Bar Crobar

RIOTS AFTER NAHEL'S DEATH: FRANCE'S CATASTROPHIC IMAGE IN THE FOREIGN MEDIA

The foreign press is taking a very hard look at France, after a week of very high tensions.

France has been on the front pages of the foreign media for a week now. And the image of our country is catastrophic. Seen through the mirror of the foreign press, France is a country where nothing goes right any more. "The French model is broken", says the Sunday Telegraph which states that discrimination, racism and anti-Semitism are far more widespread in France than in the UK.

Another British newspaper, "La France a mal" (France is in pain), believes that "France has descended into chaos". Die Zeit in Germany. The Russian media, close to the Kremlin, spoke of "decadence and disorder". The Algerian press denounced France's racism and its stubborn refusal to acknowledge its violent colonial past. As for the images of the riots, they were broadcast around the world. They were on the front page as far away as China.

Foreign commentators denounce the failure of our integration model. All these articles have been compiled over the past week by "Courrier international". The New York Times sees the crisis as a specifically French problem, a crisis of identity and integration in France, illustrated not only by the riots but also by the ban on women footballers wearing the hijab. The English press is in the same vein.

The Observer explains that the French motto of "Liberté-Egalité-Fraternité" (Liberty-Equality-Fraternity) appears to be a delusion, even a lie, in the eyes of the inhabitants of the suburbs. Because France refuses to discuss racial issues. France does not recognise ethnic differences, since it is even forbidden to compile statistics on the issue. The French can't solve their problem of discrimination because they don't know how widespread it is.

Le Times in London says much the same thing, stating that the English model is superior to the French model. The English model can be summed up as 'laissez faire', in other words, encouraging the expression of diversity.

POLICING AT THE HEART OF THE INTERNATIONAL DEBATE

The issue of police management was raised, not to highlight the fact that some 800 police officers have been injured in the last week, but rather to denounce the scene that sparked off the riots, the shooting of the Nanterre police officer.

"When will the French police finally change? asks the German Süddeutsche Zeitung, which takes the view that in France the security forces primarily protect the state and not citizens.

And the newspaper believes that what happened in Nanterre is not exceptional. Last year, 13 people lost their lives during road checks. "It's a disgrace for France", concludes the German newspaper.

There is a general problem of police violence in France, also believes Die Zeit, who believes that the Nanterre affair is a blunder that could be the French George Floyd affair.

In the United States, a star presenter on CNN said he was stunned that a police union had referred to the rioters as "pests" or hordes of savages. "It would be impossible to use those words here," he said.

IS FRANCE CAPABLE OF ORGANISING THE OLYMPICS?

Le New York Times speaks of two France's, with on one side a France that favours order and on the other a camp that sees racism and the mistreatment of minorities. Two camps that seem irreconcilable.

All this paints a very negative picture of France. It's undoubtedly a harsh, even caricatured image, but the European newspapers are asking themselves one question: will France be able to organise the Olympic Games in a year's time with peace of mind? It's a cause for concern...

Text by Nicolas Poincaré (edited by J.A.) RMC BFMTV

The French Parliament adopts the law implementing the "health pass".

The day after another day of mobilisation by its opponents, the anti-Covid health pass was definitively adopted in France on Sunday evening. MPs and senators reached an agreement in principle on this controversial text.

The National Assembly ended the parliamentary marathon that began on Tuesday with a wide-ranging vote, with 156 votes in favour, from the majority and the right, 60 against, from the left and the Rassemblement National, and 14 abstentions.

The leader of the La France insoumise MPs, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, unsuccessfully put forward a final motion to reject the bill, denouncing the anti-Covid pass as "parole" and calling for "disobedience". Olivier Véran, the French Minister for Health, was a little provocative, welcoming the "new-found national unity" after a total of 60 hours of debate in both chambers.

Time limits

Shortly before, it was the right-wing-dominated Senate that had approved by 195 votes to 129, with 17 abstentions, the same text providing for an extended pass and compulsory vaccination for healthcare workers. In the joint committee, 14 deputies and senators reached an agreement (see also box) in the early evening, after almost four hours of meetings.

Therefore, after 15 November, the pass system can only be continued with a new vote by Parliament. Initially, checks will be carried out by the administrative police rather than the criminal justice system.

No redundancies for care workers

In addition, as the senators wished, it is the health insurance scheme that will first monitor the compulsory isolation of people infected with Covid-19, before the police intervene if necessary. "We couldn't treat French people like criminals", said Senator Hervé Marseille (Union Centrist).

Finally, there will be no dismissal for people who fail to comply with the vaccination obligation because of their profession, but their salary will be suspended. This point had been hotly debated.

Pass extended at the beginning of August

In a rare move, a last-minute government amendment authorising prefects to impose the pass in large shopping centres in a highly restricted manner was adopted at the last minute. However, the requirement to present the pass had been deleted by the Senate, a deletion subsequently approved by the Joint Committee.

The extended pass is due to come into effect at the beginning of August. Time is running out in the face of an unprecedented surge in infections in France linked to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant of Covid-19. The bill still has to pass through the Constitutional Council, to which Prime Minister Jean Castex and the left-wing party have referred the matter.

Text by Le monde agences/jop/vajo/vic

COMMENTARY. Euro 2021: France, Portugal, Germany... the group of death has killed off the big guns

France, Germany and Portugal, all drawn in the Euro 2021 "group of death", were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Switzerland, England and Portugal respectively.

