A new book in Germany recounts life under the Third Reich for those labeled: “personal prisoner of the Fuhrer” Sven Felix Kellerhoff BERLIN – In Puppi’s memory, was a beautiful place where she’d always longed to return. Of course, it wasn’t the actual concentration camp of Sachsenhausen, near Berlin, where she dreamed of going back […]
Month: December 2010
The “Virtuous Cities’ movement aims to cut costs and waste. And change the world Recycling al’Italiano (Kevin Hutchinson) COLORNO – Spending half-a-day with Marco Boschini is “bello e istruttivo” (beautiful and instructive), to paraphrase Italian writer Giovannino Guareschi. But the beauty and acquired wisdom comes at a cost. Without uttering a word, Boschini will make […]
On monetary, commercial and financial policy, Brussels starts to stand up to Beijing Port of Shanghai It is a rare enough event to merit due attention: Brussels may actually have found consensus on a major issue. It’s not the financial security of European Union states or harmonizing corporate taxes or even the future of European […]
In France, a new study shows that kids with December birthdays fall behind in school, and never catch up – even when it comes time for their paychecks.
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A Boom In Foreign Films Made In France
Passed last year, France’s “international tax credit” has already benefited 29 movies, mostly Hollywood productions. Woody Allen is one of many US directors who filmed in France this year PARIS – In January, Sherlock Holmes 2 will begin filming in Paris and Strasbourg. Directed by Britain’s Guy Ritchie, the film is just the latest to […]
The spectre of strife looms ahead of UN indictments in 2005 Hariri murder Monuments have risen to honor slain leader Rafiq Hariri (Steven Damron) EYES INSIDE – THE MIDDLE EAST Lebanon is an edgy place these days, as a UN-backed special tribunal prepares to charge suspects in the February 2005 bombing assassination of ex-Prime Minister […]
The spectre of strife looms ahead of UN indictments in 2005 Hariri murder Monuments have risen to honor slain leader Rafiq Hariri (Steven Damron) EYES INSIDE – THE MIDDLE EAST Lebanon is an edgy place these days, as a UN-backed special tribunal prepares to charge suspects in the February 2005 bombing assassination of ex-Prime Minister […]
A French analysis of global commodity prices, as 2010 quietly finishes with record highs Corn has reached record highs PARIS – Wheat, corn, coffee, sugar, rubber, cocoa, cotton, soy, rice. Each one of these commodities has seen their prices skyrocket this year, some to all-time record highs. The increase accelerated in December, with investors buying […]
Dictator convicted for 1970s murders, abuses, but not before giving his version of history EYES INSIDE – LATIN AMERICA Argentina’s former dictator Jorge Rafael Videla, the architect of the notorious Dirty War of the late 1970s, was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday for murder and human rights abuses, bringing some long-awaited sense of […]
Washington struggles to find a way to deal with Julian Assange’s system. And the world is watching
More politicians and businessmen shed their neckties. And now the backlash David Cameron and Gordon Brown show off the somber look MILAN – So it’s come to this. In these ever fluid times, the necktie has become the sartorial last stand for those who see a society unraveling in the disintegration of dress codes. It […]
Indom, leader of domain names in France, is bought by its British counterpart in the latest ceding of French control online One French web success sold abroad flickr Nicolas Rauline PARIS – The list grows longer. After a Japanese purchase of France’s e-commerce site PriceMinister and Axel Springer’s takeover bid for Paris-based real estate portal […]
The French diplomat-cleric leads Pope Benedict’s efforts to reach out to Muslims, while reaffirming his Catholic identity
Italian train restoration experts bring the legendary luxury railroad back up to standards to feed nostalgic travel buffs Orient Express (D McG) SANTHIÀ – The biting chill of Magliola di Santhià”s open-air workshop masks the warm and romantic interior. Here, encircled by the rice fields in this small northern town near Vercelli, the Orient Express […]
Standard procedural bulletin on use of speed sensors may help explain unsolved crash of Rio-to-Paris flight AF447 Airbus 330 (flickr) A seemingly innocuous memo could revive speculation about the cause of the June 2009 crash of an Air France flight from Rio-to-Paris. Les Echos has learned that on Monday, Airbus sent an operational engineering bulletin […]
Swiss-based Ethical Coffee Company, run by a former top Nespresso executive, ready to crank up its production of its biodegradable, single-use coffee pods. ANNEMASSE – The challenge to Nespresso starts brewing here. The Ethical Coffee Company (ECC) has leased a 4,000 square meter factory in the French town of Annemasse, just across the Swiss border. […]
Swiss-based Ethical Coffee Company, run by former top Nespresso executive, ready to crank up its production of biodegradable single-use coffee pods. By Gabrielle Serraz LES ECHOS/Worldcrunch ANNEMASSE – The challenge to Nespresso starts brewing here. The Ethical Coffee Company (ECC) has leased a 4,000 square meter factory in the French town of Annemasse, just across […]
Algeria’s Our Lady of Africa was long associated with French colonialism, until it became a symbol of interfaith tolerance
A new study rejects the hypothesis of suicide, concluding that Callas’ vocal decline and 1977 death were caused by a degenerative disease. Maria Callas, Henry Koerner, Oil on canvas, 1956 (via Flickr) BOLOGNA – To this day, the causes of both the vocal decline and eventual death of legendary soprano Maria Callas have remained a […]
German scientists have created the technology to manipulate live video, making objects disappear from screens like magic. Karen Eliot via Flickr German researchers claim to have developed the world’s first technology to manipulate moving images in real time. The Diminished Reality System, as it is called, can delete objects from a screen during a live […]
Shares of Prime Minister’s TV network Mediaset rise — then fall — after surviving no-confidence in Parliament. Though Berlusconi still denies politics and business are linked, the markets disagree. By Francesco Spini MILAN – Earlier in the week, as Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi faced a pair of crucial confidence votes, and riots broke out in […]
