News Headlines - 06 June 2019
▽France backs Renault lawsuit against Ghosn | The Times
The woes of Carlos Ghosn, the former boss of Renault, deepened yesterday when France backed the carmaker’s criminal complaint over €11 million of expenses he allegedly charged to the company.
Claims about the private use of corporate jets, the purchase of villas and a €600,000 payment to a French former justice minister are being investigated by the authorities in France and in the Netherlands, the home of Renault-Nissan BV (RNBV), a subsidiary set up by Mr Ghosn, 65. He engineered the alliance between the French and Japanese carmakers in 1999, creating one of the world’s biggest automotive groups.
▽2 Japanese nabbed in Australia for attempted lizard smuggling
Two Japanese men have been arrested in the Australian city of Perth for allegedly attempting to smuggle 13 native lizards out of the country, Australia's customs authority said Thursday.
The two men, aged 51 and 28, were intercepted by Australian Border Force officials at Perth Airport on Wednesday while trying to board separate flights to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, according to an ABF statement.
A total of 13 bobtail lizards were found inside a check-in suitcase belonging to the 51-year-old, the statement said, adding they were all found alive, but some appeared to be in poor health.
The 31-year-old who was identified by local media as urban climber Marcin Banot, was captured on amateur video and photos shinning up the 170m tower on Sunday afternoon.
Known as the Spiderman from Silesia, Banot who has over 178,000 followers on his YouTube channel was arrested for public disorder after reaching the top where he was greeted by waiting police officers.
The leading face of the AI art movement looks to be a new robot called Ai-Da. Named after Ada Lovelace, the first female computer programmer, and thought up by gallery director Aidan Meller, Ai-Da is the world’s first humanoid AI robot artist and she’s getting her own exhibition.
From June 12 to June 30, Ai-Da’s artwork will be shown at the Unsecured Futures exhibition at The Barn Gallery, St John’s College, University of Oxford.
The work includes drawings, paintings, sculpture and video. One piece is a homage to Yoko Ono’s ‘Cut Piece’.
▽Gérard Depardieu rape investigation dropped by French prosecutors - BBC News
French prosecutors have dropped an investigation into rape allegations made against actor Gérard Depardieu.
The 70-year-old had always denied the accusations, made by a young French actress last year... The accuser claimed the alleged crimes had occurred last August in one of Mr Depardieu's Paris residences when she was 22 years old, French media reported at the time.
