France

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Paris Divorce Fair Thrives on Breakups

Get legal advice and plastic surgery for life's next phase

(Newser) - The annual Paris Marriage Fair has spawned a modern offspring—a Divorce Fair. “Divorce has lost its stigma,” says its organizer; nearly 50% of French marriages, including two of Nicolas Sarkozy's, don't last. Booths at the fair offered services from divorce lawyers, tarot card readers, self-esteem coaches, and...

Retire, Feel 8 Years Younger
 Retire, Feel 
 8 Years 
 Younger 
STUDY SAYS
Nov 9, 2009 3:28 PM CST

Retire, Feel 8 Years Younger

Freedom melts away maladies—if you're French

(Newser) - Retirement is great medicine, new research shows. A study of French workers for 7 years before and after they punched the time clock for the last time indicates health increases dramatically after retirement. Reports of poor health drop from 19.2% in the year before retirement to 14.3% the...

Breadcrumb Latest Speed Bump for Collider

 Breadcrumb Latest 
 Speed Bump 
 for Collider 
GONE TO THE BIRDS
Nov 6, 2009 6:29 AM CST

Breadcrumb Latest Speed Bump for Collider

$8B science project sidetracked by 'bit of baguette'

(Newser) - The enormous science project buried beneath the France-Switzerland border has seen all kinds of detours in its search for the so-called “God particle”—busted vacuum tubes, al-Qaeda moles—so the latest might not be a huge surprise: A piece of bread dropped by a bird onto an outdoor...

Anthropologist Levi-Strauss Dead at 100

French ethnologist introduced structuralist theory

(Newser) - Claude Levi-Strauss, widely considered the father of modern anthropology for work that included theories about commonalities between tribal and industrial societies, has died. He was 100. The French intellectual was regarded as having reshaped the field of anthropology, introducing structuralism—concepts about common patterns of behavior and thought, especially myths,...

Sarko's $400K Shower Steams French
 Sarko's $400K 
 Shower Steams French 
CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION
Oct 28, 2009 2:58 PM CDT

Sarko's $400K Shower Steams French

French president's turn as EU chief cost double the usual amount

(Newser) - The French Senate is perhaps understandably miffed at the outrageous price tag of Nicolas Sarkozy’s 6-month stint as president of the European Union. The half-year job of hosting meetings and events appears to have cost $262 million, which is borne mostly by the host nation, an official tells the...

Scientology Guilty of Fraud, Rules French Court

But ruling stops short of outright ban

(Newser) - A Paris court has convicted the Church of Scientology's French branch of fraud and fined it $600,000, but stopped short of the ban on the group that was sought by prosecutors. Church leaders were found guilty of pressuring members into paying large sums of money for questionable financial gain....

Asterix, France's Favorite Comic Gaul, Hits 50

Paris awash with celebrations of the indomitable Gaul

(Newser) - A comic-book series beloved in France and translated in 107 languages is celebrating its 50th anniversary this month, and Paris in particular will be awash with all things Asterix. The indomitable Gaul—who pals around with Obelix, obtains his magic strength potion from druid Getafix, and answers to chief Vitalstatistix—...

Dad Busted for Kidnapping Daughter's Killer

German was trussed up, dumped at French courthouse

(Newser) - A French man has been arrested after the German convicted of killing his daughter was found bound, gagged, and dumped in front of a French courthouse. Cardiologist Dieter Krombach was found guilty in absentia by a French court for killing 14-year-old Kalinka Bamberski in 1982, but German authorities refused to...

Muslims, Gays Clash Over French Soccer Match

Muslim team banned after refusing to play Paris Foot Gay

(Newser) - An amateur soccer game sparked an ugly culture clash in France after a Muslim team refused to play a rival that welcomes openly gay players. On the eve of the match between Creteil Bebel and Paris Foot Gay, the Bebel president sent an email declining the match: "In light...

