France’s Emmanuel Macron has put his full support behind a senior minister accused of raping a teenager.
Environment minister Nicolas Hulot denies the accusation that he attacked the 17-year-old granddaughter of a famous politician in 1997.
Mr Hulot, 62, is the second senior minister to have been accused of rape in just two weeks.
France’s budget minister Gérald Darmanin is being investigated by prosecutors, who reopened an inquiry into rape allegations made by Sophie Spatz.
Ms Spatz alleges Mr Darmanin attacked her over a decade ago while he was working as a legal advisor.
Both men have admitted having sexual relations with their accusers but say it was consensual.
Mr Hulot, a former presenter of a TV adventure programme, said his accuser had filed a complaint in 2008, which had been dismissed.
"I was questioned at my own request and investigators very quickly concluded that there was nothing suggesting the case should be followed up," Mr Hulot told BFMTV on Thursday.
The married father of two said the rumours were “shameful”, describing his predicament as a “nightmare”.
"It hurts, when it's wrongful and unfounded. Yesterday, my children were in tears," Mr Hulot added.
Mr Macron and French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe have backed Mr Hulot and dismissed calls for him to resign.
“There is a point of law clearly established by the prime minister, in agreement with the President, which is that if there is no indictment, there is no need for a resignation to be mentioned,” an aide to Mr Macron and Mr Philippe said.
Mr Hulot has also denied rumours that he had harassed a former female colleague.
The woman concerned put down the reports telling French media: "I have no comment to make on a case that is not one.”
Tom Fletcher on 'soft power'
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
Hamilton’s 2017
Australia - 2nd; China - 1st; Bahrain - 2nd; Russia - 4th; Spain - 1st; Monaco - 7th; Canada - 1st; Azerbaijan - 5th; Austria - 4th; Britain - 1st; Hungary - 4th; Belgium - 1st; Italy - 1st; Singapore - 1st; Malaysia - 2nd; Japan - 1st; United States - 1st; Mexico - 9th
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Match info
Manchester United 0-0 Crystal Palace
Man of the match: Cheikhou Kouyate (Crystal Palace)
MATCH INFO
Watford 1 (Deulofeu 80' p)
Chelsea 2 (Abraham 5', Pulisic 55')
