France

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UK Docs Call for Smaller Wine Bottle

Medical journal weighs in with plan to curb Brits' boozing

(Newser) - Britons are downing too much wine, the British Medical Journal concludes, and it has a solution: smaller bottles. “Once two of us have had a glass each, it’s all too tempting to finish the bottle then and there,” wrote one doctor of the standard 750-mililiter size. One...

In French Politics, Minorities Need Not Apply

Despite large African population, no black politicians hold high office

(Newser) - Eying Barack Obama's run for the US presidency, some in France are wondering why their own politics are so lily-white. Despite a large population of African immigrants and their descendants, no black or Arab mayors are in office, Bloomberg reports. "In business, sports, music, entertainment, you find diversity in...

Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour
Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour
Feb 27, 2008 10:08 AM CST

Paris-Berlin Relations Turn Sour

Tempers fraying in Merkel's camp after 2 high-level cancellations

(Newser) - Only a week after Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel called off a scheduled meeting, France and Germany's finance ministers canceled their own summit yesterday, reports AFP. While nobody wants to say that the leaders of Europe's two largest countries are getting testy with each other, disagreements over economic policy and...

Not Your Parents' Russian Vodka
Not Your Parents' Russian Vodka
Feb 25, 2008 8:15 PM CST

Not Your Parents' Russian Vodka

Premium imports, in fancy bottles, begin to arrive on US shores

(Newser) - If a shot of Georgi isn’t your style, Russian vodka makers are rushing to sell a new wave of premium bottles, the Los Angeles Times reports. Vodkas from France, Finland, and the US have gained popularity stateside over the past few years, but buyers couldn't find anything Russian other...

Girl Gangs Clash in Paris
Girl Gangs Clash in Paris
Feb 23, 2008 2:20 PM CST

Girl Gangs Clash in Paris

Cops shocked by girl gangs fighting with knives, tear gas

(Newser) - Paris cops recently broke up a suburban street-fight between rival gangs—but this time the gangsters were girls, the Times of London reports. "They had knives, screwdrivers, sticks and teargas and they were really going for each other," one officer said. Girl violence has spiked 140% in France...

SocGen: Lax Controls Led to $7.2B Fraud

French bank says 24 internal alarms were ignored over 14 months

(Newser) - Rogue SocGen trader Jerome Kerviel, whose unauthorized deals led to a $7.2 billion loss for the French bank, continued his trading for more than a year after the first warning flag was raised in the department that was supposed to detect risky trading, reports the Wall Street Journal. Kerviel...

Arts Nazis Stole Goes on Exhibit
Arts Nazis Stole Goes on Exhibit
Feb 20, 2008 1:07 PM CST

Arts Nazis Stole Goes on Exhibit

French/Israeli exhibit looks for owners of plundered paintings

(Newser) - Authorities in France and Israel are attempting to return paintings seized by Nazis during World War II to families to whom they belong, and have organized an exhibit of 50 “orphaned” works in Israel to solicit rightful claims. The tranquil themes of many of the works in the exhibit,...

Foes Mobilize to Block Blair as First Euro Prez

Iron support for US still rankles

(Newser) - Stiff opposition is mounting against the possibility of former British prime minister Tony Blair being named the first president of Europe. A "Stop Blair" website has been launched, and a cross-party caucus in the European parliament is forming to campaign against him. A new treaty about to be ratified...

Paris Tweens Get Their SexyEdBack
Paris Tweens Get Their SexyEdBack
Feb 19, 2008 2:55 PM CST

Paris Tweens Get Their SexyEdBack

Frank exhibit touches on everything from how to kiss to icky feelings

(Newser) - Worried that the French approach to sex education isn't very, well, French, a new exhibit in a Paris science museum is teaching kids what happens when the lights go out in the City of Lights. The museum exposes the anatomical, biological, and mushy sentimental mysteries of sex through exhibits that...

US, EU States Recognize Independent Kosovo
US, EU States Recognize Independent Kosovo
UPDATED
Feb 18, 2008 11:41 AM CST

US, EU States Recognize Independent Kosovo

Spain withholds nod; prez gets ahead of US State Dept.

