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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » January 2008-3
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE JANUARY 2008-3
Archives: January 16-19, 2008
Boeing beats Airbus in sales
SeattleTimes. Jan. 19, 2008
For the second year in a row, Boeing topped Airbus in 2007 in both orders and the dollar value of deliveries. Boeing sold 72 more planes than its rival Airbus last year. And though Airbus delivered a dozen more airplanes, Boeing's deliveries included many more of the expensive wide-bodies, so it came out ahead on the total value of airplanes delivered.
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Sarkozy’s bizarre stance on TV English
Economist. Jan. 19, 2008
President Sarkozy's announcement that the France24 TV channel should broadcast only in French stunned many in a land known for linguistic chauvinism. It would be an irony indeed if the president who promised to liquidate French anti-Americanism ended up abolishing France's best example of reaching out to the English-speaking world.
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France is officially "free"
Freedomwatch. Jan. 19, 2008
Freedom House's 2008 Freedom in the World Report, the annual survey of global political rights and civil liberties, gives top marks to France, the USA and Britian for Political Rights and Civil Liberties.
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Defense Minister Moots “French Pentagon”
ForexNews. Jan. 19, 2008
The French defense minister Herve Morin said he favors the creation of a "French-style Pentagon" – ‘a great cathedral where all of the top generals of the French army would work together, around the minister.’ Military consolidation would be Sarkozy’s latest American-style innovation in France.
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Europe’s Philosophy of Failure
DailyTimes.Jan. 19, 2008
Foreign Policy magazine in the US complains this month that “in France and Germany, students are being forced to undergo a dangerous indoctrination. Taught that economic principles such as capitalism, free markets and entrepreneurship are savage, unhealthy and immoral, these children are raised on a diet of prejudice and bias. Rooting it out may determine whether Europe’s economies prosper or continue to be left behind.” The article, written by Newsweek’s European economics chief Stefan Theil, is titled Europe’s Philosophy of Failure.
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Mitterrand's clothes for sale
Reuters. Jan. 19, 2008
The widow of late French President Francois Mitterrand is putting many of his clothes and personal effects up for sale, including silk suits, top hats, crocodile-skin cases and a shapely piggy-bank. The January 29 auction throws a spotlight on the Socialist leader's love of luxury and an apparent penchant for hoarding. Danielle Mitterrand's own wardrobe is also going under the hammer as she aims to raise up to 100,000 euros ($146,600) for her human rights charity.
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French expats thrive in Britain
Bloomberg. Jan. 19, 2008
Some 190,000 French citizens live in Britain, where they can start businesses without being weighed down by high taxes and restrictive labor laws. The British economy’s growth has outpaced that of France for a decade. “In France, you work for others. You're dead before you get started,” says one expat baker. They have ignored Sarkozy’s call for “France's children'' to bring their talents home.
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Sarkozy’s worrying flip-flops
Time. Jan. 19, 2008
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has always made a point of insisting he won't be restrained by ideology, popularity polls, or taboos in his efforts to reform France. But Sarkozy has exhibited a split personality in his recent habit of contradicting himself on just about everything.
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Quebec ok with language status quo
TorontoStar. Jan 18, 2008
The Quebec government has no plans to toughen Quebec's language laws in response to a local newspaper report that English is being used predominantly in the Montreal area. Quebec Culture Minister Christine St-Pierre says downtown Montreal is still predominantly French and it's up to the consumer to insist on being served in French.
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Total oil fined for spill
FinancialTimes. Jan. 18, 2008
A French court made legal history when it ordered Total, the oil company, and three other parties to pay a €192 million fine for damage done to the environment by an oil spill. The judge said Total had been reckless in chartering the rusting tanker, Erika, which broke in two and sank in the Bay of Biscay in December 1999. The ruling marks the first time that damaging the environment has been judged a crime in French courts.
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Price rises continue for Europe
BBC. Jan. 18, 2008
European consumers are suffering the highest price rises in more than six years. Inflation across the countries that use the euro hit 3.1% in December, the highest rate since May 2001, the Eurostat statistical office said. Foods, including milk, bread, cheese and cereals, were blamed for the rise.
