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British Singer Jane Birkin Dies In Paris

Published

2 years ago

July 17, 2023

Jane Birkin, the British-born singer and actor who became a style icon in her adopted France, has died, a source close to her said on Sunday. She was 76.

Birkin had been suffering from health problems in recent years that had forced her to cancel concerts.

The cause of her death was not immediately known. According to a police source, a nursing assistant found Birkin dead at her Paris home on Sunday.

With no suspicious elements found on her body or in the apartment, no investigation was to be opened, the source added.

Her agent and family were yet to confirm the death.

Birkin was catapulted to fame through her turbulent relationship with legendary singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg and her heavily accented French, which became one of her signatures in her adopted home.

With her flared jeans, mini dresses and distinctive fringe, Birkin was the ultimate It girl in the 1970s.

Once photographed in a dress that appeared transparent under the camera flashes, she quipped: “If I had known I wouldn’t have worn underwear.”

In 1984, Hermes named one of its handbags after her, after she complained to a former chief executive that she could not find a leather bag that could fit all she needed as a young mother.

The Birkin became an eye-wateringly expensive and sought-after status symbol.

The luxury brand in a statement hailed Birkin as “a dear and intimate friend” who was endowed with a “great humanity”.

– ‘A complete artist’ –

French President Emmanuel Macron called Birkin “a complete artist” who “sang the most beautiful words in our language”.

“Unimaginable to live in a world without your light in it,” singer Etienne Daho, one of her close friends, wrote on Instagram.

French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne hailed her as an “unforgettable icon, a unique voice and charm” who “with her music and her talent transcended generations”.

Hailing an artist “eternal in our hearts”, actor and activist Brigitte Bardot said “when someone is so pretty, so fresh, so spontaneous, with the voice of a child, they don’t have the right to die.”

“There was something about her that touched the French spirit,” artist and embroiderer Jenny Hunt told AFP outside the house Birkin once shared with Gainsbourg in Paris.

“It’s very hard to articulate, but you feel it when you see it.”

– Turbulent love –

Born in London, Birkin crossed the Channel in 1968 at the age of 22 to star in a film alongside Gainsbourg, who was 18 years her senior.

It was the start of a 13-year relationship that made them France’s most famous couple, in the spotlight as much for their bohemian and hedonistic lifestyle as for their work.

Birkin, with her soft voice and androgynous silhouette, quickly became a sex symbol, recording a steamy duo with a growling Gainsbourg in 1969, “Je t’aime… moi non plus”.

Banned on radio in several countries and condemned by the Vatican, the song was a worldwide success.

“He and I became the most famous of couples in that strange way because of ‘Je t’aime’ and because we stuck together for 13 years and he went on being my friend until the day he died. Who could ask for more?” Birkin told CNN in 2006.

“Paris became my home. I’ve been adopted here. They like my accent,” she said.

– Style icon –

The daughter of an actor and a naval officer, Birkin first married James Bond composer John Barry, with whom she had a daughter, Kate. The marriage lasted three years.

She moved to France after meeting Gainsbourg on the set of a romantic comedy in which he was her co-star.

They had a daughter, Charlotte, who became a hugely successful actor and singer.

The musical and romantic relationship between Gainsbourg and Birkin was famously tempestuous.

During one of their raging rows, Birkin tossed herself into the River Seine after throwing a custard pie in Gainsbourg’s face.

She blazed her own trail after walking out on France’s favourite bad boy in 1980.

In her around 70 films she worked with leading directors including Bertrand Tavernier, Jean-Luc Godard, Alain Resnais, James Ivory and Agnes Varda.

But she remained forever associated with Gainsbourg, who continued to write songs for her after their split, including “Les dessous chics” about lingerie being used to try to cover up a relationship on the rocks.

“It’s the most beautiful song about separation you could ever have,” Birkin told AFP in a 2018 interview.

Her life was marked by tragedy and obstacles.

Her oldest daughter, Kate Barry, a photographer, died in an apparent suicide in 2013.

She fought leukaemia in the late 1990s and in 2021 suffered a minor stroke.

Birkin is survived by her daughter with Gainsbourg, Charlotte, and another daughter, Lou Doillon, a singer, from a 13-year relationship with French director Jacques Doillon.

Related Topics:British Singer Jane Birkin Paris

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UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

Published

4 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

“He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

“He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

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Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

Published

5 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.

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Kamala Harris Hints At Running For President Again

Published

5 hours ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Former US vice president Kamala Harris said in a British television interview previewed in Saturday that she may “possibly” run again to be president.

Harris, who replaced Joe Biden as the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate but lost to Donald Trump, told the BBC that she had not yet decided whether to make another White House bid.

But the 61-year-old insisted she was “not done” in American politics and that her young grandnieces would see a female president in the Oval Office “in their lifetime, for sure”.

“I have lived my entire career a life of service, and it’s in my bones, and there are many ways to serve.

“I’ve not decided yet what I will do in the future, beyond what I am doing right now,” Harris told the British broadcaster in an interview set to air in full on Sunday.

The comments are the strongest hint yet that Harris could attempt to be the Democratic Party nominee for the 2028 election.

The interview follows the release of her memoir last month, in which she argued it had been “recklessness” to let Biden run for a second term as president.

She also accused his White House team of failing to support her while she was his deputy, and at times of actively hindering her.

AFP