Up To Date france

A female head chef in a restaurant serving Asian inspired food has become one of the latest Michelin starred chefs.

Adeline Grattard, 32, head chef of Yam’Tcha in Paris, was handed the accolade in the latest round of starring by the renowned gastronomes.

The move comes as something of a surprise to observers of the Michelin guide as the publication has been criticised in the past for its Franco-centric traditionalist attitudes.

However restaurant critics were won over by Ms Grattard’s menu which features such delights as sucking pig, mushroom and chestnuts and specially chosen Chinese teas.

And the female chef told reporters that, far from being a disadvantage in the male dominated world of gastronomy, her gender had in fact worked in her favour.

Speaking in an interview before the official announcement of the award, Ms Grattard told reporters: “That has played a part. Not many women set up all by themselves.” 

The fusion chefs influences are drawn from time spent working and living in Hong Kong with her Chinese husband.

She said: “”I saw and ate lots of things there. My chef encouraged me to bring back whatever I wanted from the market to try it out.”

Michelin guide editor Jean-Luc Naret said: “There has been a real explosion of young chefs who are setting the trend. They travel the world and come back with new cooking techniques.

Russian president Dmitry Medvedev is in Paris on an official state visit.

The trip is a powerful sign of the burgeoning diplomatic relations between the two countries, who recently agreed a deal for the French to supply Russia with her most powerful warships ever, in spite of international dissent.

And while the dotted line remains unsigned, talks are ongoing over the possible supply of a further three vessels to strengthen Russia’s fleet.

And now the two powers are working to further boost their relationship,  with a number of lucrative energy deals seemingly in the pipeline.

President Medvedev arrived in Paris by helicopter and landed in from of Napoleon’s tomb at Les Invalides before being les across the Seine by  mounted French cavalry.

He travelled to the Elysee Palace where he met with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, who is believed to be angling for stronger trade ties between the two nations in the future.

The French are said to be particularly interested in cornering a share of Russia’s abundant natural energy resources with French gas supplier GDF Suez and Russias Gazprom having recently unveiled a deal which will award the Paris based business a  nine per cent stake in a planned north sea pipeline.

The news will come as no surprise to market commentators, who last year saw French investment in Russia rocket, reaching a total of $10.4 billion according to Russian reports.

Internet users in France have been warned to avoid using Internet Explorer after concerns over its vulnerability to hackers.

The world’s most popular internet browser, built by Microsoft, as emerged as the entry point used by Chinese hackers in recent breaches of the email accounts of human rights activists in China.

Internet Explorers manufacturer Microsoft last week acknowledged the vulnerability of the browser but condemned the reaction of the German government, which was the first European power to warn against use of the browser.

However, the French government agency Certa, which issues advice on cyber threats soon followed in the footsteps of its neighbour, issuing an advisory to French citizens that they should avoid the browser and seek alternatives until the situation is rectified.

The advisory said: “Pending a patch from the publisher, Certa recommends using an alternative browser.”

Certa told internet users that all versions of internet explorer could be vulnerable to hackers, despite reports focussing on the vulnerability of IE6.

Cyber Security Expert Graham Cluely said: “”Microsoft themselves admit there is a vulnerability, even in IE8.”

But he warned that those following the French government warnings might find themselves sin an “out of the frying pan into the fire” situation unless they were particularly security savvy.

He said:”Every browser has its security issues. Microsoft will be working hard to release an out-of-band patch for the vulnerability. They will be keen to fix the serious security problem before more damage is done to Internet Explorer’s reputation.”

The French government has pledged €2 billion towards improving the countries internet speeds.

The investment, announced yesterday (MONDAY) by prime minister Francois Fillon, forms part of the multi-billion euro programme of investment in the French economy in the wake of last year’s financial crises.

Revealing the government’s plans to boost the internet capabilities across France, Mr Fillon said that the money was to be given in the form of low interest loans to companies in the telecommunications sector with the express purpose of pushing forward the development of high speed internet networks in areas outside of France’s bigger cities.

The country has lagged behind European neighbours in the installation of high speed fibre optic networks, with many regions outside of Paris yet to see the benefit of the technology.

Mr Fillon told reporters: “We are at the dawn of the era of high speed internet and fibre optic networks, however 500,000 French people don’t have access to high speed internet at all, and this is not acceptable.”

 The government hopes that investing in communications infra structure such as this will boost French companies competitiveness in the international market.

The hard work will now fall to telecoms giants such as France Telelcom, Iliad and Vivendi, who are expected to cooperate in the installation of nationwide networks, however company bosses warned that the progress outside of French cities could be slow going.

Iliad chief executive Maxime Lombardi said: “We are still working on getting fibre to homes in Paris, medium density areas are not where we will make our first investment.”

The French cooperation minister has complained to the UN about America’s behaviours in earthquake stricken Haiti.

Alain Joyandet has demanded the international body investigate the role taken on by the superpower in the wake of last week’s tragedy, after US troops turned away a French plane carrying aid including a field hospital from the overburdened Port au Prince airport.

Commenting after the incident, Mr Joyandet likened the US presence in the ravaged country to an “occupation”.

In an interview on French radio he said: “This is about helping Haiti, not about occupying Haiti.”

But French Foreign minister Bernard Kouchner was quick to pour oil on troubled waters saying “People want it to be their plane that lands, but what is important is the fate of the Haitians.”

The row comes just days after US officials refused to fly French nationals out of the troubled country. American citizens were to be evacuated on three military planes flying to New Jersey, and initially officials refused to allow French and Canadians to board the flights.

However officials relented after intervention by national representatives from the two countries.

US officials have played down the accusation with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton saying: “We are working to back them up but not to supplant them.”

But Joyandet is still awaiting a UN decision on the organisation of the aid effort adding that he hoped it would “clarify” the US role in the aid effort.

Haiti has endured occupation by both France and the US during its history.