French-American Foundation Weekly Brief highlights political, economic and cultural news stories related to France and French-American relations as well as trans-Atlantic and European issues.
- Anti-Islamist raids kill one, put France on alert
- Government likely to back down on taxes after business leaders fight back
- ECB satisfied, while IMF warns of future trouble for France, Spain, Europe
- Romney talks tough on foreign policy
- Obama honors Chavez in nod to Latino electorate
- Cyber attacks on the rise along with costs for U.S. businesses
France & Europe
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French-American duo take Nobel Prize in Physics
The 2012 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded on Tuesday, October 9, to Frenchman Serge Haroche and American David Wineland for their work on “quantum optics” allowing for the manipulation and measurement of light and matter, Le Figaro, Scientific American and BBC reported. The day before, the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine was awarded to British John Gurdon and Japanese Shinya Yamanaka for work to discover that mature cells could become pluripotent stem cells, according to Le Monde.
Two U.S. scientists, Robert Lefkowitz and Brian Kobilka, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on Wednesday, October 10, for their study of “G-protein-coupled receptors,” as covered by Le Figaro .Three days into the weeklong series of awards given annually, Haroche became the 55th French recipient. 243 Americans have recieved the prize explored by Le Parisien.
Anti-Islamist raids kill one, puts France on alert
Early on Saturday, October 6, police carried out raids on alleged young, radical Islamists in the Paris region and in several cities across the nation, leading to 11 arrests and the shooting death of one Strasbourg man suspected of a grenade attack on a Jewish market, The Chicago Tribune, France 24 and Le Nouvel Observateur reported. On Sunday, October 7, President François Hollande met with Muslim and Jewish leaders to discuss the events and promise tighter security in religious centers, as the nation was placed on alert for radical Islamists, according to The New York Times and Le Point. La Croix explored the response from Muslim leaders, who are working to make clear their support for religious tolerance and distance themselves from radical individuals.
French parliament approves European budget pact
The French National Assembly voted 477-70 in favor of the European budget pact to set limits on national deficits, L’Humanité, Le Figaro and The LA Times reported. The passage of the bill came as little surprise, as the majority Socialist Party was joined by centrists and members of the center-right Union for a Popular Movement. However, members from the far-left and far-right voted against the measure, as did the Green party, whose alliance with the ruling Socialist Party was brought into question when party leaders voted not to support the bill in the past weeks.
Government likely to back down on taxes after business leaders fight back
Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici announced on Thursday, October 4, that the government would likely ease tax hikes proposed as part of the 2013 budget after business leaders not only protested but threatened to leave the nation if faced with tax rates as high as the controversial 75-percent income tax proposed for all people earning more than €1 million per year, The Chicago Tribune, Bloomberg and Reuters reported. The New York Times looked at the change in attitude on the part of French business leaders, who recently acknowledged that higher taxes would be necessary to curb the nation’s deficit. Those same people are now saying that the September 28 budget put forth by President François Hollande’s cabinet exceeds reasonable and bearable levels.
ECB satisfied, while IMF warns of future trouble for France, Spain, Europe
European Central Bank President Mario Draghi announced on Thursday, October 4, that the eurozone’s central bank would not change interest rates, expressing satisfaction with the institution’s actions, including the much debated debt-buying program launched in September, Le Parisien and La Tribune reported. However, the International Monetary Fund warned that European economies remain in danger when it released its semiannual Economic Outlook on Tuesday, October 9, saying the ECB might need to cut interest rates further in the near future, according to Bloomberg. The IMF lowered its predicted global growth from 3.5 to 3.3 percent for 2012 and set its prediction for 2013 at 3.6 percent. The report expressed concern that France would not be able to lower its deficit to European target levels, forecasting instead 4.7 percent of GDP this year instead of the previous 4.5 percent, and 3.5 instead of 3 percent for 2013, according to The Wall Street Journal and Le Nouvel Observateur.
