France

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Strikes Costing France $557M a Day

But pension protests beginning to wane

(Newser) - French workers fighting a plan to raise the retirement age to 62 are costing the country's economy over $500 million a day, the nation's finance minister warned yesterday. Oil refineries have been blocked for nearly two weeks and uncollected garbage has been piling up in several cities—but the protest...

French Senate Approves Raising Retirement Age

Unions say they'll never accept it

(Newser) - The chaos in France won't be subsiding any time soon: The French Senate today approved Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, reports Bloomberg . That all but makes certain the measure will become law, possibly next week—a fact that doesn't mean much to the...

French Cops Force Open Blockaded Fuel Depot

Workers have been camped at site for 10 days

(Newser) - French riot police forced open a strategic fuel refinery today that had been a bastion of resistance to President Sarkozy's bid to raise the retirement age to 62, pushing striking workers aside with shields in a bid to end gasoline shortages. The operation came as the French Senate prepared to...

French Protesters Block Airport
 French Protesters Block Airport 
Oct 21, 2010 9:38 AM CDT

French Protesters Block Airport

Lady Gaga cancels pair of concerts in furor over retirement age

(Newser) - Hundreds of workers barricaded Marseille’s main airport for three hours this morning, furious over today's Senate vote on raising France’s retirement age to 62. Meanwhile, protesters used vehicles to block highways and students blockaded a Paris high school. A quarter of French gas stations are dry amid the...

Sarkozy Pleads for Calm as France Erupts
 France Erupts as 1M Protest 
Oct 20, 2010 7:37 AM CDT

France Erupts as 1M Protest

President promises to get gas flowing again, clamp down on 'troublemakers'

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants his striking, rioting countrymen to calm down, act responsibly—and work until they are 62. He issued an appeal for calm yesterday as protests over plans to raise the retirement age continued to rock the country, the Guardian reports. Sarkozy insisted that he has no...

Britain to Scrap Aircraft Carrier Jets

British Navy will host French, US planes on carriers

(Newser) - The British Navy will effectively abandon jet units on aircraft carriers as part of cutbacks at the Defense Ministry, the Telegraph reports. The cuts mandate that British aircraft carriers use French and US jets outsourced to fly missions for the Royal Navy. Though two new aircraft carriers are in production,...

French Youth Join Fight Against Working 'Til Age 62

More than 200 high schools were disrupted yesterday

(Newser) - Protests over plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 have brought much of France to a standstill, and authorities fear the civil unrest is just getting started. Young people have joined the strikes and protests that have disrupted daily life and a wide swath of industry. More...

Latest French Gaffe: 'Genital Prints'

Nation chortles over latest slip of the tongue

(Newser) - The French can't seem to get their heads out of their crotch. Just last month a former French justice minister talked about " fellatio " when she intended to discuss "inflation." Now, a current minister has referred in a joint TV and radio interview to "genital prints....

Bardot Hot for French Presidency

Nicolas Sarkozy 'takes me for an imbecile,' says animal rights campaigner

(Newser) - France's beloved former sex kitten Brigitte Bardot is threatening to run for the French presidency since leader Nicolas Sarkozy "took me for an imbecile" over her demands for animal rights. The Ecology Alliance party has asked the 76-year-old star to run for France's top slot in 2012. "We...

New Terror Threat Targeting France

Intercepted message uncovers rumblings from al-Qaeda in Arab Peninsula

(Newser) - Saudi intelligence agents have warned European leaders of yet another new terror threat, this time from al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and apparently aimed particularly at France. The new information was discovered in an intercepted message indicating that the terror branch was active or about to become activated. "The...

French Hate Idea of Working 'Til Age 62
 French Hate Idea of 
 Working 'Til Age 62 
huge protests
Oct 16, 2010 4:30 PM CDT

French Hate Idea of Working 'Til Age 62

Sarkozy wants to raise retirement age

(Newser) - Judging by the throngs on the streets of France today—somewhere between 800,000 and 3 million, depending on who's counting—it's safe to say that Nicolas Sarkozy's plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 is not all that popular. (Another day of protests is set for...

Sarkozy Will Go Halvsies on That Digital Song

France will subsidize downloads, fight piracy

(Newser) - France is launching what Ars Technica thinks is a "novel" approach to steer young people away from musical piracy. It's going to help them pay for legal downloads. The government has earmarked $70 million over the next two years for half-priced download cards usable on a number of online...

Vatican Nixed Carla Bruni Visit
 Vatican Nixed Carla Bruni Visit 
Oct 15, 2010 2:10 AM CDT

Vatican Nixed Carla Bruni Visit

Pope 'feared press would print racy photos'

(Newser) - The Vatican had a request for Nicolas Sarkozy ahead of the French president's meeting with Pope Benedict XVI last week: Leave your wife at home. Sources say that the pontiff feared that the Italian press would pair his photo with pictures of a scantily-clad or nude Carla Bruni from her...

Obama Calls on China to Free Nobel Winner

Pressure mounts on China to let Liu Xiaobo go

(Newser) - President Obama called on China to release Liu Xiaobo today, after the jailed dissident became the latest Nobel Peace Prize winner. “China has made dramatic progress in economic reform and improving the lives of its people,” Obama said, “but this award reminds us that political reform has...

Treasure Hunters Flock to Sleepy French Town

But Rennes-le-Chateau locals think they're 'pitiable'

(Newser) - No treasure has ever been found in Rennes-le-Chateau. But Remy Martinez is convinced it’s there. He believes, he tells the LA Times , that Visigoths hid vast wealth under the tiny French town, in an underground labyrinth that also contains an ancient Jewish temple and the body of Jesus Christ...

France Busts 12 in Terror Sweeps

Separate raids linked to Afghan recruiters, arms trafficking

(Newser) - Authorities in southern France have arrested 12 people in sweeps against suspected Islamic militant networks, including three men linked to recruiting fighters for Afghanistan. A national police official says the arrests were part of two apparently separate counterterrorism case files. Firearms were seized in at least one of the ongoing...

SocGen Rogue Trader Guilty; Must Repay $6.7B

Kerviel will serve 3 years in prison in bank meltdown

(Newser) - A trader who brought Societe Generale to the brink of collapse in 2008 has been sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to repay the $6.7 billion his unauthorized trades cost the French bank. Jerome Kerviel, 33, was found guilty of breach of trust and computer hacking and...

UK, France May Combine Nukes in Budget Move

Nations might collaborate on single nuclear sub patrol

(Newser) - Sweeping cuts to military budgets in both countries are forcing old rivals Britain and France to consider adopting history's first nuke-share program. The idea of a shared nuclear deterrent—dismissed as politically unfeasible earlier this year—will be back on the table at the annual Franco-British summit next month, according...

Court Finds Google Defamed Sex Offender

Suggest function linked his name with 'rapist'

(Newser) - Apparently Google’s auto-suggest function—you know, the one that tries to guess what you might be searching for as you type—can commit defamation. The Superior Court of Paris has convicted Google of “public slandering of a private individual” after a convicted sex offender discovered that typing his...

French Pol Confuses Inflation With Fellatio

Rachida Dati makes fumble on the radio

(Newser) - Paging Mrs. Malaprop: French politician Rachida Dati confused business with, ahem, pleasure yesterday during a radio interview. When asked about profiteering by overseas investment funds, she said, "I see some of them looking for returns of 20 or 25%, at a time when fellatio is almost non-existent." The...

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