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Opinion: France: Friend or foe?

On the July day American troops killed Saddam Hussein’s sons Qusai and Odai in the northern Iraqi city in Mosul, a senior NBC News producer called his usual intelligence and military sources trying to learn more about the raid.

As his best CIA source gushed about the American victory, the producer says he noticed a news bulletin on the television behind him: the Eiffel Tower, that great symbol of French grandeur and artistic prowess, had caught fire.

So I asked him, ‘Hey, do you guys know the Eiffel Tower’s on fire’? the producer said.

He was silent for a moment, then he said: Could this day get any better?

A joke, or not?

France agrees draft anti-veil law

The French cabinet has approved a draft law banning most religious symbols in state schools, launching the legislative process Paris says it needs to stem a rise in militant Islam among its Muslim minority.

The centre-right government, pushing through the measure on Wednesday with unusual speed, will submit to the National Assembly next Tuesday the draft law barring Muslim headscarves, Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses from school premises.

“The government bill clearly reaffirms the neutrality of public schools. It does not aim to ban religious symbols in everyday life,” President Jacques Chirac told the cabinet, according to government spokesman Jean-Francois Cope.

Editorial: Besmirching the tricolor

Politicians change their stances with the same ease as they flip the pages of a book. This is as true today as it was in the past. Only a few months ago, French President Jacques Chirac raised the moral banner high as he took the lead in criticizing a US-led war in Iraq. Chirac never forgot to mention “principles” and to pose as a savior of small nations the world over. Now he wears a different face as Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) visits his country. He has forgotten about principles entirely as he criticizes — with vitriol matching that of the Zhongnanhai leaders — President Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) plan to hold a referendum alongside the presidential election.

France receives new warning from EU on budget discipline

In a report on France’s mid-term economic forecasts, the European Union’s executive body said that the French government’s budgetary plans “lack ambition,” and warned that Paris is set to burst the deficit ceiling of 3 percent of gross domestic product through 2007.

Italy, Greece, and two of the EU members considered best at budgetary management, the Netherlands and Britain, were warned that their deficits risked breaching the ceiling, the commission said in separate reports on each country.

French resistance heroine wins Australian government support

SYDNEY: Australian-born Nancy Wake, the wartime French resistance fighter who became her country’s most decorated war heroine, is to receive government assistance in recognition of her contribution, Prime Minister John Howard said.

The 91-year-old former secret agent known in wartime France as “the White Mouse” because of her ability to elude capture, resettled in Australia after World War II, but returned to Britain in 2001 to spend the rest of her days among surviving friends there.

China, France vow to work for solution of global issues

     On promotion of sustainable development, the two countries pledge to make concerted efforts to fulfill the millennium development targets set by the United Nations in September 2000, and strive to eliminate poverty, hunger, diseases, environment degradation, illiteracy and discrimination against women.

    On environment protection, China and France reaffirm their support for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, recalling that both have ratified the Kyoto Protocol.

    In a bid to draw more international attention to environmental issues, the two countries support the strengthening of the role of the UN Environment Program (UNEP) and broad discussions on the reform of the UNEP.

US confirms u-turn on Iraq reconstruction contract

French companies will be able to act as sub-contractors for the first wave of Iraqi reconstruction contracts and will be able to compete freely for future rounds, a spokesman for the French trade ministry said last night.

This represents an about-face for the US administration, who initially said that no companies from countries that had not participated in its military operations in Iraq would be liable to bid for contracts.

This policy caused fury in France and Germany, who both opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq.