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Nicolas Sarkozy has pulled out of a planned trip to London on which he was supposed to calm fears that French-style regulation will be imposed on the City. It was reported this morning that Mr Sarkozy was to make a short visit to Number 10 to smooth relations in the wake of his gloating about the appointment of former French minister Michel Barnier to the EU’s internal market portfolio. But a spokesman for the French president said: “Nicolas Sarkozy will not go to London tomorrow. “There will be a meeting between Brown and Sarkozy on the sidelines of the European...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2009/December/09-ag-1289.html Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Tuesday, December 1, 2009 United States Transfers a Guantanamo Bay Detainee to France WASHINGTON — The Department of Justice today announced that a detainee has been transferred from the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay to the control of the government of France. As directed by the President’s Jan. 22, 2009 Executive Order, the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force conducted a comprehensive review of this case. As a result of that review, the detainee was approved for transfer from Guantanamo Bay. In accordance...

I'd rather not know: the psychology of climate denialPARIS, Dec 1 (AFP) Dec 01, 2009 If the evidence is overwhelming that man-made climate change is already upon us and set to wreak planetary havoc, why do so many people refuse to believe it? The UN's panel of climate scientists, in a landmark report, described the proof of global warming as "unequivocal." That was two years ago, and since then hundreds of other studies have pointed to an ever-bleaker future, with a potential loss of life numbering in the tens of millions, if not more. Yet survey after survey from around...

Swiss Proverb:"When you see what you see, and know what you know, you can think what you think" Press Release by Marie-Christine Arnautu Chairman, FN, Ile-de-France [Paris Metro Region] It happened again in July of 2008: the Ile-de-France Regional Council stealthily voted for a subsidy to help in the construction of the new mosque in Créteil, complete with its 25 m [82 ft] minaret, the highest in France. The Union pour un Mouvement Populaire [UMP, center-right party] was outspoken in its support for the subsidy, along with the Parti Socialiste [Socialist Party] and the Parti communiste [French Communist Party]. Only...

[with the vote against the construction of minarets] The Swiss have responded, headed on, Sunday Nov. 29, to the questions that are gradually threading at different degrees through all the European countries. Is Islam compatible with European societies? Could it become an element of the national identities that forged the continent? [...] In France, the vice president of the national Front, Marine Le Pen, has not said differently. She was happy with the Swiss vote, and has demanded that "the elites stop negating the aspirations and beliefs of the European people, who have rejected the ostentatious sings of the political-religious...

28 November 2008 – According to news flash which appeared in today’s edition of the Journal du Dimanche, the French Minister for Immigration, Eric Besson will sign a bilateral readmission agreement with the Kosovo authorities during a three-day-visit to the Balkans. Only a week ago, the same newspaper announced the imminent conclusion of a bilateral readmission agreement between France and Serbia. In exchange, the French minister promised to support the adoption of visa facilities for the citizens of Serbia, Montenegro, and Macedonia during the next meeting of the European Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which will take place in Brussels, on...

Jean-Yves Blondeau (Aix les Bains, 1970 - ), also known as "Rollerman", is a French designer who is best known for creating the 31-wheel roller suit (Buggy Rollin'). This suit places a number of rollers (similar to those found on rollerblades) on most of the major joints, the torso, and the back. The wearer can ride in a variety of positions (rollerblade, on back, on torso, on all fours, etc.) at speeds of up to 60 mph (96 km/h). He has been featured on television shows in several countries.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday questioned US President Barack Obama's decision to attend the start of upcoming negotiations on global warming instead of the decisive final days. "We can't allow the presence of one single head of state to stymie the world's affairs," Sarkozy told reporters ahead of the Copenhagen conference which opens on December 7. "The decisive moment is December 17 and 18. If some come at the beginning and others at the end, when will we be able to take decisions?" he asked. Obama is scheduled to address the meeting in Copenhagen on December 9, the day...

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad — The leaders of Britain and France gave their backing Friday to a global fund that would provide billions of dollars to poor countries to help them reduce the output of greenhouse gases linked to climate change. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the wealthiest nations should set aside the money as part of a climate agreement at next month's U.N. summit on the issue in Copenhagen. Sarkozy told reporters at a Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Trinidad that the fund should provide $10 billion annually for the next three years to...

Friday November 27, 2009 French National Assembly Rejects Euthanasia Bill by Wide Margin By Hilary WhitePARIS, November 27, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The French National Assembly has rejected an attempt to legalize euthanasia in a 326 to 202 vote. "Euthanasia is not a medical act. The right to die is not a medical act," said Union for a Popular Movement party deputy Jean Leonetti, author of a 2005 law on dying that promotes the use of palliative care. The Alliance for Human Life welcomed the vote, saying that the bill "played on the ambiguity of the word 'dignity'" and "contributed...

