Headline

French Star Writer Seeks Porn Movie Ban

Published

3 years ago

February 8, 2023

French literary star Michel Houellebecq is seeking a ban on a sexually explicit film awaiting release and featuring the writer, his lawyers said Tuesday.
The global bestselling author also wants the trailer for the movie, “Kirac 27” by Dutch filmmaker Stefan Ruitenbeek, taken down, they said.

The trailer, released in January, shows a shirtless Houellebecq kissing a young woman in bed.

It contains an off-camera commentary by Ruitenbeek saying that Houellebecq had written to him saying that his honeymoon in Morocco had been called off after his wife had “spent a month booking prostitutes”.

Houellebecq and his wife, Lysis, “discovered with shock and disgust” that the trailer contained “serious and false statements which violently attacked their dignity,” their lawyers Angelique Beres and Maia Kantor said in a statement.

The couple had launched legal proceedings, “civil and criminal,” to ban the film, scheduled for release in March, and the trailer with its “defamatory” commentary, they said.

They want to “put an end to these attacks immediately” by removing the trailer from all internet platforms and banning the director and his team from showing the film, “or any other images they may have of the Houellebecqs”.

In a message to the director seen by AFP, Houellebecq said that the trailer was an attack on his honour and his personal life and, “worst of all” on his wife, who he said was “devastated by the lies” in the clip.

Ruitenbeek meanwhile told the Vice news site last week that the idea to shoot a porn movie had come from Houellebecq and his wife after they had seen “Honeypot”, a previous film by the “Kirac” collective.

“That made them want to do something similar,” he said in an interview with the site, quoting Lysis Houellebecq as telling Ruitenbeek that if he wanted to do something for her husband “you’ll have to turn him into a porn star”.

A first scene was shot the next day with Houellebecq and a young woman called Jini van Rooijen who works with the director and “adores Houellebecq”, Ruitenbeek said.

“It was incredible, they did all kinds of positions,” he said.

Shooting went on for six days in Amsterdam in Paris, and also included scenes of Houellebecq discussing philosophy with sexual partners, four in total, and restaurant visits, the director said.

Houellebecq is a controversial writer, and often accused of tapping into right-wing fears over Islam in France.

The Union of Mosques in France told AFP last month it was suing Houellebecq for discrimination, hate speech and inciting violence in remarks to an interviewer.

In 2015, Houellebecq published the international headline-grabbing “Submission” about a Muslim winning the presidency.

He was tipped as a contender for the Nobel Literature Prize last year, although it ultimately went to Annie Ernaux of France who called Houellebecq’s ideas “completely reactionary and anti-feminist”.

AFP

Headline

Charlie Kirk Shooter Arrested, Named

Published

7 hours ago

September 12, 2025

Editor

United States authorities have arrested a suspect in the fatal shooting of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Law enforcement officials identified the suspect as 21-year-old Tyler Robinson from Utah, according to NBC News, citing five senior law enforcement sources.

Kirk was fatally shot in the neck on Tuesday while speaking at a debate at Utah Valley University.

Authorities said the attacker fired a single round from a rooftop in what they described as a targeted assassination.

US President Donald Trump confirmed the arrest, telling Fox News that investigators acted “with a high degree of certainty” in taking Robinson into custody.

Trump praised the joint efforts of local police and state officials in the investigation.

Headline

FBI Releases Video Of Charlie Kirk’s Shooter, Recovers Weapons Near Scene [WATCH]

Published

15 hours ago

September 12, 2025

Editor

The FBI’s Salt Lake City Field Office on Friday released video footage of the man suspected of fatally shooting conservative activist Charlie Kirk fleeing a rooftop after the incident on September 10, 2025.

The bureau, in a statement accompanied by the video link shared on X on Friday, noted that the video shows the shooter climbing onto a rooftop shortly before the attack and then jumping off and fleeing the scene after firing the fatal shots.

Investigators also reportedly found the weapon and ammunition used in the shooting in a wooded area near the university.

The agency wrote, “The FBI has released a video and more photos of the shooter in the Utah Valley shooting. The subject is seen jumping from the rooftop of a building after the shooting.

“Around 12 pm Mountain Time on September 10, 2025, the subject climbed up to a rooftop; after he shot and killed Charlie Kirk, he jumped off and ran away. He left a gun and ammunition in a wooded area near the university.

“Trace evidence collected from the rooftop scene included shoe impressions, a forearm imprint, and a palm print. Anyone with information in this case should call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI or visit fbi.gov/utahvalleyshooting.”

The bureau added that it is working closely with law enforcement partners to seek justice in the murder of Charlie Kirk.

The PUNCH reported on Thursday that the FBI released initial images of a person of interest in the fatal shooting of Kirk.

The agency also offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the identification and arrest of those responsible for his death.

Meanwhile, two people misidentified online as suspects in the fatal shooting of right-wing US activist Charlie Kirk also told AFP Thursday they were terrified by the misinformation targeting them, as the manhunt for the real killer continued.

31-year-old Kirk, a major ally of President Donald Trump and the head of the largest conservative youth movement in the United States, was shot dead while attending an event at Utah Valley University.

Watch the video below:

https://x.com/MobilePunch/status/1966444113794109657?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1966444113794109657%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fd-186661262228333818.ampproject.net%2F2508281901000%2Fframe.html

Headline

Russia Threatens Poland Over Belarus Border Closure

Published

20 hours ago

September 12, 2025

Editor

Russia, on Thursday, urged Poland to reopen its border with Belarus, Moscow’s close ally, calling the closure “destructive” and warning of consequences.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced Tuesday the closure of the border with Belarus from 0000 on September 12 (2200 GMT on September 11), in response to the upcoming joint Russian-Belarusian war games.

“We urge Warsaw to consider the consequences of such destructive steps and to review its decision as soon as possible,” foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

The border closure was to “justify a policy of further escalating tensions in the centre of Europe”, she added.

NATO’s eastern flank members Poland, Lithuania and Latvia are on high alert due to the massive drills, which according to Tusk are designed to simulate occupation of the Suwalki corridor, a strategically important area in Poland.

Usually held every four years, the 2025 iteration of Zapad is the first during the conflict in Ukraine, and is due to run until September 16.

Belarus had said in January that 13,000 troops would be involved in the drills, but in May it said the number was to be reduced by around half.

Zakharova said Warsaw had “demonstratively” ignored the “goodwill” gestures by Moscow and Minsk to move the exercise away from the Polish border and to reduce the number of military personnel participating.