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You are here: Home » Politics + Society » Archive » October 2007-4
POLITICS AND SOCIETY NEWS AND EVENTS ARCHIVE OCTOBER 2007-4
Archives: Oct. 12-15, 2007
France Telecom Fined for Monopolistic Practices
TTC. Oct. 15, 2007
France
Telecom, the country's top telecoms company, has been fined 45 million
euros for abuse of its dominant position in the high-speed ADSL
Internet market. > More
Sarkozy reaffirms country's obligation to keep Israel safe
Jerusalem Post. Oct. 15, 2007
French President Nicolas Sarkozy sent Israeli President Shimon Peres a
telegram on Oct. 14, 2007 promising him that he was personally
responsible for the relations between the two countries, stressing the
importance of strengthening the cooperation between Israel and France.
> More
French rally against planned DNA law
Euronews. Oct. 15, 2007
Stars of stage, screen and politics have joined thousands of ordinary
French citizens to protest against a new law authorising DNA tests for
immigrants wanting to join their families in France. The concert in
Paris was organised by the pressure group SOS Racisme. The issue has
united personalities from across the political spectrum - from the
Mayor of Paris to the Socialist leader Francois Hollande and Francois
Bayrou from the centrist MODEM. > More
LVMH 9-month sales beat forecasts, shares rise
Reuters. Oct. 15, 2007
French luxury giant LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton beat forecasts
with an 8 percent rise in nine-month sales and confirmed its target of
a "significant" increase in full-year results in spite of the strong
euro. The maker of Givenchy perfume, Belvedere vodka and Fred jewellery
reported sales for the nine months to Sept. 30 of 11.446 billion euros
($16.26 billion). > More
Union boss strikes first blow against ‘Super-Sarko’ reforms
October 15, 2007
President
Sarkozy faces the first obstacle in his reform march — a one-day
national strike by the public sector unions that have toppled one Prime
Minister and scared off another. Bernard Thibault, 48, head of the
Confédération Générale du Travail (CGT), France’s oldest and most
powerful union, pledged "The workers are very motivated." > More
Television France 24: A Gallic view of the world
Independant. Oct. 15, 2007
France's new global news network, the
state-owned
TV chanel France 24's stated aim is to cover international news from a
French perspective and convey the nation's values throughout the world.
This openly propagandistic motive jars with classic journalistic
values. The head of the network feels CNN has been discredited and the
BBC's so-called objectivity is "bullshit." > More
France Mourns World Cup Rugby Loss
Ireland.com. Oct. 14, 2007
The
French press lamented France's World Cup failure. Le Journal du
Dimanche wrote, "The great four-year journey, with a preparation
unequalled in the history of French sport, is a patent failure of which
the analysis should spare no-one." Le Parisien wrote that the winning
English team "had broken the dream of a nation". > More
France's Police Mobilised Against Immigrants
Humanité. Oct. 14, 2007
France’s
gendarmerie – the national police force that is organized along
military lines – is on a war footing. A general mobilization has been
proclaimed in a letter from the top administration to the prefects. To
fight against what major danger, to stop what terrorist scourge, to
meet what national emergency? Why, the hunt for undocumented
immigrants! > More
Notorious French Mercenary Dies at 78
AP. Oct. 14, 2007
Bob Denard, a French former mercenary whose real name was Gilbert
Bourgeaud, has died in the Paris area at age 78. Once France's top gun
for hire, Denard led uprisings starting in 1961 in the Belgian Congo,
Nigeria, Angola, Zimbabwe, Comoros, Iran and Yemen. He claims France
often covertly supported his actions. France rescued him from several
predicaments and gave him suspended sentences and acquitals at trial.
> More
Report: French do less housework than anyone else
Independant. Oct. 14, 2007
Research
based on people in 34 countries suggests that Chileans are the most
house-proud people, putting in more than 47 hours of housework a week.
The French put in the least time of all – fewer than 16 hours. >More
France abolishes the death penalty in all circumstances
Council of Europe Press. Oct. 13, 2007
France
ratified Protocol 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, which
prohibits the use of the death penalty in all circumstances. Council of
Europe Secretary General Terry Davis said: "The abolition of the death
penalty in Europe is the pinnacle of our progress in the defence of
human dignity and human rights." > More
France Drops Probe Into Sarkozy Flat Purchase
Reuters. Oct. 13, 2007
A
French public prosecutor in Nanterre has dropped a probe into the
purchase of a flat by President Nicolas Sarkozy, his office said on
Oct. 12, 2007. The satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine reported last
month that police had begun an inquiry into allegations that Sarkozy
paid "at least" 300,000 euros ($426,400) less than the market rate for
an apartment near Paris in 1997, which he sold in 2006 for 1.94 million
euros, more than double the original price. French law gives sitting
presidents immunity from prosecution. > More
Nuclear reactors for sale: France vies for big stake in industry revival
AFP. Oct. 13, 2007
With
more than 80 percent of its electricity generated by nuclear plants,
France is aggressively selling its vision for a nuclear powered world.