Obama Had Hand in Secret Talks With Iran

Worked out deal with France, Russia to process uranium

(Newser) - Barack Obama personally stepped in multiple times during the secret multinational talks with Iran that led up to the negotiations that began yesterday in Vienna, White House sources tell Time. When Iran put the word out that it needed enriched uranium plates for its aging research reactor, the Obama administration...

Après Le Deluge: French Battle Anglo Terms in Web Age

Experts struggle to create equivalents for terms like 'cloud computing'

(Newser) - Defenders of the French language are fighting a rear-guard action against a flood of Anglo-Saxon computing terms. In a process that lags far behind advances in technology, experts are tasked with finding French equivalents for new computing technology. The terms must then be passed by a panel of linguists and...

Post for Sarko Son Sparks Howls of Protest

Law student tapped to run huge, lucrative business district

(Newser) - It's not every day that a 23-year-old law student is tapped to manage the largest office park in Europe, but when you are Jean Sarkozy, anything's possible. The son of the French president, who already has a local government post, has the ruling party's official backing to run La Dé...

Tudor Sailor Bones Set for Exhibit

400 went down on Mary Rose as dismayed king watched

(Newser) - The bones of King Henry VIII's faithful fighters will soon go on display in a Portsmouth museum, nearly 500 years after they were defeated at sea by the French. The sailors of the flagship Mary Rose went down to defeat in a battle among 80 other Tudor vessels against 225...

Hadron Collider Physicist Admits He Was Al-Qaeda Mole

Standford University Ph.D. was about to mount attack: officials

(Newser) - A top-level nuclear physicist working on the Hadron Collider has admitted being an Al-Qaeda spy, French officials are reporting. Adlène Hicheur, 32, is expected to be charged today after investigators discovered he suggested targets to the terror organization, reports the Independent. French officials believe the Stanford University Ph.D....

Nuclear Scientist Arrested for Alleged al-Qaeda Ties

CERN says researcher didn't work on dangerous projects

(Newser) - French authorities have arrested a researcher working at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) on suspicion that he has been in contact with al-Qaeda. Police say they believe the 32-year-old and his brother contacted people linked to the terror group online, and they had been planning an attack in...

French Minister Slammed Over Sex Tourism

Mitterand defended Polanski, admitted 'paying for boys' in book

(Newser) - French Culture Minister Frederic Mitterand's own past has come back to haunt him in the wake of his calls for Roman Polanski's release. Opposition lawmakers have brought attention to passages in his autobiography where he defends sex tourism and admits paying for young—and, he implies, underage—boys. "I...

Sarko to French Pols: Put Down the Croissants

French government gets the fitness bug after president loses 15 pounds

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy has lost 15 pounds since he married Carla Bruni, subsisting on a diet of cottage cheese, fruit compote, and bottled water—and he's not the only one in the French government who's slimming down. As the Times of London reports, Sarkozy is pressuring his ministers to lose weight,...

Fan Crush Crashes Bruni's New Website

Showcase for 'ultimate modern woman's' charity work collapses under onslaught

(Newser) - A much-hyped website showcasing Carla Bruni's work as France's first lady crashed within minutes of its launch yesterday after receiving thousands of hits. Administrators at carlabrunisarkozy.org said the site—which describes the ex-model as "the ultimate modern woman"—couldn't cope with the demand and advised visitors to...

Zut Alors! French Attack Big Macs at Louvre

Wake up and smell the French fries, Mona Lisa

(Newser) - News that a McDonald's will open just yards from the entrance of the Louvre museum has sent lovers of French culture into conniptions. “This is the pinnacle of exhausting consumerism, deficient gastronomy and very unpleasant odors in the context of a museum,” sniffed one art historian who works...

France, Poland Backtrack on Polanski Support

Calls for director's release dropped as public backlash grows

(Newser) - The governments of France and Poland are beginning to distance themselves from Roman Polanski amid a public backlash against earlier support for the film director, who holds passports from both countries. In France—where the foreign minister called for Polanski's release earlier this week—a government spokesman said yesterday that...

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