French News Headlines

• France24 - Friendly fire in Afghanistan injured French soldiers, says inquiry
  The French Defense Ministry says an investigation shows that friendly fire was behind the injury of three French soldiers during an operation in Afghanistan last month.
• Why Sarkozy went to war on the Roma - Europe, World - The Independent
  The President's crackdown was meant to strengthen his grip on power, but could split his government instead
• Champagne bottle slims down for lighter carbon footprint - Telegraph
  The new bottle weighs 835 grams (29.5 ounces) instead of 900 grams (31.7 ounces), which means savings on the amount of transport needed to move it. The committee says the change will cut carbon dioxide output by 8,000 metric tons (8,818 short tons) a year, which it likens to the annual emissions of 4,000 cars.
• Tesco bids to increase dominance of Asian market with basket of Carrefour stores | Business | The Guardian
  Tesco, already the biggest supermarket retailer in Thailand and Malaysia, wants to add 61 Carrefour stores to its Asian portfolio
• BBC News - Greatest free-kick 'was no fluke' say physicists
  Roberto Carlos scored his wonder goal during the inaugural match of the Tournoi de France, a friendly international football tournament that was held in France ahead of the 1998 World Cup.
• BBC News - Channel Tunnel in German high-speed train test
  The German railway, Deutsche Bahn, says it will test a high-speed train in the Channel Tunnel between France and Britain sometime around 19 October.
• Gift tokens give away Paris thief | RFI
  Police have arrested a man suspected of carrying out robberies at several shops in Paris after he attempted to use gift tokens stolen in the raids
• Bettencourt home raided by French police in Sarkozy scandal - Telegraph
  French police investigating a financial scandal swirling around Nicolas Sarkozy's government have raided the home of L'Oreal heiress Lillian Bettencourt.
• BBC News - Racism in French job market reflected in film
  A new French film, L'Italien has lifted the lid on how some from immigrant backgrounds are getting around the problem and it is stirring lively debate.

• Russian mafia taking over French Riviera - Telegraph
  Mafia kingpins from the former Soviet Union have moved into the French Riviera and are taking over with “quasi-military” precision.
• BBC News - France 'drops charges' over killing of Ali Mecili
  A French judge has dropped charges against an Algerian official over the killing of a leading Algerian opposition figure, a lawyer says.
• GDF promises gas price freeze for rest of 2010 - The Connexion
  Finance minister Christine Lagarde had asked GDF to give customers a break from further price rises over the winter
• Experimental French exhibition saturates senses with art for a new age | Art and design | Guardian Weekly
  Sensorialités Excentriques at France's Musée d'Art contemporain de Rochechouart stretches the sensory limits
• Iranian media warned after paper calls Carla Bruni-Sarkozy a 'prostitute' | World news | The Guardian
  Keyhan daily attacked French first lady after she condemned stoning sentence against woman convicted of adultery
• France24 - France to tackle student housing crisis with… shipping containers
  The French government’s fight against its chronic lack of student housing took an unusual turn in the north-western city of Le Havre Monday. In an event presided by the junior minister of higher education Valérie Pécresse, 99 students were handed keys to their brand new… shipping containers.
• France24 - Two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon dies
  Frenchman Laurent Fignon, a two-time winner of the Tour de France, has died of cancer aged 50. Fignon achieved 76 victories during his career, including France's most prestigious race in 1983 and 1984.
• Biopic set to anger Sarkozy (and not just for leading man's receding hairline) - Europe, World - The Independent
  The story of the immigrants' son who became Jacques Chirac's protégé, who went on to betray his mentor and become President of the Republic, is being filmed in Paris as La Conquête (the conquest).

