloton heads to the Champs-Elysees where it will complete three circuits, instead of the previous eight, and end with a mass sprint in the shadow of the Arc de Triomphe. Around half a million spectators gathered last year for the 2024 Paris Olympics road races, sparking a clamour for the Tour to include Montmartre in its route. The circuit climbs Rue Lepic in Montmartre, where much of the action in the hit 2001 movie 'Amelie' takes place, before the steep ascent to the domed Sacre Coeur Basilica. 'It was kind of now or never,' Paris' assistant mayor Pierre Rabadan told AFP. 'The goal wasn't to change the finish location, especially for the 50th anniversary of the first finish on the Champs-Elysees, but to make the final stage more competitive and more popular.'
Express Tribune
22-05-2025
- Sport
- Express Tribune
2025 Tour de France adds Montmartre to final stage
The Tour de France will make three circuits of the historic Paris district of Montmartre on its last stage this year in what organisers said Wednesday would add a competitive finale to the world's greatest bike race. The new format of the final stage on July 27 introduces an outside possibility that the leading contender could crash out, adding suspense to what had traditionally become a procession into the French capital. The riders will for the first time on a Tour de France race a total of 16.8km in Montmartre before the peloton heads to the Champs-Elysees where it will complete three circuits, instead of the previous eight. The change prolongs the suspense because a breakaway on the narrow, cobbled streets of Montmartre could tempt a few adventurous riders to join and force the big guns to follow them. Around half a million spectators lined the route when the road races at the 2024 Paris Olympics passed through Montmartre, sparking a clamour for the Tour to include the popular tourist spot in its final stage. The circuit will climb Rue Lepic in Montmartre, where much of the action in the hit 2001 movie "Amelie" takes place, before the steep ascent to the domed Sacre Coeur Basilica. "It was kind of now or never," Paris' assistant mayor Pierre Rabadan told AFP. "The goal wasn't to change the finish location, especially for the 50th anniversary of the first finish on the Champs-Elysees, but to make the final stage more competitive and more popular." The Paris police originally told Tour organisers ASO they were opposed to allowing the race to pass through Montmartre because of security reasons. "The area is heavily populated and there are many cafe terraces and shops making it a tricky security dimension, involving a more substantial security system," Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told AFP ahead of the announcement, explaining his original reluctance. The situation was only resolved after the intervention of President Emmanuel Macron, who was the "driving force" behind the decision, the French president's office told AFP. For the Tour de France, this change to the final stage represents a revolution in sporting terms.
