FRANCE 24's Caroline Clarkson works on the ticker desk on the TV side of FRANCE 24. Breaking news is what she does, in both French and English. In this blog she gives her point of view on one of the stories she has covered on the ticker - but this time in more than 70 characters.
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Sun, 01/13/2013 - 20:20

French wives encouraged to cheat… as protesters march against same-sex marriage

This week, leaflets in support of this Sunday’s march against same-sex marriage in Paris were distributed to Parisians outside metro stations. But once inside, commuters came face-to-face with posters encouraging them to cheat on their partners.
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Tue, 12/18/2012 - 22:59

French psychiatrist convicted of manslaughter after murder by… her patient

In a verdict that could affect the way psychiatric patients are treated in France, a court in Marseille this Tuesday handed a psychiatrist a suspended sentence for manslaughter after her patient committed a gruesome murder. Read more…
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Sun, 11/25/2012 - 18:40

The day I met the French president - in his garden

This Sunday was only the second time that the gardens of the Élysée palace, home to one François Hollande, were open to the public on a Sunday. I decided to take a look - and managed to meet the French president in the process.
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Thu, 10/04/2012 - 11:12

French MPs: is there a deontologist in the house?

The past couple of weeks have seen some rather strange goings-on in France's National Assembly, or lower house of parliament. This comes despite the fact that the Socialists only took power a few months ago. Read more...
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Fri, 08/10/2012 - 10:47

Pets abandoned in their thousands: the dark side of summer in France

Summer is not a good time to be a pet in France. Between 60,000 and 100,000 furry creatures are abandoned every year when their owners go on holiday, according to animal welfare groups. Intrigued by these figures, I decided to find out more...
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Thu, 06/14/2012 - 02:45

'The right thing to do', or plain folly: should we intervene in Syria?

Should the West intervene in Syria? Idealists and sceptics are at odds over how best to stop the ongoing bloodshed. Here are some of their arguments.
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Thu, 05/10/2012 - 19:05

French presidential elections: drawing a blank

Having now just about recovered from the excitement of covering the French elections, I would like to point out that France’s new president, François Hollande, did not actually win as many votes as it may appear. Find out why...
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Sun, 04/15/2012 - 02:18

French presidential elections: Journalist provokes ire of web users for ‘insulting’ marginal candidates

This week, all ten French presidential candidates were interviewed on prime time TV. Afterwards, two political journalists were called upon to analyse their performances for viewers - and one of the two managed to kick up a huge stink online...
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Sat, 02/18/2012 - 19:19

Giant pandas now on display on both sides of the Channel

This Saturday saw two giant pandas go on display to the public in their new home in France, the ZooParc de Beauval. France is now upsides with the UK in the panda department, after Edinburgh Zoo acquired its own pair late last year.
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Mon, 01/30/2012 - 23:14

French presidential elections: Sarkozy copies Mitterrand

So it’s official: French president Nicolas Sarkozy has still not announced he is running for re-election. At first, it was thought he might do so during Sunday night’s hour-long TV interview. But it was not to be...
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Wed, 12/14/2011 - 23:52

France-Soir: death of a newspaper

Amid all the recent excitement about Marks & Spencer reopening in Paris - on the chic Champs Elysées, no less – I feel somewhat less attention has been paid to events happening on the floors above M&S.
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Sun, 12/04/2011 - 00:31

The Dominique Strauss-Kahn conspiracy theory: the truth must be out there

“Parole contre parole”. This is the neat French expression for a situation that comes down to one person’s word against another's. This week it again took on particular significance in the Dominique Strauss-Kahn case.
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Sat, 10/15/2011 - 15:53

French Socialist primaries: the week I felt sorry for the ‘third man’

This week, much media attention in France was devoted to Arnaud Montebourg, who surprised everyone by finishing third in the first round of the Socialist Party primaries. But with this success came a dilemma.
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Thu, 09/15/2011 - 03:11

Hitting the Euromillions jackpot: too much of a good thing?

This week saw good news for at least one person in France. While markets were getting jittery over French banks’ exposure to Greek debt, someone in Normandy had just won the Euromillions jackpot. The lucky winner will pocket 162.2 million euros.
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Fri, 08/12/2011 - 22:29

After the UK riots: from fightback to firewall?

After the violence, the official response. Thursday saw British Prime Minister David Cameron speak for the third day in a row following the worst riots to hit London and other British cities in decades.
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Wed, 07/27/2011 - 21:18

Usual suspects blamed for terrorist attacks...again

When news broke last Friday of the deadly attacks in Norway, the media jumped to the wrong conclusions. But it certainly wasn't the first such time that fingers have been pointed at what I would call the usual suspects.
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Thu, 06/30/2011 - 00:37

Relief comes amid questions as French journalists are finally released in Afghanistan

Wednesday saw some good news for a change: the release of the two French journalists, Hervé Ghesquière and Stéphane Taponier, who had been held hostage in Afghanistan for the past 18 months. I was at work when the news broke.
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Wed, 06/22/2011 - 20:47

Seduction: 'the key' to understanding France?

In her new book, “La Seduction: How the French Play the Game of Life”, Elaine Sciolino, Paris correspondent for the New York Times, gives the French some much-needed good press. Well, up to a point.
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