Note: The following text is a quote: Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, November 23, 2009 Arms Dealer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Supply U.S. Fighter Jet Engines to Iran Jacques Monsieur, a Belgian national and resident of France suspected of international arms dealing for decades, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Alabama to conspiracy to illegally export F-5 fighter jet engines and parts from the Untied States to Iran. Monsieur along with Dara Fotouhi, aka Dara Fatouhi, an Iranian national currently living in France, was charged in a...

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia – A cutting-edge French warship sailed into St. Petersburg Monday to show off its capabilities to potential buyers in the Russian navy, whose pursuit of an amphibious assault capacity is frightening some neighboring countries. Russia's once-mighty navy was severely degraded after the fall of the Soviet Union and it currently has no big ship with the power to anchor in coastal waters and deploy troops onto land. Russian officials announced this year that they were planning to make their first arms deal with a NATO country by buying a French vessel like the Mistral, a 23,700-ton (21,500-metric...

A marvelous painting of a gourmand at his table hangs in the Musée Carnavalet in Paris — a portly, pink-faced figure happily gorging on a regal casserole, with a bottle of wine at one elbow and a luscious-looking soufflé at the other. It is traditionally believed to be a portrait of Alexandre-Balthazar-Laurent Grimod de la Reynière, an aristocrat notorious in Napoleonic France for gratifying his palate with the same abandon as his contemporary the Marquis de Sade showed in indulging carnal desires. Whether or not the painting is actually Grimod’s likeness, it captures the eccentric, omnivorous spirit that made him...

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris last week that he wanted to launch talks with Damascus without preconditions, according to Syrian President Bashar Assad's top aide Bouthaina Shaaban. Shaaban told Arab reporters on Friday that Sarkozy had told Assad in his subsequent meeting with the Syrian leader that Netanyahu had told him "that the Syrian track was very important, and that he wanted to open talks without delay and without preconditions." However, she said that Assad had responded by saying that before talks could start, he wanted guarantees that Israel would return "Syria's land" and...

The Irish Justice Minister today demanded a rematch after a blatant handball by French striker Thierry Henry beat Ireland and put France through to the World Cup Finals. Dermot Ahern lashed out at governing body Fifa after the Republic of Ireland were cruelly beaten by the controversial extra-time goal. Dubbed 'Le Hand', Barcelona star Henry confessed to using his arm to control the ball before squaring for teammate William Gallas to finish. The Irish Justice Minister today demanded a rematch after a blatant handball by French striker Thierry Henry beat Ireland and put France through to the World Cup Finals....

46 year old Johnny Depp has been named The Sexiest Man Alive by People magazine for 2009. This marks the second time Mr. Depp has earned that honor, the first time was in 2003. This is rather unusal since he has mostly been under the radar in 2009, while other candidates such as Ryan Reynolds (The Proposal) and Robert Pattinson (Twilight) have made big waves. Johnny Depp however has stood the test of time. He's been a major, if not minor heart-throb since 1987 when he first appeared in 21 Jump Street. He reached true stardom with his silent portrayal...

To mark their 23rd anniversary, the French pro-life group SOS Tout-Petits held their annual National Rosary for Life on Saturday, sparking heated protests from the country's pro-abortion activists. Catholics gathered to pray outside cathedrals and churches in at least 28 cities throughout France, as well as in Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Philippines. In many of these cities, the peaceful event attracted large anti-Catholic counter-demonstrations. For example, at the St. André Cathedral in Bordeaux, police were called to the scene as a large crowd opposed the 150 people gathered to pray. The crowd carried pro-abortion signs and shouted "Caca Catholic," "Mary,...

It seems like there was a bit of a kerfuffle in Paris that has him fuming mad. An internet marketing company decided to stage a promotional stunt: they were going to drive a bus through the city throwing money at passers-by. The event was advertised heavily (Duh - it's a marketing company) and attracted large crowds. So large, in fact, that police became nervous at the size of the crowd, estimated at 7,000 strong, and its composition — young, low-income males from bad parts of Paris' suburbs. Given the risk of violence and traffic chaos caused by the crowd, the...

