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Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France winner, is working the publicity machine by announcing his return to cycling’s premier event now. Armstrong’s titles remain clouded by questions.
By Philip Hersh
Lance Armstrong, photographed in the Canary Islands where Astana is training, will ride in the 2009 Tour de France.
You knew all along Lance Armstrong’s public dithering about whether his comeback would include the Tour de France was just a ploy to generate more buzz, right?
So you weren’t surprised at all Monday when the Astana cycling team website’s “latest news” rubric said: “NEWS FLASH: Lance Armstrong announces participation in 2009 Tour de France.”
What point would there have been in Armstrong’s returning to competitive road racing after 3 1/2 years if he had skipped the race that brought him both fame and notoriety?
(The latter is not good, even if the two words have mistakenly become interchangeable to most people. In Armstrong’s case, it refers to doping suspicions that have dogged him since his first of seven consecutive Tour victories in 1999, when he tested positive for a banned corticosteroid but was cleared by a therapeutic use exemption many feel was conveniently backdated.)
By Anna Willard and Crispian Balmer
DOUAI, France (Reuters) – The French government has drawn up a 26 billion euro ($32.9 billion) stimulus plan for the faltering economy, or around 1.3 percent of gross domestic product, according to official documents seen on Thursday.
The package will boost French growth by around 0.6 percent next year, but will also push the deficit to 3.9 percent of GDP against a previous target of 3.1 percent.
President Nicolas Sarkozy is due to unveil the package later on Thursday, which is expected to focus on investment and infrastructure projects rather than consumers.
Source: Reuters
Talks About 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Diddy, his Album 0.9, Explains why he threw bottle in the crowd, his beef, Soulja Boy Vs Ice-T and more.
Source: ThisIs50
Monument commemorating the battle of Vertières, the last major battle of the Haitian Revolution. In this battle General Jean-Jacques Dessalines delivered the final bow against the the French troops commanded by Rochambeau.
The French came to Saint-Domingue (Haiti) to re-establish slavery and brought the greatest armada ever launched out of Europe; supposedly against sub-humans. Napoleon sent his brother-in-law General Leclerc to Saint-Domingue with thirty-five thousand men and ninety-six ships in 1802. The decisive battle of the Haitian Revolution, the Battle of Vertières was on November 18, 1803–General Jean-Jacques Dessalines defeated Rochambeau’s forces. The revolution which began in 1791, ended when Dessalines proclaimed the independence of Haiti and its new name on January 1, 1804.
The French, lead by Generals Leclerc and Rochambeau were considered at the time the greatest army of Europe. Their war exploits are immortalized in the history books and their skills were praised as an art. They had conquered most of Europe, including Austria, Italy, Poland, Spain, Holland and Westphalia (now part of Germany). However, they were given a lesson in humility by an army comprised mostly of former slaves.
Michel Sanon celebrates November 18th, the anniversary of the Battle of Vertières, the defining battle of the Haitian revolution in his piece Haiti the Rebel.
I was alone when in Vertières
I rose to face the Devil
When hell broke loose
Unleashing its fire storm
With waves of flame rushing
To engulf me whole…
Read the rest of this entry »
Michel Sanon celebrates November 18th, the anniversary of the Battle of Vertières, the defining battle of the Haitian revolution.
Haiti the Rebel
Who is to tell me when
To celebrate my history?
Who is to tell me
When to dress my wounds
And to reminisce
My trials, my sorrow
When to shed tears
Over my brave children
And to glorify their names?
They suffered and died
Every bloody month
Of the bloody year.
I was born
Of abject inhumanity
With the noble destiny
Of carrying the sword
Read the rest of this entry »
By Stephen Castle
Images on the Europeana site will include the Magna Carta from Britain. Material is free of copyright so it can be downloaded for blogs, academic research, or schoolwork (Larry Downing/Reuters)
BRUSSELS: France has never been shy about promoting its culture, so few were surprised that Paris took a close interest in a new European digital library designed to showcase the Continent’s history, literature, arts and science.
But when the new site, called Europeana, begins life Thursday, more than half of its two million items come from just one of the 27 countries in the European Union: France.
So comprehensive is France’s cultural supremacy over this outpost of European cyberspace that other countries are having their own history written for them – in la langue de Molière, of course.
“I find the figures extraordinary,” said Viviane Reding, the European commissioner responsible for the project. “France has half the content – the collapse of the Berlin Wall is illustrated with a French TV documentary.”
Reding added during an interview with the International Herald Tribune that it was “high time the Germans put their material together.” She said “all member states should have the drive and pride” to put their national treasures online.
