Birds of prey are being trained to prevent terror attacks in France, after being recruited by the country’s air force.
A team of four eagles is being trained to bring down remote-controlled drones when they stray into unauthorised airspace.
It is feared that terror groups could use drones – types of which can be bought from toy stores – packed with explosives to target civilians or military landmarks.
Experts believe training eagles to deal with threatening drones is far safer than using bullets to shoot them down.
Air force general Jean-Christophe Zimmerman told Reuters: ‘These eagles can spot the drones several thousand metres away and neutralize them.’
He said the idea came from police trials in the Netherlands.
The birds are being trained to grab or halt the drones. Before they hatched, they were placed on top of drones before being kept there during their early feeding period. …
Eagles have a grip 10 times more powerful than a human, making them ideal to deal with large unmanned drones.
A retired doctor from a remote town has discovered his father had a collection worth millions and he could sell it. The doctor went to a Paris auction house and showed them 14 ink drawings. One 7 1/2-inch by 5-inch piece of paper with a sketch on each side was interesting. The auction house’s expert on old master paintings realized the drawing might be from the 16th century. Three months and three art experts later, the sketch has been authenticated as the work of Leonardo da Vinci, drawn about 1482-85. The handwriting, inscription, and the subject are all related to a known drawing of St. Sebastian by da Vinci. The good news for the owner is the sketch is estimated at about $15.8 million. The bad news is that the French government has put an export ban on the art work because it is “a national treasure.†The owner would like to offer it to an international market where it could sell for much more. The French government has 30 months to buy the sketch at market value.
A group of around 20 French Catholics was quietly praying the rosary in Paris just hours after the funeral of Father Jacques Hamel, the priest who was recently “beheaded†by Muslims in Normandy. The worshipers were peacefully protesting the closing of the Association of Catholic and Apostolic Chapels when suddenly a man, who is reportedly Muslim, walked up and purposefully attempted to shut down their demonstration.
Blog Catholique reports that the unknown man approached the group and began blasting music to stop the Catholics from completing their prayer. It was then that one of the worshipers rose from his knees and turned to confront the man before delivering a monstrous punch that instantly knocked out the Muslim.
The Muslim man hits the ground as spectators and demonstrators appear confused and horrified. The protester grabs the unconscious man and pulls him from the sidewalk before the footage cuts off.
According to the Daily Mail, there have been no arrests and it is unclear whether the Muslim man suffered any severe injuries.
The French blog states that the man was “chastised for his rudeness†by “a soldier of Christ.â€
The news was enough to have French smokers choking on their morning cigarette: France is considering banning some tobacco brands because they are just too cool.
Among those threatened are Gitanes and Gauloises, beloved of Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre and Serge Gainsbourg, who was said to puff through five packets of filterless Gitanes a day.
The ban, which could also cover the Lucky Strike, Marlboro Gold, Vogue and Fortuna brands, is the logical conclusion of a new public health law – based on a European directive – which stipulates tobacco products “must not include any element that contributes to the promotion of tobacco or give an erroneous impression of certain characteristicsâ€.
Reporting the ban, Le Figaro said that while the directive was “relatively vagueâ€, it clearly covered anything suggesting “masculinity or femininity, physical slimness, youth or sociabilityâ€.
Alarmed cigarette companies have written to the French prime minister, Manuel Valls, demanding a meeting “given the seriousness and urgency of the situation†and asking for clarification and the chance to appeal against any ban before the new health code article, currently being considered by the council of state, is published in 10 days’ time.
I can remember the young Strobe Talbot, then editor of the Yale Daily News, stalking around campus in trenchcoat & beret, smoking a Gauloise.
The local paper reports that the terrorist was “of Tunisian origin,†which surprises no one, of course. But since he was killed by police, President Obama may never know his real motive.
A French government committee has heard testimony, suppressed by the French government at the time and not released to the media, that the killers in the Bataclan tortured their victims on the second floor of the club.
Police witnesses in Parliament said they vomited when they saw the disfigured bodies.
Wahhabist killers apparently gouged out eyes, castrated victims, and shoved their testicles in their mouths. They may also have disemboweled some poor souls. Women were stabbed in the genitals – and all the torture was, victims told police, filmed for Daesh or Islamic State propaganda. For that reason, medics did not release the bodies of torture victims to the families, investigators said.
But prosecutors claimed these reports of torture were “a rumor†on the grounds that sharp knives were not found at the scene. They also claimed that maybe shrapnel had caused the injuries.
Le Château de Meauce is a medieval castle in the French province of Nièvre built upon an ancient mound and overlooking the River Allier. The castle has been unoccupied for over 50 years. It has passed through a succession of owners, changing hands three times recently in as many years.
Its most recent owner has created a blog and an on-line fund-raising appeal to fund restoration of the Château de Meauce.
Victims were often killed by having their throats torn out. The Kingdom of France used a considerable amount of manpower and money to hunt the animals; including the resources of several nobles, soldiers, civilians, and a number of royal huntsmen.
The number of victims differs according to sources. In 1987, one study estimated there had been 210 attacks; resulting in 113 deaths and 49 injuries; 98 of the victims killed were partly eaten. However, other sources claim it killed between 60 to 100 adults and children, as well as injuring more than 30.
