French press review 28 May 2011

The just-ended G8 summit here in the French resort of Deauville makes a lot of headlines with pressure building on Libya, backing for the Arab Spring and speculation that it may improve President Nicolas Sarkozy's sagging poll ratings. And will Carla's pregnancy help? And Dominique Strauss-Kahn's lavish lifestyle, even as he awaits trial in New York.

Le Figaro welcomes the creation in Deauville of  “a sacred union” of Obama, Medvedev and Sarkozy to oust Libyan strongman Moamer Kadhafi.

The right-wing newspaper reports that the Western drive for regime change in Tripoli was given a strong boost - on the military front with France and Britain vowing a "new phase" of operations - and on the diplomatic, with Russia joining calls for Kadhafi to step down and head into exile.

Le Figaro claims that Libya’s objection to a Russian mediation offer probably bolstered Moscow’s turnaround.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced at Deauville that he is sending his top Africa envoy to Benghazi to contact the insurgents.

At the Deauville summit G8 world powers also threw their weight behind the Arab Spring on Friday, pledging billions for fledgeling democracies.

Closing the two-day G8 meeting, French president Nicholas Sarkozy was able to promise the Arab world 28 billion euros for development and democracy.

Libération argues that the resurgence of anger over economic stagnation in Egypt gives a sense of urgency to the offers of aid and loans brandished at Deauville.

Libé however stresses that billions of dollars of oil revenue and other so-called security grants to Arab countries never produced double-digit growth.

The left-leaning paper warns of more instability, chaos and anarchy, if donor nations fail to set new governance conditions that must be met by aid beneficiaries.

Some of Saturday’s papers look at the successes of the Deauville summit and how they impact on president Sarkozy’s political standing.

L’Alsace reports that the presidential couple was the superstar of the event as the cameras closed up on his wife who is expecting a happy event.

La République du Centre says it isn’t sure Carla’s growing tummy would reap any political results for her husband.

Howevern it lists some positive harvest – the revival of Sarkozy’s cherished Mediterraean Union, the consensus on Libya’s democratic future, and Hillary Clinton’s support for Christine Lagarde’s bid to succeed Dominique Strauss-Kahn at the head of the IMF.

Interestingly, other papers did not see Deauville the same way.

That’s the case of La République des Pyrénées. It makes the revelation that US president Barack Obama had been set to miss event and changed his mind at the very last minute.

The regional paper also says that contentious issues were left off the agenda at Deauville, namely nuclear safety, the Greek economic crisis, especially international financial regulation and the stabilisation of basic commodity prices.

La République des Pyrénées indicates that those issues will be on the table of the G20, scheduled on the 3-4 November in Cannes.

The newspaper says the presence of countries like China, India and Brazil at that meeting would seriously complicate the life of Nicolas Sarkozy, eager to portray himself as an international leader.

The Strauss-Kahn affair continues to receive wide treatment in the French papers.

Le Parisien has a breakdown of the bills being paid by the couple every month.

Bring your calculators out. The bills are fit for pharaohs – 35,000 euros for rents, 140,000 for security, 4,400 for lawyers fees, 4,000 for detectives, 350,000 for second opinion consultancies, a cash deposit of 700,000 euros, 3,5 million euros in caution fees and an insurance policy of 350,000 euros.

The popular tabloid says Strauss-Kahn’s fellow Socialists just can't believe their eyes

France Soir shares the anguish of DSK’s wife Anne Sinclair who is set to squander her huge fortune on her husband’s criminal case.

The evening newspaper carried out vox pops of women here in France; the question - what would you do, if you found yourself in Anne Sinclair’s situation?

Another sexual assault scandal is making the headlines in France, filed against junior cabinet minister Georges Tron.

Le Parisien /Aujourd’hui en France takes up the revelations made by two women against the powerful ruling party politician. The newspaper says Tron’s colleagues in the government are troubled by the allegations which have ministerial position untenable.

Le Courrier Picard comments in an editorial, that the flourishing of sex scandals is typical of French society and pre-election practice in France as rival camps dig deep for any filth that would bring down potential opponents.

The local paper screams with pleasure as the rich and powerful are being humiliated and forced to expose their sex lives to public scrutiny.