French press review
What impact will the crisis in Greece have on other European economies? This is the question asked by several of the French newspapers as Prime Minister Papandreou faces a vote of confidence on Tuesday.
The great minds at Le Monde have come up with a main headline which reads "Greek debt: ten days to save Europe from the dominio effect".
And at Libération, you have those very dominos, made of neat bundles of 50 euro notes, tumbling merrily along under the menacing question "What happens if Greece goes bankrupt?"
The ten days are what remain for the Athens government to push through the legislation necessary to convince the European Central Bank that the Greeks are serious about getting their financial house in order.
They aren't, of course, but political correctness demands that they go through the motions. And that the rest of us pretend to believe the whole crummy scenario.
The problem, according to an analyst writing inside Le Monde, is that Europe can well afford to have Greece go bankrupt. The private European banks were never in a stronger position, they have cash coming out of their fourth-floor windows, they are rolling in the readies.
And a soverign state, even a badly managed, corrupt and stoney-broke sovereign state, is not a bad place to stick your surplus cash.
The problem is that, if Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain all start slipping in the same direction . . . and the Moody's rating agency has been howling about all four for some time now . . . then there is simply not enough money on the planet to bail everybody out.
The alternatives are stark, according to Libération: Europe either goes bankrupt, or moves towards some form of federalism, with a real economic government, an overall Finance Minister with real powers, a central authority capable of speaking FOR and TO everybody.
In other words, the Eurozone is well on the way to bankruptcy.
The rest of the papers seem to be stuck in various time-warps . . .
Le Figaro's front page is dominated by a picture of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and a headline which I'm fairly sure they used about three weeks ago, word for word.
It reads "How the DSK affair changes the presidential race".
The right-wing paper's analysis, which I'm also sure they used about three weeks ago, word for word, is that the withdrawal of the former director of the International Monetary Fund, the Socialist front-runner, has thrown the Left into such disarray that a huge space has opened up in the centre of the French political scene.
And this centrist vacuum will profit none other than the current, little-loved head boy, Nicolas Sarkozy. Le Figaro admits that Nick is currently at the bottom of the popularity ratings, but the right-wing paper says most French voters believe he'll still be re-elected in 2012.
That's right-wing mathematics for you. And right-wing political analysis. As the Americans say when faced with an imponderable, go figure.
Libération reports that Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the assassinated Rwandan president, has taken legal action to oblige France Televison to let her pre-view a documentary on the 1994 genocide, due to be broadcast later this month.
Mrs Habyarimana believes material included in the programme could be prejudicial to the memory of her husband.
Communist L'Humanité has been doing some figuring itself. Women outnumber men in the French civil service. But the higher up the promotional ladder you get, the fewer women you find.
There's an average of 15 per cent in the difference between public service salaries for men and women here in France. L'Humanité wonders if there's a need for a law to bring something like equality to the state employment scene.
Catholic La Croix gives the front-page honours to the mid-summer free music festival which happens tonight, despite bad weather and a transport strike. It's thirty years since the first gig, and it's generally agreed to be a very good thing.
All types of music, by both professionals and amateurs, are represented, with the place of honour going, this year, to the sounds of the French Caribbean.
Le Figaro gives front-page space to the departure of the Canadian military contingent from Afghanistan. After nine years, the 2,000-strong group is due to leave on 1st July.
They'll be taking their guns and bombs and tanks and helicopters with them, but are selling everything else off in a huge military garage sale to take place at the Canadian base in Kandahar.
Computers, video games and even ice-hockey sticks are up for grabs, all going to the highest bidder. There are pop-corn machines, a set of bag pipes, a single bra, and a whole collection of womens clothing.
The Canadians expect most of the goodies to be snapped up by other foreign military contingents serving in Afghanistan. I'm fairly sure the womens clothing will attract some of the bearded boyohs from the Taliban. As for those bag pipes . . .
And at Libération, you have those very dominos, made of neat bundles of 50 euro notes, tumbling merrily along under the menacing question "What happens if Greece goes bankrupt?"
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The ten days are what remain for the Athens government to push through the legislation necessary to convince the European Central Bank that the Greeks are serious about getting their financial house in order.
They aren't, of course, but political correctness demands that they go through the motions. And that the rest of us pretend to believe the whole crummy scenario.
The problem, according to an analyst writing inside Le Monde, is that Europe can well afford to have Greece go bankrupt. The private European banks were never in a stronger position, they have cash coming out of their fourth-floor windows, they are rolling in the readies.
And a soverign state, even a badly managed, corrupt and stoney-broke sovereign state, is not a bad place to stick your surplus cash.
The problem is that, if Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain all start slipping in the same direction . . . and the Moody's rating agency has been howling about all four for some time now . . . then there is simply not enough money on the planet to bail everybody out.
The alternatives are stark, according to Libération: Europe either goes bankrupt, or moves towards some form of federalism, with a real economic government, an overall Finance Minister with real powers, a central authority capable of speaking FOR and TO everybody.
In other words, the Eurozone is well on the way to bankruptcy.
The rest of the papers seem to be stuck in various time-warps . . .
|
Le Figaro's front page is dominated by a picture of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and a headline which I'm fairly sure they used about three weeks ago, word for word.
It reads "How the DSK affair changes the presidential race".
The right-wing paper's analysis, which I'm also sure they used about three weeks ago, word for word, is that the withdrawal of the former director of the International Monetary Fund, the Socialist front-runner, has thrown the Left into such disarray that a huge space has opened up in the centre of the French political scene.
And this centrist vacuum will profit none other than the current, little-loved head boy, Nicolas Sarkozy. Le Figaro admits that Nick is currently at the bottom of the popularity ratings, but the right-wing paper says most French voters believe he'll still be re-elected in 2012.
That's right-wing mathematics for you. And right-wing political analysis. As the Americans say when faced with an imponderable, go figure.
Libération reports that Agathe Habyarimana, the widow of the assassinated Rwandan president, has taken legal action to oblige France Televison to let her pre-view a documentary on the 1994 genocide, due to be broadcast later this month.
Mrs Habyarimana believes material included in the programme could be prejudicial to the memory of her husband.
Communist L'Humanité has been doing some figuring itself. Women outnumber men in the French civil service. But the higher up the promotional ladder you get, the fewer women you find.
There's an average of 15 per cent in the difference between public service salaries for men and women here in France. L'Humanité wonders if there's a need for a law to bring something like equality to the state employment scene.
Catholic La Croix gives the front-page honours to the mid-summer free music festival which happens tonight, despite bad weather and a transport strike. It's thirty years since the first gig, and it's generally agreed to be a very good thing.
All types of music, by both professionals and amateurs, are represented, with the place of honour going, this year, to the sounds of the French Caribbean.
Le Figaro gives front-page space to the departure of the Canadian military contingent from Afghanistan. After nine years, the 2,000-strong group is due to leave on 1st July.
They'll be taking their guns and bombs and tanks and helicopters with them, but are selling everything else off in a huge military garage sale to take place at the Canadian base in Kandahar.
Computers, video games and even ice-hockey sticks are up for grabs, all going to the highest bidder. There are pop-corn machines, a set of bag pipes, a single bra, and a whole collection of womens clothing.
The Canadians expect most of the goodies to be snapped up by other foreign military contingents serving in Afghanistan. I'm fairly sure the womens clothing will attract some of the bearded boyohs from the Taliban. As for those bag pipes . . .
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