Categories
Future Geopolitics

Drilling Into Oblivion: Call Of The “Collapsologists”

PARIS — Some figures will make your head spin. Since the end of World War II, the number of inhabitants on the planet has increased nearly three-fold. And in that time, people used more resources than were consumed during the entire history of mankind prior to 1945. Even more alarming is how quickly consumption continues […]

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Society

Le Corbusier, Measure Of A Modern Man

PARIS — It has been 50 years since the death of Le Corbusier, the Swiss-born architect, artist and writer considered by some to be the most influential force in the way modern cities are designed and built. To mark his life and work, the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris has dedicated an entire exhibition to […]

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LGBTQ Plus Society

Being Gay And Muslim In France

MARSEILLE — Saïd* carries the dishes to the living room table as guests arrive in dribs and drabs with more food in their arms. The atmosphere is cheerful as greetings, kisses and the latest family news are shared with smiles. Earlier in this just-concluded holy month of Ramadan, the members of the Homosexual Muslims of […]

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Future Geopolitics

French Food Startup Aims To Sell “Insect Meat” Around The World

Can bug by-products help satisfy the world’s growing appetite for animal proteins? The French founders of Ynsect think so.

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Geopolitics

Iran Nuclear Deal, On Close Inspection With Laurent Fabius

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius had held one of the toughest lines against Tehran. He describes the quest for “efficient compromises for complex issues.”

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Geopolitics

Iranian Nuclear: From 13-Year Standoff To 11th-Hour Deal

A timeline of a standoff that long seemed destined to continue, or worse.

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Society

The Paris Academy Grooming Migrants For A “Refined” Life In France

A school founded in 2008 offers classes in literature, cuisine and the finer points of French culture and language to a new class of refugees from around the world every year to help them integrate to their new home.

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Geopolitics

In Xi´s Shadow: What Holds Back Chinese Premier Li Keqiang

PARIS — France rolled out the proverbial red carpet this past week for Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang, offering what one diplomatic source described as “presidential treatment.” The welcome contrasts with the second-fiddle status Li is used to back in China, where he is more often than not overshadowed by President Xi Jinping, with whom […]

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Society

Beyond Descartes: The Mindfulness Revolution Lands In France

The meditation-driven movement focusing on the present is spreading around the world. In France, mindfulness must battle national tendencies toward cynicism and overthinking everything.

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Future

Capturing Energy From A Flag Flapping In The Wind

French scientists have discovered how flags, made of the right material, can be an alternative to wind turbines.

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Geopolitics Ideas

NSA Spying On France, Time For America´s Mea Culpa

Few are shocked by revelations that U.S. intelligence spied on French presidents. But if Washington wants to be a good ally, it should start with a loud and clear apology to all its snooped-on friends.

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Geopolitics The Endless War

Can France Shake Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks To Life?

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has a plan that sets a strict 18-month deadline for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to find a lasting accord. If not, he says France will recognize Palestine nationhood anyway.

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Future Society

New Nouvelle Vague – France Flirts With Digital Cinema

Some film distributors are choosing to release movies directly online without theater screenings. Because of cinema regulations, this new model is forbidden in France — for French movies — but foreign films are another matter.

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Economy Society

Meet “Boreout,” Burnout’s Blasé Cousin

PARIS — Are you bored at work? Do you stare blankly at your screen wondering what to do with the rest of your day? No doubt, you are a victim of “boreout,” which describes persistent boredom and disengagement in your work. What causes this listlessness and how can you solve it? Frédéric Méduin, a physician […]

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blog Society

Umberto Eco, From Old Conspiracy Theories To The Future Of News

Medievalist, novelist, and renown public intellectual, Umberto Eco’s most recent novel Numero Zero will be published in English this November. A regular contributor to Italy’s L’Espresso magazine and La Repubblica newspaper, his new work of fiction delves into the truth and lies of the mass media. He spoke with Le Monde. LE MONDE: Do you […]

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blog Geopolitics

Egyptian President Sisi, A Year Of Strong Words And Symbolism

In his first year as president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi has shown surprising rhetorical flair, even as he consistently sends contrasting messages.

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Ideas Society

Farewell G-String, Hello Wawrinka Shorts

Fashion tides are always changing, and as the weather warms, comfort is in for both ladies and gentlemen.

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Geopolitics Society

Is Michel Platini The Man To Save FIFA?

PARIS — Eternally nostalgic of its past grandeur, France is already dreaming about the prospect out loud: Platini! As an attacking midfielder, he led France to the 1984 European Championship and Italian squad Juventus to club dominance, before turning manager and overseeing the 1998 World Cup organization in France and eventually taking over as head […]

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Society

Are Cinemas Afraid To Show French Skinhead Movie?

Filmmaker Diasteme’s new movie suggests links between neo-Nazis and France’s third largest party the National Front. He says cinemas are now dropping the film.

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Geopolitics Migrant Lives

Migration Crisis, Dismantling A Makeshift Tent City In Paris

Europe’s immigration crisis has also been gathering under a Metro overpass in the French capital. Officials have now acted, but that hardly means there is a solution.

Categories
Future Ideas

The Controversial Link Between Genetics And Civil War

Though their conclusions have been criticized as racist and fatalistic, a group of researchers argues that civil wars are more likely in countries where there are vast genetic, and therefore aesthetic, differences among populations.