In November 2019, in Bucharest, Romania, the draw for Euro 2020 (finally played in 2021) did not spare France, Germany and Portugal. The last three winners of major international competitions (the 2014 World Cup for Germany, Euro 2016 for Portugal and the 2018 World Cup for France) were placed in the same group, which had never happened before.

Group F, known as the "group of death", promised viewers some great matches from the start of the competition, but was a headache for the coaches. You had to be ready from the start, perhaps too early to go all the way. After all, the top players are programmed to build up their strength over the course of the competition, so that they are in top form from the quarter-finals onwards.

Proven organisations

While it didn't kill anyone, with all three teams qualifying for the 8^es of the final, the nervous and physical strain required from the start of the competition proved fatal in the knockout phase. As if the group wasn't already tough enough, the second and third-placed teams came up against England, at home at Wembley, and Belgium, number 1 in the Fifa rankings. Other round-of-16 games featured less "glamorous" opponents, such as Denmark and Wales, and Sweden and Ukraine.

In theory, only France seemed to be spared, even though they probably inherited the worst possible third place when they came up against Switzerland, a team that is always very difficult to play against, and 13^e in the international rankings.

Paradoxically, it was Portugal, third in the group, who came closest to qualifying in the end. Cristiano Ronaldo's team-mates had plenty of chances and possession, but sometimes lacked a clear finish, luck and physical fitness. No wonder. Their bodies were put to the test. The Portuguese, like the French, played two of their three matches in Budapest, the only stadium at the Euros with no spectator restrictions, in stifling heat. It's not the same to play in 35 degrees in Hungary as in 15 degrees in London or Amsterdam.

As well as playing each other, they also played their away games, in Munich against Germany and in Budapest against Hungary. And if all that wasn't enough, all three teams had two or three days less to recover.

Equity problem

With that in mind, it was hard to imagine any of the three teams going far in the competition, even if the French seemed to have done the hard part against Switzerland, taking a 3-1 lead with ten minutes remaining. Portugal's lack of physical fitness was obvious on Sunday, France's on Monday and Germany's on Tuesday. Of course, this in no way detracts from the performance of the Belgians, Swiss and English. But they didn't have to play finals in the group phase. The eleven-country Euro has its good points, but it also has its bad ones, particularly in terms of fairness.

Should Didier Deschamps stay on as Les Bleus coach?

The story began for Les Bleus in Bucharest one evening in November 2019 with a twist of fate. It ended one evening in June 2021 in Bucharest with a penalty shoot-out lottery. The story has come full circle.

Text by Ouest-France Pierre GUYON.

In France, it will be compulsory to wear a mask in enclosed public places from "next week".

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said on Thursday that the measure would come into force on 1 August.

The decree making it compulsory in France to wear masks in enclosed areas open to the public will come into force "next week", French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced to the Senate.

"We were planning for these provisions to come into force on 1 August", said the Prime Minister. "I understand that this deadline was too late (...) so the decree will come into force next week", he said during his general policy statement to the senators.

"An effective prevention and protection measure".

"Wearing a mask is an effective preventive and protective measure, along with observing barrier procedures", he stressed.

Emmanuel Macron's announcement on 14 July that it would be compulsory to wear a mask in "enclosed public places" from 1 August had pleased those who advocated this measure, but they were calling for it to be applied without delay, including in the workplace.

Jean Castex pointed out that "in so-called professional premises, this implies a change in the health protocols governing the activities concerned".

By APF LE TEMPS

Masks ordered by France bought back "on the tarmac" by the Americans

Some of the millions of masks ordered in France from China will finally be shipped to the United States...

Masks ordered in China by France are being bought back by Americans on the tarmac of Chinese airports from which the delivery planes are due to depart, which then head for the United States instead of France, the President of the Grand Est region, Jean Rottner, regretted on Wednesday.

"It's complicated, we're fighting 24 hours a day" to get the masks delivered, Jean Rottner told RTL. "I myself have a small unit at regional level that is working flat out with the sponsors to win these contracts. And indeed, on the tarmac, the Americans come up with the cash and pay three or four times the orders we have placed, so we really have to fight. And I was very happy to see this aircraft arrive here last night", he added.

The President of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, Renaud Muselier, has also heard of such a practice by American buyers: at a meeting between the regional presidents, "a regional president explained to us that his order for masks had been stolen from him at the airport itself, by the Americans, who paid three times the price, in cash. But I won't give you the name of the region or the number of masks ordered", said Renaud Muselier.

It's an incredible obstacle course

To collect an order for four million masks, which had been ready since Saturday, the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Region had "finally decided to go through Ceva, the logistics subsidiary of CMA-CGM", a French charter shipping company based in Marseille, explained Mr Muselier. "At least I can be sure that nobody is going to buy them from me on the tarmac. Normally, they're on the way to the airport. But I'm still as cautious as a Sioux, it's an incredible obstacle course" from a logistical point of view, he noted.

Two million surgical masks ordered from China by the Grand Est region were delivered to Basel-Mulhouse airport on Tuesday night. Jean Rottner, himself an emergency doctor, ordered a total of five million masks, financed by the regional budget. The Grand Est was the first region to receive its own order of masks, in addition to national orders.

Emmanuel Macron, who has been criticised for the shortage of masks in France, promised "full independence" for mask production by the end of the year during a visit to a manufacturing plant in Anjou on Tuesday.

The United States, which has been slow to take measures to halt the spread of the coronavirus on its territory, is also looking for masks.

source: https://www.vosgesmatin.fr/