Le Canard enchaîné

Le Canard enchaîné (French pronunciation: ​[lə kanaʁ‿ɑ̃ʃɛne]; English: The Chained Duck or The Chained Paper, as "canard" is French slang meaning "newspaper") is a satirical weekly newspaper in France. Its headquarters is in Paris. Founded in 1915 during World War I, it features investigative journalism and leaks from sources inside the French government, the French political world and the French business world, as well as many jokes and humorous cartoons.

Presentation

Early history

The name is a reference to Radical Georges Clemenceau's newspaper L'homme libre ("The Free Man") which was forced to close by government censorship and reacted upon its reopening by changing its name to L'homme enchaîné ("The Chained-up Man"); Le Canard enchaîné means "The chained-up duck", but canard (duck) is also French slang for "newspaper"; it was also a reference to French journals published by soldiers during World War I.

The weekly was founded in 1915 by Maurice Maréchal and his wife Jeanne Maréchal, along with H. P. Gassier. It changed its title briefly after World War I to Le Canard Déchaîné ("The duck unbound", or "out of control"), to celebrate the end of military censorship of the press. It resumed the title Le Canard enchaîné in 1920. The title also conveys a double meaning, "canard" being a possible salacious rumour or whisper and "enchaîné" simply meaning linked, hence "the inside whisper". It continued to publish and grow in popularity and influence until it was forced to suspend publication during the German occupation of France in 1940. After the liberation of France, it resumed publication. It changed to its eight-page format in the 1960s.

François Fillon

François Charles Amand Fillon (French pronunciation: ​[fʁɑ̃.swa ʃaʁl amɑ̃ fi.jɔ̃]; born 4 March 1954) is a French lawyer and politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 17 May 2007 to 16 May 2012. He was appointed by President Nicolas Sarkozy on 17 May 2007. As a member of the UMP, Fillon became Jean-Pierre Raffarin's Minister of Labour in 2002 and undertook controversial reforms of the 35-hour working week law and of the French retirement system.

Fillon became Minister of National Education in 2004 and proposed the much debated Fillon law on Education. In 2005, he was not included in the new government headed by Dominique de Villepin, but was elected Senator for the Sarthe Département. His role as a political advisor in Nicolas Sarkozy's successful race for President led to his becoming Prime Minister. Fillon resigned upon Sarkozy's defeat to François Hollande in the 2012 presidential elections. In 2013 during a visit in Russia, Fillon criticized the French government led by Francois Hollande for its support to a military intervention in Syria.