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NEW YORK — Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein's retrial on rape and sex assault charges started Tuesday, forcing survivors who helped fire up the "#MeToo" movement to prepare to testify against him once more.

Weinstein's 2020 conviction by a jury was overturned seven years later by an appeals court that ruled the way witnesses were handled in the original New York trial was unlawful.

The voiding of the jury's verdict by the New York Court of Appeals was a setback to survivors of the #MeToo movement against sexual violence and the promotion of justice for survivors.

Weinstein was wheeled in to court, and wore a dark blue suit and adjusted his tie as he took his seat at the defense table while the trial lawyers spoke to the judge.

The onetime Miramax studio boss was charged with the sexual assault of former production assistant Mimi Haleyi in 2006, the rape of aspiring actress Jessica Mann in 2013, and a new count for an alleged sexual assault in 2006 at a hotel in Manhattan.

Haleyi and Mann testified in the earlier trial, sharing graphic testimony of their interactions with Weinstein.

Lindsay Goldbrum, a lawyer for the unnamed woman who brought the new complaint, told reporters outside court that "she had the honour of representing an incredible woman".

"They are going to ensure Weinstein is held accountable for his heinous crimes against women," she said.

"The fact they are going to testify again is testimony to their bravery."

Jury selection in the new trial, which overall is expected to last up to six weeks in a Manhattan criminal court, began on Tuesday and could take until next week.

Weinstein, 73, said he hopes the case will be judged with "fresh eyes", more than seven years after investigations by The New York Times and the New Yorker led to his spectacular downfall and a global backlash against predatory abusers.

Weinstein is serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted on separate charges in California in 2023 for raping and assaulting a European actor a decade prior.

'Fry Harvey'? 

The producer of a string of box office hits like "Sex, Lies and Videotape", "Pulp Fiction" and "Shakespeare in Love", Weinstein has appeared frail and gaunt at recent courtroom hearings ahead of the trial.

"It'll be very, very different because of the attitude of New York City, New York state and, I think, the overall country," said his lawyer Arthur Aidala.

"Five years ago, when you guys were here, there were protests. There were people chanting: 'Fry Harvey, he's a rapist'... I think that, overall, has died down," he said, adding that he hoped jurors would try the case on its merits.

Aidala separately told Fox 5 Monday that Weinstein had several ailments, including a "horrible infection in his mouth, his throat -- and he's struggling to speak, and when you're about to go on trial you need to communicate with your lawyer".

Weinstein has never acknowledged any wrongdoing and has always maintained that the encounters were consensual.

Accusers describe the movie mogul as a predator who used his perch atop the cinema industry to pressure talent and assistants for sexual favors, often in hotel rooms.

Since his downfall, Weinstein has been accused of harassment, sexual assault or rape by more than 80 women, including actors Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, Lupita Nyong'o and Ashley Judd.

In 2020, a jury of New Yorkers found Weinstein guilty of two out of five charges -- the sexual assault of Haleyi and the rape of Mann.

But the conviction and the 23-year prison sentence were overturned in April 2024.

In a hotly debated four-to-three decision, New York's appeals court ruled that jurors should not have heard testimonies of victims about sexual assaults for which Harvey Weinstein was not indicted.

The three survivors of Weinstein's alleged crimes are expected to testify once again.

"I'm going on jury duty -- I hope I don't get that [trial]," said a woman smoking a cigarette outside the courthouse.

GENEVA — In most places, a night at the opera conjures up images of polite audiences in eveningwear sitting upright to enjoy a bit of Bel Canto.

In Geneva, though, once a year the crowd includes children, the eveningwear is pyjamas and socks -- and the seats are scoped out for how comfortable they are to sleep in.

Welcome to Sleepover in the city's 19th-century opera house, when it opens its doors to a small number of enthusiasts.

From 8 pm they wander its fresco-covered foyers, listen to performed music... and spend the night dozing in an auditorium lit up like a starry night.

"It's pretty crazy," said law professor Carine Lutz, as a friend next to her rolled out a sleeping bag at the foot of the stage.

They were among 180 people who rushed in with suitcases and shopping bags stuffed with quilts to stake out a nocturnal niche in the Grand Theatre.

