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French officials deny new nepotism claims about one of Sarkozy’s sons

Officials deny nepotism claims about Sarkozy’s son

Everyday objects once belonging to French designer Yves Saint Laurent to be auctioned

Saint Laurent’s everyday objects to be auctioned

French first lady Bruni-Sarkozy tells TV show of her 8 years ‘body and soul’ in psychoanalysis

Bruni-Sarkozy tells of 8 years in psychoanalysis

Paris Pompidou museum to put art under roving big top tent for rural, suburban exhibits

Art under the big top: The roving Pompidou

Novelist Marie NDiaye wins France’s top literary prize, the Goncourt

Novelist NDiaye wins France’s top literary prize

Roman Polanski lawyer Herve Temime: new ‘very significant’ cash bail offer to be filed Monday

Cash bail offer to be filed for Polanski on Monday

Istanbul exhibition in Paris seeks to reveal the Turkish city’s multicultural soul

PARIS — The glories of Istanbul have arrived in Paris.

Let there be opulence: Versailles exhibit reflects glory of palace creator, Sun King Louis XIV

PARIS — The Sun King shines again at Versailles.

Kim Yun-na of South Korea wins Trophee Bompard with dazzling free skate; Asada, Nakano next

PARIS — World champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea captured the Trophee Bompard on Saturday, winning the free skate with a flawless performance to finish ahead of Japanese skaters Mao Asada and Yukari Nakano.

Lawyer for Roman Polanski says jailed filmmaker is undergoing medical tests

PARIS — One of Roman Polanski’s lawyers says the jailed filmmaker is undergoing medical tests, though his current condition “is not of exceptional gravity.”

Kim Yu-na takes huge lead after women’s short program at Trophee Bompard in Paris

PARIS — World champion Kim Yu-na of South Korea skated to a medley of James Bond themes Friday and opened a massive lead in the women’s short program at the Trophee Bompard.

Tomas Verner of Czech Republic leads after men’s short program at Trophee Bompard in Paris

PARIS — Former European champion Tomas Verner of the Czech Republic led after the men’s short program at the Trophee Bompard on Friday, opening with a quadruple jump to beat Nobunari Oda of Japan by almost two points.

Wynton Marsalis to be honored with France’s Legion of Honor

NEW YORK — Wynton Marsalis (MAHR’-sahl-is) will receive the Legion of Honor, the highest award bestowed by the French government.

France’s Brian Joubert main attraction at Trophee Bompard with Olympics looming

PARIS — Former world champion Brian Joubert of France will be the main attraction at the Trophee Bompard, the first of six Grand Prix events that starts Thursday.

Black is back: Soulages’ ‘noir’ paintings on show in Paris

PARIS — Pierre Soulages went back to black before it was the fashion.

French museum to return Egyptian artifacts after Egypt cuts ties with Louvre

PARIS — France’s culture minister agreed Friday to return five painted wall fragments to Egypt after a row over their ownership prompted the Egyptians to cut ties with the Louvre Museum.

French museum experts agree to return Egyptian artifacts after Egypt cuts ties with Louvre

PARIS — France’s culture minister agreed Friday to return painted wall fragments to Egypt after a row over their ownership prompted the country to cut ties with the Louvre Museum.

Egypt severs ties with France’s Louvre over disputed artifacts from ancient tomb

CAIRO — Egypt’s antiquities czar took his campaign to recover the nation’s lost treasures to a new level on Wednesday by cutting ties with one of the world’s premier museums, the Louvre, over disputed artifacts.

Winners of the Nobel Prize in literature since 1960

Winners of the Nobel Prize in literature since 1960:

Egypt’s antiquities chief cuts ties with Louvre museum over ’stolen’ artifacts

CAIRO — Egypt said Wednesday its antiquities department severed ties with France’s Louvre museum because it has refused to return what are described as stolen artifacts, one of the country’s most aggressive attempts yet to reclaim relics from some of the world’s leading Egyptology collections.

From Lagerfeld’s “Simple Life” at Chanel to McQueen’s take on evolution, Paris has it all

In Paris, Chanel’s “Simple Life” mega-production

Comedian Joan Rivers

Comedian Joan Rivers attends a photocall for ‘Roast’ at the Martinez Hotel - 25th MIPCOM Cannes.

Phoebe Philo of Celine and YSL deliver masterful, fashion forward workaday chic

PARIS — It was the moment the fashion world has been waiting for, the return of wildly popular designer Phoebe Philo, whose calm and collected debut spring-summer 2010 collection for Celine proved that after her several-year-long hiatus she still has the magic touch.

McDonald’s to hang out its shingle near Mona Lisa’s home in the Carrousel du Louvre

PARIS — French culture and American convenience will come together in December — thanks to plans by the McDonald’s restaurant chain to hang its shingle in the shadow of the Louvre.

Mayhem at Ungaro after Lindsay Lohan’s debut collection, though Van Noten, Givenchy steal day

PARIS — Mayhem broke out Sunday at Emanuel Ungaro after starlet Lindsay Lohan made her debut as “artistic adviser” to the storied-but-floundering Paris fashion house with a spring-summer 2010 ready-to-wear collection of teeny mini-bustier dresses and ultra-tight pants that appeared aimed at seducing 20-somethings and the teen set.

Da Vinci’s forgotten sculptures, other rare works make first US appearance at Atlanta museum

ATLANTA — Leonardo da Vinci once spent nearly two decades creating a 26-foot sculpture of a horse to honor a royal Italian family, only to have the plaster masterpiece destroyed by French soldiers.

Cleveland museum showcases role of Paris exhibit in Gauguin’s development

CLEVELAND — Before his Tahiti paintings established him, Paul Gauguin was snubbed by the 1889 Paris world’s fair. Undaunted, he and colleagues staged a rival show in a cafe, a formative time featured in an international exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art.

Paris’ summer 2010 shows off to a light start, with Gareth Pugh’s kinder, gentler apocalypse

Roman Polanski: Fugitive in the United States, beloved artist in France

PARIS — Was Roman Polanski “thrown to the lions because of ancient history?” That’s what the French culture minister says — though not everyone in France agrees.

Morocco’s legendary Mamounia hotel reopens in Marrakech after three-year makeover

MARRAKECH, Morocco — Winston Churchill invited Franklin Roosevelt here to relax following strategic talks during World War II, and Alfred Hitchcock shot some of “The Man Who Knew Too Much ” in the hotel’s lobby — which has also been a haunt of the Rolling Stones, Charlie Chaplin, Sharon Stone and many other Hollywood stars for nearly a century.

Former president keeps promise to Lady Di, but who is the hero in his steamy romance novel?

PARIS — It was a passionate but hidden love. The president of the French Republic and the Princess of Cardiff had no choice.