French press review 7 August 2015

Le Monde leads with the headline France compensates Russia for Mistral warships. The report states that French President Francois Hollande and Russian President Vladimir Putin reached an agreement on Wednesday after the cancellation of the sale of two Mistral warships to Russia. 

The report adds that the Elysee said in a statement that Russia would be repaid the amount France had received in advance. The contract is valued at 1.2 billion euros

Russia's role in the Ukrainian conflict had caused the collapse of the sale.

Le Monde also carries a story of the opening of the Suez Canal on its front page under the headline "Rafale is the superstar of the Suez Canal."

The report states that three French-made Rafale aircraft under Egyptian colours were flying over the Suez Canal on Thursday during the the inauguration of the Suez canal expansion.

Among the dignitaries present at the opening was French president François Hollande who was the guest of honour.

The paper mentions that the conclusion of the sale of 24 Rafale jets to Egypt for 5.2 billion euros ended the curse that seemed to surround the plane which was shunned by other countries.

The front page of Libération has a sporty look with their lead being a preview to the start of the French Ligue 1 which resumes today.

Libé covers the football report extensively in three pages. It further states that because of the economic crisis, French clubs have had a tendency to lend players which affects the competition in the league.

The other sporting story is on the French swimming sensation Florent Manaudou who has made a big splash at the world swimming championship in Kazan, Russia. The 24 year old swimmer is profiled in two pages.

Le Figaro reports on the Republican Candidates debate in its international section.

The report states that 10 of the 17 Republican candidates vying to emerge victorious and represent the party in next year's presidency election were preparing to fight hard in front of millions of viewers during the first televised debate.

Many candidates are experienced and charismatic governors with strong messages yet the focus is on the real estate billionaire Donald Trump, something that nobody had expected.

Trump has already hogged the limelight and is galloping ahead in all the polls, ten points ahead of the others.

The daily also has a report on the transfer of Argentine midfielder Angel di Maria from Manchester United to Paris St Germain.

The reports states that the addition of Di Maria has made the Paris based club even stronger. PSG, who won three titles last year, are strong favourites to succeed this year as well because of Di Maria’s arrival.