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by Paolo Cappelli

June 17, 2021

La Voix du Nord


What is at stake here and elsewhere


On Sunday, some 4.2 million voters in Hauts-de-France are called to decide between seven lists in the first round. Favorites, challengers, balance of power ... an overview of the challenges of a local ballot with a strong national dimension, 48 hours before the polls open. The outgoing president and former government minister Fillon Xavier Bertrand, 56, should arrive on the one hand. On the other, Sébastien Chenu (RN), deputy from Denaisis and spokesperson for Marine Le Pen's party. But Xavier Betrand, much feared by Macron's loyalists, is given by the polls as the third wheel among the probable presidential candidates Courrier Piccard return to origins Emmanuel Macron came yesterday to visit the Poix school where his grandmother taught for years and was optimistic said about the exit from the crisis.  



Le Figaro


Emmanuel Macron continues his subliminal campaign by visiting the lands of Xavier Bertrand and the RN in Hauts-de-France. "I do not touch anything of regional matters said the head of state - I do not interfere in this campaign, I only continue my work for the nation". But equally, from the walks to the round tables, from the meetings with the students to the visit to the Cité internationale de la langue française, an atmosphere hovers around him that leaves room for doubt.


Covid, a summer to deal with it. Hospitalizations, infections, mortality all the indicators point in the right direction and make it possible to lighten the restrictions, but vigilance and prudence remain indispensable.



La Marseillaise


And should the left win? On the last day of the election campaign, left-wing candidates explain to the newspaper what would change in our everyday lives if they were to win on Sunday.








Liberation Champagne


Regionali, the far right can believe it. A poll gives Laurent Jacobelli's RN in the lead in the first round 


Laurent Jacobelli is ahead of the outgoing center-right regional president, Jean Rottner. RN ahead of voting intentions in Burgundy Franche-Comté, Center Val di Loire, Occitania. And it's not too bad in Upper France and Brittany, where historically it obtained little support.




A Viavoice study reveals that 54% of registered voters intend to abstain  


54% of registered voters intend to abstain from the first round of the regional elections on June 20 (compared to 49.91% in 2015)


Abstention is fueled by "lack of democratic breath", the majority of French do not recognize themselves in the projects carried out by the various candidates in the elections.


Among the reasons for the abstention, the French put first the fact that "the candidates and their projects do not meet the expectations of the French "(44%), faced with the" fatigue of the French in the face of political debates "(42%), the fact that" elected officials and political leaders do not understand the concerns of the French "(41% ) and "the will to express dissatisfaction with politicians" (37%).



"Democratic life is the blow", insist the authors of the study: 68% of respondents believe that their "personal interests and ideas" are "poorly represented" (20% think otherwise), and 55% that democracy works "badly" (against 38%).



The


Regional

Opinion

: the presidential warm-up round


Postponed due to the pandemic, the vote of the administrative authorities will renew the institutions in 13 regions.

A record abstention is feared, over 50%



Editorial: voting on Sunday, by Nicolas Beytout 


Nothing particularly surprising: democracy is sick, and its purest expression, the right to vote, is less and less attractive. It is a strange paradox to see the French move away in large numbers from the polling booths. They stop influencing the management of public affairs and at the same time take offense at not being listened to by their representatives. This distrust is fueled by power itself. By relying heavily on civic committees, the government has given the impression of creating a hierarchy in democracy, the point of view of randomly selected or selected individuals becoming superior to any other public expression. Even with social networks and the pressures of the immediate they impose it: with the complicity of the political world, the direct poll has become a "must", the "without filter "a religion. The vote on Sunday, and the following weekend, should therefore be, for all those who are concerned about this drift of democracy, a means of strengthening the foundations of what we should care most about. Vote Sunday it means weighing on the balance of power that will structure the political debate until the next electoral campaign, that of the presidential elections of 2022. To vote on Sunday is to re-establish the democratic link with the local elected representatives, those less distant from the hearts of the French.Voting on Sunday means weighing on the balance of power that will structure the political debate until the next electoral campaign, that of the presidential elections of 2022. Voting on Sunday means re-establishing the democratic link with local elected officials, those less distant from the hearts of the French.Voting on Sunday means weighing on the balance of power that will structure the political debate until the next electoral campaign, that of the presidential elections of 2022. Voting on Sunday means re-establishing the democratic link with local elected officials, those less distant from the hearts of the French.