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French public radio will also lose advertising income
Forbes. Jan. 18, 2008
President Sarkozy said that public radio broadcaster Radio France is included in a plan to regroup and end advertising on state-owned television channels. Advertising accounted for about 8 pct of the public radio budget, versus 40 pct of the public TV network budget. There has been speculation that the French government could sell one of the state-owned TV channels in order to make up for lost advertising income.
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Sarkozy Down, Fillon Up in French Polls
Angus Reid Global Monitor. Jan. 18, 2008
Public support for Nicolas Sarkozy decreased slightly in France this month, according to a poll by LH2 published in Libération. 54 per cent of respondents have a positive view of their president, down two points since December. Prime Minister Francois Fillon’s popularity was at 50 per cent, up four points in a month.
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Sarkozy drops again in polls
AFP. Jan. 18, 2008
President Sarkozy suffered another setback in the polls on Jan. 15 when a survey showed more French people disapprove of his performance than approve. For the first time since his election in May 2007, the poll by the BVA institute showed Sarkozy had a negative rating, with 48% giving him the thumbs-down compared with a 45% approval rating. The drop "may be linked to financial concerns as well as a value judgment on the presidential style," said BVA.
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France's Gulf military base signals policy shift
Economist. Jan 18, 2008
France’s announcement this week that it is to open a military base in the United Arab Emirates could mark a radical rethinking of the country's defence and security policy. It shifts troops from Africa to France's first permanent base in the Gulf, in a country where it has no colonial ties.
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Sarkozy’s stranglehold on the media
BBC. Jan. 18, 2008
President Sarkozy enjoys a closer relationship with the press than any previous French president. But is his media domination a good thing for France? With his close friends owning many major media outlets, there are fears that the freedom of the French press is now being stifled. "It's really a danger for our freedom of expression for our critical sense. It means there is a kind of court around him. It's the first time we see such a phenomenon," says Marianne journalist Martine Gozlan.
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Sarkozy's risky Mideast chess game
MiddleEastTimes. Jan. 18, 2008
President Sarkozy scored a major tactical victory against Iran as the political tug-o-war between the Islamic republic and the West takes on a new dimension, signing an agreement with the oil-rich emirate of Abu Dhabi giving France a military base in the United Arab Emirates, a mere 150 miles from the coast of Iran. The new French military outpost in the UAE will position French forces near the Strait of Hormuz, which commands access to the Gulf from where one-fifth of the world's oil flows, offering Washington an advanced post from which Iran could easily be targeted.
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France unloads state property
Ireland.com. Jan. 18, 2008
The French government is liquidating state property worldwide, and sales reached $1 billion in 2006. Now the French ambassador’s 11-bedroom mansion in Dublin is for sale at €60 million, plus the Chancery for €20 million. Sarkozy should look into unloading some of the French Embassy’s vast New York properties, like the Cultural Services’s $60 million 5th Avenue mansion, which costs $1 million annually to run, but houses a mere 20 state employees.
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French media monopolies thrive
Eurozine. Jan. 18, 2008
Press and publishing concentration in France is extraordinarily high. At the present time in France, 70 per cent of the press and book publishing is under the control of groups that are basically arms manufacturers. This consolidation, not to say monopolization, is encouraged by the state, which has a cozy relationship with the media-controlling oligarchs. This anti-competitive trend is bad news for freedom of the press. André Schiffrin asks why.
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France investigates school’s anti-business bias
Reute. Jan. 18, 2008
The French government plans an external audit of high school economics textbooks as a result of long-standing worries that they may present an excessively negative view of business. Education Minister Xavier Darcos has asked Roger Guesnerie, professor of economic theory at the prestigious College de France, to head a commission to assessment of textbooks and making innovative proposals.
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U.S. court orders Libya to pay $6 billion for bombing
Reuters. Jan. 18, 2008
Just a month after French Presdient Sarkozy embraced Libyan leader Khadaffi in paris, a US judge has ordered Libya to pay more than $6 billion in damages to families of seven Americans killed in the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner over Niger, which killed 170 people. The UTA attack was blamed on Tripoli and France convicted six Libyans in absentia. "It is because of rulings like this that Libya has rejected terrorism and rejoined the civilized nations of the world," said the victim’s lawyer.
