Brescoudos Week, Montpellier liberated 80 years later, clash with Louis Aliot… the main news in the region

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Chaque soir à 20 h 30, retrouvez les 5 informations régionales de la journée qu'il ne fallait pas rater.

C’est parti pour la Brescoudos bike week

#HERAULT – Montpellier, Cap d'Agde, Clermont-L'Hérault, Lamalou-les-Bains, Bédarieux, Narbonne… the bikers participating in the 35th edition of the Brescoudos bike week will be riding this week. The gathering, which has become one of the largest in France and which begins this Sunday, August 1, 2024 in Cap d'Agde, brings together Harley-Davidson and Golwing owners and defends “freedom and sharing”, according to the president of the event, Christian Peyras, under the theme, this year, of “Respect for the forces of law and order”.“We chose this theme to show our support for law enforcement. We want to distinguish ourselves from American rallies, which often highlight symbols that we do not support, such as firearms. We want an event that is open to everyone, including families and children.” So follow until September 8, 2024 with many activities.

Today's figure: 46

#STRIKE – In number of days, the duration of the strike announced by the Unsa union of Keolis, the company managing the city's urban transport. The movement should result in daily 55-minute walkouts from 7:20 a.m. to 8:15 a.m. At the heart of this strike, promised from September 2, 2024 to October 18, 2024, are the results of the mandatory annual negotiations on wages. The union and management have been at odds over the level of increase for several months. Despite two strikes, in June and July 2024, discussions are still at an impasse. Tensions between the Unsa union and the management of Keolis Méditerranée also concern working conditions in the company. A meeting on this issue is expected to be held early this week.

Montpellier celebrates 80 years of its liberation

#ANNIVERSARY – Everyone answered the call on Saturday, August 31, 2024: the sun, the public, the women and men in period costumes marching in step, the fanfare and a good thirty period armored vehicles crisscrossing the squares and streets as 80 years before, during the Liberation of Montpellier in August 1944. For over a year, the Mémoires Languedoc 44 association has prepared this commemoration down to the smallest detail so that everything is perfect. The association has managed to bring together no fewer than thirty period vehicles: jeeps, Dodges, civilian front-wheel drive vehicles, a Diamond recovery truck, an M10 tank destroyer, the same one seen in period photos… The highlight of the show, according to president Laurent Berton, is “the M8 machine gun, a sort of small tank on 6 wheels, without tracks”. The other “star” which Brad Pitt fans will recognize, is the Cherman tank, nicknamed Fury, in reference to the eponymous film in which the American star played. The participants were happy, aware of the courage shown by these men, often very young when they joined the ranks of the Resistance or the French Army, to defend our freedom.

Clash at the inauguration of the Visa pour l’Image festival

#PERPIGNAN – The mayor of Perpignan, the National Rally, declared this Saturday, August 31, 2024, during the inauguration of the Visa pour l’Image festival, that he refused to award the City Prize to Gazan photographer Loay Ayyoub for his series of photos on Gaza. With a closed face and a sharp tone, Louis Aliot explained “not having been informed of this choice”. The vice-president of the National Rally specified: “I don't interfere in the festival's editorial line. And fortunately so. The director (Jean-François Leroy) has total freedom. But, as a citizen, I also have mine. I refuse to give an award to a photographer who describes Hamas on his social networks as “Palestinian Resistance”. I would have preferred to give an award to a totally independent photographer. Even if they were identical photos, because I don't criticize his work in any way and I understand the horror of war.” The director of the Visa pour l’Image festival, Jean-François Leroy, responded that the choice of the winner had been made by a jury of directors of photography as is the rule. "I have their ballot at the disposal of the mayor." And Jean-François Leroy emphasized that, despite the disagreements,“Mr Aliot gives me complete freedom in my choices”.

Cleaning operation on the slopes of the Carlit peak

#PYRENEES-ORIENTALES – Cleaning up on the highest peak in the Pyrénées-Orientales. Volunteers from the Mountain Wilderness association  are tackling the cleaning of the peak to rid it of a helicopter wreck and the remains of a ski lift. About forty people will intervene on September 7, 8 and 9 at an altitude of between 2,500 and 2,800 meters where part of the rotor, a piece of the fuselage and a landing skid are still there, vestiges of the crash of a British army aircraft on September 17, 1986. The ski lift was used by children from SNCF camps in the 1960s and 1970s. These camps have disappeared but two engines, poles, a winch and cables are still there and dangerous for walkers.

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