- After K-pop, K-novels? South Korean Nobel win sparks joy, hope at home
- After Nadal exit, Djokovic left to rage against dying of the light
- A very stiff breeze: BBC says sorry for 20,000 kph wind forecast
- Triple centurion Brook happy to break Dad's club record
- Zelensky touts 'victory plan' against Russia in Macron talks
- Musk finally unveiling his long-promised robotaxi
- UN peacekeepers accuses Israel of firing on Lebanon HQ
- London's Frieze art fair goes potty for ceramics
- Southgate taking year out from coaching
- US, Europe stocks fall on US inflation data
- Zelensky meets Macron in Paris as part of European tour
- Hurricane Milton shreds Florida stadium roof
- UN probe accuses Israel of seeking to 'destroy' Gaza healthcare
- US consumer inflation eases to 2.4% in September
- England in sight of victory after Brook's triple hundred
- Juventus readmitted to ECA after failed Super League revolt
- World number 2 Alcaraz knocked out of Shanghai Masters by Machac
- Leaders of Egypt, Eritrea, Somalia meet amid regional tensions
- Klopp's Red Bull decision 'ruined life's work' say Dortmund fans
- Han Kang wins South Korea's first literature Nobel
- S. Korea's Nobel winner Han Kang a modest, thought-provoking writer
- Hurricane Milton tornadoes kill four in Florida amid rescue efforts
- The almost impossible job: Beating Rafael Nadal at the French Open
- New French government faces key test with budget plan
- Rescuers say Israeli strike on Gaza school kills 28
- Italy's ex-world champion gymnast Ferrari announces retirement
- Zelensky talks 'victory plan' in meeting with Starmer, Rutte
- South Korea's Han Kang wins literature Nobel
- Federer lauds retiring Nadal's 'incredible achievements'
- Ikea posts fall in annual sales after lowering prices
- Australia beat China 3-1 to resurrect World Cup campaign
- Stock markets diverge, oil gains after China rebounds
- Nadal defied injury woes in record-breaking career
- Nadal v Djokovic, French Open, 2006: Chapter One in epic rivalry
- World can't 'waste time' trading climate change blame: COP29 hosts
- Pakistan at 23-1 after Brook triple hundred takes England to 823-7
- Zelensky meets Starmer, Rutte on whirlwind tour of Europe
- South Korean same-sex couples make push for marriage equality
- Rafael Nadal calls time on epic tennis career
- Mumbai declares day of mourning for Indian industrialist Ratan Tata
- Philippines confronts China over South China Sea at ASEAN meet
- Kim Sei-young shoots 62 to take two-stroke lead at LPGA Shanghai
- The haircuts that help traumatised Ukrainian soldiers heal
- Sinner crushes Medvedev to set up potential Alcaraz Shanghai semi
- 7-Eleven owner restructures to fight takeover
- England's Harry Brook blasts triple century against Pakistan
- Chinese electric car companies cope with European tariffs
- Zelensky in London for whirlwind tour of Europe ahead of US vote
- Sri Lanka recovering faster than expected: World Bank
- Hong Kong, Shanghai rally as most markets track Wall St record
French court sentences Russian artist to six months in sextape scandal
A French court on Wednesday sentenced the controversial Russian performance artist Pyotr Pavlensky to six months in prison for his role in a sex tape scandal which ended a campaign by an ally of President Emmanuel Macron to become Paris mayor.
Pavlensky, 39, will serve his sentence outside jail with an electronic bracelet while his partner Alexandra de Taddeo, 32, was given a six-month suspended sentence for her role.
Benjamin Griveaux, 45, a former French government spokesman and prominent figure in Macron's ruling party, was seeking in 2020 to end years of Socialist control of Paris city hall when explicit videos emerged that he had sent to a woman.
Pavlensky, who before moving to France in 2017 had gained notoriety in Russia for actions that included in 2013 nailing his scrotum to Red Square in Moscow, claimed the stunt saying it was an artwork called "Pornopolitics".
De Taddeo, who had a brief relationship with Griveaux in 2018, had been accused of keeping the videos and also taking part in their publication, which she denied.
The videos, which Griveaux had sent to de Taddeo, showed a man masturbating and had been edited to show screen shots of the message exchanges between the two.
Griveaux pulled out of the mayor race and has quit politics.
The two defendants were also ordered to pay 15,000 euros in damages to Griveaux, as well as 5,000 euros in legal fees.
- 'Justice done' -
Pavlensky, who had accused the married Griveaux of hypocrisy during the Paris mayor campaign, indicated as he left the courtroom that he would not appeal.
"My work of art 'Pornopolitics' is now finished, because the judge's conviction is the last point in my works of art, it's always like that. That's why I'm not going to appeal."
For Benjamin Griveaux's lawyer, Richard Malka, "the artistic fantasies of one and the denials of the other were rejected by the court".
Of Griveaux he said: "Obviously, he is pleased that justice has been done, but the wrongs done to him will never be made good."
At the time the scandal prompted rare unity in French politics, with voices on left and right uniting to condemn the actions of Pavlensky and what they saw as a threat to democratic life in France.
The trial, which started on June 28, was marked by the absence of Griveaux and incidents which exasperated the judge including applause in the courtroom and actors called as witnesses only to quote lines from French playwright Moliere.
Pavlensky was sentenced in 2019 to three years in prison, two of them suspended, for setting fire to the facade of a branch of France's central bank in Paris.
S.F.Warren--AMWN