Charles Barkley isn't loving CNN's prospects.

The best hope for a toddler missing in France is that “he’s been kidnapped and is alive,” the local mayor has said. Emile vanished from his maternal grandparents’ home in the quiet village of Le Vernet in the Alpes-des-Haute-Provence on Saturday and has not been seen since. After he was reported missing, a massive search operation to locate the two-year-old was launched but police admitted they had “no clue” what happened to Emile after five days of combing every part of Le Vernet. The physical search was called off on Thursday, after a final road was raked for clues about the boy’s whereabouts. In a new interview with French newspaper Le Figaro, Francois Balique has commented on the rescue efforts, that involved a helicopter broadcasting the voice of Emile’s mother over the region, the “curse” of the hamlet, and possible explanations for Emile’s disappearance. Mr Balique, who has been Le Vernet’s mayor since 1977, was asked about the likelihood of finding Emile alive – considering the boy’s age and the number of days that have passed since he was last seen. He responded: “Our only hope now is that he’s been taken and is alive. It’s the last thing we can hope for and it’s already terrible. “We could consider that someone wanting to cause harm to a child passed by the area, that he saw this beautiful little boy and took him away. He couldn’t survive alone in the wild, that’s for sure.” Elsewhere, Mr Balique said he never believed Emile’s disappearance to be a “sordid kidnapping because we see all the people who frequent the area”, adding that a “foreign car would have been noticed”. “It is difficult to favour one hypothesis over another,” he cautioned. “But the probabilities and the rationality would lead us to believe that we are dealing with an accident. “And since little Emile’s body has not been found, it means that he was not alone at the time. We can consider a car accident in which the driver would have panicked and concealed the body. That’s one hypothesis.” He also said the people of Haut-Vernet know that there are children in the area, and “they are careful on the road”. When asked about calling off the physical search for Emile, Mr Balique, 74, said the French military police (or the gendarmes) combed a combined area of one hundred hectares, “which is enormous”. “We did everything we could to find the child, alive or not. We found nothing,” he said. Locals speaking to the media in the wake of Emile’s disappearance said they wondered whether their hamlet may be “cursed” as a result of the tragedies which have taken place, including the murder of a cafe manager and a deadly plane crash. When asked about the “curse”, Mr Balique said “what is curious” are the facts of Emile’s disappearance – “not that it happened here”. Since the physical search was called off on Thursday, local prosecutor Remy Avon said investigators would now start sorting through all the evidence that has been collected to find new clues about what happened to the toddler. During a press conference on Friday, Mr Balique confirmed the last teams of gendarmes had left the village. Read More Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin ‘dead or in prison’ after Putin meeting, former US commander claims Land temperatures in Spain surpass 60C as deadly heatwave sweeps Europe Huw Edwards – latest: Former BBC journalists blast coverage ‘a disgrace’ as TV star in hospital Heatwave across Europe leaves Brits abroad sweltering: ‘I don’t cope well at all’ Watch: Macron and Modi give joint statement at the Elysee after Bastille Day parade Russia Ukraine war: Wagner forces training soldiers in Belarus after Prigozhin exile

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct 3, 2023--

Kyle Schwarber hit a tying home run in the seventh inning and then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 6-4 victory over Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of a doubleheader

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Florence Pugh stunned in a sheer gown while attending Valentino's Haute Couture show at Paris Fashion Week – and fans can't get enough, with one likening the star to a "God". The 27-year-old actress headed to the Chateau de Chantilly setting on Wednesday (5 July) for the 2023 show, sporting a delicate lavender gown baring her chest from Pierpaolo Piccioli’s past collection. Pugh took to Instagram to showcase the sheer dress in a string of photos, with thousands complimenting the star and her ensemble. In the caption, Pugh said she felt "inspired" by the Italian designer, adding: "So grateful that we got to see the art that you and your creators and makers worked and continue to work so hard on." She continued: "Stunning again. Well done to all who graced those steps, unbelievably beautiful show. @maisonvalentino." The Instagram post was soon inundated with comments praising Pugh, with one writing: "I don't know how you do it but you always tend to devour every look." Another joked, "I'm honoured to live in Florence Pugh's time," while a third passionate fan of the Don't Worry Darling actress compared her to a God. Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter The dress marks the second time Pugh freed the nipple at a Valentino event, which surprisingly caused a stir online, forcing Pugh to hit back. "It isn’t the first time and certainly won’t be the last time a woman will hear what’s wrong with her body by a crowd of strangers, what’s worrying is just how vulgar some of you men can be," she wrote at the time. "Thankfully, I’ve come to terms with the intricacies of my body that make me, me. I’m happy with all of the ‘flaws’ that I couldn’t bear to look at when I was 14." She concluded: "Grow up. Respect people. Respect bodies. Respect all women. Respect humans." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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A woman playing Kim Kardashian in a French gameshow skit had her breast kissed on live television. Not just without consent, but actively against her will. The incident took place on the popular French TV show TPMP (Touche pas à mon poste!) in 2016, as part of project 35heuresdebaba ('35 hours of Baba'), in which TV presenter Cyril Hanouna tried to break a national record by appearing on air for 35 hours straight. Ironically, touche pas translates as 'don't touch'. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Soraya was playing Kim Kardashian, in a parody of the Paris robbery. Game show host Jean-Michel Maire was playing the locksmith. When she was 'freed', Maire suggested that Soraya should kiss him as a form of compensation. She refused. They ignored her, and she continued to refuse. Explicitly. "No." "She said yes. She said yes." "I said no." And then they demanded that she justify her refusal. When she answered that people were watching, the presenters had a response ready. Well, we can do it backstage! Both men were laughing at 21-year-old Soraya, who was smiling uncomfortably and continued to pressure her for a kiss on the cheek. Eventually, Maire decided he would ignore her refusal, and go in for her cheek. When she turned her head away to avoid it, he ducked down and kissed her breast instead. The issue of consent issue is completely clear. There's no miscommunication or misinterpretation: no ambiguity. She said no. Twice. And turned her face away. The incident caused a slew of complaints at the time to the Conseil Superior d 'Audiovisual (CSA), the government body which regulates French TV and radio, which launched an investigation into the show. According to a spokesperson for network C8, which airs the 35-hour program, Hanouna asked Maire to apologise to her immediately after the incident, which Soraya says he did. French law defines sexual assault as 'any sexual act that involves violence, coercion, threat or surprise', and could incur a jail sentence of up to five years and a fine of 75,000 Euros. Representatives for TPMP declined to comment but told indy100 that there would be no press release or statement on social media.Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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