As the friendly, smartly dressed man sits in front of me, waiting for our interview to begin, it is impossible to understand the pain and anguish which has haunted David Pelicot and his family over the last four years. "He was my father, but he's not anymore," David says. "Today he's a monster." David is the eldest son of Gisele Pelicot, the woman at the centre of a mass rape trial who became a household name after waiving her right to anonymity and bravely declaring that "shame must change sides". His father, Dominique, admitted repeatedly drugging and raping Gisele between 2011 and 2020, and inviting dozens of other men to their home in southern France to do the same. As strangers attacked his sedated wife, Dominique filmed them, building up a vile library of abuse. His crimes were exposed by chance in 2020 after he was caught filming up women's skirts in a local supermarket. When police seized his devices, they uncovered 20,000 meticulously organised videos and images of abuse. Gisele was the unconscious victim in many of them. On 2 November 2020, police showed her what they had found. After seeing herself violated in the most hideous ways, she had to call her children to tell them what their father had done. "It's a moment that will remain etched in my memory forever," David says, as he recounts the evening which would destroy his family. He remembers his wife answering the phone, speaking to his mother and turning pale before handing him the call. His mother gently asked him to go somewhere quiet, where he could be alone. She then explained she had been repeatedly raped by his father and dozens of other men. "What she told me was like a tsunami," David says. "I felt so many emotions rising within me… and then the nausea which had been mounting during the entire conversation reached a peak. "I hung up the phone and it felt like the floor gave way under my feet, and I felt sick. I went to the bathroom and threw up." Read more:How Gisele Pelicot went from victim to feminist heroInside the depraved mind of 'career criminal' Dominique Just like his mother, the 50-year-old is dignified and clear as he relives the moment he discovered the father he loved and trusted was a manipulative monster. Dominique Pelicot, the affable guy who people liked, was a predator who carefully planned his crimes, crushing sleep-inducing drugs into his unsuspecting wife's food before allowing strangers to abuse and degrade her. No day was off limits; Gisele was assaulted on her birthday, Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve. "The moment we were told that she had been abused by more than 50 men was very difficult to hear, because this man, Dominique Pelicot, was the backbone of the family," David continues. "He'd taught me to respect women, so when I heard what he'd done to our own mother, as the eldest son, I was filled with anger and total incomprehension." Throughout our conversation, David always uses Dominique's full name. He explains it's his way of moving forward and grieving. In December, Dominique Pelicot was sentenced to 20 years in jail after admitting his crimes. During the trial, his lawyer argued he had a split personality which enabled him to be a seemingly perfect husband and loving father while secretly committing hideous assaults. The question of how he had managed to trick them all clearly plays on David's mind. He says he believes Dominique is a Jekyll and Hyde type character who can be kind one minute, then depraved and cruel another. The trial heard as well as the attacks on Gisele, Dominique put up cameras to secretly film and photograph his son's wives, including one who was pregnant. The cameras were hidden in their bathrooms or rooms in his home. He then shared naked photos of them online. He also took photos of his adult daughter, Caroline, semi-naked while she was asleep. Dominique has always denied assaulting her, but she is terrified she was another of his victims. David tells me he also believes his sister was abused and pledges to help her in her fight for justice. After police exposed Dominique's crimes, David cut him off. But just before the trial started his father sent him a letter. "The first thing I asked myself was why is he writing to me? Is he writing to apologise? To ask for forgiveness? Or to try to manipulate me?" he says. "So, I read his letter carefully, but quite honestly, I tore it up and threw it in the bin. "Personally, I will never forgive him." There's only one question