Cross-posted from The Global Sociology Blog. My post, my views.

Via Le Monde, Nathalie Menigon, member of the French terrorist group Action Directe, has been paroled. She was serving two life sentences since 1989 with a minimum of 18 years without parole. She actually was already under the statute of “semi-liberte” since 2007 (where an inmate is allowed out during the day to go to work, but has to report to the prison or a halfway house at night and on weekends). The conditions of her parole also include limitations on where and when and for how long she is allowed to travel.

She is also not allowed to discuss her case outside of her legal representation. But she is not allowed to give interviews to the media or to write a book about the events that led to her conviction.

At this point, then, the only member of Action Directe still incarcerated is George Cipriani (his case is to be reviewed in September). Jean-Marc Rouillan (Menigon’s husband and co-founder with her of Action Directe) has been in semi-liberte since 2007 (he has published books and works now at the company that published them). Joelle Aubron was released in 2004 as part of a law that allows for the liberation of very sick inmates. She died in 2006.

Action Directe was the French version of the left-wing groups that engaged in armed actions against representatives of what they perceived to be a repressive state or figures of national capitalism. They parallel the history of groups such the German Baader-Meinhof (RAF) or the Italian Red Brigades. Action Directe is alleged to be responsible for the assassination of George Besse, ex-CEO of the French car manufacturer Renault and of Eurodif, a nuclear power company, as well as the assassination of Engineer General Rene Audran, who was in charge of the French arms sales.

The four members were all arrested in 1987.

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Here is the Saturday, July 19th, 2008 edition of interesting reads from around the world.

Nepal Set to Elect Its First President
Having abolished the monarchy, Nepal is set to elect its first Chief of State this week. The role of President is largely ceremonial but Nepal will choose a higly symbolic one. He is to come from the ethnic minority Madheshi ethnic group of southern Nepal. The story from Reuters.

Thai-Cambodian Border Dispute Grows
Cambodia and Thailand continued to reinforce their troops along a disputed border area near an 11th century temple Saturday, even as they prepared for talks to avert a military confrontation. A report from the Associated Press.

French Nuclear Leaks
Long seen as the world’s most effeciently run nuclear power industry, the French nuclear power industry has had an embarrassing set of setbacks. Areva confirms second leak in two weeks, this time at a nuclear plant in south-eastern France. More from the UK Guardian.

Mbeki To Heed UN and OAU on Zimbabwe
Under pressure to expand his troubled mediation efforts, South African President Mbeki agreed on Friday to work more closely with the African Union and United Nations to bring an end to the Zimbabwe crisis. More from Johannesburg’s Mail & Guardian.

Russia’s Energy Clout
The Asia Times looks at Russia’s growing clout in the world’s energy markets and how Russia is unabashedly using its energy muscle to achieve its political goals.

Credit and Energy Tight in Vietnam
Thahn Nien News reports that companies in Vietnam are airing their grievances at a conference as tightened monetary policy and a power shortage have left them without money or electricity.

Spain’s Real Estate Crisis
Since the 1960s, in effect, Spain has been the centre of housing and real estate boom that has seen its warm coasts transformed with condos galore serving as second homes for cold-weary northern Europeans. And with increasing prosperity, many Spaniards too bought homes and vacation homes to boot. That boom is at an end. Germany’s Der Spiegel reports:

Spain’s economy is in trouble. Rising property values earlier this decade lured many Spaniards into the market. Now that the bubble has burst, the crisis is quickly spreading through the country’s economy.

Texas Approves Mega Wind Farm
Kudos to Texas. Texas sate regulators have approved a $4.93 billion wind-power transmission project, providing a major lift to the development of wind energy in the state.

The planned web of transmission lines will carry electricity from remote western parts of the state to major population centers like Dallas, Houston, Austin and San Antonio. The lines can handle 18,500 megawatts of power, enough for 3.7 million homes on a hot day when air-conditioners are running.

More from the New York Times. Wind power is a potent and clear-energy solution that requires full development.

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Here is the Friday, July 18th, 2008 edition of news and events from the around the world.

Belgian Crisis
The King of Belgium has refused to accept the resignation of his prime minister, but has put the immediate political future of the country in the hands of three other people. More including a video report from Euro News. And Fistful of Euros offers some commentary on Belgie versus Belgique. Flanders Today offers a Flemish perspective.

Tensions between Thailand and Cambodia Worsen
A Cambodian general said a border standoff between his soldiers and Thai troops came close to a shoot-out overnight as the confrontation over disputed territory surrounding an ancient temple entered its fourth day Friday. Reports from Radio Australia and the BBC.

