There are no translations available.
SOMMET DE L'OTAN A MADRID OU UN TOURNANT POUR L'ALLIANCE ATLANTIQUE?
|
Les chefs d'Etat et de gouvernement des pays membres de l'Alliance atlantique se sont réunis à Madrid, pour un sommet qui se tient du 28 au 30 juin dans la capitale espagnole entièrement préoccupé par la menace russe et la guerre en Ukraine. Au-delà de l'Ukraine, la journée de mercredi a été l'occasion pour l'Otan d'adopter son nouveau « concept stratégique », la première révision de sa feuille de route depuis 2010, qui da évoqué pour la première fois les défis posés par la Chine.
L'adhésion de la Suède et la Finlande
Le sommet de Madrid marque un tournant majeur du côté occidental : les pays européens les plus exposés aux coups éventuels de la Russie ont obtenu de l’Otan les assurances nécessaires pour prévenir ou contrer ceux-ci : c’est le processus d’adhésion de la Finlande et de la Suède, et le renforcement notable du dispositif otanien de la Roumanie à l’Estonie, avec une présence substantielle de la France. Le processus d'adhésion de la Finlande et de la Suède, qui ont décidé de rejoindre l'Otan en réaction à l'offensive lancée par la Russie en Ukraine le 24 février, rompant ainsi avec une longue tradition de neutralité, a en effet été lancé. Cette adhésion était jusqu'à présent bloquée par la Turquie, membre de l'Otan depuis 1952, qui accusait notamment Stockholm et Helsinki d'abriter des militants de l'organisation kurde PKK, qu'Ankara considère comme « terroriste ». Mais au
terme de longues tractations en marge du sommet, la Turquie a donné
mardi soir son accord à l'entrée dans l'Otan de ces deux pays nordiques,
le président turc Recep Tayyip Erdogan ayant estimé avoir obtenu leur
« pleine coopération » dans sa lutte contre le PKK.
« La politique de porte ouverte de l'OTAN » s'est soldée par « un succès historique », a salué Jens Stoltenberg. « L'accueil de la Finlande et de la Suède dans l'alliance les rendra plus sûres, l'OTAN plus forte et la zone euro-atlantique plus sûre », a-t-il insisté. Les futurs membres suédois et finlandais apportent à l'Alliance 28 500 soldats d’active, 2 300 blindés, 1 000 pièces d’artillerie, 220 chars, 175 navires et 158 avions.
Une Force de réaction « bien au-dessus de » 300 000 hommes
Les dirigeants de l'Otan ont décidé au sommet de Madrid de transformer leur Force de réaction et de porter « bien au-dessus » de 300.000 hommes les troupes à haut niveau de préparation pour faire face à la menace russe, a annoncé lundi le secrétaire général de l'Alliance.
« En faisant cela, nous fournissons une dissuasion crédible dont l'objectif n'est pas de provoquer un conflit, mais d'empêcher la Russie ou tout autre adversaire potentiel d'attaquer un pays allié », a-t-il insisté.
« Je suis convaincu que le président Poutine comprend les conséquences d'une attaque contre un pays de l'Otan », a-t-il ajouté. L’état de préparation de ces forces est relevé pour éviter les mauvaises surprises, avec 300 000 soldats concernés au lieu de 40 000 auparavant.
Renforcement des groupements tactiques à l'est
« Nous allons renforcer nos groupements tactiques dans la partie orientale de l'Alliance, jusqu'au niveau de la brigade », a-t-il précisé.
Huit groupements tactiques ont été créés. Ils sont basés en Lituanie, en Estonie, en Lettonie, en Pologne, en Roumanie, en Hongrie, en Slovaquie et en Bulgarie.
Certains seront renforcés « jusqu'au niveau de la brigade » - unités tactiques de 3.000 à 5.000 hommes, a précisé Jens Stoltenberg.
L'Allemagne, chef de file du Groupement tactique basé en Lituanie, a annoncé son intention de porter sa capacité au niveau d'une brigade, mais l'essentiel des troupes restera stationné dans le pays. Des unités sont « pré-désignées » dans d'autres pays membres de l'Alliance pour intervenir dans les pays où sont basés des groupements tactiques et où des armements lourds auront été prépositionnés, a expliqué le secrétaire général de l'Otan.
Les Etats-Unis à la rescousse
Joe Biden, pour sa part, a annoncé un nouveau renforcement des forces US en Espagne, en Pologne, en Roumanie, dans les États baltes, au Royaume-Uni, en Allemagne et en Italie. Deux frégates lance-missiles en Espagne pour renforcer les quatre déjà sur place ; deux escadrons de chasseurs F-35 au Royaume-Uni pour remplacer des F-15 redéployés en Pologne ; une brigade de combat en Roumanie ; un état-major permanent de Corps d’armée en Pologne ; davantage d’artillerie, d’aviation, de défense antiaérienne et de forces spéciales dans les trois pays baltes ; des moyens de défense antiaérienne en Italie et Allemagne…
Renforcement de l'aide à l'Ukraine
L’Ukraine qui entre dans son 127e jour de guerre, ce jeudi 30 juin 2022,a été au cœur des discussions lors du sommet de l’Otan à Madrid, mercredi. L’occasion pour les pays membres de réaffirmer leur soutien à l’Ukraine contre la « cruauté » de la Russie. Vladimir Poutine a, pour sa part, dénoncé les « ambitions impérialistes » de l’Alliance atlantique.
Le gouvernement britannique a profité de la journée de mercredi pour annoncer une aide militaire supplémentaire de plus d’un milliard d’euros à l’Ukraine.
Les pays membres de l’Otan ont aussi précisé s’être mis d’accord sur un nouveau plan d’aide passant par la « livraison d’équipements militaires non létaux », ainsi que par un renforcement des défenses ukrainiennes contre les cyber-attaques.
Un nouveau concept stratégique
L'Otan a par ailleurs adopté mercredi un nouveau concept stratégique identifiant la Russie comme « la menace la plus significative et la plus directe » à la paix transatlantique, et la Chine comme un « défi » aux « intérêts », aux « valeurs » et à leur « sécurité ». Pour Moscou un "nouveau rideau de fer" en référence à la Guerre froide
Vladimir Poutine a pour sa part dénoncé une « hégémonie » de la part de l’Otan, lors d'une conférence de presse à Achkhabad, la capitale turkmène.
Concernant l’adhésion des deux pays nordiques, il a dit ne pas y voir de « problème », à condition toutefois qu’il n’y ait pas de déploiement de contingents militaires et d’infrastructures militaires. Auquel cas, a-t-il prévenu, « nous serons obligés de répondre de manière symétrique et de créer les mêmes menaces pour les territoires d'où émanent les menaces pour nous. »
Pour Moscou,un nouveau « rideau de fer » s'abattait en Europe au moment où l'Ukraine, forte du soutien renouvelé de l'alliance, reprenait aux Russes un îlot symbolique et stratégique pour la maîtrise des routes maritimes.
« Le rideau de fer, de fait, il est déjà en train de s'abattre », a déclaré le ministre russe des Affaires étrangères Sergueï Lavrov, lors d'une conférence de presse à Minsk, reprenant le terme qui a marqué l'histoire de l'Europe pendant la Guerre froide, et n'est tombé qu'avec la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989.« Ce rideau de fer est érigé aujourd'hui par les Occidentaux eux-mêmes », a renchéri son homologue biélorusse Vladimir Makeï, dont le pays est un allié de Moscou dans sa confrontation avec l'Ouest.
Moscou et Minsk réagissaient au sommet de mercredi et jeudi de l'Alliance atlantique qui a réaffirmé son soutien massif à l'Ukraine. Sa nouvelle feuille de route stratégique désigne désormais la Russie comme « la menace la plus significative et directe pour la sécurité des alliés », et dénonce les tentatives de Moscou et Pékin d'unir leurs efforts pour « déstabiliser l'ordre international ». Un sursaut de l'Otan?
« La guerre en Ukraine a provoqué un sursaut de l'OTAN, mais est-elle sortie de sa mort cérébrale pour autant? On peut en débattre. Cette guerre prouve surtout que le temps d'une OTAN porteuse de valeurs universelles - son credo à peine masqué depuis la fin de la Guerre froide - est révolu. L'Alliance va, peut-être, s'étendre à quelques nouveaux membres, et après? En refusant le règlement pacifique du conflit et en misant sur la bipolarité comme seule sortie de crise, les membres de l'OTAN ne font que s'affaiblir un peu plus. D'une certaine manière, les propos d'Emmanuel Macron de 2019 sont encore plus d'actualité aujourd'hui, et on ne peut que le déplorer. », selon Barthélemy Courmont, enseignant-chercheur à l'Université catholique de Lille et directeur de recherche à l'IRIS
Et si l’Otan sert puissamment en ce moment, qu’en sera-t-il du côté américain, avec la possibilité d’un retour de Trump et la probabilité d’un accaparement de l’attention et des ressources américaines face au grand rival chinois ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Andrew Preston pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
SALADE SUCRÉE-SALÉE AUX FRUITS ROUGES, PETITS POIS, FETA ET MENTHE
|
C'est le temps des salades estivales. Profitons-en
Pour 4 pers. Préparation : 25 mn Cuisson : 10 mn
Ingrédients - 500 g de petits pois écossés
-2 poignées de cresson u
-200 g de fraises 125 g de framboises -1 échalote - 1 bouquet de menthe - 100 g de feta - 2 c. à soupe d’huile d’olive
- 1 c. à café de miel -1 c. à soupe de vinaigre balsamique
Déroulé 1. Portez à ébullition un grand volume d’eau salée et faites cuire les petits pois 10 mn. Une fois cuits, égouttez-les et passez-les sous l’eau très froide afin de préserver leur couleur. Lavez le cresson à grande eau. Lavez et équeutez les fraises. Pelez et ciselez l’échalote. Lavez et ciselez la menthe. 2. Dans un saladier, versez les petits pois, ajoutez les fraises coupées en rondelles, les framboises, le cresson, la menthe et l’échalote ciselée, puis parsemez de feta émiettée. 3. Versez au moment de servir l’huile d’olive, le vinaigre balsamique et le miel, salez et poivrez au moulin.
Le plus: vous pouvez ajouter des pointes d’asperges vertes et des haricots verts.
|
|
|
|
Marie-Chantal de Verneuil pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
13 NOVEMBRE SEPT CONDAMNATIONS A PERPETUITE
|
Au terme de 149 jours d’audience marathon, la cour d’assises spéciale de Paris a rendu son verdict, lu par le président Jean-Louis Périès. La cour a suivi le Parquet national antiterroriste (Pnat) qui le 10 juin, avait demandé la peine maximale contre Salah Abdeslam. Les cinq magistrats condamnent ce Franco-Marocain de 32 ans, à la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité, incompressible. Il devra donc effectuer au minimum trente ans de prison avant de pouvoir demander la levée de cette perpétuité incompressible, prélude à toute demande d'aménagement de peine. Il n’a pas réagi publiquement à ce verdict. Seul membre encore en vie du commando du 13-Novembre, Salah Abdeslam est bel et bien considéré comme « le co-auteur des attentats, toutes les cibles de ce13-Novembre constituant une seule et même scène de crime », selon la cour d’assises. Le magistrat a ajouté que « la cour a également reconnu que le gilet explosif dont il était porteur n'était pas fonctionnel, ce qui remet sérieusement en question les déclarations de Salah Abdeslam quant à son renoncement ».
