Latest news with #westernFrance
Malay Mail
14-07-2025
- Malay Mail
Unesco adds mysterious Carnac menhirs and Morbihan megaliths to World Heritage list
PARIS, July 14 — The UN's cultural organisation on Saturday included the megaliths of Carnac and the banks of Morbihan, a vast area including famous alignments of menhirs in western France, on its World Heritage List. Erected over more than two millennia during the Neolithic period, they cover an area of 1,000 km² with more than 550 monuments spread across the Morbihan region. Among them are the Carnac alignments, with long straight avenues of menhirs — 'long stones' in Breton — of different sizes, whose origin and purpose remain a mystery. They are visited each year by close to 300,000 people. These megaliths 'constitute an exceptional testimony to the technical sophistication and skill of Neolithic communities, enabling them to extract, transport, and manipulate monumental stones and earth to create a complex symbolic space that reveals a specific relationship of populations with their environment,' UNESCO said. Carnac's inclusion takes the total number of French sites on the heritage list to 54. Making the UNESCO's heritage list often sparks a lucrative tourism drive, and can unlock funding for the preservation of sites. — AFP
Daily Mail
06-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
I rode the world's first water roller coaster - it rivals Disneyland and it's only a few hours from the UK
'Can we just go one more time?' pleads my son as we race back round to the front of the queue (making full use of our fast passes). I sat in the front first time and my shorts got soaked. This time I'd managed to get slightly less wet in the third row and so – in the name of research – I agree to another turn to see if the back row is the place to be if you want to remain dry. We're trialling Mission Bermudes, the newest attraction at Futuroscope, the science-meets-thrills theme park in western France. The ride – which comes with splashes and surprises – officially launched last month. It's one of Europe's most ambitious theme park rides to date, combining the soaking chaos of a white-water rapids ride with the G-force drama of a rollercoaster, all set within a spectacular physical environment that includes mist-shrouded jungle, secret bunkers and a swirling vortex that threatens to suck the ride in. Boarding the specially designed 10-person 'Rocking Boats', we're told we're on a rescue mission to investigate the mysterious disappearance of a scientific team studying strange phenomena in the infamous Triangle. What follows is 10 minutes of nonstop twists, reversals, near-misses and a finale that involves a vertical 16-metre plunge. It's bold, baffling (particularly if you don't understand French) and completely bonkers – in the best possible way. We start in a foggy swamp, dodging half-submerged aircraft wreckage and passing long-lost boats before we hurtle into rapids – where miraculously this time I remain dry – have a near-miss at a blow hole and then we get sucked backwards into a concrete bunker. From there, we're lifted into the sky and spat out onto a rail that plunges into a splash pool at speeds of more than 60km/h. What makes this attraction stand out is the technology. When on water you feel as though you're on a boat, but the ride is actually on hidden rails and the electromagnetic motors allow the 'rocking boats' to climb slopes, pivot unexpectedly and even travel backwards. While other attractions in the park use screens and 3D glasses, this is like being on the set of your own action movie complete with Hollywood-worthy special effects: bubbling geysers, falling trees and even a giant water bubble that bursts metres from your boat. The immersion is physical (quite literally if you position yourself in the front seat). If Futuroscope isn't yet on your radar, it should be. Located near Poitiers in the Vienne region of western France, it's one of France's largest theme parks, attracting more than two million visitors a year. Opened in 1987, it predates both Disneyland and Parc Asterix and it's always been the clever cousin of the amusement park world – more science and space than superheroes and cartoons. Among the other rides we found motion simulators, interactive theatres, and cutting-edge projection formats focusing on space, climate, exploration and invention (we particularly enjoyed the 4D tornado chaser ride that took us into the centre of a twister). Mission Bermudes is the headline act in a €300 million revamp that's transformed the place into a full resort, with two new hotels and a brilliant new indoor/outdoor waterpark called Aquascope – the place to head if you really want to get wet. As we exit the ride for the third time, my son runs ahead repeating his cry of 'just one more time!' This is the sign of a good ride - perhaps the most exciting you'll find in Europe this summer.
