France’s last surviving D-Day commando joins beach landing anniversary
Colleville-Montgomery, France Reuters Leon Gautier, the last surviving member of the French commandos who stormed the Normandy beaches defended by Hitler’s troops in 1944, on Tuesday joined President Emmanuel Macron at a seafront ceremony marking the 79th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Gautier, 100, presented a student marine commando with his green beret at a […]
France’s spectacular abbey Mont-Saint-Michel celebrates 1,000th birthday
Paris, FranceAP France’s beloved Abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel has reached a ripe old age. It’s been 1,000 years since the laying of its first stone. The millennial of the UNESCO World Heritage site and key Normandy tourism magnet is being celebrated until November with exhibits, dance shows and concerts. And now a presidential visit. Sheep graze in […]
France seeks strategy as nuclear waste site risks saturation point
La Hague, France Reuters At a nuclear waste site in Normandy, robotic arms guided by technicians behind a protective shield manoeuvre a pipe that will turn radioactive chemicals into glass as France seeks to make safe the byproducts of its growing reliance on atomic power. The fuel-cooling pools in La Hague, on the country’s north-western […]
Four convicted in Islamic State killing of French priest
Lyon, France AP Four men were convicted in Paris Wednesday of terrorist conspiracy after the murder of a Catholic priest in a Normandy church in 2016, an attack claimed by the Islamic State group. The four were handed sentences of between eight years and life in prison over the attack on Father Jacques Hamel, 85, […]
On Normandy’s beaches, leaders and veterans recall sacrifice of D-Day
Omaha Beach, FranceReuters Western leaders and ageing veterans gather on the shores of France on Thursday in a second day of events marking the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the Allied amphibious assault that opened the way for western Europe’s liberation from Hitler’s forces. An hour after sunrise, at 7:26am, a lone piper will play atop […]
“Bravery and sacrifice”: World leaders gather in south England to remember D-Day
Postmouth, UKReuters World leaders gather on the coast of southern England on Wednesday to mark the 75th anniversary of D-Day, the largest seaborne invasion in history and a feat that helped bring World War II to an end. Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Theresa May will be joined for the commemorative events in […]