France

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France Warns 100K Illegal Downloaders

Sarkozy's anti-piracy campaign gets into gear

(Newser) - France's campaign to stop illegal downloads is well under way, with the program nicknamed Big Brother sending out warning emails to 100,000 people so far, reports the Guardian . Repeat offenders—whose details are gleaned through service providers—face fines and banishment from the web for a year. It's a...

Fearing War, France Urges Citizens to Flee Ivory Coast

Meanwhile, World Bank freezes loans to the country

(Newser) - The World Bank has frozen loans to Ivory Coast as France urged its citizens to leave the West African country amid heightened UN concerns the nation risks returning to civil war. A French government spokesman told reporters yesterday that it was urging citizens to leave the country, a former French...

In France: Screw Marriage, Give Me a Civil Union

Partnerships simplify breakups, avoid religious ties

(Newser) - In France, civil unions are soaring in popularity—for heterosexuals. PACS, as they are known in France, were established in 1999 and lauded by gay-rights advocates; little did they expect the huge success of the measure ... among straight people, who made up 95% of the civil unions created last year....

Murdered French King Getting Head Back

Henri IV's head was stolen by revolutionaries in 1793

(Newser) - Beloved French monarch Henri IV is going to be reunited with his head after more than 200 years. The king, assassinated by a Catholic fundamentalist in 1610, had his head removed from his body by revolutionaries ransacking a royal chapel in 1793. A head presumed to be Henri's was passed...

Police Seize Sword-Wielding Teen Who Took 20 Tots Hostage

Boy is 'unstable,' French cops report

(Newser) - French police stormed a pre-school today and apprehended a sword-wielding 17-year-old who’d taken several small children and their teacher hostage. The teen, armed with a sword in each hand, had initially taken 20 children hostage, but released 13 of them throughout the morning. A fourteenth “more or less...

Continental Guilty in 2000 Concorde Crash: Court

Airline, mechanic fined for manslaughter

(Newser) - A French court found Continental Airlines and one of its mechanics guilty of manslaughter today in the crash of a supersonic Concorde jet outside Paris a decade ago that killed 113 people. The court ruled the Houston-based airline must pay a $265,000 fine; the mechanic, John Taylor, must pay...

WikiLeaks Forcing US Embassy Shake Up

Authors of most embarrassing jibes face removal

(Newser) - US embassies, military bases and intelligence operations around the globe are undergoing major personnel reshufflings in the wake of WikiLeaks revelations. The Pentagon, CIA and State Department are identifying staffers whose comments have been most embarrassing in sensitive regions and are preparing to yank them from posts. One target will...

French Chain to Sell Foie Gras Burgers
French Chain to Sell
Foie Gras Burgers
FAST FOOD?
Dec 1, 2010 5:41 PM CST

French Chain to Sell Foie Gras Burgers

A controversial bit of luxury, in a bun, for $6.50

(Newser) - The Double Down it's not: A French fast-food chain will sell a cheap foie gras burger, mixing high and low cuisine for a brief holiday promotion, Reuters reports. Consumers will be able to get a bit of duck liver in a conventional hamburger for about $6.50—a steal for...

Entire Town Evacuated After 1,652 WWI Shells Found

Gardener discovers 30 tons of leftover ammo

(Newser) - Authorities have evacuated a French village after a local gardener stumbled upon a 50-foot-long underground World War I munitions dump, Der Spiegel reports. All 450 villagers must leave Coucy-les-Eppes, near Reims, during the day for a week while some 26 experts remove 30 tons of shells from the German depot....

Sarkozy Rips 'Pedophile' Reporters

French prez loses cool after being asked about kickbacks

(Newser) - An off-the-record press briefing from French President Nicolas Sarkozy ended up on the record after he called a roomful of reporters pedophiles. Sarko, speaking at a NATO summit in Lisbon last week, launched into a tirade about press ethics after being asked about alleged kickbacks from French submarine sales to...

Farmer Fined After Feeding Ducks Pot

Marijuana isn't all it's quacked up to be, say authorities

(Newser) - Instead of going in the pot, the pot has apparently been going into the blissed-out ducks of one happy-go-lucky French farm. Now farmer Michel Rouyer has been handed a one-month suspended sentence after cops discovered marijuana plants and dried pot on his farm—even though he insists he was just...

Louvre Begs for Painting Cash
 Louvre Begs for Painting Cash 
Nov 18, 2010 2:59 AM CST

Louvre Begs for Painting Cash

Public urged to help keep national treasure in France

(Newser) - For the first time in its 217-year history, the Louvre is asking the French public to help it buy a painting—and the French aren't happy about. The museum is a million euros short of the 4 million it needs to buy the 16th-century oil painting Three Graces, and it...

Ryanair Crew Locks Toilets as Passengers Stage Sit-In

Passengers say they were left on Tarmac for four hours

(Newser) - A Ryanair crew used some harsh tactics to put down a passenger mutiny last night. When passengers refused to leave their plane—which had landed in the wrong country—they say the crew locked the bathrooms, turned out the lights, and left them sitting on the tarmac for four hours...

France on Armstrong Probe: We Will Share 'Everything'

It has his urine samples from the 1999 Tour de France

(Newser) - Are things about to get really bad for Lance Armstrong? The US is taking France up on its offer to share evidence related to the Armstrong doping investigation, an official source tells the AP . Talks between US officials and France's anti-doping agency are scheduled for this week, and France—which...

'Princess Hijab' Graffitis Paris Metro

Arresting manipulation ignites debate

(Newser) - While France was debating its burka ban, graffiti artist "Princess Hijab" continued her jolting work covering up women—and men—in Paris metro ads with painted veils. The mysterious artist covers faces and sometimes entire bodies in black. She has dodged easy classification in decidedly elusive interviews, and it's...

Bin Laden Threatens France Over Burka Ban, War

He vows a 'strike by the neck' in audiotape

(Newser) - An audiotape purportedly from terror master Osama bin Laden threatens France with a "strike by the neck" because of its burka ban and participation in the Afghan war. "If you want to tyrannize and think that it is your right to ban free women from wearing the burka,...

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...

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