South China Morning Post
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
Write a funny caption for this large gathering of Smurfs
A small town in western France – called Landerneau – set a world record by gathering more than 3,000 people dressed as Smurfs. These blue characters are from a popular Belgian comic franchise. In May, this town successfully beat a previous record by bringing together 3,076 people in blue costumes and white hats. Agence France-Presse If a passer-by saw these Smurfs, what would they think? Send us a funny caption by filling out this form. The deadline is at 12pm on June 4. We'll publish the best ones next week. Last week's top caption Beauval Zoo in France is the first zoo outside Asia to host golden snub-nosed monkeys. Photo: AFP Zoe Jing Ying-kwan (aged 9), Hong Kong International School: What's everyone staring at? Oh! It's my magnificent hair!
Irish Times
28-05-2025
- Health
- Irish Times
Former French surgeon who abused children for decades sentenced to 20 years in jail
A French court on Wednesday found a retired surgeon guilty of the rape and sexual assault of patients, some of them whilst under anaesthetic, in a trial that has shaken France . Joël Le Scouarnec had told the court he committed 'despicable acts' over a 25-year period whilst he worked as doctor in western France, in a trial that has raised uncomfortable questions for the publicly run healthcare system. Le Scouarnec (74) was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Le Scouarnec's abuse of his patients, many them children at the time, is considered France's worst case of pedocriminality to go to trial. He stood accused of aggravated rape or sexual assault against 299 victims. READ MORE 'I'm aware that the harm I've caused is beyond repair,' Le Scouarnec told the opening of his trial in February. 'I owe it to all these people and their loved ones to admit my actions and their consequences, which they've endured and will keep having to endure all their lives,' he added. The trial took place at a time of reckoning around sex crimes in France after the conviction of Dominique Pelicot, who was found guilty in December of drugging his wife unconscious and inviting dozens of men to their home to rape her. Le Scouarnec is already serving jail time for earlier rape convictions. In 2020, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for the rape and sexual assault of a child neighbour, as well as his two nieces and a four-year-old patient. Victims and their families have publicly asked why local and national health authorities failed to stop Le Scouarnec. In 2005, he was convicted of downloading images of child sexual abuse and received a suspended jail sentence, but managed to continue working in public hospitals. Several dozen victims and rights campaigners gathered outside the courthouse ahead of the verdict, holding a banner made of hundreds of pieces of white paper with black silhouettes, one for each victim. Some of the papers bore a first name and age, while others referred to the victim as 'Anonymous'. The extent of Le Scouarnec's abuse was revealed after his rearrest in 2017 on suspicion of raping his six-year-old neighbour. Police discovered electronic diaries that appeared to detail more than two decades of rapes and sexual assaults on young patients in hospitals across the region, as well as a cache of sex dolls, wigs and child pornography. The trial took place in Vannes, a small town in Brittany. The local prosecutor, whose office led the investigation into Le Scouarnec, has opened a separate investigation to ascertain if there was any criminal liability by agencies or individuals who could have prevented the abuse. – Reuters
South China Morning Post
28-05-2025
- Health
- South China Morning Post
France sentences retired surgeon to 20 years' jail for raping his patients
A French court on Wednesday found a retired surgeon guilty of the rape and sexual assault of patients, some of them whilst under anaesthetic, in a trial that has shaken France. Joel Le Scouarnec had told the court he committed 'despicable acts' over a 25-year period whilst he worked as doctor in western France , in a trial that has raised uncomfortable questions for the publicly run healthcare system. Le Scouarnec, 74, was sentenced to 20 years in jail. Le Scouarnec's abuse of his patients, many them children at the time, is considered France's worst case of pedocriminality to go to trial. He stood accused of aggravated rape or sexual assault against 299 victims. 'I'm aware that the harm I've caused is beyond repair,' Le Scouarnec told the opening of his trial in February. 'I owe it to all these people and their loved ones to admit my actions and their consequences, which they've endured and will keep having to endure all their lives,' he added.
