French press review 28 December 2013

Le Monde and Le Figaro continue to look at yesterday's top France story, that is the release of November's unemployment figures, showing a 0,5% increase. Centrist Le Monde's front page editorial echoes much of the other papers conclusion yesterday that there is no way that Hollande can reverse this trend, in a piece entitled "Hollande's denial".

Le Figaro's headline is that president françois Holllande's trap is closing him in. This is in reference to the fact that Hollande promised to reverse to bring down unemployment by the end of the year. Meanwhile, says the right-wing daily, the opposition is accusing the
president of manipulating communication around the figures over the past month.

Le Monde's main headline is that "Violence is increasing in the Central African Republic". They publish a photo of residents fleeing the capital Bangui with all their worldy belongings piled high into the back of open-top vans. This is refering to the terrible news that at least 30 more bodies were discovered last night. Now despite this conflict being essentially a political crisis, it has unfortunately taken on a religious dimension.

Le Monde tries to shed a little light on Christian-Muslim relations within the country. Their special envoy in the country has interviewed the top religious leaders in the country which he dubs "the three saints of Bangui". The imam, reverend and archbishop are close friends and together are trying to preach the spirit of reconciliation. A tragic situation, but an interesting insight into what how healing intercommunitarian wounds could come about after the violence has been quelled.

Well bringing things closer to home... and that French story that the Interior Minister Manuel Valls has indicated that he wishes to ban the stand-up comedian Dieudonné on the grounds that his acts are anti-semitic.

Aujourd'hui en France, the tabloid daily interviews Valls about this move. He says there is no doubt that Dieudonné is anti-semitic and racist.... and that mechanisms for hatred - as he puts it - need to be broken. Dieudonné who is from French and Cameroonian background has been convicted 7 times for inciting hatred, sometimes resulting in fines of up to 20,000 euros.

Part of the controversy surrounds his signature salute called la quenelle, the tabloid paper shows a photo of the comedian doing this salute which is his right hand on the opposite shoulder with his left hand palm facing down, but directed to the floor. His critics say that this is a nazi salute in reverse, Dieudonné himself says that it is an "anti-system" salute. In a separate piece, the paper traces "10 years of provocation", including screen shots of comedian's controversial perforances.

Libération, carries a several page interview with Robert Badinter, who was previously minister for justice who campaigned against the death penalty and is a strong defender if the European Union. The editorial, integrating into the interview opens by saying that in a world of hysteria, it is important to seek out the voices of the wise, like Badinter.

And finally, La Croix, the Catholic daily has an article about that very French tradition of exchanging meilleurs voeux or best wishes at New Year. Politicians and colleagues are likely to present quite formal speeches or send formal emails, but according to new research, they are not the only ones. Two thirds of people are likely to send a text message whilst half are intending to send a card in paper form this year. There will be many messages exchanged via Facebook and other virtual platforms also. And, according to La Croix, this is good news, as it boosts happiness. So something to think about as the year draws to a close.