France

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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...

In French Town, Nudists Battle Nudists
 In French Town, 
 Nudists Battle Nudists 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 25, 2010 6:30 PM CDT

In French Town, Nudists Battle Nudists

Some just want to be naked; others want to have sex in public

(Newser) - “Naked City,” France: It sounds like a nice place, right? But Cap d'Agde, home of a large nudist population, is currently the site of a battle between “traditional” French nudists , and the new wave of “libertines” who are apparently into “free sex and partner-swapping,”...

Paris to Ban Heaters in Outdoor Cafes

It's more bad news for smokers

(Newser) - Since 2007, the French have not been allowed to smoke indoors in public places. So they have fled to the outdoor spaces of cafes. These can get a little chilly in winter, so the obliging proprietors have provided giant outdoor heaters to make sure that smokers are comfortable. No more....

Sex Is Lame for 75% of French Couples
 Sex Is Lame for 75% 
 of French Couples 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Sep 18, 2010 8:39 AM CDT

Sex Is Lame for 75% of French Couples

More than 1 in 3 women have used 'Not tonight, honey...'

(Newser) - So much for France's reputation as home to the world's greatest lovers. More than three-quarters of French couples say they have bad sex lives, according to a new survey. More than one in three women admit to having used an excuse to get out of sex, the BBC reports, and...

French Senate Bans Islamic Veils in Public

Measure still faces review by nation's constitutional judges

(Newser) - The French Senate voted near-unanimously to ban wearing burka-style Islamic veils in public today, the BBC reports. The measure must still past muster with the country's Constitutional Council, but unless those judges raise objections, it will become law in 6 months. The Senate confirmed the measure by a vote of...

French Soccer Team Boots Gay Player

Paris gay group demands sanctions

(Newser) - A French soccer team has booted a player for being gay. Yoann Lemaire took a sabbatical last year from amateur club FC Chooz after teammates went on a homophobic rant on TV. Now team managers won't let him return, saying they want to avoid stirring up any trouble with his...

Facebook Threats Halt Politician's Wedding

Protesters vowed to treat France's Besson like he treats gypsies

(Newser) - France's immigration minister has postponed his wedding after more than 1,000 people joined a Facebook group vowing to disrupt it. Eric Besson—who planned to marry a 24-year-old Tunisian immigrant in Paris later this month—has spearheaded France's campaign to expel gypsy immigrants . Protesters promised to give him "...

Now Italy Evicts Gypsies
 Now Italy Evicts Gypsies 
Sep 3, 2010 5:37 AM CDT

Now Italy Evicts Gypsies

One camp razed this week

(Newser) - Rome's right-wing mayor has followed France's lead and renewed a crackdown on gypsy camps around the city. One camp was razed this week, and officials said some 20 people have accepted an offer of voluntary repatriation, though many more fled before the bulldozers arrived, the Telegraph reports.

Note to Comedians: Don't Mock Sarko

Stephane Guillon gets canned

(Newser) - Getting paid by the government to poke fun at politicians sounds like nice work if you can get it—and while you can keep it. French comedian Stéphane Guillon was hired to spice up the morning schedule at a state-owned radio station—then fired was after mocking Nicolas Sarkozy's...

Iran: Carla Bruni Is a Prostitute

Attack follows petition calling for release of woman

(Newser) - An Iranian newspaper controlled by the government has called French First Lady Carla Bruni and actress Isabelle Adjani "prostitutes" in an editorial slamming them for signing a petition calling for the release of a woman who has been sentenced to death by stoning for adultery. Iranian state TV also...

Sarkozy's Purge of Gypsies 'Borderline Illegal'

France has sent about 8,300 packing this year

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy's government continues its purge of Gypsies as international condemnation piles up. The latest criticism comes from a UN race panel worried "about the rise in violence of a racist nature" against Gypsies—and it asks the government to back off in the name of "human rights,...

France Urged to Repay Haiti's $22B 'Independence Debt'

Payout would make up for quake aid shortfall

(Newser) - France should fork over almost $22 billion to Haiti to make up for the "independence debt" it extorted from its former colony 200 years ago, a group of prominent activists and authors has urged in a letter to French President Nicolas Sarkozy. The money would give the impoverished Caribbean...

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