FRENCH OIL TANKER BLAST IN YEMEN
French and American investigators are working together following a blast on the French oil tanker, the Limburg, on October 6, off the coast of Yemen, to determine if it was due to a terrorist attack. Investigators found debris from a small boat and traces of TNT inside the Limburg on October 10. The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the explosion on the tanker was probably caused by an attack, but further inquiries were needed to verify initial results. French media reported that the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army group claimed responsibility for the blast and said its actual target was a U.S. Navy frigate.
FDNY FIREFIGHTERS SHARE THE PAIN
Fifteen FDNY firefighters attended the late September funerals of five French colleagues who died on the job in Neuilly, a suburb of Paris. Already in France to take part in the National convention of firefighters, the representatives from New York decided to prolong their stay after receiving news of the tragic developments to provide moral support.
ALLIANCE FRANCAISE SIGNS AGREEMENT WITH COLLEGE
The French library and cultural center along with the Alliance Francaise of Boston announced on September 17 that they had sealed a partnership with Lasell College in Newton, Massachusetts to provide the school with French language courses, workshops for French teachers and cultural activities.
FRANCE-LOUISIANA LINGUISTIC COOPERATION RENEWED
Officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs met with a delegation of high-ranking Louisiana education representatives on October 4 in Paris to renew Franco-Louisianian linguistic cooperation, a relationship begun in 1968. The meeting comes only months before the commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Louisiana purchase. On this occasion to the state underlines the increasing importance of the Committee for the development of French in Louisiana.
Inauguration of statue at the D-day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia
A
copy of the Monument aux Morts statue, sculpted by Edmond de Laheudrie, will be inaugurated at the National D-day Memorial in Bedford, Virginia, on October 23. The foundation in Bedford maintains a memorial to the valor, fidelity, and sacrifices of the Allied Armed Forces who landed in Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.
The statue is a replica of the original Monument aux Morts, that stood proud in the town of Trévières after dedication ceremonies in 1920 in memory of 43 soldiers from Trévières who were killed during World War I. Almost two decades later, during an attack in the town on June 8, 1944, the statue was left damaged. Shrapnel or a round struck the head of the figure and removed its face below the upper lip and most of its throat. To this day repairs have not been made on the statue, leaving it as a symbol of the destructiveness of war, the fragility of peace and sacrifices made by the Allied Forces.
Edmond de Laheudrie was born in Trévières where he served as mayor from 1896 to 1900. Classically trained as a sculptor, he studied in Paris under Pierre Jules Cavalier, Louis Ernest Barrais, and Marius Jean Antonin Mercié before exhibiting at Le Salon des Artistes Français and winning a second place award in 1901. He also published several books on the history of Normandy.
The copy of the statue is being offered to the memorial in cooperation and support of the Wildenstein family, the mayor of Trévières and the Conseil Général of Calvados. In the history of the two countries, this is the second time that a statue has been given to the United States from France; the first being the Statue of Liberty.
Also taking place during the ceremony, the Grand Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, General Douin, will be presenting the Croix de Chevalier of the Legion of Honor to Evelyn Kilwachuk, one of the first nurses at Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944, Bob Slaughter, a D-day veteran and initiator for the Memorial, and finally Mike Shelton, Mayor of Bedford and President of the Omaha Beach/Bedford Alliance. General Douin will be accompanied by Consul General Guy Montagnier, Defense Attaché of the Embassy of France General Bastien and President of the American Society of the French Legion of Honor Guy Wildenstein.
French/American Innovation Day
Organized annually by the Office for Science and Technology of the Embassy of France, the French American Innovation day will take place this October 17 at the Photonics Center at Boston University, in Massachussetts. The purpose of this day is to promote areas where both France and the U.S. have a common interest and to foster French/American cooperation between laboratories and companies. This years’ focus is on photonics, the technology of generating and harnessing light and other forms of radiant energy whose quantum unit is the photon. Not only will some of the best scientists in this field of study attend in order to present major scientific breakthroughs, but major corporations will also participate, giving their vision on how these new technologies can be further developed to become even more important. Among those experts asked to speak are Nobel Prize laureate for Physics winning Professor Wolfgang Ketterle of the Massachussetts Institute of Technology, and Gérard Mourou, the director of the center for Ultrafast Optical Science at the University of Michigan. The participants will also meet potential partners in industrial firms and venture capitals, thus hopefully further enhancing Franco-American cooperation in the fields of science and technology.
International Drug Smugglers Brought to Trial
In an example of remarkable cooperation between law enforcement officials in France and the U.S., members of an international drug smuggling ring were brought to trial on October 1 for smuggling 1.5 million ecstasy tablets from the Netherlands, through France, to the U.S.
A French court sentenced 13 members of the drug trafficking network to up to 10 years in prison. Of the 13 put on trial, only three were present in the Paris court. The 10 others, including the group’s alleged ringleader, were tried in absentia as most of them were in U.S. jails awaiting trial on related charges. U.S. citizen David Levy, the ring’s main contact in France, was sentenced to seven years in prison, while compatriot Melissa Schwarts-seen as the network’s point person in Paris-was sentenced to six years in jail. The court sentenced Canadian national Mohamed Elshamy to three years in prison. The network’s alleged mastermind, U.S. citizen Jacob Orgad, was sentenced to 10 years in a French prison, along with two other members of the organization. The other seven defendants received jail sentences, some of them suspended.
The organization, which was dismantled in an international sting in March 2000, allegedly raked in $34 million in one year of operations.