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Jacques Toubon (born 29 June 1941 in Nice, France) is a right-wing French politician who held several major national and Parisian offices.

Political career[link]

Governmental functions

Minister of Culture : 1993–1995.^[1]

Keeper of the Seals, Minister of Justice : 1995–1997.

Electoral mandates

European Parliament

Member of European Parliament : 2004–2009. Elected in 2004.

National Assembly of France

Member of the National Assembly of France for Paris : 1981–1993 (Became minister in 1993). Elected in 1981, reelected in 1986, 1988, 1993.

Municipal Council

Deputy-mayor of Paris : 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.

Councillor of Paris : 1983–2008. Reelected in 1989, 1995, 2001.

Mayor of the 13th arrondissement of Paris : 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.

Councillor of the 13th arrondissement of Paris : 1983–2001. Reelected in 1989, 1995.

Controversial actions[link]

Jacques Toubon is known for the controversial so-called Toubon Law, enforcing the use of the French language in official French government publications, and advertisements published in France. Since the law can largely be described as being hostile to English, Jacques Toubon is sometimes referred to, jokingly, as "Mr Allgood" ("All Good" being a translation of "Tout bon").

Jacques Toubon is also remembered for the "helicopter affair". In 1996, an initial criminal enquiry had been opened by Laurent Davenas, then head prosecutor of Évry for alleged misuse of government funds, in which Xavière Tiberi, wife of then mayor of Paris Jean Tiberi (from Toubon's party) was involved. (See corruption scandals in the Paris region). However, this was not a full criminal investigation and no investigative magistrate had been named. Davenas then went on vacation in the Himalaya. His deputy then announced his decision to open a full investigation. The Rally for the Republic leaders got frightened of the possible implications of such an investigation, and Jacques Toubon, then minister of justice, famously hired an helicopter to fetch the mountaineering prosecutor and convince him to rein his deputy in (Davenas refused). [1]

Jacques Toubon has been the topic of much lampooning. In addition to "Mr Allgood", Les Guignols de l'info have referred to him as "M. Bouffon" ("Mr Buffoon").

References[link]

External links[link]

• Former official page as Minister of Justice

Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud in 1998
Born	(1943-10-01) 1 October 1943 (age 68) Essonne, Île-de-France, France
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1976 - Present
Website
http://www.jjannaud.com/

Jean-Jacques Annaud (born 1 October 1943) is a French film director, film producer and screenwriter.

Biography[link]

Annaud was born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne. He was educated at the technical school in Vaugirard and in 1964 graduated from the prestigious film school Institut des Hautes Études Cinématographiques (IDHEC) in Paris.

He began his career by directing television advertisements in the late 1960s to early 1970s. In his first feature film, Black and White in Color from 1976, he used personal experience obtained during his own military service in Cameroon. The film won an Academy Award for the Best Foreign Language Film.^[1] His third film Quest for Fire (La Guerre du feu) received two Césars for best film and best director.

In 1986 he directed The Name of the Rose, a film adaptation of Umberto Eco's popular novel of the same name. The film version, with a screenplay written by Andrew Birkin, won two BAFTA Film Awards and was the subject of another 14 wins & two nominations. Jean-Jacques Annaud spent four years preparing for the film, traveling throughout the United States as well as Europe, searching for the perfect cast and film set locations. He supposedly felt personally intrigued by the project, among other things because of a lifelong fascination with medieval churches and a great familiarity with Latin and Greek.^{[citation needed]}

For Seven Years in Tibet, a film adaptation of the life of Heinrich Harrer, he has received a lifelong denial of entry to China, as have starring actors Brad Pitt and David Thewlis.^[2]

In 2000 he wrote and produced Running Free directed by Sergei Bodrov. He also directed the 2001 film Enemy at the Gates, detailing the exploits of Vassili Zaitsev during the Battle of Stalingrad.

