Topic: Bernard Kouchner

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France worries that unsavory presidential campaign has divided country

Nicolas Sarkozy's decision to play to the far right for votes in the presidential election has changed the French political landscape in a way many consider damaging.
Vint Cerf of Google on Internet rights – interview

In an interview, Vint Cerf of Google says individuals do not have a right to connect to the Internet, nor does a person have the right to eliminate information that's already on the Web. About China: 'There is much more openness and tolerance of criticism' than the West generally believes.
WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, and the dark side of Internet freedom

Evgeny Morozov discusses the implications of WikiLeaks on open vs. closed societies, the paradox of attacking state power, and the future of Internet privacy.
Sarkozy cabinet reshuffle aims to capture Gaullist fields of French right

French President Nicolas Sarkozy's cabinet reshuffle Sunday shows an Elysée Palace with a sharp eye on the 2012 elections. Sarkozy's ratings are at a historic low.
France opens sensitive question: who should attend Nobel ceremony honoring Liu Xiaobo

A Foreign Ministry official told the Monitor that a meeting in Brussels will center on whether it is appropriate to attend the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony honoring jailed laureate Liu Xiaobo, and, if so, who exactly should go.
Why Iran suspended woman's stoning sentence

Iran suspended the stoning sentence for a woman convicted of adultery amid mounting international pressure, including the European Parliament's 658-1 resolution against such punishment.
Small global taxes would make a big difference for world's 'bottom billion'

France's Bernard Kouchner, Japan's Katsuya Okada, and Belgium's Charles Michel discuss innovative financing to fund development projects that will help lift up the world's poorest people.
France declares war against Al Qaeda after hostage killed

French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said his country was at war with Al Qaeda after the group's affiliate in North Africa, Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, announced it murdered a French aid worker it had held hostage since April.
Roman Polanski free? European cheers, and jeers

French and Polish officials praised the decision by Swiss authorities to free Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski. But some ordinary citizens and French elite said a different judicial standard is used for the rich and famous.
Clutching flowers, American mothers visit detained US hikers in Iran

Shane Bauer, Sarah Shourd, and Josh Fattal were briefly let out of Evin prison to visit their mothers in a Tehran hotel. The mothers want to bring their children home, but Iran may be waiting for a prisoner swap with the US.
Stand up to the enemies of Internet freedom

If human rights and democracy advocates refused to compromise their principles and used the Internet to defend freedom of expression, repression would be much more difficult.
European leaders spar over Greece bailout ahead of EU summit

France, Italy, and Germany are at loggerheads over a possible Greece bailout ahead of what was to be a routine EU summit this Thursday. Greece has threatened to go to the IMF if the EU can't help with the crisis.
Iran nuclear program takes another step up escalation ladder

Iran announced its intentions Monday to begin processing its uranium stockpile to a higher level of enrichment. Experts say the country is taking yet another step toward producing a nuclear weapon.
Iran's offer on nuclear deal: genuine or diplomatic wedge?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran’s enriched uranium could be processed outside the country, a deal Iran once rejected. The US and other countries are wary of the offer as they consider new sanctions.
Global News Blog
Head of UN, and other key employees, missing

The United Nation's is saying the head of the UN mission in Haiti is missing along with other key personnel after Tuesday's earthquake. There is mounting concern about the loss of some of the most experienced aid workers in Haiti at a time when they're needed most.
Rwanda genocide: Will new report close the book on who started it?

The Mutszini report released Monday collects new Belgian military testimony, ballistics investigations by British experts, previous UN reports, and some 557 witness testimonies – in an effort to take a definitive position on the April 6, 1994 presidential assassination that started the Rwanda genocide.
Why Iran may now be more vulnerable to sanctions

Political turmoil and the growing influence of the Revolutionary Guard may make Iran more vulnerable to any upcoming sanctions, as the Obama Administration considers new measures to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
In Afghanistan, NATO is fighting for its life

What has happened to the great alliance of democracies that won the cold war? NATO has yet to fully mobilize and exhibits no sense of urgency concerning the extremist threat in Afghanistan.
Can Guinea avoid a violent power struggle?

While Guinea’s military ruler Capt. Moussa Dadis Camara recovers from an assassination attempt, other junta leaders rejected a regional proposal Monday to deploy troops to prevent violence.
Swiss minaret ban reflects European fear of Islam

The Swiss vote to ban minarets comes at a time when Muslim populations are growing and Europeans worry about losing traditional Christian culture.
Obama's Afghanistan war speech partly a bid for more foreign troops

In his Afghanistan war speech Tuesday, Obama is expected to call for more US troops to fight. But he'll need as many as 10,000 new foreign troop commitments, too, to get to the force size military commanders say is needed.
On the way to Afghanistan, Holbrooke seeks to ease tensions with NATO

Richard Holbrooke, Obama's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, wants to unify allies at a time when many Europeans sense drift in the war and a lack of clear US policy.
In Paris, Benjamin Netanyahu finds growing European doubt on Middle East peace

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was in France on Wednesday, as President Nicolas Sarkozy's government wonders if Israel is interested in peacemaking with the Palestinians.
Iran nuclear deal on hold as Tehran misses deadline

Iran missed a deadline to respond to a proposed deal. Tehran asked for more time, but some worry that it's backing away from what had been termed a possible breakthrough for easing concerns about its nuclear program.
Diplomats urge rivals to accept Afghan vote

President Hamid Karzai's camp is now threatening to call into question the legitimacy of the whole election if the final tally shows that he did not win outright.