« Des accusés radicalisés »
Pas de circonstances atténuantes non plus à l’encontre de Mohamed Abrini, qui avait pris part au fameux convoi de lamort en novembre 2015.
En revanche, Sofien Ayari, 28 ans, et Osama Krayem, 29 ans, échappent à la perpétuité. Ils sont condamnés à trente ans de réclusion criminelle avec les deux tiers incompressibles, pour « leur participation à une association de malfaiteurs terroristes ».
Mohamed Bakkali, 35 ans, qui a déjà écopé de vingt-cinq ans de prison pour l’attentat, en août 2015, du train Thalys, est également condamné à trente ans de réclusion criminelle. Tout comme Ahmed Dahmani, 33 ans, actuellement détenu par la Turquie.
Pour tous ces accusés, la Cour considère que par « leur adhésion aux thèses djihadistes, et leur radicalisation », ils ne pouvaient pas ignorer les projets d’attentats terroristes en Europe.
Perpétuité aussi pour les frères Clain
La perpétuité est également prononcée contre les cinq grands absents de ce procès, supposés morts en Syrie et donc jugés par défaut. Parmi eux, Oussama Atar, considéré « comme le commanditaire des attentats » ; Obeida Dibo, chef opérationnel, et Omar Darif, un des artificiers en chef. Même perpétuité pour les frères Fabien et Jean-Michel Clain, Normands à un moment de leur vie et qui avaient revendiqué au téléphone les carnages de Paris.
« La propagande a joué un rôle essentiel dans la stratégie de Daech, à la fois pour diffuser la terreur et pour attirer de nouveaux combattants », a résumé le président Périès.
Pour les autres accusés, âgés de 29 à 41 ans, les peines s’échelonnent de deux ans de prison ferme à dix-huit ans de réclusion criminelle, selon le degré de l’aide logistique apportée au commando du 13-Novembre.
« Aucun des trois accusés qui comparaissaient libres n’est réincarcéré à l’issue de l’audience », a confirmé le Pnat.
Les vingt accusés condamnés hier disposent de dix jours pour faire appel. L’histoire retiendra les quatre-vingt dix morts du Bataclan, trente-neuf sur les terrasses de café, un au Stade de France. Sur les 400 blessés, une femme et un homme se sont donné la mort depuis.
Six ans après une nuit de terreur qui a traumatisé la France et après un procès-fleuve marqué par les récits glaçants de près de 400 rescapés ou proches à la barre, sur près de 2 600 parties civiles, les rescapés vont pouvoir enfin fermer une page.
|
|
|
|
Carl Delsey pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
GHISLAINE MAXWELL CONDAMNEE A 20 ANS
DE PRISON
|
Elle risque de finir sa vie en prison à New York : âgée de 60 ans, l’ex-mondaine britannique Ghislaine Maxwell, reconnue coupable, fin 2021, de trafic sexuel de mineures pour le compte du financier américain décédé Jeffrey Epstein, a été condamnée, hier, à vingt ans d’emprisonnement. « La peine prononcée aujourd’hui rend Ghislaine Maxwell responsable d’avoir commis des crimes odieux contre des enfants. Cela envoie un message fort : personne n’est au-dessus des lois et il n’est jamais trop tard pour la justice », a déclaré dans un communiqué Damian Williams, procureur fédéral du tribunal de Manhattan, où la juge Alison Nathan a rendu son jugement. Au prononcé de la peine, Mme Maxwell a, pour la première fois, exprimé sa « sympathie pour toutes les victimes » dans cette affaire. Ghislaine Maxwell et Jeffrey Epstein étaient en couple au début des années 1990 avant de devenir collaborateurs professionnels et complices pour leurs crimes sexuels durant près de trente ans.
Ghislaine Maxwell condamnée à 20 ans de prison Ghislaine Maxwell a la triple nationalité britannique, américaine et française. |
|
|
|
Kate White pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
LES ENGAGEMENTS DES DIRIGEANTS
AU SOMMET DU G7
|
Réunies en Bavière au château d’Elmau du 26 au 28 juin 2O22 les puissances industrielles du G7 ont proposé un éventail de réponses aux crises mondiales. De la guerre en Ukraine aux menaces de pénuries alimentaires en passant par le péril climatique, retour sur les engagements pris par les dirigeants de l’Allemagne, du Canada, des Etats-Unis, de la France, de l’Italie, du Japon et du Royaume-Uni.
La guerre et la reconstruction de l' Ukraine
Les participants au sommet ont tenu à montrer un visage uni contre Moscou. Le G7, auquel s’est joint cinq pays émergents, dont l’Inde, a condamné l’invasion « illégale » de l’Ukraine, par la Russie. Les alliés ont notamment promis de fournir un soutien financier, humanitaire, militaire et diplomatique et de rester aux côtés de l’Ukraine « aussi longtemps qu’il le faudra ». L’aide financière débloquée pour ce pays en 2022 atteint désormais 29,5 milliards de dollars. Kiev devrait aussi recevoir de nouveaux armements, notamment des missiles antiaériens américains sophistiqués. Pour tarir davantage les revenus de la Russie, les dirigeants du G7 vont lancer les travaux visant à mettre en place un
mécanisme de plafonnement du pétrole russe, afin de frapper une
importante source de revenus de Moscou, a dit un haut responsable de la
Maison Blanche. Le G7 prévoit également d’imposer une interdiction de l’importation d’or russe. Pour contrôler le prix de l’or noir vendu par la Russie, les sept pays « envisagent une série d’approches », y compris « une éventuelle interdiction de tous les services qui permettent le transport maritime du pétrole brut et des produits pétroliers russes », à moins que le pétrole ne soit acheté en dessous du plafond qui serait fixé.
Les sept puissances, à l’issue de leur réunion, se disent « résolues à soutenir la reconstruction de l’Ukraine par le biais d’une conférence et d’un plan de reconstruction internationaux ».
La Chine
Les dirigeants présents en Allemagne ont dénoncé les pratiques commerciales internationales « non transparentes et faussant le marché » de Pékin. Ils souhaitent donc s’affranchir de la dépendance à l’égard de la Chine, en « favorisant la diversification et la résistance à la coercition économique » et en « réduisant les dépendances stratégiques ». Les membres du G7 ont également fait part de leurs préoccupations concernant les violations des droits de l’homme en Chine, l’exhortant à respecter les libertés fondamentales. Ils ont souligné que la situation au Tibet et au Xinjiang, où sévit le « travail forcé », les « préoccupait grandement ».
Le communiqué final exhorte également la Chine à « honorer ses engagements » au titre de la déclaration commune sino-britannique, garantissant à Hong Kong certaines libertés et son autonomie pendant 50 ans dans le cadre du modèle « Un pays, deux systèmes ».
Atténuer la crise alimentaire
Le G7 s’est engagé à verser 4,5 milliards de dollars supplémentaires pour atténuer la crise alimentaire mondiale, portant le total des engagements communs à 14 milliards de dollars sur l’année. Les sept puissances ont également appelé pays et entreprises disposant d’importants stocks de nourriture à assumer leurs responsabilités pour atténuer la crise alimentaire déclenchée par le conflit en Ukraine. Elles exhortent aussi « tous les pays à éviter le stockage excessif de denrées alimentaires, qui peut entraîner de nouvelles hausses de prix ». En outre elle a aussi réitéré son « appel pressant à la Russie pour qu’elle mette fin, sans condition, au blocus des ports ukrainiens de la mer Noire, à la destruction d’infrastructures portuaires et de transport essentielles, silos et terminaux à grains, à l’appropriation illégale par la Russie de produits et d’équipements agricoles en Ukraine et à toutes les autres activités qui entravent la production et l’exportation de production et les exportations ukrainiennes de denrées alimentaires ». La Russie nie pour sa part avoir bloqué le passage des cargos et accuse les sanctions occidentales de contribuer à la crise alimentaire. Les engagements sur le climat
Les pays du G7 se sont accordés pour renforcer la coopération dans la lutte contre le réchauffement de la planète. Mais leurs ambitions, qui se heurtent aux craintes de pénuries d’énergie, ont déçu les défenseurs de l’environnement. Les puissances, qui doivent à court terme se passer du gaz russe, sont sous pression pour tenir leurs engagements climatiques.
Dans leur déclaration finale, les chefs d’Etat ou de gouvernement ont certes réaffirmé « leur engagement indéfectible » envers l’Accord de Paris qui vise à limiter le réchauffement climatique mondial à 1,5° par rapport à l’ère préindustrielle et leur objectif de parvenir à zéro émission nette de carbone d’ici à 2050. Ils ont aussi souligné « l’urgence accrue d’agir » pour réduire les émissions mondiales de gaz à effet de serre d’environ 43 % d’ici à 2030 par rapport au niveau de 2019. Le G7 s’est en outre engagé à ce que le secteur routier soit « fortement décarboné d’ici à 2030 ».
Le sommet a aussi convenu de créer un « Club Climat » composé de pays volontaires pour coordonner et accélérer les efforts de lutte contre le réchauffement climatique. Mais des voix critiques soulignaient à l’issue du sommet que l’idée restait vague et risquait de devenir « juste un autre club », selon Martin Kaiser, le directeur exécutif de Greenpeace en Allemagne.
L’énergie
Emmanuel Macron, le chancelier allemand Olaf Scholz, le président américain Joe Biden, le Premier ministre britannique Boris Johnson, le Premier ministre japonais Fumio Kishida, la présidente de la Commission européenne Ursula von der Leyen, le président du Conseil européen Charles Michel, le Premier ministre italien Mario Draghi et le Premier ministre canadien Justin Trudeau, se sont engagés à mettre fin, d’ici à la fin de 2022, à tout nouveau soutien public direct au secteur international de l’énergie à base de combustibles fossiles non exploités. Toutefois, face à la ruée sur les sources d’énergie alternatives pour s’émanciper des combustibles fossiles russes, le G7 a convenu que des investissements publics pouvaient être réalisés dans le secteur du gaz « à titre de réponse provisoire ».
En annonçant ces engagement, bien que le G7 ne représente plus les sept plus grandes puissances économiques, Joe Biden tente de donner à ce groupe un tour plus politique, celui de la lutte des démocraties contre les autocraties...
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
FAUT-IL S'INQUIETER DE LA MENACE DE PENURIE D'ENERGIE ?
|
Faut-il que la pénurie menace pour que les grands énergéticiens français EDF, TotalEnergies et Engie, dans une tribune commune publiée dans le Journal du dimanche, dimanche 26 juin 2022, en appellent à la sobriété, au nom de la cohésion sociale ?.
Faut-il que l’heure soit grave que le ministre de l’Economie présente ladite sobriété comme un passage obligé », sans alternative ?
Trois jours plus tôt, lors d’une visite dans un centre de commande national de gaz en Ile-de-France,Elisabeth Borne, accompagnée d’Agnès Pannier-Runacher, avait déjà planté le décor. « Nous devons faire preuve de sobriété énergétique. Je ne sais pas si c’est le bon terme, mais en tout cas nous devons réduire de 40 % d’ici à 2050 » appellent à la sobriété. Une feuille de route devrait s’appliquer dès cet été à l’Etat, aux administrations et aux grandes entreprises.