In 2006 Annaud started filming His Majesty Minor, a fantasy-comedy which was filmed in Benitatxell and Benigembla, basically in the district of the Marina Alta, which is located in the Valencian Community.

His latest film is Black Gold, an epic drama setted in the 1930s Arab states which premiered in 2011. The film was fillmed in Tunisia and Qatar.

Annaud's next project will be the film adaptation of the award-winning best-selling Chinese novel Wolf Totem.^[3]

Filmography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

• César Award
  • 1982: Quest for Fire (Won - Best Film)
  • 1982: Quest for Fire (Won - Best Director)
  • 1987: The Name of the Rose (Won)
  • 1988: The Bear (Nomination - Best Film)
  • 1988: The Bear (Won - Best Director)
  • 1992: The Lover (Nomination)
• David di Donatello
  • 1987: The Name of the Rose (Won)
• European Film Academy
  • Enemy at the Gates (Nomination)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Jean-Jacques Annaud official site
• Jean-Jacques Annaud at the Internet Movie Database

v t e César Award for Best Director 1976 Bertrand Tavernier 1977 Joseph Losey 1978 Alain Resnais 1979 Christian de Chalonge 1980 Roman Polanski 1981 François Truffaut 1982 Jean-Jacques Annaud 1983 Andrzej Wajda 1984 Ettore Scola 1985 Claude Zidi 1986 Michel Deville 1987 Alain Cavalier 1988 Louis Malle 1989 Jean-Jacques Annaud 1990 Bertrand Blier 1991 Jean-Paul Rappeneau 1992 Alain Corneau 1993 Claude Sautet 1994 Alain Resnais 1995 André Téchiné 1996 Claude Sautet 1997 Patrice Leconte / Bertrand Tavernier 1998 Luc Besson 1999 Patrice Chéreau 2000 Tonie Marshall 2001 Dominik Moll 2002 Jean-Pierre Jeunet 2003 Roman Polanski 2004 Denys Arcand 2005 Abdellatif Kechiche 2006 Jacques Audiard 2007 Guillaume Canet 2008 Abdellatif Kechiche 2009 Jean-François Richet 2010 Jacques Audiard 2011 Roman Polanski 2012 Michel Hazanavicius

Paul Biya
Biya at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (2009)
President of Cameroon
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 November 1982
Prime Minister	Bello Bouba Maigari Luc Ayang Sadou Hayatou Simon Achidi Achu Peter Mafany Musonge Ephraïm Inoni Philémon Yang
Preceded by	Ahmadou Ahidjo
Prime Minister of Cameroon
In office 30 June 1975 – 6 November 1982
President	Ahmadou Ahidjo
Preceded by	Simon Pierre Tchoungui (East Cameroon) Salomon Tandeng Muna (West Cameroon)
Succeeded by	Bello Bouba Maigari
Personal details
Born	(1933-02-13) 13 February 1933 (age 79) Mvomeka'a, French Cameroons (now Cameroon)
Political party	People's Democratic Movement
Spouse(s)	Jeanne-Irène Biya (Before 1992) Chantal Vigouroux (1994–present)
Alma mater	National School of Administration Institute of Political Studies, Paris

Paul Biya (born Paul Barthélemy Biya'a bi Mvondo, 13 February 1933) is a Cameroonian politician who has been the President of Cameroon since 6 November 1982.^[1][2] A native of Cameroon's south, Biya rose rapidly as a bureaucrat under President Ahmadou Ahidjo in the 1960s, serving as Secretary-General of the Presidency from 1968 to 1975 and then as Prime Minister of Cameroon from 1975 to 1982. He succeeded Ahidjo as President upon the latter's surprise resignation in 1982 and consolidated power in a 1983–1984 power struggle with his predecessor.

Biya introduced political reforms within the context of a single-party system in the 1980s. Under pressure, he accepted the introduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s. He narrowly won the 1992 presidential election with 40% of the plural, single-ballot vote and was re-elected by large margins in 1997, 2004, and 2011. Opposition politicians and Western governments have alleged voting irregularities and fraud on each of these occasions.

