France and the Philippines

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In today's edition: David Chazan on the image and reality of President Sarkozy's style, while Kate McGeown finds loopholes in the Philippines' ban on divorce. The satire which didn't bite There are many rather grey, unremarkable men in European politics. But France's Nicolas Sarkozy is not one of them. Whatever you think of his politics, his presidency hasn't been dull. He's never afraid of controversy; he has a hyper-active leadership style - and a well publicised private life. Now his story's been turned into a film, and David Chazan has been reflecting on what Mr Sarkozy and his party might make of their portrayal. Divorce and doublethink in the Philippines Just a few weeks ago, the people of Malta voted to legalise divorce. So now there are only two countries left on earth where it's still banned. One is the Vatican and the other is the Philippines. Filipino society is overwhelmingly Catholic, and deeply devout. And the Church's bishops fiercely oppose any effort to change the law. But as Kate McGeown explains, in real life things are not nearly as clear-cut as the clergy might like; in fact, Filipinos show remarkable pragmatism when it comes to domestic matters.