French army chief quits over civilian shooting
BBC. July 2, 2008
The French army chief of staff, Gen Bruno Cuche, has resigned two days after a soldier injured 17 people at a military show. The soldier used real bullets instead of blanks at the public demonstration at a barracks in south-western France. Four people, including a child, were seriously injured in the incident. For France, it is an appallingly embarrassing incident just as the country takes over the presidency of the European Union.
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Sarkozy warns something “not right” in EU
BBC. July 2, 2008
French President Sarkozy has said "something isn't right" with the European Union, as France took over the rotating presidency of the bloc. Speaking on national French TV, Mr Sarkozy warned that Europe's citizens were losing faith in the project. "Europe worries people and, worse than that, I find, little by little our fellow citizens are asking themselves if after all the national level isn't better equipped to protect them than the European level," he said.
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Sarkozy Still Below 40% Mark in France
Angus Reid Global Monitor. July 2, 2008
Public support for Nicolas Sarkozy increased slightly this month in France, according to a poll by Ifop published in Le Journal du Dimanche. 37 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the president’s performance, up two points since May.
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Did French company Alstom Bribe like Siemens?
Speigel. July 2, 2008
Like its German competitor Siemens, France's Alstom Group is alleged to have used a system of bribes to buy its way into contracts worldwide. But in France politicians and the media have shielded the company. President Nicolas Sarkozy almost single-handedly saved Alstom from bankruptcy. But now “Swiss investigative authorities strongly suspect that senior officials at the Alstom Group systematically embezzled money for years and horded it in so-called 'black funds'” to be used for bribery to win contracts.
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French Would Support Lisbon Treaty in Vote
Angus Reid Global Monitor. July 2, 2008
Most people in France would support the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty if it were put to a vote, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 56 per cent of respondents would vote in favour of the proposed body of law for the European Union (EU), while 44 per cent would reject it.
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French court fines eBay over online sales
BBC. July 2, 2008
A French court has ordered eBay to pay 40m euros ($63m) to luxury goods group LVMH for allowing online auctions of its brands, including fakes as well as authentic product of which LVMH claims it controls the sales points. But an Ebay spokesperson commented: "Today’s ruling is about an attempt by LVMH to protect uncompetitive commercial practices.” The company believes the French court's decision unfairly blocks the legitimate sale of perfumes, which it says could be offered on the site from resellers as well as people posting unwanted gifts or used merchandise.
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Sarkozy gets new presidential airplane
UKTimes. June 17, 2008
President Sarkozy’s latest self-aggrandizing gesture is to order a version of the American president’s Air Force One aircraft, complete with luxury sleeping quarters, office and conference room. The Airbus 330-200 is expected to cost the state about £150m and will be able to fly twice as far without refuelling as the jets that he normally uses. A fashion designer will be commissioned to redesign the interior while Carla Bruni, the president’s Italian singer wife, is expected to take charge of the project. This lavish indulgence shows that Sarkozy seems to be exempt from the government’s reforms to reduce public spending. It was announced last week that one in every five French embassies was likely to see its budget cut and the number of countries receiving French development aid would be cut to between 30 and 40 from more than 100.
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French presidential expenditures rose under cost-cutting Sarkozy
MonstersandCritics. June 17, 2008
As trade unions protest against French President Sarkozy's efforts to trim state budgets Le Figaro reports that expenditures for Sarkoky's office increased by 8.3 per cent in 2007 to to 35.1 million euros. That rise is about three times the increase in state expenditures over the same period. Critics recall that Sarkozy had himself voted a large pay rise shortly after taking office last year, and recently ordered a new Presidential Airbus airliner worth around $300 million.
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Paris Mayor Favoured to Lead French Socialists
Angus Reid Global Monitor. June 17, 2008
Many people in France would like Bertrand Delanoë to become the next leader of the Socialist Party (PS), according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 25 per cent of respondents—and 30 per cent of PS supporters—want the Paris mayor to head the country’s main opposition party.
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How Sarkozy Lost France
WallStreetJournal. June 17, 2008
How does one go from a 53% electoral victory to a 20% approval rating in one year? Embattled French President Nicolas Sarkozy is undoubtedly asking himself that very question.
the problem is the disconnect between Mr. Sarkozy's rhetoric and his actions. What his first year in office teaches us – America's presidential candidates take note – is that the way to become the most unpopular of presidents is to take all sides on every issue. By talking like a reformer, Mr. Sarkozy has displeased the partisans of the status quo, and by failing to undertake the reforms he proclaims, he's also disappointed the partisans of change.
