PARIS (Reuters) – The French minister behind a media campaign to promote the “Made In France” brand rejected World Trade Organisation concerns over protectionism on Monday and blamed the world body for failing to halt unfair competition from China.

Industry Minister Arnaud Montebourg donned France’s emblematic striped Breton sweater for a magazine cover published last week to urge local consumers to favor French products such as food mixers by the 75-year-old Moulinex company.

PARIS (Reuters) – A left-wing leader takes office in a troubled European nation. Company bankruptcies are piling up and unemployment is on the rise. His pledge to pull off long-overdue economic reforms is greeted with weary skepticism.

The scene that played out in Germany a decade ago is being repeated in France today.

PARIS, Oct 21 (Reuters) – A left-wing leader takes office in
a troubled European nation. Company bankruptcies are piling up
and unemployment is on the rise. His pledge to pull off
long-overdue economic reforms is greeted with weary scepticism.

The scene that played out in Germany a decade ago is being
repeated in France today.

PARIS (Reuters) – Rwanda is brushing aside allegations it is fomenting rebellion in neighbouring Congo, confident that foreign donors are reluctant to abandon a country on its way to becoming a rare African success story.

The gamble is a risky one for a state that relies on aid for 40 percent of its budget, but Rwanda’s newly-awarded seat on the United Nations Security Council will boost its diplomatic clout and could further discourage any moves to cut assistance.

PARIS (Reuters) – Rwanda is brushing aside allegations it is fomenting rebellion in neighboring Congo, confident that foreign donors are reluctant to abandon a country on its way to becoming a rare African success story.

The gamble is a risky one for a state that relies on aid for 40 percent of its budget, but Rwanda’s newly-awarded seat on the United Nations Security Council will boost its diplomatic clout and could further discourage any moves to cut assistance.

PARIS (Reuters) – Just five months after bringing Francois Hollande to power, many French voters are already despairing that he can deliver on the vision they voted for.

It was always going to be tough for the Socialist leader to get France’s stagnating economy back on its feet, with much of the rest of Europe close to recession and struggling to resolve a three-year sovereign debt crisis.

PARIS, Oct 4 (Reuters) – President Francois Hollande’s
Socialist government will likely ease tax hikes on small
businesses in the 2013 budget after a chorus of complaints by
French entrepreneurs, officials said on Thursday.

The climb-down comes less than a week after it unveiled 30
billion euros ($38.7 billion) of savings for 2013. It added to
speculation that France will need a supplementary budget next
year to stick to a deficit target of 3 percent of output vital
to its credibility with euro zone partners and markets.

FABE, Cameroon (Reuters) – It was a tough week for Cameroonian village chief Wangoe Philip Ekole.

People in Fabe, angry at his support for a palm-oil plantation in their rainforest home, had put a curse on its seedling nursery, prompting petrified workers to lay down their tools and flee.

FABE, Cameroon (Reuters) – It was a tough week for Cameroonian village chief Wangoe Philip Ekole.

People in Fabe, angry at his support for a palm-oil plantation in their rainforest home, had put a curse on its seedling nursery, prompting petrified workers to lay down their tools and flee.

DAKAR/BAMAKO (Reuters) – Tuareg-led rebels who seized the north of Mali in April declared on Sunday they had dropped their claims for a separate state after the rebellion was hijacked by al Qaeda-linked Islamists.

The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) and its former Islamist allies routed government forces in the West African country three months ago and took over a stretch of the Sahara larger than France.