Word: french
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Abroad, Sarkozy upended Chirac's policies by trading in the traditional Franco-German partnership for closer ties to London. He also reached out to the internationally loathed and isolated George W. Bush, adopting the role of an adoring and trustworthy French friend. Sarkozy's group-hug address to the U.S. Congress in November 2007 was nothing short of a smash, as he waved off Chirac-era disputes over Iraq for references to America's sacrifice in World War II to promise "whenever an American soldier falls somewhere in the world, I think of what the American army did for France...
...irritating it must have been for Sarkozy to read French press reports last month that revealed Bush's successor Obama had written a private letter to Chirac ahead of the London G-20 summit. In it, Obama tells Chirac he anticipates their chances to "collaborate together in a spirit of peace and friendship in order to build a safer world." Most French pundits interpret the letter as Obama giving Chirac credit for correctly opposing the Iraq war as a looming strategic and diplomatic calamity - a position Obama shared. According to French press reports, Sarkozy was livid at seeing the star...
...Perhaps the most unexpected criticism has come from General Vo Nguyen Giap, a revered Vietnamese military leader who helped defeat the French and later the Americans. In a letter to Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, the 97-year-old war hero voiced concern over the presence of large numbers of Chinese in the Central Highlands, which is a strategic gateway to Vietnam, one where battles have been won and lost...
...pirate gangs, and pressing Somali authorities to shut down pirate land bases, while also calling for a greater global response to secure the release of ships still held in the region. So far, there is little coordination between the various navies patrolling the area, which now include NATO, French, British, U.S., Chinese, South Korean, Singaporean and Russian navies. "Collaboration among countries takes time; it doesn't happen overnight. It takes time to build up the relationship, the trust," says Toong Kaleong, senior manager of operations and programs with the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships...
...than five company CEOs captive after they had announced major staff cuts or plant closures. On March 31, PPR president Fran?ois-Henri Pinault had to be rescued by police after outraged staff surrounded his car following the disclosure of 1,200 job eliminations throughout his distribution group. Such exceptional French acts of intimidation didn't begin with the current recession. Bossnappings have been occurring sporadically in France in response to major staff cuts since 2000, after having been central to frequent factory occupations by radical labor unions in the 1970s. (Read "Massive Strikes Close France...