Voilà que les énergéticiens se transforment en « pères la morale ». « Nous appelons à une prise de conscience et à une action collective et individuelle pour que chacun d’entre nous change ses comportements et limite immédiatement ses consommations énergétiques, électriques, gazières et de produits pétroliers », ont écrit Jean-Bernard Lévy et Patrick Pouyanné, PDG d’EDF et de TotalEnergies, ainsi que Catherine MacGregor, directrice générale d’Engie, dans une tribune parue dans le Journal du dimanche
Dans la tribune du JDD, les trois dirigeants des fournisseurs d'énergie français appellent donc à « un effort collectif et immédiat » pour éviter un hiver sous tension. Les
trois appellent les Français à réduire « immédiatement »
leur consommation de carburant, d'électricité et de gaz. Selon les trois
fournisseurs d'accès d'énergie en France, les risques de pénurie et la
flambée des prix sont tels qu'ils vont jusqu'à menacer « la cohésion
sociale » l'hiver prochain.
En effet « depuis maintenant des mois, le système énergétique européen subit de fortes tensions et le système énergétique français n'est pas épargné », exposent Catherine MacGregor, directrice générale d'Engie, Jean-Bernard Lévy, président-directeur général d'EDF, et Patrick Pouyanné, président-directeur général de TotalEnergies. « Agir dès cet été nous permettra d'être mieux préparés pour aborder l'hiver prochain, et notamment préserver nos réserves de gaz.
Ces tensions s'expliquent par la guerre en Ukraine et les sanctions occidentales, d'abord. Les livraisons de gaz russe par gazoduc ont « fortement baissé pour certains pays, dont la France ». « Bien qu'en augmentation, les importations de gaz naturel liquéfié (GNL) sont aujourd'hui encore trop limitées pour compenser ces baisses. Le niveau d'alerte sur les stocks de gaz au niveau européen est dès lors élevé et des mesures de rationnement sont mises en place dans certains pays », soulignent-ils.
Aussi le marché pétrolier mondial pourrait-il connaître des tensions entre le niveau de production et la demande durant l'été. Aux Etats-Unis, on entre dans la 'driving season', la période de l'année où les déplacements automobiles sont les plus importants, car les gens partent en vacances. Et donc celle où on a besoin de plus de carburant automobile. En Chine, l'assouplissement des confinements drastiques imposés à certaines villes va entraîner un retour à la normale des déplacements, et donc une augmentation de la demande pétrolière.
La météo y est aussi pour quelque chose. « Les conditions climatiques et la sécheresse viennent amputer la production hydraulique », écrivent les trois dirigeants dans leur tribune. Une grande partie du parc nucléaire français nécessite effectivement l'eau des rivières pour être refroidi. Par conséquent, un niveau des cours d'eau trop bas, comme cela a été le cas début juin par exemple dans le Rhône, peut mettre en péril ces activités.
A ces causes viennent s'ajouter d'autres handicaps comme le laissait entendre le gestionnaire du réseau de transport d'électricité (RTE) il y a deux semaines auprès de TF1. « Nous nous trouvons en effet dans une période charnière, marquée par une série d'événements à gérer : la fermeture des centrales au fioul et à charbon, celle [nucléaire] de Fessenheim, mais aussi du retard quant au développement d'autres modes de production », note RTE.
De plus au 24 mai, 27 des 56 réacteurs nucléaires français étaient à l'arrêt, selon EDF. Soit près de la moitié. Une situation sans précédent, qui s’explique par des fermetures planifiées mais également par un problème imprévu de corrosion. Alors que la moitié du parc nucléaire est à l’arrêt, le ministère de la Transition énergétique se réserve d’ailleurs « la possibilité de faire fonctionner la centrale [ à charbon] de Saint-Avold quelques heures de plus si nous en avons besoin l’hiver prochain ».
En fait le risque de pénurie plane si bien qu'à court terme , toute économie de gaz ou d’électricité faite aujourd’hui permettra de sécuriser les stocks pour l’hiver. A moyen terme, le gouvernement afficherait des intentions plus ambitieuses. « L’objectif, c’est une feuille de route qui nous permette de réduire de 10 % la consommation d’énergie par rapport à notre référentiel habituel d’ici deux ans », a précisé la ministre de la Transition énergétique. Ce qui correspond à « la première marche du scénario de RTE, qui vise une réduction de 40 % d’ici à 2050 ».
La France n'est cependant pas le seul pays concerné . Pour compenser les baisses de livraisons de gaz russe, l'Allemagne va par exemple retourner au charbon. Un recours provisoire, promet le ministre de l'Economie et du Climat allemand, qui reconnaît qu'il s'agit d'une décision amère. La prolongation de certaines centrales sera une mesure à court terme, sur une période "limitée", jusqu'en mars 2024, assure Berlin.
D'autres pays d'Europe ont récemment annoncé des mesures similaires. L'Autriche, également dépendante du gaz russe, a également acté le redémarrage prochain d'une centrale à charbon désaffectée, afin de pouvoir pallier une éventuelle pénurie.
Dernier exemple en date : les Pays-Bas. Jusqu'ici, les centrales électriques au charbon néerlandaises ne pouvaient fonctionner à plus de 35% de leur capacité, selon une loi en vigueur depuis janvier 2022 pour réduire les émissions de CO2 du pays. Elles peuvent désormais « fonctionner à pleine capacité », a annoncé lundi 20 juin le ministre de l'Environnement et de l'Energie néerlandais, Rob Jetten.
Alors qu’elle prône la sobriété énergétique, Elisabeth Borne a annoncé jeudi dernier la prolongation du bouclier tarifaire jusqu’à la fin de l’année. Un bon signal pour inciter à réduire sa consommation?
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
TARTE COURGETTES, OIGNON ROUGE ET CAMEMBERT
|
Profitons des légumes de ce mois de juin avec une bonne tarte salée qui demande à peine 15 minutes de préparation.
Ingrédients pour 6 personnes
-250 g de farine
-1 c. à soupe de thym effeuillé
-100 g de beurre demi-sel à température ambiante
-2 courgettes
-1 oignon rouge
-1/ 2 camembert
-1 oeuf
-20 cl de crème liquide
-2,5 cl d’huile d’olive Déroulé
- Mélangez la farine et le thym dans un saladier. Ajoutez le beurre coupé en dés et commencez à mélanger du bout des doigts. Ajoutez l’huile, puis 5 cl d’eau en continuant à mélanger jusqu’à amalgamer la pâte sans trop la travailler. Laissez-la reposer 1 h au frais.
- Sortez la pâte du réfrigérateur. Pelez et émincez l’oignon finement. Lavez et coupez les courgettes en fines lamelles dans la longueur. Coupez le camembert en tranches fines.
- Préchauffez le four à 180°/ th. 6. Battez l’oeuf avec la crème, salez et poivrez au moulin. Étalez la pâte et placez la dans un moule à tarte beurré. Versez le mélange crème/ oeuf, puis rangez les lamelles de courgettes en spirale. Intercalez celles d’oignon et de camembert. Parsemez de thym.
- Enfournez 45 mn.
Servez chaud ou tiède avec un petit Beaujolais blanc.
|
|
Marie-Chantal de Verneuil pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
DES REFORMES INDISPENSABLES A FAIRE POUR L 'UKRAINE CANDIDATE A L'UNION EUROPEENNE
|
Les pays membres de l’Union européenne ont décidé d’accorder jeudi 23 juin 2022 le statut de candidat à l’adhésion à l’UE à l’Ukraine accompagnée de la Moldavie.Depuis le début de l’invasion russe, Kiev n’a eu de cesse de plaider cette cause auprès des Vingt-Sept. Cette décision historique est hautement symbolique. Ce nouveau statut de candidat envoie en effet un message à la Russie, qui refuse que l'Ukraine puisse avoir une voie européenne et acte la souveraineté de l'Ukraine et la reconnaissance de cette souveraineté par l'UE. Le statut de pays candidat ouvre ainsi la voie à une éventuelle intégration de l’Ukraine à l’Union et permet d’entamer les discussions. Mais le chemin vers une intégration est encore long et pourrait prendre « des décennies », a relativisé Emmanuel Macron lors de la conférence de presse de fin de sommet européen, vendredi après-midi. L’Ukraine
devra en effet procéder à des changements, politiques,
environnementaux, économiques, afin de correspondre aux normes
d'adhésion des pays de l’UE. De nombreux défis attendent donc le pays
dans ce dossier.
Il y a en effet des étapes dans la procédure de candidature à l'Union.La toute première phase, qui consiste à dire que les États membres de l'Union ont reconnu l’Ukraine comme candidat après l’établissement d’un rapport par la Commission européenne, vient d'être franchie. Il va falloir ensuite que l'Union européenne se prononce à l’unanimité sur le lancement concret du processus d'adhésion, avec des négociations entre l'UE et l'Ukraine. Or
l'une des conditions pour l'ouverture d'une quelconque négociation
d'adhésion est le retour à la paix et la reconstruction du pays, un pays en guerre ne pouvant négocier son entrée dans l'Union.
Afin de pouvoir prétendre à une entrée dans l’Union européenne, l’Ukraine doit également se hisser aux standards européens si bien que de
nombreuses réformes vont devoir être mises en branle , l'Ukraine étant
loin de remplir les critères pour une adhésion à l'Union européenne.
Pour ce faire l’Ukraine doit adapter sa législation et ses modes de gouvernance à celles de l’UE. Le pays est touché par un phénomène de corruption endémique (en 2021, l'Ukraine obtient un score de 32/100 dans l'indice de perception de la corruption établi par l'ONG allemande de lutte contre la corruption, Transparency International NDLR). C'est un pays où des oligarques règnent sur l'économie. L'indépendance de la justice est une fiction. Tous ces points sont les chantiers prioritaires de la réforme . De plus avant de pouvoir entrer dans l'UE, l'Ukraine largement détruite par l'action de l'armée russe. va devoir être reconstruite .
Une fois toutes les négociations terminées, l’entrée de l’Ukraine devra être une dernière fois validée par tous les pays membres de l'UE. Pour l'élargissement de l'UE, la règle décisionnelle est celle de l'unanimité. Des pays comme la Pologne ou les pays Baltes vont être très accommodants avec l'Ukraine car ils considèrent que, géopolitiquement, l'entrée de l'Ukraine dans l'UE est un facteur prioritaire de stabilité.
Mais d'autres pays, à l'instar de la France, des Pays-Bas ou de l'Espagne ne voudront pas d'une Ukraine mal préparée. Le chemin risque donc d'être long.
|
|
Joanne Courbet pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
LE PROJET DE LOI POUVOIR D'ACHAT
APREMENT DEBATTU
|
Le texte, qui a vocation à aider les Français à faire face à l'inflation, doit être présenté en Conseil des ministres le 6 juillet puis examiné au Parlement dans la foulée. Ce doit être le premier grand texte du second quinquennat d'Emmanuel Macron. Le projet de loi « pouvoir d'achat », censé être présenté en Conseil des ministres mercredi 6 juillet et examiné au Parlement dans la foulée, doit permettre de soulager les Français, plombés par une inflation qui devrait atteindre en moyenne 5,5% en 2022.
