Stories from Quick Reads and New Caledonia
New Caledonia: Political Tension Grows Over Rights to Nickel Mines
Claudine WERY writes [fr] that political tension grows between independentist and non-indenpendentist political parties in New Caledonia over the exploitation of Nickel mines. Non-independentists accuse the other party to strike deals with China and South Korea that they are not authorized to pursue. A referendum on gaining independence from France is scheduled...
New Caledonia: Controversy around the 1988 Ouvéa Hostage Taking Movie
French filmmaker Mathieu Kassovitz's movie “L'ordre et la morale” (“Order and morality”), that recounts the tragic 1988 hostage taking at the Ouvéa cave, is not welcome in New Caledonia. The blog Ecran Noir (‘Black Screen’) describes the local controversy around the film's release, here and here [fr]. After New Caledonia's one and...
New Caledonia: From Paris to Nouméa in a Microlight Plane
Two French microlight planes enthusiasts, aboard the microlight Spirit of Noumea, are planning to re-live French aviators Paul Klein and Henri Martinet's groundbreaking 1939 plane journey from Nouméa, New Caledonia, to Paris. Their journey can be followed on this map and is also documented via their diary [fr] on the project's site.
Papua New Guinea: AIDS patients buried alive.
Caledosphere links to an article in which people living with AIDS in Papua New Guinea (New Caledonia's neighboring country) were buried alive by their relatives because they could not afford their treatments and were also afraid of being infected (Fr).
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).
New Caledonia by aerodrome
5 minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie: Sebastian took a tour of New Caledonia by aerodrome and has the video to prove it.
New Caledonia: 6.65 Times More Expensive Than France
Expat French blogger Katuali complains (Fr) about the ridiculous markup in prices on French products in New Caledonia, an Oceanian island which is technically part of France: “That there be taxes and custom fees is fine but from there to selling a product 6.65 times more than what it costs...
New Caledonia: Bloggers’ Meeting
Katuali is (Fr) organizing a meeting of New Caledonian bloggers and proposes a tentative March 3rd date.
New Caledonia: Lagoon as Potential World Heritage Site
5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie writes (Fr): “France will present on January 31 at Unesco, a request that the Caledonian lagoon be made into a world heritage site. A joy for Caledonia which has been lobbying for this for a while … Final verdict June 2008. “
New Caledonia: At the Beach
Two Caledonia-based bloggers have been to the ocean this week and brought back breathtaking pictures too. Sebastien Merion has just (Fr)come back from a week-long sailing excursion that involved sun, rain, a stopover at the Goa isles but thankfully no brush-up with Hurricane Xavier. Meanwhile Katuali (Fr) went to the...
New Caledonia: Miss Caledonia Dethroned for Nude Photos
Sebastien from 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie deplores (Fr) that Miss Caledonia was recently stripped of her crown and prevented from participating in the Miss France contest because of artistic nude pictures.
New Caledonia: Surfer Video
Sebastien from 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie posts (Fr) a video of surfers on the beaches of Meridien and Anse-Vata.
France, DOM-TOM: Victory against housing discrimination
Reunion-based Pierrot Dupuy, himself the father of a victim of housing discrimination in France announces (Fr) advocacy group CollectifDOM’s legal victory in the area of housing discrimination against French citizens from the French Overseas Departments and Territories (DOM-TOM) living in France. From here on, landlords can no longer ask for...
New Caledonia: Video of Kanak and Polynesian Dance Show
Sebastien of 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie posts a video of Kanak and Polynesian dances performed during a 14 Juillet [July 14] celebration.
France: The Beginnings of Affirmative Action
Says (Fr) France-based Senegalese blogger Seckasysteme about the allegedly affirmative-action induced hiring and debut of Black French newsanchor Harry Roselmack on French national television: “Roselmack's (…) professional competence and the recognition he has earned from his peers is so obvious that even the detractors of affirmative action are starting to...
New Caledonia: Best Coca-Cola
Valesdir.net points to an article announcing (Fr) that New Caledonia produces the best Coca-Cola in the world.
New Caledonia: Collecting Clothing for Local Tribe
Sebastien from 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie is (fr) officially collecting clothing for the local Koulnoue tribe at the request of one of its members. Interested potential donors should email him at sebastienmerion@yahoo.fr. He posts pictures of members of the tribe and promises to post regular updates of the tribe's...
French DOM/TOMs: Sarkozy-Led Convention
Jean-Claude Halley from Guadeloupe Attitude posts (Fr) an invitation to an upcoming convention on the issues of French overseas departments and territories (a.k.a. DOM/TOMs) organized by controversial French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and his UMP party. The invitation enumerates issues faced by the DOMs including unemployment, discrimination, social tensions, inadequate...
New Caledonia, Francophones and Cricket
Over at 5 Minutes en Nouvelle Caledonie, Sebastien who lives in New Caledonia but is originally from continental France writes (Fr) a post that shows how little cricket resonates with most of the French-speaking world : “While the world focuses on soccer, I want to introduce you to a less...
New Caledonia: Holidays Not Necessarily Days Off
Notre vie a Noumea explains that although today was a holiday in New Caledonia, she did not take the day off. You see (Fr) “In New Caledonia, holidays are not necessarily days off. The employer can ask employees to come to work anyway. Every industry has 6 to 7 days...
Mauritius/New Caledonia: Bloggers Send Card to Newlyweds
Many GV readers were touched by this picture of New Caledonia-based blogger Sebastien's wedding to Annoella in Mauritius. This week the couple post additional pictures of their big day as well as a best wishes card signed by bloggers from around the world.