French press review 16 February 2015

Saturday's attacks in Copenhagen dominate the front pages of Libération and Le Figaro. Le Monde looks at how hunting threatens the survival of the tiger. Le Parisien reads a Paris taxi driver’s memoirs. And L’Equipe salutes a French skiing champion.

While Le Figaro has the headline “The spread of Islamic extremism in Europe” with a photograph of the café window with bullet holes, Libération's front page sports the words “Vi er Danskere”.

This is a Danish translation of “Nous sommes Danois” (We are Danish), which in turn is inspired by the popular phrase of defiance following last month’s Charlie Hebdo attacks, “Je suis Charlie.”

The second page of Libération carries a detailed report on how and why Denmark has been the target of extremists for the past 10 years, whether in the form of threats or attempted attacks.

It also states that in terms of population percentage, Denmark has one of the highest rates of departures of young people to the Syrian war.

Le Monde's edition has an interesting feature on how tigers, the great hunters have now become the hunted due to widespread poaching.

The report says that these majestic wild cats could be the first mammals to disappear from the face of our planet.

It adds that, following China, the United States has become one of the major destinations of tiger products trafficking.

The report also mentions the rocketing prices of tiger parts. It quotes a 2008 World Bank report which states that a dismembered body of an adult male tiger can fetch up to 70,000 dollars (61,000 euros).

Le Parisien has an interesting feature on a new book that Parisians, as well as those who have visited Paris, would find interesting. Confessions of a driver is written by Toufik Abu Haydar who drives a G7 taxi and has narrated his experiences of driving a taxi on the streets of Paris for 25 years.

When he started in 1991 he intended to drive cabs for just six months. After all, he was a Lebanese scholar, who had dreamt of becoming a director or a screenwriter.

But that was not to be and, as you would expect, the book has plenty of anecdotes.

By the way, his first car Peugeot 505 has now transformed into a Toyota Prius Hybrid.

The sports daily L’Equipe’s front page is dominated by the smiling photograph of French skier Jean-Baptiste Grange with a eight column headline PHENOMENAL in bold and capital letters.

That’s because Grange claimed his second world championship title in the Slalom event at Beaver Creek in USA.

His triumph on Sunday comes four years after his first win in Garmisch, Germany. The French skier also gave France the only gold medal at the event. The win was also special as Grange had been weighed down by injuries during the past couple of years.