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More French Dislike Sarkozy’s Performance
Angus Reid Global Monitor. June 17, 2008
The majority of people in France are disappointed with the way Nicolas Sarkozy has handled his duties at the Élysée Palace, according to a poll by LH2 published in Libération. 60 per cent of respondents have a negative opinion of Sarkozy’s performance, up seven points since early May.
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French Feminists Unhappy With Sarkozy
Deutsche Welle. June 17, 2008
French President Sarkozy courted female voters during the run-up to the last elections, saying that France should take the lead in pushing for women's rights. But feminists feel this was a mere political tactic to keep French women from voting for his female opponent, socialist candidate Segolene Royal. Feminists feel Sarkozy's given the women's rights issue very little attention since taking office just over a year ago.
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Bush praises 'really smart, capable' Carla Bruni
AFP. June 17, 2008
During his visit to Europe, US President George W. Bush praised new French first lady Carla Bruni, telling President Sarkozy she was a "really smart, capable woman and I can see why you married her." Considering the source, this compliment cannot count for much with La Bruni.
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Sarkozy-Bush love fest
WashingtonPost. June 17, 2008
During a state visit in Paris, Presidents Bush and Sarkozy celebrated a lovefest between two leaders strikingly similar in their informality (not to say vulgarity), lack of intellectual curiosity, and deep unpopularity with their own citizens. Sarkozy’s approval rating hovers around 40% in France. Time Magazine called Bush “arguably the least loved head of state in the Western world.” Sarkozy said: "George, we don't agree on everything, but that doesn't make us any less friends.” Bush said he felt “a long way from rural Texas.”
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Europeans buy up American equity
ForeignPolicy. June 17, 2008
Thanks to the strong Euro, American companies have rarely been so cheap to buy. The United States is poised to receive a massive inflow of large- and medium-size European investors. Everything from corporate behemoths to family-owned companies are about to come to America on a corporate buying spree. Call it the Euroinvasion.
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Time Magazine Slams French “Honors”
Time. June 17, 2008
The induction of Canadian pop singer Celine Dion into the French Legion of Honor has prompted Time Magazine to sneer at France’s whorishly lavishing its favors on people “nominated purely for their celebrity rather than any loftier merits.” The British press has also mocked the French honor system following Kylie Minogue’s award. “Some observers suggest that the contrast in achievements of its various honorees has cheapened the medal to the point of self-parody,” says Time. France Inter radio commentator Didier Porte calls the medla, the “Legion of Bad Taste.” “The Legion is now the way powerful politicians honor people for having attained celebrity and fame. It's basically now the manner in which VIPs get together to smell one another's behind."
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France has 5 million muslims
Frogsmoke. June 17, 2008
For the first time, the French ministry of the interior has done a headcount of Muslims, and comes up with a total of nearly five million. Among them, only 5% actually practice their religion regularly. The largest Muslim group is of Algerian origin (1.5 million), followed by Moroccans (1 million) and Tunisians (400,000). Subsaharan Muslims account for 340,000 and Turks for 313,000. The remainder consists of around 40,000 new converts and Muslims without identity papers. Those who practice their religion have access to 1,890 mosques and prayer rooms in France.
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French women do get fat
Frogsmoke. June 17, 2008
Bad news for the authoress of French Women Don’t Get Fat. According to a new survey, one in two French women between 34 and 75 years is too fat and two in three men are overweight, i.e. have a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25 or more. Across both sexes, one in five is now officially obese, with a BMI of 30 or more. If older French women are skinny, it may be because smoking is on the rise among gals between 45 and 54 years.
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rn, terror, hate web sites
AFP. June 17, 2008
The French state and Internet service providers have struck a deal to block sites carrying child pornography or content linked to terrorism or racial hatred, Interior Minister Michel Alliot-Marie announced Tuesday. The plan, part of a larger effort to fight cybercriminality, is to go into effect in September when a "black list" will be built up based on input from Internet users who signal sites dealing with the offensive material, the minister said. The spirit of censorship and denunciation (memories of Vichy collabos!) is alive and well in France.
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Americans sue EADS for Insider trading
Yahoo. June 17, 2008
Two U.S. law firms filed lawsuits in U.S. federal court alleging insider trading in shares of European aerospace giant EADS and said that managers and shareholders misled investors, the Wall Street Journal reports. EADS has denied wrongdoing, but its French former co-executive Noel Forgeard is also under investigation for insider trading.
