♪ >> stations of a accusations of a coup are rejected by tunisia's prime minister. a curfew has been imposed. tmore than three people are banned from gathering in public. lebanon's new prime minister has been appointed by the president. he gave up his longer -- to form a cabinet. 14 million people -- 40 mlion people have one jab against covid.

meanwhile, for four consecutive days, 100,000 people protesting on the streets with a controversial health plan adopted by the french parliament. tunisia's president has imposed a 7:00 p.m. till 6:00 a.m. curfew. people are forbidden from gathering in groups of more than three in the streets. the president is dismissing allegations he's mounted a military coup. he sacked the prime minister after months of deadlock -- to dissolve his government all with the help of the army standing by. let's get the analysis, professor of political science at the american university. mr. lawrence, pleasure to have you with us. president sahid's opponents are calling this a coup. how are you reading the situation? >> first of all, the celebrations are not too large. they just ended.

they were only taking place in five or six cities. if you look at the crowds, it was an older crowd. very much the anti-islamist party. the interview show that they were more anti-islamist than they were supporting said. in many cases. in terms of going forward, this is an extremely dangerous situation first of all. there are reports that i have gotten of the physically attacked -- was physically attacked sunday. he claimed that 64 parliamentarians, there are legal cases against them. the president is going to prosecute. he's taking control of all three branches of government. where there evening -- there's even where he sacked all the mayors. so, it is a total control and a total taking of control not only in the state of society in a way we have never seen. this is january 6th united

states o steroids. he succeeded in doing what trump wanted to do. >> from the white house, a call for calm, relayed by the spokesperson. does this reflect a genuine concern from the biden administration about what is happening in tunisia? >> yes. there is a lot of contact between senior american officials and senior tunisian officials. there was an effort to get a statement that would -- not unlike the german situation that says this is not a coup, but we have to get back to order pd u.s. is saying we will study the legality of this move. you think about it. what saied did was closed on the government to save the government. and the violence he referred to against governments forces were by people supporting him. taking violent actions against one of the political parties and against e government. what he's doing is, with his supporters think violence is the reason i have to close down

the government to save it. it makes no sense within the contents -- the context of the constitution. it makes no democratic sense. everyone now is looking for ways to help saied walk back from what is looking more more like a a coup, a face-saving way. you can blame it on covid. now he's shut down society. by the way, the parliament's been meeting virtually he shot though the building but they have a conference set up because of covid. what the parliament's next move is remains to be seen. one thing is sure, there will be a bloc, a majority of parties opposing this action. and, according to article 80 of the constitution, they are supposed to not close the parliament to get back to regular order as soon as possible. >> the 80 you have been talking about. saied is leaning upon to say this is not a military coup. what we are seeing and what we are hearing, more signs the dreams of the arab spring which

started in tunisia are farther away than ever. >> yeah, the the way i look at it is there work two revolutions in 2011 -- a political one that succeeded in getting rid of the dictator, but the socioeconomic one never bore dividends and the people are just as angry now about their conditions as they were before, and covid made it much, much worse. in terms of the furuits of the revolution there is a side of tunisia that wanted a democratic solution and associated that with economic prosperity. but there is an authoritarian side of tunisian politics on left and right. and a lot of people were happy the political class, they believe, took a slap in the face. the prime minister literally took a slap in the face, according to reports i have heard.

the political class taking a slap in the face and that this president is going to set everything right by taking all the power and sacking everybody. but no move he's made shows an effort to move towards governance. for example, he took all pandemic response and handed it to the military. and the military will not be able to meet the demand there. what will he do, fire a second defense minister? you do not get a sense this is about problem solving. it's about score settling and grabbing power. >> william lawrence, the professor of political science at american university. we are watching closely for updates in the situation in tunisia one of the richest men in lebanon has been named as prime minister. he's called for unity. to begin the recovery from the devastating economic and financial meltdown. he has got the backing of the current president aoun and the

backing of hezbollah and jamas. >> the difficult -- i want the trust of every man and woman. alone i do not have a magic wand and can achieve miracles. we are in a very difficult situation and you all know this. it is a difficult mission that will only succeed if we all work together. >> the number of people in france who have received at least one jab against covid-19 has crossed the 40 million mark president macron commented while visiting french polynesia. 4 million people receive vaccines over the past two weeks. 60% of the french population are partly or fully vaccinate. the new aims 50 million by the end of august, as many people this week demonstrated against vaccination and the new health test. the legislation is making its

way through the french parliament. there have been some modifications. >> it's a major concession by the government -- contrary to the initial ban, employers were not be allowed to sack staff for not obtaining a health pass. but they will be able to suspend their contracts. >> the owner of this restaurant says two of his employees refuse to get vaccinated. but firing them would be out of the question. >> [speaking french] >> covid vaccinations will become mandatory for health workers from mid-september but they won't risk losing their jobs are refusing to get that jab. they could be moved to a different service where they could really see patients.