he wants to ask his father - why? Why did he do this to his wife, to his children and his grandchildren? Gisele isn't believed to be Dominique's only victim but David doesn't believe his father will ever tell the truth about his crimes. "I have no doubt he'll die in prison, but I'm convinced that he'll take many of his secrets to the grave," he says. While there's no doubt Dominique was the conductor in this depraved orchestra of abuse, 50 other men were also found guilty of raping or sexually assaulting Gisele. Around nine men are appealing but the case has forced France to look at its rape culture. Inspired by Gisele's bravery in waiving her anonymity and allowing images of herself being raped to be shown in open court, tens of thousands of people joined demonstrations against sexual violence around the country. Many held photos or drawings of Gisele. Her courage has seen her named as one of Time Magazine's women of the year, while a bold sketch of her with the words "No more shame" was emblazoned on the cover of German Vogue. I ask David how he sees the woman who has become an icon for many? "First and foremost, she's our mum. She's also our children's grandmother, but today, and for the rest of her life, she'll be a heroine," he says. For all the strength and dignity Gisele and her children have shown, it's unclear if they will ever be able to heal from the damage inflicted upon them. David explains his mother is trying to slowly rebuild herself but acknowledges that the family endured "unspeakable pain" throughout the trial. "We must continue to live, give meaning to our lives and not forget that in the world, there are other women who cannot speak and who absolutely must be helped," he says. At the end of the interview, he asks our all-female team how we think toxic masculinity and rape culture can be tackled. He listens intently to our responses and is clearly passionate about trying to find ways to educate young men and help build a safer society for women. He is impatiently waiting for the government to change the law around sexual consent. He has seen the darkest side of humanity and is desperately seeking the light. He says he found it in the crowds of cheering women who came to support his mother at court, crying with joy when the verdicts were read out. The case exposed unrepentant evil but also "gave immense hope to all women who suffer sexual violence," David concludes. "Not only bad came from this case. There was also a lot of positivity; today people are free to speak out."

The US president claimed the portrait by British artist Sarah Boardman, which is currently hanging in Colorado's State Capitol, was "purposefully distorted". Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, he said: "Nobody likes a bad picture or painting of themselves, but the one in Colorado, in the State Capitol, put up by the Governor, along with all other Presidents, was purposefully distorted to a level that even I, perhaps, have never seen before." He said a portrait by the same artist of former US president Barack Obama was "wonderful" but "the one on me is truly the worst". Referring to the artist, whose collection of official portraits also includes one of former president George W. Bush, Mr Trump said "she must have lost her talent as she got older". He then added: "In any event, I would much prefer not having a picture than having this one." Mr Trump's portrait by Boardman has been hanging in the State Capitol since 2019. It is unclear what sparked Mr Trump's complaint on Sunday night. Read more:Trump trade war: Hopes rise for limited escalationWhy does Trump want to take over Greenland? The president, who started his second stint in the White House when he was sworn in on 20 January, appealed to the "Radical Left Governor, Jared Polis" to take it down. The 78-year-old said he was speaking on behalf of "many people from Colorado" who were "angry" about the picture and wanted it removed. The president ended his post saying: "Jared should be ashamed of himself!" When the portrait was unveiled in 2019, Boardman posted pictures online and said it was a "great day". She wrote: "Please remain respectful - this is about portraiture, not politics." The artist's website states: "Sarah believes that the ultimate challenge is to capture the 'personality, character and soul' of an individual in a two-dimensional format. "She uses a combination of realism and painterly aspects designed to draw the viewer into piece."