Senate Democrats crafting a job creation bill are considering a proposal to give money to workers who cut their hours in order to avoid layoffs. A bill sponsored by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) would give unemployment compensation to employees who accept a reduced work schedule to allow their companies to avert layoffs or to hire more employees. Reed's proposal for work-sharing was mentioned during the Senate Democrats' lunch Tuesday, when Majority Leader Harry Reid (Nev.) announced that an initiative focusing on jobs would soon be a priority, Reed's office said.

The Obama girls and Michelle O were dressed in designer French labels for their official White House portrait. Maybe you didn't know this because the MSM has a protective shield over the family. If they were Republicans there probably would be an outcry at the very least. BTW, they all look wonderful and I love the clothes. Granny J

PARIS — French President Nicolas Sarkozy made American actor and director Clinton Eastwood a commander in the prestigious French Legion of Honor on Friday. The citation for the highly coveted decoration said Eastwood, 79, was honored for his body of work, his longevity and his ability to delight audiences around the globe. Former French President Jacques Chirac had honored Eastwood as a knight of the Legion of Honor two years ago, and Friday’s decoration was a step up for Eastwood to grade three on the legion’s five-grade scale. Speaking in English, Eastwood thanked Sarkozy and the French people.

Muslims takeover a city street, while dropping to pray in front of dozens of storefronts. Even directing traffic with their own self appointed policeman. Is this the "tolerant" part of Islam, that we keep hearing about? To view the short video...

PARIS -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy says there is no place for full face and body veils such as the burqa, or for the debasement of women, in France. Sarkozy says all beliefs will be respected in France but says "becoming French means adhering to a form of civilization, to values, to morals." Sarkozy said Thursday during a speech on national identity that "France is a country where there is no place for the burqa." France has a large Muslim community but only a small minority of French Muslim women wear burqas, common in Afghanistan, or other face-covering veils. Sarkozy...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says there is no place for full face and body veils such as the burqa, or for the debasement of women, in France. Sarkozy says all beliefs will be respected in France but says "becoming French means adhering to a form of civilization, to values, to morals." Sarkozy said Thursday during a speech on national identity that "France is a country where there is no place for the burqa."

Report: Pakistani president suspected of graft in submarine sale South Asia News Nov 10, 2009, 10:56 GMT Paris - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is suspected of having received millions of dollars in kickbacks from the 1994 sale of three French submarines to the Pakistani Navy, the daily Liberation reported Tuesday. In addition, investigators believe that the non-payment of the full amount of the agreed kickbacks may have led to the deaths of 11 French nationals in a 2002 terror attack in the city of Karachi. In the report, Liberation says it acquired documents that allegedly show that Zardari received...

France Shows Us Our Future: Longer Work, Shorter Retirement Joe WeisenthalNov. 9, 2009, 6:34 PM It's not all that surprising that France, with its generous labor and pension laws would find itself slamming into a brick wall, as pension systems begin to run dry. FT: Mr Sarkozy favours extending minimum contribution periods for a full pension, rather than raising the standard pension age beyond 60, the official suggested. The contribution period is already set to rise by one year to 41 years by 2012 but should be increased still further. The aim would be to make reform more politically palatable,...

In a few years France's Taxes will look comparatively low and their government more free than ours.

"For it is impossible for any one to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows." -- Epictetus In a little-known book entitled Capital Rules: The Construction of Global Finance written in 2007 a year before the global financial meltdown, Harvard professor Rawi Abdelal tells how it was French socialists, not Wall Street or the U.S. Treasury or credit rating firms (S&P, Moody’s, etc.), that liberalized global finance. The only problem with this book is that it is not one of the many books on the financial meltdown that follows the successful pop journalistic formula of demonizing greedy financial...

Vélib’, Paris’s bicycle rental system, inspired a new urban ethos for the era of climate change. Residents here can rent a sturdy bicycle from hundreds of public stations and pedal to their destinations, an inexpensive, healthy and low-carbon alternative to hopping in a car or bus. But this latest French utopia has met a prosaic reality: Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and northern Africa. Many others are being spirited away for urban joy rides, then ditched by roadsides, their wheels bent and tires stripped. With 80...

A short workweek and the prospect of early retirement. Job-protection laws that make it almost impossible to get fired. Seven weeks of holidays and vacation time a year. Oh, and paid lunches. A harried American worker might ask: What's not to like? And a dissatisfied French worker might respond: Plenty. A wave of suicides at the country's largest telecommunications firm has unnerved France, long viewed by many outside the country as a cushy haven for employees. Experts say the incidents are the most visible examples of the growing phenomenon of stress-induced illness in the country. Marie Peze opened the first...

