In the papers
Friday, May 02, 2008
Friday, May 02, 2008
By Katherine SPENCER/ FRANCE 24
The Evening Standard (United Kingdom)
‘Boris clings to poll lead’
The British media is dominated by the London mayoral elections. Tory candidate Boris Johnson is the favourite, but the Evening Standard says the latest You Gov poll suggests the gap between Johnson and Labour’s Ken Livingstone was closing fast. Livingstone is battling to be re-elected to serve a third term as London mayor.
The Standard’s political correspondent Pippa Crerar says Livingstone has been badly affected by his party’s woes over the 10p tax rate and the row over cronyism at City Hall. 62 percent of voters say he has made some extremely bad appointments in picking his closest advisors.
If ousted, Livingstone and his staff face being unceremoniously thrown out of city hall by security staff within minutes of the result being announced Friday night. The Tories are apparently concerned Livingstone and his staff will try to shred key documents and embarrassing emails.
The Independent (United Kingdom)
‘Red Ken takes on the blonde bombshell’
The front page of The Independent shows a glum looking Livingston after casting his vote in Crincklewood, North West London.
The Guardian (United Kingdom)
‘Brown faces an election mauling’
The Guardian focuses on the UK’s local elections and says that Brown faces an election mauling. It predicts Labour’s share of the vote could fall to 25 percent.
As polls closed in 159 councils across England and Wales, the Tories were confidently predicting gains from 80 to 150 seats which would deliver a brutal blow to Prime Minister Gordon Brown in his first electoral test and see Labour’s national share of the vote plummet to a record low.
The Tories have apparently seized Southampton which they haven’t controlled since 1984.
A BBC ICM poll released last night revealed that fewer than half of voters believe Brown is competent.
Today’s Zaman (Turkey)
‘Unions abandon Takism after tough police intervention’
Turkish daily newspaper Today’s Zaman is dominated by the May Day rallies in central Istanbul.
Authorities say they arrested 505 people after union workers defied a government ban on the rallies. Today’s Zaman speculates that the actual figure detained could be closer to a thousand.
Dozens were injured including several police officers as protestors clashed with authorities as they tried to march to Takism Square.
Three trade unions had pledged to mobilize up to half a million people for May Day celebrations in defiance of an official ban although ended up calling off the march due to the heavy police presence.
Le Parisien (France)
‘Ils louent leurs appartements pendant les vacances’
"They rent their flat while they are in holyday"
Parisians have discovered that it pays to go on holiday. An increasing number are renting out their properties to get extra cash in a bid to cope with rising food prices and living costs.
Residents can earn up to 200 euros a night from a relatively modest sized flat.