that is unrealistic according to this union representative. >> [speaking french] >> the requirement to show a virus health pass -- for shopping center the idea of systematically checking at the entrance has been scrapped. it will be up to local operators to decide on a case-by-case basis. regarding the younger generation, those ages 12 to 17 will also have to present a health pass but only from the end of september. people over 16 won't be able to get vaccinated without parental approval. >> we're watching the situation regarding covid-19 across the world. for more nrews, stay with us. you are watching "france 24."

♪ ♪ >> geometry painted expressively. that is how he describes his cubic forms which glow with the warmth of human touch. the artist embraces tradition european notions of painting and the american minimalists aesthetics. in campus, imprints or sculpture work features a major, --

features and major collections around the world and a new selection currently on show at a gallery impairs. - in paris. it is a pleasure to have you with us today. now, this latest show is called " between heaven and earth." i wonder if you can tell us a bit about this title. were you attempted to capture that place between two worlds? >> no. i'm an tempting -- attempting to capture the journey between two worlds. what i have become aware of lately, having moved out of the city, is the importance of nature. i've become very conservationist minded. in fact, i have got now something like 4000 trees. but while wish -- what we should all we remember -- always remember we are part of nature and not better the nature. we're the children of nature. i am trying to emphasize that, not only in the title but in the work, in the physicality of it,

the sensuality of. -- of it. it is the celebration of not only light, which is a human concept, of course, but the stuff of it. >> how it hits the natural world as well. now -- there is one piece of work where the colors are quite somber. it is called "black window, pale land." can you tell us about the mood of this piece? >> i did a whole series of black windows, black squares. and they naturally relate to the black square -- which was of course forced onto the artist by cataclysm of the russian revolution and all of the sorrow and tragedy that ensued from that. fo some reason, that i didn't

entirely rationalize, i started thinking about whewre we -- where we were and my windows became painted out. because they seem to represent the situation we're in, or we were in. we're starting to see a little bit now of our view. >> do you mean the pandemic? >> i mean the covid, yeah. i made these paintings in the last six months. black windows. they are in fact not just painted on. but sliced out. of what is really a quasi- abstract landscape with a number of horizon lines. so, it is as if the flow of light, the flow my -- my brush has been sliced out and

replaced by the nihilistic black square. >> speaking of colors or lack of, your use of tone is something that is key in the way that you modulate the energy of a piece. i read that a trip to morocco inflnce you in terms of color when you were young. can you tell us what you -- it was you took away from that trip to north africa? >> morocco had an extraordinary effect on me, but i knew that it would. i went there to see about hypnotic, rhythmic geometry. not the geometry of order. but the geometry of psychological, emotional saturation. when i went there, i connected with it immediately. i just loved all the stripes and patterns and the way that that went with the music. and, in fact, i was walking around wearing a -- i slept on

the ground in it. i pulled the hood down, put my arms ina nd went to sleep on the ground. so, i became part of the country. >> adopting the local textiles. the interpretations of life at the edges of the desert are a new feature of a new group show in france, as part of the africa 2020 cultural season. hotel zahara brings together many pieces in paris. ou reportersr went to find out more. >> the largest sand desert in the world, the sahara, is vast yet full of clichés. it's the job of these ten artists in residents to reveal his true complexity as the project commissioner explains. >> with hotel sahara we wanted to question the fantasies people have about the sahara. particularly how they think it

is a completely empty space. we wanted to grounded in reality. as a place where people live and work. the desert has culture. and art. and that's what's important. >> th artists, filmmakers and performers and others have drawn from the sights and sounds around them to create entirely new pieces. >> who we are and what we see will definitely come across in the exhibition. it's kind of a meeting between our various different art forms. >> they are all either from or have roots and countries traversed by the sahara, but for the most current -- for the most part, they have never experienced it so closely. such is the case with the young painter from mali.

