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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » December 2007-3
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE DECEMBER 2007-3
Archives: Dec. 13-17, 2007
A French Startup in Silicon Valley
BusinessWeek. December 17, 2007
It sounds more like a gimmick than a way to start a company: set up a
video social networking site and let visitors vote on everything from
your business strategy to your management hires to the company logo.
But French tech entrpreneur Loïc Le Meur is doing it with called
Seesmic, and some of the biggest names in technology are backing him.
> More
How France is beating drug addiciton
Baltimore Sun. Dec. 17, 2007
Some 20,000 French doctors prescribe anti-addiction medication in
France as part of the revolutionary approach the country adopted 11
years ago in its fight against drug use and the public health problems
that accompany it. The French system encourages physicians unfamiliar
with addiction to prescribe buprenorphine and trusts patients to use it
properly. In many ways, the plan has worked though the remedy has
proved addictive for many and has been widely abused.
> More
France May Let Furniture Stores Open Sundays
WallStreetJournal. Dec. 17, 2007
France is moving a step closer to allowing shopping on Sundays, with
Parliament within the week expected to take up a measure that would
permit all furniture stores to stay open on the country's traditional
day of rest.
> More
Connecticut schools eliminating French
Newsday. Dec. 17, 2007
Officials say Seymour (CT) High School and Seymour Middle School will
start phasing out French courses in the 2008-09 school year. The World
Languages Department at the high school will offer only Spanish. But
school officials say they will begin phasing in the teaching of Chinese.
> More
Fury as London Lycée makes room for Sarkozy's son
UK Independent. Dec. 17, 2007
London's leading French private school is faced with its second
cronyism row in less than year after it granted a place at short notice
for the son of Nicolas Sarkozy, despite being massively over-subscribed.
> More
France escapes surge in food prices
Financial Times. Dec. 17, 2007
France has largely escaped the surge in European processed food prices
that has heightened inflation fears at the European Central Bank.
France's relatively mild experience with processed food inflation is
puzzling, given rising public concern about increasing living costs.
> More
France Works To Boost Weapons Exports
Defensenews. Dec. 17, 2007
Seeking to boost arms sales, France will computerize requests for
export licenses, cut delays in handling applications and ease
restrictions on products and personnel moving within the European
Union.The new measures are intended to “simplify, modernize and
facilitate the current procedures,” French Defense Minister Hervé Morin
said at a Dec. 13 press conference, flanked by top executives from
DCNS, Dassault Aviation, Safran, Thales and the Délégation Générale
pour l’Armement (DGA), the government’s arms procurement office.
> More
Europeans go on American spending spree
New York Times. Dec. 17, 2007
With the dollar near its lowest rate against the euro ever, many
Europeans are looking at the United States as a cheap place to flex
their strong currency. The situation is more than a potential blow to
Americans’ self-image, it could be a blow to the world economy as some
central bankers worry about “currency tension,” and many countries move
trillions of dollars out of their reserves and buy euros instead.
> More
France’s “unlocked” iPhones not really unlocked
Wired Dec. 17, 2007
It turns out that the officially (Apple-sanctioned) unlocked iPhone you
bought for 649 Euros (about US$965) from Orange in France — which,
according to some reports, accounts for up to 20% of total iPhone sales
in France — is not really unlocked. It retains a country lock, meaning
the device will only allow use of SIM cards for carriers that operate
in France.
> More
France and Bulgaria spar over Libyan hostage credit
Novintenews. Dec. 17, 2007
Bulgaria's foreign minister Ivaylo Kalfin rebutted the claims made by
French president Sarkozy, who told a French daily that he alone was
responsible for the release of six Bulgarian medics from Libya. "If I
had not done what I did, the Bulgarian medics would still have been in
prison," Sarkozy said in an interview for Le Nouvel Observateur. "The
release of our medics in Libya is fully the result of Bulgaria's
foreign policy," Kalfin emphasized, not explaining why it took 8 years
to free them.
> More
Next Tour de France will start from Monaco
LivePR. Dec. 16, 2007
The 2009 Tour de France will start from Monaco, a rarity since the race
has only set off 4 times from the south of France in 30 years. Prince
Albert of Monaco expressed himself “delighted.”
