Suicide bomber targets French firm in Niger

Irish Times - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Attackt are the first suicide attacks in Niger since a French-led offensive in January to oust Islamist rebels from neighbouring northern Mali. Image: Google ...

Business slump in May leaves France mired in recession - PMI

West Australian - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

PARIS (Reuters) - French business activity retreated again in May despite a slight improvement in manufacturing, a survey showed on Thursday, offering little hope of a quick exit from recession in the euro zone's second-biggest economy.Data compiler Markit said its preliminary composite purchasing managers index, covering activity in the services and manufacturing sectors, was unchanged in ...

Vermaak off to France

Planet Rugby - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

According to reports, Bulls scrum-half Jano Vermaak could be the latest player from the franchise to head overseas. The Bulls waved goodbye to a number of senior players at the end of the 2011 season, with Fourie du Preez, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Bakkies Botha, Gurthro Steenkamp and Gary Botha all moving abroad and it appears they face a similar fate at the end of the current ...

Vermaak off to France

Planet Rugby - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

According to reports, Bulls scrum-half Jano Vermaak could be the latest player from the franchise to head overseas. The Bulls waved goodbye to a number of senior players at the end of the 2011 season, with Fourie du Preez, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, Bakkies Botha, Gurthro Steenkamp and Gary Botha all moving abroad and it appears they face a similar fate at the end of the current ...

French prosecutors to grill IMF chief over payout

Channel News Asia - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

French prosecutors were grilling IMF chief Christine Lagarde in a Paris court on Thursday as they seek to determine whether she should be charged over a state payout to disgraced tycoon Bernard Tapie during her time as finance ...

French shares decline tracking Nikkei loss

The Standard - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

(31 mins ago) French share prices fell by 2.24 percent in initial trading on Thursday when confidence was hit by a fall of 7.32 percent on the Tokyo stock market. The Tokyo market had plunged in response to surprisingly weak figures for Chinese industrial activity, although sentiment had already been shaken by uncertainty over US monetary policy, AFP reports. The French CAC 40 index of ...

Violence crisis Cabinet meeting after deadly London attack

Middle East Times - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Anti-Muslim rioters fought police and 10 Downing St. called crisis Cabinet meetings after men raging about Islam hacked a soldier to death on a London street. About 250 supporters of the English Defense League street protest movement, all wearing black ski masks and some in paramilitary dress, threw rocks and bottles at police in London's southeast Woolwich district. The rioting occurred ...

Mehriban Aliyeva meets French National Assembly official - PHOT

News.Az - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Mehriban Aliyeva, president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, head of the Azerbaijan-France interparliamentary friendship group, met Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the National Assembly of France Elisabeth Guigou as part of her Paris visit. Greeting the First Lady of Azerbaijan, Guigou expressed hope that this visit will strengthen parliamentary relations between the two ...

The European Commission French President Hollande accelerate austerity

wsws.org - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

In recent days, French President Franois Hollande has been under pressure from the European Union (EU) and also from his own Socialist Party (PS) to accelerate austerity measures, amid a slowdown of the French and world economy. On Wednesday May 15, Franois Hollande went to Brussels to meet the President of the European Commission, Jos Manuel Barroso, and twenty EU commissioners. The EU ...

Vietnam-France relations edge closer

Asia News Network - Thursday 23rd May, 2013

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung yesterday hailed Vietnam's valued relationship with France and declared that the two nations are making efforts to develop their ties to the strategic partnership level in 2013. The PM made the comments at a meeting with the former French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is on an official working visit to the country. Dung declared ...

France owes EU more than empty words

European Voice - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Francois Hollande, the president of France, stood in the Elysee Palace last Friday (17 May) and declared that he would lead an initiative to inject new life into the European Union. It was, he solemnly announced, his duty as the leader of a founding nation of the ...

