France

Stories 1521 - 1540 | << Prev   Next >>

French Minister Slammed Over Sex Tourism

Mitterand defended Polanski, admitted 'paying for boys' in book

(Newser) - French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand's own past has come back to haunt him in the wake of his calls for Roman Polanski's release. Opposition lawmakers have brought attention to passages in his autobiography where he defends sex tourism and admits paying for young—and, he implies, underage—boys. "I...

Sarko to French Pols: Put Down the Croissants

French government gets the fitness bug after president loses 15 pounds

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy has lost 15 pounds since he married Carla Bruni, subsisting on a diet of cottage cheese, fruit compote, and bottled water—and he's not the only one in the French government who's slimming down. As the Times of London reports, Sarkozy is pressuring his ministers to lose weight,...

Fan Crush Crashes Bruni's New Website

Showcase for 'ultimate modern woman's' charity work collapses under onslaught

(Newser) - A much-hyped website showcasing Carla Bruni's work as France's first lady crashed within minutes of its launch yesterday after receiving thousands of hits. Administrators at carlabrunisarkozy.org said the site—which describes the ex-model as "the ultimate modern woman"—couldn't cope with the demand and advised visitors to...

Zut Alors! French Attack Big Macs at Louvre

Wake up and smell the French fries, Mona Lisa

(Newser) - News that a McDonald's will open just yards from the entrance of the Louvre museum has sent lovers of French culture into conniptions. “This is the pinnacle of exhausting consumerism, deficient gastronomy and very unpleasant odors in the context of a museum,” sniffed one art historian who works...

France, Poland Backtrack on Polanski Support

Calls for director's release dropped as public backlash grows

(Newser) - The governments of France and Poland are beginning to distance themselves from Roman Polanski amid a public backlash against earlier support for the film director, who holds passports from both countries. In France—where the foreign minister called for Polanski's release earlier this week—a government spokesman said yesterday that...

Whoopi Calls Polanski Case 'Not Rape-Rape,' Triggers Uproar

Hollywood supporters facing off against angry feminists over sex with teen

(Newser) - Whoopi Goldberg's comment that Roman Polanski's sex with a 13-year-old girl wasn't really "rape-rape" has added fuel to the growing conflagration between the film director's Hollywood supporters and angry feminists. "I know it wasn't rape-rape. I think it was something else, but I don't believe it was rape-rape,...

Your Polanski Case FAQ
 Your Polanski Case FAQ 
Sep 29, 2009 12:27 PM CDT

Your Polanski Case FAQ

Including the big one—why now?

(Newser) - Scratching your head over this Roman Polanski business? Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Here are some common questions and answers, courtesy of Slate:
  • Why didn’t the French ever arrest the guy? Born in Paris, he's one of their own. France doesn’t have to extradite its
...

24th Suicide Hits France Telecom

Stressed-out call center worker jumps from bridge, blames company

(Newser) - A call-center worker has become the 24th victim of what France Telecom calls a "spiral of suicides" among its employees over the last 18 months. The 51-year-old father of two jumped from a bridge onto a highway during morning rush hour in a small town in the French Alps,...

Roman Polanski Will Fight Extradition: Lawyer

French, Polish ministers ask Clinton for leniency

(Newser) - Roman Polanski is “shocked and dumbfounded” by the Swiss government’s decision to arrest him but is “in fighting mood” and won't be extradited easily, his lawyer said today. Diplomatic wrangling continued over Polanski’s fate, as the French and Polish foreign ministers said they had written to...

Polanski Victim: 'I'm Over It'
 Polanski Victim: 'I'm Over It' 
Sep 28, 2009 5:15 AM CDT

Polanski Victim: 'I'm Over It'

Mom of three is sick and tired of sordid case

(Newser) - The woman Roman Polanski had sex with when she was 13 never wants to hear about the case again. "I have survived, indeed prevailed, against whatever harm Mr. Polanski may have caused me as a child," Samantha Geimer, 45, said early this year after filing court papers to...

French, Swiss Battle Over Polanski

Director's lawyer vows to fight extradition

(Newser) - The French and Swiss government bickered angrily over Roman Polanski yesterday as the film director's arrest strained diplomatic relations. France's culture minister said he was “stupefied” by the arrest, while President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a “rapid solution”—presumably one that involved letting Polanski return to France....

Sarkozy Oversteps in Rancorous Trial With Foe

Howls as French president calls Villepin 'guilty' in TV interview

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy may have crossed the line in the continuing trial of his political foe Dominique de Villepin, the former French prime minister accused of waging a smear campaign against him in 2004. During a TV interview in New York, Sarkozy called Villepin and his co-defendants "the guilty parties"...

Airbrushed Pics May Get French Health Warning

Lawmakers look to require label on digitally altered photos

(Newser) - Amid the uproar over fashion photos whose models are airbrushed to teeny-tiny perfection, French politicians are proposing a law that would require any such photos to include a health warning, Reuters reports. Digitally altered ads, press photos, campaign art, packaging, and art photography would have to include “Photograph retouched...

French Roust Migrant 'Jungle'
 French Roust Migrant 'Jungle' 
Sep 22, 2009 3:36 AM CDT

French Roust Migrant 'Jungle'

Squatters' camp near Calais was home to hundreds of Afghans seeking asylum

(Newser) - French riot police stormed in today to clear an immigrant camp known as "the Jungle," the Guardian reports. The camp in woodlands outside Calais was home to hundreds of asylum seekers living in squalid conditions. Most were men and boys from Afghanistan seeking to cross to Britain on...

Ex French Prez Pens Steamy Princess Novel

Just how close were Diana and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing?

(Newser) - Did they or didn't they? That's what the French wonder now that Valéry Giscard d'Estaing has penned a steamy novel about a French president's affair with an "unhappy" English princess who could be Diana's doppelgänger, reports the Guardian. The pair consummate their love in The Princess and ...

France Telecom Sets Up Suicide Hotline for Workers

Chief vow end to 'infernal spiral' of 23 suicides

(Newser) - France Telecom's chief executive has promised to do all he can to end a wave of suicides at the company, including establishing a suicide hotline, reports the BBC. The firm plans to halt employee relocations and train team leaders to spot signs of depression at the company, where 23 employees...

French Telecom Suicides Spark Official Unease

Firm's chief to meet with labor minister

(Newser) - A spate of suicides by workers at a French telecommunications company is prompting a meeting between the firm's CEO and France's labor minister, the BBC reports. Since last year, 23 employees of France Telecom have killed themselves; unions blame tough management practices, but the firm, which was privatized in 1998,...

Sarkozy Buses In Short People to Look Taller

Height-challenged plant workers were chosen to stand behind French prez

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy looked particularly imposing during a televised speech last week—because he bused in specially vetted very short people to stand behind him, reports the Telegraph. The speech was held at a Faurecia motor technology plant in southern France. TV cameras caught buses bringing in 20 workers...

French Wines Wither Under Climate Change

Industry pushes President Sarkozy for carbon emission cut

(Newser) - A warming world has French winemakers sweating more than a little, experts tell the Financial Times. “Current research suggests that by the end of the 21st century, one summer out of two will be at least as hot as 2003,” the year of a record-breaking heat wave that...

'European Model' Could Die: French PM

'Sluggish growth' may destroy safety net, job security

(Newser) - The prime minister of France, the country perhaps most associated with the cherished "European model" of job security and social safety nets, warned today that it may prove unsustainable because the region's economies are too stagnant. "With this sluggish growth, we cannot preserve the European social model or...

Stories 1521 - 1540 | << Prev   Next >>
Most Read on Newser