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French press review 13 August 2013

Today's French dailies were all abuzz  about the state of France's economy; Mali's newly elected President; the start of peace talks in the Middle East; and the state of the elderly during the summer's heatwave

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Left-wing Libération takes a closer look at the implications behind the announcement of zero national growth in France as its headline reads: “What to do without growth?”.

The absence of growth could imply radical changes, says the daily, which comes back to what it refers to as “the debate of the summer”: will France be out of the recession in 2013?

In his 14 July address to the nation, President François Hollande had announced a reboot of the country’s economy and of its industrial production, insuring a positive growth for the second half of 2013, explains Libération.

But recent figures, presented by the Minister of Economy Pierre Moscovici last weekend, hints at a weak, if not non-existent growth, between -0.1percent and +0.1 percent.

In times of growth, additional social needs can be financed by production surplus, but an economy without growth will have to dramatically review its redistributive model, says the paper, which takes a look at every possible scenarios, from the more improbable positive growth to the most likely zero growth scenario.

The French economist Jean-Paul Fitoussi, interviewed by the daily, calls the situation a state of emergency, and explains how a stagnation of growth could result in more unemployment, less investment, destabilizing the national economic and social capitals.

Right-wing Le Figaro headlines with the new revived peace talks in the Middle East, as negotiations between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority are due to begin tomorrow.

Tensions are high, says Le Figaro, especially after the announcement of new Jewish settlements, including 1200 new housings around Jerusalem.

The Israeli Minister of Finance Yair Lapid, interviewed by the paper, opposes the construction plans and explains that the “two states solution” is the only one that could actually work.

Communist daily L’Humanité covers the Malian elections and the issues the newly elected president Ibrahim Boubacar will have to tackle, in a country plagued by poverty, war and corruption.

Boubacar's victory was amidst an election built on great expectations, reports the daily, but the unity and stability of the country are at stake.

Aminata Traoré, former Culture minister, explains to the paper that the country’s economy must top of the list of priorities, and the new government will have to act in accordance with the people’s voice and choices.

The Catholic daily La Croix takes a look at the different initiatives to prevent situations of isolation of the elderly in France.

Since the heat wave of 2003, which had revealed the extreme solitude of many seniors, explains the paper, many initiatives have been launched to offer help, support or just human interaction to those in need.

Ten years ago, the historic increase of temperatures had taken by surprise the country’s health and social authorities, and had caused the deaths of nearly 15,000 people, explains La Croix.

It had also revealed the isolation in which many elderly live, says the paper, which reports that 25% of people over 75 live alone in France, and suffer from that solitude.

Since the dramatic heat wave, many associations and municipal initiatives were created to fight against loneliness of seniors, explains the daily, and in July, the minister in charge of the issue, Michèle Delaunay, declared a national mobilization against the social isolation of the elderly.

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