By David Charter
Russia and the EU agreed today to pile pressure on President Bush to accept far-reaching changes to the global financial system at the G-20 summit in Washington.
Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian President, said that Russia’s ideas were almost identical to those put forward by Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President, on behalf of the EU.
Both men have talked of the need for fundamental changes to post-war institutions such as the International Monetary Fund to take better account of the developing economic powers of the world, while President Bush has appeared reluctant to make major alterations.
In a sign that they are prepared to sideline the outgoing US president, Mr Medvedev backed the call from President Sarkozy for a follow-up summit in February once Barack Obama has taken over.
Mr Sarkozy said after a one-day EU/Russia summit in Nice that he welcomed the meeting of minds with President Medvedev, which came despite lingering disagreements over Russia’s invasion of Georgia.
“Russia’s financial, technical and economic proposals are of singular quality and they are very close to the European proposals,” Mr Sarkozy said.
“I am delighted to know that there is a determination on behalf of the Russian Federation to ensure that something strong comes out of the Washington summit. This should not be a summit held without any positive outcome.”
By ALAN CLENDENNING
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) — French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde on Monday reiterated her nation’s position that big emerging nation economies should be allowed to join the powerful Group of Seven industrialized nations forum that has a large say in global economic policy.
Christine Lagarde told French and Brazilian business executives that the G-7 would have little clout in the future unless the planet’s big developing countries are allowed to participate.
“The G7 won’t mean anything unless it quickly changes into a G-13 or G-14,” Lagarde said at a Brazil-France trade forum in Sao Paulo.
Brazil should be among the emerging market countries invited to join the G-7, but Lagarde didn’t specify others. Brazil, Russia, China and India are the world’s leading emerging market economies.
Lagarde made the comments ahead of a summit in Washington on Saturday for world leaders from rich and developing nation leaders to hold talks on the international financial crisis. She participated over the weekend in a meeting of finance ministers and central bank presidents from the G-20 group of rich and developing countries.
Brazil is lobbying for the G-20 to be the group that revamps the global financial system.
The leaders of that group will meet in Washington, and Lagarde told Brazil’s Valor Economic business newspaper that it will be up to the heads of state to determine which group of nations takes the lead in revamping the global financial system to prevent another economic meltdown from happening.
Source: AP
(Reuters) – French President Nicolas Sarkozy unveiled measures on Tuesday to protect jobs and warned companies against unjustified layoffs as evidence mounted that many workers would fall victim to the financial crisis.
News of mass layoffs at household-name French companies from carmaker Renault to mail order retailer La Redoute has put pressure on Sarkozy to match his 360 billion euro ($450 billion) rescue package for banks with a plan to help ordinary people.
Sarkozy promised to ease restrictions on the use of short-term job contracts by small and medium businesses, fund an additional 100,000 subsidised work contracts in next year’s budget, extend the use of subsidised training programmes and make it easier for people to work on Sundays.
“This is the third stage in our global plan to respond to the crisis that France, along with the rest of the world, is facing,” Sarkozy said during a speech at a job centre in the northern town of Rethel, which has a very high jobless rate.
The first two stages were the bank rescue package and measures to help small businesses, announced last week.
By Kevin Skerett and Yves Engler, ZNet
Before antiwar Americans place your bets on Canada or the United Nations, you should know what they are up to in Haiti….
Canadians of conscience who pay attention to Haiti continue to be ashamed of what is being done in our name.
In a January 15 interview with Haiti’s Radio Solidarité, Canada’s ambassador to Haiti, Claude Boucher praised the UN occupation forces (identified by the French acronym MINUSTAH), urging them to “increase their operations as they did last December.”
Boucher’s reference to operations “last December” is an unmistakable reference to the December 22 MINUSTAH assault on the slum neighbourhood of Cité Soleil.
Marketed by its architects as an action against “armed gangs” blamed for a spate of recent kidnappings, 400 troops, backed by helicopters, entered a densely populated residential area at 4:30 a.m. Eyewitnesses and victims of the attack claim MINUSTAH helicopters fired on residents throughout the operation. The cardboard and corrugated tin wall houses were no match for the troops’ heavy weaponry and the raid left scores of civilians dead and wounded, including women and children.
Dubbed the “Christmas Massacre” by neighbourhood residents a Reuters photo revealed a row of dead bodies and two distraught women carrying a wounded young boy. Agence France Presse indicated that at least 12 people were killed and “several dozen” wounded, a casualty total over 40. A Haitian human rights organization, known by the acronym AUMOHD, reported 20 killed with an initial set of victims’ names.