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Bardot convicted of hate speech
YahooNews. Juny 12, 2008
Sued by Movement Against Racism and for Friendship Among Peoples (MRAP) and League of Human Rights (LDH), and SOS Racism, French actress and animal rights activist Brigitte Bardot was convicted for the fifth time of "inciting to discrimination or to racial hatred" towards Muslims. She was fined 15,000 euros for having written, in a letter in which she demanded that the animals sacrificed for the Eid al-Kebir holiday be anesthetized: "Enough of being led by the nose by this population who is destroying us, destroying our country by imposing on us its rituals." Bardot will pay 1500 euros in damages to MRAP, one symbolic euro to the LDH and to the International League Against Racism and Anti-Semitism, and 1500 euros towards the cost of the trial.
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Sarkozy’s first wife pens damning book
IndiaTimes. June 12, 2008
Almost 14 years after her divorce with Nicolas Sarkozy, his first wife Marie-Dominique Culioli has emerged from self-imposed seclusion to throw an unflattering light on the flamboyant French President's private life with a new book titled “Sarkozy and the Women.” She blames Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, Sarkozy’s second wife, for ruining her marriage.
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Sarko’s alleged lover gets top TV job
Earthtimes. Une 12, 2008
The appointment of French President Sarkozy's alleged ex-girlfriend Laurence Ferrari to the country's most prestigious TV news position as the host of France's most-watched news programme, the evening news on TF 1, is creating a stir. Liberation reported that another reason for the move may have been Sarkozy's recently stated wish that Ferrari take over France's top news spot. Ferrari has succesfully sued French media for reporting on her alleged affair with Sarkozy.
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French newspapers hail Obama nomination
Xinhua. Jne 11, 2008
French newspapers joined the rest of the global press by unanimously saluting Barack Obama after he scored a historic first in the nomination of a presidential candidate for the United States Democratic Party ahead of elections expected later in November. Nevertheless, most of the newspapers were skeptical about the actual chance of Obama to beat secured Republican nominee John McCain.
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Sweden beats France for pretty women
Pravda. June 12, 2008
Traveler’s Digest has made a list of countries and cities where world’s most beautiful women live. Sweden tops the list for its attractive, friendly and well-educated women. Germany , France and Switzerland have not been included on the list because “the people of those countries pay much more attention to the way their animals look.”
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Carla Bruni, the volcano in the Elysée
UKTimes. June 12, 2008
“Carla and Nicolas, the True Story,” the latest book about President Sarkozy’s whirlwind romance with Carla Bruni, reveals that Bruni fell in love with the President for his good looks and his "five or six brains". It details Bruni’s many former boyfriends, hot temper, catty vengeance against comely Minister Rachida Dati, as well as Sarkozy’s temper tantrums, ambition, and womanizing.
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French businesses rue red tape
BBC. June 12, 2008
French companies often complain of being burdened with expensive red tape, imposed by an administration that is anything but business-friendly. A French government bill to "modernise the economy" now before parliament is designed in part to sweep away restrictions and encourage a more entrepreneurial society.
"In France, everything is hard, the administration, the banks. It's very hard to start a business here. In England it's easy,” said one young entrepreneur.
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Rise of Rachida Dati: The minister, the 'virgin bride' and the row that's dividing a nation
Independent. June 12, 2008
When a man was granted a divorce because his wife had lied about being a virgin, the reaction in France was hysterical. And at the centre of the debate is Justice Minister Rachida Dati, a French daughter of north African immigrants, and a politician with a very personal interest in the case.
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Chirac’s new philanthropy
France24. June 11, 2008
Scandal-ridden former French president Jacques Chirac is launching the Chirac Foundation for sustainable development, the environment and the "dialogue of cultures,” especially in Africa. This Clinton-style philanthropic initiative may help Chirac’s public image which has suffered since he was placed under formal investigation, suspected of misappropriating city funds for political ends when he was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995.
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US-Muslim exchange praised, blamed
NYTimes. June 12, 2008
Small grroups of influential European Muslims have been invited to the United States on 21-day trips organized by the State Department as part of its International Visitor Leadership Program. From 25 to 30 French citizens are chosen each year to go to the United States under the program; since the 2005 riots, about a dozen have been Muslim. Some French critics see the program as an America propaganda ploy. Participants retort that French reactions were racist and paranoid.
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Space to get boost in French defence review
Reuters. June 12, 2008
An upcoming French defence review will boost the country's presence in space, and provide a lift for a lift for scandal ridden European satellite manufacturers EADS, Prime Minister Fillon Fillon told a parliamentary seminar on the space industry. The space industry could be the main winner in a streamlined defence strategy focusing on spy satellites and high-tech intelligence methods at the expense of some ordinary weapons programmes. "The White Paper on defence gives a central role to capacities of reconnaissance and anticipation.”
