The French-American Foundation Weekly Brief

 FRANCE

Libération reported that an Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean Sunday evening. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Brazilian military located a trail of debris thought to be from the downed Airbus A330 and that authorities were beginning a search for the aircraft’s flight recorders. However, CNN noted that authorities eventually concluded that the debris was not from the flight. The Irish Times provided a timeline of the plane’s last moments. Le Point described the memorial service given at the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

Voice of America described the international nature of the search effort, which includes Brazilian, French, and U.S. ships and aircraft. Finding the recorders may prove extraordinarily difficult, however, as the plane disappeared outside the reach of radar and over deep ocean waters reaching depths of 3,900 meters or 12,800 feet, according to CBC news.  The Telegraph reported that searchers have around 30 days to find the flight recorders before their homing devices will cease to function. The Guardian reported that the Airbus A330 had a nearly perfect safety record before this week’s crash, and Bloomberg noted that the disaster was Air France-KLM Group’s first fatal accident since the Concorde disaster nine years ago.

Richard Descoings, director of Sciences Po Paris, presented his recommendations for the reform of France’s high schools to President Nicolas Sarkozy, said Le Figaro. A summary of the findings is available at the blog Lycéepourtous.fr. La Connexion listed some of the recommendations, which included “rebalancing” the content of the scientific, economic and social, and literature diplomas, as well as providing more career advice to students.

Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said that a third EPR nuclear reactor would not be necessary to meet France’s electricity needs, according to Europe1. Usinenouvelle.com said that energy use in France will actually decline by 6 percent over the next 10 years, and a press release from the Ecology Ministry outlines how France will increase its use of renewable energy sources.

See also:  
– David Lebovitz: Fifteen things I would miss about Paris if I moved.
– The Christian Science Monitor: Enthusiasm for university strikes is waning.

UNITED STATES

The Book Bench blog of the New Yorker magazine described the importance of the French-American Foundation and Florence Gould Foundation Translation Prizes, noting that “less than three percent of what gets published [in the United States] is translated from a foreign language,” and concluding: “Thank goodness there are people who do this for a living.”

President Barack Obama sat down for a long interview with Laura Haim of Canal Plus, during which he discussed his trips to Europe and Saudi Arabia, noting that “France is one of the most important countries in the world and helps to set trends in how we deal with everything from climate change to the global recession.”
 
L’Express reported that Dr. George Tiller, one of only a few doctors providing late-term abortions in the United States, was killed by a gunman in Wichita, Kansas. Le Nouvel Observateur provided a timeline of anti-abortion violence in the United States.
 
Le Monde said that the Obama administration has nominated John McHugh, a republican member of Congress, to become secretary of the army. L’Express pointed out that McHugh is known for his moderate positions in Congress and will be the third republican in the administration along with Robert Gates, the secretary of defense, and Ray LaHood, secretary of transportation.

See also:
– Reuters: Advice for Obama in Europe.
– The Washington Post: Nuclear secrets revealed.

BUSINESS AND ECONOMY

The BBC reported that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner traveled to China to reassure the country that its $770 billion in U.S. treasuries continue to be a safe investment. An analysis from the Hudson Institute argued that Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and his colleagues are nervous and upset about the prospect of not being paid back. The American Prospect contended that a large part of Geithner’s mission was to urge China to adopt new policies to dramatically change the focus of its export-driven economy. Mother Jones asked whether the world could survive ecologically if China emulates the U.S. economic way of life.

Le Figaro noted that General Motors filed for bankruptcy, calling it “the end of an era” for American industry, and Les Echos called it a “historic ending.” In the Wall Street Journal, P.J. O’Rourke described how Americans fell out of love with the American automobile. The Economist said that the challenge remains to save something useful from the wreckage of the former automotive giant.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde said EU countries ought to reconsider applying the bloc’s rules on fiscal spending during a time of economic crisis, according to Deutsche-Welle. Unemployment in the eurozone is up to 9.2 percent from 8.9 percent in March, according to Eurostat. The Financial Times noted that although Europe has shown signs of climbing out of the recession, weak demand for the continent’s exports continues to push up unemployment.

L’Oréal, the world’s largest cosmetics company, celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, according to Challenges. Reuters noted that the company maintained 15.8 percent of the global cosmetics market and that it would benefit from a slow recovery in consumer spending this year.

See also:
– Hoover Institution: Why investor confidence plunged.
– The Financial Times: Bond auction fatigue.

INTERNATIONAL

TIME magazine reported on the kerfuffle over the commemoration of the Allied landings at Normandy, with various parties pointing fingers over the fact that the Queen Elizabeth II was not invited to attend the ceremonies. The BBC reported that President Barack Obama, who will attend the ceremony on June 6, was working to secure an invitation for the Queen, and the affair concluded with the Prince of Wales agreeing to attend. Reuters reported that France will be honoring a U.S. Navy veteran who participated in the landings with a medal, making him a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.

President Obama gave a speech this week in Cairo on America’s relationship with Muslim communities around the world. An analysis from the Times of London contended that it was a mistake to address 57 Muslim-majority countries as a homogenous whole. The Los Angeles Times said that the president needs a concrete “big idea” to guide U.S policy toward the Arab and Muslim world. In Foreign Policy, Ramez Maluf argued that Obama can’t “sell” America and that “until the Israel-Palestine issue is solved, there’s only so much rhetoric can do.”

In the run-up to European elections, Der Spiegel continued its series on “27 Views of Europe,” teaming up with various news outlets from across the continent to showcase citizens’ views of the election. An analysis in TIME magazine noted that in the European Parliament, mainstream parties often take a backseat to candidates and parties from the fringe of the political spectrum.

Voice of America reported that 5,000 demonstrators rallied in Hong Kong to mark the anniversary of the 1989 pro-democracy protests in Beijing. Wang Dan, a student leader of the Tiananmen protests, argued that the reforms that he was advocating in 1989 remain central challenges for China in the New York Times. PC World noted that the popular microbroadcasting site Twitter was blocked in China just two days before the anniversary.

See also:
– The Washington Post: President Sarkozy meets the Iranian foreign minister.
– Der Spiegel: Obama and Merkel as trans-Atlantic frenemies.

The views expressed in the preceding press coverage are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of the French-American Foundation nor its directors, officers, employees or representatives.
 
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