Born in Italy to a circus family of French origin, Mr Caroli was performing in Blackpool when the Second World War broke out and never left the resort.

BBC: Blackpool honours star circus clown Charlie Caroli

Halliburton has one main challenger for the title of the world's leading oil-services firm: Schlumberger, which is, ahem, French in origin.

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Since official French statistics do not record ethnic origin, figures are imprecise.

ECONOMIST: France's riots

She enrolled in cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu, where she realised that French cuisine was not about national origin, or some mythical connection to la France profonde: it was about technique.

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Ms Baki, of Lebanese origin, speaks English, French and German in addition to her two mother languages, Spanish and Arabic.

UNESCO: MEDIA SERVICES

But then a French private-equity firm, PAI Partners, suddenly appeared as Atos Origin's largest single shareholder two weeks ago, and said it backed the management's strategy.

ECONOMIST: Business in France

Also on Thursday, the French Government announced restaurants serving beef would have to display on their menus the origin of the beef that they use.

BBC: French restaurant chain in BSE probe

The origin of modern automata, though, came during the Enlightenment, inaugurated by French mechanician Jacques de Vaucanson in the 1730s.

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