The end of a rather quiet week, at home and abroad in the wider world. One benefit of la bienheureuse being away is guilt-free TV football in the evenings. Tuesday I watched mon équipe de cœur amble complacently in second gear through 92 minutes of the match against Dutch opponents, only to concede an equaliser in the 93rd. No real damage done. OL played the same night, on a subscription channel, and drove another nail into the Scouse coffin. Let's hope there's a resurrection on Sunday...
Elsewhere, Les Bleus drew Ireland in the World Cup playoffs. Les hommes en vert are seen as tough opponents, typically British.
In the more trivial, non-sporting world, Jean Sarkozy has renounced his candidature for the presidency of Epad, bowing to the general opinion that a 23 year-old law student lacks the experience and know-how to direct the billion euro budget of the public body in charge of developing France's largest business district. Shame nobody dared tell his father what a bad idea it was. Sarko fils can console himself with a mere seat on the board...
And finally, the Clearstream trial nears an end, with three days of summing up by prosecution and defence expected to end today. The prosecution has asked for an 18 month suspended sentence for de Villepin, with heavier sentences for his co-defendants. They seem to have accepted they can't prove that he took an active role in the conspiracy, but claim he's guilty of doing nothing to stop it. A decision in the case is expected to be deliberated at the start of 2010. The wheels of French justice grind slowly...