Son contenu fait déjà l'objet d'une âpre bataille politique entre les oppositions et l'exécutif, les premières comptant sur l'absence de majorité absolue à l'Assemblée nationale du camp présidentiel pour imposer certaines de leurs mesures clés. C'est pourquoi le ministre de l’économie a alerté sur le niveau d’endettement de la France, ce lundi. Une manière d’appeler les oppositions à la retenue avant les débats du projet de loi pouvoir d’achat à l’Assemblée nationale.
La France a atteint sa « cote d’alerte » sur les finances publiques, a en effet estimé le ministre de l’économie Bruno Le Maire, lundi 27 juin, au moment où l’exécutif cherche un compromis avec l’opposition pour son projet de loi sur le pouvoir d’achat.
« Tout n’est pas possible, tout simplement parce que nous avons atteint la cote d’alerte sur les finances publiques », a affirmé M. Le Maire, ajoutant que « les conditions de financement ont changé » et qu’aujourd’hui la France emprunte « à plus de 2 % » pour financer les dépenses publiques, quand elle le faisait encore récemment à taux négatifs ou très faibles. Selon l’Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques (Insee), la dette publique française a dépassé 2 900 milliards d’euros à la fin du troisième trimestre, soit 114,5 % du produit intérieur brut (PIB), du fait aussi d’une croissance économique en berne. Le projet de loi pouvoir d’achat, objet de toutes les tractations
A droite, le nouveau président du groupe Les Républicains à l’Assemblée nationale, Olivier Marleix, a fortement insisté sur le risque d’une augmentation de la dette française, lundi matin sur Europe 1, quelques minutes avant la prise de parole de M. Le Maire. « Sur la question du pouvoir d’achat et d’un tel problème pour nos compatriotes, évidemment on va tout faire pour converger avec le gouvernement » et « avancer sur ces mesures », a déclaré le député d’Eure-et-Loire alors que Les Républicains, s’ils refusent de participer au gouvernement, assurent qu’ils voteront possiblement des textes « au cas par cas ».
M. Marleix a toutefois posé deux conditions : la nécessité de prendre en compte le fait que la question du pouvoir d’achat est « un sujet d’ampleur pour la France qui travaille », et « il faudra évidemment que le gouvernement accepte d’envisager la question du financement de ces mesures ».
« On sera exigeants à l’égard du gouvernement pour que ce soit financé. La situation de la dette française aujourd’hui est très grave (…) Le gouvernement ne peut pas dire : “Allez hop, 30 milliards de dette supplémentaire !” Ce serait irresponsable », a-t-il estimé, promettant que les députés LR « feront des propositions sur le sujet du financement ». A gauche, le député et secrétaire national du Parti communiste français, Fabien Roussel, a souhaité sur CNews « une forte augmentation du pouvoir d’achat » avec notamment « une baisse tout de suite de la TVA sur l’essence ». « On ne se contentera pas de miettes » et « on va tous descendre dans la rue s’il le faut pour obtenir ces mesures », a-t-il prévenu.
Un coup de pouce de huit milliards d’euros pour les prestations sociales
Interrogé sur la proposition faite par plusieurs partis de l’opposition, comme Les Républicains ou le Rassemblement national, d’une baisse de taxe sur les carburants, M. Le Maire a assuré que le gouvernement allait « discuter » avec ces formations mais que « l’esprit de compromis doit s’accompagner d’un esprit de décision ».
La prolongation de mesures existantes
Plusieurs mesures déjà mises en œuvre ces derniers mois pour lutter contre la hausse des prix devraient être prolongées. C'est le cas du bouclier tarifaire sur l'énergie (qui vient déjà d'être prolongé par décret jusqu'au 31 décembre 2022), et qui plafonne les tarifs de vente du gaz et de l'électricité. La remise de 18 centimes par litre sur les carburants tient encore aussi, au moins pour le mois d'août. Le gouvernement réfléchit en parallèle à un nouveau dispositif plus ciblé sur les gros rouleurs, mais son articulation avec la remise n'est pas tranchée, a assuré vendredi 24 juin la ministre de la Transition énergétique, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
L'indemnité inflation, ponctuelle, devrait également faire son retour sous le nom de chèque alimentation. Le gouvernement a abandonné l'idée d'un chèque alimentaire mensuel, qui devait permettre l'accès à des produits de qualité. Cette nouvelle aide financière, dont le montant n'est pas encore fixé, sera versée « en une fois » et « à la rentrée », directement sur le compte bancaire des plus modestes, a annoncé la Première ministre, Elisabeth Borne. Tout en assurant que la réflexion continuait sur un chèque alimentaire plus ciblé sur les produits « de qualité » et « bio ».
Enfin, la prime Macron, qui avait fait son apparition durant la crise des « gilets jaunes », sera pérennisée et son plafond triplé. Les entreprises pourront donc verser jusqu'à 3 000 euros à leurs salariés, voire 6 000 euros pour les entreprises de moins de 50 salariés et celles qui ont un accord d'intéressement.
Des revalorisations de prestations sociales
Plusieurs prestations sociales doivent être revalorisées. Les pensions de retraite et d'invalidité des régimes de base, la prime d'activité (dont le montant forfaitaire est de 563,68 euros), mais aussi les prestations familiales et les minima sociaux, dont le revenu de solidarité active (550,93 euros pour une personne seule sans ressource), l'allocation aux adultes handicapés (919,86 euros au maximum), l'allocation de solidarité aux personnes âgées (916,78 euros pour une personne seule) devraient connaître une hausse de 4%, selon le projet de loi consulté. Ce coup de pouce sera rétroactif au 1er juillet. Le coût de ces revalorisation s'élève à « un peu moins de 7 milliards fin 2022 », selon Les Echos
Le projet de loi de finances rectificative, présenté en même temps que le projet de loi « pouvoir d'achat », devrait en outre intégrer une revalorisation de 3,5% de l'aide personnalisée au logement (APL), ce qui représenterait une dépense supplémentaire de 168 millions d'euros.
De nouvelles mesures mises en place
Le gouvernement prévoit par ailleurs une série de nouvelles mesures. Les fonctionnaires verront ainsi la fin du gel de leur point d'indice, qui sert de base à leur rémunération. Les syndicats de la fonction publique demandent entre 3% pour la CFDT et 20% pour la CFTC. Une hausse de 1% coûterait 2 milliards d'euros par an à l'Etat, selon le gouvernement, qui devrait annoncer la valeur du nouveau point le 28 juin.
Une baisse des cotisations des travailleurs indépendants est également prévue dans le projet de loi. Elle doit leur permettre de gagner « 550 euros par an au niveau du smic », avait assuré mi-mai le porte-parole de l'ancien gouvernement Gabriel Attal.
Le projet de loi prévoit par ailleurs un renforcement de la « prime de transport » versée par les entreprises à leurs salariés pour couvrir une partie du coût de leurs déplacements domicile-travail. Le plafond d'exonération fiscale et sociale de la prise en charge par l'employeur des frais de carburant de ses salariés sera ainsi doublé, de 200 à 400 euros pour les années 2022 et 2023. Les salariés pourront aussi cumuler cette prime avec la prise en charge par l'employeur de 50% du prix des abonnement aux transports en commun.
La suppression de la redevance audiovisuelle devrait par ailleurs être effective dès l'automne prochain, avec un gain pour les ménages de 138 euros, soit un manque à gagner pour l'Etat de plus de 3 milliards d'euros net.
Le texte veut également ouvrir la possibilité d'instaurer un dispositif d'intéressement par l'employeur même sans accord de branche ou avec les représentants du personnel. L'objectif étant de faire bénéficier les salariés du partage de la valeur créée dans l'entreprise. En revanche, la piste d'un « dividende salarié », qui devait rendre obligatoire la participation en entreprise, « ne figure pas dans le texte initial à ce stade », confirme le ministère du Travail.
Outre ces mesures, le gouvernement prévoit d'intégrer au projet de loi de finances rectificative un « bouclier loyer », visant à plafonner les hausses de loyer pendant un an à 3,5%, a confirmé Bruno. « La politique, c’est des choix (…) Il est impératif de réduire l’endettement public », mais « il faut dans le même temps protéger nos compatriotes qui sont les plus fragiles, mais les protéger de manière responsable. », conclut Bruno Lemaire.
|
|
|
|
Andrew Preston pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
END OF ABORTION LAW IN THE UNITED STATES
OR LESS DEMOCRACY MORE RELIGION |  The Supreme Court of the United States has just officially announced what had already been suspected for several weeks: the end of the right to abortion at the federal level. Confirming the leak of documents revealed on May 3 by the Politico site, the Court reversed the jurisprudence of the Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992).
The short and medium term consequences are still unclear. Several analysts fear a nationwide ban is inevitable if the Republican Party regains a majority in Congress after midterm elections next November, as Democrats themselves expect.
Two phenomena, both distinct and related, make it possible to understand the political trend at work in the United States: on the one hand, the rise of white evangelicalism as a political identity; on the other, a growing tolerance – even a preference – for authoritarian tactics within the Republican Party. An ideology and a strategy that together risk undermining American democracy.
“A nation united under the authority of God”: politicization of the religious right
White evangelical Christians represent one of the most unified and mobilized demographic groups in the United States today, forming a unique political force. This religious right, pillar of the anti-abortion movement, is therefore as much a cult as a social movement characterized by a variety of opinions. Despite these internal divisions, the common agreement is about a nationalist project defending an anti-feminist, anti-LGBTQ and pro-gun policy.
The politicization of white evangelicalism existed long before the Trump era. Despite the statements of Jerry Falwell, an evangelical pastor and one of the leaders of the religious right, it does not date either from a moral outrage provoked by the Roe v. Wade of 1973 which established the legal framework for access to abortion.
It was rather during the desegregation and financial penalization of evangelical schools that refused to admit black students that the religious right began to organize in the late 1970s. During the presidential election of 1980, abortion replaces desegregation as the emblematic cause, but the legacy of white supremacist ideology has survived within the evangelical movement.
Leaders of the religious right continue to mobilize in favor of the Republicans rather than create their own party, a strategy more likely to lead to electoral victories in the American two-party system. The fusion of this white evangelicalism with the Republican Party asserted itself with the re-election of Ronald Reagan in 1984 then with that of George HW Bush in 1988, although they themselves were quite distant from evangelical beliefs.
Pro and anti-abortion protesters outside the Supreme Court in Washington
Between the two national conventions of the Republican Party, from 1992 to 1996, the rate of adherents to the Christian Coalition exploded, going from 14% to more than 50%. In 2000, converting to evangelicalism was a big part of George W. Bush's campaign, and in 2016, 80% of white evangelical Christians voted for Trump.
An ideological change allowed by the American institutional system
At the same time, the Republican Party has developed an anti-system position and illiberal strategies for twenty years. According to the V-Dem Institute, this movement started gradually between 2000 and 2012; between 2014 and 2018, the party tipped on the edge of what the Institute considers authoritarianism – while the Democratic Party's score remained stable over the same period. Civil and political rights abuses in the first year of the Trump administration also prompted Freedom House to downgrade the "freedom score" in the United States in 2018.
