A subsidiary of the Total oil giant went on trial again Thursday for possible negligence in a 2001 blast at the AZF chemical plant that left 31 people dead. A Toulouse court ruled in 2009 that there was not enough evidence to prove the charges.
In this edition: France's annual Telethon rakes in too much cash, says the head of an AIDS charity; songstress Vanessa Paradis celebrates a nearly 25-year career with a greatest hits album; and the debate around Albert Camus' ashes.
French prosecutors have said they will appeal a court ruling that cleared a subsidiary of energy giant Total and its former boss of responsibility for a chemical plant blast that killed 31 people in 2001.
A French court cleared oil giant Total and its former CEO Thierry Desmarest (photo centre) of responsibility in the 2001 explosion of the AZF chemical factory near Toulouse. The plant's former manager was also discharged due to lack of proof.
In this edition: France's 'biggest ever' court case underway in Toulouse, tension continues in Guadeloupe, the auction of late French fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent's private art collection and French farming's annual showcase.
French oil giant Total has already spent 2 billion euros to compensate those injured in the deadly 2001 AZF industrial disaster in the city of Toulouse, but some plaintiffs say they have been overlooked.
The inhabitants of Toulouse have been waiting eight years for the AZF trial to begin, hoping it will finally shed some light on the day the AZF chemical factory explosion killed 30 people and wounded thousands.
Bernadette Street soon became the symbol of the havoc and destruction caused by the 2001 AZF chemical fertilizer plant explosion -Ground Zero for the "shell-shocked" city of Toulouse.
A scientific center dedicated to cancer research is being built at the site of the deadly 2001 AZF chemical fertilizer plant. But some victims of the disaster will never be able to erase the frightening memories.
AZF trial 
