Move along, there’s nothing to see here.
The much vaunted September fireworks between Israel, the U.S. and the Palestinians at the United Nations is turning out to be a rather soggy squib. As things stand, by virtue of the choices made by President Mahmoud Abbas in the face of considerable pressure from his longtime sponsors in …
Few would disagree that disgraced British fashion designer John Galliano was acting like a drug- and alcohol-addled jerk. On two separate occasions at the same Paris bar last October and February, he unleashed anti-Semitic insults and was caught on video saying he loved Hitler. But if Galliano’s tirades were socially disturbing, a …
Anyone who had been expecting any significant expression from former International Monetary chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn upon his return to Paris —whether contrite, embarrassed, indignant, or bristling with claims of innocence—wound up sadly disappointed Sunday. Just 11 days after all criminal charges against DSK for sexual …
In the interests of thorough reporting, fairness to French President Nicolas Sarkozy—and adding new information without messing up the date of yesterday’s post with updating after the calendar has turned—herewith an amendment to Wednesday’s item on France’s epic Bettencourt scandal.
By the end of Wednesday, the Elysée was …
As far as scandals go, it’s the gift that keeps giving—and now it’s starting to give French President Nicolas Sarkozy the same pain in the derrière that it previously inflicted on his fellow conservatives. “It” is the now notorious “affaire Bettencourt”—a tangle of allegations involving manipulation, influence …
It’s easy to see how Libya offers a “new model” for American intervention abroad when comparing it with the ill-conceived invasion of Iraq in 2003, but the mission to overthrow the regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi has too much in common with the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan to mark it, at this stage, as the herald of a new era of …
It’s a small, real-time world, and it’s now evident no niche is too elite or removed from it to withstand a fad that has gone viral. Take France’s rich folk, who have turned billionaire businessman Warren Buffet into the hottest trend-setter among the globe’s super-wealthy by echoing his attention-grabbing New York Times …
As polls have persistently shown both leading candidates in France’s Socialist Party presidential primary beating conservative incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy in mock elections over the months, Elysée advisers have confidently predicted voters will again swing behind their champion en masse once he starts campaigning on his bilan—or, …
After a certain point, it was probably fated to be so. But less than 24 hours after a New York judge dismissed the criminal case against former International Monetary fund chief for sexual assault, it’s clear the outcome of the drama that mesmerized much of the world leaves everyone a loser. In the end, virtually everybody will …
No one thought Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his hard-core supporters would go away easily, and more than 48 hours after rebel forces stormed the capital of Tripoli, that determination to dig in was still evident. But if few observers believe Gaddafi’s renewed efforts to prove his regime remains a force to reckon with can turn …
If the dramatic advances in recent days that have taken opponents of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi toward — then into — Tripoli have thus far elicited only the most careful responses from tight-lipped Western leaders, there’s a good chance those officials are showing more emotion over the conflict, which is apparently nearing …
A few of you, or at least your 401(k)s, may have noticed that financial markets plummeted again on Thursday. European markets closed at or near two-year lows across the board and the Dow closed down more than 400 points.
Asian markets Friday morning opened in the tank: the Nikkei index tumbling more than 2.5%, Sydney down 3.5%, …
Politicians are notorious cynics, but French President Nicolas Sarkozy may be in a league of his own when it comes to exploiting collective crises in the hopes of creating personal gain. That is precisely what he was up to Tuesday during his joint press conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, where he sought extend a …
