These thrills do not come cheap…
Source: LE MONDE
This leading French daily newspaper Le Monde (“The World”) was founded in December 1944 in the aftermath of World War II. Today, it is distributed in 120 countries. In late 2010, a trio formed by Pierre Berge, Xavier Niel and Matthieu Pigasse took a controlling 64.5% stake in the newspaper.
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In Syria, The Time To Act Is Now
The images of an apparent chemical attack in Syria mean that the West’s wait-and-see approach is simply no longer viable.
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Homes Are Us: The World According To Ikea
In seven decades, Ikea has spread to 41 countries, shaping the globe’s domestic habits. But looking closer at the Swedish standard also shows national cultural differences holding strong.
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A Visit To The “Greek Guantanamo”
Greece has been repeatedly criticized for its treatment of undocumented immigrants and asylum seekers. One its harshest detention centers in the city of Corinth, south of Athens.
Since the army’s assault on Muslim Brotherhood began, Egypt’s non-Muslim minority, the Copts, have been killed and their churches and buildings burned by radicals in the Brotherhood.
Mohammed VI pardoned a Spanish pedophile, before reversing himself. The case raised questions about the monarchy, but also exposes Morocco’s inability to confront the plague of sex abuse.
The liberal arm of the anti-Muslim Brotherhood movement is unlikely to survive the army’s bloody attack on supporters of former President Mohamed Morsi.
John Kerry has convinced Israeli and Palestinian leaders that the region’s upheaval requires them to at least search for a solution. Whether they find it is another question.
CAIRO – What has become of Tahrir Square? It is of course still right there, in the center of Cairo, just off the banks of the Nile, the eternal Egyptian Museum, the Nile Hilton hotel (under seemingly endless restoration) and the Mogamma — the huge Stalinist building that serves as permanent headquarters for the Egyptian […]
“Civilizations die from suicide, not by murder,” wrote British historian Arnold Toynbee. Lessons from the downfall of the automotive industry’s once-glorious capital.
His political career began as a struggle against racist oppression and continued until achieving his country’s independence. But the newly re-elected leader, 89, is epitomized by violence and corruption.
Youthful believers in Brittany target vacationers with God’s word, hoping to return “asleep” Catholics to the path to faith.
Two environmentalists are killed on average every week as land struggles intensify violence against green activists worldwide.
Djamel Mastouri was told as a child that he’d never walk again. He went on to become an Olympic champion and an accomplished French soldier.
GULF OF GUINEA – In the dark of night, dozens of oil wells are spitting orange flames. They are the only things to be seen on this jet-black sea. This area south of Nigeria is one of the largest offshore oil fields in the world. There are no lights on the deck of the Latouche-Treville […]
Seven months after a student was brutally gang-raped and killed on a public bus in New Delhi, India has new legislation and an established women’s movement — but is it enough?
Illegal irrigation and other practices by black-market marijuana growers are drying up California’s rivers, poisoning groundwater and killing wildlife.
A niggling feeling of doubt came over me. Had the school trip been educational? Was it even a school trip, i.e. was the presence of two teachers and a class of students any guarantee of learning? We had worked hard all year, I can tell you that much. We knew everything there was to know […]
The protests that led to the Egyptian president’s fall began in a tiny Cairo apartment, but ultimately got the backing of anti-Muslim Brotherhood businessmen — and the military.
SAGONE – Ecstatic strawberry; erotic nougat; the forgotten flavours of violets, helichrysums, and Persian black limes… Can ice-cream contain a touch of genius? If it’s Pierre Geronimi making it, absolutely! An artisanal ice-cream maker from the little village of Sagone, north of Ajaccio, this Corsican grew up surrounded by the sorbets that his father, a […]
SAINT-DENIS – Those going through the Legion d’Honneur Square, not far from the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Denis, in the northern Seine-Saint-Denis suburb of Paris, will perhaps wonder about the presence of a globe-shaped monument in the middle of a flower bed. As they come closer, they will see that names, surnames and numbers have […]
Cases of vandalism are multiplying against Arab villages and places of worship.
You probably have never heard of French engineer Louis Pouzin. But you might not be reading this website without him. At 82, he offers a unique perspective on Edward Snowden, and us all.
