France

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Lawyer: Pilot Was Strapped to Target in Terrifying Hazing

French fighter pilot had a hood over his head as munitions were dropped, lawyer says

(Newser) - A French fighter pilot says that when he arrived at a new unit, colleagues hazed him by putting a hood over his head, throwing him in the back of a pickup truck, driving around 30 minutes away, and attaching him to a pole. He says that when he heard the...

Royal Navy Gets Involved as Fishing Dispute Escalates

2 vessels sent to Jersey after France threatens to cut off electricity to Channel Island

(Newser) - The Channel Island of Jersey isn't part of the United Kingdom—but it is considered part of the British Isles, and the British government has sent in gunboats amid an escalating dispute with France. Two Royal Navy vessels patrol boats were sent to the island, which lies 14 miles...

Farmer Accidentally Makes France a Little Smaller

Belgian moves stone marking the border

(Newser) - Sometimes it takes a war to change the border between two nations. And sometimes, it requires only a ticked-off farmer. The BBC reports that a farmer in Belgium moved a stone marker in his field a little more than 7 feet, apparently because it was in the path of his...

Protesters Want Trial in Slaying of Jewish Woman

Macron is among those calling for a change in French law

(Newser) - Protesters in Paris and other French cities on Sunday denounced a ruling by France's highest court that the killer of a Jewish woman was not criminally responsible and therefore could not go on trial. Thousands of people filled Trocadero Plaza in Paris, in front of the Eiffel Tower, answering...

They Spent 40 Days in a Dark Cave for Science. Some Want to Go Back

Isolation study in France deprived subjects of clocks, light, contact with outside world

(Newser) - Ever wonder what it would feel like to unplug from a hyperconnected world and hide away in a dark cave for 40 days? Fifteen people in France did just that, emerging Saturday from a scientific experiment to say that time seemed to pass more slowly in their cavernous underground abode,...

France Tightens Law Against Sex With Children

Sex with children under 15 will now automatically be considered rape

(Newser) - France has finally brought its laws against sex with children in line with those of most other Western nations. Under a bill that was unanimously approved by the National Assembly Thursday, children under 15 can no longer be considered to have consented to sex, reports Reuters . Under the previous law,...

Facebook Is Sorry for Messing With Bitche

The social media giant's profanity algorithm flagged a small French town's page

(Newser) - Facebook is sorry that its notorious algorithm hounded a small French town. Ville de Bitche's official page disappeared without warning on March 19. Facebook restored it Tuesday, with a personal apology from the head of Facebook France to Benoit Kieffer, mayor of the town of 5,000, per Newsweek ...

France May Do Away With Short Domestic Flights

It's a move related to climate change

(Newser) - French lawmakers gave the green light to a new restriction over the weekend, but this one was spurred on by the climate, not COVID. The National Assembly late Saturday voted in favor of putting an end to all domestic airline flights whose journey could instead be made by direct train...

Treasure Hunt Requires You to Crack Codes in 2 Books

One hurdle in scoring Golden Treasure of the Entente Cordiale: One book is in French

(Newser) - A potentially lucrative treasure hunt is being offered to the public, though to crack the entire thing you'll need to know French—or at least partner with somebody who does. The latter idea is actually one of the points of the unusual challenge. Artist Michel Becker is the mastermind,...

Macron: 'We Tried to Push Back This Day as Long as Possible'

He says France will have third nationwide lockdown

(Newser) - With a third wave of coronavirus infections threatening to overwhelm hospitals, French President Emmanuel Macron has brought in a measure he had long resisted—a third national lockdown. Macron announced Wednesday that the "lockdown light" measures introduced in Paris and 15 other regions almost two weeks ago will be...

After 10 Months, 400 Lawyers, Drugmaker Found Guilty

Servier Laboratories was accused of letting diabetes drug Mediator be sold as diet drug

(Newser) - A $3.2 million fine has been issued in a "judicial marathon" of a case centered around a French pharmaceutical company, but that $3.2 million is just the start, reports the AP . Servier Laboratories was accused of allowing the diabetes drug Mediator to be sold as a diet...

Monks Are Sitting on 4K Discs of Cheese

With demand plummeting, French monastery sells online

(Newser) - The pandemic has cut sales of the cheese produced at a French monastery in half. Restaurants are closed, and customers don't stop by the Cîteaux Abbey's shop these days. So the basement is filling up with 4,000 semi-soft discs, the Guardian reports. The Trappist monks who...

Ikea France on Trial Over Spying Claims

Company is accused of illegally spying on employees, disgruntled customers

(Newser) - Ikea’s French subsidiary and several of its former executives went on trial Monday over accusations that they illegally spied on employees and customers. Trade unions reported the furniture and home goods company to French authorities in 2012, accusing it of collecting personal data by fraudulent means and the illicit...

'Third Wave' Is Hitting France, Germany Hard

Paris,15 other regions are being locked down again

(Newser) - As restrictions start to ease in other parts of the world, European countries are locking down again. Paris and 15 other areas of France with a total population of 21 million will be on lockdown as of midnight Friday, though restrictions won't be as tight as they were during...

A Nazi-Era Wrong Is About to Be Righted

France is returning Klimt painting to family that originally owned it

(Newser) - Nora Stiasny, an Austrian Jew, inherited Gustav Klimt's Rosiers sous les Arbres from her uncle, but was forced by the Nazis to sell it in 1938 for vastly less than what it was worth. She was ultimately deported to a concentration camp in Poland, where she died in 1942....

Actress Strips Naked to Protest COVID Restrictions

It happened at France's Cesar Awards

(Newser) - In a statement of frustration over the continued closure of cinemas and theaters in France, an actress stripped naked on the stage during the Cesar Awards held Friday in Paris. Corinne Masiero, the star of French detective series Capitaine Marleau, came onstage wearing a donkey suit and tampon earrings, the...

Burglar ID'd Thanks to Bite of Sausage

It only took 9 years

(Newser) - German police say they have solved a nine-year-old burglary after DNA found on a half-eaten piece of sausage matched that of a man detained in France over an unrelated crime, reports the AP . Police in the western town of Schwelm said Thursday that the sausage belonged to the victim, and...

Study: France Vastly Underestimated Impact of Pacific Nuke Tests

Fallout affected almost entire population of French Polynesia, researchers say

(Newser) - France conducted almost 200 nuclear tests in French Polynesia between 1966 and 1996 and a close look at just three of them reveals that the impact on the local population was far more devastating than the country has admitted, according to a new study. Researchers say fallout from the atmospheric...

Campaign That Led to Teacher's Beheading Was Based on a Lie

Suspended student claimed she was kicked out of Samuel Paty's class, prompting attack from father

(Newser) - An online campaign targeting a French teacher who was beheaded days later started with a lie. That's according to Le Parisien , which reports a 13-year-old student has admitted to a judge that she lied when she claimed to be a witness to Samuel Paty's Oct. 6 lesson on...

Items Stolen in 1983 Are Back in the Louvre

Expert spotted the pieces of 16th-century Italian armor in a private collection

(Newser) - An expert in military antiquities summoned to appraise the items in a French family's collection turned to a modern tool—a database of missing artifacts—after seeing the pieces. The appraiser then called the police: Two pieces of 16th-century Italian armor in the collection had been stolen from the...

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