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UPI
2 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
France celebrates Bastille Day with troops, tanks, aircraft, fireworks
1 of 4 | Jets from the acrobatic Patrouille de France release blue, white, and red smoke, in the color of the French flag, as they fly over the Olympic cauldron during the Bastille Day parade in Paris, on Monday, July 14. Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo July 14 (UPI) -- France on Monday celebrated Bastille Day with the nation's biggest holiday in the air and on the ground. The parade in Paris included 7,000 people on horseback and tanks, axe-carrying French Legion troops, 102 warplanes and helicopters. French President Emmanual Macron reviewed the French Army, Navy and Air Force along the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysses and re-lit the eternal flame beneath the Arc de Triomphe. For the first time, there was included a prison dog, a Belgian Malinois shepherd, Gun, who specializes in weapons and ammunition detection. At night, fireworks were lit at the Eiffel Tower at an expense of $817,000. On July 14, 1789, nationals stormed the Bastille fortress and prison, which ignited the French Revolution and the overthrow of the monarchy. This year's event returned to Champs-Elsees from Avenue Foch because of the Summer Olympics. Gisele Pelicot, 72, was given France's highest award of Bastille Day celebrations. Pelicot, who has fought against sexual violence, was named a Knight of the Legion of Honor. She was drugged and raped for nearly a decade by her husband, who was sentenced to prison in 2024 along with 50 other defendants. Also, nearly 600 people were given a civic award, including musician Pharrell Williams. The guest of honor was Indonesia's President Prabowo Subitanto, who represents the world's biggest Muslim country with more than 240 million, or 87% of the total population. Indonesia had 451 soldiers march in the parade, including a drum band of 189 musicians. It marked 85 years of diplomatic relations between the two nations. Also, Finnish troops serving in the United Nations force in Lebanon, as well as those from Belgium and Luxembourg serving in the NATO force in Roman, participated. Another special guest was Fousseynou Samba Cisse, who rescued six people, including two babies, from a burning apartment on the sixth floor earlier this month. One day before Bastille Day, Macron announced $7.6 billion in additional military spending over two years amid new threats, including from Russia. "Since 1945, our freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously," Macron said. "We are experiencing a return to the fact of a nuclear threat, and a proliferation of major conflicts." President Donald Trump was so impressed with Bastille Day in 2017 that he decided to conduct his own military celebration in Washington, D.C., this year on June 14. France celebrates Bastille Day Jets from the Patrouille de France release blue, white and red smoke, in the colors of the French flag as they fly over the Olympic cauldron during the Bastille Day parade in Paris on July 14, 2025. Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo
UPI
17-06-2025
- UPI
Louvre museum in Paris closes amid staff protest over crowds of tourists
The Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa, closed abruptly Monday as the museum's staff staged an impromptu strike over large crowds of tourists and understaffing. The museum reopened four hours later. File Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo June 17 (UPI) -- The Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other iconic works of art in Paris, closed abruptly Monday as the museum's staff staged an impromptu strike over a surge of tourists who were left standing in long lines. Ticket agents, gallery attendants and security refused to return to work, following a morning union meeting, citing overcrowding and understaffing. After four hours of talks with management, the Louvre reopened to confused and tired visitors. Monday's strike comes after French President Emmanuel Macron announced earlier this year that the centuries-old Louvre would undergo renovations to include a separate wing for the Mona Lisa to control crowds better. The "New Renaissance" project, which will repair and modernize the former royal palace, will take a decade to complete. Ticket prices are slated to go up next year for tourists who do not live in the European Union to help pay for the project. Last year alone, 8.7 million tourists visited the Louvre with many complaining about insufficient signage, tight spaces and lack of restrooms. The Louvre was originally designed to accommodate 4 million visitors a year. Louvre President Laurence des Cars, who was appointed in 2021, limited visitors to 30,000 a day after attendance surged in 2018 to more than 10 million. He has warned that parts of the museum are "no longer watertight" and that fluctuating temperatures could damage the priceless artwork.
UPI
27-05-2025
- Health
- UPI
French National Assembly okays 'right to die' law
French President Emmanuel Macron said France's proposed euthanasia law could become a ballot initiative if the nation's lawmakers don't approve it after the National Assembly passed enabling legislation on its first reading. File Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo May 27 (UPI) -- France's National Assembly approved a measure that would legalize assisted suicide and euthanasia if signed into law. The French lawmakers passed the measure, dubbed the "right to die" law, on a 305-199 vote during the measure's first reading in the National Assembly, but the conditions would be among the most restrictive in Europe, The Guardian reported. The measure authorizes assisted suicide or euthanasia for adults ages 18 and over under very strict conditions. A patient must have a "serious and incurable" illness that has become either terminal or "advanced" to qualify for the procedure, Politico reported. They also must experience "unbearable" psychological or physical suffering that resists treatment. Patients must be able to provide informed consent and must self-administer any lethal medication if they are physically capable of doing so. A medical doctor also must approve the procedure for respective patients if the proposed measure becomes law. Centrist and leftwing lawmakers generally voted in favor of the measure, while conservative lawmakers mostly opposed it. Although the National Assembly passed the bill, it faces a vote in the Senate and goes back to the National Assembly for an additional vote following a second reading. France recently implemented a new parliamentary system that requires the National Assembly to vote on bills during a first reading and then again during a second reading upon passage in the Senate. Several other European states, including Austria, Belgium, Spain and Switzerland, have similar laws in effect. Lawmakers in the United Kingdom are considering legalizing a similar procedure there. If French lawmakers do not legalize the right to die, French President Emmanuel Macron has said it could be put on a ballot for a public vote. The National Assembly also approved a measure that would legalize palliative care that relieves symptoms of serious illnesses and medical conditions to improve respective patients' quality of life. That measure received unanimous support in the National Assembly and was sent to the French Senate for consideration.
