French press review 20 March 2015

French press in wave of reactions to the deadly terrorist attack in Tunisia.

The Islamic State jihadist group claims responsibility for an attack on foreign tourists at Tunisia's national museum that killed 21 people, as the security forces swoop on suspects. Tunisia in turn hit by Islamic terror, headlines Le Figaro. 

"Nation under shock closes ranks", headlines Libération as the population rallied around the government vowing it would will not be cowed by extremism. The left-leaning daily has minute by minute accounts of the dramatic events in Tunis the day after the bombing marked by a swoop on suspects.

"Democracy attacked: Tunisia hit in the heart by Jihadism", mourns Le Monde. The paper regrets that all hopes for the country’s speedy economic recovery have been nipped in the bud, especially the vital tourism sector which had been struggling since 2011 when a galaxy of Jihadi groups ranging from Ansar al-Charia, Al Qaeda in the Maghreb and the Islamic State, started competing to take over the country.

And today is Friday 20 March, the day of the long awaited eclipse. Le Parisien/Aujourd’hui en France say it expects millions of people all over France and places as far away as the northern Svalbard archipelago and Faroe Islands to have their eyes glued to the skies for a total solar eclipse expected to offer spectacular views, many hoping to see the sun switch off.

A partial eclipse of varying degrees should also be visible, weather permitting, across most of Europe, northern Africa, central Asia and the Middle East. This is according to the Parisian newspaper.

To mark the event, Le Parisien/Aujourd’hui en France takes its readers down memory lane recalling the eclipse of 1999.

Those who watch the extraordinary phenomenon recall their experiences on that 11th of August 15 years ago at the heart of the summer when the moon ran into the sun’s way. It was the last total eclipse of the 20th century and the 2nd millennium.

Le Monde warns that today’s grand spectacle - a juxtaposition of two astrological phenomena when there is an alignment of the earth, the moon and the sun wouldn’t be without risks.

It publishes statistics from France’s National health Monitoring Institute which found out that 122 people aged between 9 and 79 suffered retinoic anomalies after watching the eclipse in 1999. The impact of infra red rays on the retina is immediate irreversible warns the Le Monde.

That gives substance to Education Minister Najat Valaud-Belkacem’s warning to teachers to keep their students in class during today’s short break.

Libération uses an edited photograph of the eclipse to denounce French intellectuals who have gone into hiding while the Front National gains ground in the country.

Prime Minister Manuel Valls accuses them of surrendering without a fight to the far right wondering what has really happened to the erstwhile influential voice of the French entertainment industry.