> More
Gadaffi visit leaves Sarkozy at bay
UKObserver. December 16, 2007
France breathed a collective sigh of relief as Libyan President Muammar
Gadaffi ended a colourful six-day state visit that was meant to herald
his return to international respectability. The flamboyant leader left
President Sarkozy skulking under a dark cloud whose silver lining -
sales of arms and planes to Libya - failed to outshine cross-party
moral concerns. Sarkozy's closest aide, Elysee Palace secretary-general
Claude Gueant, said the visit of Libyan leader Gadaffi had produced
sales worth €10bn, 'which means 30,000 jobs in France'. But the figure
was later revised to €3bn and officials admitted that it was mainly
'memorandums of intent to negotiate' that had been signed.
> More
Belgium considers unification with France
Euronews. Dec. 16, 2007
One of Belgium’s most senior francophone politicians Daniel Ducarme
says Belgium as we know it is finished. "If people in Dutch speaking
Flanders want to take their destiny in their own hands, then we too as
French speaking Belgians must do the same.”
> More
Jews Protest Gaddafi visit to France
JTAGlobalNews. Dec. 15, 2007
The Jewish community umbrella group CRIF joined other French political
and civil organizations in criticizing French President Nicolas Sarkozy
for hosting the Libyan president, who is in Paris this week for the
first time in 34 years. CRIF President Richard Prasquier said France's
sale of Rafale fighter planes to Libya was unacceptable because the
planes could be used against Israel.
> More
French Not Delighted to Host Libya’s Gaddafi
Angus Reid Global Monitor. December 15, 2007
Most people in France are not impressed with the visit of Libyan de
facto leader Muammar Gaddafi to their country, according to a poll by
CSA published by Le Parisien. 61 per cent of respondents disapprove of
Gaddafi’s official trip to France.
> More
Sarkozy's dress style: young and international
Financial Times. Dec. 15, 2007
Le style, c’est l’homme même. According to some prominent tailors,
Sarkozy’s wardrobe is not quite so classic as his predecessors' -
Chirac for example - but more modern. He buys shirts from London
shirtmakers Hilditch & Key, and in liesure he affects
American-casual look of khaki shorts, casual brush cotton shirts, and
vintage Ray-Bans.
> More
Le Pen faces trial for defending Vichy
UK Times. Dec. 15, 2007
Jean-Marie Le Pen, leader of France's far-right National Front, went on
trial yesterday accused of condoning the Nazi occupation of his
country, which he described as “not particularly inhumane”. Mr Le Pen
was prosecuted for allegedly conspiring to justify war crimes in an
interview with a right-wing magazine. The offence carries a maximum
sentence of one year in prison and a €45,000 (£32,000) fine.
> More
Gaddafi, the nightmare guest
UKTimes. Dec. 15, 2007
Rarely can a host have been so happy to see the back of a guest as
President Sarkozy will be today when Muammar Gaddafi and his caravan of
400 followers finally leave Paris. The recently redeemed colonel has
revelled in provocation, insulting his hosts, snarling up traffic and
indulging his whims, enraging everyone from the Mayor of Paris to
Jewish organisations and human rights activists.
> More
Gaddafi's French Shopping Spree Has Critics Unhappy
Washington Post. December 14, 2007
Libyan leader Gaddafi came to Paris this week loaded with petrodollars
for a holiday shopping spree, and French President Sarkozy was an eager
merchant. To give a more authentic Middle Eastern bazaar effect to the
whole affair, Gaddafi set up a Bedouin tent in the gardens of the
official guest residence next to the presidential Elysee Palace. Human
rights groups and politicians lit into Sarkozy, accusing him of selling
French principles down the river while ignoring Gaddafi's poor human
rights record in exchange for $14.7 billion worth of deals.
> More
French Officials Criticized Over Qaddafi Visit
New York Times. December 14, 2007
During his five-day sojourn in Paris, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has
tooled around the city in a white Mercedes limousine, paralyzing
traffic as he has stopped by places like the presidential Élysée
Palace, the National Assembly, the Ritz and the Louvre. But the visit
has been tarnished by fierce criticism that Qaddafi has refused to
address the issue of human rights abuses in his country and that French
President Sarkozy has been too nice about it.
> More
Sarkozy claims credit for Libyan nurse freedom
Dec. 14, 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been criticized for
intervening in Libya to rescue the five Bulgarian nurses only to claim
all the plaudits, has unabashedly highlighted his role in the process.
