France – News Stories About France - Page 99

Dec 28, 2007 3:25 PM CST

Risqué Pics Won't Dethrone Miss France

Pageant winner barred from international competition under deal

(Newser) - Miss France will keep her crown despite the publication of racy pictures featuring the 22-year-old student, AFP reports. Photographs of Valerie Begue licking yogurt off a wall and straddling a cross in a bikini had Genevieve de Fontenay, the pageant's sharp-tongued patron, threatening to strip Begue of her title; Begue...

In France, 2008 Means Défense de Fumer

Dec 28, 2007 1:20 PM CST

In France, 2008 Means Défense de Fumer

Nouvelle année accompanies nationwide ban on smoke-filled cafes

(Newser) - Say goodbye to the tradition of puffing on Gauloises at Paris cafes: Beginning Tuesday, France becomes the latest nation to introduce a complete smoking ban in restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs. The ban has widespread support, although diehard smokers are threatening to fight it. "I cannot stand the idea of...

Chad To Return Convicted Kidnappers To France

Dec 28, 2007 5:56 AM CST

Chad To Return Convicted Kidnappers To France

Zoe's Ark members will avoid sentences of hard labor

(Newser) - The six French charity workers convicted in Chad of attempting to kidnap 103 children they claimed were Darfuri orphans will return to France. It's unclear whether the French justice system will reduce their 8-year sentences. The Zoe's Ark charity workers, scheduled to return on a special flight, claimed they were...

More Bubbly? French Farmers Are in Uproar

Dec 26, 2007 6:08 PM CST

More Bubbly? French Farmers Are in Uproar

Champagne country expansion will enrich some, snub others

(Newser) - Champagne drinkers may soon taste the fruits of of a French government initiative to welcome new farmers into the exclusive club of those allowed to call their sparkling white wines Champagne, with a capital C. As demand skyrockets, a list has been drawn up of 40 communities that might be...

Chad Sentences Aid Workers
to 8 Years

Dec 26, 2007 2:00 PM CST

Chad Sentences Aid Workers to 8 Years

Release likely after French govt. intervenes in 'kidnapping' case

(Newser) - Six French charity workers were convicted today of attempting to kidnap 103 children and send them from Chad to Europe, but a diplomatic agreement is expected to repatriate them before they begin their sentences of 8 years at hard labor, Reuters reports. The workers had testified that they believed the...

Le Beau Sarko Vexes French

Dec 23, 2007 1:20 PM CST

Le Beau Sarko Vexes French

Tiny Casanova's antics create cult status as some deride his lack of decorum

(Newser) - He ain't your daddy's Jacques Chirac, and French president Nicolas Sarkozy's escapades have his countrymen both enthralled and concerned, reports the Guardian. His rollercoaster love life provides delicious gossip to a public that buys "I love Sarko" skivvies, and the tiny dynamo poses for intimate photo shoots and traipses...

Sarko Stalwart Against Taliban

Dec 22, 2007 5:31 PM CST

Sarko Stalwart Against Taliban

French president says he'll commit more troops to Afghan conflict

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy said today the international community must prevent Afghanistan from falling back under extremist rule, the BBC reports. The French president made a quick visit to Kabul to reaffirm his support for the US-led operation, saying France would commit more troops in the near future. France currently has about...

Alleged French Kidnappers Go on Trial in Chad

Dec 21, 2007 7:21 AM CST

Alleged French Kidnappers Go on Trial in Chad

Charity workers on hunger strike; they face 20 years hard labor

(Newser) - Six French citizens accused of the attempted kidnapping of 103 children have gone on trial in the Chadian capital of N'Djamena, in a courtroom surrounded by riot police and packed with journalists. The members of the Zoe's Ark charity, who claim that the children were orphans from Darfur whom they...

France to Admit Colombian Rebels in Hostage Deal

Dec 19, 2007 12:38 PM CST

France to Admit Colombian Rebels in Hostage Deal

Government would shelter freed rebels in exchange including French woman

(Newser) - France's PM said today the country will take in freed Colombian rebels as part of an exchange for the 46 hostages the rebel group FARC is holding, including a former presidential candidate who holds dual French-Colombian citizenship. The offer came hours after FARC agreed to release three hostages—a former...

First Face Transplant Patient Smiles—Slightly

Dec 13, 2007 3:00 PM CST

First Face Transplant Patient Smiles—Slightly

Patient faces massive side effects

(Newser) - Isabelle Dinoire can smile a little, her doctors reported yesterday, a big accomplishment for the world’s first face transplant recipient. Her case shows that the controversial surgery can work—but it also highlighted the risks involved. Dinoire has dealt with two tissue-rejection episodes, two kidney failures, anemia and high...

