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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » November 2007-6
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2007-6
Archives: November 24-28, 2007
Books: All About Sarkozy
Times Literary Supplement. November 28, 2007
A bushel of French books analyse the Sarkozy phenomenon. Who is the
ruthless, ambitious, conflict-loving “political warrior” who has
pledged to impose on France a business model of the state, with low
taxation, reduction of the size and scope of the public sector, and
comprehensive deregulation as the key objectives? Is he a sincere
patriot, or just a businessman on a colossal ego trip?
> More
Sarkozy Calls French Riots Unacceptable
AP. Nov,. 28, 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that rioters who shot at police
would be brought to justice as violence that rocked Paris suburbs
appeared to ebb. The violence has drawn comparisons with riots that
raged through French suburbs nationwide in 2005, proving that anger
still smolders in poor housing projects where many Arabs, blacks and
other minorities are ghettoized.
> More
The woman behind France’s nuclear industry
New York Times. Nov. 28, 2007
Anne Lauvergeon, 48, runs the French nuclear energy company, Areva. She
is spearheading a nuclear renaissance which sees France a a leader
selling nuclear technology worldwide. In the first nine months of 2007
Areva had $11.6 billion in revenue, 6.8 percent more than a year
earlier, building power plants but also mining and processing uranium
and disposing of spent fuel.
> More
French Paternity Tests Boom … in Spain
AFP. Nov. 28, 2007
DNA has become big business in Spain, where private companies are
cashing in on legal restrictions in France and offering paternity tests
to suspicious French fathers. French law bans a father from seeking a
paternity test without a judge's authorization. Spanish companies like
Labgenetics offer $500 paternity kits over the Internet to men who want
to confirm they are the biological fathers of their child.
> More
French drag queen suspected in 18 killings
UPI. Nov. 28, 2007
Police in the eastern French city of Mulhouse arrested a 68-year-old
drag queen in connection with the deaths of 18 homosexuals between 1980
and 2002.
> More
In French Suburbs, Same Rage, but New Tactics
New York Times. Nov. 28, 2007
Two years after France’s immigrant suburbs exploded in rage in 2005,
the rituals and acts of resentment have reappeared with an eerie
sameness: roving gangs clashing with riot police forces, the government
appealing for calm, residents complaining that they are ignored. This
time the onetime rock throwers and car burners have taken up hunting
shotguns and turned them on the police.
> More
French youth are Europe's top bloggers
AFP. Nov. 28, 2007
French internet users aged between 12 and 24 are Europe's keenest
bloggers, according to a study by Forrester marketing consultancy. The
study showed that 72 percent of 12-24 year-olds in France consulted
blogs at least once a month and sent in comments at least once monthly.
Reading blogs was the second top usage of the web in France, after
e-mailing.
> More
Sarkozy and Riots: Impasse
Frenchpoliticsplog. Nov. 28, 2007
So far Sarkozy has no response to the riots except the strongman’s
reflex -- to promise punishment. Fadela Amara is on the scene, but we
really have no idea whether her talents include the bureaucratic skills
needed to overcome inertia and get the suburbs what they need. Michèle
Alliot-Marie, who occupies the position that Sarkozy held during the
2005 riots, has not helped matters by blaming the violence on
"organized gangs."
> More
Why Media Won’t Call French Rioters Muslims
New Republic. Nov. 28, 2007
The right wing New Republic declares: the rioters on the outskirts of
Paris are young Muslims, so why does the New York Times shy from
describing them as such? Is this political correctness or just
deceiving the readers? SI it about race, religion, or economics? And
why have these kids not assimilated into French life like the
Vietnamese?
> More
French Riots: Nothing Changed since 2005?
Los Angeles Times Nov. 28, 2007
The recent ghetto riots in Paris show how little France has done to
solve the problems that caused simliar riots in 2005. Raymonde Le
Texier, the senator who represents the area, describes pent-up rage by
black and Muslim children of immigrants who feel lost and abandoned in
the projects. The underclass has little faith in Sarkozy, the loathed
former interior minister who fanned the violence in 2005 by referring
to marauding youth as "scum." There seems to be barely concealed hatred
between Muslim youth and the Jewish Sarkozy.
> More
France is Tenth Most Liveable Country
UN Report. Nov. 27, 2007
France is the tenth most desirable country in which to live, according
to the UN's Human Development Report, which ranks 173 countries for
their quality of life, using indicators such as life expectancy and
income per person.
>More
Paris Riots Intensify
New York Times. Nov. 27, 2008
Rampaging youths rioted overnight in Paris' suburbs, hurling Molotov
cocktails and setting fire to dozens of cars. At least 77 officers were
injured and officers were fired at, a senior police union official said
Tuesday. The violence was more intense than during three weeks of
rioting in 2005, said the official, Patrice Ribeiro. Police were shot
at and are facing ''genuine urban guerillas with conventional weapons
and hunting weapons,'' Ribeiro said.
>More
Sarkozy's mother and son join China trip
Telegraph. Nov. 27, 2007
President Nicolas Sarkozy played on China's veneration of the elderly
when he took his mother to Beijing on a mission to secure trade
agreements worth billions. Without a first lady since his divorce from
his wife Cécilia last month, Sarkozy arrived at the Great Hall of the
People in Beijing for the formal start of the visit accompanied by his
mother, Andrée, 81. His son also tagged along.
>More
Taser looks at French Market
AFP. Nov. 27, 2007
Before President Sarkozy’s election he vowed to buy a Taser -- which
paralyses targets -- for every policeman and gendarme in France which
could provide a market for at least 300,000 guns alone. Taser spokesman
Antoine di Zazzo gave a surprise blast of the stun gun to French
far-right politician Jean-Marie Le Pen and offered a test dose to
Sarkozy, who refused.
> More
French seal $12bn Chinese nuclear deal
UK Times. November 27, 2007
President Sarkozy helped to clinch the world’s largest commercial
nuclear power contract yesterday, winning an agreement to sell
French-designed reactors and atomic fuel worth nearly $12 billion to
China. The deal with Areva, the state-owned French nuclear energy
giant, forms part of an ambitious Chinese drive to satisfy the
country’s growing hunger for energy. Areva said that the $11.86 billion
contract to build two European pressurised water reactors (EPRs) and to
supply more than a decade’s worth of fuel was a global record for the
industry.
>More
Airbus Sheds French Label in US Market
Hearst Newspapers. Nov. 25, 2007
Airbus of Toulouse, France, is trying hard to shake the French
connection as the company competes against Boeing Co. to win the huge
production contract for new U.S. Air Force tanker jets. Airbus has
teamed with American defense contractor, Northrop Grumman Corp., to put
an American face on its pitch for the $40 billion-plus Pentagon
contract and has promised to build a new factory in Mobile, Alabama.,
if it wins.
> More
Will Gaddafi pitch tent on Sarkozy’s lawn?
UK Times. November 24, 2007
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya has flummoxed French protocol with a
request that a Bedouin tent be erected on the grounds of the Hôtel
Marigny, the 19th-century Parisian state residence used to house
important foreign visitors. He would use it to entertain guests during
a visit to France next month.
> More
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