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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » November 2007-8
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE NOVEMBER 2007-8
Archives: November 30-Dec. 4, 2007
French Struggles in Canada
Globe and Mail. Dec. 4, 2007
Just a day after the Canadian Prime Minister appointed a committee on
bilingualism, newly released census figures suggest that Canada's
official-languages policy and the vitality of the French language are
under increasing pressure outside Quebec. There are nearly as many
Canadians with a non-official language as their mother tongue as there
are francophones, while the peak rate of bilingualism for anglophones
living outside Quebec has dropped again.
> More
France Still Struggles with Vichy Past
Guardian. Dec. 4, 2007
Human-rights activist and Exeter University professor Caroline Fournet
grew up in a French town haunted by the wartime horrors of the
Holocaust. Today she maintains: "France has still to deal with its
past, and the appalling behaviour of the Vichy government. It has taken
two or three generations for the issue to be discussed more freely. But
there's a growing interest in the second world war among young people
in particular.”
> More
In Algeria, French companies sign €5 billion in deals
Reuters. December 4, 2007
Alstom, Gaz de France, Total and Bull on Tuesday signed contracts worth
more than €5 billion as part of the three-day visit to Algeria by
President Sarkozy. The contracts, worth $7.38 billion, are to build
power and petrochemical plants, buy natural gas and renovate the data
systems in post offices of the former French colony.
> More
Apartheid à la Française
WallStreetJournal. Dec. 4, 2007
The recent Paris riots followed a predictable pattern: in this
choreographed show, party leaders accuse one another of not investing
enough money in order to help these destitute youngsters -- or of not
repressing them enough. Journalists and public intellectuals take turns
commenting on late-night TV programs. And so it goes until the next
riots. The rioters behavior reflects the apartheid-like characteristics
of France.
> More
Life Is Intolerable for European Jews
New York Sun. Dec. 4, 2007
Following a recent fact-finding trip to Europe, a Democrat who
represents Boro Park New York in the state Assembly, Dov Hikind, said
yesterday he is convinced that anti-Semitism has made life intolerable
for Jews in England, France, Germany, and Belgium. He cited France as
an example of positive change: Its new president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has
publicly committed to combating anti-Semitism. Hikind plans to call on
President Bush to accord special refugee status to Western European
Jews.
> More
When Paris Suburbs Burn
Der Spiegel. Dec. 4, 2007
French sociologist Laurent Mucchielli talks about the riots in the
Paris suburbs and the country's unsuccessful policies for integrating
immigrants and their children. He accuses French President Nicolas
Sarkozy of using the language of war to characterize the recent riots
in a way that could spark even greater violence.
> More
Trial of French former Guantanamo inmates resumes
Associated Press. December 3, 2007
The trial of six French former inmates at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo
Bay, Cuba, resumed Monday, more than a year after it was suspended so
the court could seek more information about secret interrogations of
the suspects. The defendants were captured in or near Afghanistan by
U.S. forces in late 2001, held at Guantanamo and then handed over to
French authorities in 2004 and 2005. The men are on trial in Paris for
alleged "criminal association with a terrorist enterprise," a broad
charge frequently used in France.
> More
Sarkozy Says French Colonial Era Unjust
AP. December 3, 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy called his country's past colonial
system ''profoundly unjust'' during a visit to Algeria, once the crown
jewel among French colonies. ''Yes, the colonial system was profoundly
unjust, contrary to the three founding words of our Republic: liberty,
equality, fraternity,'' Sarkozy said. France in the past has
steadfastly rebuffed entreaties, notably from Algeria, to apologize for
an era marked by humiliation and brutality in some colonies.
> More
Sarkozy attack on colonalism not enough: minister
AFP. Dec. 3, 2007
President Sarkozy's comments denouncing colonialism as unjust still do
not go far enough, Algeria's interior minister said Tuesday on day two
of a state visit by the French leader. “It is not enough when his
remarks are taken in context,” said Yazid Zerhouni.
> More
French auction regulator sues to close down eBay France
ITWorld. Dec. 3. 2007
The French govenrment’s auction regulatory authority is seeking to
close down eBay France for operating an online auction without a
permit. The action is completely unjustified, says eBay, which said it
has "invented another way of buying and selling" not covered by the law
on auction houses.
> More
Sarkozy: The Great Divider?
IHT. Dec. 3, 2007
Sarkozy's get-up-earlier, think-faster personality, his gifts as a
pitchman and his drive gives him the big-screen relentlessness of a
Hollywood character marked by passion, haste and, maybe, great
failings. He has fluttered the dovecotes with dozens of undertakings
wrenching from slumber French citizens and their webs of special
interest groups. But it is far from clear whethe his policy of
“discrimination positive à la française” will unite or split the
country.
> More
Warning tremors in France
IHT. Dec. 2 2007
Recent riots in Parisian suburbes are quelled, but there is a danger
French leaders will focus only on the immediate challenge to law and
order, disregarding the anger and alienation that has erupted. If
France does not open doors to the people of the neglected minority
neighborhoods, the aimless riots of the past two years may become a
foreshadowing of something much more destructive.