A good start



L'Est éclair


As


tall

as cathedrals

26 plants of 190 meters high are being installed in Villiers Herbisse, the largest ever seen in Aube (eastern France). And others will come. There is not a week during which a personality, a minister or an association does not talk about wind turbines, their benefits or harmful consequences. Since December, the government's policy has been drawn: it is necessary to double the electricity produced by onshore wind in France by 2028. Some protest the impact on the landscape and traditional activities on the territory. But wind turbines bring an interesting financial gain for the municipality, the department and also for farmers, who benefit from non-negligible rents. State aid to operators.



Liberation


Eolico, a polluted debate


From the RN to the nuclear lobbies, the opponents of wind turbines raise their voices on the occasion of the Regionals, hiding the real issues posed by wind power.



A strange caravan has landed in the campaign for the regional elections. A heterogeneous team ranging from Rassemblément National candidates to scallop fishermen to elements of the pronuclear lobby ... the front of the opponents of wind energy, encouraged by the appearance on YouTube of a very critical docufilm (Wind turbines: from dreams to reality), is managed to impose his themes in the French political debate. So much so that the supporters of the great white pylons, producers of zero C02 electricity, are on the defensive. But what happened to turn the wind turbines into scarecrows even though theIs aspiration to a life closer to the natural elements one of the creeds of this 21st century decade? What happened then that simple installations designed to produce energy with wind caused such an uproar in France, uniting the far right of the RN, elements of the left and even environmentalists in the same anger? Wind turbines are a real topic, their installation on the territory was done without a national strategy or citizens' consultation and it is time to talk about them calmly to get the project back on track. France has an energy mix that relies heavily on nuclear power, an energy that is certainly carbon-free but comes from obsolete power plants whose renewal is prohibitive and whose waste remains a burden for future generations.It is therefore essential to diversify energy sources, the sun and wind remain the most natural and most effective means of producing it. This does not mean that you have to cover the territory with wind turbines and solar panels in spite of common sense, only that you have to explain, consult, reason relentlessly and with comparison on facts to chase away any shadow.



FAZ


Baerbock wants agreements between state and companies on environmental protection


The green candidate for the Federal Chancellery specifies its economic program. A central point are the climate protection agreements, through which he wants to reconcile ecology and economy. Not a completely new idea.


New technologies should protect the environment and at the same time allow the economy to grow - at least in theory this sounds good. The Greens saw it differently for a long time, their vision of the economy was marked by mistrust. Annalena Baerbock, yesterday presented her book "Now. How we renew our country" in Berlin and proposes a pact to the economy. Baerbock had already mentioned this at the party congress over the weekend. "This is a binding agreement whereby the state will compensate companies for the additional costs they have to pay if they become climate-neutral, Made in Germany." 



Le Monde


Mana Neyestani, Iranian designer


Abstention in the presidential elections in Iran can express anger and disillusionment.



Interview with Mostafa Tajzadeh: "The presidential elections in Iran will mark the victory of a minority"


At 64, Mostafa Tajzadeh, former deputy interior minister under the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005), is a figure of the reformist current. Jailed between 2009 and 2016, his candidacy in the presidential elections on June 18 was rejected. 



In the previous elections, Ebrahim Raïssi [the ultraconservative candidate] got 16 million votes and lost. If he gets 18 million today, he'll be at the same level of popular support. I don't even think he'll take them. His election is a coup. That the will of a minority be imposed on the majority is an insult to the Iranian people.


In your opinion, what is the plan, what will happen after Raïssi's arrival as president?


The Supreme Guide will decide on his succession. This electoral "coup" aims to put all powers in the hands of the conservatives and Raïssi is potentially the next Guide. Looking back, apart from the first three years of the Revolution, there were no free elections in Iran. But at least some competition was allowed even in controlled elections. Not so this time. Not only did they attack the reformers, but they also disqualified and rejected any candidate who might have a bearing. Even former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was ousted. They want to centralize power in the hands of conservatives alone in view of the appointment of the future Supreme Leader. Knowing that here we are dealing with ultraconservatives, and not so-called "moderate" conservatives.The center of gravity of power now slips completely towards the Guardians of the Revolution.