>> i think it is a wonderful place. for now i haven't decided on one idea, but when i get back to my campus, -- my canvas, i i will figure out how to portray the desert. >> a year later, he's o n the outskirts of paris where he is finishing three pieces inspired by his memories of the sahara. >> i was inspired by the dance, which can be found in the north of mali. i thought it would represent the sahara well, because the figures i painted are full of movement. >> the exhibition is on until october at the cultural center. >> now, as we can see, those artists have a relationship

with the space and many of your sculptures are displayed outside in dialogue with their surroundings. thinking of the shed to -- chateau in the south of france and in germany. i wanted to know, how do you find the place, geography -- do you find that place and geography has influenced you are today? >> i traveled a lot. i moved to spain for a while. i love spain. i love its fertility, its connection to the ground again. and, of course, i moved to germany to confront and be informed by his history, which is tragic. a sense of redemption and his philosophical profundity. all this feeds into my intellectual, emotional appetite. going to china was interesting, too. it's vastness. and its opulent history.

and its austere correction by mao zedong. and all these places feed into what i am trying to do in my work, which is based really on unification. >> indeed, beyond your artistic journey you have spoken about your personal journey from the 1940's dublin, to postwar london to new york where you became a highly successful artist. that is a huge stretch in terms of experience and in terms of social mobility. has there been a young for it -- as a young person, how did you see the role of the artist and how does it measure up to the reality that you are in today? >> oh, that is such an interesting question. yeah, when i began to be an artist, art was quite marginalized. it was a calling that was

basically quiet -- quite religious in its, in its sense of mission. and one of my big examples was van gogh, who was actually a preacher in some form and he identified with the very poor, marginalized people. an art itself i thought was marginalized. people used to say, less thatn % of people are interested in art. well, now has become mainstream. i'm part of this. and whether i like it or not, it's going to be mainstream. it does not matter what i think. i remember when i was living on -- in a slum on the old kent road in london, very poor, starving.

and we had a little gas lights. so, i'd gone from gas light to iphone. seamlessly. it's very important to be in life. and to, to understand that i'm naturally not directing -- i'm actually not directing the world. in fact, nobody is. we are perhaps able to influence it ever so slightly. like, maybe my 4000 trees now influence it ever so slightly, but they can't transform it. >> i nndeed. we have to leave it there. thank you so much for your time. we are wrapping up the show with more of his work and it is on show in paris. do remember you can get more arts and culture on our website and honor social media feeds. nmore news coming up on "france

24" just after this. ♪ >> it is time now for "french connections," our weekly look at the intricacies and life in france. hello. we're going to be talking about perhaps one of the most quintessential symbols of france, the bhagat. -- baguette. actually there is some exciting news. >> very exciting baguette news. the french government has nominated the baguette for inclusion on the u.n.'s intangible cultural heritage register. you may be surprised it does not

already have this status because the baguette i suc an importants part of the french diet. at the beginning of the first locked in france, the government made sure to keep bakeries open because it's essential business. and the french eat a lot of baguettes. it is estimated that each year some 10 billion are consumed. to break it down, that is 320 baguettes a second. french people are very proud of this stick of bread. >> [speaking french] >> when you think about heritage status, you think about stonehenge and the taj mahal. but intangible is separate. >> the intangible cultural heritage, a mouthful, this register is aimed to protect

traditions, knowledge and skills so they are not lost over time. if the baguette is so popular why in the world would need the stamp of approval?: french baker say the listing would actually safeguard artisanal bakers and the artisanal baguette from global plagiarists, but also from industrial baguettes. french people you a lot of industrial baguettes. about 20,000 bakeries have closed since the 1970's as shoppers go to supermarkets instead. collapses take here. -- a lot is at stake there. >> there are fears that traditionally crafted baguettes could be lost. >> it really is an art form passed down from generations it is one that you can learn and repeat and eat hat home. i found out during the break during the lockdown. to unlock the secret of what makes french bread delicious, i went to meet the cofounder of --

bakery line with shops in paris and even tokyo. thanks for having us today. you will teaches how to make additional french baguette. what are the steps? >> [speaking french] >> let's get going. [speaking french] [speaking french]

>> 24 hours later what we just did gives us this. >> [speaking french] [laughter] >> we divided it into little balls and now we will make it into the baguette shape. and this is called [speaks french] >> [speaking french]

>> it is not as easy as it looks. [speaking french] ♪ >> voila. how do y know if it is the perfect baguette? >> [speaking french]

>> so now we can taste it. this is the best part. thank you.' that's a very good baguette. thank you so much for teaching us. >> you're welcome. >> so, there you have it. now you can make your own baguette at home. if i can do it, you can do it. as for the state of the baguette unesco will pronounce his decision at the end of 2022, and we will be sure to give you that news. >> you've inspired me. thank you very much indeed for showing us how to make a baguette. that is all we have time for. if you have questions for flo you can tweet her. or check out our website as well, france 24.com.

[captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york this is democracy now! >> witn the la 20 yea, mo than 50000mericans haveeen kill by ovdoses. corolledeleased oxyconn -- whatf we diovered t crisis started with a crime? amy: as drug overdoses soar to record highs in the united states, we will look