| France Benzema and Govou pull out of Greece friendly | | Posted Tuesday, November 14, 2006 7:29:06 AM by Blog57 Team | | Olympique Lyon strikers Karim Benzema and Sidney Govou have officially pulled out of Wednesday's friendly international against Greece because of injuries, France's team spokesman said on Monday. Both were injured during the 2-1 victory over Valenciennes in a Ligue 1 match last week. Teenager Benzema, who had earned a first call-up, may be sidelined until the winter break with a leg injury. Coach Raymond Domenech has not summoned any replacements yet for the match at the Stade de France, the spokesman said. .... | |
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| | | Meal an inviting start to stay in France | | Posted Saturday, November 04, 2006 7:31:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | Last month, I arrived in the Perigord area of southwestern France with a small group of students for a week of culinary adventures and hands-on cooking classes. As I have for six years, I shepherded enthusiastic cooks to Wendely Harvey and Robert Cave-Rogers' restored 18th-century manor house, La Combe. Our hosts, an Aussie and a Brit respectively, have in the past several years transformed a once run-down farm into a glorious compound that includes a barn with beautiful upstairs and downstairs suites and a courtyard surrounded by centuries-old walnut trees. They have also planted a huge vegetable and herb garden known as a potager. More than this inviting rustic setting, though, it is Wendely and Robert's warm hospitality that makes these stays so special. They have truly mastered the art of entertaining.... | |
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| | | Tour de France looks for fresh start | | Posted Friday, October 27, 2006 1:14:56 PM by Blog57 Team | | Last year when the Tour de France held its annual October noontime gala to announce the race's route for 2006, the high-tech presentation seemed designed to celebrate the end of the Lance Armstrong era, which one official went so far as to call "oppressive." Despite Armstrong's having won the previous seven Tours, a feat unprecedented in the race's storied history, he was never formally mentioned. Already unpopular in French cycling circles for his methodical dominance, the Texan had been tainted a number of weeks earlier by allegations in France's sports newspaper L'Equipe owned by the same company that operates the Tour that he had used the performance-enhancing drug EPO during his first championship run in 1999. .... | |
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| | | EU Takes France to Court Over Tax Break | | Posted Thursday, October 26, 2006 3:03:53 AM by Blog57 Team | | The EU took France to court Wednesday for an illegal tax break it gives companies that take over businesses in trouble. The European Commission said France has failed to obey a 2003 order that ruled the tax exemptions illegal and demanded Paris claim tax it should have charged companies set up to take over the assets of businesses that are bankrupt or on the brink of insolvency. If the European Court of Justice backs EU regulators, France may face fines if it does not obey. "More than three years after the decision ... no practical action has been taken to recover aid from recipients," EU regulators said. The order for companies to pay the tax was intended to restore fair competition and strip them of the unfair advantage over rivals that the tax break gave them, it said.... | |
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| | | FRANCE WARNS NORTH KOREA OVER POSSIBLE NEW ARMS TEST | | Posted Tuesday, October 17, 2006 3:08:50 PM by Blog57 Team | | PARIS, Oct 17, 2006 (AFP) - France on Tuesday warned North Korea that the United Nations Security Council could take "further measures" if the country carries out a second test of a nuclear bomb. "A new test by North Korea would constitute an act of extraordinary irresponsibility, that could only push it into further isolation," said foreign ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei. "In that event, the Security Council would have to consider further measures against North Korea," he added. "We are warning North Korea very clearly about that," he said. The Security Council, of which France is a permanent, veto-holding member, on Saturday approved sanctions against Pyongyang after the reclusive regime exploded what it said was a nuclear bomb on October 9.... | |
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| | | TURKEY VOWS ECONOMIC SANCTIONS IF FRANCE ADOPTS GENOCIDE BILL | | Posted Sunday, October 08, 2006 3:04:34 PM by Blog57 Team | | ANKARA, Oct 8, 2006 (AFP) - France risks being barred from economic projects in Turkey if it adopts a controversial bill on the massacres of Armenians under the Ottoman Empire, Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said in remarks published Sunday. The draft law, to be debated in the French parliament Thursday, calls for five years in prison and a fine of 45,000 euros (57,000 dollars) for anyone who denies that the World War I massacres constituted a genocide. "The information we have is that the adoption of the bill is quite a high possibility," Gul told the largest-selling Hurriyet newspaper. If the bill is passed, he said, French participation in major economic projects in Turkey, including the planned construction of a nuclear plant for which the tender process is expected to soon begin, will suffer.... | |
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| | | Healthy Spurs go to France | | Posted Saturday, September 30, 2006 7:07:53 AM by Blog57 Team | | The Spurs on Friday made a short flight from San Antonio to Houston to connect with a long flight to France, where 20 players declared 100 percent healthy will meet with a head coach who made a brief detour before arriving in Lyon for the first day of training camp for the 2006-07 NBA season. Coach Gregg Popovich went to NBA headquarters in New York to testify in the arbitration hearing regarding the contract dispute between the Knicks and former coach Larry Brown. Brown, who gave Popovich his start in NBA coaching, asked him to testify on his behalf. The Knicks are seeking to void four years of Brown's contract, worth $40 million. Popovich departed for the hearing after getting two pieces of good news: X-rays revealed that point guard Tony Parker's right index finger is fully healed after being fractured six weeks ago; and forward Tim Duncan says he feels fresher for the start of any camp in recent memory and that his feet are pain-free.... | |
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| | | France Marseille striker Cisse could return next month | | Posted Wednesday, September 20, 2006 11:10:07 PM by Blog57 Team | | France and Olympique Marseille striker Djibril Cisse could resume training next month as he continues his recovery from a broken leg, the Ligue 1 club said on Wednesday. "What I've heard from the medical staff and from the lad himself let me think he could resume training in October," OM chairman Pape Diouf told the club's Web site. "Let's be optimistic, we might see him on the pitch at the end of October," he added. Cisse missed the FIFA World Cup finals in Germany after he broke his leg during France's last warm-up match against China on June 7. The striker joined Marseille from Liverpool in a season-long loan in July. .... | |
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| | | Black Ferns shuffle line up | | Posted Monday, September 11, 2006 9:08:24 AM by Blog57 Team | | The Black Ferns team has been named to take on France in their semi final at the Women's Rugby World Cup in Edmonton on Wednesday. Coach Jed Rowlands has made six changes and one positional switch to the line-up that took the field against Scotland three days ago. In the forwards, Canterbury prop Casey Robertson replaces Otago's Beth Mallard, Auckland lock Victoria Heighway comes in for Canterbury's Kimberley Smith and her provincial team mate, Melissa Ruscoe, replaces Otago's Shannon Willoughby at blindside flanker. Willoughby moves to No 8 in place of Auckland's Linda Itunu. In the backline, Bay of Plenty's Exia Edwards returns to second five in place of Hawke's Bay's Rebecca Hull, Otago wing Claire Richardson takes over the No 14 jersey from Auckland's Victoria Blackledge and Canterbury utility back Amiria Marsh replaces Auckland's Hannah Myers at fullback.... | |
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| | | France's Loeb grabs lead at Rally Japan | | Posted Sunday, September 03, 2006 3:09:16 PM by Blog57 Team | | Sebastien Loeb of France took the lead Saturday in the second leg of the Japan Rally, the 11th leg of the World Rally Championship. Loeb, who leads the overall standings with 92 points, took advantage of a spinoff by overnight leader Marcus Gronholm of Finland to move into first place with a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 45.7 seconds. .... | |
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