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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » November 2007-5
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2007-5
Archives: November 24-26, 2007
Many French See China as Next Global Power
Angus Reid Global Monitor. November 26, 2007
Europeans – including 47 per cent of survey respondents in France -
predict that China will become a dominant world power in the near
future, according to a poll by Harris Interactive. Less than 15 per
cent of respondents in all six countries surveyed see Europe, India,
Russia or Japan becoming the next global power.
>More
Riots in Paris Suburbs
Reuters. November 26, 2007
French police fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Nov. 26 during
battles with rioters in Villiers-le-Bel, a suburb with a mix of Arab,
black and white residents north of Paris. The rioters threw Molotov
cocktails and torched cars, following the death of two youths on a
moped after a crash involving a police car. Locals accuse the police of
causing the accident and not helping the injured. President Nicolas
Sarkozy appealed for calm.
>More
Airbus announces 160-plane deal in biggest-ever China contract
AFP. Nov. 26, 2007
China agreed on Monday to buy 160 Airbus planes in a
17.4-billion-dollar deal that the European aerospace giant said was its
biggest with the Asian nation. The deal, announced as part of French
President Nicolas Sarkozy's visit to China, involves 110 planes from
the short-haul A320 family and 50 A330 wide-body passenger airliners.
>More
Sarkozy Tackles Hu on Yuan And Human Rights
Reuters. November 26, 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy brought his trademark directness to
China on Monday, publicly urging President Hu Jintao to let the yuan
rise more swiftly and cajoling Beijing to do more to respect human
rights. Sarkozy, praised China but said it had to shoulder growing
responsibilities on issues such as the environment and exchange rates.
He did not touch on China’s occupation of Tibet, but urged China to do
more on press freedom, the death penalty and the rule of law.
>More
Politics Rescued Airbus Deal With China
Reuters. November 26, 2007
Airbus clinched an agreement to sell 160 planes to China on Monday only
after high-level political intervention rescued Beijing talks that had
become stuck on a Chinese offer to buy just 30 jets. A sale of 30
planes -- one fifth the number sold by his predecessor Jacques Chirac
-- would have been seen as a flop during a state visit to China by
French President Sarkozy, who instead was credited with one of Airbus's
biggest deals.
>More
The Good Old Days when France Slept Soundly
IHT. Nov. 25, 2007
How did France deal with winter unemployment in the 19th-century? Mass
dormancy. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over France
shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing
at all for months on end. They made enough money at their summer fair
to spend the rest of the year "smoking, playing cards, hunting and
sleeping." Maybe Sarkozy should pay peole to hibernate all winter.
>More
Union Accuses Airbus CEO of Obsessive Thrift
AFP. Nov. 25, 2007
Airbus' announcement of "radical" cutbacks due to the weak dollar has
angered its workers. The IG Metall labor union is accusing the manager
of obsessive thrift. Meanwhile, the company's restructuring program is
moving along sluggishly. CEO Thomas Enders painted a horrific picture
of the company's future and stated that the Airbus business model is
"not sustainable as it currently stands.”
>More
Train Drivers Deserve their Benefits
Humanite. Nov. 25, 2007
Train drivers deserve the “early” retirement benefits promised to them.
Their jobs are hard and stressful. Like pilots, their odd working hours
force them to tame their bodies and compartmentalize their family life.
For them, retirement is not only an economic issue, it’s a question of
relief, and of guaranteeing the safety of the passengers.
>More
Napoleon's Soldiers Reburied in Belarus
AP. Nov. 25, 2007
Re-enactors dressed as 1812-era Napoleon's soldiers took part in the
reburial of the remains of Grand Army soldiers near the Belarus village
of Bryli, to mark the 195th anniversary of the Berezina battle during
Napoleon's army retreat from Russia. During the retreat across the
Berezina of the remnants of Napoleon's Grand Army 1812, about 50,000
people, soldiers from both sides and civilians, were killed.
>More
Sarkozy’s Ferrari
Daily Mail. Nov. 25, 2007
Laurence Ferrari , the beautiful French TV star, has announced her
divorce her journalist husband of 14 years, amid rumours that she has
formed a 'close and loving relationship' with France's president
Sarkozy. The pair have been spotted enjoying candlelit meals and
Ferrari is a frequent visitor to the Elysee Palace.
>More
Paris Struggles with Skyscrapers
UK Times. Nov. 25, 2007
Paris mayor Delanoe and President Sarkozy support more skyscrapers in
Paris. Architects recently presented sketches for a dozen towers meant
to give life to three ramshackle districts near the edge of the
capital, at the Porte de la Chapelle and Masséna on the Seine in the
southeast. But Parisians hate high rises since the hideous Tour
Monparnasse led to stricter zoning laws in 1977. In 2003 Paris banned
anything above 25 metres in the centre and 37 metres elsewhere.
>More
France and Britain clash over the future of Europe
Telos. Nov, 24, 2007
Two speeches, two languages, two mindsets, two audiences: one looming
battle over the future of Europe? UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband's
speech in Bruges on 15 November and French President Nicolas Sarkozy's
speech to the European Parliament two days earlier could hardly be more
different in their tone, style and vocabulary. Deep-rooted differences
of overall approach to the EU suggest inevitable battles ahead.
>More
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