French Police Storm Housing Projects

Along with those who practice female genital mutilation

(NEWSER) - France’s Interior Minister wants immigrants to lose their citizenship if they practice polygamy or female genital mutilation or commit any other “serious wrongdoing.” This new punishment, which could be law by the end of the year, would apply to anyone with a foreign background, even if they were born in France, the Daily Telegraph reports. More»

Angry protesters dump hay to action against falling incomes

(NEWSER) - Hay bales were met with tear gas as French farmers protested outside Nicolas Sarkozy's presidential palace early this morning. Police moved in after the farmers dumped hay outside the palace, forcing the roughly 100 protesters into a side street, AP reports. The aggrieved farmers complain that the government isn't doing enough to help them amid falling food prices. More»

Get legal advice and plastic surgery for life's next phase

(NEWSER) - The annual Paris Marriage Fair has spawned a modern offspring—a Divorce Fair. “Divorce has lost its stigma,” says its organizer; nearly 50% of French marriages, including two of Nicolas Sarkozy's, don't last. Booths at the fair offered services from divorce lawyers, tarot card readers, self-esteem coaches, and weight-loss specialists. More»

Law student tapped to run huge, lucrative business district

(NEWSER) - It's not every day that a 23-year-old law student is tapped to manage the largest office park in Europe, but when you are Jean Sarkozy, anything's possible. The son of the French president, who already has a local government post, has the ruling party's official backing to run La Défense, the massive collection of office buildings in west Paris, despite shock and disgust from right and left. Critics have called the move worthy of a "banana republic," but Sarko junior insists: "I am not more legitimate than other candidates but nor am I less legitimate." More»

(NEWSER) - French cops have busted 26 people linked to the biggest jewelry heist ever in France, reports the Guardian. Police swooped in after learning that foreign buyers were about to contact the team to purchase gems lifted late last year in a brazen daylight armed robbery in Paris. The suspects, both men and women aged 22 to 67, include a security guard and several gangsters in the $100 million heist in the American gem boutique Harry Winston. Cops recovered large amounts of cash, weapons and stolen jewelry. More»