Among them were many families with children, who marvelled at the giant mirrors with gilded frames, the angels and nymphs painted above, and, of course, some music.

"I think purists might find it difficult to imagine that one could sleep here, on the same stage where major operas are usually performed," Lutz told AFP.

Grand Theatre dramaturge Clara Pons explained that the unusual offering was designed "to open up spaces to things you don't usually do there, like for instance running around in your pyjamas", rather than in ultra-formal attire.

"We feel closer to people than when we're all sitting in the 1,500-seat auditorium," she said.

Rush to the balconies 

The connoisseurs know to flock to the balconies and the auditorium's red velvet armchairs, considered the most comfortable places to spend the night.

Adrien Mangili was relishing the experience for the third time with family and friends.

"You have to come early to get a dressing room, to be able to sleep and have a little privacy," he said, as his seven-year-old daughter Phedre enthusiastically pulled on pyjamas.

If you get a good spot, "it is easier for the kids to fall asleep," he said.

Before turning in, the children and adults spend hours exploring the darkened opera house, guided by ushers holding fluorescent rods.

Their strolls were punctuated by musical interludes performed by a Baroque music ensemble called "The Argonauts".

"It's soothing, but it doesn't put you to sleep," said Heloise Garcia, a 20-year-old student stretched out on the main stage.

Those unable to secure a box rolled out their sleeping backs in corridors, foyers and on the floor of the auditorium, under a ceiling spotted with a thousand pinholes of light in the shape of the Milky Way.

Carolina Marques Lopes, a lawyer, showed off a yellow dog soft toy she brought along. "This is in case the Phantom comes to visit," she joked.

Stefanie Neves, captivated by the main foyer with its frescoes and paintings, said: "We brought inflatable queen-size beds."

She and her friends wanted "to be able to fully enjoy the music and still get a few hours of sleep," she explained.

Before lying down, Neves looked up at an overhead imposing chandelier and pushed her mattress farther away, just in case.

Chopin to Pink Floyd 

Later that night, she and others dozed as an Italian pianist and performer, Marino Formenti, played piece after piece, at whim.

"I decided not to impose a programme, but to bring a number of very different compositions that I like to play, from Baroque to Chopin, to rock music, Pink Floyd, the Beatles," he told AFP.

Near the piano, a young couple danced, entwined, one barefoot and the other in socks, as a woman and child wearing matching panda pyjamas wandered past.

Nicolas Wisard, stretched out on his mat, savoured the view. "It's almost as good as Versailles, the Palace of Mirrors," he said

As dawn ticked closer, snoring filled the Great Hall's acoustics, while a silent black and white movie played on a giant screen.

"It was really cool," said Megan Bonfils as she groggily woke to music.

"Being with the artists and in this incredible place... in socks."

LIMA — Peruvian writer and Nobel literature laureate Mario Vargas Llosa died on Sunday at the age of 89, his family announced, ending the era of Latin America's literary golden generation.

"It is with deep sorrow that we announce that our father, Mario Vargas Llosa, passed away peacefully in Lima today, surrounded by his family," his eldest son Alvaro wrote in a message on X also signed by his siblings Gonzalo and Morgana Vargas Llosa.

Born into a middle-class Peruvian family, Vargas Llosa was one of the greats of the Latin American literary "boom" of the 1960s and 1970s, along with Colombia's Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Argentina's Julio Cortazar.

Rumors of the writer's deteriorating health had spread in recent months, during which he had been living out of the public eye.

In October, his son Alvaro said he was "on the verge of turning 90, an age when you have to reduce the intensity of your activities a little."

The writer's "passing will sadden his relatives, his friends and his readers around the world," the family statement read.

"But we hope that they will find comfort, as we do, in the fact that he enjoyed a long, adventurous and fruitful life, and leaves behind him a body of work that will outlive him."

Peru declared a day of mourning for the author on Monday, with flags flying at half-mast on government premises.

 'Enduring legacy' 

The family said that "no public ceremony will take place," in accordance with instructions left by Vargas Llosa himself.

"Our mother, our children and ourselves trust that we will have the space and privacy to bid him farewell in the company of family members and close friends," the siblings added.

Vargas Llosa's body will be cremated, in accordance with his wishes, they said.

