The editorial staff of “Libération” compiles the main news from this Monday, July 1.
Every morning, the editorial staff of Liberation selects the essential news in France, in the rest of the world and those to follow during the day.
RN in the lead, the New Popular Front resists, the Macronists drop out
At the end of this first round of early legislative elections on Sunday June 30, which was highly mobilized, the National Rally and its coalition with ex LR Eric Ciotti are ahead, at 33.2%. The New Popular Front (NFP) follows at 28% while the presidential majority drops to 20.7%. Never have the Marinists come out on top in a legislative election in France. The far right can envisage a relative, or even absolute, majority. In which case Jordan Bardella could move to Matignon. For his part, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced the “withdrawal of our candidates whose remaining in third position would have led to the election of a deputy” far-right in the second round. Same thing on the NFP side, the rebels, ecologists, communists and socialists have clearly called for blocking the National Rally.
The government pauses its unemployment reform
Gabriel Attal put on hold the controversial reform of unemployment insurance, denounced as much by the far right as by the left alliance and the unions. This reform, which aims to tighten the conditions of access to compensation and is scheduled to come into force on December 1, was to be ratified by a decree published in the Official Journal this Monday. The reform is not buried but could “be the subject of adjustments, discussions between republican forces”reports the entourage of Gabriel Attal, referring to “future majorities of projects and ideas” after the 2nd round of legislative elections.
Gas prices increase by almost 12%
From this Monday, the average gas bill increases by 11.7% for millions of French people, mainly due to the increase in maintenance costs of the gas network. Thus, the average annual gas bill will increase by 124 euros, to 1,184 euros. This July price remains lower (-3.5%) than that of January, which marked the end of the price shield, the subsidy mechanism launched at the end of 2021 to protect households from excessive increases during the energy crisis, fueled by the post-Covid recovery and the war in Ukraine.
Hurricane Beryl, ‘extremely dangerous’, threatens the Caribbean
The monster Beryl strengthened again on Sunday and advances towards the Caribbean with winds “extremely dangerous” exceeding 200 km/h, carrying risks “potentially fatal” for the Antilles. The National Hurricane Center in Miami, USA, classified this hurricane as a category 4, on a scale of 5. A weather phenomenon of this scale is extremely rare so early in the hurricane season – which extends from the beginning of June to the end of November in the Atlantic – and also in the east.
In Greece, a series of forest fires near Athens
Two large forest fires raged on Sunday evening in Attica, where residents had to evacuate their homes. This day will have been “The most difficult firefighting situation firefighters have faced this year”insisted their spokesperson. The day before, more than forty fires broke out in the country, with winds of more than 100 km/h. While Greece is prey to fires every year – 2023 was a record – the situation should be even more tense this summer after the mildest winter on record and the earliest heatwave, with temperatures reaching 44 °C.
To be continued today
Nearly 860,000 middle school students take the brevet
Nearly 860,000 students will take the written exams for the brevet on Monday and Tuesday, which the outgoing government wants to reform to make it “a real high school entrance exam” from next year, a pending development in a very uncertain political context. This Monday, middle school students will work on the French and mathematics exams before taking the history-geography and science exams on Tuesday.
The Blues face the Red Devils
France will face Belgium in the round of 16 of Euro-2024, this Monday at 6 p.m., in Düsseldorf. “We are not favourites”assured the Belgium coach Domenico Tedesco on Sunday. To beat the Blues, “We need to have a great day, to play a great game”, he added. After a very sluggish first round, the French team must absolutely raise its level to get rid of Belgium and avoid enormous disillusionment.
The map
The results of the first round of the 2024 legislative elections in each constituency
Find the results of the first round of the legislative elections on June 30 in the constituency of your choice using our interactive map. See the map.
The analysis
Results of the 2024 legislative elections: a shock and three blocs
After a lightning campaign, the “clarification” desired by the head of state turned into a disaster, with the extreme right in the lead and the triangulars more uncertain than ever. Read the analysis.
The portrait
Gamlet Zinkivsky, art in war
The Ukrainian street artist refuses to leave his hometown of Kharkiv, where he covers the devastated walls with his works. Read the profile.
