The Economist named France as its country of the year on Thursday, saying new President Emmanuel Macron had upset the odds to strike a victory for open societies and reform. The London-based weekly news magazine said the battle between open and closed visions of society was the most important in the world in 2017 and Macron had defeated the “drawbridge-raisers”. “In 2017, France defied all expectations,” The Economist said in […]
Addressing youths in the north of Paris during the 2012 presidential campaign, François Hollande declared that, if elected, he wanted to be judged by one objective. “Will young people be better off in 2017 than in 2012?” His bold challenge helped draw a solid majority of the youth vote (62% of the 25-24 year range), but it would soon become a bitter indictment of his presidency. Emmanuel Macron, his successor […]
France will on Sunday choose its next president after an unpredictable campaign threw up no clear winner in the first round of voting. The second round will see centrist Emmanuel Macron, a 39-year-old pro-European Union former investment banker. Why is it important France is the eurozone’s second-biggest economy as well as a global military and diplomatic heavyweight, with veto power as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. The […]
Scholarship applications are open for the Charpak Exchange Programme 2016 (autumn session). This programme, organised by Campus France, is designed for exchange students for a period of one to four months (duration of an academic semester) at the bachelor’s or master’s degree level. The benefits include student visa fee waiver, monthly stipend of 615 euros for up to four months, medical insurance coverage (around 300 euros/year) and affordable student housing […]
Today’s taxi driver protest is getting out of hand. According to the police, 2,800 taxi drivers are protesting today against UberPOP, the European equivalent of UberX (as UberX in France is Uber in the U.S.). With UberPOP, everybody can become an Uber driver — taxi drivers see the service as unfair competition as they have to get a special license. Yet, this doesn’t really explain why cabbies are now attacking […]
A Chinese boss has taken 6,400 of his staff on a four day holiday to France that finished with a world-record breaking human chain in the Cote D’Azur. Tiens Group Company Chairman Li Jinyuan, 57, who is featured on the Forbes list of billionaires, booked 4760 rooms in 79 four- and five-star hotels in Cannes and Monaco, in addition to 146 buses, for his employees, News.com.au reported. After some sightseeing, […]
Paris: A crossbow in her hands and covered head-to-toe in a black Islamic headwear and robe that leaves only her eyes visible — that is the image now circulating of France`s most-wanted woman: Hayat Boumeddiene. The 26-year-old is the partner of Amedy Coulibaly, one of the three gunmen shot dead by police after three days of high drama in France. The photo — first published by Le Monde — […]
An overseas territory governed by France is to ask Paris for nearly $1bn in compensation for damage caused by nuclear weapons tests, it’s been reported. The assembly of French Polynesia, based in Papete, has prepared a demand for $930m (£594m) over the 193 tests carried out by France in the South Pacific between 1966 and 1996, Radio New Zealand International reports. The ruling Tahoeraa Huiraatira party, which opposes independence from […]
