Le Temps (Switzerland)
“Arrêtez de tuer les civils au Sri Lanka”
“Stop killing civilians in Sri Lanka”

The press review went to air as reports came in of an air raid by Tamil Tiger separatist rebels in Colombo, Sri Lanka. While the international press had little coverage of the events, there were reports of Tamil protests outside the UN’s Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday. Geneva's Swiss paper Le Temps  has a headline with the words “Stop Killing Civilians in Sri Lanka”. It reports that Tamils had come to protest at the UN's Palais des Nations in Geneva from all over Europe. 

Lemonde.fr (France)
“14,000 Tamouls manifestent devant l’ONU à Genève"
“14,000 Tamils protest at the UN in Geneva"

Le Monde Online covered the demonstration with a series of photos. It says 14,000 Tamils gathered to protest the situation in Sri Lanka - a situation Human Rights Watch says involves “increased brutality” on both sides. Tamils also protested outside the White House in Washington DC on Friday, making the same plea: "Stop the genocide".

China Daily (China)
“Clinton seen as example for women”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is making waves with her three-day visit to China. Amnesty International and human rights groups worldwide have been outraged by her assertion that bilateral cooperation would come first and human rights would not figure heavily. But the outrage is not registered at all in the China Daily which has a glowing feature on Hillary Clinton. The paper describes her as a model for women around the world. It describes her as tenacious, powerful and wise. The article includes an interview with a New York-based Chinese student who says that Hillary Clinton can be too ambitious, too powerful. The paper adds that Hillary Clinton’s image - for many Chinese women - is associated with the Monica Lewinsky affair. The article quotes a Chinese proverb that: “It is hard to be a human being, but harder to be a woman'".

Straits Times (Singapore)
“China’s the Centrepiece”

A senior writer in Singapore’s Straits Times says that Hillary Clinton is likely to raise the issue of human rights. The writer points out, however, that the question of China’s human rights record will be looked at in the coming weeks with the 50th anniversary of the Dalai Lama’s flight from Tibet next month. Attention will be heightened of course as well with the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre in June. The whole world then will be looking at where China stands 20 years on.

Le Figaro (France)
“Guadeloupe: Fillon salue le retour du dialogue”
“Guadeloupe: Fillon welcomes return to dialogue”

The tension in the French Caribbean is a pre-occupation for the press in Paris. Le Figaro has a piece on negotiations which began on Friday evening. The message is clear that there has to be dialogue. The unions and government are struggling to reach agreement. Le Figaro says the situation is urgent – a survey for the paper shows two out of three people in France believe the outbursts of violence and social tension seen in Guadeloupe could take place on the French mainland.

Aujourd’hui en France (France)
“La plus grande ferme de France ouvre à Paris …. ”
“France’s largest farm opens in Paris …. ”

Aujourd’hui headlines with: “France’s biggest farm opens in Paris …”  French President Nicolas Sarkozy will be there for the opening of Paris's Agricultural Fair which begins today. Six hundred thousand visitors are expected over the nine days. There’s a cartoon on page two of the paper showing Nicolas Sarkozy approaching two farm animals. They’re asking: “What’s he going to give us?” Their question is a reference to famers’ demands for subsidies. Their revenue fell by 15 percent last year.