ASEAN Ministers to Meet to Discuss Oil Prices on the Region
Ministers from the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) are expected to hammer out possible solutions to rising oil and food prices amid warnings inflation could threaten political stability, officials said. The problem, if left unchecked, could pose a challenge to the region’s long-term aim of evolving into a European Union-style community where goods and services are freely traded across the region by 2015, they said. At meetings to begin Sunday night, the ministers were to discuss “the growing challenge posed by rising oil and food prices, which pose a serious challenge to our people’s welfare as well as our countries’ continued economic development,” according to a draft joint communique obtained by Agence France Presse.

Guinea-Bissau and the Cashew Nut
It’s not even native to Africa (it is from the Amazon), but the Cashew Nut is the mainstay of the economy of the small West African country of Guinea-Bissau, one of the poorest countries in the world. In one survey by the United Nations, Guinea-Bissau ranks as the third poorest. World News Net looks at Guinea-Bissau and the cocktail nut.

Bali Bombers Lose Their Final Appeal
Three men convicted over the 2002 Bali bombing have no more legal avenues to appeal against their executions, the Denpasar District Court confirmed today. More from the Courier Mail of Australia.

After the Swap
After swap, Israel fears Hezbollah will escalate tensions in north. Haaretz looks at how Israel now views Hezbollah.

Has The US Stopped Arms Sales to Taiwan?
If so, it is a huge mistake. The top US military commander in Asia acknowledged Wednesday that US arms sales to Taiwan had been frozen, amid warming ties between Beijing and Taipei and concerns expressed by China.

“There have been no significant arms sales from the United States to Taiwan in relatively recent times,” said Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of the Hawaii-based US Pacific Command.

Keating told a forum of the Washington-based Heritage Foundation he was aware of a freeze on US arms sales to Taiwan, saying it was “administration policy.”

The report from Agence France Presse.

UK Natural Gas Prices Could Rise 70%
The UK Guardian reports that natural gas prices are set to soar in the UK and then remain high for the foreseeable future, a report has revealed. The independent report commissioned by Centrica, which owns British Gas, warns that prices could increase by 70%. Jake Ulrich, managing director of Centrica Energy, admitted that gas price rises were likely to lead to a “potentially significant” rise in the number of people in fuel poverty. He also predicted that people would have to change their habits to deal with higher prices.

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Here is the Thursday, July 17th, 2008 edition of interesting reads from around the world.

Bush Claims Executive Privilege in Plame Case
President George W. Bush invoked executive privilege to avoid turning over records of an FBI interview of Vice President Dick Cheney and other documents subpoenaed by Congress in the CIA leak investigation. So much for that bravado that he would spare no effort in determing the source of the leak. More from the Washington Post.

Petrodollars and Geo-Politics
The Los Angeles Times examines how nations with vast oil wealth are gaining clout. It is actually the largest transfer of wealth in human history. Here’s the LA Times synopsis:

Some autocratic governments are challenging U.S. policies and silencing domestic dissent. But their increased spending raises the risk of inflation, which could erode popular support.

UK Unemployment Rate Rises Sharply
Unemployment last month rose at its fastest rate since the depths of the early 1990s recession, as the turmoil in the housing and financial markets continued to take its toll on the UK economy. The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose for the fifth month in a row, the Office for National Statistics said. The rise - of 15,500 to 840,100 - is the biggest since December 1992. The jobless rate remained at a low 2.6%. The broader labour force survey measure rose 12,000 between March and May to 1.62 million. That was the third rise in a row although the unemployment rate stayed at 5.2%. Complete details from the UK Guardian.

China Economic News
China’s economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter under the weight of slower exports and a drive by the central bank to tighten credit, but inflationary pressures remained uncomfortably high, the government said Thursday. Annual gross domestic product growth slowed to 10.1 percent in the second quarter from 10.6 percent in the first three months of the year and 11.9 percent in all of 2007, the National Bureau of Statistics said. While consumer inflation slowed to 7.1 percent in June from 7.7 percent in May, pipeline price pressures grew. More from the International Herald Tribune.

The Impact of High Energy Prices on Asia
The Asia Times looks at how Asian economies and Asian consumers are coping with the rise in energy prices.

When it comes to energy conservation, Japan provides a glaring counterpoint to the United States. Consider what has happened in both countries since the first oil shock of the mid-1970s when prices quadrupled.

That price hike initially led to a drive for fuel efficiency in the US, Western Europe and Japan. It also gave a boost to the idea of developing renewable sources of energy. Ever since, Japan has followed a consistent, long-range policy of reduction in petroleum usage, while the US first wavered and then fell back dramatically.

