Nicolas Sarkozy

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Eat Cake? Let Them Shop on Sundays
Eat Cake? Let Them Shop
on Sundays

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,"...

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

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
French Attempt Sarko-Free Day
OPINION

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...

Massive Paris Police Action Quells Riots

But amateur video contradicts cops' story about boys' death

(Newser) - The Paris suburb of Villiers-le-Bel was relatively calm last night as hundreds of police dressed in riot gear restored order and a helicopter with searchlights hovered over the town. France's interior minister visited the suburb late last night, where a few rioters burned cars but no mass action took place,...

Sarkozy Vows to Punish Rioters
Sarkozy Vows to Punish Rioters

Sarkozy Vows to Punish Rioters

Attacks against officers won't be tolerated, he says

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy vowed to bring armed rioters to justice after visiting wounded policemen in the hospital today, saying, “Opening fire at officials has a name—attempted murder.” More police were deployed last night, bringing violence down, but buildings and cars were burned throughout Paris and Toulouse, the BBC...

TV Babe Helps Sarko Rebound
TV Babe Helps Sarko Rebound

TV Babe Helps Sarko Rebound

Newly divorced prez turns to half of French TV's 'Ken and Barbie'

(Newser) - It didn’t take Nicolas Sarkozy long to get over his recent divorce—the French president is already in a “close and loving relationship” with star journalist Laurence Ferrari, according to the Daily Mail. It began when Ferrari interviewed Sarkozy on the campaign trail, creating visible chemistry. “They...

Airbus Lands $17B in Chinese Orders on Sarkozy Visit

French net $30B total; prez seeks higher yuan

(Newser) - French companies, led by Airbus, have landed $30 billion in deals during President Nicolas Sarkozy’s first visit to Beijing, where he urged the Chinese to accelerate appreciation of the yuan. The aerospace giant’s $17-billion order put Airbus back in the lead over competitor Boeing for orders this year,...

Chavez Freezes Out Colombia
Chavez Freezes Out Colombia

Chavez Freezes Out Colombia

Puts brakes on bilateral ties over talks with rebels

(Newser) - Venezuela's volatile President Hugo Chavez says he is freezing ties with neighboring Colombia, insulted by Bogota's decision to ditch Chavez as a negotiator with Marxist guerrillas who have been holding hostages for years. Colombia's President Alvaro Uribe accused Chavez of favoring the rebels and overstepping his authority. Chavez called the...

Low-Rise Paris Mulls High-Rise Revolution

Mayor, president team up to advocate new skyline for capital

(Newser) - The mayor of Paris, Europe's most densely populated city, has unveiled an ambitious new plan to reinvent the city's skyline. Bertrand Delanoë wants to build a collection of skyscrapers in the north and east of the city, where a tall building hasn't been completed since 1977. Despite Delanoë's popularity,...

French Attack Internet Piracy
French Attack Internet Piracy

French Attack Internet Piracy

Move to stem high-tech theft raises worries about civil liberties

(Newser) - French internet pirates, beware. Big Brother is watching. Or, he will be if a three-strikes-and-you’re-out industry proposal backed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy moves forward, the Financial Times reports. Under the plan, ISPs would forward data on users illegally sharing files to the government, which could terminate problem internet...

Sorbonne Shut Down After Protests Turn Violent

Protesting students attacked students trying to make class

(Newser) - Administrators of the Sorbonne in Paris shut down the historic university today after clashes took place between student protesters and those trying to go to class, AP reports. School officials say the protesters, who object to a new French law that could lead to higher tuition, assaulted other students. The...

Chavez Fired as Hostage Mediator
Chavez Fired
as Hostage Mediator

Chavez Fired as Hostage Mediator

Colombian prez says he overstepped boundaries

(Newser) - Colombia ended Hugo Chavez's try at freeing 45 hostages from Marxist rebels today, Reuters reports. The Venezuelan prez had been brokering their release for weeks when he apparently breached protocol by talking to a Colombian general. "Can you imagine (Russia's president) calling the chairman of the U.S. chiefs...

Sarko: 'No Surrender' to Strikers
Sarko: 'No Surrender' to Strikers

Sarko: 'No Surrender' to Strikers

French prez vows his reforms will not stop

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy, in his first public comments on the matter, said today he will not back down from pension reform in the face of a week-long transit strike, the AP reports. "France needs reforms to meet the challenges imposed on it by the world," he said as he...

Civil Servants Join French Strikes
Civil Servants Join French Strikes

Civil Servants Join French Strikes

Hundreds of thousands participate in one-day work action

(Newser) - As the transit strike in France entered its seventh day today, hundreds of thousands of civil servants staged a one-day strike of their own to protest job cuts and demand pay increases. The walkout by teachers, nurses, air-traffic controllers and others further paralyzed the nation and increased pressure on President...

Transit Strike Infuriates French
Transit Strike Infuriates French

Transit Strike Infuriates French

Sarkozy gamble may pay off as waits out unpopular strike

(Newser) - Anti-union sentiment rose as France's deeply unpopular transit strike entered its second day today, with most service on the national railways and the Paris metro  suspended. Evidence  is mounting, Reuters reports, that Nicolas Sarkozy will win this round, with union leaders already hinting at compromise, though they have not yet...

Transit Strike Cripples France
Transit Strike Cripples France

Transit Strike Cripples France

Unions seek exit from huge work action

(Newser) - In France, the biggest strike since Nicolas Sarkozy's election paralyzed transportation services from national rail to the Paris metro today. Massive traffic jams, long waits for the few subway trains running, and fleets of bicycles were in evidence in the first day of what is seen as a critical showdown...

French Rail Workers Strike
French Rail Workers Strike

French Rail Workers Strike

Utility workers, teachers, civil servants plan strikes too; Sarkozy vows to fight

(Newser) - French rail workers tested Sarkozy's mettle today by walking off the job in defense of their pensions, the BBC reports. Only 90 of France's 700 high-speed trains will run tomorrow and subway service in Paris will be dead, according to the metro operator. "Tomorrow is going to be a...

Sarkozy, Unions in Showdown
Sarkozy, Unions in Showdown

Sarkozy, Unions in Showdown

Strikes starting tonight will test French president's reform resolve, shape tenure

(Newser) - French railway workers will walk off the job again tonight, this time in an open-ended strike with some backup from subway, bus, electrical, and gas workers, all angry over Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal to end their special pension rights. The strike is expected to test the president's will for reforms aimed...

Sarko Vows a Friendlier France
Sarko Vows a Friendlier France

Sarko Vows a Friendlier France

He expresses love of America before joint session of Congress

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy reaffirmed his love for America before a joint session of Congress today and pledged that France will be a "friend of the United States." Sarkozy was greeted warmly with standing ovations in a wide-ranging speech that touched on the American dream, the dangers posed...

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