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France backs Obama
ReidPolls. June 12, 2008
Roughly two-thirds of adults in three European countries would vote for Democrat Barack Obama if they could cast a ballot in this year’s United States presidential election, according to a poll by YouGov. 65 per cent of respondents in France would back Obama.
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China urges French travel boycott
BBC. June 1, 2008
Beijing's official tourism body is urging tour operators to stop selling holidays to France, the French foreign ministry has said. The claim comes amid souring relations between the two countries after the Paris leg of the Olympic torch relay. Thousands of pro-Tibet protesters disrupted the event last month, and managed to extinguish the flame. However Beijing said that it had "simply reminded Chinese tourists to be careful about their security."
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More French “Honors” for Sale
Frenchculture.org. June 1, 2008
France continues its shameless sale and giveaway of so-called honors in exchange for favorable treatment and reciprocal flattery. This week in New York, French Cultural Counselor Kareen Rispal gave the Order of Arts and Letters to PS1 Director Antoine “Tony” Guerrero, and critic/curator Eleanor Heartney. It is hard to understand how these supposedly independent academics and public servants are permitted to accept medals and ribbons from a foreign government in a blatant quid pro quo exchange for promoting one nation’s cultural product over another’s. “Philanthropist” and educator Jane Ross got the lowly Order of Academic Palms, a rather cheap thanks for the $60,000+ cash she paid to the Embassy to support its educational programs. As Barnum said, there's a sucker born every minute, and two to take him, or her.
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France investigates EADS ex-boss
BBC. June 1, 2008
French judges have placed Noel Forgeard, the former co-head of Airbus owner EADS, under formal investigation over allegations of insider trading. Mr Forgeard, who denies wrongdoing, was questioned by two judges over his sale of EADS shares in March 2006 before they slumped by 26% that June.
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Sarkozy caves in to French protests
Forbes. June 1, 2008
President Sarkozy, looking to rebuild his shattered popularity ratings, went on a blitz of tours and radio shows as he promised to preserve France's 35-hour work week and cushion the impact of soaring energy costs for the hardest hit. The president ruled out any budget austerity, laid to rest fears his government might hike the retirement age and denied rumours of a possible increase in the television licence fee. In short, he backpedalled on most of his election reform promises.
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U.S. war machine rebuilds French connection
CSMonitor. June 1, 2008
Pentagon insiders call it "the Sarkozy moment" – an opportunity to rebuild a relationship with the French government and military made possible by the election last year of Nicolas Sarkozy as French president. America has already been pleased by an additional French combat battalion for Afghanistan, and defense officials look forward to a stronger NATO alliance.
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Amnesty International Rates France
AmnestyInternational. June 1, 2008
Amnesty International's annual report on the state of the world's human rights gave France a middling report. It claims the rights of French asylum-seekers and refugees were violated and undermined, and allegations of police ill-treatment continued and were not investigated with thoroughness, promptness or impartiality. On the bright side, France approved the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances. The Minister for Housing and Social Cohesion supported to the legally enforceable right to housing to all legal residents of France.
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France 2 loses libel suit
WallStreetJournal. June 1, 2008
The Wall Street Journal praises a French appeals court’s ruling in favor of journalist Philippe Karsenty, against state-owned TV channel France 2, which it accused of anti-Israel bias in faking footage of the death of a Palestinian child. “The landmark ruling closes with an eloquent affirmation of the right of citizens to criticize the press freely, the right of the public to be informed honestly and seriously.” The WSJ condemns the complicit silence of French media on Karsenty’s vindication, and the seeming bias of France Télévisions.
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France still hates America: poll
Telegraph. June 1, 2008
During his historic trip to Washington last November, President Sarkozy of France dazzled President Bush and Congress by proclaiming his love for their country. But judging by a recent Telegraph.co.uk poll, Sarko the American - as some French call him – was not speaking for most of his countrymen. 40% of the French polled said that the US is a "force for evil," 28% said a "force for good," and 32% replied "don't know." The poll confirms what any taxi driver or politician will tell you: France remains deeply suspicious of the USA. "The French are anti-American, it’s not simplistic to say that,” said French political scientist Dominique Moisi.
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Nicolas Sarkozy 'like a desperate adolescent'
Telegraph. June 1, 2008
In a series of interviews, six psychoanalysts, one of whom has interviewed Mr Sarkozy in person, tried to deconstruct the President’s unconscious and find out why France is so obsessed with its hyperactive leader. Their conclusions, published in weekly magazine Le Point, are almost unanimous: the French elected an impulsive teenager unwilling to let go of his illusions of omnipotence. The French picked him because he was like a “mirror” held up their own narcissism, according to Serge Hefez, whose book, Obsessional Sarkosis, describes France’s relationship with its leader as an illness.
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