Hollande Cameron condemn murder of British soldier

China.org.cn - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

French President Francois Hollande and British Prime Minister David Cameron on Wednesday condemned the assassination of a British soldier in the suburbs of London after their meeting in ...

French workers’ struggle triggers ‘Kill Mittal’ game

Times of India - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Lakshmi Mittal to keep a factory open. Players throw barrels and beams at police in the "Kill Mittal" game inspired by the long-lasting -- and ultimately unsuccessful -- struggle in France's northeastern town of Florange to stop the closure of steel blast furnaces owned by Mittal. "This game is not an incitement to violence or to beat up the big bosses. I purposefully chose ...

More courses in English at French universities Storm brews

Times of India - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

English at universities, amid a storm of controversy in a nation fiercely protective of its identity. The measure, which would also introduce lessons in other languages as part of a wider bill ...

France and United Kingdom Commit to Global Transparency Standard

General Sources - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

SYDNEY and PARIS, May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- At a joint press conference in Paris, UK Prime Minister David Cameron and President of France Francois Hollande announced Wednesday evening that France and the United Kingdom would implement the EITI, the global standard for transparency of government revenues from natural resources. ...

The euro zone economy is declining for six consecutive quarters. Nine of the 17 countries are in recession Spain France Italy Finland Netherlands Portugal Cyprus Greece and Slovenia. The austerity policy imposed by the troika and the German govern

Pravda - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

The euro zone economy is declining for six consecutive quarters. Nine of the 17 countries are in recession: Spain, France, Italy, Finland, Netherlands, Portugal, Cyprus, Greece and Slovenia. The austerity policy imposed by the troika and the German government of Angela Merkel is sinking Europe. Eurostat data was released on Wednesday (15th) and are relative to GDP in the euro area in the first ...

French educators divided over use of English in universities

Globe and Mail - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

.The National Assembly on Wednesday was taking up an education-reform bill that would allow public universities to hold some courses - like science or economics classes - in English, a plan that has alarmed language purists and the political far-right ...

Paris Hilton signs record deal

Yahoo - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Paris Hilton has signed to the same label as Lil Wayne. The hotel heiress is a known lover of music and has released tracks in the past. Earlier this month she hinted she would be working with Cash Money Records and the news has now been confirmed. "Welcome@ParisHilton to tha Family.RichgangRichgirl.YMCMB (sic)," the label's founder Birdman tweeted Wednesday. Cash Money Records ...

Ambitious mixed-use project rises in Parisian suburbs

The Globe and Mail - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

With the Eiffel Tower on the horizon, here is a portion of the the 133-acre Clichy Batignolles project. For the inner-ring suburbs, or banlieues, of Paris the mixed-use project is revolutionary. ...

UPDATE 1-UK France to join resource transparency initiative

Reuters - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

Wed May 22, 2013 5:22pm EDT * Britain accused of hypocrisy for not signing up * Body agrees tougher disclosure measures in Sydney By Emma Farge and William James GENEVA/LONDON, May 22 (Reuters) - The UK and French governments will join a global initiative that will require oil and mining firms to comply with new disclosure measures aimed at tackling corruption, British Prime Minister David ...

France boosting security at facilities abroad amid shifting terrorist threats

Canada.com - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

PARIS - France's Foreign Ministry says it is strengthening security measures, hiring more guards and buying new equipment to help protect French facilities abroad amid shifting threats. Ministry spokesman Philippe Lalliot said Wednesday that the measures are being applied primarily in Africa and the Middle East, but did not name a specific threat as a reason for the move. France has been ...

European center to coordinate hunt for asteroids near Earth

Middle East Times - Wednesday 22nd May, 2013

The European Space Agency says a new research hub will strengthen Europe's contribution to the global hunt for asteroids that may strike Earth. Located at the European Space Research Institute near Rome, the center will take part in the search for Near-Earth Objects, or NEOs, asteroids or comets that orbit the sun and whose orbits come close to that of Earth. The NEO Coordination Center ...