PRESS REVIEW – Monday, September 8: The French papers are widely covering Prime Minister François Bayrou's vote of confidence later this Monday, which he is expected to lose. Part of the French press is already discussing who Bayrou's successor might be. Next, Norway is heading to the polls in a hotly contested election. Meanwhile, a long read in the Guardian discusses Myanmar's scamming centres. Finally, new Guiness World Records are broken, including for the world's longest strudel.
It's a big day for the French press as PM François Bayrou and his minority government face a confidence vote that they are almost certain to lose. Aujourd'hui en France uses a picture of Bayrou on the balcony of Matignon, the PM's official residence, beneath which their headline reads: "Chronicle of an expected fall". Le Figaro says that it is extremely unlikely that Bayrou will convince a majority of MPs to back him. L'Humanité tries to understand Bayrou's shock move. Libération makes fun of what it calls Bayrou's high esteem of himself.
The papers seem to already be looking to the "after Bayrou". La Depeche du Midi says that the prime minister's seat will have to be filled despite the political deadlock. Le Parisien argues that French President Emmanuel Macron will want to move quickly, maybe announcing the new PM in the next few days. L'Opinion says that the "after Bayrou" could be a dead end for Macron.
France is not the only country seeing big political changes. Norway is in the middle of a hotly contested election. The Norwegian paper Dagbladet takes a look at the finances of the leaders of the nine main parties. Dagsavisen features an interview with Norway's finance minister and former prime minister Jens Stoltenberg, who says that the big picture is that the economy is doing well. The Guardian has an article looking at the debate surrounding wealth tax: should Norway keep it, cut it or abolish it? The article says that regardless of who wins, that ferocious national argument is likely to rumble on.
Moving away from the front pages, the Guardian has a long read on scam centres in Myanmar. The article uses satellite imagery to show how the centres are built, often surrounded by fortifications and watch towers. The police managed to rescue 700 people from a compound earlier this year, but think that up to 100,000 people could still be held inside scam centres.
Finally, Croatia Week reports that the longest strudel in the world is 3km long. Meanwhile, a Times journalist tried out some of the Guinness World Records still up for grabs.
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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