Merkel receives mixed welcome on first visit to Greece
German Chancellor Angela Merkel arrived in Athens on Tuesday, October 9, for her first official visit since the beginning of the European debt crisis to reassure leaders of her commitment to the European Union and to supporting Greek stability, Les Echos and The New York Times reported. However, the response on the streets did not reflect the sense of solidarity being promoted in official meetings, as tens of thousands gathered in protest of the considerable austerity Greece has been forced to accept to secure European and International Monetary Fund bailouts, as covered by Reuters and La Tribune.
NATO, U.N. back Turkey as Syrian violence flows beyond border
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon announced on Tuesday, October 9, that Lakhdar Brahimi, special envoy to Syria, would soon visit the nation to propose an all-out ceasefire nearly a week after tensions spilled beyond Syrian borders into Turkey, Reuters reported. Five people were killed in Turkey when Syrian shells crossed the border on Wednesday, October 3 creating an ongoing cross-border dispute which resulted in a U.N. Security Council condemnation the following day as Turkey’s parliament voted to permit armed forces to enter Syria if violence continued, according to CNN, Le Nouvel Observateur and The Wall Street Journal. Le Figaro reported that NATO quickly backed member-nation Turkey in condemning Syria’s violence not only inside its borders but also in neighboring nations.
United States
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First presidential debate sees Romney resurface a month from vote
Five weeks from the president elections, incumbent Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney faced off on Wednesday, October 3, in the first official televised debate focusing on domestic policy. Lacking the charm and enthusiasm that defined his road to the White House in 2008, consensus seemed to declare Romney the “winner.” Post-debate Pew and Gallup polls showed the president losing his lead over his Republican opponent, as covered by Libération, The LA Times and Le Parisien. Following the debate, Obama continued on the campaign trail, taking a more aggressive approach and accusing Romney of presenting a political ideology in opposition to the one which he had promoted in the lead up to the debate. The two will face off in two more debates before the November 6 vote, as explored by L’Express, Le Monde and The Washington Post.
Romney talks tough on foreign policy
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney spoke on Thursday, October 4, at the Virginia Military Institute, striving to gain ground on foreign policy in a race that has focused heavily on domestic issues. Strongly criticizing the military strategy of President Barack Obama, Romney said he would take a more aggressive stance in Syria and in other regions to create relations based on shared values, as covered by Le Monde, CNN and the Council on Foreign Relations.
Obama honors Chavez in nod to Latino electorate
Also on the campaign trail in California on Monday, October 8, President Barack Obama declared the home of César Chávez, emblematic figure in the fight for laborer’s rights in the 1960s, a national monument, Le Monde and ABC reported. The Christian Science Monitor explored the implications of this gesture as Obama seeks to court the Latino vote.
Supreme Court reviews affirmative action but not cell-phone monitoring
The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Tuesday, October 9, that it would not hear a six-year-old class-action case being brought against the United States’ telecommunications carriers for their secret role in the monitoring of telephone calls by the National Security Agency, The LA Times and the Associated Press reported. The Court is, however, set to hear on Wednesday, October 10, arguments in the case of Abigail Fisher, a white woman who claims the University of Texas denied her admission based on her race, challenging a 2003 decision to allow such affirmative action in college admissions, according to Le Point, La Croix and The Chicago Tribune.
Cyber attacks on the rise along with costs for U.S. businesses
The Ponemon Institute and HP released its annual “Cost of Cyber Crime Study” on Monday, October 8, showing that successful cyber attacks have risen by 42 percent since 2011, L’Express and Information Week reported. As the average business is cited as being attacked twice per week, the report estimated the cost of cyber crime to a U.S. business as $8.9 million annually.
Protestants no longer religious majority as “nones” are on the rise
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released a report on Tuesday, October 9, entitled, “Nones” on the Rise, which indicated that about 20 percent of Americans identified themselves as “nones” – people with no religious affiliation, a five-percent increase in just five years, Slate and Business Insider reported. The percentage of non-affiliated American adults under the age of 30 was even higher at 32 percent. The increase in people citing no religious affiliation in turn caused the number of other traditional religious affiliations to decrease, as the poll showed that, for the first time, Protestants did not make up a majority of the American population, with only 48 percent identifying themselves as such, as covered by The Guardian and La Croix.