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Debate over religious symbols divides France

France’s National Assembly is expected Tuesday to approve a controversial bill, drafted by President Jacques Chirac’s conservative cabinet, that would ban all conspicuous religious dress, and symbols, in public secondary schools.

And while the prohibition would affect large Christian crosses as well as Jewish skullcaps, the target has been the nation’s growing Muslim population.

The bill’s co-author, Professor Gilles Kepel, told NBC News that the choice was critical for the French government: Either French state schools crack down on religious dress and symbols, or those schools will no longer function as the “learning fields’’ of a free, French and secular society.

Driving in France for British drivers

French police are set to get the power to deprive British drivers of their licences.

Motorists who commit minor traffic offences in France could for the first time incur points on their licences at home.

The plan is part of a major clampdown on foreign drivers in France and would see them punished for offences including speeding and illegal parking.

Penalties imposed in France would contribute to the 12 points needed to incur a driving ban in this country.

United States and France: Together Again Over Lunch

UNITED NATIONS, Feb. 6 — A year before, the two men had faced off across the Security Council with icy stares and chilly comments. Back together again at the United Nations on Friday, Colin L. Powell, the American secretary of state, and Dominique de Villepin, the French foreign minister, had nothing but warm words.

They were drawn here by a shared interest in a donors’ conference held by the United Nations, the World Bank and the United States that raised $520 million for war-ravaged Liberia. They used the occasion to meet over a working lunch at the Waldorf Towers official residence of the United States ambassador to the United Nations, John D. Negroponte, and to make common cause on the issue that had separated them last February — Iraq.

France to open elite school of haute cuisine

 ‘The French may still have a certain reputation for arrogance but we can’t afford to rest on our laurels,’ said manager Corinne Mentzelopoulos of famed Bordeaux winemaker Chateau Margaux.

The institute, which opens in October exclusively to experienced restaurateurs, critics and other industry professionals, will be based in the eastern town of Reims – the heart of champagne country.

The venture has the backing of food companies, champagne houses and the government – as well as celebrity French restaurateur Alain Ducasse and tyremaker Michelin, which also publishes a famous gourmet guide to restaurants.

Juppe verdict unleashes storm in France

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The trial of President Jacques Chirac’s closest lieutenant on financial sleaze charges has snowballed into a major affair that has engulfed France’s judiciary.

Allegations of spying, burglary and threats, combined with a bitter verbal campaign against the trio of judges who sentenced him, have tarred the trial of former Prime Minister Alain Juppe, the head of state’s protege.

Juppe, 58, was handed an 18-month suspended sentence for abuse of public funds after he employed seven people for Chirac’s party whose salaries were in fact paid by Paris town hall.

Sports: Anelka close to France reconciliation

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Nicolas Anelka would be welcomed back into the international fold by French Football Federation president Claude Simonet.

The Manchester City striker has revealed he would be keen on an immediate return to the France squad.

With Euro 2004 on the horizon and France needing solid support for Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet, Anelka revealed he would attempt to resolve his differences with France coach Jacques Santini.

Anelka said: “I want to be a French international again. When you get older, you change, and you grow up.

“I never closed the door to the French team.”

Anelka’s announcement was well received by Simonet who hinted that he would be happy for Santini to call up Anelka for the friendly against Belgium on February 18.

Three chefs in France gain prized Michelin 3-star label

Three restaurants have joined the Hall of Fame of French gastronomy by winning three stars in the latest Michelin Red Guide — a reward one chef found easy to describe: “This is joy.”

Jean-Michel Lorain, 45, said Thursday he regards his three stars as a vindication for his family-owned restaurant on the edge of the Burgundy region southeast of Paris.

The restaurant, La Cote Saint Jacques, was demoted to two-star status in 2001 during a major renovation program that forced the chef to spend too many hours out of the kitchen.

The other two restaurants to move into the three-star club are L’Esperance in Saint Pere-sous-Vezelay and Loges de l’Augergade in southwestern Puymerol.

Effort to ban head scarves in France sets off culture clash

On the surface, the new law is aimed at protecting France’s secular culture and the strict division between church and state. But the public debate has spread to much broader issues including immigration, women’s rights, education and concerns about Islamic fundamentalism. “This issue over the veil has become a flash point for so many tensions,” said Sharon Gracen, head of the Office of the Congregation at the American Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in Paris.

France draws EU's ire

In an effort to crack down on governments that hand lucrative contracts to domestic companies, the European Commission is about to take France to the European Court of Justice for failing to apply EU laws ensuring transparency and fair competition for all government contracts.

According to a copy of a statement due for release on Wednesday, the commission will also formally warn Italy that it may face similar legal action unless it stops handing helicopter contracts to the local manufacturer Agusta without inviting competitors to bid.

Why France values its religious neutrality

With France on the verge of passing a law that would prevent Muslim girls from wearing their head scarves in class, Americans are asking why the French are so attached to secularism.

I always want to respond to this question by asking another, a version of one asked by Montesquieu nearly three centuries ago: How can one be French?

Our uneasiness about head scarves and other religious symbols in schools is a result of our long, often painful history. If we bow to demands to allow the practice of religion in state institutions, we will put France’s identity in peril.