Rare Shakespeare Folio Found in French Library

A rare copy of Shakespeare's First Folio -- the first compilation of his plays -- has been discovered in a small French town after laying unrecognized for more than two centuries.

Remy Cordonnier, a librarian in the northern town of Saint-Omer, made the rare find as he was selecting books for an upcoming exhibition on historical links between the region and England.

The First Folio was originally published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare's death. Only about 230 copies are still in existence.

Without the First Folio edition, much of Shakespeare's work, including "Julius Caesar," "As You Like It," "Twelfth Night and Macbeth," might have been lost to the world. They were among 18 of his plays that remained unpublished at the time of his death in 1616.

Photo provided by VisitBritain shows a monument to William Shakespeare at Westminster Abbey in London. /AP

The newly discovered copy was authenticated last Saturday by Shakespeare scholar Eric Rasmussen of the University of Nevada in the United States.

The First Folio is one of the world's most valuable books in the English language. The edition in Saint-Omer is only the second known copy in France.

A First Folio edition fetched more than $4.4 million at auction in London in 2006 and another sold for $5.6 million in New York in 2001.

The library in Saint-Omer says it has no plans to sell the discovery, but it will display it in its forthcoming exhibition of rare books by English authors.

Some information in this report was provided by AFP.

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France Identifies 2nd French Citizen in IS Video

French officials have identified a second Frenchman among the militants in a video showing the severed head of an American aid worker and the beheadings of at least 18 Syrian soldiers.

President Francois Hollande said Wednesday during a visit to Australia that two French nationals are in the video released by the Islamic State group but did not give additional details.

Investigators said they believe the second man was a 22-year-old from a Paris suburb who traveled to Syria about a year ago.

On Monday, officials identified the first man in the video as Maxime Hauchard, also 22, a convert to Islam who went to Syria last year.

The Paris prosecutor's office said the second French suspect was also a Muslim convert who traveled to Syria in August 2013. The second suspect was known to intelligence services, it said.

Hollande highlighted the danger of what he called young people being brainwashed by militants abroad. Earlier this year, France toughened its anti-terrorism laws to stop citizens from going to Syria and prevent young Muslims from becoming radicalized.

Thousands of Western volunteers have joined the Islamic State group, which has taken control of large swathes of both Syria and Iraq. More than 1,130 French citizens are involved in jihadi cells linked to the two countries, with 376 nationals in the region.

A report published by the CPDSI, an institute created specifically to study radicalization linked to Islam in French society, showed on Tuesday that the majority of those that had turned to radical Islam were from middle class families, originally atheist and under 21.

The Islamic State group has released multiple videos showing the executions of American and British hostages. Abdul-Rahman (Peter) Kassig was the American aid worker seen in the latest video.

Kassig was taken captive 13 months ago while doing humanitarian work in war-torn Syria. U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday condemned his killing, calling it "an act of pure evil."

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Islamic State group has now executed more than 1,400 people in Syria since the end of June, when it declared a caliphate over vast territories it controls in Iraq and Syria.

Also Wednesday, France said it is sending six fighter jets to the Middle East as it seeks to increase its airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq.

French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told parliament the six Mirage jets will be based in Jordan to reinforce French aircraft that are already in the region.

The United States, Britain and France are all taking part in airstrikes against the militant group in Iraq, with U.S. planes also bombing Islamic State targets in neighboring Syria.

U.S.-led forces conducted six airstrikes in Syria against Islamic State fighters and one U.S. airstrike against a network of veteran al-Qaeda operatives, sometimes called the "Khorasan Group," over a two-day period ending Wednesday, according to U.S. Central Command.

Coalition forces conducted 24 airstrikes in Iraq during the same period, with 13 of those airstrikes near Kirkuk, Centcom said on Wednesday.

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French actor Depardieu in minor car collision in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French actor Gerard Depardieu was involved in a car accident in Moscow on Tuesday when a taxi rammed into a Mercedes carrying him in his adopted homeland of Russia, where he is filming a movie.

The 64-year-old star of films such as "Green Card" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" was unhurt and posed for photos with Russian traffic police in footage shown by tabloid portal Lifenews.ru.

Depardieu, who was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin in January after criticizing a planned 75-percent tax on millionaires in France, appears not to have been behind the wheel during the Moscow accident.

He was banned from driving for six months by a French court earlier this month, after he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit when he fell from a scooter last year.

France's best-known actor, whose lifestyle and outlandish behavior has made more headlines than his film career in recent years, was bitterly criticized for abandoning his homeland when he received a hug and a passport from Putin. But Depardieu, who owns a vineyard in the Loire valley, has said he did not leave for tax reasons.

Last year's scooter fall came a few months after a car driver filed a suit against Depardieu for assault and battery following an altercation in Paris.

A year earlier, Depardieu outraged passengers by urinating in the aisle of an Air France flight as it prepared to take off.

Depardieu is currently filming a thriller called "Turquoise" in Moscow and Russia's southern province of Chechnya with British actress Elizabeth Hurley.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, editing by Paul Casciato)

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French actor Depardieu in minor car collision in Moscow

MOSCOW (Reuters) - French actor Gerard Depardieu was involved in a car accident in Moscow on Tuesday when a taxi rammed into a Mercedes carrying him in his adopted homeland of Russia, where he is filming a movie.

The 64-year-old star of films such as "Green Card" and "Cyrano de Bergerac" was unhurt and posed for photos with Russian traffic police in footage shown by tabloid portal Lifenews.ru.

Depardieu, who was granted Russian citizenship by President Vladimir Putin in January after criticizing a planned 75-percent tax on millionaires in France, appears not to have been behind the wheel during the Moscow accident.

He was banned from driving for six months by a French court earlier this month, after he was found to be three times over the alcohol limit when he fell from a scooter last year.

France's best-known actor, whose lifestyle and outlandish behavior has made more headlines than his film career in recent years, was bitterly criticized for abandoning his homeland when he received a hug and a passport from Putin. But Depardieu, who owns a vineyard in the Loire valley, has said he did not leave for tax reasons.

Last year's scooter fall came a few months after a car driver filed a suit against Depardieu for assault and battery following an altercation in Paris.

A year earlier, Depardieu outraged passengers by urinating in the aisle of an Air France flight as it prepared to take off.

Depardieu is currently filming a thriller called "Turquoise" in Moscow and Russia's southern province of Chechnya with British actress Elizabeth Hurley.

(Reporting by Alissa de Carbonnel, editing by Paul Casciato)

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Scarlett Johansson Sues French Publisher

Scarlett Johansson is suing a French publisher for the unauthorized use of her name in a best selling book, "The First Thing We Look At."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the 28-year-old actress has filed a lawsuit against JC Lattes seeking compensation and damages for "breach and fraudulent use of personal rights,” as well as a ban on “future transfer of rights and adaptations of the book.”

The novel, which was published in March, centers around a mechanic who meets a woman who he believes is Johansson, but is actually revealed to be a look-alike named Jeanine Foucaprez.

The book's author, Gregoire Delacourt, was "stunned" by the lawsuit, and told French newspaper Le Figaro that his book "corresponds with the fantasies of our times," adding that the male lead in the novel is compared to Ryan Gosling. "All these famous people live with us. But I wrote a book of fiction. My character is not Scarlett Johansson, it is Jeanine Foucaprez!”

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