French press review 20 July 2013

Sunshine follows a rainy spring and brings traffic jams and a sales boom. Is a rerun of 2003's heatwave on the way and is France ready for it? French Muslim converts join jihad in Syria. And alleged thieving airport baggage-handlers face trial.

It’s Saturday and hectic as ever on the roads and at holiday destinations, Aujourd’hui en France sharing the feelgood spirit brought by a month of sunshine after an austere winter and a very cool spring.

It is boom time as well for summer sales according to the Parisian newspaper, especially for dealers in textiles, air conditioners, refrigerators, barbecues, swimming pools and ice-cream makers. This is despite earlier projections that up to 29 per cent of French consumers had ruled out setting foot in the shopping malls, according to Aujourd’hui en France.

Libération warns that a heatwave could spoil the summer starting on Monday, especially in the west and east of France where temperatures are expected to hit between 35 and 38 degrees, according to experts.

Libé learned from local authorities in those regions that appropriate measures are already in place to deal with any emergencies and to avert a recurrence of the dog-days of 2003 when up to 15,000 elderly citizens died during the summer.

The unpredictable consequences of the heatwave and hard times facing the government  are set to deprive cabinet members of a break this summer, writes Aujourd’hui en France. The paper reports that President François Hollande has imposed a “studious” vacation season on all his ministers as his government remains submerged by urgent problems and a lack of credibility.

Hollande has called on his ministers to remain vigilant and attentive to detail throughout the summer, according to Le Monde. The paper says that Hollande’s instructions came amid growing controversy over the government’s handling of the Brétigny-sur-Orge passenger train disaster outside Paris in which six people were killed. Opposition officials have accused the authorities of mplaying down incidents of looting and stone-throwing as police carried out rescue operations.

Aujourd’hui en France also takes up the allegations but explains that the attacks were in fact isolated incidents rather than orchestrated attacks on security forces by organised gangs.

Libération narrates the absolutely shocking story of two French brothers originating from Toulouse, who have joined Islamist rebels in Syria. The paper found out that Nicolas and Daniel are new converts to Islam who posted a video on the internet in which they are calling for a holy war against the Bashar al Assad regime in Damascus.

Libé says 120 French nationals, have joined the ranks of the jihadists now fighting in Syria, quoting official statistics. The paper also learned from sources at the interior ministry that the young radicals streaming into Syria are recruited through Salafist websites. Syria has become an Eldorado for jihadists with up to 7,000 foreign combatants now believed to be fighting against the Assad regime in Damascus.

And Aujourd’hui en France tells the story of how 17 baggage-handlers at France’s Roissy Charles De Gaulle airport robbed passengers for years before being caught by police.

Investigators told the paper that up to 80,000 euros was discovered in a bank account belonging to a suspected gang leader, while another had invested up to 50,000 euros in a luxury restaurant on the outskirts of the airport.

Aujourd’hui en France says the 17-man gang, suspected of carrying out 3,000 robberies at the airport, is set to go on trial next week.