Gustavo Ruiz, a reader of Vargas Llosa's works, was among a small group of young people gathered around the writer's home to pay tribute.

"I didn't believe it and I wanted to come close to his house since they are not going to give him a wake," Ruiz told national radio station RPP.

David Marreros, a 30-year-old visual artist, told AFP that Vargas Llosa proved "one can live doing what one is most passionate about."

The writer's "intellectual genius and enormous body of work will remain an enduring legacy for future generations," Peru's President Dina Boluarte posted on X.

"We express our sincerest condolences to the family, to his friends and to the whole world. Rest in peace, illustrious Peruvian for the ages."

Former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe called Vargas Llosa a "Master of Masters."

"He leaves us a path for the future," Uribe said on X.

Fellow Peruvian writer Alfredo Bryce Echenique hailed Vargas Llosa's "enormity," telling RPP his friend's death was "a sorrow for Peru."

US Deputy State Secretary State Christopher Landau said that "to label him as just Peruvian would be a disservice because his themes and interests were timeless and universal."

"He will live on in my bookshelves and many others in Latin America and around the world," Landau wrote on X.

Mario Vargas Llosa moved to Lima last year and celebrated his 89th birthday on March 28.

A few days before, his son Alvaro posted on X three photos of him showing the writer in spots around Lima where he wrote his last two novels, "Cinco Esquinas" ("Five Corners", 2016) and "Le Dedico Mi Silencio" ("I Dedicate My Silence To You," 2023).

Vargas Llosa was hailed for his close description of social reality in works like "La ciudad y los perros" ("The City and the Dogs", 1963) and "Conversacion en la catedral" ("Conversation in the Cathedral", 1969).

But he was criticized by some South American intellectuals for his conservative stances.

Vargas Llosa's works were translated into around 30 languages.

A Francophile, he lived in Paris for several years, becoming in 2016 the first foreign author added to the prestigious Pleiade literary collection during his lifetime.

He was named to France's Academy of prominent intellectuals in 2021.

By Sonia Salfity,
Desperate Dieter

It takes courage to move forward even when we’re not sure what’s ahead. It’s easier to stay on the couch reaching for whatever comfort food we can get our hands on.

"These attempts at mindlessly switching our brains off may seem harmless, but they offer temporary relief at best. It ultimately marches us to defeat instead of victory and that’s a high price to pay for a few moments of pleasure.

Like any good soldier marching towards victory, we must arm ourselves way before the battle. By doing this we’ll have increased our chances for victory when we find ourselves on the front lines.

Here are some simple tricks; they’re not new and I guarantee you’ve heard them before. But sometimes we have to go back to basic training in exchange for the gimmicks we’ve adopted along the way.

1.Eating your greens first. Sneak them into salads, soups or smoothies. Whatever method fits your lifestyle.

There is no excuse to skimp on life-saving nutrition! The vitamins and minerals packed in produce are not just essential for cancer prevention, but are also great for our hair and skin."

"We can train our taste buds to enjoy our greens regardless of our likes and dislikes. Think of it as boot camp for our taste buds. Eventually they’ll get accustomed to these healthier foods enough so that you’ll actually start craving them!

With enough practice your gut bacteria will change so that you produce more of the ones that crave the veggies instead of the sugary foods"

"2. Slowing down your eating by thoroughly chewing your food. One trick is to put your fork down after every bite. Another trick is to enjoy conversations with the people set down to share your meal.

Even offering a thanksgiving prayer before your meal will centre and slow down your mind enough to breathe before devouring your food! Do whatever you need to do to stop rushing

3. Making it a rule never to eat standing up as you will be more aware of what you’re eating when you force yourself to sit down. Think of meal time as sacred time to sit down and be mindful of all your blessings

4. Eating enough protein. I cannot stress this enough.

I know from experience that on the nights that I feel famished they happen to be the days I haven’t consumed enough lean protein. Use the following calculator to give you an idea of your protein needs

based on your height, weight and sex Protein Calculator.

5. Grocery shopping with a list! Don’t forget to stick to it! If it’s not on the list, it doesn’t go in the cart unless, of course, you forgot to put a basic item like eggs!

While on the subject of eggs, I’ve noticed that the weeks I’ve included them in my breakfast are the weeks that I do better in terms of feeling fuller.

