PRESS REVIEW – Friday, September 18: Russia holds its first parliamentary elections since the Ukraine war. Since only parties loyal to Vladimir Putin are running, the elections are seen as nothing but a veneer of democracy. In sports: Zinedine Zidane will unveil his first selection as coach of the French football team.
Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic organisers approve a croc-infested river to hold canoe and rowing events. Finally, the first new feline species in a century has been discovered. PRESS REVIEW:Early voting is underway in Russia, which is holding its first parliamentary election since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The result is a foregone conclusion – Vladimir Putin’s party is all but guaranteed to win given that only parties supporting Putin have been registered to run. In its analysis today, the **Moscow Times**details how Russia has barred opposition candidates from running. The paper talks to Iya Boronina, a politician from the republic of Udmurtia – who was disqualified from running because of a song she used in a campaign video.
Other candidates have been disqualified for posting photos or references to the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny. The paper explains that these widespread disqualifications reflect efforts by regional officials to show their loyalty to the Kremlin. **Novaya Gazeta,** a Kremlin-critical media calls the election a "listless affair." Any discussion of the Ukraine war is pretty much illegal. Televised debates were held to give the illusion of democracy – though sometimes in the absence of any debaters.As the academic website **The Conversation**explains, these multiparty elections serves to offer a veneer of democracy within Putin’s dictator-like governance.
Even the inclusion of "opposition parties" has been carefully crafted – packaged as opposition parties even if they are fundamentally loyal to the Kremlin. Nonetheless – as **Le Temps,** the Swiss paper, notes – 57 percent of Russians believe their political state of the country is very tense – these elections will serve to reinforce Vladimir Putin’s democracy. Zinedine Zidane is set to unveil his first team selection as coach of Les Bleus, the French national football team.
After 14 years under coach Didier Deschamps, Zidane will be eager to make his mark on the French football team. His selection will be revealed this Friday evening around 6pm. **Le Figaro**, like most of the papers, asks what will be in store between "surprises, breakups and the inner circle – which players will or will not make the cut?" French sports paper **L’Equipe**expects some audacious choices but also predicts the attack will remain the same – Mbappé, Dembélé and Olisé.**L’Humanité,****a** French communist paper says that Zidane has already brought in a new technical team and wants to breathe new life into the team – especially with his his successful strategy at Real Madrid which allowed the club to win 3 consecutive Champions League titles. Finally, the organisers of the Brisbane 2032 Olympics have finalized a venue for the canoe and rowing events – and it is not for the faint-hearted.The flatwater course on the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, Queensland has been chosen as the venue for the Olympic and paralympic canoe and rowing events in 2032.
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