It's the first time anywhere in the world that a sheep is known to have been infected. It just happens to have been in Yorkshire. But the H5N1 virus is also found quite widely in US dairy cattle. And Sky News revealed in December that horses can harbour the virus too. These are 'spill-over' infections, with the bird virus jumping species. That's a concern, particularly if the virus shows signs of adapting to mammalian cells. And the close contact that humans have with domesticated animals is an extra worry because the virus has more opportunities to jump species again. The UK is in another wave of H5N1, with large areas now part of avian influenza prevention zones. Millions of poultry have been culled in recent months. Wild mammals are also being affected. Most recently the virus has been detected in dead seals in north Norfolk. But foxes, otters, dolphins and porpoises have also been found to have the virus. The Animal Plant Health Agency is closely monitoring the situation. Ever since the outbreak in US dairy cattle, it has started routine testing of livestock on UK farms with infected poultry. That's how this ewe was detected, with H5 antibodies in her blood and genetic material from the virus in her milk. Fortunately, all the other sheep on the farm were negative, but the animal was culled. Read more:What you should know about bird flu in the UKBird flu restrictions in place in England and Scotland Swift action like that reduces the chances of the virus evolving genetic changes and spreading. US authorities were too slow to act when the virus was detected in cattle. It's now in at least 950 herds in 16 states, and harmless fragments of the virus have been detected in milk on supermarket shelves. Further tests are being carried out on the virus that infected the Yorkshire sheep. Scientists will look at whether it had any genetic changes compared to the variants found in birds. Read more:Why is egg smuggling on the rise in the US? The UK Health Security Agency says H5N1 is still primarily a bird disease and the risk to the general public is still very low. But it tops the list of viruses likely to cause a pandemic, so authorities are on high alert.

Grant Paterson, 54, from East Kilbride in South Lanarkshire, has reportedly been left severely burned after the explosion in the Monteverde area of the Italian city on Sunday morning. Mr Paterson was pulled out of the ruins by firefighters and is currently undergoing treatment at Sant'Eugenio Hospital. Sky News was told by officials Mr Paterson has suffered third degree burns to at least 70% of his body and is in a critical condition. A witness at the scene said Mr Paterson was screaming under the collapsed building before being saved by the emergency crew. A neighbour reported the explosion made his house windows shake, while another witness thought it had been a bomb or an earthquake. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said it is supporting Mr Paterson's family and is in contact with the local authorities. It is understood Mr Paterson arrived in Rome on 17 March and was due to return home on Monday. The B&B, named Mamma Roma, was on Via Vitellia in the busy neighbourhood of Monteverde, in the southwest part of Rome. Flying debris from the explosion, which occurred around 8.40am, damaged several cars and part of the wall of Villa Doria Pamphili - a seventeenth-century villa which also serves as the representative seat of the Italian government. More than a dozen people were evacuated and are currently unable to return to their homes. Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri told Sky News efforts are being made to find a solution. Rome's Public Prosecutors' Offices has opened a probe into the case. At the moment it is a suspected gas leak. Read more from Sky News:Gisele Pelicot's son relives moment he discovered his father was a monsterTurkey protesters met with tear gas and rubber bullets The mayor earlier visited the scene and told reporters he had ordered a full investigation into the explosion. Mr Gualtieri said: "The important thing is that fortunately there are no victims, although unfortunately one person was seriously injured. "Most likely he is a guest of a hospitality facility, of Scottish origin. "We don't know his exact condition, but he suffered burns, and this also suggests that it was an explosion caused by gas, which also causes flames. "It was a very loud explosion, a building collapsed and the wall of Villa Pamphili was also damaged."

The 27-year-old Frenchman will wear a special mask to protect his left ear, Sky Sports News reported. Mateta is expected to be available for Palace's FA Cup quarter-final clash with Fulham on Saturday and wrote "it's time" in a post on Instagram. It was in the fifth round of the cup on 1 March when Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts was sent off for the high challenge which saw Mateta stretchered off and taken to hospital. Roberts was given a six-match ban for the tackle which overshadowed Palace's 3-1 victory. "I am devastated by what happened," the goalkeeper later said. "I unequivocally accept the red card as awarded and accept my punishment." In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports News last week, Mateta was asked about the timeframe for his return. He said: "I don't know. I'm still in touch with the specialists and the doctor. Hopefully, soon. "Hopefully, I can play [vs Fulham]. Hopefully, they can see me. I'm in the ground every day. "I need to wear a mask, I need to wear something. I will take the best one that is most comfortable." Read more on Sky News:More than 1,100 protesters detained in TurkeyProve how many potholes you've fixed, councils told He also revealed he did not realise the extent of the injury to his ear. "When he kicked me, I was on the floor waiting for him to get the red card," said Mateta. "I was good to go. I thought, 'just get the blood off and keep going'. "I was arguing with the doctor for 30 seconds, saying I wanted to play. The doctor saw the injury, but I couldn't see it. I couldn't feel pain. The blood, for sure. "But I thought it was a little cut. My ear was like this (dangling). But it was not painful."