Since the early 2000s, the Republican Party has relied on the redrawing of electoral districts – gerrymandering in English – to diminish the electoral power of traditionally Democratic groups, in particular ethnic minorities and young people. The reduction in the number of polling stations in certain neighborhoods and the implementation of voter identification laws in the United States (voter ID laws) have the same purpose.
This evolution continued until an agreement was reached between the leaders of the Republican Party to adamantly oppose the policies of Barack Obama just before his inauguration in 2009 – an agreement in which some Republican elected officials saw such a break with the norm that they have decided to leave politics for good.
These decisions lead to the situation we know today: a party that continues to contest the results of the elections that it does not win; blocking the investigation into the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, the most violent assault on the American government since the War of 1812, to which some of its members contributed; who continues to modify the electoral system to ensure results in his favor in the next elections. It is therefore not surprising that Republicans ignore the fact that the majority of American public opinion supports the right to access to abortion.
According to some political scientists, all of these elements are emblematic of a democratic backsliding – when a democracy ceases (or threatens to cease) to be so. At the international level, the backsliding of women's rights is only one of the expressions of this ongoing backsliding.
And the separation of powers ?
If the influence of religious groups is responsible for the rightwardization of American society, the politicization of the Supreme Court is an even more convincing phenomenon. For the past 80 years, the Supreme Court has played a vital role in granting civil rights, assessing the constitutionality of state laws or deciding court cases that restrict those rights. In this sense, the authorization of interracial marriage in 1967 had been a historic decision. With regard to the protection of civil rights, the Supreme Court plays a much more important role than the French institutions whose role comes closest to its own, namely the Court of Cassation and the Constitutional Council.
Many of Americans' civil rights do not result from legislation passed by Congress, but were decided through legal precedent from the Supreme Court. This is why the federal government did not transcribe Roe v. Wade in federal legislation: until now, this was not considered necessary. This lack is due both to an American political tradition and to poor management on the part of the Democrats, which they must certainly regret today.
What response from the Democratic Party ?
Seen from the outside, one wonders why Democratic President Joe Biden – whose party still has a majority in Congress – does not have the power to lead the country in the direction of the program for which he was elected. in 2020.
First, many Democrats have tried. Social networks and the press are full of speeches asking Americans to protect their rights, explaining how the decision would have a strong negative impact on the balance of the country. Joe Biden notably advised his people to vote for pro-abortion legislative candidates this fall.
Second, the government has no control over this decision, because the tools at its disposal can all be circumvented.
One example is the filibuster that Americans call filibuster, a Senate rule by which a minority group can prolong debate indefinitely to block a vote on a bill. This strategy requires two-thirds of the seats to overcome it, so the majority is no longer enough. Originally intended for exceptional cases, it began to be used regularly by Republicans to block legislation during Obama's presidency. The Democrats' attempt to codify access to abortion thus failed because of a Republican filibuster, as did their bill aimed at better protecting voting rights last January.
Furthermore, the Supreme Court has power over the executive orders of the President. In the event Joe Biden issues an executive order enshrining Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court could overturn it. So today there is an unprecedented power imbalance in favor of the Supreme Court.
The religious right will then be able to attack the other rights it contests, currently protected by the same legal principle ("right to privacy" or "right to private life") as Roe: contraception, marriage for all, same-sex relationships, and some even say interracial marriage could be affected.
Whatever the details of the Supreme Court judgment, Roe's end confirms a less democratic and more theocratic turn in the United States.
after Kimberly Tower, PhD Candidate in International Relations and Comparative Politics, Sciences Po and Camille Gélix, PhD candidate, Sciences Po, article published in The Conversation.
|
|
Simon Freeman for DayNewsWorld |
 |
INDIGENOUS SOCIAL DEMONSTRATION
IN ECUADOR |  In Ecuador, the social conflict between indigenous communities and the government is intensifying, despite the state of emergency declared in three new provinces (six in total, including the capital Quito). The country has been shaken for ten days by a mobilization of indigenous communities, in particular against rising fuel prices. Thousands of Ecuadorian natives from all over the country marched on Wednesday, June 22, in the streets of Quito. This standoff left two dead and dozens injured. Ecuador's capital has been partly paralyzed since Monday by around 10,000 indigenous protesters from across the country who take to the streets daily to protest the cost of living and demand more social benefits, amid hardship growing economy.
Quito also denounced the attack, in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday, of a police station in the city of Puyo, in the province of Pastaza. The attackers set fire to the building while the police were still inside. “Six police officers were seriously injured, three are held hostage [by an indigenous community] and eighteen are missing,” Interior Minister Patricio Carrillo told a press conference.
The government refuses to lift the state of emergency declared in six of the twenty-four provinces of the country, a requirement of the indigenous movement prior to the opening of negotiations.
“Call to dialogue”
"The violence in Puyo shows that they do not want dialogue", denounced Mr. Carrillo, who however "launched once again a public call for dialogue to the indigenous movement and to these radical groups responsible for these senseless acts". . adding that President Guillermo Lasso recognizes "the just demands" and seeks to create a "consensus".
On Tuesday, the president said he accepted "a process of frank and respectful dialogue with Conaie [Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador] and other civil organizations".
The powerful Conaie, which participated in the revolts that overthrew three presidents between 1997 and 2005 and led violent demonstrations in 2019 (eleven dead), has been organizing marches and raising barricades since June 13 to demand lower fuel prices. Its president, Leonidas Iza, demanded on Tuesday evening, prior to any discussion, the repeal of the state of emergency, as well as the "demilitarization" of a park in Quito occupied by the police and traditionally used as a gathering to the natives.
"Peaceful Resolution"
“We cannot lift the state of emergency because that would leave the capital defenceless,” replied Minister of Government Affairs Francisco Jimenez on Wednesday. “We already know what happened in October 2019 and we are not going to allow it,” he said, referring to the invasion of parliament, the burning down of a government building and the ransacking many public assets.
The Alliance of Human Rights Organizations reports at least 90 injuries and 87 arrests since the protests began. The police, for their part, put forward a toll of 101 police and soldiers injured and 80 civilians arrested. On the night of Monday to Tuesday, a first protester died following a fall, but the prosecution decided to open an investigation for alleged homicide
US Under Secretary of State for the Western Hemisphere Brian Nichols on Twitter on Wednesday called for "a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the protests in Ecuador" and asked all parties to refrain from violence. The Organization of American States (OAS) urged dialogue to "respond to the demands" of the demonstrators.
In addition to fuel prices, the demonstrators denounce the lack of jobs, the granting of mining concessions in indigenous territories, the lack of control of the cost of agricultural products, and demand a renegotiation of peasant debts with banks.
Indigenous peoples make up at least one million of the 17.7 million Ecuadorians.
|
|
|
|
Andrew Preston for DayNewsWorld |
 |
DEATH OF PALEONTOLOGIST YVES COPPENS |  French paleontologist Yves Coppens has died at the age of 87. “Yves Coppens left us this morning. My sadness is immense, ”wrote its editor Odile Jacob on Twitter on Wednesday, hailing “a very great scholar”. “I am losing the friend who entrusted me with all his work. France loses one of its great men. »
Born on August 9, 1934 in Vannes, to a father who was a teacher at the Jules-Simon high school and a pianist mother, Yves Coppens had spent his childhood near Conleau, a small Breton peninsula attached to the Morbihan area in the 1930s. He had done part of his studies in Rennes.
As a young doctor, he joined the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in 1956 and initially focused on mammoth teeth. His thesis is on prehistoric elephants. He is 22 years old. It was with the aim of elucidating the origin of the Carnac alignments that he said he enrolled in archeology at the Sorbonne. He had continued in this direction by specializing, in the third cycle, in paleontology.
Lucy's Discovery
Former director of the National Museum of Natural History, holder of the chair of paleontology and prehistory at the Collège de France, he owes his notoriety above all to his discovery of the Australopithecus fossil nicknamed Lucy, 3.2 million years old, discovery in 1974 in Ethiopia during an international mission that he co-led with the American Donald Johanson and the French geologist Maurice Taieb. It was the latter, who died in July 2021, who put the team on the trail of this fossil, soon to be considered the grandmother of humanity – or its great-aunt, depending on the interpretation. This skeleton of a prehistoric woman - discovered in 52 fragments - (recent studies question the sex of this individual) officially bore the scientific name of Autralopithecus afarensis, in reference to this region of Afar, in northeastern Ethiopia, where it was discovered. But the members of the Franco-American mission had renamed her Lucy in reference to a Beatles hit ("Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") which was on the radio at the time of her exhumation.
Lucy has sometimes been considered the ancestor of modern humans, before research into the origins of mankind challenged this presentation.
“Lucy is three million two hundred thousand years old and the first man is three million years old, explained Yves Coppens himself. I apologize to Lucy but I don't think she's our grandmother! »
This skeleton was for a long time the most complete hominid fossil ever found for such an ancient period (the skeletons of Ardi, in the early 1990s, and Selam, in 2000, respectively more than 4 and 3.4 million years ago).
Ambassador of prehistory
For fifty years, he criss-crossed the Ethiopian desert thanks to an annual campaign of excavations on the banks of the dry Aouache river.
Yves Coppens' fame was worldwide. Thanks to conferences and seminars, the paleontologist had visited the five continents. . He never stopped traveling the world to make his work known.
An outstanding pedagogue and born populariser, Yves Coppens adopted the tone of the storyteller which earned him the recognition of the general public.
|
|
|
|
Jenny Chase for DayNewsWorld |
 |
EARTHQUAKE IN LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED | 
The second round of the legislative elections on June 19th put an end to the long electoral cycle, with two rounds of presidential elections and two rounds of legislative elections. In the presidential election, Emmanuel Macron had been largely re-elected, especially if we remember that an outgoing president inevitably displeases part of the electorate.
But the legislative elections last weekend will have marked a huge drop in the electorate of the presidential majority. The main issue for the second round was of course whether the presidential majority would also have an absolute majority of deputies or whether, as the polls suggested, it would only have a relative majority.
Distrust of the majority
The results are very bad for the majority. Together obtains 245 seats, far from the absolute majority of 289. The New People's Ecological and Social Union (NUPES) has 133 deputies, in the low range of what the polls predicted. On the other hand, the National Rally has 89 elected members against 8 in 2017 and 35 in 1988 with a departmental proportional voting system. The Republicans have 60, less than half the parliamentary group they had from 2017 to 2022. There are 20 various lefts, 10 regionalists, 10 various right, 4 various centers, 4 UDI, 1 sovereignist right.
Let us add that the two main blocks are composite. In the relative presidential majority, LREM would have only 162 deputies, almost half less than in 2017, the MoDem 45 (about the same as in 2017), Horizon, the new party of Édouard Philippe, 27.
On the side of the NUPES, La France insoumise (LFI) has 79 elected officials (against 17 today), EELV 25, the PS 25 and the PCF 12 (which will have difficulty in forming a parliamentary group). It is quite possible that this coalition will crumble or break apart, given the major program gaps, particularly in Europe and NATO.
For the first time since 2002, when the presidential mandate had been reduced to five years and the electoral calendar reversed, there is no amplification of the presidential victory in the legislative elections. On the contrary, there seems to have been a strong movement of defiance towards the majority. The front against the "extreme", which the presidential camp had called for, did not work. The fear of a "chaos" so radical left and right came first did not mobilize either.
