Paris
As France tames wildfire and lets 84,000 evacuees go home, blazes flare across Europe
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France | France gave the go-ahead Thursday for 84,000 evacuees forced out by a monster wildfire to return to home, the strongest sign yet that firefighters are turning a corner in a grueling battle against the flames that have burned an area four times the size of Paris. But blazes flared elsewhere across […]
Small changes in Hanoi’s streets can mean big disruptions for those who depend on them
HANOI, Vietnam | The noise is everywhere in Hanoi. The crack of a hydraulic breaker, the groan of excavators, the crunch of brick and concrete being torn apart. As Vietnam pushes for double-digit economic growth, its capital is pursuing an ultramodern vision for the next 100 years. In the first half of 2026 alone, Hanoi […]
France battles wildfire 4 times the size of Paris as tinderbox heat threatens new surge
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France | Firefighters in southwest France battled an uncontained wildfire four times the size of Paris on Wednesday as temperatures were forecast to hit 40 C (104 F), threatening to turn a calm night into only a brief reprieve. Authorities in the Gironde region said the blaze had not spread overnight, but rising […]
France says monster fire that forced 220,000 people to flee has stopped growing
LEGE-CAP FERRET, France | Fire crews and planes wrestled Monday to bring a monster wildfire under control in southwest France before a forecast jump in temperatures complicates the massive firefighting effort against a blaze that has burned an area four times the size of Paris. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said the fire had stopped growing, […]
Louvre reopens Apollo Gallery after a brazen heist, but no jewels are on display
PARIS | The Louvre’s Apollo gallery on Wednesday reopened to the public for the first time since 88 million euros ($102 million) worth of crown jewels were stolen in a dramatic daytime heist. The public can tour the majestic room and view its gilded ceilings and Greek frescoes en route to the nearby Mona Lisa, […]
Europe’s record heat has overwhelmed Paris mortuaries and left families in distress
PARIS | Every few minutes, the mortuary owner’s phone rings. Since a record-smashing heat wave started taking lives and storage space for bodies in Paris and beyond, the funeral directors and mourning families calling him mostly have the same question: Do you have room for one more? With all 32 places in his cold room […]
In France’s historic heat wave, Paris’ dreamy rooftops become a heat-trapping nightmare
PARIS | Before the heat struck, Amelie Kenney could boast that she almost had it all: a tiny but cheap top-floor apartment in Paris, with an enviable view from its minuscule balcony of the French capital’s iconic gray roofs and even, when she leans out far enough, up to the Sacré-Cœur basilica atop Montmartre. But […]
French artist JR begins his giant ‘cave’ art inflation over Paris’ oldest bridge
PARIS | The oldest bridge in Paris has begun to vanish this week, as the artist JR — who is known as the “French Banksy” — began inflating a giant “cave” over the Pont Neuf. The monumental, rocky illusion is swallowing the 17th-century landmark, which has carried Parisians across the Seine for more than 400 […]
A new Swatch model is introduced, and a case study in overexcited ‘drop culture’ plays out
LONDON | In Paris, police deployed tear gas. In Milan, Italy, a fistfight erupted. In London, Singapore and New York, all-night queues snaked from the doors of Swatch stores — the latest examples of status-symbol “drop culture” to flash across the globe when status symbols and resale value collide. The company at the center of […]