Eggs for breakfast go a long way. I love combining them with half an avocado as they make a great team!

6. Choosing fresh and whole foods instead of processed or ‘Diet Foods’ which are often laden with artificial ingredients and sometimes even more calories than the original version. Avoid falling for the advertising gimmicks.

Simply trust what your grandma used to tell you: processed food will never come even close to fresh foods in terms of health. Despite the inconvenience of having to prepare meals from scratch, the health benefits far outweigh the negative

7. You grow stronger when you stretch yourself outside your comfort zone. With that in mind challenge yourself to do things when you don’t believe you can do them or when you simply don’t feel like it.

You don’t know what you can accomplish till you try. It takes both intentionality and effort to accomplish things worth doing so go for it.

8. Making it fun: Perhaps the most important rule is this one. If your health journey isn’t something you enjoy then you’ll surely give up.

We are striving to work to achieve long term goals by setting shorter ones we can attain to keep us focused on the bigger mission.

Setting your mind to visualise what you want to achieve so you can picture what it looks like. If you can picture it, you can achieve it.

Here’s to marching in the right direction one day at a time, one meal at a time!.

Reprinted with permission from Family Flavours magazine

PORTNOO, Ireland — A new school in Ireland is training up a fresh generation of thatchers in a bid to save the country's disappearing thatched roofs, an iconic feature of the Irish landscape.

In a hall in Portnoo students at the Donegal Thatching School clamber over practice roofs under the watchful eye of Brian Lafferty, one of Ireland's last master thatchers.

"That's it, start at the eaves and work from there," said the 72-year-old, peering upwards as a student laid and fixed batches of flax straw on top of a purpose-built model house.

"The tradition has almost died out, it's crucial to pass it on to the younger ones," the still spritely Lafferty told AFP.

Lafferty's expertise was handed down to him by his father. He grew up in County Donegal, the part of Ireland with the highest number of surviving thatched cottages.

"When I'm up on a roof I can almost hear the music that was played inside in years past, I think of the lives that were lived below," he said.

But he lamented that younger people don't have his "deep well of lived experience to draw from".

That makes it less painful to pull down a thatched house and build a modern one up with slate or tiled roofs, said Lafferty.

"It could have taken three years to gather up the stones to build a thatch house, but you could toss it in ten minutes with a machine," he said with a tear in his eye.

'Passion for thatching' 

Perched on a ladder halfway up a roof, Fidelma Toland, a novice thatcher determined to keep the ancient way alive, listened keenly to Lafferty's guidance.

The 43-year-old barworker and farmer still lives in the thatched house where her grandfather and mother were born.

"I want to learn how to maintain it," Toland said with a smile.

The school -- 260 kilometres northwest of Dublin near Ireland's scenic western coast -- opened in October, and runs free, government-funded weekend courses on different styles and methods.

Open days have drawn packed houses while 20 beginners have signed up to learn so far, some travelling large distances, according to Conal Shovlin, one of the founders.

"There's a new appreciation for this iconic part of Irish culture, most rural people lived in thatched houses up to around 70 or 80 years ago," Shovlin told AFP.

The bespectacled 74-year-old, who was born in a cottage thatched with bent grass from nearby sand dunes, said his father's passion for thatching rubbed off on him.

"The density of the thatch keeps the home warm in the winter and cool in the summer, they're practical as well as beautiful," he said, his hand resting on tied flax bundles.

And "rain runs off a thatched roof like off a duck's back", he added with a smile.

Breathing life into an endangered craft "is like nurturing a small plant", said Shovlin, who would like to see certified 25-week courses become part of college curricula nationwide.

He estimates there are around 300 to 400 remaining cottages around Ireland that need urgent repair work. And there are only an estimated 10 full-time thatchers left in the country, with reports of thatchers from Poland being brought in to help.

A recent audit revealed a 30 per cent decline in the number of thatched houses in Donegal during the last decade.

"They're disappearing, but they're not big houses and aren't that hard to fix," said Shovlin, adding when he was a boy there were 25 thatched roofs on his route to school. Now there were only three.

Obstacles 

As well as a dearth of skilled workers a lack of raw materials -- straw, flax, and water-reed -- is also an obstacle.

