Never mind the brouhaha over a dying newspaper industry. Certain sectors of Old Media are actually gaining ground (er, I mean air). More and more broadcasters are showing a commitment to a format that is all news, all the time, all around the world. Yesterday saw the launch, to mixed reviews, of France 24 (vingt-quatre), a government-backed 24-hour news channel that's putting a Gallic spin on the day's events. Most of the stories will be broadcast and streamed online in French and English, and there are plans to ramp up Arabic-language content as well.  

The trend is happening in smaller countries too. When I was in Bangkok last month, I spoke with Tom Mintier, a CNN veteran who had been hired by Thailand's media giant UBC to launch a 24-hour news channel. Mintier thought that there was a valuable untapped market made up of viewers who wanted to watch news in their native tongue. Too bad UBCTV's news programming wasn't already on the airwaves during the coup. Then again, maybe it wouldn't have mattered. Mintier plans to avoid political coverage in favor of business and sports. If you ask me, that's an incomplete definition of "news."

At any rate, France 24 and UBCTV may make some headway in their respective niche markets. But neither is likely to make a dent in the overwhelming global dominance of the BBC and CNN International. They simply don't have the resources, reach, or potential audiences.

French presidential candidate Segolene Royal is being heavily criticized for her "poorly prepared," "useless for peace," and "dangerous" tour of the Middle East. In an attempt to burnish her FP cred ahead of next year's election, Royal recently met with Israeli, Palestinian, and Lebanese leaders during a visit to the Middle East. She is receiving strong criticism in France, however, for failing to immediately react when a member of Hezbollah compared Israel's occupation of Lebanon to the Nazi occupation of France during WWII. While Royal claims to not have heard the comment, others attest that failure to react is more evidence of her inexperience. She did, however, get her requisite photo-ops.

The EU recently released fertility statistics for the EU-25, and the new numbers point to an increasing number of Europeans choosing to have children out of wedlock (32.2%) vs. inside marriage (67.8%). The leaders of this trend, as the map from EUROSTAT at right shows, are the Scandinavian countries. In Denmark, for example, 60% of firstborns have unmarried parents. That figure hits 80% in certain districts of Norway.

While the United States still has more children being born out of wedlock (37%) than Europe as a whole, the profile of unmarried couples differs sharply. In the U.S., births out of wedlock are still associated with teenage pregnancies and poverty. In European countries like France, they have no such stigma. Ségolène Royal, who just won the Socialist Party nomination for France's presidential election next year, has been living with Francois Hollande, the party's leader, for 25 years. They have four children and remain unmarried. And they're hardly the only prominent French couple to prefer l'amour without marriage.

A closer look at the map reveals another interesting correlation. The countries in which birth rates are increasing are the same countries that have a larger percentage of children out of wedlock. It looks as though the current generation of childbearers is thoroughly rewriting their parents' family model.  

The French have always been gung-ho about preserving their unique history and identity. They are now, perhaps, taking it just a little bit too far. The country's governing party, UMP, is proposing that wine classes should be introduced into French schools, which would teach the "history and qualities of various types of French wine." The French wine industry has been hit hard by competition overseas and decrease in domestic consumption. The government argues, therefore, that in order "to hold a forceful position in the world, French wine must first assume a strong position at home." What's next? Cheese classes?

The French have long been resistant to the idea of American cultural imperalism. Now, they are resisting American technological imperialism as well. Not only has France worked on a homegrown search engine to counter Google's ubiquity, the government is also casting off the cloak of Microsoft. The French parliament is following the example of its gendarmes and its Ministry of Culture and Communication by ditching Microsoft Windows for its computers' operating systems in favor of open source platform Linux. My tech geek friends have informed me that this is a smart move, and not just because they hate Microsoft. It will save France cash (money that would otherwise go to Microsoft's coffers for Windows licensing fees), and Linux is a more stable platform than Windows (which is prone to crashing, as we all know from personal experience). Security is also better, making it perfect for a government concerned about protecting privacy.

Ahead of a major Nato summit in Riga, which commenced today, President Bush attacked Nato members who are reluctant to send their troops into some of Afghanistan's most dangerous areas, charging that they must engage in "difficult assignments." Under the agreement to aid in security and reconstruction, several member states, including Germany, France, Spain, and Italy, are allowed to choose which operations they wish to undertake.

Meanwhile, French President Jacques Chirac has written a column in today's Guardian in support of boosting national contributions to Nato operations in order to ease Nato's reliance on the United States. Chirac also makes the push for a stronger European influence in Nato, and proposes methods of how and why Nato must adapt. Ahead of a summit that will likely be dominated by Nato involvement in Afghanistan, Chirac also offers his idea of what is needed in order to succeed in the operation,

To bring about the conditions for success [in Afghanistan], we must act in the framework of a comprehensive strategy, a reaffirmed political and economic process. The establishment of a contact group encompassing countries in the region, the principal countries involved and international organisations along the lines of what exists in Kosovo is, I think, necessary to give our forces the means to succeed in their mission in support of the Afghan authorities, and refocus the alliance on military operations. 

It may seem like there are hordes of people doing fairly ridiculous things nearly every day of the year, but today is special. Today is Guiness World Records Day, and people around the world somehow feel more compelled to participate in mass events that involve the largest aqua aerobics class (in South Africa), the largest tea party (in Japan), and the largest check (in Kuwait). In some cities, national pride is at stake with Frenchies attempting the largest simultaneous kiss in Paris. Meanwhile, in Toronto, Canadians are attempting the largest ever re-enactment of Michael Jackson's Thriller video. This is the part of the story where the whole of Toronto starts showing up at awards shows with chimpanzees as dates, marrying Lisa Marie Presley, and dangling babies out of windows. Or they buy their own island and move to Bahrain. Either way, best of luck to everyone!

Incidentally, I'm happy to report that at least two people at FP have participated in Guinness events: the world's largest bowl of popped popcorn and the world's longest chorus line. At their request, identities will remain anonymous.