France

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Huge Swath of France Smells Like Rotten Eggs

No, not permanently

(Newser) - Insert Pepé Le Pew joke here: The northwestern part of France currently smells like rotten eggs, reports Reuters . The bizarre aroma is the result of a non-lethal leak of the gas Mercaptan at a chemicals factory about 75 miles northwest of Paris. Though the leak occurred yesterday, winds carried the...

22 Hostages Still Missing in Algeria: Report

...as standoff between military, militants continues

(Newser) - After the Algerian military launched an attack on militants holding hostages at a gas field, numbers remain hazy, but Reuters reports that the whereabouts of 22 of those hostages—14 Japanese and eight Norwegians—remain unknown. Algerian special forces continue to surround the site, a local insider tells Reuters, adding...

Early Reports: 35 Hostages Killed in Algeria Crisis

Many had already escaped, according to earlier reports

(Newser) - Some 35 hostages and 15 Islamist militants in the Algerian crisis have reportedly been killed in a helicopter attack launched by the Algerian military, reports the AP . Those numbers, however, were released by the militants, who also announced that seven of the 41 hostages taken, including two Americans, are still...

Germany to Withdraw 300 Tons of Gold From US

Country's reserves stored mostly abroad

(Newser) - Germany boasts gold reserves worth $183 billion—but two-thirds of the stuff is kept outside the country. Now, the country's central bank is set to make a heck of a withdrawal, including some 300 tons currently in a vault under Manhattan, stored by the Federal Reserve Bank of New...

France Launches Mali Ground Offensive

Troops will be fighting Islamist rebels within hours, military says

(Newser) - France has launched a ground operation in Mali, and its troops should be in direct combat with radical Islamists "within hours," military officials tell the AP . The incursion began overnight, with troops pressing from the capital into rebel-held northern territory. France also announced yesterday that it was boosting...

Why the US Must Help France Save Mali
 Why the US Must Help 
 France Save Mali 
OPINION
Jan 15, 2013 12:54 PM CST

Why the US Must Help France Save Mali

If not, it will become haven for terrorists: Vicki Huddleston

(Newser) - The US is reportedly going to provide more tactical help to French troops trying to keep Islamist rebels from overtaking Mali, and a former US ambassador to the country says it can't come too soon. Helping France succeed is "in our national interest," argues Vicki Huddleston in...

US to Step Up Aid to Mali Campaign

French-led mission will get US drones, airlifts, but no troops

(Newser) - The US is planning to step up its support for France's campaign against Islamist rebels in Mali, reports the Los Angeles Times . The US military, which is already providing the French with intelligence help, plans to help move hundreds more French troops to the African country and officials say...

France: Mali Campaign Over Within 'Weeks'

But Islamist militants seized another town today

(Newser) - France's foreign minister is optimistic about the campaign it started in Mali Friday, saying it will be over within "weeks." He rejected a comparison to the Afghanistan war, adding, "we have no intention of staying forever," the BBC reports. The country's defense minister was...

French Rally Against Gay Marriage

Government says huge Paris protest won't affect its plans

(Newser) - As French troops battled Islamist rebels in Mali, hundreds of thousands of their countrymen had gay marriage on their minds instead. Huge crowds joined a rally next to the Eiffel tower yesterday to protest the government's plans to give gay people the right to marry and to adopt children,...

African Troops Join Battle for Mali

11 civilians dead in first days of fighting

(Newser) - The first days of the battle against Islamic extremists holding Mali's north have left at least 11 civilians dead, including three children who threw themselves into a river and drowned trying to avoid falling bombs, a presidential spokesman said today as troops from Mali's neighbors are expected to...

French Strikes Kill 100 in Mali

Militants, soldiers killed in strategic town of Konna

(Newser) - French airstrikes in Mali have killed more than 100 people in the key town of Konna, including Islamist militants and government soldiers, Reuters reports. "We have driven them out, we are effectively in Konna," said a Malian official after 30 vehicles carrying rebels were reportedly bombed. "We...

France Thinks Hostage Dead After Botched Somali Raid

But his captors dispute the claim

(Newser) - French commandos launched a raid in Somalia today to free a hostage held since 2009, but it appears to have ended disastrously: The French government says the hostage, identified as Denis Allex, was killed during the raid by his al-Shabab captors, reports AP . The militant group, however, claims that Allex...

France Launches Airstrikes in Mali

President Hollande says terrorists 'threaten us all'

(Newser) - France launched airstrikes today to help the government of Mali defeat al-Qaeda-linked militants who captured more ground this week, dramatically raising the stakes in the battle for this vast desert nation. French President Francois Hollande said the "terrorist groups, drug traffickers, and extremists" in northern Mali "show a...

Putin to Depardieu: You Are Now Russian!

No word on whether actor, upset over French tax plan, accepts the offer

(Newser) - Gerard Depardieu, who has waged a battle against a proposed super-tax on millionaires in his native country of France, has been granted Russian citizenship. A brief announcement on the Kremlin website revealed that President Vladimir Putin, who had previously expressed solidarity with Depardieu , signed the citizenship grant today. A representative...

France Council Blocks 75% Tax on Millionaires

Government plans to resubmit plan soon

(Newser) - French President Francois Hollande's controversial plan to levy a 75% tax on income above 1 million euro ($1.3 million) has been rejected by a constitutional council, reports Reuters . The tax had been set to go into effect in 2013, despite the protests of many the nation's high...

US Closes Embassy in Central African Republic

Country's president seeks help against rebels

(Newser) - With rebels advancing in the Central African Republic, the US has evacuated its ambassador and his staff and closed its embassy in the country. Washington is urging Americans not to visit the country, where violence is surging, the AP reports. Rebels have captured 10 northern towns, and locals in the...

French Secret for Long Life: Stinky Cheese
 French Secret 
 for Long Life: 
 Stinky Cheese? 
in case you missed it
Dec 22, 2012 7:30 AM CST

French Secret for Long Life: Stinky Cheese?

Researchers investigate 'French paradox' of longevity

(Newser) - It's packed with fat and salt—yet a moldy blue cheese could help you live longer, say researchers. Though the French enjoy a diet high in saturated fats, its women share the title of Europe's longest-living, with a life expectancy of 85.3 years. That prompted researchers to...

'Pathetic' Depardieu Quits France in Tax Rage

Trades barbs with PM, turns in passport after he moved to Belgium

(Newser) - For those American liberals who threaten to move to France should a presidential election not go their way, Gerard Depardieu is noisily heading in the opposite direction and burning his bridges as he goes: The actor is publicly surrendering his French passport and lambasting socialist PM Jean-Marc Ayrault, who had...

18th-Century Chateau Razed 'By Mistake'

Workers got it confused with a smaller building

(Newser) - Residents of a sleepy French village in Bordeaux have been left dumbfounded after discovering their local 18th-century chateau was completely bulldozed "by mistake." The mayor's office in Yvrac said today that workers who were hired to renovate the grand 140,000-sqaure-foot estate in November and raze a...

French Sperm Quality Takes Huge Hit

 French Sperm Quality 
 Takes Huge Hit 
new study
Dec 5, 2012 7:20 AM CST

French Sperm Quality Takes Huge Hit

Concentration of sperm in semen falls 32.3% over 16 years: study

(Newser) - The good news: The male population of France is still fertile. The bad: Its sperm isn't nearly what it once was. A 16-year study of 26,600 of the country's men found their sperm count has sharply fallen, with the number of millions of spermatozoa per milliliter down...

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