Reed was previously harvested in Ireland, but is now imported from countries like Romania and Turkey. It is the most durable material, lasting around 20 years, whereas flax needs replacing after about 10 and straw after five.

Shovlin points enviously at neighbouring England where thatched roofs are more common than in Ireland.

"They have a great supply network for their thatchers while we've neglected it completely," said Shovlin.

Farmers should be incentivised to plant so-called "heritage" crops like flax which could also be grown at agricultural colleges, he said.

Ivor Kilpatrick, a master thatcher and one of the few flax growers in Ireland, regularly takes the students on renovation projects.

Kilpatrick learned the skill aged 16 from his father and now runs a thatching business with his own son.

"There is too much work and too few people to carry it out as they retire," the 58-year-old told AFP sprucing up the roof on a holiday cottage beside the Atlantic Ocean.

Hauling fresh batches of straw with a student from a van to the house he said "hopefully more people will realise these are cherished symbols of Ireland".

MILAN, Italy — Italian fashion giant Versace, the long-held family business known for its flashy, sexy designs and Medusa head logo, will now become part of Prada, its larger rival and polar opposite in terms of style.

The 1.25 billion euro acquisition, announced Thursday, aims to breathe new life into Versace, whose highs and lows have included the 1997 murder of its founder, Gianni Versace, and the stewardship of the brand's legacy by his sister, Donatella.

Here are five things to know about the Milan-based luxury brand:

- Gianni Versace, stylist of stars

Born in Calabria, southern Italy, to a dressmaker mother, Gianni Versace began designing clothes at a young age and moved to fashion capital Milan when he was 25.

In 1978, he presented his first signature collection, with his brother Santo taking care of the label's business arm.

"He was a 360-degree creator, a real artist, he had a pure creative vision on colours and materials," Stefania Saviolo, director of the luxury and fashion centre at Bocconi University, told AFP.

Versace wowed the showbiz world, dressing A-listers from Madonna to Elton John and getting 1980s supermodels like Claudia Schiffer, Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford to strut their stuff down the catwalk for him.

- 'THAT' dress

Gianni Versace's collections were colourful, sexy and over the top. His designs mixed baroque prints, animal skin motifs, bondage-style leather, slits and, especially, ultra-tight fits.

At the 1994 premiere of "Four Weddings and a Funeral", he dressed actress Liz Hurley in a famously suggestive black dress.

Made from silk and lycra, with a sharply plunging neckline and a long slit up the side, the dress was held together by several oversize golden safety pins.

The dress catapulted Hurley, then romantically involved with actor Hugh Grant, to fame and became simply known as "THAT dress".

- Death and fall

On July 15, 1997, Gianni Versace was shot dead by luxury-obsessed serial killer Andrew Cunanan as he returned to his luxury villa in Miami after buying his morning papers.

The killing shocked the worlds of fashion and show business at a time when the brand was at its height.

Gianni's younger sister Donatella, then in charge of the lower-cost Versus line, took over as artistic director, while Santo kept control of the business side of the enterprise.

But the Versace brand's power shrank as management teams succeeded one after the other, employees were laid off and boutiques closed.

- Donatella

Gianni's muse and confidante Donatella Versace had worked for 14 years at the side of her older brother, and sunk into depression after his death, going into rehab for drug addiction in 2004.

Eternally tanned with dyed blonde hair and a penchant for plastic surgery, she was initially dismissed as a lightweight substitute for her brother.

But with time, the younger Versace rose to the challenge, producing her own showstopping creations, such as the barely-there green chiffon jungle dress worn by Jennifer Lopez at the 2000 Grammy Awards.

After nearly 30 years as artistic director, the 69-year-old stepped down last month, handing the reins to Dario Vitale, the former design director at Prada's Miu Miu brand.

Donatella Versace remains Versace's brand ambassador.

- New spark

Since the US holding company Capri Holdings acquired Versace for about 1.8 billion euros in 2018, it has lost some of its luster.

"The Versace brand has become too commercial. Prada can allow it to return to its golden age and reconnect with its luxury DNA," fashion consultant Antonio Bandini Conti told AFP.

Prada's deeper pockets will help the brand compete in an increasingly crowded field of well-funded luxury brands, dominated by France's LVMH fashion conglomerate.

