Press Interpreter - Le Monde

An American Woman, Indian by Birth, is to Run the Soft Drink Maker PepsiCo

Fri, 25 Aug 2006 04:47:09 -0700

08/17/06--Between those who underline that she is a woman and those who mainly point out that she is Indian by birth, the appointment of Indra Nooyi at the head of PepsiCo did not go unnoticed. As announced by the firm through a press release on Monday, August 14th, she is to take up her duties as general manager as soon as October 1st. She will take the chair on the month of May 2007. Mrs Nooyi will then be at the head of the 61st company in the country, a group which makes a 33 billion dollar (26 billion euro) turnover.

Senators Adopt the Sarkozy Bill on Immigration

Thu, 22 Jun 2006 05:23:56 -0700

06/17/06 -- After two weeks of debate, on Thursday night the Senate passed the bill on immigration on the first reading, fought every step of the way by the opposition Socialist and French Communist Parties.

In New York Some Tens of Thousands of Protesters Against the War in Iraq

Sun, 30 Apr 2006 02:50:01 -0700

04/30/06 -- Several tens of thousands of peopled marched on Saturday in New York, to demand the immediate withdrawal of American forces from Iraq, and announced their intention to pursue this campaign until the American Parliamentary elections in November.

The French Fear a "Social Crisis;" Villepin Rules Out Repeal of the CPE

Sun, 19 Mar 2006 15:13:06 -0800

03/19/06 -- After the CPE* opponents' newest show of force on Saturday, Dominique de Villepin still seemed determined not to back down on Sunday despite the ultimatum of the unions, which are calling on Jacques Chirac and are starting to raise the specter of a multi-industry strike.

Robert Feliciaggi, "Emperor" of Corsican Gaming, Has Been Killed

Mon, 13 Mar 2006 11:25:43 -0800

03/12/06 -- Robert Feliciaggi, 63, Corsican elected representative and shareholder in many gaming businesses in France and Africa, was cut down by multiple bullets on Friday, March 10 at about 11pm, while he was picking up his vehicle at the Campo dell'Oro airport near Ajaccio. According to initial witness accounts, the shooter appears to have acted alone, his face masked by a hood. "Mr. Feliciaggi had landed on a flight from Paris and was leaning over the trunk of his car when the assassin hit him in the head with at least three bullets from very short distance," specified a police source. Mr. Feliciaggi had been about to take the wheel of his car in an isolated part of the airport. The shooter escaped in a car that appeared to have been waiting for him not far away. Mr. Feliciaggi was quickly taken to the Ajaccio hospital, where he succumbed to his wounds an hour later.

Joelle Aubron, Direct Action* Militant, is Dead.

Mon, 06 Mar 2006 13:14:49 -0800

03/01/06 -- Obituary --Joelle Aubron, member of Direct Action ("AD"), died on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 1, at the age of 46 said Alain Pojolat, member of the support committee for imprisoned members of AD. She had lung cancer and had been in coma for many days.

Algeria Closes 42 Private Schools for Failure to "Arabize"

Sat, 04 Mar 2006 00:02:53 -0800

03/02/06 -- Algeria Journal -- The Algerian government has acted on its threat: since February 25, 42 private schools located mostly in Algiers and in the Kabylie have been closed, sometimes with the help of the police. The motive: the private schools had refused to submit to the strict curricular and pedagogical requirements of the national education program.

The CSM as Described to the Philosopher Y.M. by Dominique Rousseau

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 20:39:19 -0800

02/28/06 -- Point of View -- Yves Michaud's article, published in Le Monde on February 24, 2006, presents a twofold epistemological inquiry: establishing the relevance of a dialogue between philosophical and juridical schools of thought and demonstrating that the truth is just the momentary correction of errors. It's a mistake to write that the Superior Council of the Magistracy (CSM) is composed of people nominated "by the President for the basic essentials" when in fact, out of eighteen members, only one is nominated by the head of State! It's also inaccurate to write that the CSM rarely sanctions magistrates when the figures from annual reports demonstrate the opposite. And it's always wrong to write that the CSM is the arrogant defender of the narrow interests of the magistrates, when in fact it is, to put it modestly, one of the authorities constitutionally charged with ensuring checks and balances!

