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French press review 11 May 2013

 The 12th anniversary of the declaration of slavery as a crime against humanity; Hollande's refusal to pay slavery reparations; the escalation of the Syrian civil war; and a new trend among French home owners headline the French papers today. 

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Libération’s commemoration of the 12th anniversary of the transatlantic declaration of slavery as a crime against humanity on 10 May and President François Hollande’s “no” to any form of reparations to slave descendants dominates the news this Saturday morning.

The left-leaning newspaper takes up Hollande’s reference to the military intervention in Mali as another way for France to express its solidarity and to settle its debts towards Africa.

According to the paper, it is reasonable that France has opted for action now instead of obsessing about the past, considering that current inequalities and discrimination are often seen as the consequences of slavery and colonization.

Libération voices respect for the decision by the French Council of Black Association to take its long-time battle for financial reparation to court. According to the left-leaning paper, France at least owes its black population a price of remembrance for its role in the disgraceful trade.

The former Director General of International Monetary Fund, Michel Camdessus made a proposal which is welcomed by the left-leaning paper. Speaking at a 10 May event, Camdessus called for a new start of what he described as a “vital priority”: intensifying the fight against tax evasion that has “enabled the large-scale plundering of raw materials from the African continent".

Le Figaro examines the escalation of the Syrian conflict in the wake of alleged use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime against rebel forces coupled with the row over Moscow’s arms deliveries to Damascus which exposes divisions between the Kremlin and the West.

According to the paper, Syria is not Libya and it asserts that Western efforts to unite the opposition have failed tremendously leaving more than a hundred armed groups battling the regime in Damascus in disarray.

The west is turning a blind eye to the conflict says Le Figaro and wonders how they can pretend to arm insurgents whom they do not control without running the risk of seeing those weapons later used against them.

For the paper, Syria is in an advanced phase of disintegration with the conflict spilling over its frontiers. It explains that both the United States and Russia understand that it is too late to expect a clear victory of one camp over the other.

Now is boom time in France for home owners, as economic conditions are pushing more and more people to rent-out rooms or even larger portions of their properties to make ends meet.

This new way of life is a direct consequence of the crisis says Aujourd’hui en France. Some landlords told the paper it was the price to pay to avoid being swallowed up by bills, while others say it is faster that way than having to find a tenant.

The Catholic daily La Croix is following preparations for mass protests by opponents of the Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport project still supported by the government. According to the paper squatters, Leftists and Green activists who have clashed over months with riot police at the project site outside the central city of Nantes are brazing for a different type of fight this time.

Organizers expect up to one hundred thousand people as they plan to form human chain stretching from the dispossessed farmlands to as far as it can go. One protester who travelled 800 kms to take part in the demo told Aujourd’hui en France they plan to bring a festive touch to the bitter standoff over the strategic facility.
 

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