Paris
Paris’ popular, gay mayor, Bernard Delanoë, was stabbed this week by an unbalanced man who says he hates “gays and politicians.” Delanoë was strolling through the Hôtel de Ville at 2:30 a.m., listening to one of the bands at the Sleepless Night festival, an all-night extravaganza of concerts across the city that the self-proclaimed “mayor of fun” had organized. Suddenly Azedine Berkane, a 39-year-old Algerian-born Muslim, leaped out of the crowd and plunged a knife into the mayor’s stomach. “The party must go on,” Delanoë gasped, before being whisked to the hospital for emergency surgery. He is expected to recover completely. Berkane, who has a history of psychiatric hospitalization, told police that the mayor’s open homosexuality was an offense to Islam.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'The future of abortion access in many states may come down to who has the final say'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Supreme Court rejects challenge to CFPBSpeed Read The court rejected a conservative-backed challenge to the way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded
-
US makes first Gaza aid delivery from floating pierSpeed Read Israeli restrictions on border crossings have prevented food and supplies from reaching Gaza citizens