More than two decades after Chernobyl shook the world's faith in
nuclear power, France is vying to lead a worldwide revival of the
nuclear industry as worries about global warming and rising energy
prices have brought fission back in fashion. >More
Sarkozy Affirms Future of Nucleat Power
Forbes. Oct. 13, 2007
French
President Sarkozy said that nuclear power 'will remain at the heart of
electricity production' in France in the future. 'The French nuclear
sector has a big future,' Sarkozy said during a visit to an EDF nuclear
station in northern France, adding that 'we need to develop the next
generations of plants.' > More
Sarko and Wife May Soon Split
Daily Mail. Oct. 12, 2007
Nicolas
Sarkozy and his glamorous wife Cecilia are on the verge of separating,
it was claimed by Le Tribune de Geneve. In 2005, the couple separated
for six months amid reports of mutual affairs but were later
reconciled. Sarkozy let slip that he was preparing for bachelor life in
a conversation with Mikhail Saakashvili, the president of Georgia, last
month. Mrs. Sarkozy has been largely absent from the couple's home in
recent weeks. > More
French Have Bad Online Security Habits
SecurityPark. Oct. 12, 2007
A
survey of European internet users suggests that the French are behind
other Europeans in their online security habits. When it comes to using
the same password for all online activity, French (39%) PC users were
the worst offenders. The worst culprits for never changing their
passwords were the Spanish (55%) followed by the French (51%). British
and German PC users have the safest habits in Europe. > More
France to Strengthen Video Surveillance System, Mimicking London
Reuters. Oct. 12, 2007
France will triple its number of video surveillance cameras by 2009 to fight terrorism and street crime,
Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said on Oct. 12, 2007.
"The
latest attacks in London were prevented thanks to their video
surveillance system, (which is) 10 times more developed than ours," she
told Le Monde. An official report put the current number of authorized
cameras in France at around 340,000. > More
Sarkozy's Method is Starting to Annoy France
Figaro. Oct. 12, 2007
He
still enjoys enviable popularity, but President Sarkozy's ratings are
falling, according to most opinion polls. Why? Sarkozy's very personal
style of governance exposes him to a variety of negative public
perceptions. First, his image of excessive doggedness and his
pronunciamentos lead to a "syndrome of the omnipotence." Second, his
excessive confidence in the virtues of media coverage mean that his
actions seem predicated on good press coverage. These attitudes are
starting to rub the French public the wrong way. > More
Ex-French PM De Villepin Knew of Lagardere EADS sale
Oct. 12, 2007
Former
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin was aware of a planned sale
by Lagardere of its shares in EADS to a state-owned bank, according to
Le Monde newspaper. The current Finance Minister's internal probe
unearthed a
Feb. 21, 2006
memo
from Lagardere to De Villepin's office, detailing the planned share
sale. While this does not indicate wrongdoing, it is a further blow to
the reputation of De Villepin, who is being investigated for attempts
to smear current President Sarkozy during the last election. > More
French Government Report Concludes: "We are Innocent!"
New York Times. Oct. 12, 2007
The
French government's "independant" inquiry concluded on Oct. 11, 2007,
that the State didn't have insider trading knowledge before it bought
millions of euros worth of shares in
European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (
EADS)
, from a buddy of the French president. "
Since
the state didn’t have the information that was going to prompt the drop
in shares it wasn’t in a position to make, encourage or purposely
disclose any embezzlement linked to the drop in shares," said Finance
Minister Christine Lagarde.
The 12-page report is penned by
the state finance ministry inspector general is
supposedly "independant." But critics ask: has a French government
inquiry ever accused the French government of wrongdoing? The criminal
inquiry continues into fishy share sales by 21 senior managers and the
two main EADS shareholders Lagardère of France and Daimler of Germany.
> More
Sarkozy's Secret Inner Circle
MSNBC. Oct. 12, 2007
Since becoming president five months ago, Nicolas Sarkozy has
personally launched initiatives for almost every aspect of government
policy under his drive to modernise France. He has massed power to an
unprecedented degree, governing directly from the presidential palace
and retaining absolute control of his centre-right UMP party. Most of
the big policy decisions are taken in the Elysée by Sarkozy's advisers,
a cadre of upper class, hand-picked technocrats trained at elite
schools, who now constitute a sort of inner cabinet and are much more
powerful than the official Ministers. They include political strategist
Henri Guaino, police supremo Claude Geant, former Ambassador to the USA
Jean-David Levitte, and financial wizard Francois Perol. > More
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