Tower Trims Light Show by Half

About 2,000 people cleared from site

(NEWSER) - Paris police evacuated the Eiffel Tower today after someone phoned in an anonymous bomb threat, the BBC reports. They cleared about 2,000 people in all from the tower and surrounding park, moving about half to the banks of the River Seine. Bomb-sniffing dogs were going through the area. French authorities have ramped up security at popular sites in the past few weeks after al-Qaeda threats. More»

'Giant cocktail party' to gather at Eiffel Tower

(NEWSER) - Paris cops are girding for thousands of drunken revelers expected at the foot of the Eiffel tower this weekend, even though they warned it's illegal. The Paris gathering, organized via Facebook, will be the latest in a series of 58 mass drunkathons or "apéros géants" that are giving police nightmares across France. One drunken reveler plunged to his death from a bridge in Nantes last week at a tipsy gathering of 10,000. More»

Homes, businesses cut AC costs as energy sec proselytizes

(NEWSER) - White roofs, which energy efficiency advocates have been pushing for 20 years, are finally catching on with homeowners and business across the country, the New York Times reports. The object of a campaign by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, so-called "cool roofs," which absorb less sunlight, can cut AC costs by 20% or more. Since they cost only about 15% more than standard black, they're also one of the cheapest means of combating climate change. More»

(AP) - Complete with new gray hairs and two bodyguards, a wax version of President Barack Obama took a trip to the Eiffel Tower today. The hot summer sun threatened to melt the fake president's face, prompting helpers to shade him with an umbrella. The statue then traveled to Paris' Musée Grevin wax museum, where it will stand as part of a heads-of-state display alongside renditions of Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and Vladimir Putin. More»

(NEWSER) - All of Paris is breathlessly awaiting the arrival of Michelle Obama, hoping to catch a glimpse of an American first lady as beloved by the French as Jackie Kennedy, reports AP. Like Jackie, "Mrs. Obama is exactly the kind of American woman the French adore: a woman who never lost her femininity, who's smart and dynamic and fabulous in her own right," said a Paris fashion critic. More»