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Johnny Summerton's Articles in World Affairs

  • There's Nothing Like Good Neighbours
    And if the case of the recent discovery of the body of a 70-year-old man in his apartment in the town of Aix-les-Bains in southeastern France is anything to go by, he had anything but "good neighbours"

    While there's nothing too unusual perhaps in the report of an elderly person's death going unnoticed, especially when he or she lives alone, there must be more than a little cause for concern in cases such as this one
  • How Could Parents Forget?
    It's a question that has preoccupied many here in France over the past month, and sadly made the headlines far too often It's also one to which it's difficult to provide an answer
  • Sarkozy Set For a Constitutional Showdown
    Hardly the sexiest headline by any stretch of the imagination But there again when it comes to institutional reform and changes to the constitution, the subject matter is hardly guaranteed to instill much enthusiasm
  • Adieu PPDA
    There was an end of a television era here yesterday as Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, affectionately known in this country as PPDA, made his final broadcast as anchorman on TF1's prime time news slot

    Think of a news anchor in your own country, someone who has been around for donkeys years and at a certain time of the day when the small screen is flickering becomes almost part of the sitting room furniture
  • Sarkozy to Blame For Royal's Break-in?
    This is a political piece that by its very definition can only be filed under "Strange" on any website

    It concerns last year's defeated candidate in the French presidential elections, Ségolène Royal, and her claims that she is paying the price for comments she made recently about the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy
  • Sarkozy's "Astonishing" Olympic Announcement
    So it's official The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, will be attending the opening of the Olympic games in Beijing,

    After a "productive" 30-minute meeting with the Chinese president, Hu Jintao, Sarkozy's office officially released the news on Wednesday that it had already leaked to the French media last Friday
  • Sarkozy's G8 Ennui
    He was bored, the poor man You could see it in his eyes and his body language
  • Betancourt's Unsung Hero
    Since the dramatic rescue last week of 15 hostages held by Colombia's leftist rebel movement the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, much of this country's attention - if not the world's - has been focused on Ingrid Betancourt

    Finally though one of France's leading national daily newspapers, Le Figaro, has caught up with reports that have appeared elsewhere around the globe
  • Sarkozy's Union-Bashing Barb
    Sometimes a politician can believe his or her own spin just a little too much that it leaves many onlookers gasping in disbelief and checking their ears to make sure they've heard correctly

    Such has been the case here in France since Saturday when the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, came up with what surely has to be the most unlikely interpretation of recent events in this country
  • Twice an Orphan - Barmy Bureaucracy or Welfare of the Child? You Judge.
    Last weekend here in France an 11-year-old boy, Joris, found himself effectively orphaned for the second time He was taken into care after his father, 34-year-old Aboubakar Coulibaly, was deported back to his native Côte d'Ivoire
  • Public Prosecutor Recommends Dropping (Jean) Sarkozy Charges
    The mysterious if somewhat exhausting case of the hit-and-run scooter and the role of the French president's son, Jean Sarkozy, could be nearing its conclusion

    A Paris prosecutor has recommended dropping charges against him, but a final decision won't be handed down until September
  • Ad’ Campaign to Promote Sarkozy’s Election Promise
    The French government has launched a media blitz in an attempt to convince people that it really is winning the battle to increase purchasing power

    In the coming weeks the French will be treated to over 1,600 TV commercials as well as Internet advertising and full page spreads in the national and regional daily newspapers
  • Sarkozy Starts Visit to Israel
    The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, begins a three-day visit to Israel on Sunday in what the press back home is reporting as further proof of an improvement in relations between the two countries

    It'll be only the third time a French president has visited Israel, and Sarkozy is likely to have a far more conciliatory tone than his predecessors
  • France Faces Fine Over Lack of Hamster Love
    Weird but true, France is being threatened with a €17 million penalty if it doesn’t clean up its act and come up with a strategy to save the European hamster, one of the continent’s most threatened species

    Last week the European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-member European Union, gave France a two-month deadline or else it would have to cough up the whopping fine for failing to comply with the Habitats Directive (yes we’re in Eurobabbleland here) to prevent the rodent’s extinction
  • Ferrari to Return as PPDA is Given the Boot
    One of France’s top news anchors, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, will bid farewell to viewers this summer and be replaced by the darling of the French media, Laurence Ferrari

    PPDA as he is more affectionately known has been a familiar face on prime time news for more than three decades
  • Martine Aubry – The Lady In Waiting.
    She might have been absent from national politics for the past eight years, but now a one-time leading light of the Socialist party, Martine Aubry, appears to be back in favour

    Aubry is being touted – not least by herself – as a figure behind which activists could unite in the tussle for the leadership of the party due in November
  • France's "Virgin Obsessed" Serial Killer Gets Life
    After a high profile trial lasting two months, a court in northeastern France on Wednesday found Michel Fourniret, the country’s most notorious serial killer in decades, guilty on seven counts of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment

    His wife, Monique Olivier, was also sentenced to 28 years behind bars for complicity
  • A Nouvel Skyscraper For Paris
    The French capital is to get just what it needs to set it apart from the rest of the globe’s major cities - a new 300-metre skyscraper set to challenge the world-famous Eiffel tower’s domination of the city’s skyline

    France’s very own Jean Nouvel fought off competition from four other world class architects to be awarded the commission to construct the new Signal tower
  • A Taxing Day As Sarkozy Goes Walkabout Among The Fruit And Veg
    What a start to the day for the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy He was up and about before dawned cracked rubbing shoulders and pressing flesh with the hoi polloi at Rungis, France’s largest wholesale food and flower market just south of Paris
  • The First Lady Sings
    For some it will be a date to note in their diaries and one on which they will undoubtedly rush out in anticipation to the record stores For others it will quite possibly be time to clap their hands over their ears in an attempt to protect their hearing
  • The Knives Are Out
    The big guns within the Socialist party here in France are warming up for battle ahead of an election to choose a new leader even though that’s still over six months away

    Segolene Royal officially announced her intention to stand last Friday
  • The Holiday That Was, Then Wasn’t And Now Is
    This is the rather muddled tale of the public holiday that disappeared from the French calendar four years ago when it became a quasi-working day But lo and behold, and hallelujah, everything’s back to normal at last and lundi Pentecôte, or Whit Monday, is once again a day off
  • Sarkozy Sees Sense On Blair Presidency
    It has not been made official yet but it’s already doing the rounds of the media both here in France and across the channel in Britain The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, is apparently not going to back former British prime minister, Tony Blair, as a candidate to become the first president of the European Union

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