Financial Times


Elections in Iran


The only reformist candidate in the Iranian presidential election tells the FT that he will try to resolve the stalemate with the world powers over the nuclear deal "at the earliest opportunity" if he is elected. Abdolnaser Hemmati, a former central bank governor who is battling conservative rivals in today's vote, said if he wins, his priorities would be relaunching the 2015 nuclear deal, a deal to lift US sanctions and attract investment. foreigners.


Polls suggest Hemmati is a long way off favorite Ebrahim Raisi. In any case, the 64-year-old candidate said he had already asked Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's top diplomat and one of the architects of the nuclear deal, to join his government.



New York Times


A country that waits more and more to give birth to a family


The birth rate has been falling almost everywhere since the financial crisis of 2008-'09


in the first map, the situation between 1996 and 2007, there were more children in the provinces and in small towns, in the countryside, less in metropolises



In the second map from 2007 to 2019, 


the birth rate plummeted everywhere, well before the pandemic. One reason is that women wait more years before their first child, education, work and career come first 





from the editorial staff



América Tv (Peru) 


Brazil, Sao Paulo: 19 variants of the coronavirus identified in circulation 



The Butantan Institute, one of the most prestigious medical research institutes in Brazil, has identified the circulation of 19 variants of the coronavirus in the State of Sao Paulo, the most populated and affected by the country's pandemic.   



According to the epidemiological bulletin of the alert network for variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, the strain with the greatest presence in the state is P.1, also known as the 'Gamma' variant, with a prevalence of 89.9% . To achieve the result, the researchers carried out genomic sequencing of part of the tests carried out by public and private laboratories across the state, which were compiled between January and May.   



The Institute is linked to the Sao Paulo government and reported that "so far, 19 circulating variants have already been identified in the state" after "sequencing 4,812 (0.58%) complete genomes of 834,114 (39.2%) cases positive ".  



Behind P.1, the other strain classified by health authorities as "concern" with the highest prevalence in the state, is Alpha or B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK and whose incidence is was 4.2%. 



The bulletin, which will be published weekly, has not detected, for now, the presence of the India Delta variant, which is the one that raises the greatest concerns worldwide, although the strain has already been identified in the South American country. The Institute's initiative is to monitor "the absolute and relative frequencies of SARS-CoV-2 strains", monitor "the temporal evolution of the incidence of the different strains" and collect information on "positive tests and diagnoses" referring to every area of ​​the state. The Butantan Institute is responsible for the production in Brazil of the Coronavac vaccine, from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac, the most used in Brazil, which is one of the most affected by the coronavirus, with over 490,000 deaths and 17.5 million confirmed cases. 




vedomosti.ru


United States and Russia admit the impossibility of winning a nuclear war



Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden agreed in Geneva to continue the dialogue on strategic arms control and cybersecurity issues. The brief joint declaration echoed a Soviet-US document from 1985 on the impossibility of winning a nuclear war. It was the starting point for real disarmament then and can now become the beginning of a dialogue on the future of the treaties on the limitation of military capabilities. US criticism of Russia's domestic political situation was rejected by Putin, but both leaders expressed an interest in breaking the impasse between the two countries. This will be aided by the return of the ambassadors to the capitals in which they are accredited, as announced by the presidents.



According to Pavel Sharikov, director of the Center for Applied Research at the Institute of the United States and Canada of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the summit is valued by the very fact of its holding, rather than by the results obtained. "The most important thing is the willingness to establish contacts, for dialogue", the expert believes. Concrete steps have been taken to build dialogue, which is demonstrated by the mutual return of the ambassadors. However, Sharikov notes that a "reset" and an improvement in relations from the top should not be expected. The summit is likely to lead to discussions of the accumulated problems between Russia and the United States. Cybersecurity dialogue has now become possible in the format of consultations through foreign affairs agencies,Sharikov continued. This idea was proposed by former President Donald Trump at the 2018 Helsinki Summit, but was not implemented at the time. Now that has changed, and the reason is Biden's safer position in the domestic political arena. "It is now easier for Biden to negotiate with Congress," Sharikov explained.



Absolutely unacceptable to the Russian side, Sharikov believes, the release of Alexei Navalny under US pressure. Navalny's release would lead to complications in the internal political situation before the elections to the Duma. Therefore, says Sharikov, Biden cannot offer Putin anything that would prompt the Russian authorities to release Navalny. At the same time a dialogue on the exchange of US citizens convicted in Russia with Russian citizens convicted in the US would be possible.