Paul Allen, 46, was left paralysed from the chest down after he was shot twice as he stood in the kitchen of his home in Woodford, east London, on 11 July 2019. The former cage fighter lived in the large detached rented house with his partner and three young children after being released from an 18-year prison sentence over the 2006 raid of a cash depot in Tonbridge, Kent. Much of the £54m loaded into a 7.5-tonne lorry - after the gang kidnapped the Securitas manager and his family and tied up staff at gunpoint - has never been recovered. After the robbery, Allen fled to Morocco with his friend and heist mastermind Lee Murray, a former cage fighter, before being extradited back to the UK. Attack likened to a Hollywood blockbuster Louis Ahearne, 36, his brother Stewart Ahearne, 46, and Daniel Kelly, 46, denied conspiring to murder him between 26 June and 12 July 2019 but were found guilty after an Old Bailey trial. Prosecutors said the background to the shooting was that Allen - who did not give evidence in the trial - was a "sophisticated" career criminal, but did not suggest a motive for the murder plot. Metropolitan Police detective superintendent Matt Webb described the Ahearnes and Kelly as "hardened organised criminals", who "acted together in a well-planned and orchestrated manner to shoot their victim". "This attack may look like the plot to a Hollywood blockbuster but the reality is something quite different," he said. "This was horrific criminality. The court heard how this was a clear and defined attempt to take a man's life with those responsible making significant efforts to ensure this was successful." Swiss museum heist The month before the shooting, the Ahearne brothers and Kelly carried out a heist of the Museum of Far Eastern Arts in Geneva, where they stole more than $3.5m (£2.78m) worth of Ming dynasty antiques, the court heard. They flew to Hong Kong, where they sold a porcelain bowl at an auction house before the Ming vase was recovered by an undercover officer posing as a buyer at a central London hotel. The Ahearne brothers were jailed in Switzerland over the raid, while three men, including ex-West Ham academy footballer Kaine Wright were jailed in the UK over their roles in the plot to sell the £2m antique. Wright and Kelly are also wanted in Japan over the robbery of a Tokyo jewellery store in 2015 in which a security guard was punched in the face. They and another man are alleged to have posed as customers before smashing the glass showcases and stealing jewellery valued at 106,272,000 yen - about £630,000, according to details revealed in a lengthy extradition battle. The day before Mr Allen's shooting, Kelly and Louis Ahearne used a Renault Captur rented by Stewart Ahearne in a burglary on a gated community in Kent, the court heard. The pair, along with another man, posed as police officers, even fixing a blue flashing light to the car, to gain access to the grounds, then broke into an apartment to steal money, handbags and designer trainers. They were each sentenced to five years in jail for the crime in 2020. The same rented vehicle used was used as the "mission car" as the Ahearne brothers and Kelly travelled from their home turf in Woolwich, southeast London, prosecutors said. The court heard they had fitted a tracking device to Allen's family Mercedes to follow his movements. 'He's been shot' He was stood in the kitchen just after 11pm as at least six bullets were fired from a Glock handgun from the fence line of his back garden, two of which hit him in the hand and throat. His partner Jade Bovingdon, was heard screaming, "He's been shot, he's been shot." A private security guard provided first aid and armed police took over before paramedics arrived. Allen was taken to hospital for emergency treatment and underwent an operation to remove a bullet lodged in his spinal cord. He now uses a wheelchair. Five shell casings were recovered close to a summer house, while DNA on swabs taken from a nearby fence panel was matched to Kelly and Louis Ahearne, jurors were told. The Ahearne brothers made no comment when they were arrested but Kelly said in a prepared statement he had only heard about the shooting of Allen three days later. "Upon release, I would even like to see how he is," he said. "I have got no issues with him; I've known him for 25 years, and we have been friends the whole time."

