News on France

FRANCE ENGLAND RUGBY SIX NATIONS

2010-03-21T04:00:28Z

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, right, and Prime Minister Francois Fillon applaud before the Six Nations rugby union international match France against England at the Stade de France stadi...

France edge out England to seal Six Nations Grand Slam

2010-03-21T06:15:32Z

<div><p>France sealed their first Six Nations Grand Slam in six years when they weathered an England storm to run out 12-10 winners at the Stade de France on Saturday.</p><p>Three Morgan Parra penalties and a President Nicolas Sarkozy's conservative party was bracing for a massive setback Sunday as frustrated French voters cast ballots in regional run-off elections likely to favor the opposition left — and to set the stage for the 2012 presidential race.</p><p>Discouraged by Sarko...

Sarkozy faces heavy defeat in French regional poll

2010-03-21T04:00:23Z

<div><p>PARIS (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy's center-right party faces heavy losses in regional elections on Sunday that could affect the pace of reform as maneuvering begins before the 2012 presidential campaign.</p><p>The center-right suffered one of its worst losses in years in the first round of the ballot, with Sarkozy's UMP p...

French regional elections seen as test for Sarkozy

2010-03-21T04:00:15Z

<div id="subtitle">How French are voting and in regional elections seen as test for Sarkozy</div><div><p>WHO VOTES: Any of France's 45 million registered voters.</p><p>WHEN: First round was March 14. Runoff is Sunday, with polls open at 8 a.m. (0700 GMT, 3 a.m. EDT) and last polls closed at 8 p.m. (1900 GMT, 3 p.m. EDT).</p><p>WHAT FOR: Voters are choosing 1,880 new regional councilors for the country's 2...

France weather England storm to win Six Nations Grand Slam

2010-03-20T16:15:52Z

<div><p>France sealed their first Six Nations Grand Slam in six years when they weathered an England storm to run out 12-10 winners at the Stade de France on Saturday.</p><p>Three Morgan Parra penalties and a France and Spain on Friday released images of the five taken on a closed-circuit television camera at a supermarket outside Paris, saying they were members ...

FRANCE MITCHELL

2010-03-20T13:01:04Z

US special envoy for Mideast peace, George Mitchell, right, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, left, shakes hand prior to a meeting at the Foreign Ministry, in Paris, Saturday, March 20, 2010. Mitchell made a brief stop in Paris on Sunday to see...

Scotland beat Ireland in Six Nations

2010-03-20T12:16:06Z

<div><p>Scotland beat 2009 Grand Slam winners Ireland 23-20 in their final Six Nations match at Croke Park on Saturday.</p><p>The Scots victory saw them avoid the wooden spoon as they finished on three points, one clear of French President Nicolas Sarkozy shakes talks to locals after a meeting with the relatives of the police officer who was killed late Tuesday, by suspected members of the Basque militant group ETA, in Dammarie les Lys, south west of Paris, Thursday, March 18, 2010.(AP Photo/Michel Euler, Pool)

separatist group ETA released a video of what they said were the suspects: a group of fit, trim young men captured in a grainy surveillance video at a suburban Bayern Munich have hit out at France's national team for their treatment of Franck Ribery, and are set to lodge an official complaint with football's world ruling body FIFA.</p><p>Ribery has endured injury woes since before the start of the season and was called up to play fo...

Sarkozy's party braces for electoral wipeout

2010-03-19T22:15:48Z

<div id="subtitle">Sarkozy's party braces for potential electoral wipeout in regional elections favoring left</div><div><p>President Nicolas Sarkozy's party braced for a potential electoral wipeout in Sunday's final round of regional elections, which an alliance of the rival left hopes will give it a national sweep and a staging ground for 2012 presidential voting.</p><p>Even damage control was diff...

FRANCE ELECTIONS

2010-03-19T22:17:04Z

France's Socialist Party first secretary Martine Aubry, center, Communist Party secretary general Marie-George Buffet, left, and Green party secretary general Cecile Duflot, right, leave the restaurant where they were giving a press confe...

FRANCE REGIONALES ELECTIONS

2010-03-19T22:17:01Z

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, right, flanked with Secretary-General of UMP party Xavier Bertrand attends a news conference following a meeting after regionales elections at UMP party headquarters in Paris, Tuesday, March 16, 2010. (AP Photo/Francois Mori)

Supposed 'ETA terrorists' are just holidaymakers:report

2010-03-19T21:15:47Z

<div><p>Five people identified as ETA suspects in a surveillance video released in France and Spain are in fact firemen from Spain's Catalonia region who were on holiday, Spanish media said Saturday.</p><p>France and Spain on Friday released images from closed-circuit television cameras of five people Spanish police said were suspected me...

Bobcats Hawks Basketball

2010-03-19T20:00:59Z

Atlanta Hawks forward Josh Smith (5) takes a shot over Charlotte Bobcats forward Boris Diaw (32) of France, during the first quarter of an Africa but the language of Moliere is still losing ground to English in global venues, the Francophonie group of countries warned ahead of a weekend gathering.</p><p>Envoys from across the French-speaking world will celebrate the 40th anniversary of their organisation in Paris on Saturday, taking stock of the their shared language's stan...

British boy arrives home after Pakistan kidnap ordeal

2010-03-19T08:16:14Z

<div><p>A five-year-old British boy whose 12-day kidnap ordeal in Pakistan sparked an international police operation that led to arrests in Europe has arrived home.</p><p>Sahil Saeed was brought out onto the doorstep of his house in the arms of his mother Akila ...

US Mideast envoy to hold talks in Paris

2010-03-19T08:16:08Z

<div><p>US Middle East envoy George Mitchell will hold talks with French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner in Paris on Saturday, a spokesman said, amid tensions over Israel's move to build settler homes.&...