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Climate plans spark EU job fears
BBC. Jan. 16, 2008
Trade unions and business leaders say EU plans to cut carbon emissions could harm European jobs and industry. The European Trade Union Confederation fears up to 50,000 steelworkers' jobs could go if their industry moves to areas with lower costs for polluters.
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French have most babies, but 50% out of wedlock
AFP. Jan. 16, 2008
France overtook Ireland as the fertility champion of Europe in 2007 but a majority of babies are now being born out of wedlock, according to new census figures released on Tuesday. France's fertility rate is now well above the European Union average of 1.52. Babies born to unmarried couples represented 50.5 of all French births in 2007, according to the French national statistics institute INSEE. Pro-birth public policies, including universal public schooling from the age of three, and the relative affordability of childcare for infants are credited in part with the increase in fertility.
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Sarkozy to speak at Jewish body's top annual dinner
EuropeanJewishPress. Jan. 16, 2008
For the first time, a French President-in-Office will address the annual dinner of the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France (CRIF), French Jewry’s representative body. “Since he came to power, Sarkozy has revealed himself as a friend of Israel, with a desire to break with the France's traditional pro-Arab Gaullist policy,” writes European Jewish Press. Sarkozy will speak to some 800 of France’s top political, social, religious, business, diplomatic, communal leaders and media representatives.
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Sarkozy promises nuclear aid to the Arab world
BBC. Jan. 16, 2008
French President Sarkozy has offered to help Saudi Arabia develop civil nuclear energy, the latest Arab nation to be offered nuclear technology by France, after the United Arab Emirates, Morocco, Libya and Algeria. Sarkozy believes all countries should have the right to their own civil nuclear programme, including Arab countries that are not democratic or respectful of human rights. Critics worry that Sarkozy may be sowing the seeds of future Middle East Armageddon.
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French politicians chase second jobs
IHT. Jan. 16, 2008
Nearly two-thirds of the 33 members of President Sarkozy's cabinet are running to be mayors and deputy mayors in upcoming municipal elections. Welcome to the controversial French practice called "accumulation of mandates," in which government officials are allowed to hold more than one elected office. Critics call the minister-mayor practice an undemocratic, outdated power-grabbing ploy that raises conflicts of interest and smacks of carpetbagging.
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French public television in danger
Le Monde. Jan. 16, 2008
Jérôme Bourdon, a media historian, considers French president Nicolas Sarkozy's intention of withdrawing all advertising from public television as "a blow for France Télévisions [and] for culture.” he suppression of advertising can only make sense with a clear plan introduced at the same time, with a balancing, or better still, much better still, a notable increase in resources."
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France to privatise port management
Jan. 16, 2006
In a move reminiscent of George Bush's attempt to sell American ports to the highest bidder, France plans to privatise the loading activities of seven out of nine public ports as part of a reform plan to be carried out in the spring, Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Monday. The government has been under pressure from the shipping industry to reform French ports to make them more efficient, but has delayed doing so because port workers have high union membership and frequently go on strike. The most powerful union, the CGT, is opposed to the reform.
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French power grab in Persian Gulf
BBC. Jan. 16, 2008
France has traditionally had a close relationship with Abu Dhabi. It has sold Mirage jet fighters and AMX-30 tanks to the Emirate and has had a defence agreement with it (mainly dealing with the support of arms contracts) since 1995. President Sarkozy has cemented the alliance by signing a deal with Abu Dhabi for a permanent French naval base.
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Sarkozy drums up French business with Arab states
BBC/Forbes. Jan. 16, 2008
The French power industry was among the main beneficiaries of President Sarkozy's three-day trip to the Gulf, where energy giants such as Areva, Suez, Electricite de France, Total and Gaz de France signed a raft of deals estimated at 40 billion euros with Saudi Araba, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates.
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French unions and business agree new labour rules
UKGuardian. Jan. 16, 2008
French unions and businesses reached a deal on Tuesday over new flexible labour rules that they hammered out to head off the threat of tougher measures from President Sarkozy. The deal, which needed the backing of three of the five main unions, extends trial periods for employees and opens the way for the negotiated departure of staff on permanent contracts.
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