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Society

French Cities Start To Question Bike-Sharing Costs And Benefits

Many international cities have adopted broad, bicycle-sharing systems that have become hugely popular. Early adopting French cities are now studying the bill.

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Future Society

Snap! French Doctors Get Serious About Hypnotherapy

For maladies from stress to unexplained itching and bulimia, hypnosis is increasingly establishing itself as a therapeutic tool among bona fide medical professionals.

Categories
Society

This Muslim Woman Is A Prison Chaplain In France

VILLENEUVE D’ASCQ — Envelopes and calendars, decorative stickers, headscarves, prayer rugs and small copies of the Koran: Samia el-Alaoui Talibi, 54, has her car’s trunk packed full of gifts. A trained mathematician, she’s one of the only Muslim women in France to work as a prison chaplain. The presents she brings are for the convicts […]

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Society

Thierry Fremaux, Dream Maker And Breaker Of Cannes

Every year, he watches 1,800 films and rejects 1,750. Inside the life of the Cannes Film Festival’s almighty power broker.

Categories
Society

My Prison Diary, A French Inmate’s Battle To Become A Transsexual

Sentenced to 18 years in prison, Franck fought to undergo a sex change operation with hunger strikes and endless mutilations. Chloe is now a free woman, and married to her former cellmate.

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Society

The Paraplegic Stuntman Who Got Back On The Horse

A filming accident left French equestrian stuntman Bernard Sachse paralyzed below his tenth vertebra. But his career is busier than ever.

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Society

The Singular Life Of The Klarsfelds, Husband-And-Wife Nazi Hunters

The French son of an Auschwitz victim and German daughter of a Hitler supporter spent their lives confronting Nazi crimes, from capturing Klaus Barbie to a symbolic slap of a German Chancellor.

Categories
Economy Future

Aching For Pharmacies To Embrace The Amazon Model

-Analysis- PARIS — As pharmacists look to the future, the first thing they should bear in mind is that the health market is growing as it never has before. But it’s also just as true that consumer habits are changing. People are better informed, more demanding and more prone to self-medication. All of those are […]

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Ideas Society

Handbags, The Accessory That’s Carried On Through The Ages

Bags, pouches and purses are among the world’s oldest fashion items, used through the ages for carrying seeds, weapons and eyeliner. A history of this most indispensable adornment.

Categories
Economy Future Society

That Mind-Boggling Post-Modern Waiting-In-Line Paradox

In our always plugged-in era of uber immediacy, some of us are willing and eager to wait ages to buy the latest smartphone or eat a certain hamburger from a truck.

Categories
Future

Double-Edged Sword Of The “Open Hardware” Revolution

PARIS — Opendesk.cc is an original website in more ways than one. First of all, its domain name in .cc is that of the Coco Islands, but also means Creative Commons, a license system used by those who believe in sharing “open source” material. Indeed, this concept of “free material” is also part of what […]

Categories
Future Society

Can Startups Change The World? A French Alternative To Silicon Valley

They call themselves the “Barbarians,” ready to challenge both the status quo in France and the prevailing ethos of U.S. startups obsessed with power and money.

Categories
Economy Ideas

Is The Full-Time Employee Headed For Extinction?

France lags behind the rest of the industrialized world in facing fundamental changes to the nature of work. The old model dominated by wage labor just can’t compete.

Categories
Future Society

What Your Passwords Say About Your Psychology

PARIS — On the other end of the line, the voice of the person from the IT maintenance service grows insistent. “Miss, I really need your password to unlock your computer.” You blush by yourself, try to be as inconspicuous as possible in the open office before whispering in the receiver: “lapinou69” (“bunny69”). A chuckle […]

Categories
Future Ideas

Genetic Engineering, Humankind Creeps Toward A ‘Planet Of The Apes’

-OpEd- PARIS — Half-animal, half-human? The astounding developments in nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science (NBIC) are posing problems that we thought only existed in science fiction. Recent studies have brought us closer to Planet of the Apes, written by French novelist Pierre Boulle in 1963. In three experiments, the last one of which […]

Categories
Society

Exploited By France’s Far Right, Joan Of Arc Reborn As Icon For All

ROUEN — Coming out of the train station, the rue Jeanne d’Arc, a wide street along the river Seine in this northern French city, leads us straight to the Jeanne d’Arc bridge. And between the two, we pass many signs evoking the young warrior’s name: a cafe named “Jeanne d’Arc,” a church, of course, even […]

Categories
Economy Geopolitics

French Intellectuals Try Crowdfunding To Save Greece

With scant help common from Frankfurt, a group of French intellectuals is calling for online donations to help the Greek people. Desperate times indeed.

Categories
Society

Millennial And Homeless, In France

Young adults between 18 and 25 are an increasingly vulnerable population in France. Jobless and rejected by their families, they are finding themselves on the streets in disturbing numbers.

Categories
Geopolitics Ideas

How TV Series Can Help Us Understand Geopolitics

-OpEd- PARIS — Some say that television shows are to our time what serials were to 19th century literature, an inexhaustible source of entertainment and conversations. During “urbane dinners,” it has become obligatory to demonstrate knowledge of this new cultural front. “Tell me which shows you watch and I’ll tell you who you are.” Besides […]

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