Stories about France from September, 2009
Serbia: The Death of a French Football Fan
Brice Taton, a 28-year-old French citizen and a fan of the Toulouse football team, was brutally beaten by fans of the Partizan football team in downtown Belgrade on Sept. 17, before the Partizan vs Toulouse game. He died in a Belgrade hospital on Sept. 29.
Egypt: Will Farouk Hosni be Unesco's Next Director General ?
Egypt's culture minister Farouk Hosny is vying for Unesco's top post. Marwa Rakha sums up the reactions of bloggers towards this nomination and the election process.
Can social media help make microfinance sustainable?
Microfinance agencies provide loans to small businesspeople who often can’t meet the strict credit terms of large banks. Either these entrepreneurs don’t have the capital or the cash to back the loan. Or as the large banks argue, their credit needs are too small.
Françafrique casts shadow in Gabon, Madagascar, and Mauritania
Recent violence in Gabon and Madagascar, and a contested election in Mauritania, have added fuel to the idea that France 's influence looms large in the political arenas of her former African colonies, where it still has wide-ranging political and economic interests.
France: Secularity, Required for Democracy and Human Rights
The French concept of the secular seems so distinctive that even the English-language Wikipedia's entry on the issue uses the French term, laïcité, worded in French, to describe it. Suzanne Lehn explains the very different ways bloggers in the US and France view the separation of church and state.