Emma Charlton
Emma Charlton works from London. Journalist covering business news and European central banks. Emma Charlton has over 2222 followers on Twitter.
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/ 8 January 2008

Stormy centenary for feminist icon Beauvoir

Simone de Beauvoir was an iconic figurehead of the 20th-century struggle for women’s liberation, but as France marks the centenary of her birth on Wednesday, critics are taking a cold, hard look at her life and legacy. Beauvoir’s groundbreaking 1949 work on the female condition, The Second Sex, her defiance of social taboos, propelled her to near-mythical status in France and abroad.

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/ 28 November 2007

Sarkozy vows to punish gun-toting rioters

French President Nicolas Sarkozy vowed on Wednesday that rioters who shot at police during two days of Paris suburban unrest would be severely punished, as police struggled to contain the violence. Back from a state visit to China, Sarkozy visited a police chief seriously injured in the country’s worst troubles since nationwide riots in 2005.

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/ 26 November 2007

New riots shock France

A French judge ordered a manslaughter inquiry on Monday after the death of two teenagers in a crash with police sparked a night of rioting in a flashpoint Paris suburb. The violence was some of the worst since the nationwide riots in 2005, which erupted in similar circumstances, prompting President Nicolas Sarkozy to appeal for calm.

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/ 20 April 2007

French presidential rivals make final pleas

Rivals for the French presidency made their final appeals to millions of undecided voters on Friday as the official campaign drew to an end ahead of an election seen as too close to call. Right-wing contender Nicolas Sarkozy was leading in opinion polls ahead of Socialist Ségolène Royal, aiming to become France’s first woman president.

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/ 16 April 2007

Royal battles to stay in French presidential race

France’s presidential campaign entered its final week on Monday, with Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal struggling to stay in the race against right-wing favourite Nicolas Sarkozy. With at least a third of the electorate still undecided ahead of Sunday’s first-round vote, the final stretch of rallies and debates is to play a crucial role.

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/ 1 June 2006

Spoof Chirac movie hits French screens

As France’s Jacques Chirac enters the final year of his presidency, a spoof documentary out this week looks set to become an instant hit with its caustic look at his 40-year rise to power. Dans la peau de Jacques Chirac, a 90-minute collage of archive clips irreverently narrated by a Chirac impersonator, screened to hoots of laughter in Paris on Wednesday.