"Last year we tracked 30 billion phishing emails," says Vasu Jakkal, vice president of security at the US-based tech giant. "There's no way any human can keep up with the volume." In response, the company is launching 11 AI cybersecurity "agents" tasked with identifying and sifting through suspicious emails, blocking hacking attempts and gathering intelligence on where attacks may originate. With around 70% of the world's computers running Windows software and many businesses relying on their cloud computing infrastructure, Microsoft has long been the prime target for hackers. Unlike an AI assistant that might answer a user's query or book a hair appointment, an AI agent is a computer programme that autonomously interacts with its environment to carry out tasks without direct input from a user. In recent years, there's been a boom in marketplaces on the dark web offering ready-made malware programmes for carrying out phishing attacks, as well as the potential for AI to write new malware code and automate attacks, which has led to what Ms Jakkal describes as a "gig economy" for cybercriminals worth $9.2trn (£7.1trn). She says they have seen a five-fold increase in nation-state and organised crime groups they are tracking in cyberspace. "We are facing unprecedented complexity when it comes to the threat landscape," says Ms Jakkal. The AI agents, some created by Microsoft, and others made by external partners, will be incorporated into Microsoft's portfolio of AI tools called Copilot and will primarily serve their customers' IT and cybersecurity teams rather than individual Windows users. Because an AI can spot patterns in data and screen inboxes for dodgy-looking emails far faster than a human IT manager, specialist cybersecurity firms and now Microsoft have been launching "agentic" AI models to keep increasingly vulnerable users safe online. Read more from Sky News:Trump lashes out over portraitPM says minister for men 'not the answer' But others in the field are deeply concerned about unleashing autonomous AI agents across a user's computer or network. In an interview with Sky News last month, Meredith Whittaker, CEO of messaging app Signal, said: "Whether you call it an agent, whether you call it a bot, whether you call it something else, it can only know what's in the data it has access to, which means there is a hunger for your private data and there's a real temptation to do privacy invading forms of AI." Microsoft says its release of multiple cybersecurity agents ensures each AI has a very defined role, only allowing it access to data that's relevant to its task. It also applies what it calls a "zero trust framework" to its AI tools, which requires the company to constantly assess whether agents are playing by the rules they were programmed with. A roll-out of new AI cybersecurity software by a company as dominant as Microsoft will be closely watched. Last July, a tiny error in the software code of an application made cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike instantly crash around 8.5 million computers worldwide running Microsoft Windows, leaving users unable to restart their machines. The incident - described as the largest outage in the history of computing - affected airports, hospitals, rail networks and thousands of businesses including Sky News - some of which took days to recover.

Sir Keir said he was "worried" about the "crisis in masculinity" raised in the programme, which centres on a 13-year-old boy arrested for the murder of a young girl and the rise of incel culture. Politics latest: Starmer 'looking' at cuts after chancellor confirms 10,000 civil service jobs to be axed The themes touched upon in the show have led to suggestions that the government introduce a minister for men to mirror the women and equalities minister that currently exists in the cabinet. But speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live, the prime minister said he did not think appointing a new minister was "the answer" to the problems affecting young boys today, including negative and harmful social media content and a lack of visible role models. "I am worried about this; I've got a 16-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl," he said. "There's a reason why the debate has suddenly sparked into life on this and that's because I think a lot of parents, a lot of people who work with young people at school or elsewhere, recognise that we may have a problem with boys and young men that we need to address." Sir Keir said he was more persuaded by arguments put forward by former England manger Gareth Southgate, who argued in a recent lecture that young men lacked positive role models, making them vulnerable to online influencers who promoted negative ideologies about the world and women. "I've been in touch with Gareth," the prime minister said. "I know Gareth. I thought his lecture, what he was saying, was really powerful, will have resonated with a lot of parents. Read more:Stephen Graham on how incel culture influenced new Netflix showIncels pose 'emerging threat to children', study findsWhy violent motivations are becoming harder to define "And I do think this is something that we have to take seriously, we have to address. We can't shrug our shoulders at it." Asked whether a minister for men would help, Sir Keir said: "No, I don't think that's the answer. "I think it is time for listening carefully to what Gareth Southgate was saying and responding to it. "I want to have that further discussion with him. We've