Politics & Diplomacy
Hashimoto to retract sex suggestion for U.S. military
Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto aims to retract his remark that U.S. servicemen in Okinawa should use its adult entertainment industry to avoid committing sex offenses.
Business May 24, 2013
EU summit ends banking secrecy
European leaders on Wednesday targeted a yearend deadline to do away with banking secrecy, hoping to recoup €1 trillion in lost tax each year to help beat recession and unemployment. However, British Prime Minister and current Group of Eight chair David Cameron, backed by ...
Economy | Focus May 23, 2013
Does France have right revival plan?
by Sarah Dilorenzo
The man charged with reviving France’s shrinking economy and attracting businesses to invest there is gaining a reputation for doing the opposite. As the country’s first-ever minister for industrial renewal, Arnaud Montebourg has told the world’s largest steelmaker it is not welcome in France; ...
National May 21, 2013
Kumamon mascot to visit France
Kumamon, the official black bear mascot of Kumamoto Prefecture, will visit France in July to take part in the Japan Expo, local officials said Monday. Kumamon, one of Japan’s most popular regional promotional mascots, will be making its European debut at the culture and ...
World May 20, 2013
English-language education proposal has French up in arms
by Edward Cody
There was a time, not so long ago, when anyone with a proper education spoke French. Diplomacy and business were conducted in French. Knowledge was spread in French. Travelers made their way in French and, of course, lovers traded sweet nothings in French. Viewed ...
World May 20, 2013
French school manages to survive in war-rattled Damascus
Angered over Syrian President Bashar Assad’s brutal repression of peaceful protests in Syria two years ago, Paris closed its embassy in Damascus, virtually cutting off the lifeline to the capital’s once-thriving French school. But tenacious parents and staffers, driven by their love for French ...
Politics & Diplomacy May 20, 2013
Ex-minister quits re-election bid
Jerome Cahuzac, France’s former budget minister who was forced out of office over a tax fraud scandal, will not seek re-election to his former parliamentary seat, a newspaper reported Sunday. Cahuzac, who last month bowed to pressure and also resigned from the National Assembly, ...
Politics & Diplomacy May 4, 2013
The French left turns on Francois Hollande
by Julian Coman
The freshly cut inscription on the marble “tombstone” was savage and to the point: “Betrayal! Here lie the promises of F. Hollande which were made to workers and their families in Florange on 24 February 2012. From the steelworkers of Lorraine.” With barely suppressed ...
Politics & Diplomacy May 3, 2013
Kishida to ask France not to sell chopper equipment to China
Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will meet with French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Tokyo next week to ask that Paris prevent helicopter landing equipment from being sold to China in light of the Senkaku Islands dispute, government officials said Thursday. At the meeting Tuesday, Kishida ...
Politics & Diplomacy May 1, 2013
France seeks to ax military jobs but keep clout
France plans to ax nearly 10 percent of all jobs in the armed forces but maintain significant spending as it tries to maintain its status as a top military power, a government review showed Monday. The white paper, which sets the general direction of ...
World Apr 22, 2013
France divided but gay marriage a likely reality
Gay marriage may have passed with barely a hitch in many countries, but it has kicked up a huge storm in France, a country often seen as the champion of secularism and notoriously relaxed on issues pertaining to private life. Smelling blood after a ...
Business Apr 17, 2013
Top French officials disclose personal wealth
The wealthiest member of France’s Socialist government, French people learned Monday, is Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, who inherited a $7.8 million fortune from his family’s trade in art and antiques. But Michele Delaunay, minister for the aged, also disclosed a comfortable stash: $7 million, ...
Politics & Diplomacy Apr 12, 2013
Hollande seeks to eradicate tax havens
With the French government reeling over a minister’s tax-dodging scandal, President Francois Hollande proposed a law Wednesday that would force ministers, legislators and other senior officials to declare their assets publicly and submit to auditing by a “totally independent” authority before and after taking ...