French press review

In the spotlight: the declared war on women

Audio 05:06

Protesters in the streets of New York on June 24, 2022, after the US Supreme Court's decision to revoke federal abortion rights.

© Getty Images via AFP / SPENCER PLATT

By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow

5 mins

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“ 

My body, my choice.

 “A message written in black letters on the face of a demonstrator in the United States, to see this week on the front page of

L’Obs

.

“ 

The fight continues

 ”, headlines the magazine, obviously referring to the revocation of the federal right to abortion across the Atlantic.

It doesn't matter that more than seven out of ten Americans are opposed to it, the Supreme Court " 

sat

 " on their opinion, can we read.

A decision that

Le Point

describes as a “ 

spectacular step backwards

 ”, in a country which was “ 

often throughout history, our teacher of freedoms, even our lifeline in this area

 ”.

The United States fractured by an ideological war

On the left, America is on the barricades

 " tells us

L'Obs

, citing in particular legal actions in several states, to " 

block the ban on abortion

 ", or The Women's March which " 

had rallied hundreds of thousands of demonstrators after Trump came to power in 2017

 ", and which today promises a " 

summer of rage

 ", with many demonstrations.

And the right is also in battle order.

Le Figaro Magazine

presents us with an elected official who has contributed to " 

upsetting the history of America

 ": Asa Hutchinson, governor of Arkansas, who had already had a law passed more than a year ago " 

prohibiting abortion even in cases of rape or incest

 ”.

He hoped at the time – when this law was challenged in court – that the Supreme Court would follow suit.

So he naturally welcomed the judges' decision this week on NBC, the fruit according to him of " 

forty years of struggle

 ".

Asa Hutchinson " 

thus starts his thorny race for the White House

 ", explains

Le Figaro Magazine

, because " 

he plans to run in the Republican primary in 2024.

 ”

And there is now the fear of seeing other rights threatened, contraception or homosexual marriage for example, as certain judges of the Supreme Court have already mentioned.

L'Obs

finally sums up this risk of escalation very well: “ 

Religious extremists are like junkies

: you always have to increase the dose

!

 »

The “

martyrdom

” of Afghan women

This seems to be confirmed under other skies... Another country, another war against women:

Paris Match

denounces this week the " 

martyrdom

 " suffered by Afghan women since the return to power of the Taliban.

From Kabul – where they have been forced to wear the full veil again since last May – to Kandahar above all, the stronghold of the Taliban.

“ 

Outlawed by the international community, Afghanistan is mired in a major economic and humanitarian crisis, but its new masters have one priority

: controlling the lives of women.

 »

Paris Match

also delivers an interview with Hamid Karzai, the former Afghan president now under house arrest in Kabul.

He invites the Taliban to reconsider certain decisions, the education of girls is in particular for him “ 

a vital issue

 ”.

In northern Mali, the fight against terrorism

Another war born of religious extremism again, in northern Mali this time:

Le Figaro Magazine

takes us to the shade of a large acacia tree, " 

in the bush of the region of the three borders

 ", near the town of Talataye.

Report on the birth of the Permanent Strategic Framework, the CSP, an organization that brings together the leaders of Tuareg and Arab armed groups.

Signatories of the 2015 peace agreement, they have decided to unite against terrorism.

Since France began its withdrawal, they have set themselves up as " 

the last rampart

 ", says

Le Figaro Magazine

.

He reports the creation of a General Staff, " 

in the process of being set up

 " with " 

its own command and specialized forces

 ".

And the mayor of Talataye, who launched the invitation to bring together the CSP in his city in the spring, is categorical: “ 

We are left to our own devices.

We are aware that the state will not restore security for us

 ,” he testifies.

The challenges of Paris 2024

In another register, France is already thinking of the Olympic Games in Paris.

The Journal du Dimanche

devotes its front page to it today, “ 

alerts on Paris 2024

 ”.

Finance, security, governance and jobs

: two years from the event, the subjects of concern are accumulating

 ", tells us the

JDD

.

In particular around the opening ceremony on the Seine, " 

with 162 floating barges to transport delegations and heads of state, over 6 kilometers

 ", with some 600,000 spectators expected on the quays, " 

a first in the history of Olympism which has always opted for a closed enclosure

 ".

But the Interior Ministry 

provides for an exceptional mobilization

 ”, assures the

JDD

which also relays the words of Tony Estanguet, the president of the Organizing Committee.

“ 

You have to keep your cool.

[...] The idea is to anticipate the hazards, because there will be some,

 ”he warns.

Have the French lost the taste for effort

?

Another file… The weeklies also wonder about the French: have they lost the taste for effort?

We can already dwell on this survey by

L'Express

alerting to the considerable drop in the level of French students in mathematics.

For example, on an equal test, a pupil who “ 

obtained an average score in 1987 would be one of the best today

 ”.

“ 

Poor performances which place France below the OECD average, between Turkey and New Zealand

 ”, analyzes

L'Express

, far behind South Korea or Japan.

But more broadly, “ 

where has the taste for effort gone

?

 asks the front page of Le

Point

.

Like

Le Figaro Magazine

, he observes the " 

labour shortage

 " in certain sectors such as the hotel and catering industry, a " 

lack of ambition

 " or the recent " 

revolt against baccalaureate subjects deemed too difficult

 ".

To the point of even wondering if we would not be “ 

switching into the civilization of the slipper

 ”.

However, if you also prefer to stay on the sofa, watching series, well, we can be reassured, it's not our fault!

It is the fault of our brain, assure the magazines.

Attracted by immediate pleasures, he makes the reward circuits work more easily than the mechanisms of effort.

Almost a survival instinct, but

Le Point

encourages us: “ 

Pugnacity and motivation take muscle

!

 ".

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  • Newspaper

  • United States

  • Womens rights

  • Health and medicine

  • Afghanistan

  • Women

  • mali

  • Terrorism

  • Sports

  • Olympics 2024

  • Employment and Labor

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