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Storms on way for much of France. Will the cold spell continue?
We also share videos and photos of last weekend's dramatic weather in the south-west and east
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Paris hospital dog trial goes from strength to strength
An English setter rescue dog at one of the world’s top cancer hospitals in Paris has been described as “a bubble of oxygen”
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PHOTOS: Olympic Flame travels to France on beautiful historic ship
The 127-year-old ship set sail on Saturday with ‘the most important passenger it has ever carried’
Church buys Brittany town's 'controversial' statue
8m monument will be moved a few metres but will still be visible to the public
The Catholic Church has agreed to buy a controversial 8m statue of Pope John Paul II for €20,000 from a Morbihan town following a court ruling.
As reported in October 2017, France’s top administrative court the Conseil d’Etat ruled that a cross had to be removed from the statue in Ploërmel as it breaks France's 1905 law of separation of Church and State.
The rest of the statue, including an arch over the figure of the Pope, could remain in place, the court ruled.
On Thursday, Ploërmel council agreed to sell the bronze monument, which has stood in a public carpark for 12 years after being donated to the town by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, to the diocese of Vannes.
Once the sale has gone through, the statue will be moved a matter of metres, at the Church's expense, to the adjoining grounds of a Catholic private college, where it will remain visible to the public.
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