France // Current

France may sell cutting edge navy ship to Russia

LINK: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091123/ap_on_bi_ge/eu_russia_france_navy_ship A... more

HowdyDo
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France: censorship came here, too

Censorship arrived in France, too. The newspaper France Soir has fired two... more

bibabiba
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Thierry Henry: I nearly quit after Ireland handball incident

Thierry Henry has admitted he considered giving up on international football after the... more

richjm
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World cup 2010, play-off and anger

Doesn't start too well the soccer World Cup, which will begin in South Africa by 11... more

hyperion74
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A Backbone Tale: The Beauty of Ugliness

“Une Histoire Vertebrale” (A Backbone Tale) is an award-winning animated short... more

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World cup soccer is tearing the world apart!

Plenty of things can cause a diplomatic ruckus. Saying you're preparing for war against a neighboring country, for example (lookin' at you Hugo Chavez). It's fun for everybody: headlines, street protests, recalling ambassadors. And it seems North African nations Egypt and Algeria are well down that road this week.

"One of the Egyptian protesters, holding a sign calling for the expulsion of the Algerian ambassador, told Agence France-Presse: “We should treat Algeria like any country that has declared war on us.”'

Wait, so what happened? An errant Egyptian drone strike in a suburb of Algiers? Why no, Algeria beat Egypt in a World Cup qualifying match 1-0 and there were reports that Egyptian fans were assaulted by Algerians leaving the game. And, bam, the streets of Cairo have exploded with violence! 35 people injured!

And that was at least a clean game! Poor Ireland is protesting it's World Cup loss to France after a French player scored a game-winning goal - using his hands. French President Nicolas Sarkozy has apologized for the incident but has not agreed with the Irish PM's call for a replay. To see the very evident handball, check out this Irish-produced video from YouTube showing it over and over again and set to dance music. (It's entrancing.)

(Big thanks to The Lede Blog for finding that one.)

I know what you're thinking, American reading audience: "Who cares about soccer?" Well, first off they call it "football" and second, worry you not - I've got an American football/international relations story for you too: Even Iraqi prisoners hate Packers fans (FP Passport)

'Iraqi prisoners at a detainment camp run by the Wisconsin National Guard have learned some English, unfortunately for the soldiers, it is mainly about the former pride of Green Bay. "They know Favre by name," said First Lieutenant Tim Boehnen, who is from New Richmond, Wis. "One of the big words they know now is shenanigan. They'll constantly talk about 'Favre shenanigans,' 'He's so good for the Vikings,' and 'The Packers have got to really feel bad about that one.' "'

FROM THE NEWS BLOG: http://blogs.current.com/news/2009/11/20/world-cup-soccer-is-tearing-the-world-apart/

SOURCES: http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/20/accepting-defeat-in-egypt-and-ireland/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8369983.stm
http://www.france24.com/en/20091120-sarkozy-apologizes-ireland-football-world-cup-cowen-replay-call
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2009/11/20/even_iraqi_prisoners_hate_packers_fansPlenty of things can cause a diplomatic ruckus. Saying you're preparing for war... more