"If I had not done what I did, the Bulgarian medics would still have
been in prison," President Sarkozy said in an interview for Le Nouvel
Observateur.
> More
French Law Schools Follow American Model
Bloomberg. Dec. 14, 2007
It isn't easy for corporate law firms to find qualified law-school
graduates in France. Louis Vogel, the president of France's oldest law
school at the University of Paris II Assas-Pantheon, is trying to
change that. Drawing on his experience as a law student at Yale
University , he's hiring practicing lawyers to teach, expanding
partnerships with internationally known programs such as Cambridge
University's and building an alumni network to help students find
internships and jobs.
> More
Euro inflation hits six-year high
BBC. Dec. 14, 2007
Analysts say current anti-inflation policies are not effective
Higher oil and food prices have sent inflation in the eurozone to its
highest level in more than six years. The 13-nation bloc that uses the
euro saw consumer prices rise 3.1% in November compared with a year
earlier, up from October's 2.6% increase. The rise exceeded forecasts
and is above the European Central Bank's (ECB) 2% annual target.
> More
Sarkozy loves verbs, not abstract nouns
Economist. Dec. 13, 2007
In the past, no French leader would make a speech without liberal doses
of abstract nouns like destiny, history, liberty, equality, humanity,
glory, or grandeur. Mr Sarkozy is a verbaholic. According to a
linguistic analysis of his campaign speeches, one of Mr Sarkozy's most
frequent words is I, usually followed by the verb want.
> More
Gaddafi Terror Comments Fail to Quell Controversy
Reuters. December 13, 2007
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi condemned terrorism at the request of
President Nicolas Sarkozy, but his comments failed to quell widespread
controversy on Thursday over his lengthy stay in France. Gaddafi is in
France for the first time in 34 years, pitching his Bedouin tent in the
gardens of his Paris hotel. Opposition leaders and even some government
officials have accused Sarkozy of turning a blind eye to human rights
violations in Libya in his haste to wrap up business deals with the
energy-rich north African state.
> More
French group files torture lawsuit against Gaddafi
BBC. Dec. 13, 2007
A Palestinian-born doctor jailed in Libya during the Bulgarian
nurse-HIV scandal, has filed a suit for torture against Libyan leader
Muammar Gaddafi. The French charity Lawyers Without Borders filed the
action against Gaddafi, five senior Libyan police officers and a Libyan
doctor. Ashraf Alhajouj said he was drugged, his genitals were shocked,
and dogs were set on him. The accustaions come as Gaddafi enjoys a
week-long state visit to France.
> More
Sarkozy's moral test
Economist. Dec. 13, 2007
Sarkozy bent over backwards to welcome Muammar Qaddafi, Libya's leader,
on a five-day visit. By doing so he prompted a furore in France—and
called into question his declared wish for a more moral foreign policy.
His action-man diplomacy is about results, not means: if it works, it
works. Such blatant pragmatism -- without a sugar coating of verbiage
-- is new to French politics.
> More
France hypes its arms merchants
AP. Dec. 13, 2007
France announced measures to boost its annual €6 billion (US$8.8
billion) arms sales Thursday, spurred by the prospect of the first
foreign sale of its Rafale jet fighter. Defense Minister Herve Morin,
flanked by Dassault SA and Thales SA defense chiefs, said he plans to
bolster France's defense industry by reducing approval times in vetting
arms deals and cutting red tape.
> More
Sarkozy cracks the whip and Yade obeys
FrenchPoliticsblog. Dec. 13, 2007
French Minister Rama Yade, who at the beginning of the week referred to
Kadhafi's presence in Paris as the "kiss of death," reversed herself
and said today that "the president of the Republic has consistently and
successfully sought assurances in the realm" of human rights from the
Libyan guide. One has to think back to the Moscow Trials to recall such
a speedy and complete repudiation of a politician’s convictions for the
sake of the party line.
> More
Kadhafi’s Surreal Feminism
Expatica. Dec 13, 2007
Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi spoke in Paris to
1,000 specially invited women on feminist issues -- but the audience was
warned in advance not to "upset" the Libyan leader. They greeted him
with cheers as he improbably claimed to be a defender of the feminist
cause and opponent of terrorism, flanked by his unit of women-only
bodyguards. "I want to save European women," he said.
> More
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