Biya has maintained Cameroon's close relationship with France, Cameroon's former colonial ruler.

Personal life[link]

Biya was born in the village of Mvomeka'a^[1][2] in the South Region of French Cameroon. He studied at lycee Louis Legrand, Sorbonne and Science PO Paris, where he graduated in 1961 with a diploma in International Relations. He married Jeanne-Irène Biya, who did not have any children, though she adopted Franck Biya who was born from a relationship of Paul Biya with another woman.^{[citation needed]} After Jeanne-Irène Biya died on 29 July 1992, Paul Biya married Chantal Biya (38 years Paul's junior) on 23 April 1994,^[2] and he has had two more children with her.

Political career[link]

As an official in post-independence 1960s Cameroon, Biya rose to prominence under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. After becoming Director of the Cabinet of the Minister of National Education in January 1964 and Secretary-General of the Ministry of National Education in July 1965, he was named Director of the Civil Cabinet of the President in December 1967 and Secretary-General of the Presidency (while remaining Director of the Civil Cabinet) in January 1968. He gained the rank of Minister in August 1968 and the rank of Minister of State in June 1970, while remaining Secretary-General of the Presidency. Following the creation of a unitary state in 1972, he became Prime Minister of Cameroon on 30 June 1975. In June 1979, a law designated the Prime Minister as the President's constitutional successor. Ahidjo unexpectedly announced his resignation on 4 November 1982, and Biya accordingly succeeded him as President of Cameroon on 6 November.^[1][2]

Because Biya is a Christian from southern Cameroon, it was considered surprising that he was chosen by Ahidjo, a Muslim from the north, as his successor. After Biya became President, Ahidjo initially remained head of the ruling Cameroon National Union (CNU). Biya was brought into the CNU Central Committee and Political Bureau and was elected as the Vice-President of the CNU. On 11 December 1982, he was placed in charge of managing party affairs in Ahidjo's absence. During the first months after Biya's succession, he continued to show loyalty to Ahidjo, and Ahidjo continued to show support for Biya, but in 1983 a deep rift developed between the two. Ahidjo went into exile in France, and from there he publicly accused Biya of abuse of power and paranoia about plots against him. The two could not be reconciled despite the efforts of several foreign leaders. After Ahidjo resigned as CNU leader, Biya took the helm of the party at an extraordinary session held on 14 September 1983.^[3]

In November 1983, Biya announced that the next presidential election would be held on 14 January 1984; it had been previously scheduled for 1985. He was the sole candidate in this election and won 99.98% of the vote.^[3] In February 1984, Ahidjo was put on trial in absentia for alleged involvement in a 1983 coup plot, along with two others; they were sentenced to death, although Biya commuted their sentences to life in prison, a gesture seen by many as a sign of weakness.^[4] Biya survived a military coup attempt on 6 April 1984, following his decision on the previous day to disband the Republican Guard and disperse its members across the military.^[3] Estimates of the death toll ranged from 71 (according to the government)^[4] to about 1,000.^[3] Northern Muslims were the primary participants in this coup attempt, which was seen by many as an attempt to restore that group's supremacy; Biya, however, chose to emphasize national unity and did not focus blame on northern Muslims.^[3][4] Ahidjo was widely believed to have orchestrated the coup attempt,^[4] and Biya is thought to have learned of the plot in advance and to have disbanded the Republican Guard as a reaction, forcing the coup plotters to act earlier than they had planned, which may have been a crucial factor in the coup's failure.^[3][4]

In 1985, the CNU was transformed into the Cameroon People's Democratic Movement, in Bamenda the political capital of the north west region and Biya was elected as its President. He was also re-elected as President of Cameroon on 24 April 1988.^[2]

