France

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In Wine Market, a Bubble Has Burst

Futures sales in trouble after years of spiraling prices

(Newser) - The most serious wine collectors buy their bottles "en primeur"—paying vineyards for futures of wines that haven't been produced yet. Futures prices for wine had spiraled higher and higher in recent years, even for inferior vintages, as a new class of big spenders moved into the market....

Sarko Threatens to Walk Out of G20 Summit

French prez seeks tough financial regulations—or else

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy may walk out on the G20 summit if things don't go his way, the Times of London reports. The French president—who blames "Anglo-Saxons" for the financial crisis—is pushing for tougher global financial regulation and has told his ministers that he will abandon the talks if...

Merde! French Rapper Sparks Feminist Fury

Lyrics threaten to break lovers arm, legs

(Newser) - A French musician's rap about beating his girlfriend has so enraged activists that they're lobbying to have him banned from an upcoming rock festival, the Guardian reports. OrelSan sings about a broken arm, broken legs, and a wished-for miscarriage and "slow death" for his lover in his song Sale ...

Obama to Travel to Normandy for D-Day Anniversary

Washington, Paris on good terms, Sarkozy aide says

(Newser) - President Obama will travel to Normandy for the 65th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, the New York Daily News reports. An aide to Nicolas Sarkozy spilled the beans on Obama’s June 6 visit after a reporter claimed the relationship between the two presidents was distant. “Relations are excellent...

AIG Honchos Quit Paris Office, Spurring Fears of Default

$234B at stake as top managers walk

(Newser) - Two of the top managers at AIG's Paris unit have resigned, reports the Wall Street Journal, leaving the insurer scrambling to avoid potential defaults on $234 billion in derivative transactions. The complicated scenario results from a French law that says regulators must approve of the managers' replacements or else pick...

French Workers Free Hostage Boss

Strikers let 3M boss walk after he agrees to better layoff packages

(Newser) - Striking French factory workers have freed their boss after barricading him in his office south of Paris for nearly a day, the BBC reports. The manager of the 3M plant, who was released only after he agreed to renegotiate compensation packages for laid-off workers, said conditions "were not so...

France Will Battle US for Madoff Chateau

Rival prosecutors preparing to grab Riviera pad

(Newser) - A legal tug-of-war is getting underway over the Madoffs' Riviera chateau, reports the New York Post. Bernard and Ruth Madoff's $1 million French pad is among the assets US federal prosecutors want the couple to forfeit to help reimburse scammed investors, but French authorities—who have opened a criminal inquiry...

No, Bloggers: Obama Doesn't Think Chirac Is French Prez

(Newser) - The tone of a letter from President Obama to Jacques Chirac has some in the blogosphere wondering if Obama knows that Chirac is no longer the president of France, writes Jimmy Orr in the Christian Science Monitor reports. “Doesn’t Obama ever consult his staff before acting?” one concerned...

Hit Website in France Revels in Humiliation

Self-professed losers share the pain on Vie De Merde

(Newser) - A website inviting users to share tales of misery and humiliation has become one of the most popular sites in France, the Wall Street Journal reports. The editors of "Vie de merde"—roughly, "a crappy life"—sift through about 1,000 submissions a day and post...

French Uncork World's Oldest Champagne

Critics don't agree about 184-year-old vintage

(Newser) - In honor of its "liquid history," the French champagne house Perrier-Jouët uncorked a bottle of the world's oldest vintage: an 1825 that went straight to critics' heads. "There were flavours of mushrooms, woods and a bit of honey," said one, while another detected "...

African Union Suspends Madagascar

Pressure mounts against coup government

(Newser) - International pressure is mounting against the new government of Madagascar, installed this week via coup, the BBC reports. The African Union has suspended the island nation’s membership, calling the takeover “unconstitutional,” and South Africa said it might impose sanctions. France likewise condemned the takeover, and the US...

Striking French Workers Defy Sarkozy

Nationwide strike cripples transport, shuts schools

(Newser) - France is in the grip of the second nationwide strike in 2 months today as unions protest the Sarkozy administration's economic policies, reports AFP. Air and rail transport has been disrupted, and half of primary school teachers have not come into work. The strikers are demanding a higher minimum wage,...

French Demand for Sex Toys Fizzles

Worried consumers cutting kinky goods from their budgets at exotic fair

(Newser) - The economic downturn has thrown cold water on France's usually robust demand for sex toys, lingerie, and other naughty goods, Reuters reports. Organizers of the world's largest erotic fair, which opened near Paris last week, say that while attendance is still healthy, sales of kinky products are down around a...

Terrorism? Nah: French Love Kidnapping Bosses

Laborers 'sequester' Sony chief to get better pay

(Newser) - One country’s act of industrial terror is another’s negotiation tactic, the Independent reports. Disgruntled Sony workers in France weren’t shy about locking their bosses inside a factory overnight with trunks and tree branches, demanding better severance packages after job cuts were announced. Police didn’t interfere with...

Architects Plan Brave New Paris
 Architects Plan Brave New Paris 
Mar 13, 2009 7:30 AM CDT

Architects Plan Brave New Paris

Sarkozy proposes futuristic sustainable city

(Newser) - Paris may be getting a facelift, the Telegraph reports. Nicolas Sarkozy invited 10 leading architects to cook up Grand Paris 2030, giving them "the absolute freedom to dream." Sarkozy aims to open up the city to its suburbs, shorten intra-city commutes, and create vast green spaces. The architects...

Fired French Sony Workers Free CEO Hostage

Boss's visit to videotape plant lasts through the night

(Newser) - The CEO of the French arm of Sony was held hostage overnight by laid-off employees at a videotape plant being shut down, the Guardian reports. He was released this morning on the condition that he go directly to talks with trade unionists, who are upset at the size of their...

Stimulus Sours Obama's European Honeymoon

US urges more spending; EU focused on regulation

(Newser) - European leaders’ love affair with President Obama has hit its first snag: Obama is pushing Europe to spend more to battle the financial crisis, while Europe would prefer to focus on stricter regulation, the Los Angeles Times reports. “The Americans should be more modest about giving lessons, because the...

France to Rejoin NATO
 France to Rejoin NATO 
Mar 11, 2009 11:28 AM CDT

France to Rejoin NATO

(Newser) - Nicolas Sarkozy intends to bring France back into the NATO fold, ending 40 years of self-imposed exile, the BBC reports. But the decision, which the French president is expected to confirm tomorrow, may not go over well. The French treasure their “independence” from NATO, and critics say the move...

In Bruni, French See Marie Antoinette

First lady gets flak as she and Sarko hit the beach

(Newser) - Like most of Europe, France is slogging through a recession and facing climbing unemployment. But president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, Carla Bruni, are in Mexico, staying at a $5,500-a-night beachfront villa. The honeymoon's over, reports the New York Daily News, and Bruni is suffering comparisons to another foreigner...

Bruni Hopes to Expand French First Family

Carla will look into adoption if she and Sarko can't conceive

(Newser) - France's first lady wants to bring a Bruni-Sarkozy into the world and she's willing to adopt if necessary, the Daily Telegraph reports. "I would love to have another child, but I'm not going to fight against nature," said the 41-year-old former supermodel, who has a son from a...

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