Stories about France from June, 2007
Martiniquian blogger on “Fleurs du Mal”
Le blog de [moi] celebrates the 150th anniversary of Fleurs du Mal (Fr) by posting “Le Vampire” and explaining her attraction to Baudelaire's poetry: “Baudelaire speaks of death and women like no other. I really understand his fascination with the two…I open [the book] rarely because it always brings out...
Estonia, Russia: Echo of a Childhood War
Itching for Eestimaa looks at the European leaders’ childhood years, in order to find an explanation for some of their current policies: “The young Putin learned that Estonians were fascist betrayers. Can anyone wonder why Russia now sees Estonia in the light, even though to most of us the concepts...
Europe: Prominent Roma Scholar Dies
TOL's Romantic pays tribute to the recently deceased prominent Romano scholar Jan Kochanowski.
Hungary, France: Imre Nagy Memorial
Further Ramblings of a N.Irish Magyar finds himself at the Imre Nagy memorial at Pere Lachaise in Paris.
First Night Against Françafrique
Vous reprendrez bien un peu d'humanisme? announces “‘First Night Against Françafrique” (Fr) on Zalea TV.
Phénix, Défi Liban, a collaborative blog for Lebanese and French middle school students
Phénix, Défi Liban is a collaborative blog between two middle schools, one French, one Lebanese, that seeks to “symbolize and make concrete the desire for peace that animates us.” [Fr]
Gabon: Libreville mermaid hoax (via St. Petersburg, Florida)
Association des gabonais d'Amiens dispels a mermaid hoax [Fr]. Photographs of a mermaid supposedly discovered dead on a beach in Libreville were actually downloaded from an eBay auction for a mermaid sighting in St. Petersburg, Florida. The St. Petersburg photographs sold for US$1500 to a French natural history museum.
G8 Summit: Is the world a better place yet?
The G8 (+5) met in Heiligendamm, Germany last week. The world's richest countries came to agreements on climate change and poverty in Africa that are unlikely to satisfy most critics of global capitalism. Global Voices has linked to comments from India, Russia, and Africa in the past week. And people...
France to increase explusion of illegal immigrants
Et Si Nous Parlions writes the French Ministry of Immigration and National Identity, which he sarcastically calls the Ministry of Expulsions and Official Racism, plans to expel 25,000 illegal immigrants [Fr] this year, an increase of 5,000 over the previous year.
Hungary: Famous Magyars
Pestcentric writes about famous Hungarians – which the newly-elected French president Nicolas Sarkozy is not: “The French can have him. And if he turns out to be a disaster, […] let’s be glad he doesn’t consider himself a Magyar.”
French Village's Monument to a Gabonese WWII Hero
Association des gabonais d'Amiens writes about a monument in Airaines, a small French village of 2,000 people, dedicated to Charles Ntchorere, a Gabonese captain in the French army [Fr] who was taken prisoner and executed by German forces in 1940.
Madagascar, France: Expulsion of French Citizens Raises Concerns about Government's Authoritarianism
Two French citizens, Christian Chadefaux and Father Urfer, who both lived for decades in Madagascar, were declared persona non grata by the Malagasy government last month. These decisions came a few days after the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as president of France who made the expulsion of illegal immigrants one...