France

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Ivory Coast: UN Fires on Gbagbo Troops as France Joins in
 UN Fires at Gbagbo Forces 
Apr 4, 2011 3:45 PM CDT

UN Fires at Gbagbo Forces

France gives military OK to take out his heavy weapons

(Newser) - The United Nations and France continued their crackdown in Ivory Coast today, with a UN helicopter firing on Laurent Gbagbo's forces and Nicolas Sarkozy giving his troops the OK to take out the entrenched strongman's heavy weapons, reports the AP . The UN said it acted to stop Gbagbo troops from...

Hi-Tech Cheating Scandal Shakes Chess World

French federation suspends grandmasters using texts, computers

(Newser) - Three leading French chess players have been suspended in a cheating scandal that has rocked the usually sedate world of international chess. The French chess federation accuses the trio of using a complex text message-based system to cheat at the Chess Olympiad in Siberia last fall, reports the BBC . One...

Same Nations Shelling Gadhafi Peddled Him Weapons

Before the uprising, France, UK, Italy and Russia all vied to make sales

(Newser) - Some of the very same European countries now leading the charge to destroy Moammar Gadhafi’s weapons were pushing each other out of the way to sell him those same weapons just months earlier, according to a survey of international arms sales. France, the UK, Russia, and Italy have all...

Libya Allies Bicker Over Who Will Lead

US calls 'not it'

(Newser) - The coalition policing Libya’s skies is facing an internal conflict, as well: it can’t agree on who will lead the effort going forward. The US is currently in charge, but President Obama has made it clear that he’d like to hand off control . But to who? The...

Site Takes On World Champs of Pessimism: the French

Professor's evidence counters doomsayers

(Newser) - Can the Internet cure pessimism? A French professor hopes so, and is launching a site designed to battle the blues in France. It's aimed at "les declinologists," who fear that French culture and society are in their death throes. A poll early this year found the French to...

Why Are France, UK Leading War in Libya?

Not national interest, the real reason is about credibility

(Newser) - How did Libya, a desert nation of 6.5 million people and less than 2% of the world's oil reserves, become a French and British war? Michael Elliot in Time checks off a bunch of wrong answers first: No, the outcome in Libya is not a vital national interest of...

US Fires Its First Shots Against Gadhafi

US launches missiles; French jet takes out tank

(Newser) - The US has joined the fight in Libya: American ships (and one British submarine) fired more than 110 Tomahawk missiles at 20 radar and communication sites inside the country, reports ABC . It's the first phase of what's being called Operation Odyssey Dawn, with the current focus on taking out Moammar...

French Fighter Jets Start Patrols Over Libya

Move comes after Ghadafi again defies UN

(Newser) - French military jets have begun patrols over the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, the first tangible sign of the promised no-fly zone, reports the BBC . French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced the move after an international summit in Paris. Earlier, Moammar Gadhafi reversed himself and said he wouldn't abide by the UN...

'48 Hours to Worse Than Chernobyl'


 '48 Hours to Worse 
 Than Chernobyl' 
UPDATED
Mar 17, 2011 7:54 AM CDT

'48 Hours to Worse Than Chernobyl'

The Japanese have lost control, officials warn

(Newser) - Officials around the world are increasingly concerned that Japan's mounting nuclear disaster is out of control. "It would be hard to describe how alarming this is right now," an American official tells ABC News . He warns that unless Japan can get all of its crippled nuclear plants under...

France First to Recognize Libyan Rebels

...as NATO meets to discuss no-fly zone

(Newser) - France today became the first country to recognize the Libyan National Council as the only legitimate representative of the Libyan people, following a meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and two representatives from the upstart government, the New York Times reports. France says it will soon engage ambassadors with the rebel group,...

'Spectacular' Cyberattack Hit French Government

Chinese Internet addresses cited in attack seeking G20 docs

(Newser) - Hackers have broken into French finance ministry computers in a “spectacular” attack, prompting the government to take 10,000 machines offline, AFP reports. The attackers reportedly sought information "related to the French presidency of the G20 and to international economic affairs," says a security official. The cyberattack...

Former French President Jacques Chirac to Finally Stand Trial
 Chirac Finally Standing Trial 
Mar 6, 2011 4:18 PM CST

Chirac Finally Standing Trial

Former French prez goes before court tomorrow

(Newser) - After years of claiming presidential immunity to avoid legal proceedings, Jacques Chirac is finally facing a court. Tomorrow, the former president becomes France's first former head of state to go on trial since its Nazi-era leader was exiled—that is, if the whole case isn't derailed by a last-minute protest...

France Launching Veil Ban
 France Launching Veil Ban 
Mar 4, 2011 3:21 AM CST

France Launching Veil Ban

Women who refuse to remove face coverings will be fined

(Newser) - France's veil ban is taking effect next month, making it illegal for women to wear the full-face Islamic veil in any public area, including the street. Offenders can be ordered to the nearest police station to remove the veil or pay a $200 fine. Veil-wearers can also be ordered to...

Galliano to Stand Trial for Slurs

Christian Dior insists runway show will go on

(Newser) - Fashion designer John Galliano has lost his job for making anti-Semitic slurs ; he may now lose his freedom as well. French prosecutors have announced that Galliano will stand trial on charges of making racist insults in public, a charge that carries a maximum penalty of six months in prison and...

France Seizes Booted Tunisia's Leader's Jet

EU freezes Ben Ali's assets

(Newser) - Life isn't getting any easier for ousted Tunisian leader Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. French authorities seized a private jet believed to belong to the Ben Ali family yesterday after three organizations launched a legal case accusing the strongman of corruption, the BBC reports. European Union foreign ministers have agreed...

Carla Bruni: I'm Not a Lefty Any More

Sarkozy can now count on wife's vote

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy and Carla Bruni celebrate 3 years of marriage this week, and she's giving him quite the anniversary present: She'll probably vote for him next year. Bruni—who supported the conservative French president's Socialist rival in 2007 and told interviewers two years ago she was "instinctively left-wing"—...

French Train Firm Apologizes for Role in Holocaust

But survivors are underwhelmed

(Newser) - France's state railway company has apologized for its role in deporting Jews to be slaughtered by the Nazis during World War II—but the move seems only to have caused more outrage. "In the name of the SNCF, I bow down before the victims, the survivors, the children of...

Bin Laden Threatens Hostages
Bin Laden Threatens Hostages
Jan 21, 2011 11:27 AM CST

Bin Laden Threatens Hostages

French captives will die unless troops leave Afghanistan

(Newser) - Osama bin Laden has released a new audiotape imploring France to withdraw its troops from Muslim lands in exchange for the release of French nationals held hostage in Niger. “President Nicolas Sarkozy’s refusal to remove his forces from Afghanistan is nothing but a green light for killing the...

French Icons Can Smoke Again—in Posters

Government softens anti-smoking law

(Newser) - French lawmakers have decided that Jean-Paul Sartre, Coco Chanel, and other long-dead icons can have their cigarettes back. Smoldering cigarettes and pipes had been airbrushed out of old photos and vintage movie posters out of fear of breaking a 1991 law that banned the "direct or indirect" promotion of...

Far-Right French Boss Quits With Anti-Semitic Dig

Jean-Marie Le Pen passes mantle to daughter, Marine, with parting shot

(Newser) - France's controversial far-right political party leader passed on his ultra-conservative mantle to his daughter yesterday—just minutes before unleashing another anti-Semitic dig. Jean-Marie Le Pen, who has infuriated the French left and center for over four decades, handed the reins of the National Front to 42-year-old Marine Le Pen after...

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