French press review
Gold, helicopters, internet and predictions in this morning's papers...
I suppose we have to start with the end of the world. It was scheduled to start at six o'clock last Saturday evening, in New Zealand, and then move across the time zones to culminate in a cataclysmic, world-destroying ball of fire on 21 October next.
Saturday, you'll understand, was the 7,000th anniversary of the biblical flood, according to Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio International, a christian ministry of the airwaves, who has been issuing the warning to the faithful for a while now.
He earlier warned that the end of everything was going to be 1994, but it wasn't. Harold said he'd made a mistake in his calculations.
This time, he was absolutely sure, Saturday was it, no doubt, no debate. He was wrong again, but only about the start date. Watch out for 21 October.
Harold's ministry is broadcast in 61 languages, and is a serious going concern, even if the man is a flop when it comes to predictions.
In 2009, Harold Camping declared his personal wealth for tax purposes as 74 million euros, and his income for the year as 13 million euros in donations. The end of the world is clearly big business.
Harold, by the way, is 89 years old.
The French papers seem to be over the worst of their recent bout of Dominique Strauss-Kahn-itis.
The main story in business daily Les Echos looks at French economic growth statistics, lamenting the fact that the country is not making the most of the opportunities offered by the internet.
On the eve of something called the "e-G8", a summit of world leaders in the electronic marketplace, due to open here in Paris tomorrow, Les Echos points out that a quarter of French growth over the past ten years is thanks to the internet, but that France lags behind the United States in investment in high-speed electronic communication.
In general, Europe is losing the technological and softwear battles because of lack of innovation and the absence of internet service companies and providers.
According to analysts, the establishment of a nationwide fibre-optic system would cost 2 billion euros every year over the next decade, but would generate 4 billion euros each year in additional growth.
The basic problem is that the investors in the wires and fibres have not yet figured out how to make those who use the equipment (people like Google, for example) actually pay for doing it.
Right-wing Le Figaro's main story concerns the French decision to send combat helicopters to Libya.
In what the government-friendly daily describes as "a major change in strategic direction", twelve French choppers will join the battle to dislodge Muamer Kadhafi, with an increase in the number of ground personnel, the so-called special forces, the most likely next move by Paris.
Le Figaro says France would like to see the Libyan conflict resolved in favour of the anti-Kadhafi forces before the middle of July.
La Croix, looking at the same story, is less than optimistic.
The Catholic daily reminds us that the UN Security Council decision to use force against Muamar Kadhafi was made on 17 March, and that it was all going to be over in no time.
It isn't yet, and there are signs that the whole situation has bogged down so totally, that it will remain deadlocked unless the major military powers decide to send in ground troops, something they can't legally do as things currently stand at the Security Council.
On inside pages, Le Monde looks to the Democratic Republic of Congo, under the headline "The West encouraged to boycott stolen minerals".
The non-governmental organisation Global Witness says that there's currently a unique window of opportunity for consumers of the DRC's mineral wealth to stop, or at least slow, the flow of stolen gold, uranium and coltan from Congo-Kinshasa.
It's conservatively reckoned that 80 per cent of the DRC's mining output is illegally marketed, most of it through Rwanda.
The window of opportunity sounds like a bit of a hole in the wall, but Global Witness is encouraged.
First of all, there are currently no soldiers in the eastern town of Bisié, recognised as the hub of the illicit mining trade.
That means that the authorities in far away Kinshasa have a chance, before any future re-deployment, to actually take the whole operation in hand.
And then there's the Dodd Frank legislation, passed by the United States last year, soon to come into effect.
The law will oblige operations like Microsoft, Intel and Apple to make all reasonable efforts to establish the sources of the minerals they use. I'll bet the mining moguls of the Kivu provinces are quaking in their well-heeled boots.
Saturday, you'll understand, was the 7,000th anniversary of the biblical flood, according to Harold Camping, founder of Family Radio International, a christian ministry of the airwaves, who has been issuing the warning to the faithful for a while now.
He earlier warned that the end of everything was going to be 1994, but it wasn't. Harold said he'd made a mistake in his calculations.
This time, he was absolutely sure, Saturday was it, no doubt, no debate. He was wrong again, but only about the start date. Watch out for 21 October.
Harold's ministry is broadcast in 61 languages, and is a serious going concern, even if the man is a flop when it comes to predictions.
In 2009, Harold Camping declared his personal wealth for tax purposes as 74 million euros, and his income for the year as 13 million euros in donations. The end of the world is clearly big business.
Harold, by the way, is 89 years old.
|
The main story in business daily Les Echos looks at French economic growth statistics, lamenting the fact that the country is not making the most of the opportunities offered by the internet.
On the eve of something called the "e-G8", a summit of world leaders in the electronic marketplace, due to open here in Paris tomorrow, Les Echos points out that a quarter of French growth over the past ten years is thanks to the internet, but that France lags behind the United States in investment in high-speed electronic communication.
In general, Europe is losing the technological and softwear battles because of lack of innovation and the absence of internet service companies and providers.
According to analysts, the establishment of a nationwide fibre-optic system would cost 2 billion euros every year over the next decade, but would generate 4 billion euros each year in additional growth.
The basic problem is that the investors in the wires and fibres have not yet figured out how to make those who use the equipment (people like Google, for example) actually pay for doing it.
|
In what the government-friendly daily describes as "a major change in strategic direction", twelve French choppers will join the battle to dislodge Muamer Kadhafi, with an increase in the number of ground personnel, the so-called special forces, the most likely next move by Paris.
Le Figaro says France would like to see the Libyan conflict resolved in favour of the anti-Kadhafi forces before the middle of July.
La Croix, looking at the same story, is less than optimistic.
The Catholic daily reminds us that the UN Security Council decision to use force against Muamar Kadhafi was made on 17 March, and that it was all going to be over in no time.
It isn't yet, and there are signs that the whole situation has bogged down so totally, that it will remain deadlocked unless the major military powers decide to send in ground troops, something they can't legally do as things currently stand at the Security Council.
|
The non-governmental organisation Global Witness says that there's currently a unique window of opportunity for consumers of the DRC's mineral wealth to stop, or at least slow, the flow of stolen gold, uranium and coltan from Congo-Kinshasa.
It's conservatively reckoned that 80 per cent of the DRC's mining output is illegally marketed, most of it through Rwanda.
The window of opportunity sounds like a bit of a hole in the wall, but Global Witness is encouraged.
First of all, there are currently no soldiers in the eastern town of Bisié, recognised as the hub of the illicit mining trade.
That means that the authorities in far away Kinshasa have a chance, before any future re-deployment, to actually take the whole operation in hand.
And then there's the Dodd Frank legislation, passed by the United States last year, soon to come into effect.
The law will oblige operations like Microsoft, Intel and Apple to make all reasonable efforts to establish the sources of the minerals they use. I'll bet the mining moguls of the Kivu provinces are quaking in their well-heeled boots.
0 comments:
Post a Comment