- French film producer Nicolas Altmayer and partner Mathilde Favier die in crash
- Trump Administration Moves to Open Millions of Acres for Logging in Forests
- Trump calls for reduction of US-South Korea military drills
- Trump administration proposes repeal of rule protecting national forest areas
- Health Canada seizes unauthorized prescription drugs from Montreal store
- Former DOJ lawyer claims Trump administration misused investigations targeting Harvard, Brown and Columbia
- Disabled man removed from Virgin Australia flight over wheelchair aid dispute
- European Commission confirms that returns fall under EU law
Hunt for Tube hero who gave blind man his shoes after he lost one through the gap The hunt is on find an ‘absolute hero’
French film producer Nicolas Altmayer and partner Mathilde Favier die in crash
French film producer Nicolas Altmayer and Dior public relations director Mathilde Favier died in a car crash in Deux-Sèvres while overtaking a truck.
Altmayer and Favier’s deaths profoundly affect French cinema and fashion, removing key figures who significantly contributed to the cultural landscape of France and its international reputation.
“I am deeply saddened to learn of the tragic and sudden passing of Mathilde Favier, whose passion and talent were invaluable to the House of Dior,” said LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault.
French film producer Nicolas Altmayer and Dior PR director Mathilde Favier killed in car crash

Published on
French film producer Nicolas Altmayer and his partner, Dior public relations director Mathilde Favier, have died in a car crash in France, according to local authorities.
The couple were travelling through the Deux-Sèvres department of western France when their vehicle hit an oncoming truck while attempting an overtake, Nicolas Leclainche, the deputy public prosecutor in the town of Niort, said.
Altmayer, 61, was a film producer known for his work on titles such as “In the House, the “OSS 117” series, and “Young & Beautiful.”
Favier, 57, was a director in Dior’s public relations team, where the company said she made an “incredible contribution to the reputation of Christian Dior Couture through her commitment and elegance.”
In a statement following the news of their deaths, LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic and sudden passing of Mathilde Favier, who devoted so many years to putting her passion, energy and talent at the service of the House of Dior.”
“My heartfelt condolences go to her family and loved ones,” he added.
Tributes for Altmayer have also poured in from across the film industry and beyond.
Catherine Pégard, France’s Culture Minister, called Altmayer a “producer with a seasoned eye” who “spanned three decades of French cinema, never ceasing to leave his mark on it.”
“Their joint passing has cast a shadow over two worlds which, one through the stories it creates and the other through the silhouettes it crafts, together carry France’s cultural influence far and wide,” she added.
Additional sources • AFP
‘Cheer up, you caught the bad guy,’ says killer Virginia McCullough as she is arrested for murdering her parents
A woman who murdered her parents “in cold blood” before hiding them in makeshift tombs for four years told officers to “cheer up, you caught the bad guy” as she was arrested in her home.
Virginia McCullough, 36, poisoned her father John McCullough, 70, with prescription medication and fatally stabbed her mother Lois McCullough, 71, shortly afterwards in 2019.
She ran up large debts on credit cards in her parents’ names and after their deaths, she continued to spend their pensions until she was finally caught in 2023.
In body-worn video footage released by police, a handcuffed – and eerily calm – McCullough told officers: “I did know that this would kind of come eventually.
“It’s proper that I serve my punishment.”
She said she had slipped something into her father’s drink then put his body under a bed on the ground floor, and put her mother’s body in an upstairs wardrobe.
McCullough, having been arrested on suspicion of double murder, told an officer: “Cheer up, at least you’ve caught the bad guy.”
She added: “I know I don’t seem 100% evil.”
At the police station, she told officers where a kitchen knife was, which she described as a “murder weapon”, and a hammer which she said “will still have blood on it”.
McCullough, of Pump Hill, Chelmsford, Essex, was sentenced to life imprisonment on Friday with a minimum term of 36 years at Chelmsford Crown Court, after she admitted to their murders between 17 and 20 June 2019 at an earlier hearing at the same court.
Chelmsford Crown Court heard how she hid their bodies in makeshift tombs at the family home in Great Baddow in Essex, then told persistent lies to cover her tracks.
The court heard she cancelled family arrangements and frequently told doctors and relatives her parents were unwell, on holiday or away on lengthy trips.
But concerns over Mr and Mrs McCullough’s welfare were raised in September 2023 by a GP at their registered practice, and Essex County Council’s safeguarding team referred these to police.
The GP had not seen the couple for some time and said Mr McCullough had failed to collect medication and attend scheduled appointments. It was found McCullough had frequently cancelled appointments, using a range of excuses to explain her father’s absence.
Police said a missing persons investigation was initially launched and McCullough lied to officers, claiming her parents were travelling and would be returning in October.
It became a murder investigation, and when officers forced entry to the house in Pump Hill on September 15 2023, McCullough confessed that her parents’ bodies were in the house and that she had killed them.
Nicola Rice, a specialist prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “McCullough callously and viciously killed both of her parents before concealing their bodies in makeshift tombs within their home address.
“She spent the next four years manipulating and lying to family members, medical staff, financial institutions, and the police, spending her parents’ money and accruing large debts in their name.”
She added: “This was a truly disturbing case, which has left behind it a trail of devastation, and I can only hope that the sentence passed today will help those who loved and cared for Lois and John begin to heal.”
G20 waters down support for Ukraine amid pressure for peace talks
FT.com Tweet
The Tech Titan Who Led His Company From a 68-Square-Foot Jail Cell
WSJ Business Tweet
Defense alliance NATO chief Mark Rutte has met US President-elect Donald Trump to discuss global security issues, according to a NATO spokesperson.
The meeting took place in Palm Beach, Florida.
During his first term as US president, 2017-2020, Trump pushed for European NATO countries to spend more on defense and described the alliance’s cost-sharing as unfair to the US.
Rutte took over as NATO chief from Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg in November.
Before taking office in January, Trump has nominated Pete Hegseth for the post of defense secretary, which has raised eyebrows among many allies.
Hegseth, 44, has served as an infantry captain in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has no senior military or government officer experience.
Multiple missiles were fired in an airstrike towards a densely populated part of Lebanon’s capital early on Saturday.
The huge airstrike targeted Beirut’s Basta neighbourhood, and no prior warnings were given by the Israeli military. The largely residential area was struck last month.
At least one violent explosion was heard across the city, Reuters witnesses said, and plumes of smoke could be seen. Scenes of massive destruction at the site were shared online, including a massive crater in the ground.
“Beirut, the capital, woke up to a horrific massacre, as the Israeli enemy’s air force completely destroyed an eight-story residential building with five missiles on Al-Mamoun Street in Basta,” the state-run National News Agency reported.
The health ministry put the initial death toll at four, with 23 wounded. The number is expected to climb in the coming hours as search and rescue efforts continue.
It came after a long day of Israeli airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, which have been non-stop since last week.
The cross-border fighting between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group escalated into a full-blown war in mid-September.
Israel has bombed southern Lebanon, Beirut’s southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region, and has sent ground troops across the border. Hezbollah has continued to fire rockets deeper into Israel.
What to Watch
Amazon prime - TV & Netflix
What to Watch
Love Sports
- Good News
- Readers Digest
Subscribe to Updates
Get the latest creative news from FooBar about art, design and business.

