If all publicity is good publicity…

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 23:10:17 +0000

An internet company’s publicity stunt to distribute free money on the city’s streets over the weekend incited a near-riot when the event had to be scrapped after thousands of people showed up for the giveaway.

Video footage showed people brawling in the streets near the Eiffel Tower, turning over a car, knocking down street signs and hurtling rocks as police in riot gear moved in. Nine people were arrested, according to news reports.

French intellectual's death leaves giant shoes to fill

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:18:10 +0000

In tributes acknowledging his contribution to intellectual life in France and the world, Claude Levi-Strauss has been called a “giant,” and “one of the greatest ethnologists of all time.” President Nicolas Sarkozy described the centenarian who was regarded as the father of modern anthropology and who died just weeks shy of his 101st birthday, as “a tireless humanist," a curious and free-thinker who was always in search of knowledge.

French president's son won't seek business district chairmanship

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:29:14 +0000

A composed and bespectacled Jean Sarkozy announced during a television interview that he would no longer seek to head the agency that managed one of Europe’s most important business districts. He said he did not want his election tainted by suspicions of nepotism. He will seek an administrative role instead.

Cries of nepotism as Sarkozy's son, 23, is considered for top post

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 05:18:36 +0000

A 23-year-old second-year law school student is being considered for the job of leading an agency that manages an important financial district that is home to some of Europe's biggest businesses.

But he's not just any 23-year-old. His last name happens to be Sarkozy and his father happens to be the French president.

French culture minister stands his ground, warns against confusing pedophilia with homosexuality

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 17:57:30 +0000

The uproar started with the French culture minister defending Roman Polanski following the filmmaker's arrest in Zurich, but has now escalated to insinuations that Frederic Mitterand is a pedophile.

Calls are mounting for his resignation, especially by political rivals, over a passage he wrote in a book in 2005 describing how he paid for sex with “boys” in Thailand. But the minister said he will not resign.

Lessons learned while admiring France's political heritage

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:25:13 +0000

Millions of French (and perhaps a few thousand lucky tourists) collectively peered under their government's skirt over the weekend for a better understanding of how it all works, as part of the 26^th "national heritage day."

The doors to government offices usually firmly locked and guarded were flung open to allow 12 million people — according to the Cultural Ministry — to wander through.

Grandpa and grandma Sarko? Some don't think so.

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:13:14 +0000

News that President Nicolas Sarkozy will be a grandfather soon came on the heels of a recent health scare that left him hospitalized overnight after he collapsed while jogging on a hot day.

Draft law proposes that hostages to pay rescue costs

Wed, 29 Jul 2009 22:47:13 +0000

The French government is exploring legislation that would require French citizens who travel to risky regions even after being told about the dangers to repay the costs of repatriating them in an emergency, according to a draft law introduced by Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.

President Sarkozy discharged from hospital, told to rest

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:19:35 +0000

President Nicolas Sarkozy was released from the hospital late Monday morning after undergoing various cardiac tests that confirmed he did not have an irregular heartbeat or any other heart ailment with lasting consequence, his office said in a statement.

Heat as he exercised outdoors in high temperatures and fatigue because of a heavy workload contributed to Sunday's episode where he became ill while jogging, the updated statement said. He was rushed by helicopter to the military hospital Val-de-Grace where he spent Sunday night under observation.

President Nicolas Sarkozy hospitalized after "falling ill"

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 21:47:03 +0000

President Nicolas Sarkozy fell ill while jogging and has been hospitalized for tests, according to an official statement from the Elysee Palace.

In a terse statement only three sentences long, the government said Sarkozy was being cared for under the supervision of his own doctor and undergoing supplementary tests.

An iceberg in the Seine is just the tip of the campaign

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 11:58:46 +0000

An iceberg floating on the Seine against an Eiffel tower backdrop, especially at the start of summer, is certain to raise some eyebrows. And that’s exactly what Greenpeace was counting on when it inflated, and later removed, a 52-foot-high fake iceberg in the river earlier this week in order to draw attention to global warming. A simple message was aimed at President Nicolas Sarkozy and the other leaders attending the G8 summit in L’Aquila, Italy: “Climate leadership now.”

Relatives look for answers after plane crashes

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:17:11 +0000

As investigators begin the task of determining the cause of the crash of the Yemenia Airbus 310 flight, angry relatives of the victims who gathered at airports to await news were questioning the airline's safety record.

France to study possible ban on burka; government announces new appointees

Wed, 24 Jun 2009 10:23:45 +0000

At the request of French parliamentarians, the government has announced its desire to set up a commission to consider a law that would ban the full Islamic veil worn by some Muslim women on the basis that the burka “debases” women and goes against the country’s strict notions of secularism.

Environmentally conscious film is said to help Greens

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 10:44:27 +0000

A new movie by Yann Arthus-Bertrand called “Home” is being credited — or blamed — for giving an unfair advantage to the Greens in the European Parliamentary elections.

For some, a D-Day history lesson of a lifetime

Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:14:32 +0000

Looking out of the window of the chartered bus, Curtis Young visualized what might have taken place beyond the thick hedgerows after the troops landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944. The full weight of it would hit him later, at the American military cemetery at Colleville-sur-Mer where 9,387 American war-dead are buried.

“I see soldiers, running, scared,” Young said, surveying the landscape through his historian’s eyes as a motorcycle police escort led the way for the last portion of the trip.

Obama's outreach: The Muslims of Paris

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 19:31:26 +0000

At the main mosque in Paris, which serves as both a cultural and religious center, customers at the adjoining restaurant enjoyed mint tea and pastries at the outdoor cafe while on the other side of the sprawling building women in headscarves stepped through a doorway for wadu (washing before ritual prayer).

Church service tribute to flight victims draws a crowd

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 02:04:54 +0000

Two days after Air France Flight 447 crashed in the Atlantic, President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy joined grieving relatives and a throng of uniformed Air France employees at a church service at Notre Dame Cathedral to honor the victims.

During the ceremony, which was closed to media, candles were lit in memory of each victim lost in the crash. Prayers, texts and condolence messages were delivered in various languages, seeming to reflect the diversity of the 228 victims.

Air France plane from Rio to Paris goes missing

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 13:32:25 +0000

It’s not a headline you ever want to read but this morning news outlets are reporting that an Air France passenger plane traveling from Brazil to Paris has gone missing. Le Monde newspaper reported that the company has said there is little hope for those on board.

Can Bill Clinton change Haiti?

Wed, 20 May 2009 01:17:14 +0000

The choice of Bill Clinton as special U.N. envoy to Haiti is a good one. The country needs any help that could raise its status from being the poorest country in the Western hemisphere (the description that usually follows in many news stories at the first mention of Haiti). It may also help in that stories coming from there won't necessarily be solely about political unrest or natural disasters. Let's imagine President Clinton invites potential investors for a golf outing on the island and this makes the news.

By decree, transsexuality is no longer a mental illness

Mon, 18 May 2009 15:36:19 +0000

The French Ministry of Health has announced that transsexuality will no longer be considered a mental illness.

LGBT activists lauded Saturday’s announcement on the eve of the International Day Against Homophobia — the theme of which this year focused on transphobia — saying that the declassification was a step forward in the fight against the discrimination and violence committed against the transgender community.