French press review 29 December 2010

One year ago today Stéphane Taponier and Hervé Ghesquière were kidnapped in Afghanistan. A new video of the two journalists was shown to family members yesterday. It proves that they are still alive and seem to be in good health. That story is making headlines here in France today, as well as music and medication for children.

“One Year Wait” reads Libération. The article focuses on the frustration of family and friends with the French government. Authorities have promised to bring the two home but many say, they aren’t doing nearly enough.

It’s the same story in Aujourd’hui en France. The headline here reads: “Such a long wait.”

The article is a little more forgiving, saying authorities are doing what they can, though they do understand the frustration.

Switching gears and moving on to right-wing paper Le Figaro, which reports that the number of people getting their flu shots is going down, even though the flu has officially become an epidemic in France. The number of deaths related to the disease has been going up and 15 per cent fewer people have had flu shots this year.

Le Monde reports that children are prescribed too much medication. The main problem is that many of the drugs aren’t made specifically for children. The article cites a study that was done on 156 children aged between 6 months and 6 years suffering from fever. They were given different versions and amounts of paracetamol and 48 hours later, researchers found that they don’t work. In other words, if your child is sick, you might have to wait it out.

Staying with children, it turns out that people born at the end of the year have it harder in life than those born at the beginning. For example, those born in December will earn an average of 1.5 per cent less money in their life. It seems to also affect your ability to learn. 34 per cent of children born in December will have to repeat a year in France, versus 17 per cent of those born in January.

And on a lighter note, Le Figaro’s story of the day says, that kindergartens in Germany will have to pay if they want their kids to perform popular songs or nursery rhymes.

The Gema, Germany’s music listening agency is sending out letters notifying or reminding day care centres that they need to pay a licence fee. The law came into effect at the beginning of the year, but has been in the spotlight because of Christmas carols. But there is hope for kids aspiring to a musical career: traditional songs remain free of charge.