MOSCOW – Moscow plans to buy a French amphibious assault ship, the first such purchase from a NATO country, as the Kremlin seeks to reaffirm Russia's global reach, a Russian news agency reported Saturday. The Defense Ministry also plans to license the production of four more ships of the Mistral class in Russia under the guidance of French engineers, Navy Admiral Oleg Burtsev was quoted by RIA Novosti as saying. A Mistral ship is capable of carrying more than a dozen helicopters along with dozens of tanks and other armored vehicles and is fit for missions intended to project Russian...

PARIS (AFP) – Jacques Chirac will be the first former French president to be tried for corruption, officials said Friday, after charges from his years as mayor of Paris returned to taint the twilight of his long career. Chirac stands accused of giving political allies lucrative bogus jobs as city hall "ghost workers" and his trial will be the latest in a series to expose graft and dirty tricks at the highest levels of state. Judicial officials confirmed to AFP that Chirac would face trial on charges of "abuse of trust" and "misuse of public funds". A statement from the...

Paris, France (AHN) - France's largest telecommunications firm is setting aside $1.48 billion to fund a stress-reduction program for staff aimed at ending a spate of suicides among its workers. France Telecom SA revealed the plan Wednesday in the face of lower third quarter profits. Under the planned program, staff aged over 57 or those who feel full time work is adversely affecting their health will be offered part-time jobs. Last year, 28 staff of the firm committed suicide. The suicides were blamed on poor working conditions at the company, which is trying to cut cost to meet profit targets.

France's leading high society magazine has today produced a devastating portrait of Carla Bruni as the country's new Marie Antoinette. Point de Vue presents the 41-year-old First Lady as a daffy multi-millionaire socialite who does very little real work, and who is completely out of touch with ordinary people. The attack by the Paris weekly, which specialises in covering the lives of aristocrats and European royalty, will come as a huge blow to President Nicolas Sarkozy as he tries to play down his monarchichal style.

Iran wanted shipments of low-enriched uranium (LEU) -- for conversion abroad into fuel for a Tehran research reactor -- to take place in stages, not as one block. It also wanted simultaneous imports of higher-enriched fuel from other countries for the same plant. The conditions were likely non-starters for Western powers, which suspect the Islamic Republic covertly seeks nuclear arms capability.

AFP - European Union warships have captured seven suspected pirates off the coast of Somalia after two fast boats attacked a French fishing vessel, the EU's naval force said Wednesday. Soldiers aboard the fishing vessel fired on the pirates after they attacked it some 350 nautical miles east of Mogadishu Tuesday, said a statement. A German warship was despatched to the scene, while a helicopter from a nearby Spanish naval vessel -- the ESPS Canarias -- was launched and located the two skiffs trying to flee the area. "The helicopter fired warning shots to stop both skiffs, after which the...

France is to adopt a series of measures to 'reaffirm pride' in the country and combat Islamic fundamentalism. They include everybody receiving lessons in the nation's Christian history and children singing the national anthem. Using words which infuriated ethnic minority groups and Socialist opponents, immigration minister Eric Besson also said he wanted 'foreigners to speak better French'. He called for all recent arrivals to be monitored by 'Republican godfathers', charged with helping immigrants to integrate better. His proposed measures contrast sharply with the situation in Britain where 'citizenship education' centres on multicultural diversity. M Besson, who was born in the...

A few months ago when French President Nicholas Sarkozy announced that burqas were not welcome in France, I had a feeling that was just a small step in France's battle with Islam. Now more of the saving France from Islam plan has been revealed. France to launch national pride campaign in battle against Islamic fundamentalism By PETER ALLEN 27th October 2009 France is to adopt a series of measures to 'reaffirm pride' in the country and combat Islamic fundamentalism.

A Paris court convicted the Church of Scientology of fraud and fined it more than euro600,000 ($900,000) on Tuesday, but stopped short of banning the group's activities. The group's French branch said it would appeal the verdict. The court convicted the Church of Scientology's French office, its library and six of its leaders of organized fraud. Investigators said the group pressured members into paying large sums of money for questionable financial gain and used "commercial harassment" against recruits.

If world powers are not successful in efforts to contain the Iranian nuclear threat, an Israeli strike on Iran could become a reality, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said during a visit to Beirut, the Daily Telegraph reported Monday. The French foreign minister suggested that time was indeed short for a solution to the Iranian threat. "There is the time that Israel will offer us before reacting, because Israel will react as soon as they know clearly that there is a threat." "Israel will not tolerate an Iranian bomb. We know that, all of us," said Kouchner, adding that for...

