Blog Masonry
French deal creates energy giant
The new 72bn euro ($85.3bn; £48.9bn) operation will be 34%-owned by the French state and is expected to deliver annual cost savings of 500m euros.
Italy has complained strongly that the merger is aimed at blocking a possible takeover of Suez by Italian firm Enel.
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi called on the European Union to intervene.
Italy’s Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti is expected to meet with the EU’s Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in Brussels on Tuesday.
Other Italian government officials also have also been voicing their concerns about French protectionism.
where can i study floristry in france ?
Hi there, My name is mike and i am a australian, I want to come to france and study the art of floristry, but i can’t seem to find any repuatiable school of floristry online ? can someone point me to the right direction ?
getting to Paris from Calais (via rail)
Hi
I’m looking to get into Paris from Calais on the train, specifically the Calais Tunnel Terminal.
I will be travelling with friends near Le Touquet. They are returning to the UK on the Eurotunnel service (with their car). I want to go as far as Calais and leave them to make my way to Paris.
Is it possible to get a train at the Eurotunnel station? Is that Calais Frethun? Should I reserve ahead or can I get a ticket there and simply get on a train?
My thanks in advance for all help.
French 'haven of politeness' changing
The French government had a simple solution for any lack of respect among the young – send in the riot police.
Or at least that was the ambitious French Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy’s solution.
Back in October last year, he announced plans to deploy hundreds of riot police in difficult neighbourhoods to crack down on crime, and offer reassurance to householders.
“Do you want us to get rid of this trash?” he asked a housewife as he toured the tower blocks of the Paris suburbs, referring to youths who had been causing trouble in the area.
A miscarriage of justice calls an entire system into question
IT HAS been a landmark case in French judicial history in more ways than one. Since mid-January, a parliamentary inquiry has been studying one of the country’s biggest post-war miscarriages of justice: how six innocent people, jailed for years in connection with a paedophile ring, were acquitted on appeal only last December, after it turned out that key evidence against them had been made up; and how seven other innocents spent months behind bars. The testimony of the acquitted has been televised live, gripping the public.
Need tips on best AirFare to France
I’m planning to go to Paris and I’m looking at airfare now, but the prices are pretty much across the board, from $585 with IcelandAir to $1000+ on a few better-known airlines. I don’t just want to hop on a $585 flight because it’s cheap and have a horrible flight, but at the same time I don’t want to overspend, I’d rather spend my money once I’m there. Any suggestions on where to buy or what airlines have the better deals?
More specifically, I’m flying from New York to Paris, June 1-10th, if anyone has an idea of what a good fare is for that time, I’d love to hear it!
Any help is appreciated =-)
Chirac warns media over cartoons
Mr Chirac said any subject matter that could hurt other people’s convictions should be avoided.
But Denmark’s prime minister told the BBC that it was not for the government to censor the media.
Another French publication printed the controversial cartoons on Wednesday, as protests continue in the Muslim world.
Four people were killed and up to 20 injured in a protest by about 400 people in the Afghan town of Qalat.
The deaths bring to 11 the number of people killed in Afghan protests over the cartoons in recent days.
French weekly prints more cartoons
The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo, featuring all 12 Danish drawings together with several new religious cartoons by its own contributors, went on sale today after a Paris court rejected a legal bid by French Muslim organisations to prevent publication.
Charlie Hebdo’s cover shows Muhammad covering his eyes with his hands, saying: “It’s hard to be loved by idiots”. The illustration is by the magazine’s in-house cartoonist, Cabu, and the headline reads: “Muhammad overwhelmed by fundamentalists.”
Several Muslim organisations, including the French Council of the Muslim Faith and the mosques of Paris and Lyon, had initiated court proceedings against Charlie Hebdo for alleged “racial and religious insult”.
France sets slavery memorial day
PARIS, Jan. 30 (Xinhuanet) — France is to make May 10 a memorial day to mark the abolition of slavery, French President Jacques Chirac announced on Monday.
“From this year I would like mainland France to honour the memory of slaves and commemorate the abolition of slavery,” the president said in an address to a government-appointed Committee for the Memory of Slavery.
“Slavery fed racism. When people tried to justify the unjustifiable, that was when the first racist theories were elaborated. Racism is a crime of the heart and the spirit … which is why the memory of slavery remains a living wound for someof our fellow citizens,” he said.
Corsica
Corsica is one of the 26 régions of France, although strictly speaking Corsica is called a “territorial collectivity” (collectivité territoriale) by law. As a territorial collectivity, it enjoys powers slightly more important than other French régions, but for the most part its status is quite similar to the status of the other French régions. Corsica is referred to as a “région” in common speech, and is almost always listed among the other régions of France. Although the island is separated from the continental mainland by the Ligurian Sea, politically Corsica is considered part of Metropolitan France.
Corsica is famed as the birthplace of Napoléon Bonaparte.
Ecology