French Divided on Qaddafi Trip

Dec 12, 2007 4:38 PM CST

French Divided on Qaddafi Trip

Critics see too much carrot, not enough stick during Libyan leader's highly visible visit

(Newser) - Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi’s visit to Paris continues to raise questions as to whether the French president sold out by dealing with the dictator, the Christian Science Monitor reports. Activists and some government officials say President Nicolas Sarkozy ignored Libya’s dismal human-rights record in favor of business, but...

Sarkozy Sits Down With Qadaffi

Dec 10, 2007 4:48 PM CST

Sarkozy Sits Down With Qadaffi

Human rights groups criticize French prez for meeting with Libyan leader

(Newser) - Muammar Qaddafi arrived in France today for his first visit in 30-plus years as human rights groups blasted Nicolas Sarkozy for agreeing to meet with the Libyan leader, AFP reports. The French president is preparing to to sign 10 billion euros' worth of contracts with Libya, which activists say is...

Mold Threatens Cave Paintings

Dec 9, 2007 8:30 AM CST

Mold Threatens Cave Paintings

Cave will be sealed for up to four months for treatment

(Newser) - They've existed for thousands of years but it's the lowly fungus that could finally be the death of France's most famous prehistoric cave paintings. Invading gray and black mold is threatening the animal images in the Lascaux cave in southwestern France, and scientists are uncertain what has caused it. The...

Merkel, Sarko Keep Heat on Iran

Dec 7, 2007 7:53 AM CST

Merkel, Sarko Keep Heat on Iran

Partners insist sanctions are still possible despite new intelligence

(Newser) - Angela Merkel joined Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday in reaffirming their hard line on Iran's nuclear program despite the new American intelligence assessment that weapons development was halted in 2003. "I don't see why we should renounce sanctions," said the French president at a joint press conference in Paris, with...

Bomb Explodes in Paris Office, Kills 1

Dec 6, 2007 9:42 AM CST

Bomb Explodes in Paris Office, Kills 1

Target was Sarkozy's law firm's building

(Newser) - A bomb exploded in a Paris office building today, killing a secretary and seriously injuring at least one other person, Bloomberg reports. The parcel was addressed to the fourth floor, which houses the Shoah Foundation, a Holocaust research group. The building is also home to Nicolas Sarkozy’s former law...

Eat Cake? Let Them Shop
on Sundays

Dec 4, 2007 9:41 PM CST

Eat Cake? Let Them Shop on Sundays

Sarkozy takes steps to scrap law keeping stores closed

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy wants to ax a 1906 law that shutters most retail outlets on Sundays, Bloomberg reports. The move would modernize the country, the maverick president says, energizing an economy that has dragged behind that of other EU countries. "Previous governments, left and right, always dodged the issue,"...

French Library Loosens Morals, Unveils Erotica

Dec 4, 2007 11:15 AM CST

French Library Loosens Morals, Unveils Erotica

Bibliothèque Nationale showcases 2 centuries of porn for first time

(Newser) - Turns out the auguste Bibliothèque Nationale has one of the world's biggest official collections of pornographic books and prints, and today it's going on view—to those over 16—for the first time in 170 years. The erotic works, which have been hidden away in a section called l'enfer,...

Ségolène Royal Blasts Ex-Lover in New Book

Dec 4, 2007 9:43 AM CST

Ségolène Royal Blasts Ex-Lover in New Book

French prez candidate blames her party for her election loss

(Newser) - A new book by Ségolène Royal hits stores in France today, writes the Times of London, and the unsuccessful presidential candidate apologizes for nothing in a fierce, at times vengeful 330 pages. Royal directs much of the blame for her defeat at her own Socialist party and particularly...

Sarkozy Shrugs Off Jewish Flap, Visits Algeria

Dec 3, 2007 1:32 PM CST

Sarkozy Shrugs Off Jewish Flap, Visits Algeria

Case closed, says French prez, focusing on energy contracts

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy downplayed an Algerian minister's comment last week that he gained the French presidency through a "Jewish lobby that has a monopoly on French industry" and arrived in the country today, the AP reports. On a 3-day visit to the former colony, Sarkozy hopes to lock up a...

French Attempt Sarko-Free Day

OPINION

Nov 30, 2007 1:50 PM CST

French Attempt Sarko-Free Day

Journalists and academics aim to take the 'omnipresident' down a notch

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy has earned his nickname of “omnipresident,” engineering his press coverage so deftly that a group of academics and journalists declared today “No-Sarko Day,” Jason Farago writes in the Guardian. The French president has spent the 6 months since he took office burnishing his image...