Tag: French

VERSAILLES - French police fined a woman for wearing a full-face Islamic veil, the first reported enforcement of a ban on the garment on the day it came into effect, a police source said Tuesday.
The young woman, born in 1983, was fined 150 euros (216 dollars) "without incident" in a shopping centre in Mureaux, northwest of Paris, early Monday evening, the source said, without elaborating on exactly what she was wearing.
France on Monday became the first country in Europe to

BRUSSELS - World number two Kim Clijsters is a major doubt for the French Open next month after injuring her ankle at her cousin's wedding.
The Belgian, twice a finalist at Roland Garros, was already facing four weeks out due to a painful shoulder and wrist.
"Kim has injured her ankle. She won't be able to compete for four to six weeks. Her participation in the French Open is no longer certain," a statement said on her website on Sunday.
"At the wedding party of her

ABIDJAN - Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo was arrested on Monday after French armoured vehicles closed in on the compound where he has been holed up in a bunker. A column of more than 30 French armoured vehicles moved in on Gbagbo's residence in central Abidjan after helicopter gunships attacked the compound overnight. "Yes, he has been arrested," Affoussy Bamba, a spokeswoman for Ouattara, told Reuters. Earlier a Gbagbo adviser in Paris had told Reuters that French special forces had

AVIGNON - A young woman left the southern French city of Avignon for Paris Monday wearing a niqab to defy a ban on full-face veils in public places on the first day it came into force.
"I had been invited to take part in a television programme which I am going for and I find that today is April 11, the first day of the application of the ban," Kenza Drider, 32, told reporters before boarding a train for Paris.
"This law infringes my European rights, I cannot but defend them

ISLAMABAD - A group of Pakistani Qawals, Subhan Ahmed Nizami Qawal & Co. enthralled French and Pakistani audience in a performance at Embassy of Pakistan in Paris.
The members of Pakistani community in Paris and French audience attended in large numbers, said a press release reaching here from Paris. The ambassador of Pakistan in France Shafkat Saeed, Deputy Head of Mission ,Rafiuzzaman Siddiqui, officers and staff of the Embassy of Pakistan were also present.
The event was

PARIS - The leaders of France's six main religions warned the government on Wednesday against a planned debate on Islam they say could stigmatise Muslims and fuel prejudice as the country nears national elections next year.
Weighing in on an issue that is tearing apart President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling UMP party, the Conference of French Religious Leaders said the discussion about respect for France's secular system could only spread confusion at a turbulent time.
The UMP

PARIS - French polling booths opened on Sunday for another round of local elections that have caused alarm and disarray in President Nicolas Sarkozy's ruling party since the far-right National Front surged in first-round voting.
The polls gauge the national mood a year before presidential elections and will determine whether the anti-immigrant National Front gains a foothold in a handful of local councils, levers of grassroots political power.
Sarkozy's UMP party has

PARIS - The wave of anti-govt, pro-democracy revolts sweeping across much of the Arab world is "irrepressible," France's top diplomat said on Thursday, citing Yemen, Syria, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia as examples. "I thing that this movement is irrepressible. There will no doubt be dictators who will try to stay on, but they will not be able to resist in the long run," Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told journalists. "Over time, this movement will prevail everywhere, and I hope it will

GAO - Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) is demanding at least 90 million euros in ransom for the release of four French hostages held since September, a source close to mediators said on Monday.
The French people were kidnapped in September 2010 in neighbouring Niger, where France has a large stake in uranium mining, and are still being held hostage in the desert. "The kidnappers are demanding at least 90 million euros (128 million dollars) to release the four French

PESHAWAR - caAmbassador of France to Pakistan Daniel Jouaneau lled on Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Governor Barrister Masood Kausar at the Governor's House Peshawar on Monday and discussed matters of mutual interest and different issues in the region.
The governor, Masood Kausar, informed the ambassador about the achievements of the government in curbing militancy and terrorism.
He also thanked the people and the Government of France for their humanitarian services for mitigating

ISLAMABAD French Embassy Secretary Domnique Delavigne's house was looted by four robbers within the precincts of Aabpara Police Station on Friday. Delavigne informed the police that the men entered his house and holding the residents at gunpoint snatched 30 Euros, Rs 3000, 3 laptops, 2 hard disks and 2 USBs, police said.

PARIS - French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie fought off renewed calls to resign Thursday over her links to Tunisia's deposed regime, amid fears France was losing diplomatic clout over the scandal. The opposition is demanding the minister stand down following the latest revelation that her parents bought a stake in a property company from a Tunisian businessman allegedly close to the regime of Zine El Abidine Ben Ali.
Alliot-Marie, 64, has slammed what she called an attack

ISLAMABAD - Several senior doctors of Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), a major hospital of the capital city, have visited foreign countries without taking ex-Pakistan leave or the letter containing 'no objection certificate' (NOC) from the hospital's Executive Director Mehmood Jamal.
These doctors have gone an extra mile by showing their absence from their offices on medical grounds, and in some cases, there are fake attendances as well. The doctors who have gone to

KARACHI - A team of French Cetacean experts headed by Francois Xavier Pelletier arrived in Sindh to investigate the reasons behind the recent mortalities of the rare Indus blind dolphin in Sukkur region and also to find out the possible threats to these endangered and unique dolphins.
In his initial report, the French experts said after analysing circumstantial evidence that the causes of death of these dolphins were either net entanglement or chemical poisoning. A pertinent

PARIS - Allies of France's foreign minister fought off embarrassing allegations of links to Tunisia's ousted leader on Wednesday after a report that the owner of a private jet she used was close to his regime. The allegations raised pressure on the minister, Michele Alliot-Marie, following France's U-turn over authoritarian ruler Zine El Abidine Ben Ali's regime after he bowed to popular protests and fled Tunisia last month.
The investigative weekly Le Canard Enchaine reported in

BERNE - French couple Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat were in pole position to win their first major title here at the figure skating European Championships on Wednesday heading the dance standings after the short programme.
The duo, favourites for the title after winning six of the seven competitions they have competed in, danced to music from Russian literary classic and later film Dr Zhivago to record a total of 66.91 points - they admitted that it was a theme that was

PARIS - Fifth-tier Chambery claimed another major French Cup scalp on Saturday, following up a success over Monaco with a penalty shootout win over another top flight side in Brest to reach the last 16 along with fellow amateurs Drancy.
Bordeaux promptly became the 12th first division side to exit the tournament after they went down at second division Angers to a second-half goal from Sebastien Renouard. Jean Tigana's Bordeaux have lost their way in recent weeks to stand in