Paris
French President Jacques Chirac fell for a prank call from a Canadian radio DJ this week. Speaking French with an outrageously exaggerated Quebecois accent, DJ Marc-Antoine Audette pretended to be Canada’s incoming prime minister, Stephen Harper. Chirac didn’t suspect a thing during several minutes of conversation, even when the fake Harper agreed with him overenthusiastically, chirping, “Exactly, Mr. President! Liberty, equality, and fraternity! Amen!” When Audette finally told Chirac the truth, the president burst into laughter. The real Harper does speak French well, but his accent is not remotely like a Quebecer’s.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for December 12Cartoons Friday's political cartoons include presidential piracy, emissions capping, and the Argentina bailout
-
The Week Unwrapped: what’s scuppering Bulgaria’s Euro dream?Podcast Plus has Syria changed, a year on from its revolution? And why are humans (mostly) monogamous?
-
Will there be peace before Christmas in Ukraine?Today's Big Question Discussions over the weekend could see a unified set of proposals from EU, UK and US to present to Moscow
