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Faced with competition from rival sporting events, the future of the Games hung in the balance. A century on, new hurdles are loomingParis 1924 was the sixth and last Olympics presided over by Baron de Coubertin, the modern movement’s founder. He had good reason to be pleased with his work. The French government had enthusiastically backed the enterprise, providing a budget of 20m francs...

Le Violon d’Ingres print produced under artist’s supervision was among friend’s collection auctioned in ParisIt is one of the most recognisable images of the surrealist movement: a black and white photograph by Man Ray of Kiki de Montparnasse with f-shaped sound holes painted on her back representing a violin.Le Violon d’Ingres, which was produced in 1924 and signed by the US artist, set a...

Tunnel under construction found near La Santé prison does not appear to be part of an escape plan, local official saysA mysterious tunnel under construction has been discovered near a prison in southern Paris during routine electrical works, although police sources said it did not appear to be part of an escape plan.The discovery was made on Tuesday by a technician from Enedis, which...

Les Jeux Olympiques: Miroir des Sociétés opens ahead of Paris Olympics and puts previous games in context of conflicts and injusticesFrom the Nazi stadium propaganda in 1936 Berlin to the 1968 Mexico City podium protest of medal-winners Tommie Smith and John Carlos, who were expelled from the competition after raising their gloved fists in a Black Power salute against racial injustice, the Olympic Games...

City hall engineer had put bag with sensitive data in overhead luggage rack on train at Gare du NordA bag containing a computer and two USB memory sticks holding police security plans for the Paris Olympic Games has been stolen from a train at the capital’s Gare du Nord station.The bag belonged to an engineer from Paris city hall, the police said late on...

Guinness World Records initially said 7.2-metre structure made from more than 700,000 matches broke rulesA man has been awarded the Guinness world record for creating the tallest structure using matchsticks – after his Eiffel Tower replica was initially rejected.Richard Plaud, from France, said he had been on an “emotional rollercoaster” this week, after spending 4,200 hours building his model from more than 706,000 matches...

Two victims have light wounds while third person has serious but non-life threatening injuries, say policeThree people have been wounded in a knife attack in the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris and the suspect has been arrested, police have said.Two of the victims suffered light wounds while the third person was more seriously injured but was not in a life-threatening situation, police...