Under the presidencies of Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter, the US modestly improved the fuel efficiency of its vehicles, as stipulated by a federal law. Carter also announced a $100 million federal research and development program focused on solar power and symbolically had a solar water heater installed on the White House roof.

During the subsequent presidency of Ronald Reagan, when oil prices fell sharply, energy efficiency and conservation policies went with them, as did the idea of developing renewable sources of energy. This was dramatized when Reagan ordered the removal of that solar panel from the White House.

In the private sector, utilities promptly slashed by half their investments in energy efficiency. President George H W Bush, an oil man, followed Reagan’s lead. And his son, George W (along with Vice President Dick Cheney, former chief executive of energy services giant Halliburton) has done absolutely nothing to wean Americans away from their much talked about “addiction to oil”.

Even now, instead of urging Americans to cut oil usage (and putting a little legislative heft behind those urgings), politicians of both parties are blaming soaring gas and diesel prices on “speculators”, conveniently ignoring how thin a line divides “speculators” from “investors”.

In Japan, on the other hand, the government and private companies have stayed on course since the first oil shock. Despite the doubling of Japan’s gross domestic product during the 1970s and 1980s, its annual overall levels of energy consumption have remained unchanged. Today, Japan uses only half as much energy for every dollar’s worth of economic activity as the European Union or the United States. In addition, national and local authorities have continually enforced strict energy-conservation standards for new buildings.

It is, again, Japan that has made significant progress when it comes to renewable sources of energy. By 2006, for instance, it was responsible for producing almost half of total global solar power, well ahead of the US, even though it was an American, Russell Ohl, who invented the silicon solar cell, the building block of solar photovoltaic panels, which convert sunshine into electricity.

Belgium: The World’s Most Successful Failed State
Leave it to Der Spiegel to come up with the clever headline. In this report, the German news magazine ponders:

Chaos has returned to Belgium’s capital: The government has collapsed, the prime minister has offered his resignation. German newspapers on Wednesday wonder if the linguistically divided country will ever get its act together.

I adore Belgium and I have one very good Belgian friend from Oostende. No doubt, Belgian beer and chocolates are the world’s best. Most European countries have a linguistic divide, the problem in Belgium is that the divide is also a significant cultural and economic one. I have been briefly to Wallonie but I am always more drawn to Brussels, Ghent, Antwerp and, above all, Brugge. It will be interesting to see how the Belgians resolve this divide.

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Belgium may be atop the brewing world with InBev’s acquisition of Anheuser-Busch but governing Belgium is proving difficult. Today, the Belgian government fell after only four months in office. It had taken nearly eight months to piece together a coalition in a fractured Belgium. “Total Chaos” is how the Flemish press is reporting the collapse of Prime Minister Leterme’s government. The French-language press was slightly more circumspect with headlines of “Belgium on the Precipice.” Via Deutsche Welle:

Belgium woke up to a new political crisis Tuesday when it became clear that its five-party coalition government led by Prime Minister Yves Leterme had broken down after only four months in office.

Flemish Christian Democrat Leterme handed in his resignation to Belgian King Albert II late Monday night after it became clear he would not be unable to broker an agreement on the basis of constitutional reform or a power-sharing deal that has split the country in two.

But after a four-hour meeting with his prime minister, Albert rejected the resignation of the government, instead favoring a deliberation period where he would consider whether to accept the move. The royal palace said the king would begin consulting political leaders from both sides of the linguistic divide this week.

Leterme’s government apparently crumbled after failing to find common ground on a reform plan before the prime minister’s self-imposed July 15 deadline. A contributing factor was the ongoing cultural differences between the Dutch-speaking Flemish people and the French-speaking Walloons.

Both sides are struggling to increase their influence in the country, with the Flemish — representing some 60 percent of Belgium’s 10.5 million people — demanding increased responsibilities for their territories. In particular the reorganization of the multilingual constituency of the Brussels region was under dispute.

Flanders, Belgium’s Dutch-speaking northern half, craves more regional powers to reflect its prosperity. It also resents subsidizing the less affluent, French-speaking Wallonia region to its south.

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Here is the Tuesday, July 15th, 2008 edition of interesting reads from around the world.

Turkish Coup Plot
Turkey has indicted 86 people on charges of membership in an illegal ultranationalist group and plotting a coup against the government. More from the Financial Times.

Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir Charged with War Crimes
The Sudanese government has responded angrily after an international prosecutor accused President Omar al-Bashir of genocide in Darfur. He has been charged with war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. A report from the BBC and a video report from the Associated Press:

In Defense of the Gypsies
Though in my personal life they have been nothing but trouble, I cannot stay silent with what is going on with the Roma, the Gypsies, in Italy. An op-ed by Seumas Milne in the UK Guardian speaks to the problem.

