The countdown to an important day in this age of globalization has started: only a few days remain before the opening of the first Starbucks coffee in the City of Lights!
0 Read MoreAbu Dhabi, Jan 12 – French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said Monday there would be no blanket ban on Islamic headscarves in France and that a planned law to prohibit them in state schools did not target Islam.
“There will be no across-the-board ban on headscarves in France,” De Villepin told a news conference in Abu Dhabi, on the first leg of a five-nation Persian Gulf tour.
0 Read MoreThe Cultural Capitals of Europe were created by the Ministers of Culture of the European Community. Athens became the first Cultural Capital of Europe in 1985.
The event was conceived in order to help bring together different cultures.
To be named as Cultural Capital of Europe represents an unparalleled opportunity to assert the city’s identity on the European cultural map, as well as generating important media and tourism interest.
After Lille, we will have to wait until 2013 before another French city has the honour of hosting the Cultural Capital of Europe.
0 Read MorePARIS, Feb 23 (AFP) – Seventy percent of the French say they like Americans but oppose a potential war in Iraq, while 15 percent are opposed to both Americans and the war, according to a poll to in Sunday’s Le Journal newspaper.
Six percent of those questioned said they “like Americans and are in favour of military strikes on Iraq” and 2 percent “don’t like Americans” but would favour military action in the country.
The poll questionned 965 people between February 20-21.
©AFP
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Shareholders in France Telecom have approved plans to raise up to 30bn euros to help the company deal with its crippling debt.
But chief executive Thierry Breton told the shareholders he would need only 15bn euros (£10.3bn; $16.2bn) to shore up the balance sheet.
At a meeting in Paris he said the company’s debt stood at nearly 70bn euros at the end of last year.
And he promised that profits would rise above 20bn euros by 2005 as the company tackled the debt mountain.
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PARIS (AP)–Like many a great artist, Bernard Loiseau was a fragile and sometimes tortured soul, a perfectionist tending to one of France’s greatest passions: food.
Loiseau’s apparent suicide Monday shocked France, plunged the gastronomic world into mourning and raised a storm of condemnation from fellow culinary masters, who blamed all-powerful food critics for pushing the celebrated chef toward despair.
The death also served as a solemn reminder of France’s complex relationship with food.
0 Read MoreFrance said for the first time its 2002 public deficit likely topped the three percent limit set by the European Union.
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin also said Tuesday the deficit may remain above three percent this year.
He said the government’s goal of 2.5 percent growth in 2003 appears unattainable. France posted 1.2 percent growth in 2002.
Mr. Raffarin said he would not call for harsh measures to plug the growing budget deficit such as tax increases or budget cuts.
The prime minister made his remarks before the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Some information for this report provided by Reuters.
0 Read MorePrivate radios have only been authorized in France since 1982. As with television, the number of private radios increased dramatically since then.
0 Read MorePrivate radio and television stations have only been authorized in France since 1982. In the following 14 years, the number of TV channels jumped from three to over 30.
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