The Child Coal Hauler
Since blogger Xu Alun released this documentary on February 10, it's had over half a million hits. It tells the story of three homeless orphans working as coal-haulers in a southern city of China. According to our Observer in Hong Kong, a specialist in social problems in China, this is just one example of millions of "left-behind children" in the country. Read more...
Britons praise Carla Bruni-Sarkozy's French chic
The British public was wowed by Carla Sarkozy's elegance and beauty yesterday when she met the Queen. And they didn't miss out on the chance to compare the French president's wife with that of Prince Charles, Camilla Parker-Bowles, who rarely enjoys any praise. We hear the view of a British "appearance management" consultant on each woman's choice of style. Read more...
Photos © "rashdas"
France, the best place in the world
Photo: Jean-Marc Desfilhes
An Irish ratings service has just published a ranking of countries in terms of quality of life. France is considered the best in the world coming before Switzerland and the US and 191 places ahead of Iraq, which comes in last place. So what do the French make of this status? Read more...
The world according to the media
The French site L'Observatoire des médias has released a map of the world "as seen by news editors". The countries on the interactive map change colour and expand depending on how many articles have been written about them by the chosen publication, altering the world map to represent its coverage. The creators of the innovative project, Gilles Bruno and Nicolas Kayser-Bril, agreed to create a version for the Observers site. See the whole map and read Nicolas's analysis.
News coverage on observers.france24.com.
"Clinton has lost. It's over"
For our Observer Joe Sudbay, Clinton has lost. This weekend, the candidate's already flailing popularity took another hit when her account of a life-endangering trip to Bosnia was refuted. Footage from the trip shows school children greeting her plane and a sing-along with Sheryl Crow. Read more...
UPDATE (27.03.08 - 17h Paris time): See the parody of the "Clinton in Bosnia" video at the bottom of the page.
"The Sahwa militia has brought peace to my district"
19 March 08 during the prophet's birthday celebrations.
Our Observer in Baghdad, Last of Iraqis, took the same street scene and filmed it once in June 2007 and then in March 2008. In the first video nobody dared set foot outside; the street is deserted. But now, it seems to have come back to life. Thanks to the American Army? Apparently not. According to Last of Iraqis it's the al Sahwa militia to be thankful to. Read more...
“Hamas and Fatah take a great step forward”
"Third world conditions" an hour's drive from Hollywood
An area that was designated for 18 homeless people from California last July became a "city" of tents harbouring around 400 homeless residents from all over the US. A former resident of the refuge explains why hundreds of people are forced to live in "third world conditions", and another tells us that linking the issue to the subprime crisis is just media hype. Read more...
The encampment
Yahoo and MSN helping to root out Tibetan rioters
The 'most wanted' on Yahoo's homepage this morning
Yahoo! China pasted a "most wanted" poster across its homepage today in aid of the police's witch-hunt for 24 Tibetans accused of taking part in the recent riots. MSN China made the same move, although it didn't go as far as publishing the list on its homepage. Read more...
Bin Laden video: threats against Europe are serious
Osama bin Laden released a new video Wednesday in which he threatened the European Union with a "reckoning" and reignited the Danish cartoon affair. One of our Observers, an al Qaeda specialist, explains why this message could see a new wave of terrorist action in Europe. Watch Bin Laden's message and read the comment from our Observer.
