Stories about French from May, 2013
Disaster Highlights Roma's Struggle for Human Rights in France
A violent fire destroyed an abandoned factory in the eastern French city of Lyon squatted by families from the Roma community, killing two women and 12-year-old child. In the aftermath,...
Guinea: Special Guest at the 2013 Turin International Book Fair
The 26th International Book Fair took place in Turin, capital of the Italian Piedmont region, between May 16 and May 20, 2013. The Francophone West African country of Guinea was...
The Trouble with Counterfeit Medicines in France
There is an area in which the harmful effects of counterfeiting are even more devastating: the pharmaceutical industry. This activity is far from marginal: the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates...
From Guinea to Italy to France and Back: An Interview with Blogger Abdoulaye Bah
Global Voices author and translator Abdoulaye Bah, originally from Guinea, is a retired Italian citizen who has worked for the United Nations. He now splits his time between Rome and...
Hackers in Arab Cities: Slow Internet and Girl Power in Algeria
Meet those Internet geeks in the Middle East & North Africa. Global Voices re-posts excerpts of the blog "Hackers in Arab Cities'' by Sabine Blanc & Ophelia Noor. In this...
A Thin Line Between Democracy and Independence in French Polynesia
On the heels of French Polynesian anti-independence politician Gaston Flosse's victory in the islands' presidential elections earlier this month, the United Nations has adopted a resolution calling on France to...
Tunisia: FEMEN Activist Faces Possession of Pepper Spray Charge
Tunisian FEMEN activist Amina Tyler, 19, is set to appear before a court on May 30 to face a charge of "non-authorized possession of pepper spray." If convicted the young...
Comoros Chats About Identity on Twitter
The hashtags #TesPasComorien and #Teamcomoco are stoking conversation among Comorian Twitter users about what it means to be from the island nation of Comoros.
Interview: Chadian Blogger and Journalist Expelled from Senegal to Guinea
The Senegalese government expelled Chadian journalist and blogger Makaila Nguebla on May 8, 2013, sending him to Guinea. He explained his situation in an interview with Global Voices' Anna Guèye.
Fight Against Ritual Killings Gears Up in Gabon
The discovery of a young girl's mutilated body on a beach in Gabon's capital city of Libreville has renewed the fight in the Central African country against the superstitious practice...
Congolese-Italian Woman Joins Italy's Cabinet
The nomination of Cecile Kyenge, an Italian professor of medicine originally from the DRC, to the position of Integration Minister in the new Italian government, was applauded by commentators on...
Côte d'Ivoire: Opinions on Marriage for all
France’s adoption of the ‘Marriage for All’ bill has given rise to incomprehension, sometimes with a jokey tone, in Francophone Africa, Here, we look at opinions of commentators from the...
Hostages and Ransom Payments: What is France's Policy?
Around three months after the French President François Hollande’s January 2013 decision to stop paying ransoms to hostage takers, the Moulin-Fournier family were finally released, to the immense relief of...