French press review 3 March 2011

Le Monde sets the tone for the morning’s headlines, saying the western world is divided on what to do about Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

In Le Monde today, immigration is at the top of the headlines. Europe's leaders worry that the recent fighting in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia could send swarms of people into the continent, seeking refuge from the conflicts.

President Nicolas Sarkozy anticipates an uncontrollable migratory flood into France. However, the United Nations Refugee Agency says that, for the moment, there are no signs that migrants will ship off to Europe.

Apart from the 5,000 Tunisian refugees who fled to the Italian island of Lampedusa in mid-February, there have been very few waves of migration into Europe by North African refugees.

Meanwhile, Libération and Le Figaro both have Libya on their front page.

Le Figaro says that Libyan refugees are lining up at the Tunisian border to cross into safer territory. Police are now working towards better organisation, in order to handle the thousands of people who have attempted to flee the country.

And L'Humanité has two editorials about the upcoming International Women's Day on March 8th. The authors talk about women's continuing worldwide struggle for equality, highlighting the place of women in the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

And going back to Le Monde, there's a profile on the front page on France's secretary of the socialist party Martine Aubry, as she lays out her plans for a presidential run in 2012. Aubry plans to focus on increasing jobs for the country's youth and funding for the police. She would also like to take a hard look at fiscal reform.

Le Figaro says that Aubry is in a tough position within the socialist party in the run-up to elections, with IMF director Dominique Strauss-Kahn leading the pack and the dynamic François Holland moving up quickly in the rankings.

And Le Monde takes a special look at fashion, with Christian Dior's recent firing of John Galliano. The British designer was sacked after making anti-Semitic remarks in a Paris restaurant last week. The fashion world has been shaken up, as Paris Fashion Week's prêt-à-porter collection gets underway under a shroud of chaos. Amongst insiders, the word of the day is "No comment."