French weekly magazines review

This week's pickings give us a little respite from direct coverage of the presidential elections, which anyone following French politics will know is due to take place in just over 40 days.

There does seem to be a bit of a property theme however, between the Nouvel Observateur and L'Express which both have a special edition on property in Paris.

Like many other major European cities, property is very expensive in Paris. They compare prices between different neighbourhoods and explain how buyers can take advantage of the dip in prices.

We can't escape the elections entirely. Le Point publishes an investigation into France's rich. Socialist Party candidat, François Hollande caused quite a stir when he said that he doesn't like rich people.

Le Point questions whether you can be rich and left wing. To put these comments into context, they are a bit of a backlash against the bling-bling president, Sarko who some say has been too close to the rich. Hollande has said if he came to power that he would tax those earning over one million euros at the rate of 75 per cent.

Le Point is not quite sure whether this rich-bashing on the part of the Hollande will be dangerous for his political credientials and the tax revenues in the state coffers.

Nouvel observateur has a new take on this polemic by looking at what it terms the 'yacht people'. These are the French uber-rich who have fled to Switzerland for fiscal reasons and keep their yachts on Lake Leman on the Swiss-French border.

Business people, authors, sports personalities... according to the banker who deals with much of their cash, the profile is someone in their 60s who is scared of the fiscal instability in France.

Left-wing Marianne takes a look at Nicolas Sarkozy's glamorous wife Carla Bruni. And it wonders how she has managed to change her image from yuppie leftist musician to a jet setting pillar of her husband's right wing politics.

Marianne is unconvinced by this metamorphosis, speculating that Carla has been behind some bad decisions, be they in politics or in the arts.

It cites the example of the introduction of DNA tests for immigrants trying to get French papers for family members, and even the cancelling of concerts in Paris for the purpose of promoting her own music.

Marianne says that the French public no longer believe in this fantasy couple, that it is clear that they are both just furthering personal interests.

Another recurring theme in France in recent times is national identity and religion. Marianne reveals that more and more pupils in the classroom are citing religious reasons for not participating in class.

Whether it is biology, sport, geography or history, teachers find themselves alone. One teacher interviewed says he was heckled in the classroom for teaching Darwinism and the theory of evolution.

History teachers have been tackled on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And the parents of primary school pupils keep their children from going on trips to churches, Jewish cemeteries or mosques.

Some Muslim pupils refuse to go swimming during Ramadan for fear of swallowing water.

But what can teachers do about these situations in which they sometimes find themselves in the firing line? Well, not much, according to the paper. Just wait until the issue is debated at a national level.

In international news, the Nouvel Observateur publishes an investigation into a French ex-military police officer who has rather dubious links with the Rwandan genocide.

Since the genocide of 1994, France and Rwanda have had an on-going diplomatic spat. Rwanda accused the French military of interferring in the genocide.

Whilst relations have improved somewhat since, the exact details of French involvement have never fully become clear.

This article shed some light on one of the shadier characters from this period, Philippe Barril. Was he selling arms, working as an agent for the government or personally profiting from the precarious situation?

For the moment, he leads a quiet life in London but may soon have to answer some questions from Judge Bruguiere.

A quick science story in Le Point. It is an invention from Japan and looks a little like a hand-held speed gun used by the police. Only this invention is an speech-jamming gun.

It manages to capture sound from a person talking and send the sound waves straight back to them a fraction of a second later.

The effect is instant: hearing one's voice echoed back makes most people shut up straight away. And Le Point ponders how useful this invention could be in the presidential election period!