Free Republic

Hundreds of Cars Torched in France at New Year Fri Jan 1, 2010 PARIS (Reuters) - Youths burned 1,137 cars across France overnight as New Year's Eve celebrations once again turned violent, the French Interior Ministry said on Friday. Car burnings are regular occurrences in poor suburbs that ring France's big cities, but the arson is especially prevalent during New Year's Eve revelry. The number of vehicles torched was only 10 short of the record 1,147 burned this time last year, even though the Interior Ministry mobilized 45,000 police during the night -- 10,000 more than 12 months ago.

Producers warn the price of snails - one of France's more exotic foodstuffs - is about to soar, because of economic development in eastern Europe.France consumes more than 14,000 tonnes of snails every year but practically none of them are actually French. With the most prized species now under protection, the industry relies on central and east European imports. But economic progress in countries like Poland and Bulgaria means less appetite for the hard work of snail-gathering. Until now, every year rural families there could earn a decent wage from collecting the animals in the fields and woods. So the...