Leaked diplomatic cables reveal feigned amity, eagerness for the U.S. to take on Iran Arab leaders eye Iran’s Ahmadinejad (Daniella Zalcman) EYES INSIDE – THE MIDDLE EAST While its founder makes bail in London, WikiLeaks’ revelations are setting off a unique game of truth and consequences in the Arab world, where leaders are used to […]
A new labor report shows the narrowing gap between developed and developing worlds is also driven by Western decline Textile workers in India (Jessica Steiner) PARIS – The International Labor Organization (ILO) has released a new and very detailed survey on wages in 115 countries. As always the study’s results are highly anticipated, as a […]
A new labor report shows the gap between developed and developing worlds narrows not just because of their growth, but our decline PARIS – The International Labor Organization (ILO) has released a new and very detailed survey on wages in 115 countries. As always the study’s results are highly anticipated, as a global snapshot of […]
Critics say Venezuelan President wants to use an emergency flood-response law to nip power from growing opposition presence in National Assembly Hugo Chavez has sights set (Flickr) EYES INSIDE – LATIN AMERICA Once more, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez is pushing the accepted bounds of democracy. Under a national emergency law voted on Thursday, Chávez could […]
Rising incomes, traditions heat up competition for best spots to host your big day. A banquet hall black market is born Bride and groom in China (Nghong Lam via Flickr) EYES INSIDE – CHINA When a nation’s economy grows 10 percent a year, everything is booming, new markets emerge, innovation is rampant. That goes for […]
Rising incomes, traditions heat up competition for best spots to host your big day. And a banquet hall black market is born Bride and groom in China (Nghong Lam via Flickr) EYES INSIDE – CHINA When a nation’s economy grows 10 percent a year, everything is booming, new markets emerge, innovation is rampant. That goes […]
Low costs, abundant rain make moment ripe for Bonduelle expansion to Latin America, even as the French firm eyes Green Giant takeover via flickr BRASILIA –- From a bird’s eye view, the landscape resembles the geometric paintings of Vassily Kandinsky. Circles upon circles are etched into the deep red laterite-coated earth. In Brasilia’s savannah, where […]
Silvio Berlusconi barely survives a confidence vote, and riots erupt in a country plagued by politicians who listen only to themselves TURIN – A political system shut off from the country produced exactly what’s been predicted for months: shouts, insults, head counts, celebrations. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi barely survived a no-confidence vote. And […]
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How To Buy A Boeing
From factory to first flight, follow the path of a B777 order bound to be the 200th Boeing in the Air France fleet. Not quite like buying a car B-777 Mathieu Marque via Flickr SEATTLE – Miraculously, the heavy rain gave way to sunshine, a rare site in Seattle. On the runway of the Boeing […]
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The Godfather’s Appetite
Cannoli and killers: a new book connects Cosa Nostra power with the seduction of Sicilian cuisine An Italian restaurant in Warsaw (Tulio Bertorini via flickr) Francesco La Licata ROME – At the table, any conflict can be smoothed out, peace made, war declared, business done, oaths sealed, alliances forged. At the table, in short, we […]
Daughter and likely successor of National Front party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen compares Muslim street prayers to Nazi “occupation” of France.
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The Secret Of Schibsted Media’s Success
The Norwegian company’s bold transition to the Web is now a model for media groups around the world OSLO – On December 1, Schibsted officially took over Leboncoin, a French online gem specialized in classified ads. Already a Leboncoin shareholder, the Oslo-based media group put down another 200 million euros, including 140 million in cash, […]
Barack Obama v. Julian Assange: a duel between two Internet heroes (Steve Rhodes, flickr) The arrest of the founder of WikiLeaks has triggered, among other things, a showdown between two modern-day heroes. Julian Assange and Barack Obama are representatives of the Internet’s revolution in politics and information. Indeed both would-be heroes were born on and […]
From St. Peter’s Square to Tuscan farms, Italians weigh the effects of the “growth” of plastic Christmas trees imported from China MILAN – The tree in St. Peter’s Square is a 30-meter tall fir from the Italian Alps. The Douglas fir adorning the White House was carried by a horse-drawn carriage and welcomed inside by […]
Blaze in overcrowded facility kills 81, marking unofficial end to national (and global) celebration of rescue of Chilean miners No good news lately for Chilean President Sebastian Piñera (rt), who’d basked in October’s rescue (Photo: Hugo Infante, govt of Chile) EYES INSIDE – LATIN AMERICA Just two months after Chile basked in the storybook rescue […]
Diplomats in Washington and Europe see a major pendulum swing back toward good relations with Moscow. Will it last? Putin and Obama (Mark Rain via Flickr) PARIS – “One step forward, two steps back,” Lenin once said. But there are signs now that relations between Russia, the United States and Europe may just be set […]
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Where Does Wine Come From?
First developed by the Phoenicians, viticulture was eventually spread by the Romans into Gaul, where it was turned into the wine we know today.
France sinking, China rising in results from the highly anticipated “Pisa” global education study.
Returning to profitability, the world’s largest airline group will reduce first-class seating as travel consumers look to trim costs By Bruno Trevidic SEATTLE – With Air France-KLM expecting a return to profitability in 2011-2012, the company has begun to revamp its long-haul fleet to reflect a new post-crisis, penny-pinching economic reality. Chief Commercial Officer Bruno […]