Don’t confuse Noah’s Ark with Zoé’s Ark. The first is said to have saved Noah, his family, and two representatives of each living creature, and the second claims it tried to save children. The members involved in this child abduction scheme have been found guilty, but who should pay the restitution?

Buddhist monks and other Tibetans protest against Chinese rule while their spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, continues his exile in India. The topic of Tibet was a sore point for China as it prepared to host the Summer Olympics.

Two women – one French, one American – speak of their new careers as vineyard owners. With the increasing popularity of New World wines, land in the Bordeaux region of France is becoming cheaper.

You’ve heard of Elvis impersonators? Well France has Claude François impersonators! Meet Tom Evers, who performs in the style of Podium at the very same club where the real Claude used to come to relax, comme d’habitude.

Miss Acacia is a character in the novel La Mécanique du Cœur (“The Mechanics of the Heart”) by Dionysos lead singer Mathias Malzieu; in it, the protagonist falls madly in love with her.

There are warnings on cigarettes, warnings on bottles of wine, but do we really need warnings on rich foods? Who doesn’t know that they can make you gros et malsain?

A robot is sent into a deep ocean fault south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. Its mission: to explore mineral chimneys and collect the organisms that can live there without sunlight.

“Neige” is another fantastical number from French rock band Dionysos. The group, which has been together since high school, lists several film directors among their influences, and it’s not hard to see the impact of one in particular, Tim Burton, on the dark, whimsical stylings of this video.

Not only can sleep apnea keep you from getting a good night’s sleep, but it can also wreak havoc on your health, causing such serious health problems as brain damage and cardiovascular disease. Luckily, thanks to research by the National Scientific Research Center in Strasbourg and special equipment like oxygen masks, sufferers of sleep apnea may now be better able to get some rest.

The Yacyretá dam in Argentina is controversial for several reasons. Accused by some to be the result of a bribe to displace the local population, the dam has now gotten famed French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand into hot water. Arthus-Bertrand, who was filming a documentary there, is alleged to have walked out on a twenty-eight-thousand-euro bill he owed to a local travel agency.

Another protest on the streets of Paris: this one about the difficulties of obtaining a driving permit. The steep price of a permit is currently about 1200 € in France, and candidates must face long waits of several months or more just to take the test. Increasing the number of driving inspectors would help both to lessen these delays and lower costs.

Chantal Sébire, whose face was disfigured by a large and incurable tumor that caused her excruciating pain and made her blind, had one request: to end her own life. But the French government refused to allow her to obtain a prescription from her doctor for a lethal amount of drugs. One week after this report, Ms. Sébire was found dead in her home.

Lunatic Age is a four-member group from France’s Montpellier, a band that makes rock and roll “as though every song could be the last.” The song “À quoi bon?” deals with the heavy subjects of alcoholism and child abuse.

What’s in a name? Quite a lot, as it turns out! Thanks to changes in what land is covered by the Champagne Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (or AOC, the French method of labeling foods and wines according to region), some farmers will soon be able to start cultivating official champagne. But not everyone is a winner—some farmers will lose this prestigious appellation.

The best way to teach primary school students about the Holocaust is a contested topic in France. (See our Le Journal video on France’s Holocaust memorial.) One idea, originally proposed by Nicolas Sarkozy at a dinner organized by the Conseil représentatif des institutions juives de France, has not yet been able to see the light of day.