Italy’s campaign against the Roma has ominous echoes of its fascist past, and the silence of our leaders is deafening.

French and Regional Languages in France
Language Log covers the debate over language in France.

Did Lee Kuan Yew Commit Perjury?
Former Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew testified to a laudatory letter that was never sent by an international legal organization. Lee, Singapore’s octogenarian Minister Mentor and the country’s first Prime Minister, volunteered under oath during cross-examination in the May trial of Chee that the International Bar Association, following its October 2007 convention in Singapore, wrote a letter to the organizers, the Law Society of Singapore, describing “how impressed they were by the standards they found to obtain in the judiciary…Standards of the rule of law and the judges, the meritocracy which is practiced throughout the judiciary.” In fact, says the International Bar Association, it did no such thing. The story in the Asia Sentinel.

Syria’s Diplomatic Isolation is Ending
The Asia Times looks at Syria’s diplomatic offensive from Doha to Paris. Meanwhile, the New York Times takes a different view on Syria’s diplomatic moment in the sun.

Sinaloa Gripped in a Drug War
At least 21 people, including a 12-year-old girl and other ordinary citizens, have been killed by warring drug gangs since Thursday in the western state of Sinaloa, in one of the worst spasms of violence in memory in a region long conditioned to narcotics-related savagery. More from the Los Angeles Times. I will keep on harping on this but Mexico is sliding into chaos. Its drug wars are escalating past the point of no return that will require massive outside assistance to quell. This is a repeat of what Colombia endured between 1985 and 1992, only now it is on the doorstep of the United States.

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Al Jazeera’s Inside Story asks if the Union for the Mediterranean will work and if Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, is the right man to spearhead the ambitious project. The following videos are interviews with a panel of experts that includes Ignasi Guardans Cambó, Saad Djebbar and Isabel Schäfer. Ignasi Guardans Cambó is a Catalan politician and Member of the European Parliament with the CiU (CDC), Member of the Bureau of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe and is vice-chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on International Trade. Maître Saad Djebbar is Deputy Director of the CNAS. He is a well-known lawyer and political analyst and an associate fellow at the Royal Institute for International Affairs at Chatham House. He appears regularly in the Arab and British media as a commentator on North African affairs. Isabel Schäfer is an Assistant Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Freie Universität Berlin.

President Sarkozy has spearheaded this effort and the inaugural session was held in Paris. All 27 European Union members and 16 non-EU countries including representatives from the Palestinian Authority from the Mediterranean attended the meeting. Only Libya did not attend.

Broadly speaking, the new Union of Mediterranean is aimed at fostering North-South cooperation across the Mediterranean on subjects such as immigration, the environment and terrorism. So far, the meeting seems to be a coming out party for Syria. Syria’s Assad and Israel’s Olmert sat in the same room, marking the first time a Syrian President had ever been in the same room with an Israeli Prime Minister. The event was carefully choreographed so that the two would not cross path though. Sryrian President Bashar al-Assad said it could take between six months to two years to reach a peace agreement with Israel if the two sides, who have held indirect negotiations, agreed to face-to-face talks. In addition, Syrian diplomatic recognition of Lebanon was assured. Syria and Germany signed a repatriation agreement.

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Here is the Monday, July 14th, 2008 edition of interesting reads from around the world.

A Deadly Day in Afghanistan
Nine US soldiers and several militants were killed after rebels stormed a remote outpost in Afghanistan in one of the deadliest attacks on international forces in years. Another 15 US soldiers were wounded. It was the deadliest day for US troops in Afghanistan in over three years. A video report from the Associated Press:

Fighting in Sri Lanka Intensifies
Fighting along the front lines in northern Sri Lanka killed 31 Tamil Tigers on Sunday as the civil war between the rebels and government forces continued to escalate. Over the weekend, at least 60 rebel were killed. Reports from the International Herald Tribune and Reuters India.

Sarkozy’s Club Med
President Nicolas Sarkozy yesterday sought to shift Europe’s strategic focus towards the Middle East, north Africa and the Balkans, hosting 42 heads of state and government at a summit in Paris to launch a new Mediterranean Union. Initially concentrated on infrastructure and energy projects such as making north Africa a hub for solar power, Sarkozy’s grand initiative is acutely political, claiming a pole position for France in European foreign policy-making after years of drift and seeking to redirect policy from the east of Europe to the south. From the UK Guardian. I am often perplexed by Sarkozy and I am cautious on this initiative but the Financial Times does note that Sarkozy managed to get Israeli Prime Minister Olmert and Syrian President Assad to sit down in the same room, though Assad did leave the room for Olmert’s speech. And then there is this:

After meeting Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, on the sidelines of the Paris summit, Mr Olmert declared: “It seems to me that we have never been as close to the possibility of reaching an accord as we are today.”