Most recently, Versace posted $193 million in revenue for its fiscal 2025 third quarter, down 15 percent from the period a year earlier.

PARIS — The historic Lutetia hotel in Paris, which was occupied by the Nazis during World War II and after liberation served as a welcome centre for concentration camp survivors, was on Thursday taken over by luxury hotel group Mandarin Oriental.

Situated in the centre of the Left Bank area of the French capital, the Art Deco institution was opened in 1910 and owes its existence to its neighbour Bon Marche, one of the first department stores in the world.

Originally baptised with the Roman name for Paris, the hotel will be renamed Mandarin Oriental Lutetia from Thursday.

The Akirov family and Laurent Kleitman, chief executive of Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, took part in an inauguration ceremony on Thursday, unveiling a plaque on the hotel's facade in the colours of the Asian group.

Jean-Pierre Trevisan, the hotel's director, said the deal "will give us visibility in areas that we are not familiar with, such as Asia".

Financial details of the management contract were not disclosed. A source familiar with the matter said it was a "very long-term commitment".

Kleitman said no major changes to the recently renovated establishment were planned.

"We are delighted to support and work closely with Mandarin Oriental for the sustainability of the Lutetia," the Akirov family said in a statement.

The founders of Bon Marche had the hotel built to provide accommodation for their wealthy customers travelling up to Paris from the provinces for shopping trips.

'Ghosts of Nazis' 

With the Left Bank the heart of the French intellectual scene, the hotel became a hangout for celebrities including Charlie Chaplin, Ernest Hemingway and Antoine de Saint-Exupery.

Famous guests also included James Joyce, who worked on his epic novel "Ulysses" at the Lutetia, and the future president of the republic, Charles de Gaulle, who spent his wedding night there.

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, the hotel was requisitioned by the occupying forces and used to house the Abwehr, the German intelligence.

The Nazi forces tortured their victims at the Lutetia.

When Paris was liberated in 1944, de Gaulle ordered the hotel to take in thousands of deportees. One archive Agence France-Presse picture shows emaciated French deportees repatriated from Germany having a meal at the hotel in May 1945.

Another shows freed prisoners consulting a bulletin board with lists of deportees.

"The ghosts of Nazis, French resistance fighters and concentration camp survivors still inhabit the grand building on Paris' famed Left Bank," the Smithsonian Magazine said in 2019.

Post-war, it swiftly regained its reputation as a place to see and be seen.

The five-star hotel was awarded the prestigious "Palace" distinction in 2019, after four years of costly renovations.

The work was financed by the Alrov group, which paid 145 million euros in 2010 to acquire the hotel, sources told AFP at the time.

The 200-million-euro makeover allowed the hotel to spruce up its original frescos and stucco work, decking out the 184 rooms and suites in understated luxury.

Some of the suites have been inspired by celebrities such as Francis Ford Coppola and Isabelle Huppert.

Prices are out of reach for all but the wealthiest, with rooms rates starting at 1,500 euros per night.

PARIS — Increasingly frail but with undimmed passion, Britain’s David Hockney has put aside his health worries to shape what he describes as the biggest exhibition of his vast career.

With around 400 works assembled over four floors, the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris has put on a stunning tribute to one of the world’s best-selling living artists.

Although titled “David Hockney, 25” and mostly focused on the last quarter-century of his life, it contains paintings from the very start of his career, as well as his blockbuster time in California in the 1960s.

In the last of 11 rooms, there are several unseen creations from the last two years, including a self-portrait in acrylic and a striking meditation on the afterlife inspired by Dante’s Divine Comedy.

“It’s enabled him to look back in a positive way,” Norman Rosenthal, guest curator and a long-time friend of Hockney, told AFP ahead of the opening to the public on Wednesday.

“He’s very, very happy with the exhibition.”

Hockney, 87, insisted on overseeing the show, even taking an interest in the colour of the walls and sending back corrections for the texts written to inform visitors.

“He says it is the biggest exhibition of his career,” Louis Vuitton Foundation curator Suzanne Page told AFP. “He’s been very involved.”

 Twilight years

Born in 1937 to working-class parents in the northern English town of Bradford, Hockney has painted everything from the fields of his native Yorkshire to the sun-soaked private homes of California.

