The French Senate passed a controversial law this week that makes it a crime to deny that Armenians were victims of a Turkish genocide. Turkey’s Prime Minister Erdogan had angry words for France, but a closer look shows Ankara may have another st
Tag: france
In the 1960s, Mitt Romney was a Mormon missionary in the French cities of Brest, Le Havre and Bordeaux. Though the Church of the Latter-Day Saints is still a tiny minority in this Catholic country, it may finally build its first church in France. But loca
The European Commission will unveil an arsenal of legislative measures aimed at harmonizing the E.U. countries’ various approaches to digital privacy protection. Among the new laws is a “right to forget” clause, guaranteeing people an “out” from services
After a bitter Socialist primary campaign won by Francois Hollande, Martine Aubry, the party leader and primary runner-up has put all her weight behind her former rival. And If Hollande unseats Nicolas Sarkozy for the Presidency, Aubry may be headed for t
Cosmetic breast surgery and augmentation has been in the news recently following the scandal of dangerously defective breast implants by the French firm PIP. But what really motivates women to go under the knife?
On the outskirts of Marseille, France’s second-largest city, a string of gangland murders has brought new attention to an ongoing drug war. Inside the perilous cité housing projects, a loose network of dealers, as well as children and single moth
Analysis: A French look at the euro zone’s prospects after Standard and Poor’s (S&P) downgraded the public debt of half of the euro zone. Not only did France lose equal partnership with Germany, Italy risks sinking further into crisis. Bu
The “veil,” a work from an Italian-French team, is the first new major architectural addition to the Louvre since the famed pyramid entrance of I.M. Pei opened. It will cover three floors and 4,600 square meters of new exhibition space d
Following the lead from a 2010 Harvard course on urban inequality, a French university is turning to the gritty television show “The Wire” as a unique tool for dissecting what is wrong in American society.
Though proud of their food and wine, French don’t have a reputation for flag waving on the industrial front. But a movement to label all products “Made in France” – complete with a tiny tri-color flag – has begun to catch on. Will it have the sam
Physically allergic to the electro-magnetic waves of wi-fi coming from mobile phones and high-tension wires, two “electro-hypersensitive” women find refuge deep inside a cave tucked in southeastern France. A dark tale of a very modern ai
Analysis: Looking ahead to the next 12 months, European business leaders are hoping the current economic slowdown will be more manageable than the crisis four years ago. Fear of a worst-case scenario, however, is part of everyone’s calculation.
Getting your own fresh eggs for your morning Parisian omelette doesn’t necessarily require a trip to the local market. More and more French urbanites are finding space for a hen or two in their own homes.
The French National Assembly’s decision last week to approve a bill criminalizing public denial of the 1915-16 Armenian Genocide in Turkey triggered a stiff rebuke from Ankara. Over the weekend, Turkish hackers took down the French Senate’s website.
Early export stats suggest that so far this year, Italy’s Prosecco variety of sparkling wine is outselling Champagne, its better known – and generally more expensive – French counterpart. A victory for the underdog? Not so fast, says France. Chri
Essay: For citizens of France and the world, there is much to be grateful for — and much to worry about. Looking back at what good has and hasn’t come from past Christmas wishes, this French writer has a special request for Santa that can never
In latest sign that US-style mass consumerism is breaking through European traditions, American food giant General Mills is outperforming rivals in France.
A first wave of 200 new CCTV cameras were installed in the French capital this week. By next summer, there will be more than 1,000 such surveillance cameras. Still, Paris peeping is nothing compared to London’s much bigger version of Big Brother.
Master chef Michel Rostang’s famous truffle sandwiches can now be ordered take out. They cost 65 euros a piece. Are they worth it? One reporter took it upon herself to find out.
A laboratory in Rennes is developing ‘bio-batteries,’ fuel cells that use bacteria rather than expensive metals to generate electricity.