(Newser) - The US and major European states recognized Kosovo as an independent state today, reports Reuters. Condoleezza Rice issued an official statement several hours after President Bush jumped the gun by saying in a speech in Africa that Kosovo is "now independent." His Secretary of State said later: "...

Kosovo Independence Splits EU
Kosovo Independence Splits EU
Feb 18, 2008 6:11 AM CST

Kosovo Independence Splits EU

Some fear feisty new nation could inspire separatists elsewhere

(Newser) - A meeting of EU officials today to discuss Kosovo is likely to reveal deep-seated divisions within the European Union. While Britain, France and Germany are expected to recognize the newly independent Kosovo immediately, other states like Cyprus, Greece, Romania and Spain worry about the message such recognition will send to...

French Police Storm Housing Projects

1,000 cops bust 33 for riots in raid on immigrant communities

(Newser) - More than 1,000 French police stormed housing projects in three largely immigrant communities outside of Paris early today and arrested 33 suspects believed linked to riots in November, AP reports. Police sources said two gang leaders in particular organized the street violence that included armed rioters in what they...

Critics Blast Sarkozy's Holocaust School Plan

Prez wants each 5th grader to study a victim

(Newser) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy has sparked a new controversy: The maverick leader is  now defending his plan to have every fifth grader study a French youth killed in the Holocaust. Critics, including Jewish analysts, warn the move could traumatize students. But one historian applauded Sarkozy's "courage" and said what...

Lawyer: SocGen 'Condoned' Trader's Deals

Bank couldn't have missed billions in moves: Kerviel's rep

(Newser) - The French trader who lost Société Générale $7.2 billion acted with the tacit support of the banking giant's management, which "condoned" his trades, Jérôme Kerviel's lawyer says. The assertion contradicts executives' claims that Kerviel acted alone. "Jérôme is a smart...

Arsenic Wasn't Napoleon's Waterloo: Study

Military diet, not murderous Brits, likely killed the little emperor

(Newser) - Rumors that Napoleon Bonaparte was poisoned with arsenic have persisted since he died in exile 187 years ago on the island of St. Helena. Italian scientists now say they've established that the French emperor's death had more to do with bad French army food than murderous British guards, the Daily ...

Sarko Junior Makes His Political Debut

Jean, 21, emerges as player in dad's old suburb of Neuilly

(Newser) - Before becoming France's hyper-president, Nicolas Sarkozy was mayor of chic Parisian suburb Neuilly-sur-Seine, the country's richest town. But only weeks before a mayoral election, his hand-picked successor has withdrawn from the race after losing a powerful supporter: Jean Sarkozy, the president's own 21-year-old son. Many are now wondering about the...

SocGen to Raise $8B With Discount Shares

Replenishing capital could help struggling French bank avoid takeover

(Newser) - Societe Generale, the French bank hit with a $7 billion loss in a massive trading fraud, will replenish its cash reserves through an $8 billion stock offering at a heavily discounted rate, the company said today. Shares will be priced at €45.50, or 39% off the Feb. 8...

Trader's Alleged Accomplice Released

Second SocGen worker not charged as bank struggles to stay alive

(Newser) - Authorities today released a second suspect in the bank fraud case that cost Société Générale a dizzying $7.09 billion, the Wall Street Journal reports. But the suspect’s ex-colleague, Jerome Kerviel, remains jailed, as the bank and French officials insist he acted alone. Still, prosecutors labeled...

SocGen Trader Headed for Jail
SocGen Trader Headed for Jail
Feb 8, 2008 7:05 PM CST

SocGen Trader Headed for Jail

Paris court rules Kerviel must spend investigation behind bars

(Newser) - A Paris court ruled today that rogue trader Jérôme Kerviel should be behind bars during the remainder of the investigation into his case, the New York Times reports. Kerviel is suspected of fake trading that cost French bank Société Générale $7 billion. When he heard...

Sarko Unveils Rescue Plan for the 'Burbs

He will beef up police, boost jobs to try to conquer poverty, ethnic tension

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled a three-year plan to resurrect the poverty-torn suburbs of France, saying the "very idea of the nation is at stake." The plan calls for a major boost in police officers to crack down on pervasive drug dealers, the BBC reports, along with a bid to...

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