Summer heat in Paris. . . for Jacques, that is,
Young guns conspire to get rid of Chirac

In a once unthinkable display of lese-majeste, supporters of Mr Sarkozy booed the president during the Bastille Day garden party at the Élysée Palace after Mr Chirac criticised his finance minister's ambition and manoeuvring in his annual televised interview.

Meanwhile, in a characteristic attack of tactlessness, Chirac French President Jacques Chirac has informed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "he is not welcome" in Paris after he urged all French Jews to leave the country immediately. Sharon (who was in Israel when he made his remarks) must have been inspired to say what he did by looking at the facts: The French Interior Ministry registered 67 attacks on Jews or their property and 160 threats against Jews in the first quarter of this year compared with 42 attacks and 191 threats in the last three months of 2003. According to BBC News, however,

The latest French government figures show 510 anti-Jewish acts or threats in the first six months of 2004 - compared to 593 for all of last year.
In recent years there have been bomb attacks against a number of synagogues and Jewish schools in France.
Jewish tombs have also been desecrated.

I have yet to see ONE arrest on any of these, and I've been watching the France2 news for several years. There's also Jacques's remarks on his Bastille Day interview, distinguishing between French Jews, French Muslims and ordinary French.