already had a bit of a discussion about this, but I do think it's important we pick this challenge up and see it for what it is." Delivering the BBC's annual Richard Dimbleby Lecture, Mr Southgate revealed how his experience of missing a penalty at Euro 96 "still haunts me today". And he warned that "callous" influencers online were tricking young men into thinking women and the world were against them, causing them to "withdraw" into the online world and express their emotions there rather than in "real-world communities. 👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 He said a "void" in their search for direction is often now being filled by some influencers who "willingly trick young men into believing that success is measured by money or dominance". In his interview with the BBC, Sir Keir suggested footballers and athletes could be role models for boys and young men but said there was also a need for inspirational people in communities. Asked who the British male role models were, Sir Keir told BBC Radio 5 Live: "I always go to sport for this. Footballers, athletes, I think they are role models. "But I also think if you actually ask a young person, they're more likely to identify somebody who's in their school, a teacher, or somebody who maybe is a sports coach, something like that. Read more politics news:The horrific content teenagers are exposed to online'I banned my kids from using phones - schools should too' "So we need to make sure that - this is something that dads do, dad would reach for a sort of sporting hero - I think children, young people, are more likely to reach someone closer to them, within their school, within their community. "And that's, I think, where we need to do some of the work." The UK has never had a minister for men but previous Conservative MPs, including former Doncaster MP Nick Fletcher, have called for one in the past to tackle high rates of suicide among men. The position of minister for women was created by former Labour prime minister Tony Blair as a means of prioritising women's issues across government.

Gerard Depardieu, 76, has starred in more than 200 films over five decades, winning two best lead actor awards at the Cesars, as well as being nominated for an Oscar and 15 other Cesars. In recent years he has faced a series of sexual assault allegations, all of which he denies. While the #MeToo movement ultimately led to the downfall of Hollywood film director Harvey Weinstein, France's #balancestonporc equivalent has struggled to gain momentum. Depardieu's court case, coming soon after that of Gisele Pelicot, who waived her anonymity to reveal her husband had orchestrated her drugging and rape by more than 50 men, is proof for many that France is finally getting its own #MeToo moment. Here Sky News looks at the case - and what it means for women's rights in France. What is he accused of? Depardieu is accused of sexually assaulting two female crew members on the set of the film Les Volets Verts (Green Shutters) in 2021. The anonymous women both claim the actor forced himself on them on multiple occasions, touching them over their clothes, according to court documents. The first woman said in one incident, as she passed him in a corridor he grabbed her, pinned her down between his legs and rubbed himself against her waist, hips, and chest, making accompanying gestures and lewd comments. The other woman claimed he touched her buttocks in public on more than one occasion, as well as touching her chest. Depardieu denies the allegations and appeared in person at the Tribunal de Paris for the case to be heard on Monday and Tuesday. A panel of judges will decide whether he is found guilty, which would leave him facing up to five years in prison or a fine of €75,000 (£62,000). The trial was due to start in October but was postponed after Depardieu's legal team asked for a six-month delay due to his poor health. Suffering complications from diabetes and high blood pressure, they said he was unable to sit for long periods. Separately, he also remains under investigation for the alleged rape and sexual assault of a 22-year-old actress. The woman claims Depardieu sexually assaulted her twice at his home. She originally reported the alleged incidents in 2018 but the charges were dropped in 2019 following a nine-month investigation. However, the case was reopened in October 2020 when the woman refiled the complaint. In March 2022, Depardieu's bid to get the case thrown out was rejected by Paris's court of appeal, with authorities saying he would remain under investigation until the matter is either sent to trial or dismissed. He denies the allegations. In April 2023, investigative French media outlet Mediapart reported claims of 13 women who said Depardieu sexually assaulted or harassed them between 2004 and 2022. In an open letter in the newspaper Le Figaro that October, Depardieu said he had "never abused a woman". A group of 50 French stars, including singer and wife of former French President Nicolas Sarkozy Carla Bruni, wrote their own open letter defending him in Le Monde, condemning what they described as his "lynching" and describing him as "probably the greatest" French actor. A week later, President Emmanuel Macron condemned the "manhunt" for Depardieu, calling him an "immense actor" who "makes France proud". Who is Gerard Depardieu? Depardieu was born in Chateauroux, central France in 1948. He left home at the age of 16 for Paris, where he got his first acting job with a travelling theatre company. After