The Paris show includes an entire room of portraits, as well as vivid landscapes and memorable moonlight scenes that he produced while living in Normandy, northern France, from 2019 to 2023.

There are also touches of his trademark humour.

In his most recent self portrait he is smoking a cigarette and wearing a yellow badge that reads “End Bossiness Soon”.

The subtitle for the exhibition reprises a line he wrote to friends during the COVID-19 lockdowns when sending them pictures from Normandy: “Do remember they can’t cancel the spring.”

But there are also hints of a man in his twilight years contemplating his mortality — and perhaps his last major show.

An evolving digital creation of a sunrise in Normandy, which he produced like many others on his iPad, concludes with a quotation from French writer Francois de La Rochefoucauld.

“Remember you cannot look at the sun or death for very long,” it reads.

Now in a wheelchair and with 24-hour care at his home in London, Hockney told The New York Times in a recent interview that he was grateful to be alive.

“Even last year, I thought I wouldn’t be here,” he said. “But I still am.”

He travelled to Paris ahead of the opening this week and was spotted around the elaborate Frank Gehry-designed Louis Vuitton Foundation wearing one of his classic colourful tweed suits.

Having steadily lost his hearing in recent decades, he stayed in a private room during the opening party on Monday, which was attended by French first lady Brigitte Macron among other VIPs.

Smoking ban

Some of his more recent work, including the iPad renderings from Normandy, have drawn mixed reviews but the exhibition also contains some of the classics from his portfolio that are usually in private hands.

These include the enigmatic “Portrait of An Artist (Pool with Two Figures)”, which depicts Hockey’s former lover staring into a Californian pool.

It sold for $90.3 million at auction in New York in 2018, briefly setting a record for a living artist.

Last year, six paintings by Hockney appeared in the top 100 most valuable works acquired at auction, according to data from the art market consultancy Artprice.

Rosenthal, one of Britain’s most respected art figures, speaks of Hockney in the same breath as Picasso or Monet.

“I think this exhibition proves that his work over 60 years has a level that never changes,” he explained. “There’s incredible variety and yet amazing consistency.”

And Hockney continues to produce.

“He’s reached a certain age and he’s aware of it. He’s a great smoker but I think he wants to go on,” Rosenthal continued. “He paints every day.”

A photo of Hockney holding one of his beloved Camel cigarettes featured on posters advertising the show, which have been banned from the Paris metro for contravening anti-smoking laws.

He described the decision as “complete madness”.

“David Hockney, 25” runs until September 1, 2025.

SEOUL — North Korea said that foreign elite runners had arrived to take part in Sunday's first Pyongyang Marathon for six years, but did not immediately confirm the race had taken place.

The marathon, which was due to have been run on Sunday, is part of celebrations marking the birth of North Korea's founding leader Kim Il Sung in 1912.

"Marathoners of China, Romania, Morocco and Ethiopia arrived here on April 3 and 5 by air to attend the 31st Pyongyang International Marathon," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said on Sunday, without giving any details of the race or any results.

The marathon is the largest international sporting event in the reclusive country.

The race offers a rare opportunity for visitors to run through the streets of the tightly controlled capital.

Images posted on the Instagram account of Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours which organises trips for foreign amateur runners to participate, showed Pyongyang citizens gathering to watch.

"A few pics of today's Pyongyang Marathon in North Korea. Amazing event and a race like no other," Cockerell wrote.

One image showed foreign participants taking pictures on phones around the Kim Il Sung Stadium filled with North Korean spectators.

The last edition of the Pyongyang Marathon was held in 2019 before the pandemic, during which the nuclear-armed state sealed its borders in an effort to contain the virus.

Foreign participants are currently in the capital on a six-day trip organised by Koryo Tours, the Beijing-based travel agency which describes itself as the exclusive travel partner of the marathon.

"The Pyongyang Marathon is an extremely unique experience as it provides an opportunity to interact with locals," the Beijing-based firm said on its website.

"An experience truly like no other."

The marathon is listed on the website of global governing body World Athletics.

In 2019, around 950 Westerners took part in the race, up from roughly 450 the previous year. About 180 foreigners had been expected to participate this year.