Seven grandchildren of French carmaker Louis Renault are challenging the confiscation of property from the company’s 1945 forced nationalization. As the courts decide whether to hear the case, historians raise old questions about French industry’s role in
A Belgian M.P. in the European Parliament is so livid over David Cameron’s E.U. treaty veto that he is refusing even to speak the English language. Another accused the British Prime minister Tuesday of selling out to London bankers.
Police in France are tracking a rash of rhinoceros horn robberies. The latest Hollywood-like heist took place earlier this week in Paris. Why rhino horns? Among other values, they are prized in Asia for their supposed medicinal properties.
Banana Republic is sparing no expense for Thursday’s grand opening along the Champs-Élysées, where big-name apparel companies now occupy close to 50% of the highly coveted real estate. That’s in part because few others can afford the chic avenue’s sky hig
Inheritance can provide a nest egg for children of the deceased. But increasingly in France, deceased parents leave a mountain of debt to children who can’t afford to pay it off. A sign of both economic hard times and shifting demographics.
In France, a controversial new decree is wreaking havoc among foreign-born francophone students who arrived looking to enter the global elite via the country’s top universities. Now that they have their degrees, they are being told to leave. Is t
Op-Ed: With the euro on the brink of collapse, German Chancellor Merkel wants to exploit the acute crisis to impose strong fiscal discipline across the currency union. But facing a vicious cycle of low confidence, now may actually be the wrong time to tig
It’s not surprising that women don’t play as large a role as men in the telling of history. But a new study in France shows just how small: less than four percent of the figures given their own biographies in French history books are wom
U.S. bedroom scandals have long culminated in sex addiction revelations. But now the French are starting to face this bona fide medical diagnoses since Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s super active sex life has been dissected following his encounter with
Today it sounds a bit stuck-up, cheeky maybe. But when it was created in 1971, L’Oréal’s “Because I’m Worth It” slogan was downright revolutionary. Invented by a young woman not unlike Mad Men’s Peggy Olson, the catch phrase is still a L’Oréal standard.
Eating in absolute darkness, or getting a massage without being seen, can change your perspective. From Paris to London and Barcelona — and coming to the U.S. and Russia — institutions run by the blind are also sharing their vision of life’s experiences
The prestigious Grand Palais museum in Paris is hosting an exhibition on the history of video games, marking an unofficial christening into the realm of high brow for a craft that has long been associated with mass (and mindless) entertainment.
Europe’s “systematic crisis,” as EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso recently described the situation, has banks across the region preparing for widespread layoffs. Just this week France’s BNP Paribas gave word it’ll be letting 1,400 employees go.
Both sides of the Atlantic have been buzzing since a hacker busted into Siri, the new voice-recognition software on the iPhone 4S. Meet the man who cracked Apple’s latest secret gem. But is it legal?
Feeding pigeons is forbidden by the French law, and can lead to fines of up to 450 euros. But that doesn’t stop the army of feeders in Paris from risking it all with their bags of illicit bread crumbs. Now the mess has arrived on the Internet.
Silvio Berlusconi’s departure in Italy, and the arrival of the economic technocrat Mario Monti, is just the latest sign that market forces may weigh even more than popular will on who is governing in Europe.
A top figure in the Socialist party, Arnaud Montebourg is putting pressure on party leaders to not support candidates over 67, saying that new challenges require new blood. Not surprisingly, the proposal has sparked some heated debate — and exposed a gen
As the first baby boomers turn 65 this year, high-tech is gradually making its way into the lives – and homes – of older folks. A look at the tablets, sensors, foot boards and other gadgets seniors can use to get caught up and connected.
A magazine in France is pushing a new campaign for office benevolence, and even a “Kindness Day” next week. It may sound to some like empty chatter (and not typically French), but it’s part of a larger trend toward finding solut
Editorial: after its latest edition poked fun at the Muslim prophet, the offices of French satirical weekly ‘Charlie Hebdo’ was firebombed and its website hacked. Like ongoing fundamentalist Christian attacks on a local theater troop, the incident is a th