FRENCH PAPERS, Weds. 23/01/13: France’s social security system is in the spot light today after the country’s top auditor called for a review of unemployment benefits. Les Echos points out that the French system is more generous that its European neighbors. Meanwhile, Le Monde says Hollande’s belligerent rhetoric for events in the Sahel sounds a lot like George Bush ‘war on terrorism’ a decade ago.
The Algerian army launches a fatal rescue bid on hostages being held by Islamist gunmen at a desert gas field. With dozens of foreign nationals amongst the captives, the speed of the operation attracts diplomatic criticism. Next, we look at the history of the leader of the terrorist cell claiming responsibility for attacking the gas complex. Moktar Belmoktar is a veteran of the Algerian civil war.
The Independent's Robert Fisk says Algeria has a long history of being as brutal with its captives as its captors. He argues that bloodshed at the hostage seizure at the gas plant in eastern Algeria was "utterly predictable". The Algerian press, meanwhile, focuses on the survival of 600 Algerian workers. One paper describes the assault as "audacious". And, after Oprah, Lance Armstrong is panned as a "cheat and a bully".
FRENCH PAPERS, Tues. 15/01/13: French papers continue to focus on France’s military intervention in Mali. Liberation explores why France is acting alone and just who the Islamist in the North are. Meanwhile, Le Parisien investigates how authorities have stepped up security now that France is under threat.
A Burundi court on Tuesday reduced RFI journalist Hassan Ruvakuki’s jail term from a life sentence to three years, after he appealed an earlier conviction on terrorism charges.
At least 19 people were killed on Sunday in Pakistan’s insurgency-hit province of Baluchistan when a suicide bomber rammed his car into a bus carrying Shiite Muslim pilgrims.
We take a look back at a big year for France as the country elected a new President, celebrated at the Oscars and came face-to-face with terrorism. Looking to the future, the government wants to requisition empty buildings to deal with the country's housing crisis and we look at how some French districts are turning to private detectives to put an end to neighborhood nuisances.
The Somali neighbourhood of Kenya's Nairobi has been targeted several times in recent months by terrorists. The police accuse sympathisers of the Islamic insurgents Al Shabaab of being behind the attacks. After several explosions, riots rocked the suburb as Kenyans and ethnic Somalis fought each other. A heavy police presence on the streets has brought calm to the area, but they are also accused by residents of attacking residents themselves.
A car bomb killed 17 people including women and children and wounded dozens more when it exploded near a bus queue at a market in northwest Pakistan on Monday, officials said.
At least seven people died on Saturday when a roadside bomb struck a Shiite procession in Pakistan`s northwest. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack that targeted people marking the mourning month of Muharram.