SHANGLIN – Zhen Minxin keeps repeating that he is “lucky.” On this warm morning of mid-June, his return back home is being celebrated, with the slices of watermelon laid out on the table and cigarette butts scattered on the floor as sure signs of the festivities. Zhen’s own cigarettes are Gold Seal, a brand unknown […]
Though Israeli leaders were pleasantly surprised by some aspects of Mohammed Morsi’s reign, they are not sorry to see him go. For one thing, it’s a big blow to Hamas.
ISTANBUL – An electronic version of a Strauss waltz suddenly starts to play. In the small fountain in the center of the mall, some trickles of water start to sprinkle up, with blue and green spotlights illuminating the scene. All in rhythm. Everybody freezes at the moment the spectacle begins: a group of men seated […]
Like other countries, France faces a rising number of young people who arrive illegally into the country, without their parents or other family members. It poses unique questions.
With the latest incarnation of Superman on the silver screen in “Man of Steel,” we see the most evolved form of the complicated and conflicted superhero.
PARIS – The revelations of the controversial U.S. domestic surveillance program PRISM have provoked massive indignation through much of Europe, but France has been rather quiet. There are two simple explanations: Paris was already aware — and does exactly the same. Le Monde has confirmed that the “Direction Générale de la Securité Extérieure” (DGSE, the […]
On the Moroccan beaches, near Tangier or Casablanca, the dunes have disappeared – leaving a lunar landscape. They were not destroyed by storms, but stolen night after night by squads of trucks – to build vacation homes for the tourists who come for the coast’s warm waters and soft sands. For many years now the […]
KASSERINE – Sitting on his doorstep, squinting under his straw hat, the shepherd looks closely at the military tank that crosses his land with a deafening rumble. “For now, we let them, but if it goes on, we, the people, we will revolt and stop this joke by all available means,” says Ridha Messaoudi. Early […]
Lance Armstrong hasn’t told “the whole story” yet. Ever since his long-awaited January confession with Oprah Winfrey, the high priestess of American talk shows, the now former seven-time winner of the Tour de France hasn’t uttered a word, just a rare tweet from time to time to his four million followers on Twitter. So when […]
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Confession Of A Pickpocket In Paris
PARIS – Jessica is the pseudonym she used. Her real name is Vasvija Ferhatovic. She was born in Rome on Jan. 24, 1985 and the only “job” this young woman ever had is thief. In May, a Paris criminal court convicted her and 15 other girls to sentences between one and five years in jail. […]
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Naked Courage In China
Both for the consequences they face from Chinese authorities and for their radical forms of protest, these women’s rights activists can make Femen seem tame by comparison.
To help mark France’s annual Fete de la Musique, Le Monde looks back at an old study that asked whether country music causes suicide.
-Essay- PARIS – From the Turkish protests in Istanbul to the French anti gay-marriage protests, and from euthanasia rights to fledgling forms of participatory democracy, it is difficult to ignore the growing aspirations of Europeans toward autonomy and freedom of choice. This new individualization dynamic is silently revolutionizing European values. Individualization is the the power […]
NANTES – “Do not touch…” When she ran her fingers over this Braille inscription on the wall of the Sainte-Croix church, in the city of Nantes, western France, the young blind woman burst out laughing. After translation, her sighted friends were also won over by the irony of the artist. Working under the pseudonym The […]
NEW DELHI – In 2012, out of the millions of people displaced by natural disasters around the world, over a quarter were from northeast India. Almost nine million inhabitants were forced to flee the region’s devastating monsoon. These forced displacements are a common occurrence. Floods have become so routine in Assam, a state located at […]
JINAN – How to “surf” anonymously on the Web, in a country – China – where cybercafés ask for proof of ID before you are allowed to log onto the Internet? In order to circumvent this requirement, Mr Guo, owner of a cybercafé in Jinan city, northeastern Chinese Shandong Province, had found a perfect solution: […]
QOM – “What are you going to do there?” asks an Iranian youth I meet in Tehran. “For us, that’s not even Iran.” My destination is Qom, 120 kilometers south of the capital. On this day, at the end of March 2013 (year 1392 according to the Persian calendar), it is snowing. I arrive at […]