Paris

A controversial sale of pre-Columbian art went ahead in Paris on Sept. 18 despite calls from Mexico and UNESCO for it to be halted.

Paris is testing a new form of travel: an eco-friendly, bubble-shaped taxi that zips along the water up and down the Seine River, the Associated Press reported.

This week, the organizers are running tests with a white, oval, enclosed electric hydrofoil boat raised to the so-called water wings and it looks like a small space shuttle that glides along the sights of Paris.

The prolific and esteemed Greek poet, novelist, playwright and translator Nanos Valaoritis has died, according to an announcement on his Facebook page. He was 98 years old, and "lived a life full of riches," fellow poet Dinos Siotis said in a Facebook post.

The US Internet giant Google has agreed a deal worth a total of $ 945 million ($ 1.0 billion) to end a tax dispute in France, according to an agreement announced in court Thursday. The company will pay a € 500 million tax evasion fine, as well as a further € 465 million in claims settlement with the French tax authorities.

Michael Schumacher has come out of a coma. The Formula One legend was admitted to a hospital in Paris where he has undergone stem-cell medication.

Former Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher has been admitted to Hôpital Européen Georges-Pompidou in Paris for "secret treatment", according to Reuters. This is the third time the former racer has been admitted to a hospital. He was transported from Switzerland.

The file that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took along with him on his working visit to Berlin on August 29 contained, among other things, a copy of a story from the German magazine Der Spiegel - put there by a close associate and not by this writer.

A Finnair Airlines plane flying from Helsinki to Paris landed an emergency in the Finnish city of Turku due to the death of a passenger on board, RIA Novosti reports.

The airline's press service says the plane made an unplanned landing in Turku because of a sick passenger.

Extremely hot weather in June and July killed 1 435 people in France, a spokesman for the French health ministry said.

Most of the victims are elderly, but there are some who have lost their lives at work. According to the ministry, because of preventive measures, the death toll was significantly lower than in 2003. At that time, the death toll was nearly 15,000.

Conductor Ion Marin, honorary director of the "Madrigal - Marin Constantin" Chamber Music National Choir and founder of the Cantus Mundi National Programme, says in an interview to AGERPRES that music and culture in general represent a catalyst for Romania's change. "I believe in Romania's change, in the first place. And I believe music is a catalyst.