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Sources

French Island Scraps Helmet Law Because Top Official Likes To Look Cool On His Vespa

FRANCE INFO, LE FIGARO (France)

Worldcrunch

MARSEILLE - On the small island of Porquerolles on the French Riviera, the police have turned a blind eye to helmetless motorcyclists, reports Le Figaro.

The person to blame is … the local prefect. Paul Mourier, the State's representative in the Var department in Southern France, was repeatedly spotted breaking the law on his scooter while on holiday on the island.

Angry locals -- who receive fines up to 135 euros for riding without wearing motorcycle helmets -- have rushed to the nearest police station to complain, as they judged the situation extremely unfair.

“It is a real issue,” local police secretary Jean-Bernard Soriano told France Info.

“It is difficult for us police forces to give the average joe a fine and then turn a blind eye toa local official who does not respect the law,” he added.

As a response, the local police have decided to be more lenient with local outlaws.

“It is better not to enforce the law than create an equality gap between people and their representatives,” he said.

It is all the more unfair for the locals that Paul Mourier had made road safety issues his priority earlier this year, explains Le Figaro.

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FOCUS: Russia-Ukraine War

Why Poland's Break With Ukraine Weakens All Enemies Of Russia — Starting With Poland

Poland’s decision to stop sending weapons to Ukraine is being driven by the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party's short-term electoral calculus. Yet the long-term effects on the world stage could deeply undermine the united NATO front against Russia, and the entire Western coalition.

Photo of ​Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Lutsk, Ukraine, on July 9

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with Polish President Andrzej Duda in Lutsk, Ukraine, on July 9

Bartosz T. Wieliński

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland has now moved from being the country that was most loudly demanding that arms be sent to Ukraine, to a country that has suddenly announced it was withholding military aid. Even if Poland's actions won't match Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s words, the government has damaged the standing of our country in the region, and in NATO.

“We are no longer providing arms to Ukraine, because we are now arming Poland,” the prime minister declared on Polsat news on Wednesday evening. He didn’t specify which type of arms he was referring to, but his statement was quickly spread on social media by leading figures of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.

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When news that Poland would be withholding arms to Ukraine made their way to the headlines of the most important international media outlets, no politician from PiS stepped in to refute the prime minister’s statement. Which means that Morawiecki said exactly what he meant to say.

The era of tight Polish-Ukrainian collaboration, militarily and politically, has thus come to an end.

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