French press review 15 January 2010

by Michael Fitzpatrick

Article published on the 2010-01-15 Latest update 2010-01-15 09:22 TU

Right-wing Le Figaro is delighted to publish the results of an opinion poll investigating which socialist political figure would provide the best opposition to President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The delight comes from the fact that the best the opposition can do is Martine Aubry's 14 per cent, followed by François Hollande at seven per cent and a tie for third place between Marine Le Pen of the extreme right and Olivier Besancenot of the extreme left. In other words, President Nick is sitting pretty.

Poor old Ségolène Royal . . . remember her? . . . has vanished from the political landscape, only three per cent of those questioned seeing her as the best opponent in a punch-up with Sarko.

Said Sarko, by the way, has recently become a grandfather, thanks to the appearance of Solal, born on Wednesday to Jean Sarkozy and his missus, Jessica, heiress of the Darty electrical goods empire. Solal has not yet announced his intention to take over the running of La Défense, but just give him time.

Speaking of babies, Le Figaro notes that the practice of birth by Caesarian section has reached "epidemic" proportions in China.

The surgeon is now called on ten times more frequently than he was in the 1970s, and at least 25 per cent of his interventions are medically unjustifiable.

So, why are they doing it?

It appears that the soon-to-be mammies, keeping a close eye on the heavens and on their own astrological data, are choosing the precise minute at which they want the birth to take place, and you can't do that too easily if you leave the delivery up to old-fashioned contractions.

Hence the knife.

The Caesarian is a risky procedure, for both mother and child, and was originally devised as a last resort. And it costs twice as much as a normal delivery.

All that to make sure you have the stars on your side. It sounds like cheating to me, but I guess mother knows best.