PARIS (Reuters) – Official French documents will no longer force women to reveal their marital status by requiring them to choose the title Mademoiselle or Madame.

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon has ordered all regional and local governments to remove the title “Mademoiselle” — used for unmarried women and implying a youthful immaturity — from official documents.

PARIS (Reuters) – Francois Bayrou stands no more chance than before in his third try for the French presidency, but this time the centre candidate may win a bigger role as kingmaker.

As the polls stand, Socialist Francois Hollande is favorite to oust conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy, but backing from Bayrou in a May 6 second-round runoff could swing the outcome.

PARIS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Sarkozy used a primetime television interview on Sunday to flesh out a flurry of measures to boost employment and competitiveness which he hopes to rush through France’s parliament before a presidential election in April.

Sarkozy, who is running far behind Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in opinion polls for the election, said he would raise the VAT rate to 21.2 percent from 19.6 percent from October to fund a reduction in social charges on companies.

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – In March 2010, a pair of health inspectors acting on a tip paid a three-day visit to a factory in this hilly town on the Mediterranean coast.

The factory was the headquarters of Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), a leading international maker of breast implants founded by French entrepreneur Jean-Claude Mas. The inspectors found something odd: six discarded plastic containers of Silopren, a liquid silicone designed for industrial, not medical use, lined up along the outside wall of the production site.

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – In March 2010, a pair of health inspectors acting on a tip paid a three-day visit to a factory in this hilly town on the Mediterranean coast.

The factory was the headquarters of Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), a leading international maker of breast implants founded by French entrepreneur Jean-Claude Mas. The inspectors found something odd: six discarded plastic containers of Silopren, a liquid silicone designed for industrial, not medical use, lined up along the outside wall of the production site.

MARSEILLE, France (Reuters) – In March 2010, a pair of health inspectors acting on a tip paid a three-day visit to a factory in this hilly town on the Mediterranean coast.

The factory was the headquarters of Poly Implant Prothese (PIP), a leading international maker of breast implants founded by French entrepreneur Jean-Claude Mas. The inspectors found something odd: six discarded plastic containers of Silopren, a liquid silicone designed for industrial, not medical use, lined up along the outside wall of the production site.

PARIS (Reuters) – President Nicolas Sarkozy used a primetime television interview on Sunday to flesh out a flurry of measures to boost employment and competitiveness which he hopes to rush through France’s parliament before a presidential election in April.

Sarkozy, who is running far behind Socialist challenger Francois Hollande in opinion polls for the election, said he would raise the VAT rate to 21.2 percent from 19.6 percent from October to fund a reduction in social charges on companies.

PARIS, Jan 25 (Reuters) – Jean Paul Gaultier delivered
an ode to Amy Winehouse at his spring/summer 2012 haute couture
show in Paris on Wednesday. The late pop singer’s musical spirit
and bad girl fashion sense were all over the runway.

“No, no, no,” sang the four male Afro-American acapella
singers who kicked off the show, using Winehouse’s husky battle
cry “Rehab” as a backdrop to 1950s and 60s-inspired looks.

PARIS (Reuters) – France’s health minister called Saturday for the head of the breast implant maker accused of selling faulty prostheses to tens of thousands of women around the world to be found, calling the growing scandal a “shady business.”

Jean-Claude Mas, 72, the founder and CEO of French company Poly Implant Prothese (PIP) has not been seen or heard of in public since the scandal broke, potentially affecting 300,000 women around the world.

PARIS, Dec 24 (Reuters) – France Telecom will
sell its mobile phone operator Orange Switzerland to private
equity group Apax Partners for about 1.6 billion euros ($2.09
billion), as Europe’s fourth-largest telecoms operator refocuses
on its core markets.

The deal is a glimmer of hope in what has otherwise been a
drought in European private equity deals as the region’s
sovereign debt crisis has driven up the cost of borrowing money
for such transactions.