“Sarkozy admits France’s mistakes”

Nicolas Sarkozy was in Rwanda yesterday. He’s the first French President to set foot in the country since the Rwandan Genocide in 1994.

His visit was aimed at cementing relations between the two countries.

Le Figaro mentions a play on words. Sarkozy said France had made “political erros”, yet he didn’t apologize, says the paper.

The left wing newspaper Libération has the same angle on this story: “Sarkozy bows down, but doesn’t apologize.”

Relations between France and Rwanda have long been strained.

Rwanda accused France of training and arming extremist Hutus responsible for the death of some 800,000 Tutsis... France has denied this...

The newspapers wonder if Sarkozy’s visit wasn’t just symbolic and if it will help improve ties.

Meanwhile, Libération grills French politicians. It quotes Nicolas Sarkozy who promised last month that unemployment would decrease. It also quotes the Prime Minister François Fillon saying the exact opposite.

According to figures published yesterday, more than 2.6 million people are unemployed. More than 400,000 jobs were axed in 2009. Another 120,000 people could lose their jobs this year.

Libération also talks about domestic violence. In France, 157 women were killed by their husbands last year, and French deputes want to put an end to this.
They’re working on a bill that would criminalize psychological violence.

Aujourd’hui en France says CDs remain a popular way of listening to music, especially amongst older generations.

And finally, Libération reports about a new vinyl exhibition in Paris.