Renault Twingo - France's most-stolen car

So you might be thinking that those big, showy luxurious cars are the ones thieves find most attractive.

Think again!

Because according to a study released by the weekly car magazine Auto Plus, it's a much humbler vehicle that tops the list of France's most-stolen cars; the Renault Twingo I.

Renault Twingo I (from Wikipedia, author Rudolf Stricker)

"A popular car that can be found everywhere and is easy to break in to," is how the magazine describes the car, which finds itself at the top of the list for the third consecutive year; a list which was compiled based on data supplied by car insurance companies and banks.

Second spot goes to another small car, the Smart Fortwo, which, according to Sandrine Darré who conducted the study, "Is also easy to break in to and whose parts could easily be sold for a high price on the black market."

Rounding off the podium is another Renault in the shape of in the shape of the Mégane 2.

It's perhaps not so surprising to find the French car manufacturer so well represented given the fact that it also places well among the country's top-selling cars with several different models.

The highest-placed top-of-the-range car was the Porsche Cayenne, just missing the "podium" in fourth but which Dorré says attracts another kind of thief (obviously) and for quite different reasons.

"The Cayenne is much more likely to be stolen by an organised crime network," she said.

"For example if there's an 'order' from abroad. But it's also used much more in committing other crimes such as robberies and that's why it's ranks so high in the poll."

Of course the figures are not purely based on the numbers of cars stolen.

If that were the case then the Cayenne would probably not figure on the list as it sales are far lower than other more popular cars.

Let's face it, how many people can afford (to buy) one?

Instead the ranking is calculated individually for each model on a ratio of cars stolen for 100,000 insured; 245 for the Twingo and 169 for the SmartFortwo.

There's also some good news in the study.

The number of cars stolen in France was at a 30-year low in last year at 121, 521 or 332 a day.

But Dorré warns the trend could be reversed in the coming years as "electronic theft" whereby thieves can use equipment to counter inbuilt security measures such as the immobiliser, become more widespread.


Palmarès des voitures les plus volées en 2010
envoyé par BFMTV. - L'actualité du moment en vidéo.

Bassory Ouattara, a president's football-playing son - or is he?

Alassane Ouattara isn't just making the headlines in the world news sections of the French media over the ongoing disputed leadership of his country, Côte d'Ivoire, with Laurent Gbagbo.

He's also making an appearance in the sports sections, courtesy of a player at Vannes Olympique Club (VOC), a football team in Ligue 2.

Alassane Ouattara (screenshot interview with France 24, January 2011)

Bassory Ouattara is in VOC's reserve team, and if the surname looks familiar that's because he claims to be the son of the man the international community recognises as Côte d'Ivoire's elected leader.

Last weekend he spoke to the regional daily Le Télégramme revealing how he had lived with his four brothers and sisters in the United States from the age of eight to 15 while Alassane Ouattara was working as an economist in New York.

According to Bassory, he came to France in 2005, first settling in Lyon where he sat his baccalauréat, played for the local side Association sportive Lyon-Duchère and then after he had met his girlfriend, moved with her to northwestern France and signed with VOC.

He evoked memories of an early childhood spent in Côte d'Ivoire and how concerned he remained for the welfare of his cousins who still lived there, and of course the man he insisted was his father.

"I frequently talk to him on the 'phone," he said. "He's calm and said that everything is all right and that Gbagbo will leave."

Journalists were soon beating a path to the young player's door wanting to find out more, and Bassory was more than accommodating quoted in Le Télégramme as saying he "would respond to all media enquiries and even go to Paris if necessary."

He didn't get much of a chance though because the following day brought about an official denial from Côte d'Ivoire.

"The information is false. His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara has no son named Bassory Ouattara," said a statement published in the regional daily Ouest-France.

And that was followed up by Patrick Achi, a government spokesmen, telling Agence France Presse that, "The young man is just a storyteller."

Media attention returned to Bassory, whose story hadn't changed - much - although his apparent enthusiasm to talk about it appeared to have been dampened.

"Alassane Ouattara is my biological father although, it's true, he has never officially recognised me as such," he told Agence France Presse.

"It was my uncle, Gaosso, who 'recognised' me as his son at my birth," he continued.

"I spoke to my biological father again this morning and he gave me something of an earful because of my comments to the media and he asked me not to say any more."

The 'phone of course didn't stop ringing at VOC, but it was the president of the club, Michel Jestin, and the general director, Olivier Cloarec, who were fielding the calls.

"He's unavailable for comment," was the message journalists received when requesting further interviews with Bassory.

"We've been in touch with the French foreign ministry and it said it would review the case," Cloarec told the national daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien.

"Other than that, we've been asked to say nothing."

Belgian "cheese dish girl" Lara Clette to change her name

Last November a report by a journalist from the French-language newspaper group Sud Presse caught the imagination of readers both in Belgium and abroad, especially after it had been picked up by one of France's national dailies.

It soon became something of a buzz in the French-speaking world and it concerned an eight-year-old girl and the name her parents had "lumbered" her with when she was born; Lara.

Nothing too horrendous about that, you might be thinking, and it certainly didn't strike the parents or the authorities who registered her birth and name when she was born as being too onerous, even though an official in the city of Namur had apparently "hesitated at the time".

The family's surname was Clette giving the girl the same name in French as the famous Swiss cheese dish.

Raclette cheese (from Wikipedia, author en:User:Grcampbell)

Lara's father insisted that neither he nor his wife had thought about the possible implications of the first name-surname combination when she was born and only realised when the grandfather came to visit while his wife was still in hospital after the birth.

"We thought about changing Lara's name but the nurses thought it was pretty and so did we, so we kept it," he told Sud Presse.

"When we thought about it a little more a couple of months later, I went to see the local authority to see whether we could have the surname changed and I was told that there would be little chance of the courts accepting it."

And so Lara remained a Clette, as did her six-year-old sister Yaël.

There weren't any difficulties at school, according to the father who, when interviewed added that, "If it becomes awkward when she's a teenager then we'll try again to change her surname."

That was back in November before the story was picked up by newspapers outside of Belgium such as the national French daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien, which asked in its headline " "Lara Clette, future ambassador of Swiss cheese?"

Or a reported invitation from the tourist office of canton Valais in Switzerland inviting Lara and the rest of her family to spend a week's holiday in the place where the cheese dish originates.

The buzz created was too much for the family, and the father has now confirmed that he has applied to the appropriate authorities to have the surname of both girls changed - taking on that of his wife's family "Deresteau".

"It had been at the back of our minds for the past couple of years," he repeated to Sud Presse last week.

"And after the jokes made (in foreign newspapers and on the Net) it just became too much for us and we found it hurtful and now we just want to turn over a new leaf."

As RTLinfo.be reports, a change in name may be "granted only in exceptional circumstances" and according to Belgian law, if nobody opposes the change within the next 60 days both girls will officially be allowed to change their surnames.