Biya initially took some steps to open up the regime, culminating in the decision to legalize opposition parties in 1990. According to official results, Biya won the first multiparty presidential election, held on 11 October 1992, with about 40% of the vote; the second placed candidate, John Fru Ndi of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF), officially received about 36%.^[5][6] The results were strongly disputed by the opposition, which alleged fraud.^[5] In the October 1997 presidential election, which was boycotted by the main opposition parties, Biya was re-elected with 92.6 percent of the vote;^[6][7] he was sworn in on 3 November.^[8]

Biya won another seven-year term in the presidential election of 11 October 2004, officially taking 70.92 percent of the vote,^[9][10] although the opposition alleged widespread fraud.^[9] Biya was sworn in on 3 November.^[10]

After being re-elected in 2004, Biya was barred by a two-term limit in the 1996 Constitution from running for President again in 2011, but he sought to revise this to allow him to run again. In his 2008 New Year's message, Biya expressed support for revising the Constitution, saying that it was undemocratic to limit the people's choice.^[11] The proposed removal of term limits was among the grievances expressed during violent protests in late February 2008. Nevertheless, on 10 April 2008, the National Assembly voted to change the Constitution to remove term limits. Given the RDPC's control of the National Assembly, the change was overwhelmingly approved, with 157 votes in favor and five opposed; the 15 deputies of the SDF chose to boycott the vote in protest. The change also provided for the President to enjoy immunity from prosecution for his actions as President after leaving office.^[12]

He has been consistently re-elected as the National President of the RDPC; he was re-elected at the party's second extraordinary congress on 7 July 2001 and its third extraordinary congress on 21 July 2006.^[13][14]

In presidential elections held in October 2011, Biya secured a sixth term in office, polling 77.9% of votes cast. John Fru Ndi was his nearest rival, polling 10%.^[15] Biya's opponents alleged wide-scale fraud in the election and procedural irregularities were noted by the French and US governments.^[16][17] In his victory speech, Biya promised to stimulate growth and create jobs with a programme of public works which would "transform our country into a vast construction site".^[17] On 3 November 2011, he was sworn in once again as president.^[18]

Opposition and criticism[link]

Biya is sometimes characterized as aloof, making relatively few public appearances. Since the early 1990s, he has faced his strongest opposition from the Anglophone population of the former Southern Cameroons in the western part of the country.

Although Biya made some efforts to open up the political environment, his regime still retains clear authoritarian characteristics. Under the constitution, Biya has sweeping executive and legislative powers. He even has considerable authority over the judiciary; the courts can only review a law's constitutionality at his request. The RDPC continues to dominate the National Assembly, which does little more than approve his policies.

"Tyrants, the World's 20 Worst Living Dictators", by David Wallechinsky, ranked Biya with three others commonly in sub-Saharan Africa: Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea, and King Mswati of Swaziland. He describes Cameroon's electoral process in these terms: "Every few years, Biya stages an election to justify his continuing reign, but these elections have no credibility. In fact, Biya is credited with a creative innovation in the world of phony elections. In 2004, annoyed by the criticisms of international vote-monitoring groups, he paid for his own set of international observers, six ex-U.S. congressmen, who certified his election as free and fair."^[19]

Biya regularly spends extended periods of time in Switzerland at the Hotel InterContinental Geneva where the former director Herbert Schott reportedly said he comes to work without being disturbed.^[20] These extended stays away from Cameroon – while sometimes as short as two weeks – are sometimes as long as three months and are almost always referred to as "short stays" in the state-owned press and other media.^[21][22] In February 2008, he passed a bill that allows for having an additional term in office as president which was followed by civil unrests throughout the country. The main violent riots took place in the Western, English-speaking part of the country starting with a "strike" initiated by taxi drivers in Douala, allegedly causing more than 200 casualties in the end.^[23][24][25] In 2009, his holiday in France allegedly cost $40,000 a day spent on 43 hotel rooms.^[26]

In 2009, Biya was ranked 19th in Parade Magazine's Top 20 list of "The World's Worst Dictators".^[27]

