Press review 13 October 2008

by Tom Williams

Article published on the 2008-10-13 Latest update 2008-10-13 06:34 TU

We start with the right-leaning Le Figaro, whose headline is "A historic plan to re-establish confidence". This refers to yesterday's meeting of the fifteen eurozone leaders here in Paris, where exceptional measures were agreed to combat the global financial crisis. The leaders pledged to guarantee loans between banks until the end of 2009 and said they'd put money into them by buying preference shares.

Le Figaro says that "European countries and the US are solemnly engaged in making complete financial failure impossible." Meanwhile, the paper reports that a council of ministers will today discuss France's plans to support its ailing banks.

Le Figaro's front page also carries a story about the "Great Schlep" in the US. That's the name that's been given to the flood of young Jewish people heading south to persuade their grandparents to vote for Democratic Party candidate Barack Obama in the US presidential elections.

The elections provide the Communist l'Humanité with their front-page lead. Under the headline "The return of the grapes of wrath" and next to a photo of a defiantly clenched fist, the paper reports that the financial crisis is reinforcing Obama's bid for the White House.

The left-wing Libération carries a stark verdict on the Euro zone plan, saying simply: "It works or it crashes." Libé's editorial says that "banking is something too important to be left to the bankers", arguing that the credit crunch demonstrates the need for tighter regulation.

Financial daily Les Echos carries a report on the bleak situation facing Iceland, whose major banks have been nationalised and whose stock exchange has been reduced to nothing. Les Echos says the country has suffered a "mad week" in which "ten years of growth have been undone".

In the spirit of the times, the centrist Le Monde carries a supplement charting the worst financial crises of the last century. A cartoon shows that, while it was bankers leaping to their deaths during the Wall Street Crash of 1929, in today's financial climate the bankers are throwing innocent families to their deaths from a great height.

Catholic paper La Croix, meanwhile, says "the ball is now in the court of the markets", with all eyes turning to the stock exchange to see how it will react. Inside, the paper carries a special report on Christian-Muslim relations in France, and reports that marriages between Catholics and non-Catholics have almost doubled since 1995.

Moving away completely from all things miserable and financial, the front page of sport daily L'Equipe carries a photo of French national football coach Raymond Domenech. L'Equipe says that France's brilliant second-half showing in the 2-2 draw in Romania has strengthened his position, ahead of a meeting with the Conseil Fédéral governing body on Wednesday.