a few minor film roles, his break came in 1973 with a lead part in Bertrand Blier's film Les Valseuses (Going Places) - alongside his former theatre friends Patrick Dewaere and Miou Miou. From there his popularity boomed and he became one of the most prolific French actors of the 1980s and 1990s. He won awards for his roles in The Last Metro and Cyrano de Bergerac, which also received an Oscar nomination. He was made president of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 1992. His success also saw him become a Chevalier of France's Legion d'Honneur and its Ordre national du Merite - two of the country's most prestigious honours. Read more from Sky NewsInside Gerard Depardieu's court hearingGisele Pelicot - from victim to feminist heroPelicot's son relives moment he discovered his father was a monster Across roughly 250 films, he has worked with more than 150 directors, including Jean-Luc Godard and Ridley Scott. He became close friends with Robert De Niro after they starred together in Bernardo Bertolucci's film 1900 in 1976. Depardieu married fellow actor Elisabeth Depardieu in 1971. She starred alongside him in Jean de Florette and Manon Of The Spring in 1986. They had two children, who both became actors. Their son Guillaume died from pneumonia aged 37 in 2008. The couple divorced in 1996. He announced his retirement from acting in 2005, claiming he had made "enough" films and wished to pursue other things. In 2012 he moved to Belgium to avoid paying taxes in France. He wrote an open letter to the then prime minister, saying he was surrendering his French passport because he wanted "nothing to do" with his home country and the government was trying to "punish success". Vladimir Putin personally signed an executive order to give him Russian citizenship in 2013. Two years later his films were banned in Ukraine over comments he made questioning the country's sovereignty as an independent state. He has since condemned Russia's war there. He also claims to have been given citizenship by the United Arab Emirates. In 2023 he was stripped of his National Order of Quebec after a documentary revealed him making lewd comments and sexual gestures on a trip to North Korea in 2018, which the region's premier described as "shocking". Why is the Depardieu case so important in France? The #MeToo and #TimesUp movements in the US saw women in the creative industries calling out sexual harassment and assault by their male counterparts. But it "didn't really take off in France" in the same way, Sarah McGrath, chief executive of Women For Women France, an organisation fighting against gender-based violence, tells Sky News. While she saw colleagues around the world "thrilled that victims could finally feel confident to talk about the crimes they'd be subjected to", she says in France "we had a very different experience". In 2018, dozens of female French stars and intellectuals signed an "anti-MeToo manifesto", condemning the movement as a "witch hunt" and defending men's sexual freedom to proposition women. Although some, notably Depardieu's co-star and friend Catherine Deneuve, have publicly U-turned on the issue, it demonstrated a resistance to change in French society. Blanche Sabbah, a French feminist activist and comic book author, says: "We love to talk about being the cultural exception in France. "We have this idea that if you are some kind of artistic genius then you are less accountable for bad behaviour - and that we're more sexually liberated - and don't concern ourselves with moral panics like in the US. I think that stopped the [MeToo] movement in its tracks." Ms McGrath describes this "cultural exception" as "an attitude that a man's reputation and livelihood is more important than victims". Both women also point to a "general distrust" of claimants and "false ideas" they are bypassing the courts and telling their stories in the media to "get money". "It's simply not true and comes from a lack of understanding that the French justice system does not play a protective role for victims of sexual violence," she says. "Victims are actually more likely to come out with debts of thousands of euros if they go through the justice system, which far exceeds any compensation they might get." But while the "balancestonporc" - report your pig - hashtag struggled to gain momentum in 2018, the women say they have seen a shift - particularly following the case of Gisele Pelicot and the conviction of her husband for raping and inviting at least 50 other men to rape her while she was drugged and unconscious. "It's taken time, but finally we're getting somewhere," Ms Sabbah says. "Gisele's case serves as a reminder that our culture has a huge influence on how we behave." Those found guilty in the Pelicot case were aged between 20 and 70 and included a journalist, nurse, firefighters, and a DJ. "She has proven that this is the problem of every man - that what you think your favourite movie star can do serves as an argument for justifying what crimes you would commit as a 'normal' person'," Ms Sabbah adds. Regardless of the outcome of the Depardieu case, both women agree that his prosecution represents a "huge step forward" for women's rights and victims of gender-based violence. "There have been three or four convictions [of men for gender-based violence] recently, so I think the way those cases are perceived now is different to how it was in 2018," Ms Sabbah says. "We have gone from 'classement sans suite' (no further action) to movie stars on trial."

