EDITORIAL : RFI english, FRANCE

French press review 20 April 2011
It's royal wedding fever in Wednesday's French press - though scandal, big money and Dogon art also get a look-in.
Le Figaro has colour pictures of the British royal couple and Liliane Bettencourt on the front page. Now, that's what I call a right-wing newspaper.

The world may be going to hell in a handcart, but England has got royal wedding fever and that seems to be the only story worth talking about.

Le Figaro looks at the top ten mysteries surrounding the wedding, with just nine nervous days left before the big event.

Which designer's dress will bride-to-be Kate Middleton choose? Alexander McQueen has for a long time been the favourite, but there are a couple of other contenders, and even a suggestion that Kate might wear an outfit of her own creation.

Will she wear a diamond tiara or a simple crown of flowers? The bookmakers think it will be flowers.

What, or where, will the newly-weds be duke and duchess of?

What uniform will William wear? With a long and varied military career behind him, he can choose between the Blues and Royals, the Irish Guards and the RAF.

Where will they spend their honeymoon? You can bet that many a tabloid editor in London would pay his life's savings to know where to send his hordes of paparazzi.

One thing we do know. The official wedding poem has already been written by the poet laureat, Carol Ann Duffy. It's called, simply, "Rings".

Liliane Bettencourt is the billionaire boss of the L'Oréal cosmetics empire, the second richest woman in the world, according to Forbes Magazine.

She has recently been keeping her head down, following a series of scandals involving photographers, government ministers and political backhanders, but she breaks her silence in Le Figaro to assure share-holders that the L'Oréal cosmetics operation is in good hands, that the accountants have put the pieces back together again, and that there'll be no more scandals.

Her last answer is a touching one, as Liliane reflects on the difficulties of being stinking rich. "Being wealthy creates possibilities, but also requirements and responsibilities towards others. It's not as easy as people might think."

Will economists someday rule the world? I mean someday soon, and I mean really rule, not just in the metaphoric sense that they already do.

That question is inspired by Le Monde's front page story which looks at the nervous reaction of the global stock markets to the decision by the Standard & Poor's economic rating agency to re-examine their evaluation of the US economy from "stable" to "negative", with the further possibility that the only triple-A economy on the planet might be about to lose that top status.

That will mean that Standard & Poor's will bring into question America's capacity to pay its debts and honour the bonds issued by the US Treasury.

And that's going to worry not just shareholders but finance ministers the world over, ministers who have happily thrown their nation's cash into the US coffers in the belief that it was safe as houses.

But now, the mysterious men who work for Standard & Poor's have cast a shadow of doubt over the whole crumbling edifice of global debt.

It's a bit like the third Superman movie, when Superman saves Richard Pryor as he falls from a Gotham skyscraper. "Don't worry," says the strong man in blue tights, "I've got you." "Yeah," says the dubious Pryor, "but who's got you?"

The problem is that Standard and Poor's are not subject to election, nor to any form of control. I don't doubt that they base their world-shaking decisions on real concerns, but does that give them too much power?

Libération's culture pages visit the exhibition of Dogon sculpture at the Museum of Primary Art here in Paris.

The masks and statues are a remarkable testimony to the strength of Dogon culture. I particularly like the carved pillars which support the meeting rooms known as "toguna", rooms with very low roofs where those who lose their tempers and jump to their feet risk a salutary smack on the head from the ceiling.

For the Dogon, says the Libé reviewer, there is no artificial barrier between art and life.