Word: france
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...that during an inspection trip he had been repeatedly arrested by leaders of the rebels' own youth wing, the Jeunesse, who "would not respect my rank." One loutish Jeunesse captain even threatened to have his fraternal superior executed for "troublemaking," until the major paid him a 3,000-franc ($20) bribe...
...Clasp, a Pat. Unlike the preceding week, Latin America's leaders seemed less reserved about De Gaulle and his suggestions for a Latin bond. The crowds everywhere remained heartening, pressing in to cheer el general francés with such enthusiasm that De Gaulle time and again sidestepped his security men to clasp a hand or pat a head. And that, after all, was why he had come -to be seen and remembered, to reinvigorate the French presence...
...austerity can be just as dangerous. No West African leader was more reluctant to part with a franc than Togo's strapping Sylvanus Olympio. Then one night he woke to find his house aswarm with mutinous soldiers. Next morning he was found dead near the U.S. embassy, with lizards scuttling near his body. The soldier who shot him said he had not meant to kill. It was just that the troops wanted a bigger army...
...nations carved from French Africa, none is less populous or more richly endowed with natural resources than tiny Gabon. With a population of only 450,000, it is one of the biggest producers of uranium and manganese in the franc zone, and its magnetic deposits of iron ore (1 billion tons) are just beginning to be tapped. Hence French President Charles de Gaulle's sudden interest last week in a political upheaval in the steaming, rain-forested republic. No sooner had an army coup toppled Gabon's President Léon Mba than De Gaulle came...
...conservative Swiss are deeply worried about the rising cost of living (up 11% in the past five years), a balance-of-payments deficit and the franc's declining buying power. Their troubles really stem from an overdose of success. To meet increased demand abroad for Swiss goods, Switzerland in the early 1950s began importing increasing numbers of workers, chiefly from Austria, Italy and Spain; foreigners now comprise one-third of the country's 2,000,000 work force. These workers have helped to raise Switzerland's gross national product by an impressive 9% for the past...