> More
Sarkozy's reforms need to start at the bottom
UK Telegraph. Dec. 2, 2007
With riots and strikes bringing chaos to the streets, and his poll
ratings plummeting, Nicolas Sarkozy faces his pivotal battle: to
transform the 'France that will not change'. The basic problem is that
France has it in for everybody who wants to be left alone to run a
business. Bureaucracy and overtaxation have effectively closed the
labour market to the poorly educated and mostly ill-qualified youths
who rioted last week.
> More
France decorates Washington Post editor Bradlee
Washington Post. December 2, 2007
Former Washington Post executive editor Ben Bradlee received the French
Legion of Honor, the highest award given by the French government, at a
ceremony Saturday in Paris. The French president's diplomatic adviser
(and former French Ambassador to the USA) Jean-David Levitte called
Bradlee "a faithful friend of France,” recalling how "at the height of
the controversy over Iraq, you were one of those who stood up to
denounce French-bashing." Bradlee, now vice president at large for The
Post, worked as a press attache with the U.S. Foreign Service in Paris
from 1951 to 1953 and as Newsweek's Paris-based European bureau chief
in the mid-1950s. Ironically, in 1956, the French government tried to
expel Bradlee from the country for his reporting on Algeria's National
Liberation Front rebels. France still has a poor record of media
censorship and a weak freedom of the press, according to Reporters
without Borders. Ethicists may wonder how a still active and presumably
objective journalist like Bradlee can in good conscience accept a medal
from a foreign government as a reward for his partisanship.
> More
Chad Rebels Declare War on France
New York Times. Dec. 1, 2007
One of Chad’s biggest rebel groups, United Forces for Democracy and
Development, declared war on France, saying the former colonial power
was working to help prop up Chad’s president, Idriss Déby. A European
Union force intended to protect displaced Chadians and refugees from
neighboring Darfur is to begin deploying in January; about half the
troops will come from France. Nicholas Sarkozy, the French president,
brushed aside the threat and said plans for the force would continue.
> More
Sarkozy expects 5 billion dollars in Algerian deals
Monstersand critics.com. Dec. 1, 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said in interview remarks Sunday he
would oversee economic deals worth 5 billion dollars during his
upcoming visit to Algeria. Gaz de France was planning to invest 1
billion dollars, while the oil group Total planned 1.5 billion dollars'
worth of investments in Algeria.
> More
Riots prove racial divisions in “colorblind” France
AP. Dec. 1, 2007
There's one taboo issue that allegedly colorblind France has been
unable to confront in the recent riots near Paris: race. The problem is
not acknowledged because, according to the (almost all white) mandarins
in government, all immigrants are expected to assimilate 100%.
Every citizen is a Frenchman first, last and only, without reference to race, creed, or color.
Since the government does not compile statistics on the race and extraction of immigrants, it can’t recognize the problem.
T
his cultural homogeneity is a convenient way to ignore racism's effect on people's daily lives.
> More
French Kisses
UKTimes. December 1, 2007
How many kisses to plant on the cheeks? It is a conundrum and nowhere
is the puzzle more complex than in France, the country most famed for
air kisses and the bizou. Now, a new survey aimed at determining the
correct etiquette of kissing has only illustrated a fracture at the
heart of the country: the number of kisses vary from one to four
depending on the region, but it also varies within regions.
> More
Strong euro forcing work abroad-Dassault Aviation
UK Guardian. Dec. 1, 2007
Dassault Aviation could move some production abroad in order to shield
the French jet maker from the sharp fall of the dollar against the
euro, the company's chief executive told Le Monde newspaper on
Saturday. Dassault follows Airbus in mooting a move to dollar zones or
other low-cost areas, as has been done in the automobile industry.
Dassault lost out to Lockheed in October when traditional French ally
Morocco rejected its Rafale jet in favour of the cheaper U.S.-built
F16s.
> More
France’s 17 Million Euro Hamster
Scotsman. Dec. 1, 2007
Brussels menaced France with a 17 million euro fine if it fails to
protect a species of wild hamster which environmental experts say is on
the way to extinction. The endearing "great hamster of Alsace" Cricetus
cricetus, resembles a guinea pig. Once populous, today there are only
about 600 left. EU officials opened a dossier against Paris for its
"manifest lack of results concerning the protection of the species and
its habitat".
> More
France Pledges to Protect Journalists
AP. Nov. 30, 2007
The United States, Britain and France pledged Thursday to take all
necessary steps to ensure the safety of journalists in war zones. The
three countries became the first signatories of the Geneva Convention
to accept a new nonbinding accord on protecting correspondents in
conflict, said the International Committee of the Red Cross. The
countries promise to educate their soldiers and security forces in
international humanitarian law. The agreement also asks them to
preserve media independence and act against those who seriously violate
the rights of journalists. Media rights campaigners cautiously welcomed
the pledge, but said its effectiveness would be measured by what the
countries did in practice. France already has problems ensuring media
objectivity according to Reporters without Borders.
> More
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