Parisian Bobos push les femmes

It is a city synonymous with womanhood, at least in French eyes, with effortlessly chic working mothers gliding through their daily marathons wearing enigmatic smiles and ankle boots from Isabel Marant.

But Paris has never been run by a woman, with les Parisiennes confined to a largely decorative role while men get on with the serious business of urban planning.

Now the city is in for a shock. Its next boss is almost certain to be female for the first time in its 2000-year history. All the candidates to succeed Bertrand Delanoe, the socialist Mayor - or at least all the serious ones - are women who have fought their way through the hornets' nest of Parisian politics.

Their emergence has been hailed as a sign of deep change in a country that has long been a bastion of sexism in public life.

The race appears to be a consequence of the specifics of Parisian demography, and notably the rise of bourgeois bohemians - or Bobos - with their fat wallets and avant-garde aspirations. For them, a woman mayor would be a statement of modernity.

The favourite in next year's mayoral election is Mr Delanoe's deputy, Anne Hidalgo, 53, who has long had backroom roles within the council and is now all but certain of being made the socialist candidate.

Her main rival is Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, 39, a former ecology minister who left her rivals in the centre-right in the starting blocks when she announced her intention to run. They wailed and threatened to teach her a lesson, then realised they had no option but to support NKM, as she is known.

The aristocrat Ms Kosciusko-Morizet is odds-on to win the centre-right primary to choose a candidate for Paris, although she will first have to see off Rachida Dati, France's feisty former justice minister. Ms Dati, 47 - one of very few second-generation immigrants to reach the upper echelons of French politics - is probably too divisive to win, with her "extraordinary capacity for destruction", says political commentator Thierry de Cabarrus.

La suite sur The Australian

Ladies first in the Paris mayoral race

For the first time in the history of Paris, the battle for the mayor's office - viewed as a springboard to higher office - is shaping to be an all-female affair in a watershed step forward for women.

Although Socialist Mayor Bertrand Delanoe only steps down next year, at least three women have already thrown their hats into the ring to replace him, a surprise move in a country where top jobs have traditionally been a male preserve.

Source Voice of Russia

RATP Dev s'intéresse au RER berlinois

Ratp Dev pourrait se porter candidate à l'exploitation d'un tiers du réseau de trains régionaux de Berlin (S Bahn) quand celui-ci sera en appel d'offres. C'est ce qu'a déclaré François-Xavier Perin, président du directoire de la filiale de la RATP, lors d'une conférence de presse le 20 mars 2013 dans la capitale allemande.

Source : Mobilicité

Boris Johnson : les Anglais parlent aux Français

Anne Hidalgo décorée par l'Andalousie, se revendique en tant que symbole

Dimanche 10 mars, mairie du XIVe. Susana Diaz, vice-présidente du conseil régional d’Andalousie, récompense Anne Hidalgo d’un prix venu de l’autre côté de la frontière.  Lequel ? Le prix des Andalous, remis chaque année à une personnalité "ayant marqué l’actualité" et originaire de cette région du sud de l’Espagne. 

La première adjointe à la mairie de Paris, "convaincue que l’Andalousie peut être la Californie de l’Europe", a encouragé à cette occasion la politique régionale. Et a promis d'apporter toute l'aide possible de Paris:   

L’Andalousie, malgré le contexte ultra difficile, a réussi à maintenir son pacte social.

Tout ce que nous pouvons faire depuis Paris pour les faire avancer vers un progrès économique et social, nous le ferons.

La suite sur le Lab Europe 1

Péage urbain à Paris : le sujet passionne autant qu’il divise

Ailleurs, les projets fleurissent. Et fonctionnent

Serpent de mer. L’idée de la création d’un péage urbain pour désengorger une capitale saturée, si elle séduit par ses nombreux bienfaits environnementaux, verra-t-elle le jour ? Signe de l’embarras de nos édiles, le projet est régulièrement mis sur la table puis disparaît comme par magie. Un projet jugé très risqué politiquement face à une opposition qui tire à boulets rouges sur les inconvénients supposés d’une telle configuration routière inédite en France.

