Sarkozy threatens Iran with reinforced sanctions, reports le Figaro. On Tuesday he got tough on the banks and on Wednesday Sarkozy’s tough rhetoric was aimed at Iran. The President spent a lot of time this summer in talks to have Clotilde Reiss freed, the 24 year French old student accused of spying by Iranian authorities. Yesterday the President told the annual Ambassadors Conference, “These are the same leaders in Iran who tell us that their nuclear program is peaceful and that the elections were honest. Really, do we believe them?”

Sarkozy has aligned himself with those who want tougher sanctions on Iran as part of a broader strategy of appeasing Israel. The Five members of the Security Council plus Germany will discuss these sanctions against Iran in Pittsburgh in September at the G20 summit.

Yesterday it emerged that in July unemployment figures were up 10,700.  This means that over the course of the past year, unemployment has gone up by 25.6% - 3.9 million French people. Mediapart reports that we can we expect the figures to keep rising. 600,000 young people are now entering the jobs market. What’s more those doing replacement work over the summer or seasonal work will now also be looking for jobs. By the end of the year, it’s expected that over 600 000 extra French people will be without a job. The European Commission thinks unemployment will go to 10% in France by year’s end.

 
“Suicides: France Telecom finally hears the distress call” – Libération.
Several employees of the French telecoms company put an end to their own lives this summer. Since February 2008, the total number of employees who’ve ended their own lives in 20 and trade unions say that France Telecom is implicated in at least six of those cases. One particular 51 year old wrote in a letter that constant emergencies at work at being overworked were causes for his decision.

In any case, France Telecom intends to up its number of doctors and put in place measures to change the organisation of work.

There’s an interview with a doctor Marie-José Hubaud who says if you don’t give your employees enough time to do their job, enough means to do their job you’re putting them in permanent situation of failure which affects the dignity of the worker, his self esteem and eventually mental health.

According to le Parisien, Paul Girot - a prefect (French government official) - arrived at Orly Airport and reportedly said of the security personnel, “We’re here but you’d think you’re in Africa. There are only Blacks here.”

He subsequently received a court summons for verbal assault of a racist nature and was suspected from his functions.He says that he had previously worked as a civil servant in Guadeloupe and Reunion and was never accused of any racist activities there.

He blames this on the Minister for the Interior Brice Hortefeux – Hortefeux was previously Immigration Minister. Girot claims this affair was orchestrated by Hortefeux to give him the image of being a pure anti racist, this after his severe policies at the Immigration Ministry.