PRESS REVIEW – Monday, June 22: Papers discuss the expected departure of British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. In France, the brutal heatwave didn't stop the massive street party, Fête de la Musique. Also: AI-generated influencers are flooding social media. Finally, can online chess mania replace doomscrolling?
Editor's note: This press review aired before Starmer announced his resignation.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to announce his resignation this Monday. It's "Game Over", according to the Daily Mirror. Starmer is "on the brink" and is expected to set out an exit timetable, but he could stay on for three months. "Don and dusted", reads the front page of The Scottish Sun. The tabloid quotes US President Donald Trump, who has already acknowledged Starmer's departure in a Truth Social post, saying that he failed because of his immigration and energy policies. According to The Guardian, Starmer is expected "to clear the way" for his main rival, Andy Burnham, who is currently the mayor of Greater Manchester.
The Times reports that Burnham's "coronation"' will happen by September, just in time for the Labour Party conference. An internal document revealed by The Guardian shows that his future government aims to "reverse 40 years of privatisation", notably with a long-term plan to take over failing utilities in administration, by issuing "bonds for shares" and setting up state competitors. This is based on the principles of "Manchesterism" that go against the trend of privatising utilities.
We turn next to France, where a brutal heatwave is gripping the country. The front page of the left-wing paper Libération calls for the "politicisation" of the heatwave. The paper says that the government is avoiding an essential debate – how to sustainably adapt France to such heatwaves. It's a message echoed in the Communist paper L'Humanité. The headline reads "The government's empty rhetoric won't be enough to cool down the French". The analysis says that the government is overstating its response but, in reality, is failing to take action and is even backtracking on energy-efficiency renovation measures. The headline of an opinion piece in the right-wing Journal du Dimanche reads "stop treating the French like children". The paper says that France, as usual, seems to be giving in to collective panic and turmoil – "it's like we are back to the days of Covid", the author says. The paper says the French emergency measures lack any long-term vision.
Despite the extreme temperatures, France's Fête de la Musique wasn't cancelled. Libération reports from Paris, writing that although selling and consuming alcohol on public streets was banned in departments under red alert, many people openly defied the rule. Many business owners weren't happy with the sudden ban, especially since they had already prepared their inventories. Many of the partygoers called the ban "patronising".
Elsewhere, The Guardian reports that AI-generated influencers are being used all over social media to promote products. The videos pretend to show genuine customer experiences and don't give any indication that the people who are featured are AI-generated. The Guardian also found that some of the content creators who are making these AI personas are forced to sign NDAs, meaning they cannot talk about their work. The issue has prompted calls for greater transparency.
Finally, Le Monde tells us about an online chess addiction – from "doomscrolling" to "doomchessing", it says. In France, Chess.com has 2 million monthly active players. Because of the highly addictive interface, some of them just can't stop playing. A French content creator says that sometimes, when she is in the middle of a conversation with her boyfriend, he starts playing chess.
You can catch our press review every morning on France 24 at 7:20am and 9:20am (Paris time), from Monday to Friday.