Les arguments sont connus – le péage urbain constituerait un impôt à la charge des automobilistes les plus pauvres, ceux, obligés de recourir à leur véhicule pour se déplacer, loin de contribuer à la fluidification du trafic, le péage urbain rajouterait des embouteillages aux embouteillages, etc. Autant d’objections que les nombreuses expériences menées dans les villes étrangères démentent pour la plupart.

La suite : le Nouvel Economiste

Christian Linder, FDP (Parti Libéral Démocrate)

Berlins FDP-Chef Lindner will Freigabe von Cannabis

Der FDP-Politiker will die "weiche Droge" legalisieren. Er spricht auch über seinen "Testzug" an einem Joint, die liberale Dauerkrise und die #Aufschrei-Debatte um Fraktionschef Brüderle. 

source : Berliner Morgen Post

Et à Paris ? 

Pour Anne Hidalgo, le cannabis est un danger.

Source Libération

Mayor launches £20,000 competition to find tomorrow's green entrepreneurs

The Mayor Boris Johnson is challenging the capital's students to come up with new and innovative ideas to cut carbon emissions and boost London's green credentials.

The 2013 Low Carbon Prize offers the capital's students the opportunity to win a share of £20,000 to turn their ideas into reality. This year, for the first time, 20 of the best runners up will be shortlisted for a chance to win a paid internship with leading industrial engineering firm Siemens, sponsors of the award.‬

Source : Greater London Authority

NKM veut faire de Paris "the place to be

• Dans une interview au quotidien britannique The Daily Telegraph, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, candidate UMP aux municipales à Paris indique vouloir faire de Paris "the place to be", et que la capitale reprenne son "rôle historique de ville a la pointe".
  
  

La suite sur le site du Figaro 

Paris mayoral candidate Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet: I want to lure the French back from London

The Right-winger known simply as NKM tells Henry Samuel why she wants to be mayor of Paris and bring a new sparkle to the City of Light.

Kosciusko-Morizet hopes to seduce both the city's conservatives and a chunk of 'bobos' Photo: AFP

6:02PM GMT 01 Mar 2013

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The French Right's brightest hope to reclaim Paris after a dozen years of Socialist rule wants to woo back London's burgeoning Gallic population by making the City of Light Europe's cutting-edge, family-friendly "place to be".

In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, 39, warned that Paris must reclaim its "historical role of leading the way" if it wants to stop the "gap widening" with London.

La suite sur le site web du Telegraph 

Chez nos voisins : Labour council to cut tax

A west London borough has become the first Labour town hall in the capital to say it will cut council tax this year.

Hounslow will reduce bills by 0.5 per cent in 2013/14 — worth £5.45 a year for a band D household — after exceeding savings targets. It has frozen council tax for the last six years, saving residents £200 after inflation.

Council leader Jagdish Sharma said: “We have managed to keep our pledge to reduce council tax by working hard to reduce our costs and be more efficient — but we are also protecting front-line services.”

La suite sur le London Evening Standard

Chez nos voisins : All-women election lists in half of Labour's London seats

Labour will put forward all-women shortlists in half of its target London seats at the next election, it emerged today.

According to the newly appointed shadow minister for London, Sadiq Khan, six out of the 12 hot seats will be fought by women in 2015. Men will be excluded from the selection, Sadiq said in his first interview since taking on his role of Labour’s London election campaign chief.

Source London Loves Business

Chez nos voisins : reprise de la croissance démographique à Berlin

Bis 2030 könnte die Bevölkerung Berlins auf 3,75 Millionen Einwohner wachsen. Das stellt den Senat vor Herausforderungen, denn es braucht mehr Kitas, Schulen, Rad- und Fußwege - und viel, viel Geld.

la suite sur le Spiegel