Word: french
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Former French President Jacques Chirac used to warn his advisers that problems tend to arrive in squadrons, usually flying in formation. It's a point on which his successor, Nicolas Sarkozy, might be tempted to agree. In the space of several weeks, Sarkozy's previously commanding leadership has come under fire from all directions. The French public appears to have had more than enough of his flashy, over-exposed private life. His highly touted economic reforms have so far largely failed to bear fruit. His approval ratings have plunged at a dizzying speed. Now many conservative candidates are looking...
...Chirac, for President, and had to work his way back into the good books - just about - of Chirac and his circle. In 1999, he led his party to a disastrous defeat in European parliamentary elections, and was again pitched into the political wilderness. Now, having reached the pinnacle of French politics, Sarkozy is perversely back at rock bottom. His approval rating has dropped from 64% in September to just 39% this month...
...Jean-Marc Lech, co-president of the Ipsos polling agency, calls it "a sentimental disappointment." The French, he says, feel "chagrin that promises made aren't being respected," and that has made Sarkozy fair game on all fronts. "If he'd boosted economic growth, increased purchasing power and decreased unemployment, as promised, he could do whatever he wanted in his private life with absolute impunity," says Lech. "The problem is he's not delivering on anything. Now people wonder if he really knows how to turn things around...
...fizzled. A package of tax reductions and credits passed into law last July has had little discernible impact on investment and jobs. Legislation that took hold in October allowing companies and workers to step around the legal 35-hour work-week limit hasn't done much to stiffen French work habits. And though his showdown in November with militant unions and striking transport workers over generous special pensions was hailed as an unprecedented success, Sarkozy still hasn't produced a final agreement to end that conflict, which could flame anew when talks on tightening general retirement schemes open this spring...
...with relative ease around the Middle East and even in Europe. In the mid-1980s, the CIA cut a deal with Lebanese military intelligence to fund a sophisticated listening post in the Lebanese mountains that could eavesdrop on conversations throughout the Middle East and was staffed by fluent Hebrew, French and Farsi speakers. In exchange, Lebanese intelligence was obliged to pass on any information gleaned about the kidnappers of Westerners. In 1986, Lebanese intelligence used a voice frequency sample to trace Mughniyah to a hotel in Paris. A former Lebanese officer involved in the operation told TIME that French intelligence...