A future made of alliances ?
The situation for the next five years is therefore very open, forcing the power to find alternative majorities on a case-by-case basis, unless it succeeds in convincing elected representatives from the right or various left, to join it. These results show that the recompositions of the French partisan system are not over. Republicans could split or crumble, with some moving towards Macronia, others possibly joining the National Rally.
This situation of very strong weakening of the majority could already be seen in the results of the first legislative round. The presidential coalition obtained only about 25.7% of the votes cast, at the same level as the NUPES. If we compare with 2017, LREM had then collected 32.3% of the votes cast in the first round, i.e. almost 7 points more than on June 12, 2022. Three major partisan blocs emanated from the polls: Together, the NUPES and the radical right at around 24% (RN, Reconquest, sovereignist right), while the traditional right was reduced to 13.6% (LR, UDI, various right).
The record level of abstention (52.5% of registered voters) has prevented many candidates from standing since it is necessary to obtain at least 12.5% of registered voters (ie more than 25% of those cast in most constituencies). The second round therefore opposed everywhere (with 7 exceptions) duels of candidates: 415 Ensemble were qualified, 380 NUPES, 209 RN and 71 LR.
An unconvincing strategy
Ensemble's strong decline in the legislative elections compared to the presidential election is probably linked to the adoption of an unconvincing strategy. In 2017, the newly elected president had chosen a prime minister very quickly. His government carried popular measures before the first round, particularly in terms of moralizing political life.
In 2022, on the other hand, the Head of State was slow to announce his government, without committing to specific measures despite an obvious climate, economic and health crisis. Thus, on the key issue of purchasing power, the Prime Minister was content to announce belatedly a 4% increase in pensions during the summer.
The presidential program for the next five years thus remains vague, particularly in terms of economic policy, as if the president wanted to keep the margins of initiative with regard to the policy he will pursue, or as if he thought that his presence on the international scene was enough to attract voters. Evidenced by the vagueness around his latest proposal with a National Council for Refoundation
In this context, the electoral alliance operated by Jean-Luc Mélenchon succeeded in almost tripling the number of left-wing deputies in the National Assembly.
However, as a percentage of the votes cast, it is only stable in percentage compared to 2017 around 30% (with the various lefts), while the radical right has progressed by around 10 points.
The importance of abstaining
Finally, the second round confirms the first as to the importance of abstention: 53.8%, a little more than in the first legislative round but a little less than in the second round of 2017 (57%). The gaps are even greater than before according to generations and social categories: when among those over 65, two out of three registered voters will vote, this is only the case for one person under 35. Many workers and employees have also become very fatalistic, not seeing the point of going to vote.
This is a very important question which the public authorities should take up at the start of the legislature so that reforms can possibly be implemented in 2027. We know that abstention could decline – without there being any miracle solutions – with the introduction of a voting system that is at least partly proportional, with the possibility of voting by post or on the Internet, with also a reform of registration on the electoral lists to prevent have a lot of "mis-registered".
Many are also those who propose to implement a real policy of strengthening citizenship among young people, to develop voting incentive programs during election campaigns, or even to organize major contradictory debates between the parties and that the professions of faith reach the voters well in advance.
A reflection on the type of reforms to be implemented is urgent for the future of representative democracy in France.
According to Pierre Bréchon, Emeritus Professor of Political Science, Sciences Po Grenoble, article published in The Conversation France. |
|
|
|
Simon Freeman for DayNewsWorld |
 |
US SENATORS PROPOSE GUN LAW
|
"A giant step" for the organization Moms Demand Action, which campaigns for stricter supervision of arms sales. Democratic and Republican senators unveiled, on Tuesday June 21, 2022, a bill aimed at restricting gun violence after a series of deadly shootings..
The parliamentary initiative was launched after the Uvalde massacre, which killed 21 people, including 19 children, in a Texas elementary school at the end of May.
The text highlights in particular the support for laws, State by State, which would allow the weapons they possess to be removed from the hands of people deemed dangerous.
It also plans to strengthen criminal and psychological background checks for gun buyers between the ages of 18 and 21, as well as better control of the illegal sale of weapons, and the funding of programs dedicated to mental health.
The “most important legislation in almost 30 years”
It is “the most significant gun violence legislation in almost 30 years,” tweeted Democratic Senator Chris Murphy. This 80-page text "will save thousands of lives", he added. Chuck Schumer, the leader of the Democrats in the Senate, also described the text as “advanced”. “While not all we wanted, this legislation is urgently needed,” he said in a statement.
Republican John Cornyn, who worked with Chris Murphy on the project, said it was about making attacks like Uvalde's "less likely to happen, while still protecting the Second Amendment" of the Constitution, which permits the possession of firearms. "I'm proud that this proposed mental health and school safety bill places no new restrictions on law-abiding gun owners," he tweeted.
The NRA, the weapons lobby, immediately expressed its opposition to the text, judging on the contrary that it could be used to “restrict the purchase of legal weapons”. The bill "leaves too much leeway to state officials and also contains undefined and overbroad provisions, inviting interference in our constitutional freedoms", she said.
However, this text remains far below the measures demanded by President Joe Biden, who had publicly shown his support for activists against gun violence by listing the measures he wanted to see adopted but which are absent from the agreement between the senators: ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, background checks for all gun buyers - not just those under 21 - requirement for individuals to keep their guns locked up.
Despite everything, it constitutes a first for decades.
|
|
|
|
Jaimie Potts for DayNewsWorld |
 |
WAR IN UKRAINE
ARM WARRIOR AROUND KALININGRAD RUSSIAN ENCLAVE IN THE HEART OF EUROPE |  Lithuania has blocked the transit of Russian products affected by European sanctions intended for the enclave of Kaliningrad, attracting direct threats from Moscow. This crisis has great potential for escalation.
The Kaliningrad enclave
After the Second World War, the USSR received compensation from Germany for the city of Königsberg, renamed Kaliningrad, with a 70-kilometre corridor named Suwalki to connect it to Belarus, then within the Soviet Union. This small territory of 15,000 kilometers and a million inhabitants is a piece of the Russian Federation, over-armed, wedged between Poland and Lithuania. It is supplied via the corridor named Suwalki straddling the borders of Poland and Lithuania, both members of the European Union and NATO.
However, Lithuania has decided to apply the European sanctions concerning approximately half of the Russian products destined for Kaliningrad. Moscow has called for the immediate lifting of this ban considered "illegal". Indeed, the implementation of this transit was one of the conditions imposed on Lithuania when it joined the EU in 2024.
“A blockade” according to Moscow
Since Monday, June 20, 2022, Russia has therefore reacted with threatening words: if transit is not restored in full, Moscow said, “then Russia reserves the right to act to defend its national interests”. The Russian authorities are promising an appropriate reaction to what Moscow now considers a blockade of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, while Vilnius has started to apply European sanctions which affect the transit of certain goods transported by train through Lithuanian territory between mainland Russia and the enclave. European retaliatory measures mainly concern coal, metals and construction materials, and will be extended in July to cement and alcohol. Kaliningrad Governor Anton Alikhanov
Russian Chargé d'Affaires in Lithuania Sergey Ryabokon said the transit ban was no longer just a matter of applying sanctions: "This is a blockade, a partial blockade shipments that they implement in this way against our region. » . Words that weigh heavily, because its implementation could be likened to an act of war, Moscow being able to see in this action an additional commitment on the part of NATO.
If Russia decides to retaliate, or even forcibly restore transit from Kaliningrad to Belarus and then to Russia, there is a considerable risk of escalation. The risk is all the greater as Kaliningrad is one of the most militarized places in the world. Including Iskander ballistic missiles, and nuclear weapons. It is also the headquarters of the Russian Baltic Fleet.
The birthplace of the philosopher Kant is becoming a fixation abscess of the Russia-West confrontation..
|
|
|
|
Joanne Courbet for DayNewsWorld |
 |
EARLY HEAT WAVE OVER FRANCE
|
 A new heat wave should affect France from today until this weekend.
An episode described as "extremely early" for the month of June by Météo-France.
Strong heat has already been observed in the south of France and in Spain for several days. They should win the whole of France from Wednesday to Saturday. “The three days of Thursday, Friday and Saturday will probably be the hottest in France.
Nighttime temperatures will become more and more stifling with minimums often reaching or exceeding the threshold of 20°C”, warns Météo France. Temperatures of 35°C to 38°C, particularly high for mid-June, are expected with peaks of 40°C locally.
The “blowtorch of the Sahara”.
This exceptional episode is due in particular to a particular meteorological configuration. The heat wave which is taking place this week paradoxically finds its origin in… the cold. A phenomenon called cold drop is located west of the Iberian Peninsula.
It is a small mass of cold air, a small depression, isolated in the middle of a mass of much warmer air. By rotating on itself, this mass of fresh air acts like a heat pump which brings up hot air from the Sahara. This upwelling is relatively narrow in width and lasts only a few days. Its brevity and its intensity give it the name of “feather of heat” or “blow of blowtorch of the Sahara”.
Between 33 and 40°C this weekend
The heat coming up from Spain will likely be historic over western regions, unsurprisingly in the southwest, but more surprisingly in the northwest as well. Here are the ten major cities that could break records between Thursday and Saturday, with the two hottest days being Friday and Saturday:
Nantes: 37/38 ° C expected Friday and Saturday. Previous June record: 37.1°C on June 30, 2015;
La Roche-sur-Yon: 38 ° C expected Friday. Previous June record: 36.9°C on June 30, 2015;
Rennes: 35/36 ° C expected on Friday. Previous June record: 36.3°C on June 30, 1976;
Bordeaux: 39/40°C forecast for Friday and Saturday. Previous June record: 39.2°C on June 26, 2011;
Biarritz: 39/40°C forecast for Friday. Previous June record: 39.2°C on June 26, 2003;
Toulouse: 39/40 ° C expected Friday. Previous June record: 39.8°C on June 29, 1950;
Lyon: 38/39 ° C expected on Saturday. Previous June record: 38.4°C on June 22, 2003;
Dijon: 37°C expected on Saturday and Sunday. Previous June record: 36.4°C on June 22, 2017;
Paris: 35/36 ° C expected on Saturday. Previous June record: 37.6°C on June 26, 1947;
Lille: 33/34 ° C expected on Saturday. Previous June record: 34.8°C on June 28, 1947.
The forecast values may obviously change slightly between now and then depending on the evolution of the heat wave and the weekend storms. Note that the highest temperature ever recorded in June, 46 ° C in Vérargues in the Hérault on June 28, 2019, should not be reached.
This will be the earliest heat wave ever recorded. The advancement of this type of phenomenon in the calendar as well as its intensity are increased by climate change, according to a majority of climatological and meteorological experts.
"It is almost certain that the increase in the intensity and frequency of heat extremes as well as the decrease in the intensity and frequency of cold extremes will continue throughout the 21st century and this, in the whole world", recalled on Twitter Christophe Cassou, climatologist at the CNRS.
|
|
|
|
Carl Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
RISK OF A SEVENTH WAVE OF COVID-19
IN FRANCE |  Will there be a 7th epidemic wave of Covid-19 this summer ?
