Stories about French from August, 2007
Senegal: Africa according to Nicolas Sarkozy
Francophone Africa was awaiting anxiously the newly elected French President's arrival. Nicolas Sarkozy's reputation certainly preceded him in Africa. He was minister of the interior under Jacques Chirac and was responsible for quenching the revolts of disaffected youths (ones he referred to as “racaille” (scum)). Today Africa is still reeling...
New Caledonia: Miss New Caledonia pageant is soon
Caledosphere informs us that the Miss New Caledonia contest is fast approaching. The Miss New Caledonia blog has been recently updated for the occasion with photos of the contestants (Fr).
France: Light punishment for racist comments by a high-school teacher.
Titophe on his blog Racisme et Histoire is worried that the French National Board of Education only reprimanded a high-school teacher for racist comments directed at a student of African descent (Fr).
Benin: Let's open ourselves to China.
China ‘s new focus on investing in Africa has been well documented. However, Eloi Goutchili thinks that Africa should also embrace the Chinese influence on culture (Fr). Goutchili advocates the practical application of Senghor's theory: the need for Africa to open itself to the whole world and not only the...
Africa: the “soon-to-be” presidents’ sons.
Fodé-Moussa Keita links to an article that presents sons of African presidents who are groomed to take over the presidency (fr).
Turkey: To each his own traitor
Guillaume Perrier, author of the blog Au fil du bosphore , muses about the toughening rhetoric in the Turkish political sphere (Fr) as the election for the Turkish presidential office comes to an end. Perrier asks whether the promises of uniting the country are already forgotten.
Why a few African nations still support Mugabe
Koudou of Agoravox gives a brief review of the history of Zimbabwe that may explain why some African nations still support the Mugabe regime (fr).
African writers criticize Sarkozy in open letter
Jean-Luc Raharimanana, a Malagasy writer famous for his influential works on French colonialism, recently authored an open letter to French president Nicolas Sarkozy in response to the now infamous message to Africa and Africans he delivered in Dakar, Senegal. Nearly a month has passed since Sarkozy's speech, but its effects...
Mali: Sand storms in Timbuktu
Rives du Niger posts photographs of sand storms in Timbuktu, where “winds of sands looks like clouds.”
Senegal: Foreign investment in biofuel
Blog politique au Senegal writes that India, Brazil and Spain have been working with the Senegalese to produce biofuel.
Hezbollah video game lets players take on Israel
Hezbollah has come out with a video game (Fr) about the Lebanese resistance called “Special Force 2: Tale of the Truthful Pledge,” Tunisien Doctor announces. Players go head to head with enemy Merkava tanks and fight in battles based on Israel's July 2006 invasion of Lebanon. Can be played in...
Mauritania criminalizes slavery
Mauritania has made slavery a criminal offense, but Vive la Francophonie wonders if slavery can be abolished by laws alone (Fr). “Slavery is a mental attitude as old as humanity…The problem of slavery is in large part psychological,” Francophonie writes. “Mauritania, like the rest of the world, should fight against...
Fighting the desert in Burkina Faso
Vive la francophonie posts an article about the Koom la viim association's efforts to fight desertification (Fr) in Burkina Faso by planting 3,500 plants. “This initiative deserves to be known…even if it only concerns a small portion of land, these efforts contribute to cleaning and reoxygenating our planet…if thousands of...
Martinique braces for Hurricane Dean
le blog de [moi] writes a post bracing for Hurricane Dean (Fr), which has just hit Martinique: “the light's hazy, the birds are quiet, the ocean's [dark] like oil, there is no wind. The calm before the storm.”
Malagasy bloggers rally for Madagascar's children
The Malagasy blogosphere was quite active on humanitarian efforts these past two weeks. It all started when Jogany at the purplecorner.com invited the Malagasy blogosphere to get involved in a virtual fund raiser: a blog-a-thon where participants would write 1 post every 30 min, 24h non-stop to raise fund for...
Morocco: Bloggers React to Failed Meknes Suicide Bombing
On Monday morning, yet another attempt at suicide bombing occurred. While the attempt was, thankfully, a failure - killing none and wounding the bomber - bloggers are up in arms over the hijacking of Morocco.
Monaco: webmaster accused of defaming the Head of State
In Monaco (Principality of Monaco), Marc Giacone, the owner of a new satirical website, featuring cartoons allegedly defaming and ridiculing the Prince Albert II and other local politicians risks a 6 month prison sentence and a fine of 1500€. The website, Monaco Politic Circus, which was meant to imitate the...
Senegal: Dying in childbirth
Blog politique au Senegal shares a story of a woman who died in childbirth, a fate shared by far too many women in Senegal: “The small crowd listened to the midwife explain she did all that she could, that it was the will of God; but at the hospital she...
Buying condoms in Sudan
In Sudan, the possession of a condom can be considered a sign of planning to have extramarital sex. But as Zizou from Djerba writes, he's seeing condoms on sale in pharmacies, grocery stores, and hair salons. “I'm really impressed by these government officials who [by promoting condom use] take risks...
Madagascar hosts Indian Ocean Island Games
The Indian Ocean Island Games are underway in Madagascar and people are quite thrilled about it. Harinjaka gives us a preview of the anticipation back home: “C’est parti pour le 7 ème Jeux des îles de l’Océan Indien (JIOI). La flamme olympique arrive aujourd’hui au stade de Mahamasina (Tananarive) pour...