- Ethiopians struggle with bitter pill of currency reform
- Sri Lanka votes in first poll since economic collapse
- Feminist author warns of abortion disaster if Trump wins US election
- US city of Flint still reeling from water crisis, 10 years on
- Arsenal's mean defence faces acid test to shut out Man City again
- Late surge lifts Thailand's Jeeno to LPGA Queen City lead
- DeChambeau says PGA's Ryder Cup decision 'just the start'
- Alcaraz defeated on Laver Cup debut
- Postecoglou embraces 'struggle' to make Spurs a success
- Nice hand 'ashamed' Saint-Etienne 8-0 Ligue 1 mauling
- Boeing CEO says ending strike 'a top priority'
- Harris slams Trump for hypocrisy on abortion as US starts voting
- Academy to host first overseas ceremony to honor young filmmakers
- No doctor necessary: US okays nasal spray flu vaccine for self-use
- Former delivery man Baldwin leads star names at PGA Championship
- Trump shooting: Secret Service admits complacency
- Can an ambitious Milei make Argentina an AI giant?
- Haiti, its suffering growing, in 'race against time': UN expert
- Ibrahim Aqil, the Hezbollah elite unit commander wanted by the US
- Chinese forward Cui signs NBA contract with Brooklyn Nets
- US Fed dissenter calls for 'measured' pace of rate cuts
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload as Kompany demands cap on games
- Norway limits wild salmon fishing as stocks hit new lows
- Top Hezbollah commander killed in Israeli strike on Beirut
- Rotterdam fatal knife attacker suspected of 'terrorist motive'
- First early votes cast in knife-edge US presidential election
- Top-ranked Swiatek out of Beijing due to 'personal matters'
- Hard-right Reform UK looks to the future after vote success
- Embiid agrees to NBA contract extension with 76ers
- Joshua aims to complete road to redemption in Dubois bout
- World champion Bagnaia sets pace with lap record at Misano
- Biden says 'working' to get people back to homes on Israel-Lebanon border
- Pope criticises Argentina's crackdown on protesters
- Court limits screenings of videos in France mass rape case
- Gurbaz century takes Afghanistan to 311-4 in 2nd ODI
- Central banks face 'difficult balancing act': IMF chief
- Guardiola tells players to lead change over workload fears
- Paris Olympics sports equipment moves to new homes
- 'Happy' Kinghorn relishing life at Toulouse
- Norris sets Singapore pace as Verstappen only 15th
- Germany to bid to host women's Euro 2029
- Portugal brings deadly forest fires under control
- Postecoglou defends Solanke after slow start to Spurs career
- US nuclear plant Three Mile Island to reopen to power Microsoft
- Arteta urges Arsenal to take next step in Man City showdown
- Stock markets fall after Fed-fuelled rally
- Poland charges Russian over attack on Navalny ally: prosecutors
- Man City have rest 'advantage' in Arsenal showdown: Guardiola
- Maresca has 'no doubt' in Jackson as Chelsea's number nine
- EU chief announces 35 bn euro loan plan for Ukraine before winter
Nobel winner Mario Vargas Llosa joins Academie Francaise
Peruvian Nobel-winning author Mario Vargas Llosa was set to join the fabled Academie Francaise in Paris on Thursday, the first member never to have written a book in French.
The 86-year-old novelist, who also has Spanish citizenship, controversially invited the former king of Spain, Juan Carlos, to his inauguration ceremony.
The ex-monarch has lived in exile since 2020 in the United Arab Emirates after a series of scandals, including claims that he harassed a former mistress and revelations about his lavish lifestyle and an elephant hunt in Botswana.
Established under King Louis XIII in 1635, the Academie Francaise is meant to guard "pure" French, which in recent decades has faced a constant onslaught from English.
Last year, it bemoaned the widespread use of imported phrases like "big data" and "drive-in" and took umbrage with the common practice by French businesses of using English-sounding brand names, such as train operator SNCF's low-cost service Ouigo (pronounced "we go").
Vargas Llosa won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2010, and is the first holder of the award at the Academie Francaise since Francois Mauriac, who won the prize in 1952.
He is considered among the most influential Latin American writers, often taking a sharp look at the region's politics and history with novels like "The Time of the Hero" (1963), "The Feast of the Goat" (2000), and continuing through to 2021's "Harsh Times".
Foreigners have been admitted to the Academie in the past.
The first was an American, Julien Green, in 1971, who never took French citizenship, and Canadian-Haitian Dany Laferriere joined in 2013.
But Vargas Llosa -- who worked for AFP's Spanish desk in his youth -- has only ever worked in Spanish.
He is now a member of three linguistic academies, having joined the Peruvian Academy of Language in 1977 and the Royal Spanish Academy in 1994.
The writer has stirred controversy in Latin America with his pro-capitalist views, often criticising the many socialist governments across the region.
The 40-member Academie Francaise has struggled to find members of late -- there are currently five vacant positions -- but has never relaxed its exacting standards.
"We cannot congratulate the Academy enough for not being, like so many other constituted bodies, absolutely hostile to superiority, and for not including only imbeciles," quipped one member, Jean Dutourd, in a recent essay.
A.Santos--PC