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French tableware maker lays out 1st Japan store

Gien, a French tableware manufacturer and purveyor to European royal families, recently opened its first boutique in Japan near the fashionable Aoyamadori street in Minato Ward, Tokyo, in an effort to become more accessible to Japanese consumers.

“I believe, in a country like Japan, where people have a great understanding of French culture, the beauty of Gien will also be appreciated,” said Louis Grandchamp des Raux, the company president, who flew to Tokyo for the opening of the shop.

France Telecom cuts 14,500 positions

PARIS, France (Reuters) — France Telecom said on Monday it will cut about 14,500 positions through early retirement or reassignment to other public companies in 2004 as the former monopoly pushes ahead with its massive restructuring.

A France Telecom spokesman said the cuts were in line with forecasts made in late 2002, when the company announced a restructuring plan to repair its balance sheet after a rapid expansion spree nearly crushed it with debt.

France's Peterhansel wins Dakar Rally

DAKAR, Senegal (AP) — Stephane Peterhansel of France won the Dakar Rally on Sunday, capturing a 6,920-mile trek across the bogs, beaches and deserts of two continents and seven nations.

This was his first victory by car after six rally championships on motorcycles. Peterhansel joined Hubert Auriol as the only competitors to win the auto and motorcycle divisions.

Nantes bomb hits Muslim prefect's car

Four days after France appointed Aïssa Dermouche as its only foreign-born and Muslim prefect, his car was destroyed in a car-bombing near his home in Nantes early Sunday.
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No one took responsibility for the explosion, which caused no injuries, officials said.

Muslims Protest Head-Scarf Ban in France

Shouting “The veil is my choice,” hundreds of people marched in Paris on Saturday as part of global protests against the French government’s plan to ban Muslim headscarves in schools.

Muslims from all over France took part in the Paris rally, which drew at least 3,000 people. Many of the protesters were women wearing a headscarf or “hijab,” and bearded men in robes.

Sub recovers Red Sea 'black box'

CAIRO, Egypt (CNN) — An unmanned French Navy “Scorpio” submarine has recovered the flight data recorder from the wreckage of an Egyptian airliner about 1,000 meters under the Red Sea, Egyptian officials said Saturday.

Investigators are hoping the so-called black box will help explain what caused the January 3 crash of the Flash Airlines Boeing 737, which crashed into the sea shortly after take-off from the resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh.

France to offer aid to restore Bam citadel

PARIS, Jan 16 (AFP) — French Culture Minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon will go to Iran this weekend to offer aid to help rebuild the historic citadel of Bam destroyed in last month’s deadly earthquake, the Foreign Ministry said Friday.

Aillagon’s visit to Bam “will allow him to get an update from the Iranian authorities on their needs and mark out the ways France can get involved in the reconstruction effort,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Herve Ladsous.