• France24 - Frenchwoman charged with kidnapping appeals 60-year sentence
  Lawyers for Frenchwoman Florence Cassez, sentenced to 60 years in Mexico on kidnapping charges, on Monday filed an appeal, claiming the case had violated the constitution and the woman's rights.
• Sarkozy's cabinet under pressure as Roma divides ministers under shadow of reshuffle - Telegraph
  Government cracks over France's expulsion of Roma gipsies broke out into the open as Bernard Kouchner, the foreign minister, said he considered resigning over the policy.
• SNCF to open war archives to California - Telegraph
  France’s state rail operator, SNCF, has pledged to open its wartime archives to the state of California to prove it has “nothing to hide” over transporting French Jews to Nazi death camps.
• France24 - Govt minister uses crime stats to justify Roma deportation
  France’s interior minister Brice Hortefeux said Wednesday that over the past 18 months crime committed by Roma people has increased by 259 percent in Paris alone.
• French 'Spiderman' climbs Sydney skyscraper in climate change bid | RFI
  French climber Alain Robert dubbed "Spiderman" was arrested on the roof of a 57-storey Sydney skyscraper on Monday after climbing the building to raise awareness for climate change.
• France accused of turning blind eye to orlotan trappers - Telegraph
  It has been described as the ultimate “barbaric pleasure” for gastronomes, to be eaten whole, bones and all after being drowned in Armagnac.
• Socialist leader Aubry slams Sarkozy on law and order | RFI
  Socialist leader Martine Aubry dubbed President Nicolas Sarkozy’s law and order campaign “a total failure” in a key speech at a party summer school this weekend

• L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt writes photographer out of her will - Telegraph
  The celebrity photographer accused of abusing the trust of L'Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, France's richest woman, has been written out of her will - depriving him of an estimated 1.25 billion euros.
• Lending works of art to France is a risky business, warns curator - Telegraph
  The French cannot be trusted to look after valuable works of art, according to a leading heritage expert.

• BBC Sport - Football - Newcastle sign Hatem Ben Arfa on loan from Marseille
  Newcastle have signed Marseille's France international winger Hatem Ben Arfa on a season-long loan deal.
• Champagne moments: a vineyard harvest tour - The Guardian
  Armed with secateurs and a basket, our writer takes part in the champagne harvest, before getting down to the serious business of enjoying the fruits of his labours
• Britons ditching jam and toast for croissants - Telegraph
  Britons are ditching jam and toast in favour of a more continental breakfast as sales of croissants rise 35 per cent in a year, new figures suggest.

• French Socialists swap infighting for celebration at annual summer camp - The Guardian
  Event normally taken over by personal rivalries now optimistic as polls brighten chances of party's victory over Nicolas Sarkozy
• Jet fighters scare 4,800 chickens to death | RFI
  French police are looking into the suspicious deaths of 4,800 chickens. The birds apparently died of fear when two jet fighters flew over a Brittany farm.

• BBC News - Credit Agricole sees profits rise
  French bank Credit Agricole has reported a big rise in profits for the first half of the year, despite feeling the impact of the Greek debt crisis.
• Sarkozy joins fight to stop Iran woman stoning | RFI
  French President Nicolas Sarkozy has thrown his weight behind the campaign to stop the stoning to death of an Iranian woman
• Former French football doctor makes suspect blood sample claims | RFI
  A former doctor to the French national football team claims in a new book that several members of the squad gave suspect blood samples just before the 1998 World Cup.
• Hooded men burn down ex-CEO's home in Corsica | RFI
  A dozen hooded men have burnt down the home of the former boss of investment firm Wendel, to demand the release of all prisoners belonging to a separatist group in the French island of Corsica.
• Former French minister Jack Lang to become UN piracy adviser | RFI
  Former French culture minister Jack Lang has been named UN chief Ban Ki-Moon’s special adviser on piracy. “Piracy is a symptom,” he told French radio, insisting that poverty and instability must be tackled in countries like Somalia.
• Google Street View Car Halted, Searched Outside Paris - BusinessWeek
  A car used by Google Inc. to collect data for its Street View mapping service was stopped and searched yesterday near Paris
• France24 - Jean-Luc Godard to win honorary Oscar
  Jean-Luc Godard, one of the fathers of the French New Wave cinema, will receive an Oscar honoring his career as a filmmaker, the Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences has said.
• France: Muslim beaten up for not respecting Ramadan ’traditions’
  A Muslim man of Senegalese origin was attacked in a Lyon bar by a group of individuals who accused him of not respecting Ramadan fasting traditions. Another incident occurred in Toulouse.
• France24 - France coach names squad for Euro 2012 qualifiers
  France's new coach Laurent Blanc has named his 22 players for the opening Euro 2012 qualifiers against Belarus and Bosnia next month, featuring only nine survivors from the World Cup fiasco.