The new highly transmissible Omicron BA.5 variant raises uncertainty for months to come. It could become dominant across the EU. This variant is notably at the origin of a major epidemic wave in Portugal. The question is now on everyone's mind with all the concerns it brings, due to the increase in SARS-CoV-2 contaminations observed by Public Health France.
Sunday evening, June 12, the figures transmitted by Santé Publique France indicated almost 80,000 new cases of Covid in 24 hours, a figure that is rising sharply.
Thus on June 11, the incidence rate in France was 368.2 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, an increase On June 14 there were 65,425 new confirmed cases, i.e. +462.7% in seven days! Suffice to say that the increase is significant even if it is not yet reflected in terms of hospitalizations: as of June 10, there were 2,589 hospitalizations over the last 7 days (+3%) and 301 critical care admissions over the same period. (-3.5%). This subvariant is not much more violent than the others, but 93% of the observed mortality occurred in people over the age of 80.
“The pandemic is not over” warns the director general of the WHO
If the BA.2 sub-lineage of the Omicron variant is the majority in France (80% of the sequences as of May 23), the detection of BA.4 (1.1%) and BA.5 (18%), which have already had a hard time hit South Africa and Portugal, are on the rise according to the latest Flash survey by Santé Publique France. Will they therefore develop in France and elsewhere in Europe?
This is the whole question that worries the authorities. "The growth advantage between BA.4, BA.5 and BA.2 is comparable to that which we observed between BA.2 and BA.1 in March", specified to Liberation the researcher Mircea Sofonea, epidemiologist at Montpelier. In fact, each new generation of the virus is transmitted faster than the previous one.
“The pandemic is not over, and we will continue to say so until it is,” World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last week. While he stressed that "globally, the number of reported cases and deaths from Covid-19 continues to decline", he also pointed to the weakness of vaccination. “Nearly 18 months after the administration of the first vaccine, 68 countries have still not reached 40% coverage,” he lamented, even though “the supply of vaccines is now sufficient. »
This epidemic rebound, if confirmed and amplified as happened in Portugal, would put France under pressure, in particular its hospital system. Because if the resuscitation services should be able to withstand the shock, those of the emergencies, on the other hand, are in a more complicated situation. Faced with staff shortages, these services recently went on strike to protest against the lack of resources and several of them are already planning to close overnight this summer, even though they are on the front line to manage the arrival of infected people. A congestion in the emergency room and the whole hospital is seized up…
The “exit from the state of health emergency” regime must end on July 31
For the government, the occurrence of a new epidemic wave in the heart of a summer that the French and tourism and event professionals finally hoped was "normal", would fall at the very moment when the "exit from the state of health emergency "must end on July 31. "There is no question today of extending the health emergency regime," said government spokeswoman Olivia Grégoire on Tuesday. A new text should be presented to the Council of Ministers on June 22, to “be able to remain vigilant at the place of the possible rise of Covid-19”.
In addition to the repeated call from the health authorities to reconnect with respect for barrier gestures, and the question of the generalization of a 4th dose of vaccine, a return to restrictions (wearing a mask, gauges, health pass, etc.) is therefore possible…
It is not a question of fearing a phenomenon that is out of control. In South Africa as in Portugal, everything ends up returning to normal without deploying strong measures but at the cost of high mortality, some of which seems avoidable.
South Africa, which was the first country to experience a wave due to the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants, is emerging today, after eight weeks of epidemic, their shortest wave since the beginning of the pandemic.
|
|
|
|
Carl Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LEGISLATIVE A SERIOUS WARNING
FOR MACRONISTS |  It is not a clap of thunder but a serious warning: the presidential coalition Together! (25.82%) is not guaranteed to obtain an absolute majority, Sunday June 19. Emmanuel Macron had called on the French to give him "a strong and clear majority" in order to win an absolute majority in the National Assembly, or 289 seats, for his second term.
However, the presidential coalition won by a short margin (25.75%), since “Together!” ahead of the left alliance, the Nupes (25.66%), by barely some 21,000 votes.
If the record abstention (52.49%) is also to be noted, the second round promises to be difficult for the President of the Republic, who would be forced to negotiate alliances to govern freely and pass his reforms.
This first round, which could have been a formality for Emmanuel Macron after his score in the presidential election, was therefore not the expected confirmation. “The absolute majority is not at this stage guaranteed to Together. The most likely, subject to the campaign, is that the presidential majority is relative, with less than 289 seats, even if an absolute majority of a few seats is still possible”, cautiously advances Mathieu Gallard, director of studies at the Ipsos Institute.
It is also the first time under the Fifth Republic that the party of the President of the Republic does not arrive in the lead in the legislative elections in the wake of the presidential election, or even declines between the two ballots.
In 2002, 2007 and 2012, the UMP, then the PS, had indeed exceeded, sometimes very largely, the bar of 30% of the votes in the wake of the election of Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy or François Hollande. This time, the outgoing majority is doing much less well than five years ago (La République en Marche and the MoDem had obtained 32.33% of the vote in 2017), and recorded 2 points less than the score of the outgoing president. only seven weeks ago.
Opposite Emmanuel Macron, we find a very high score for the Nupes which should become the second most important group in the National Assembly. With an estimate of 275 to 310 deputies elected for Emmanuel Macron, against 346 outgoing deputies, this is a real setback.
The question that has obsessed the Head of State's advisers since yesterday evening is whether he will obtain the 289 deputies, that is to say an absolute majority.
Reduced room for maneuver
If so, this absolute majority will not be overwhelming. Emmanuel Macron's main partners, François Bayrou and Edouard Philippe, will see their political weight mechanically reinforced. And it will be impossible to pass laws without them. Emmanuel Macron's room for maneuver will therefore be reduced in comparison with the previous five-year term.
And, without an absolute majority, that is to say in the case of a relative majority, not only Bayrou and Philippe will become essential to the president, who will be less free to move. But, in addition, Emmanuel Macron will have no choice but to reach out to other competing parties to try to have a majority. This opening is almost impossible in the direction of Nupes. It is therefore towards the Republicans, who could obtain between 40 and 60 deputies, that Emmanuel Macron will try to turn. In a way, a government of German-style coalitions...
Now opens an era with a stronger parliament, alliances of circumstances and a country more difficult to govern.
In the case of a relative majority
In the event that the coalition of the presidential majority does not largely win, or worse, if it is defeated in the second round of the legislative elections, the consequences would be multiple for Emmanuel Macron.
Two scenarios are then possible.
If “Together!” comes first, but without reaching 289 seats, Emmanuel Macron will have a relative majority in the National Assembly. The scenario would be complicated for the President of the Republic who would then have two options before him. The first would consist in playing the game of alliances and seeking the support of other political formations, in order to have an absolute majority to vote on the texts of law. Some members of the government consider in particular that there is a reserve of votes available on the side of the right.
The second option would be to govern "in a minority" while retaining the Prime Minister of his choice, who would undoubtedly remain Elisabeth Borne if she wins in her Calvados constituency. Emmanuel Macron could choose to govern "in force" by resorting to the controversial article 49-3 which allows the government to adopt a text without submitting it to the vote of the Assembly. The government would nevertheless expose itself to a possible motion of censure, which could bring it down on condition of bringing together a majority of deputies to vote for it.
In the case of cohabitation
The second scenario for Emmanuel Macron, judged as "catastrophic" by one of his supporters, would be the defeat in the second round of the legislative elections for his coalition. This would lead to a cohabitation with the appointment (traditional but non-compulsory) of a new Prime Minister who would naturally be the leader of the opposition, Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
This scenario, the least favorable for the President of the Republic, would deprive him of almost all of his powers. Emmanuel Macron would nevertheless retain the possibility of dissolving the National Assembly and calling new elections to try to recover his majority. A risky tactic that proved to be a loser for Jacques Chirac in 1997, sanctioned by voters and forced to live with Lionel Jospin for the last five years of his seven-year term.
According to OpinionWay's projections, Emmanuel Macron should obtain between 260 and 300 deputies, which gives him about a one in two chance of obtaining an absolute majority. ..For his part, Jean-Luc Mélenchon should be able to obtain between 170 and 200 seats, knowing that the Nupes candidates have few reserves of votes for the second.
Projections which will be confirmed this Sunday, June 19 on the occasion of the second round of the legislative elections, which could mark a turning point in the policy of Emmanuel Macron.
|
|
|
|
Jaimie Potts for DayNewsWorld |
 |
BTS THE EXHAUSTED SOUTH KOREAN K-POP BOYSBAND TAKES A BREAK
|
 Extremely popular around the world and even received by Joe Biden at the White House, the members of the BTS group have announced that they are taking a break in order to focus on their respective careers. BTS, which released an anthology album (“Proof”) on Monday, had already announced “breaks” in 2019 and 2021. But this time, the group “needs a change” and wants to “start a new chapter”, insists J -Hope, a member of the septet. This announcement, launched during a dinner broadcast on the internet to mark the ninth anniversary of the group, nevertheless had the effect of a bomb on social networks.
Creative burnout.
For BTS, who have been churning out music nonstop for nine years, creative burnout must have weighed in on their decision to take a break, says Billboard K-pop columnist Jeff Benjamin. in the past, it seems more “meaningful”. The seven boys remain under contract with their label until 2026, which is “essential to keep them together”, continued Jeff Benjamin.
Asked during a dinner, organized to celebrate their ninth anniversary, the seven artists notably pointed out their busy and non-stop work rhythm which does not allow them to take the time to think about their future development, solo but also as a group.
“I've always thought BTS was different from other groups, but the problem with K-pop and the whole star system is that they don't give you time to mature. You have to keep churning out music non-stop,” RM said at that dinner.
Since their debut in 2013, the seven members of BTS have, in parallel with their common career, developed individual projects. If J-Hope, Jimin, Jin, Jungkook, RM, Suga and V confide that this decision to take a break was difficult to make, they nevertheless reveal that their albums and solo singles will quickly see the light of day.
“We can't stop thinking about our audience. No matter what, we want to be the kind of artists that fans remember. We are going through a tough time right now as we are trying to find our identity and it is an exhausting and long process,” Jimin said.
J-Hope will be the first of the group to formalize this new individual start. The artist will headline the American Lollapalooza festival on July 31.
An unspoken reason?
Behind the decision of the South Koreans of BTS to take a break would also hide an unspoken reason, namely the compulsory military service according to some specialists. Any South Korean man under the age of 30 must indeed perform two years of military service, in particular because of the threat posed by North Korea. The prospect of conscription is getting closer for the members of BTS, especially for Jin, 29 years old, who must enlist by next year or risk being put in prison.
Seoul grants exemptions from military service to some top athletes, such as Olympic medalists, and classical music artists, but not to K-pop stars. “As a young South Korean, I believe that service military is a natural course. And as I have always said, I will answer my country's call when it arrives," Jin said in 2020. "The issue of military service was clearly present in the announcement," said Lee Moon-won, a K-pop culture commentator.
Allowing the band members to focus on their own solo careers was "a logical decision," he adds, since the call-up of the seven boys will disrupt the band's lineup for years to come.
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LEGISLATIVE THREE UNEQUAL STRATEGIES
FOR AN UNCERTAIN RESULT | As the uncertainties about the outcome of the legislative elections on
June 12 and 19 have never been so numerous and that obtaining a majority
of deputies supporting the new elected president, Emmanuel Macron,
today seems uncertain, it seems instructive to return to the strategies
put in place by the three main political forces resulting from the
presidential election. On
the one hand to better understand and analyze the current situation when
abstention looks set to be historically high for legislative elections.
