France presidential election: Who won TV debate?
LV outlet uk By turns passionate, confrontational, rowdy - even abusive - but also instructive and comprehensive, it must have kept viewers glued to their seats for the full three hours.The tone was set in the first minutes, when - after Francois Hollande's measured, maybe ponderous, opening remarks about his three key principles: justice, recovery, unity - Nicolas Sarkozy went straight on the attack.Scorning what he called Mr Hollande's "empty formulas", the incumbent president said that what the Socialist meant by rassemblement (bringing people together) applied "only to those who agree with you"."Maybe that is what makes the difference between us," the president said.There followed one of the many outbursts of ill-tempered cross-talking that was the despair of the two adjudicators, largely incomprehensible to the viewer. But it forcefully accentuated the drama of the occasion. This was no polite exchange of views. It was a clash of personality, ambition and politics at the highest possible level.'Nasty assumptions'The format took the participants through a range of subjects: unemployment, the deficit, Europe, immigration, nuclear energy and Afghanistan.
LV uk sale The clock was carefully monitored so the two men had equal amounts of speaking time. But it must have been Mr Sarkozy's much quicker delivery, because he certainly appeared to be making more points.The president was desperate for this chance to bring the election campaign back to what he thinks has been missing: a comparison of the two competing programmes.He got his way. On the economy, Mr Hollande spoke of his plans to cap petrol prices; create 60,000 teaching jobs over five years; end tax exemptions enjoyed by the wealthy; and set up a Public Investment Bank to put money into new projects.Mr Sarkozy spoke of competitiveness, his planned rise in VAT to bring down the cost of taking on labour, and - against constant sniping from Mr Hollande - he vehemently defended the record of his five years in office.On Europe, Mr Hollande repeated his pledge to renegotiate the budget pact, and "reorientate" the EU from the policies of "generalised austerity".Mr Sarkozy attacked him for not being serious about the task of cutting the deficit. "If you want to control your destiny, the first task is to bring down the debt," he said.
LV replica uk On immigration, both promised to reduce current levels - but there were angry exchanges over the right for non-EU foreigners to vote in local elections.Mr Sarkozy, who opposes this, said it would open the door to "community-based" voting, with places with large Muslim populations choosing to have separate hours in swimming-pools for men and women. Mr Hollande said Mr Sarkozy was making nasty assumptions about Muslims.'Pontius Pilate' quipWhat viewers will remember most, though, are some of the highly volatile moments when Mr Sarkozy's attacks were at their strongest.Several times the president said Mr Hollande had "lied" - leading the Socialist to retort: "That word seems to come very easily to you."On the nuclear industry, the president said Mr Hollande - in promising to reduce France's dependence on atomic power - had "sold the workers… on the altar of a pitiful political deal with the Greens".He not-so-subtly got into the debate on Europe the fact that Mr Hollande had never once attended an EU summit. And at one point he even said Mr Hollande was like "Pontius Pilate" for washing his hands (in Sarkozy's view) of the embarrassment of the Strauss-Kahn affair.
cheap lv sunglasses sale So who won? It is an impossible question to answer, and every French man and woman will make up his own mind.For my money, Mr Sarkozy clearly had the better of the argument. He was combative and clear - fiercely fending off attacks by Mr Hollande on his personal integrity or his supposed "partisanship" in favour of the rich.He made some telling strikes on Mr Hollande's economic programme, as well as on the Socialists' vaunted "normality"."You speak of being a 'normal' president. But it's not a 'normal' job. De Gaulle, Pompidou, Mitterrand... these were not 'normal' men. Your 'normality' does not match the distinction of the office," he said.Mr Hollande concentrated his attacks on Mr Sarkozy's record in office, allowing the president to appear more at grips with the challenges of the coming presidency.And there were times when the Socialist appeared knocked off balance, as if his evidently decent self was not especially enjoying the encounter.The victims, killed by gunfire, clubs or knives, included a third-year medical student from Luxor and several young men from the Cairo neighbourhood Abbasiyah, where the fighting occurred. It went for hours with no intervention from the authorities – suggesting to some at least a degree of government complicity – as opposing sides fought a pitched battle hurling stones and incendiary devices, turning a residential neighbourhood into a war zone marked by scattered fires.
