French press review 31 December 2010

It wasn’t such a good year for public transport in the greater Paris region. Theft and violence are up 40 percent compared to last year. A total of 6821 assaults were reported in 2009, versus 9501 in 2010.

Libération has published a 24-page 2010 special of people, names, numbers, images and objects that marked this past year.

On that list you’ll find L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt and former Labour Minister Eric Woerth, a scandal that rocked France’s political world.

And in the numbers-section we find “62”, the new retirement age here in France.

All of us journalists remember the Icelandic volcano that not only stranded hundreds of thousands of travellers…but that also had all of our tongues in a bit of a knot: Eyjafiallajökul.

And one of the most memorable objects of 2010 is the vuvuzela, an instrument that made a lot of noise during the football World Cup this past summer.

Moving on to conservative paper Le Figaro. One of their headlines here: “President Nicolas Sarkozy is preparing his year of reform.”

You can watch or listen to his New Year’s wishes on all French TV and radio stations tonight. And if you’re not in France but are interested in what the president has to say, you can go to Dailymotion, which will also broadcast his speech.

It’s the end of an era. When the congress convenes at the beginning of next month, it will be the first in 64 years without a Kennedy.

Catholic paper La Croix is taking a look back at the Kennedy years. JFK was the first to enter US politics in 1947… and the last ones were late senator Ted Kennedy (who died in 2009) and his son Patrick Kennedy. Now the only governmental post any Kennedy holds is a City Council seat in California.

But the New Year is not just about looking back, it’s also about resolutions.

According to Le Monde, Levi’s will make greener jeans. They will still be blue in color, but more eco friendly.

The company will no longer make jeans that are using too much water in the finishing process.

Currently 42 liters of water are needed to make one pair. With they “WaterLess” collection, they are hoping to cut that number by over 90 percent.

The jean-maker will also stop the making faded jeans. The process that gives them that used look is dangerous the worker’s health and has already lead to the premature death of about a dozen of them.