In November 2010, Bertrand Teyou published a book titled La belle de la république bananière: Chantal Biya, de la rue au palais (English: "The belle of the banana republic: Chantal Biya, from the streets to the palace"), tracing Chantal Biya's rise from humble origins to become Paul Biya's First Lady.^[28] He was subsequently given a two year prison term on charges of "insult to character" and organizing an "illegal demonstration" for attempting to hold a public reading.^[28] Amnesty International and International PEN's Writers in Prison Committee both protested his arrest and issued appeals on his behalf; Amnesty International also named him a prisoner of conscience.^[28][29] He was freed on 2 May 2011 when the London chapter of International PEN agreed to pay his fine in order that he might seek treatment for his worsening health condition.^[30]

Notes[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Paul Biya

v t e Presidents of Cameroon Ahmadou Ahidjo  · Paul Biya

v t e Prime Ministers of Cameroon East Cameroon (1960–1972) Ahmadou Ahidjo · Charles Assalé · Vincent de Paul Ahanda · Simon Pierre Tchoungui West Cameroon (1961–1972) John Ngu Foncha · Augustine Ngom Jua · Salomon Tandeng Muna Republic of Cameroon (1975–present) Paul Biya · Bello Bouba Maigari · Luc Ayang · Sadou Hayatou · Simon Achidi Achu · Peter Mafany Musonge · Ephraïm Inoni · Philémon Yang

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Astrid Lulling (born 11 June 1929 in Schifflange) is a politician in Luxembourg, and a Member of the European Parliament (1965–1974 and since 1989) for the Christian Social People's Party, part of the European People's Party.

Current positions held[link]

• Member of the Parliament's Bureau.

• Member of the Quaestors.

• Member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs.

• Member of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality.

• Member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America.

• Member of the Delegation to the Euro-Latin American Parliamentary Assembly.

• Substitute of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development.

• Substitute of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Southeast Asia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Curriculum vitae[link]

• Studied political economy at the University of Saarbrücken (1953-1955).

• Secretary and editor of the Lëtzebuerger Arbechter-Verband (1949-1963).

• Worked for the Miners and Metalworkers Contact Office with the ECSC, Luxembourg (1950-1958).

• Chairwoman of Socialist Women, Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (1963-1971).

• Member of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) executive committee (1971-1982).

• Member and Vice-Chairwoman of the Luxembourg-Centre section of the PCS (1984-2004).

• Member of the National Christian Social Women's Committee (since 1984).

• Secretary-General of the Unions of Agricultural Workers and of Food Industry Workers, at the European Community Trade Union Secretariat in Brussels (1963-1971).

• Member of Schifflange communal council (1970-2000).

• Mayor of Schifflange (1970-1985).

• Chairwoman of the PSD parliamentary group in the Chamber of Deputies (1974-1979).

• Member of the Bureau of the Chamber of Deputies (1984-1988).

• Member of the Consumers' Consultative Committee, European Commission (1974-1982).

• Member of the European Parliament (1965-1974 and since 1989).

Decorations[link]

• Commander of the Order of Merit of the Republic (Italy)
• Grand Officer of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Luxembourg)
• Grand Officer of the Order of the Oak Crown (Luxembourg)

Other Informations[link]

• Mrs Lulling is the author with her little nephew Jerome of a luxembourgish video cursus for foreigners interested in Luxembourg national language.

External links[link]

Find more about Luxembourg on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Definitions and translations from Wiktionary
	Images and media from Commons
	Learning resources from Wikiversity
	News stories from Wikinews
	Quotations from Wikiquote
	Source texts from Wikisource
	Textbooks from Wikibooks

• AstridLulling.com - the official site
• Astrid Lulling TV - TV Shows with Astrid Lulling on Google Video
• Luxdico.com - luxembourgish dictionary. Patronage: Astrid Lulling
• Strasbourg loses allure as 'shuttle democracy' host - Astrid Lulling in the Financial Times (5/15/05)