Nationalism

Tue, 28 Feb 2006 09:19:38 -0800

02/28/06 -- Le Monde Editorial -- This is the government that, in 2006, decided, organized, and announced under the authority of Dominique de Villepin himself, from Matignon,* without consultation of any kind, not even with social partners or the Brussels Commission, in the space of a weekend, the merger of the private company Suez with the nationalized enterprise Gaz de France [GDF], creating the world's second largest electricity and gas conglomerate. The operation was hastily carried out in the name of "economic patriotism" due to a threatened takeover by the Italian [gas and power company] Enel** and the strategic character of the (unconventional) power business of Suez.

A Europe of Energy Giants

Mon, 27 Feb 2006 15:19:18 -0800

02/25/06 -- Analysis* -- With all due respect to the European competition commissioner, concentration in the energy sector will continue apace in the next few years. The two most recent mergers announced since the beginning of the week -- the 29 billion Euro takeover bid of German E.ON for the Spanish electric utility Endesa and the appetite of Italian Enel for French Suez -- undermine Neelie Kroes. Since Europe must completely liberalize its electricity and gas markets by July 1, 2007, a question arises: is the emergence of giants centered on the core business of these markets and on the Old Continent compatible with the creation of a unified competitive market?

Pierre-Jean Luizard: "The Curfew Established in Iraq is an Admission That There is Indeed a Religious War Going On"

Sat, 25 Feb 2006 17:57:03 -0800

02/24/06 -- Interview with Pierre-Jean Luizard, researcher at CNRS and author of "The Iraq Question" (published by Fayard).

The attack on Wednesday on a Shiite mosque in Iraq provoked a wave of rioting and violence. Just in Baghdad, tens of Sunnis have been found dead. How are these recent events foreshadowed by the history of the relations between these two communities in Iraq?

There has existed in Iraq for the past two years a creeping civil war between the majority Shiites, who are in power, and the minority Sunnis, who represent close to 20% of the Iraqi population. It was triggered by Sunni fundamentalists linked to al Qaeda. They decided to make war against the Shiites of Iraq, which is to say against the United States as it is represented in the Iraqi community. This war has already killed tens of thousands, notably Shiites, the victims of waves of attacks.

Free Caricatures

Fri, 03 Feb 2006 01:48:52 -0800

02/02/06 -- Twelve drawings, published on September 30, 2005, by the Danish weekly Jyllands-Posten and entitled “The 12 faces of Mahommed�? are stirring up emotions amongst Muslims and anger in Arab countries. One of the caricatures depicts the head of the Prophet sporting a bomb-shaped turban. Dalil Boubakeur, who directs the Muslim Council of France (Conseil français du culte musulman - CFCM), sees it as a new sign of “islamophobia towards Muslims and their religion.�? Whilst it has not taken on the stature of the Salman Rushdie affair, when the author became the subject of a fatwa in 1988 condemning him to death for his interpretation of the Koran, the controversy is still swelling, such that some of the Arab countries have demanded - fortunately in vain - that Denmark “sanction�? the caricaturists.

“It is Quite Possible That There Were Flights�? From the CIA Into France, Say the Quai d’Orsay

Fri, 02 Dec 2005 11:29:40 -0800

12/02/05 -- “It is quite possible that there were flights,�? Jean-Baptiste Mattéi the spokesperson of the Foreign Minister declared on Friday. This refers to the allegations in this week’s Figaro, concerning stop-overs in France of aeroplanes chartered by the CIA to transport Islamist prisoners.

The Government Wants to Extend the State of Emergency by Three Months

Tue, 15 Nov 2005 15:38:18 -0800

11/14/05 -- On Monday morning, at a meeting of ministers called expressly for the purpose, the government approved a draft law extending the state of emergency for three months starting November 21.* The President of the National Assembly swiftly announced that the draft law will be considered on Tuesday at 4:30 PM. According to an April 3, 1955, law, the government may declare a state of emergency by decree for a maximum of 12 days -- which was done on November 8. But the extension of the state of emergency must be confirmed by a law voted on by the Parliament.

Curfew Imposed in Several Large Cities

Wed, 09 Nov 2005 15:23:28 -0800

11/09/05 -- Curfews were ordered on Wednesday, November 9, in several large cities in France, where suburban violence nevertheless seemed to be on the decline after the government's establishment of a state of emergency to rein in a crisis that has raged for nearly two weeks.