PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, May 14: French papers are slightly unsure of what to make of President Emmanuel Macron's three-hour interview on national television. Also, a recent report on the risk of famine in Gaza continues to make front pages, as Israel's aid blockade continues. Next, Trump's visit to Saudi Arabia is scrutinised by American journalists and cartoonists alike. Finally, a maverick mallard has been caught by a speeding camera in Switzerland.
Emmanuel Macron's Tuesday night TV address has left most of the French press a little confused. Le Figaro says that the president tried to defend his record. L'Opinion is also describing it as Macron on the defensive. The president had been relatively discreet in the French media recently. The paper says the interview was a very inconclusive end to Macron's media diet. La Provence is also unsure of what the president's message was. The paper says his interview was "without horizon nor solution". Aujourd'hui en France says that Macron seemed "powerless" after three hours spent defending his eight years in office, without providing much insight on the rest of his mandate.
A UN-backed report published by experts on food security in Gaza has been widely covered in the press and features on front pages this Wednesday. Le Temps in Switzerland features a cartoon by Chapatte on its front page and reads: "In Gaza, children are also killed by hunger". The front page of L'Humanité is quite distressing and it accuses Israel of using hunger as a weapon of war. The BBC warns that the entire Gaza population is at critical risk of famine. The article says that aid groups have said the blockade could be a war crime and that it amounts to a policy of starvation. The New York Times, meanwhile, reveals that Israeli officers have privately admitted that Gaza is on the brink of starvation.
Donald Trump is in Saudi Arabia on the first leg of his Middle East Tour. The Saudi paper Arab News is celebrating the "landmark visit" and highlighting Trump's promise to lift sanctions on Syria. The American press is unsurprisingly slightly more critical of his visit. The New York Times says that although Trump said he had secured $600 billion in Saudi deals, the details provided by the White House were vague and totalled less than half that number. Politico is looking at the star-studded cast in attendance during Trump's visit. It says that three dozen American business leaders were invited by the Saudis. Trump had said that the primary goal of his visit was to extend American business in the region. But the Guardian tells us that while the true value of Saudi investments in the US economy remain hazy, the Saudis' deals with the Trump family business are more obvious. A cartoon in The Telegraph illustrates Trump collecting deals for himself. The Times also has a cartoon that makes light of the apparent double purpose of Trump's trip. The Washington Post is similarly insinuating in its cartoon of the day that the US president is available for purchase.
Finally, an unusual suspect is on the loose after breaking the speed limit for the second time in Switzerland. The Guardian is reporting on this piece of fowl play: a duck has been snapped flying at 52 km/h in a 30 km/h zone in Switzerland.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
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