Bill outlaws domestic squabbles
France's National Assembly, voting on 25 February 2010, unanimously approved a bill aimed at broadening protections for women against domestic violence, setting off a controversy among some government officials. "Psychological harassment is now a crime," writes Le Monde, which reported that the offence is now punishable by up to a three-year prison term and a €75,000 fine. Nadine Morano, France's Secretary of State for the Family, believes the proposed law is fully justified "given that 84% of the 80,000 calls received each year on the domestic violence hot-line concern psychological violence," the French daily reported.
But French magistrates, the paper continued, criticised the lack of social-service resources to help victims and called the legislation "a law for show" and "window dressing". One of the bill's most notable measures is the introduction in France of the electronic bracelet, which could be imposed on violent spouses. Such devices are already used in Spain. Le Monde noted that on average domestic violence accounts for the death of one woman every three days in France.
In a time of crisis with high unemployment, young Lithuanians are following in the footsteps of their emigrant ancestors. Tens of thousands have left the country in search of a better life, mainly in the British Isles and Scandinavia. The weekly Veidas reports: 
The new Eurogroup meeting on February 9 is not enough to banish the spectre of a Greek bankruptcy. While Athens may largely be responsible for the crisis, the EU and its partners are not blameless themselves. La Stampa argues that their confused messages and the absence of any strategy have transformed a resolvable problem into an explosive chaos. 
Two camps, two theories, and two visions of France: 18 years after the massacre of 800,000 Tutsis, the precise role played by Paris is still the subject of heated debate, fueled by the findings of successive criminal investigations.