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran wants major amendments within the framework of a U.N. nuclear fuel deal which it broadly accepts, state media said, a move that could unravel the plan and expose Tehran to the threat of harsher sanctions. The European Union's foreign policy chief said on Tuesday there was no need to rework the U.N. draft and he and France's foreign minister suggested Tehran would rekindle demands for tougher international sanctions if it tried to undo the plan. Among the central planks of the plan opposed by Iran -- but requested by the West to cut the risk of...

"After his death, at least 50 youths took to the streets and started to break windows at the entrance of Gabelle, an outskirt of the city. The youths also burned garbage, tires, a motorcycle and five vehicles in a shipyard, said the police. When the Police and the fire-fighters arrived on the scène, protesters threw stones and Molotov cocktails against them. Then, the police retaliate by firing tear gas but it was unable to enter into Gabelle." Think about that last sentence for a minute. "France/Civil unrest: clashes erupted in Fréjus after a young man killed himself," from ESISC, October...

President Nicolas Sarkozy's son Jean has shot from a little-known "brat" to would-be national politician in just two years, a meteoric rise unlikely to be derailed by his climbdown in a nepotism row. The college student was forced Thursday to abandon a bid for the job managing France's top business district, the La Defense skyscraper park west of Paris, after it sparked a national outcry. In a steady, well-coached performance on prime-time television the president's 23-year-old son told millions of French viewers he would bow out of the race, but that his "passion" for politics was undented. "What is certain,...

Researchers at the University of Reading (UK) and the University of Southampton (UK) recently made available the roster of men who served during the Hundred Years' War.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is reportedly growing increasingly frustrated with the Obama administration. A Reuters analysis piece says Sarkozy is shifting his focus from the U.S. to other international allies. Didier Billion of the Institute of International & Strategic Relations says: “Sarkozy has clearly been thrown off course in his relations with America.” Another foreign affairs expert, Bruno Tertrais from the Foundation for Strategic Research, adds: "There is an annoyance about what the French see as naivety in the Obama administration."One major sticking point has been President Obama’s softer stance on Iran, while President Sarkozy prefers a more hawkish approach....

A PSA Peugeot Citroen employee killed himself on Friday at his workplace, the carmaker said, adding to a spate of suicides at some of France's top companies. A Peugeot spokesman said on Saturday that the worker was a married man aged around 40 who had a job at a Peugeot site just outside Paris. The company has begun an inquiry into the event. France Telecom has come under scrutiny over 25 suicides at the company since the start of 2008, while an employee of car maker Renault committed suicide earlier this month.

Barack Obama campaigned on restoring America’s standing with its allies, accusing the outgoing Bush administration of insulting and alienating our closest friends with his alleged unilateralism. How has Obama done as President? He has repeatedly insulted the British, insisting that there is no “special relationship” and demonstrating it by denying Gordon Brown the usual joint press conference on his visit to the US. Reuters reports that another close ally has taken the measure of Obama and started looking elsewhere for cooperation: French President Nicolas Sarkozy, initially dubbed Sarko the American for his pro-U.S. stance, is finding it much tougher to...

AFP - Two suspected ETA militants arrested in France earlier this week have been charged with conspiracy to collaborate with a terrorist organisation, a legal official said Saturday. Police apprehended 30-year-old Aitor Elizaran in a car park at the wheel of a stolen car in the Brittany seaside town of Carnac on October 19, along with a woman suspect, 32-year-old Oihana Sanvicente. Both were carrying loaded weapons at the time and have also been charged with firearms offences, possession of false documents, and car theft, the official said. The pair had been renting a studio at the holiday resort where...

Oscar E. and Anna Anderson of Willmar died believing that their only son had been buried at sea after being killed in action during the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944. Now, surviving family members hope to learn whether the remains of U.S. Navy Motor Machinist Mate 1st Class John E. Anderson were interred in the Saint Laurent Cemetery, Baveux, France, as an unknown American casualty of World War II. The cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach has since been designated as the Normandy American Military Cemetery. His name is listed there as among the “Missing In Action’’ from...

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, initially dubbed Sarko the American for his pro-U.S. stance, is finding it much tougher to deal with Washington than he had anticipated and is recalibrating his policies accordingly. Stung by perceived snubs from U.S. President Barack Obama and encouraged by the growing importance of the G20, Sarkozy is increasingly reaching out to non-aligned states in an effort to extend France's international influence. He has forged especially close ties with Brazil, is seeking alliances in central Asia and is intensifying his activities in the Middle East, using multi-billion dollar military and civilian nuclear trade deals as his...