Word: frenchli
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...announcement by French aerodefense group EADS that it was pulling out of the bidding process for a $35 billion contract to supply midair refueling planes to the Pentagon sent shock waves across Europe this week. EADS, which was partnering in the bid with the U.S. company Northrop Grumman, based its decision on its claim that the competition had been rigged in favor of archrival Boeing - an accusation that spurred charges of unabashed American protectionism in Europe. Now, with both sides digging in their heels, what began as a transatlantic flap over the refueling-aircraft business is starting to sound like...
...think the attitude of the American government on the refueling-aircraft issue is a grave infraction of the rules of fair competition between our economies," French Prime Minister François Fillon said Wednesday, March 10, during a visit to Berlin, where members of the German government echoed his belief that the Pentagon was going to award the contract to Boeing no matter which company had the better bid. "The American government, I'll say here and now, forced EADS to quit the competition." (See pictures of the aircraft NASA, Boeing and the U.S. Air Force are teaming...
...French European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche, whose strong pro-American positions had long made him something of a rarity in France, was also fuming. "It's absolutely incompatible with the rules and laws," he declared. "But we're going to react. There will be consequences." And what might those be? For one thing, government spokesman Luc Chatel said Wednesday that French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was also reportedly furious about the turn of events, will raise the issue with President Barack Obama during his visit to the U.S. at the end of March...
...cries of foul from the French? EADS initially lost the refueling-aircraft bid in 2003 - only to see the decision overturned on evidence that Boeing hadn't played fairly in winning it. Then in 2005, EADS sought to improve its chances of success by allying itself with American partner Northrop Grumman in a new pitch. The pair won the next round of bidding, but that decision sparked a chorus of complaints from U.S. legislators about American contracts (and tax dollars) going to a European business - and it was later overturned in an appeal filed by Boeing. The Pentagon reopened...
...burqa confiscates a woman’s existence. By and large, those who wear it are victims," said Fadela Amara, France’s Secretary of Urban Policy, and a Muslim woman herself. This is the going attitude toward the Islamic veil in France these days. Since 2004, French girls have been banned from wearing headscarves in state schools, and in January of this year, a French parliamentary commission recommended a partial ban on women wearing Islamic face veils in government offices, schools, on public transportation, and in hospitals. Such a ban would be discriminatory toward Muslim culture...