Farmers block Paris’ Champs-Elysees avenue, set hay ablaze to protest falling food prices

October 5th, 2009 Farmers create chaos with spilled milk in BrusselsBRUSSELS — Farmers drove hundreds of tractors and a lone cow to the heart of the European Union bureaucracy on Monday, pelting police with bottles and chickens and dumping milk and manure onto the streets of Brussels in a protest against collapsing milk prices. Over 2,500 farmers from across the EU burned tires and hay outside an emergency meeting of farm ministers.

September 18th, 2009 Euro farmers dump milk to protest price slumpPARIS — Angry French farmers dumped millions of liters of fresh milk next to one of France's most famous tourist sites on Friday to denounce the slumping cost of milk and an EU plan to end production quotas, which could further drive prices down. APLI, a small dairy farmer's union that organized the protest, said over 1,000 farmers and 300 tractors took part in the event, pouring 3,5 million liters (925,000 gallons) of milk onto fields next to the famed Mont Saint-Michel.

August 25th, 2009 Vets mark 65 years since Paris freed from NazisPARIS — Veterans of the French Resistance have joined President Nicolas Sarkozy in a ceremony marking the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Paris from the Nazi occupation. On Aug. 25, 1944, Resistance leader Charles de Gaulle moved back into the War Ministry in central Paris and made a famous speech from City Hall.

August 22nd, 2009 Frenchman who shot at ex-President Chirac releasedPARIS — A French far-right activist has been released from prison seven years after attempting to assassinate then-President Jacques Chirac in a Bastille Day attack, a judicial official said Saturday. Maxime Brunerie was convicted of attempted murder after he pulled a rifle from a guitar case and shot at Chirac on July 14, 2002.

August 15th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Saturday said all efforts would be made to control the rising prices of foodgrains, pulses and other goods of daily use. We have adequate stocks of food grains.

August 14th, 2009 France gears up _ slowly _ for more Sunday openingPARIS — France is taking a leisurely August attitude to a new law that shakes up the country's traditional devotion to Sunday rest. Starting Sunday, more stores have the legal right to open, a step taken by the government in hopes of boosting employment and soaking up added tourist dollars.

July 15th, 2009 PARIS - Others may have wilted but not India's 77-year-old Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who valiantly stood next to French President Nicolas Sarkozy through much of the two-hour Bastille Day parade and then after it was over decided to abandon his carcade to walk to his hotel. After the rains of the previous week, Paris was warm as it celebrated its National Day Tuesday and many people lined up on either side of the Champs Elysees were seen looking for shade and a place to rest their legs.

July 14th, 2009 PARIS - As France celebrates the beginning of its revolution more than 200 years ago with the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, leading the national day marchpast here will be 400 soldiers from the Indian armed forces. And watching the parade will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first foreign leader to be accorded the honour.

July 14th, 2009 PARIS - Four hundred soldiers from the Indian armed forces will lead the marchpast down historic Champs Elysees later Tuesday as France celebrates the beginning of its revolution more than 200 years ago with the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789. And watching the parade will be Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the first foreign leader to be accorded the honour.

July 13th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Prime Minister, Dr.Manmohan Singh, left for the French capital, Paris, today to be the Chief Guest of Honour at France's National Day celebrations on July 14th. He is the first Indian leader to be bestowed this honour, as France does not have a tradition of inviting foreign heads of state to be chief guests at their Bastille Day or National Day celebrations.

July 1st, 2009 French restaurant tax drops in bid to lure dinersPARIS — French restaurant bills slimmed down slightly Wednesday, after the government slashed value-added tax hoping to nudge people back toward sidewalk cafes and prized restaurants suffering from the economic downturn. Yet at tables in Paris, it was business as usual.

June 22nd, 2009 25 arrests in Paris jewel robbery of Harry WinstonPARIS — French police arrested 25 suspects Monday in connection with last year's multimillion-dollar robbery at Harry Winston jewelers and recovered some of the stolen rings, necklaces and watches. The robbers, some dressed as women and wearing wigs, had grabbed €85 million ($118 million) worth of loot Dec.

June 22nd, 2009 French police arrest 25 in 2008 jewel heistPARIS — French police have arrested 25 suspects in a euro85 million ($118 million) heist of jewels last year on one of Paris' most fashionable streets and have recovered some of the loot. Thieves, some of them dressed as women, had swiped rings, necklaces and luxury watches at the Harry Winston store near the Champs-Elysees.

May 6th, 2009 Experts: nearly 1 billion hungry people in worldPARIS — The number of hungry people in the world could soon hit a record 1 billion, despite a recent drop in food prices, the U.N. food aid organization said Wednesday.

April 28th, 2009 French group urges Iran to free US journalistPARIS — More than a dozen people in Paris have launched a hunger strike in support of an American journalist who is in jail in Tehran. The journalist, Roxana Saberi, has herself been on a hunger strike for a week.