 Far-right writer kills self in Paris's Notre Dame 
 
 PARIS — A far-right writer and activist shot himself dead in front of the altar of Paris's famed Notre Dame Cathedral, leaving statements denouncing gay marriage and immigration. Police sources said Venner pulled out a pistol and put it in his mouth, before pulling the trigger. Venner left a message, which was read out by a friend after his death on the conservative station Radio Courtoisie, and a final essay on his website. "I believe it is necessary to sacrifice myself to break with the lethargy that is overwhelming us," he said in the message read out on the radio. "I am killing myself to awaken slumbering consciences." Venner's suicide was hailed by Marine Le Pen, leader of the far-right Front National (FN), as a political gesture. "All respect to Dominique Venner whose final, eminently political act was to try to wake up the people of France," Le Pen said on Twitter, though she added later that "it is in life and hope that France will renew and save itself". In a final essay on his website, Venner railed against France's adoption of a "vile law" legalising gay marriage and adoption. It finally became law on Saturday after months of bitter political protests from the right. Venner also denounced immigration from North Africa which, he said, was the real "peril", calling on activists to take measures to protect "French and European identities". In what appeared to be a reference to his suicide, Venner wrote: "There will certainly need to be new, spectacular, symbolic gestures to shake off the sleepiness... and re-awaken the memories of our origins." "We are reaching a time when words must be backed up with acts," he added. Venner fought for France in the 1954-62 Algerian War of Independence and was a member of the OAS (Secret Armed Organisation), a short-lived paramilitary group that opposed Algeria's independence from France. He went on to have a long career publishing right-wing essays, military histories and books on weaponry and hunting. The Gothic Notre Dame Cathedral on an islet on the River Seine is one of the most visited sites in Paris, attracting 13.6 million visitors in 2011, and is this year celebrating its 850th anniversary. The cathedral contained around 1,500 visitors at the time of the suicide, all of whom were then evacuated without incident, said France’s Interior Minister Manuel Valls, who visited Notre Dame following the incident.
– The suicide of a far-right writer/activist at Paris' Notre Dame yesterday is being hailed as a "political act" by other far-right leaders. Dominique Venner, who shot himself in front of an estimated 1,500 people inside the vaunted cathedral, had posted a final essay on his website decrying both the country's recent legalization of gay marriage and immigration from Africa, reports the AFP. The 78-year-old left a letter containing similar statements at the altar before killing himself, says a police source. Venner also left a message that a friend read on a conservative radio station. A sample: "I believe it is necessary to sacrifice myself to break with the lethargy that is overwhelming us. ... I am killing myself to awaken slumbering consciences." On Twitter, National Front party leader Marine Le Pen praised Venner. "All respect to Dominique Venner whose final, eminently political act was to try to wake up the people of France," she wrote. Another senior National Front figure and member of the European Parliament also hailed the "dramatic gesture," and called Venner an "extremely brilliant intellectual," France 24 reports. He noted the death was likely inspired by that of right-wing Japanese author Yukio Mishima, who committed ritual seppuku in 1970 as an act of political protest.