Based on the 1937 classic that established Disney's name as an industry leader, Snow White took an estimated $43m (£33.1m) domestically, and $87.3m (£67.3m) worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. In the UK and Ireland, the film took £3.85m, accounting for 43% of all tickets sold across its three-day opening weekend. For comparison, Disney's Mufasa: The Lion King, which came to cinemas in December, took $35m domestically (£27m). It's now gone on to take over $700m (£540m) globally. Meanwhile, Disney's 2019 live-action Dumbo, directed by Tim Burton, took $45m (£35m) domestically in its opening weekend. It has since taken over $350m (£270m) worldwide. Snow White has not performed well in China, only making it to seventh place in the Chinese box office charts and grossing less than $1m (£770,000) over its opening, according to EntGroup's China Box Office website. Reviews for the movie have been mixed, with The Guardian calling it an "exhaustingly awful reboot" and The Observer similarly judging it to be "toe-curlingly terrible". The Independent wasn't a fan of the "uncanny CGI caricatures" which it said were reminiscent of 2004 movie The Polar Express, a sentiment echoed by Empire which called the reimagined dwarves an "unholy VFX disaster". The Daily Mail called it "painfully muddle-headed", but gave Zegler the thumbs up, highlighting her "oodles of talent", while The New York Post said it was "mediocre" and unmemorable. Some US outlets have given a more favourable critique, with Variety calling it "one of the better live-action adaptations of a Disney animated feature," and The Hollywood Reporter judging it "mostly captivating". Reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives the movie a 44% critic score - which translates to "rotten" - however the audience score on the site's "Popcornometer" is currently at 74%, rating it "fresh". Dubbed 'woke' and plagued with speculation The movie had a muted marketing campaign, with no UK premiere and reduced US press opportunities. Costing around $250m to make, the film had been flagged as a potential tent-pole movie (a film that is expected to be very successful and support a range of merchandise or spin-off opportunities) for Disney early on. But aspirations faded as it approached release as it was hit by controversy after controversy. Early on, Snow White was labelled "woke" due to its casting of Latina actress Rachel Zegler, who is of Colombian-Polish descent, in the lead role. Zegler also faced a backlash after suggesting the early version of the film had content that was unsuitable for the 21st century - namely the fact the prince "literally stalks" Snow White. There was then speculation as to whether Zegler got on with Israeli actress Gal Gadot, who plays the evil queen, as they have previously expressed very different views over the Israel-Hamas war. The use of CGI to create the seven dwarf characters, thus replacing the potential for little people to take up the roles, has left disability activists to accuse the movie of "erasing" them from the narrative. Ahead of the film's release, comedian, model and content creator Fats Timbo told Sky News she believed Disney missed a golden opportunity to educate children during what was likely to be their first encounter with someone with dwarfism. Snow White is in cinemas now.