In concrete terms, however, the most striking outcome of the weekend’s diplomatic activity appeared to be the announcement that Syria would open an embassy in Beirut and Lebanon an embassy in Damascus for the first time since Lebanese independence in 1943.

Such a step would imply Syrian acceptance of the sovereignty of Lebanon, a state where Damascus has always sought to exert influence and where Syrian troops were stationed for almost 30 years after 1976.

“We can say that Lebanon has moved from being a zone of turbulence, a war zone, to a more pacified zone where the Lebanese, and only the Lebanese, have the right to determine their own future,” Mr Assad said after talks on Saturday with Michel Suleiman, Lebanon’s president.

Since taking power in 2000, Mr Assad has on several occasions dangled the prospect of diplomatic recognition of Lebanon. If there is a difference this time, it may rest in Mr Sarkozy’s statement on Saturday that he intends to visit Syria in September – a gesture that the French leader could withdraw, if by then Mr Assad has not fulfilled his promise to open an embassy in Lebanon.

I still don’t fully trust Sarkozy but this is an achievement that is worth underscoring and I congratulate him on his success.

Seoul Demands Investigation of Shooting Death of Tourist in the DPRK
Last week’s shooting death of a female South Korean tourist who wandered off a resort and into a military installation is raising question. Apparently, tourists have wandered off before and none had been shot. The government yesterday urged North Korea to allow in South Korean investigators to learn the details of the killing of a South Korean tourist at the Mount Geumgang resort. The Unification Ministry also demanded the North take “responsible measures” to prevent a recurrence of the shooting death, which it said “cannot be justified under any circumstances.” More details from the Korea Herald.

An Update on Malaysia
The Asia Sentinel looks at Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s decision to step down in 2010 in favour of his deputy Najib Tun Razak, who is scandal-riddled. All in all, it has been a topsy turvy year in Kuala Lumpur.

Thailand’s Temple Row
A dispute Khmer temple along the Thai-Cambodian border has become a major issue in Thai politics. More from the Straits Times.

Iran Executes Six In Public
Reuters reports that Iran has executed six people in public in the northeastern city of Sabzevar, state radio said on Monday, the second report of a public execution in the Islamic Republic in less than a week. Iranian radio reported the execution but did not offer details. Execution is by hanging in Iran. In Saudi Arabia, beheadings still occur. Amnesty International in April listed Iran as the world’s second most prolific executioner last year, with at least 317 people put to death, trailing only China which carried out 470 death sentences.

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Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L’étendard sanglant est levé.
L’étendard sanglant est levé.
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans nos bras
Égorger nos fils, nos compagnes!
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formez vos bataillons!
Marchons, marchons!
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!
Aux armes, citoyens!
Formons nos bataillons!
Marchons, marchons!
Qu’un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

Vive La France!

To my friends Jean-Paul, Henri, Benoit and Christine I wish you the happiest of Bastille days.

Though Mireille Mathieu does a fine job above, I much prefer the passion from this scene in Casablanca. I don’t think they were acting.

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France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman, wholly subservient to her husband, on the grounds that her “radical” practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes. Islam is incompatible with Western values. I have no tolerance for intolerance and I make no apologies for being a Westerner. This does not mean that the West cannot coexist with Islam, I hope we can. But on our soil, it is on our terms. Western principles cannot be sacrificed. We will not allow practices that treat women as property in our lands. We must defend Western values.

From the UK Guardian:

France has denied citizenship to a Moroccan woman who wears a burqa on the grounds that her “radical” practice of Islam is incompatible with basic French values such as equality of the sexes.

The case yesterday reopened the debate about Islam in France, and how the secular republic reconciles itself with the freedom of religion guaranteed by the French constitution.

The woman, known as Faiza M, is 32, married to a French national and lives east of Paris. She has lived in France since 2000, speaks good French and has three children born in France. Social services reports said she lived in “total submission” to her husband. Her application for French nationality was rejected in 2005 on the grounds of “insufficient assimilation” into France. She appealed, invoking the French constitutional right to religious freedom and saying that she had never sought to challenge the fundamental values of France. But last month the Council of State, France’s highest administrative body, upheld the ruling.

“She has adopted a radical practice of her religion, incompatible with essential values of the French community, particularly the principle of equality of the sexes,” it said.

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