National News
EQUITABLE LIFE: OMBUDSMAN TO CRITICISE COMPENSATION PLAN
Ombusdman to use 'nuclear option' in
rare public dressing down over government's handling of compensation for
Equitable Life policyholders.
A parliamentary watchdog will today add to the government's woes by giving
ministers a rare public dressing down for defying her calls for proper
compensation for Equitable Life
policyholders.
It is understood the parliamentary ombudsman, Ann Abraham, is laying a
special report before MPs this afternoon in which she will criticise the
government for rejecting many of her recommendations relating to its handling of
the problems at Equitable Life.
read more
----------------------------------
STERLING-EURO EXCHANGE RATE FOR TAX RETURNS
The average sterling-euro exchange rate for the year 2008 to be used
for French income tax declarations of income in 2008 is 1.258 and the
rate as of 31.12.08 is 1.0499 to be used for Wealth tax
Information provided by financial advisors Siddalls
www.siddalls.net
----------------------------------
SARKOZY ON A SPENDING SPREE
Robert Harneis looks at the reality behind 'the programme de relance'.
With one bound the French President has burst free of the budgetary
limits that have stopped him and his predecessors investing in the
infrastructure of France. Nicolas Sarkozy has never really worried too
much about the deficit. His problem has been that quite a lot of his
supporters do.
When he was Budget Minister under Prime Minister Balladur in 1993 he
was much criticised for letting public borrowing increase. It is not
that he does not care about it, rather he believes that if you can get
the growth up a bit and unemployment down a bit then it will take care
of itself. He is as aware as anybody that the thirty years of
continuous budget deficits run by French governments of all parties
have to be brought to an end or else serious financial problems lie not
far ahead.
read more
----------------------------------
GOODNIGHT MR PRESIDENT
Barack Obama is not, as you might have thought, Irish or even Kenyan
but Alsacien – or partly, anyway. The six times great grandparents of
the new President of the United States came from Bischwiller, 30
kilometres north east of Strasbourg. Christian Gunther, archivist to
the commune of Bischwiller, has uncovered the 18th century
registers that reveal the origins of Obama’s maternal grandmother and
hence the President himself.
read more
----------------------------------
Result for Aubry after
contested dead heat with Royal
Once the supporters of Martine Aubry decided to use their big
majorities in committee to force through a win for their candidate, the
result was a foregone conclusion. Even so Ségolène Royal has good cause
to be satisfied with the way things have turned out.
The problem for Royal, once a majority had been announced for Martine
Aubry, was to get a root-and-branch review of how the result was
achieved. However, the rules do not allow a full investigation of how
the Nord and the Seine-Maritime arrived at their results and handed
the election to Martine Aubry. They are accused of packing the list; of
allowing votes by people who were not paid-up members, among other
things.
read more
----------------------------------
|
FRENCH NEWS BOUGHT BY READERS
May 2009. Update : the title and intellectual property of French News have now been sold to readers of the paper. We wish them the best of luck with their plans for it and are now handing over the website to them.
If anyone wishes to contact me or Adam Brown for any reason, please email:
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Miranda Neame, ex-Editor
Adam Brown, ex-Publisher
AU REVOIR
from the Editor, December 2008
Is this the end of French News? After 21 years in print, the publishing house succumbs to lack of cash flow.
As you probably know by now, French News is for sale. (see update above)
The company was put into liquidation on December 2. The self-financed publishing house did not have enough reserves of capital to face the credit crunch. We were therefore unable to print the December edition, most of which you will find online, and in printable format here ('News - News France - French News December 2008). We are issuing a four-page edition which will be sent to subscribers.
A number of enquiries have been received from parties interested in buying the paper, which has been in existence since 1987. Obviously, it is in the best interests of all concerned and particularly subscribers for a sale to take place quickly. The paper is still a viable business, particularly with the lower overheads that the liquidation now makes possible.
Here at French News, we intend to do everything we can to see that the paper with its large and loyal readership does not die and is back in the hands of its readers quickly, with as little loss to all concerned as possible.
Adam Brown, the publisher, and I would like to thank the Public Prosecutor Monsieur le Procureur Squercioni for generously and spontaneously suggesting we publish the farewell issue to give us the opportunity of saying goodbye to our readers and all those who have invested money, time, energy and devotion into the paper over the years.
I am particularly grateful to all the correspondents who have been solidly behind the paper despite meagre and often late payment. They are also losers today. And I am sadly aware that 21 of our staff find themselves unemployed at Christmas time.
Special thanks are due to our printers Rotogaronne for their unflinching support over the years and for financing this issue.
We have all believed we were doing something valuable for the anglophone community in France, even if not all of us were professional journalists.
Today, when the phone rings and a subscriber tells me they have just paid for two years, there is no reproach, just sadness and concern that we may not be here to help people with their various troubles, to promote charitable networks and small businesses, as well as to decode the news and keep you up to date with what’s going on… and even make you laugh.
French News has always had a very close and special relationship with its readers for which I am personally very grateful. My time as editor has been an unforgettable 13 years…
Thank you all, Happy Christmas and goodbye or perhaps au revoir.
Miranda Neame, Editor
Adam Brown Publisher
An early issue published with the help of semi-volunteers at home in conditions that would make any work inspector’s hair stand on end
|
European News
Sarkozy on the world stage
In the final months of France’s presidency of the EU, Nicolas
Sarkozy looks back on his achievements, warning that he hasn’t finished
with the Lisbon treaty yet.
Read More
|
News France
Vulture joins the Red List of vanishing wildlife
The International Union
for the Conservation of
Nature and Natural
Resources (IUCN) regularly
publishes a Red List which
reports on vanishing and
vanished species
Read More
|
Regional News
The innovative Novart
Dance, theatre, music,
opera, films, plastic
arts... Novart 2008
takes over Bordeaux for the
whole month of November,
when the city becomes a
cultural…
Read More
|
Motoring
A fistful of character
The dawn of the nineties saw the rise of
the big retro-style bikes. Their design
harked right back to the fifties. This
tendency was led by the Honda CB 1000, the
Kawasaki Zephyr and Yamahas XJ 1100.
Then in the middle of the decade a bike named
Bandit hit the streets.
Read More
|
Sport
The Everest of the Seas
For weeks now, the level of excitement has been mounting at
Les Sables-d’Olonne.
Joan Stewart watched the contestants in this year’s Vendée Globe race arrive with their yachts
|
Food & Wine
Baba au rhum et aux fruits de saison
Despite being best served chilled, boozy Babas warm the cockles,
especially when endowed with tropical and citrus fruits,
which are at their best right now.
|
|