cheap lv travel bags sale At around 1 p.m., the security services suddenly arrived and the fighting stopped.The confusing, lethal episode has widened a rift between Egypt’s military rulers and protesters who are pushing for a speedy transition to a civilian government, with the protesters convinced that their assailants were in the employ – or at least doing the bidding – of the military. And the incident cast a shadow over Egypt’s coming presidential election, shortening an already brief campaign season as it sharpened the differences between candidates.One of the presidential front-runners, Abdel-Moneim Abolfotoh, a former Muslim Brotherhood leader who has attracted leftists and liberals with his candidacy, suspended his campaign indefinitely, writing on Twitter: “We can’t discuss tomorrow while our youth are drowning in their blood today.”One of his main rivals, Amr Moussa, a former Egyptian minister, announced that he was not suspending his campaign but that he was stopping television advertising temporarily and had “cancelled many events.” In a statement, Mr. Moussa criticized the security services for standing “idly by.”The two men were scheduled to appear in a much-anticipated debate Thursday night, but that too was delayed because of the violence. Yosri Fouda, a journalist who was to moderate the debate, announced on his Twitter account that it would be postponed until next week.
cheap lv watches sale Four other candidates also suspended their campaigns, including Mohamed Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood’s candidate; Khalid Ali, a human-rights lawyer; and Hamdeen Sabbahi, an activist and founder of the Nasserist Party.In a morning briefing for foreign reporters, Mr. Morsi warned the ruling military council against using the violence as an excuse to delay the elections, reflecting a widespread fear that the council is looking for a pretense to retain power. But his comments also reflected an intensifying power struggle between the Muslim Brotherhood and the military as the presidential vote approaches.“We hold the military council responsible first, because it’s the one running the country,” Mr. Morsi said. “It’s the one with the authority in its hand. We will not allow for the presidential elections to be postponed at all.”In statements released through official outlets, the military did not exactly assuage the fears. A member of Parliament, Mustapha Bakri, quoted the army chief of staff, Sami Anan, as telling Mr. Bakri that the military was “considering” handing over power on May 24, if the first round of voting yielded an outright winner.In the statements, the ruling council also promised not to harm protesters as it deployed its troops. The statement did not address why the security services took hours – perhaps as long as 12 hours – before responding to the violence.Doctors gave death tolls ranging from 11 to 13. Dr. Saleh Mohamed, who worked at a field hospital near the clashes, said he treated five patients who died of gunshot wounds to the head. Several doctors spoke of at least one man whose throat was cut.Of the nearly 200 injuries reported by officials, several people were blinded by birdshot, Dr. Mohammed said.
cheap lv purses sale On Monday, RIM Australia claimed responsibility for a flash mob stunt in Sydney outside an Apple Inc. (AAPL-Q585.983.850.66%) retail store. A huge bus branded with the phrase “Wake Up” pulled up outside and, filmed by a blogger, unloaded a crowd of people, dressed in black, holding up placards with the slogan, and chanting “Wake up!” Many originally blamed Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., a massive Korean conglomerate that makes high-end touchscreen smartphones that compete directly with Apple's popular iPhone. In previous ads, some of which have gone viral, Samsung has taken aim at what it clearly sees as a herd mentality behind the massive popularity of Apple products, including the long lineups when new iPhones and iPads come out. But Samsung, which recently surpassed Apple as the largest smartphone maker in the world on the strength of popular new devices, denied that it was responsible for the stunt. And then RIM, in a statement, confirmed that it was behind the unusual campaign, which “involves a series of experiential activities taking place across Sydney and Melbourne.” RIM added that there will be a “reveal” on May 7 that aims to “provoke a conversation on what 'being in business' means to Australians.” The stunt was widely mocked in the blogosphere and online, with many saying that Samsung, at least, had phones out in the market that rivaled the iPhone, while RIM has been struggling to come out with a high-end touchscreen phone for some time.