On the other, because the
strategies put in place, which turned out to be very different from
each other, should have a major impact on the outcome of the election.
The question of temporality A
few minutes after the election of Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon
launched the legislative battle by insisting on the idea that these
constituted the 3ᵉ round of the presidential election. He
thus posed as the first opponent, without giving Emmanuel Macron and
Marine Le Pen time to rejoice or digest their results of the second
round of the presidential election. The
weeks following Emmanuel Macron's election were dominated, in the media
and in public opinion, by negotiations between left-wing parties and
the establishment of the New Popular Economic and Social Union (Nupes )
while the National Rally rejected the advances of Reconquest! and that Marine Le Pen decided to go on vacation. Emmanuel
Macron seemed to openly agree to let go, arguing that there was a need
for post-presidential election democratic breathing. The idea was probably also to miss the media enthusiasm caused by this new union of the left. And
to regain the initiative when appointing his or her Prime Minister when
the time between the presidential election and the legislative
elections is this year two weeks longer and a re-election generally
provokes less enthusiasm than a first accession to power. Very different positions Emmanuel
Macron's re-election as president has, by his own admission, positioned
him as the president of all French people and inevitably limited his
role and action as a clan leader. While
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's speech on the evening of the first round of the
presidential election seemed to mark the announcement of a handover and a
withdrawal, on the contrary we are witnessing a strategy of strong
emphasis of the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI). If
this has prevented certain left-wing personalities from joining this
union movement (Carole Delgas, José Bové, Yannick Jadot, etc.), this
personalization undoubtedly aims to mobilize, during the legislative
elections, voters who are above all seduced by the personality and the
leadership of the rebellious chief during the presidential election. By
claiming the post of Prime Minister if the Nupes were to obtain a
majority in the legislative elections, Jean-Luc Mélenchon positioned
himself at the national level. From
this point of view, his decision, criticized by his adversaries, not to
stand again in the legislative elections finally allowed him to assume a
position above the parties, which a local field campaign would
undoubtedly have made more complicated. . By running in the legislative elections, Marine Le Pen has chosen a very different strategy. Although
a finalist in the presidential election, her candidacy positions her at
a more local level and legitimizes the idea, which she herself
defended, that Emmanuel Macron will necessarily obtain the majority to
govern for five years. Alliance strategies and dynamics The different alliance strategies no doubt also explain the current uncertainties. If
the establishment of Ensemble has given rise to some friction and some
concerns from some of its members, it has only formalized and organised,
with a view to a future term of office, support which was already
stakeholders in Emmanuel Macron's candidacy for the presidential
election. Despite
criticism and dissidence, the creation of the Nupes gave rise to a true
alliance of coopetition, by bringing together forces which had on the
contrary opposed and competed with each other. It
can therefore claim a new unifying approach in comparison with the last
presidential elections and refer to the electoral successes encountered
by the leftist unions that preceded it (Popular Front, Common Program,
Plural Left). By refusing to ally with Reconquest! Marine
Le Pen's National Rally took the opposite view of LFI's strategy of
unity and failed to create, if we are to believe the polls and outside
of important strongholds in the north, the dynamic that his
qualification in the second round of the presidential election could
have generated with a view to the legislative elections. Alliance strategies and dynamics In
reality, the various polls dedicated to the legislative elections have
not shown any significant change in terms of voting intentions at the
national level since the situation of the opposing forces was made
official. Together
and the Nupes are announced neck and neck around 27/28% in the first
round, when the National Rally is between 19% and 21% and Reconquest! between 5% and 6%. But
the projections in terms of the number of deputies from the second
round have on the other hand evolved and seem to show a dynamic in favor
of Nupes while Together was announced as a large majority a few weeks
ago. The union of the left
project carried by Jean-Luc Mélenchon seems to seduce part of the
left-wing electorate marked by divisions and the new absence, after
2017, of one of its representatives in the second round of the election.
presidential. But
beyond this mobilization, it is above all the choice of Elisabeth Borne
and the constitution of the new government that raise questions from a
strategic point of view. The crucial choice of the Prime Minister and the government In
2017, Emmanuel Macron had chosen to appoint as Prime Minister, Edouard
Philippe, a politician admittedly little known to the general public but
seasoned in electoral contests, to lead the battle of the legislative
elections. And his second
choice, during the reshuffle in 2020, was for a profile of a senior
civil servant and technocrat, simply elected local, with Jean Castex. This
decision seemed to give credence to the idea that it was necessary to
appoint a political profile at the start of the five-year term in order
to be able to rely on a personality accustomed to the harshness of a
national electoral campaign. By
choosing to appoint Elisabeth Borne, whose CV is closer to that of Jean
Castex than that of Edouard Philippe, Emmanuel Macron proceeded
differently and took the risk of leaving the field open to Jean-Luc's
media omnipresence strategy. Mélenchon and Nupes. Elisabeth
Borne and the Renaissance candidate of the 3ᵉ district of Côtes-d'Armor
Olivier Allier on a market in Lamballe as part of the electoral
campaign for the legislative ballot.
The
appointment of the new government should make it possible to highlight
the priorities of the new five-year term (ecology, purchasing power,
etc.) and regain control from a media point of view. But
the choice of Elisabeth Borne and the confirmation of several
heavyweights in key positions did not help, despite some notable strokes
of brilliance quickly tarnished by controversy (Pap Ndiaye at National
Education or Damien Abad at Solidarity) , to trigger a new dynamic. Emmanuel
Macron's recent trips certainly testify to a desire to refocus the
legislative elections around his project and his person in order to
succeed in winning. Will this involvement be sufficient to obtain the majority and avoid cohabitation? If
the first-past-the-post system in two rounds of the legislative
elections makes projection difficult and should theoretically favor the
candidates placed in the center of the political spectrum, it
nevertheless seems to give credence to the idea that the legislative
elections have indeed become the 3ᵉ round of the French presidential
election.. |
|
Article by Olivier Guyottot , teacher-researcher in strategy and political science, INSEEC Grande École, published in TheConversation
|
|
Simon Freeman for DayNewsWorld |
 |
A
s the uncertainties about the outcome of the legislative elections on
June 12 and 19 have never been so numerous and that obtaining a majority
of deputies supporting the new elected president, Emmanuel Macron,
today seems uncertain, it seems instructive to return to the strategies
put in place by the three main political forces resulting from the
presidential election. On
the one hand to better understand and analyze the current situation when
abstention looks set to be historically high for legislative elections.
On the other, because the
strategies put in place, which turned out to be very different from
each other, should have a major impact on the outcome of the election. The question of temporality A
few minutes after the election of Emmanuel Macron, Jean-Luc Mélenchon
launched the legislative battle by insisting on the idea that these
constituted the 3ᵉ round of the presidential election. He
thus posed as the first opponent, without giving Emmanuel Macron and
Marine Le Pen time to rejoice or digest their results of the second
round of the presidential election. The
weeks following Emmanuel Macron's election were dominated, in the media
and in public opinion, by negotiations between left-wing parties and
the establishment of the New Popular Economic and Social Union (Nupes )
while the National Rally rejected the advances of Reconquest! and that Marine Le Pen decided to go on vacation. Emmanuel
Macron seemed to openly agree to let go, arguing that there was a need
for post-presidential election democratic breathing. The idea was probably also to miss the media enthusiasm caused by this new union of the left. And
to regain the initiative when appointing his or her Prime Minister when
the time between the presidential election and the legislative
elections is this year two weeks longer and a re-election generally
provokes less enthusiasm than a first accession to power. Very different positions Emmanuel
Macron's re-election as president has, by his own admission, positioned
him as the president of all French people and inevitably limited his
role and action as a clan leader. While
Jean-Luc Mélenchon's speech on the evening of the first round of the
presidential election seemed to mark the announcement of a handover and a
withdrawal, on the contrary we are witnessing a strategy of strong
emphasis of the leader of La France Insoumise (LFI). If
this has prevented certain left-wing personalities from joining this
union movement (Carole Delgas, José Bové, Yannick Jadot, etc.), this
personalization undoubtedly aims to mobilize, during the legislative
elections, voters who are above all seduced by the personality and the
leadership of the rebellious chief during the presidential election. By
claiming the post of Prime Minister if the Nupes were to obtain a
majority in the legislative elections, Jean-Luc Mélenchon positioned
himself at the national level. From
this point of view, his decision, criticized by his adversaries, not to
stand again in the legislative elections finally allowed him to assume a
position above the parties, which a local field campaign would
undoubtedly have made more complicated. . By running in the legislative elections, Marine Le Pen has chosen a very different strategy. Although
a finalist in the presidential election, her candidacy positions her at
a more local level and legitimizes the idea, which she herself
defended, that Emmanuel Macron will necessarily obtain the majority to
govern for five years. Alliance strategies and dynamics The different alliance strategies no doubt also explain the current uncertainties. If
the establishment of Ensemble has given rise to some friction and some
concerns from some of its members, it has only formalized and organised,
with a view to a future term of office, support which was already
stakeholders in Emmanuel Macron's candidacy for the presidential
election. Despite
criticism and dissidence, the creation of the Nupes gave rise to a true
alliance of coopetition, by bringing together forces which had on the
contrary opposed and competed with each other. It
can therefore claim a new unifying approach in comparison with the last
presidential elections and refer to the electoral successes encountered
by the leftist unions that preceded it (Popular Front, Common Program,
Plural Left). By refusing to ally with Reconquest! Marine
Le Pen's National Rally took the opposite view of LFI's strategy of
unity and failed to create, if we are to believe the polls and outside
of important strongholds in the north, the dynamic that his
qualification in the second round of the presidential election could
have generated with a view to the legislative elections. Alliance strategies and dynamics In
reality, the various polls dedicated to the legislative elections have
not shown any significant change in terms of voting intentions at the
national level since the situation of the opposing forces was made
official. Together
and the Nupes are announced neck and neck around 27/28% in the first
round, when the National Rally is between 19% and 21% and Reconquest! between 5% and 6%. But
the projections in terms of the number of deputies from the second
round have on the other hand evolved and seem to show a dynamic in favor
of Nupes while Together was announced as a large majority a few weeks
ago. The union of the left
project carried by Jean-Luc Mélenchon seems to seduce part of the
left-wing electorate marked by divisions and the new absence, after
2017, of one of its representatives in the second round of the election.
presidential. But
beyond this mobilization, it is above all the choice of Elisabeth Borne
and the constitution of the new government that raise questions from a
strategic point of view. The crucial choice of the Prime Minister and the government In
2017, Emmanuel Macron had chosen to appoint as Prime Minister, Edouard
Philippe, a politician admittedly little known to the general public but
seasoned in electoral contests, to lead the battle of the legislative
elections. And his second
choice, during the reshuffle in 2020, was for a profile of a senior
civil servant and technocrat, simply elected local, with Jean Castex. This
decision seemed to give credence to the idea that it was necessary to
appoint a political profile at the start of the five-year term in order
to be able to rely on a personality accustomed to the harshness of a
national electoral campaign. By
choosing to appoint Elisabeth Borne, whose CV is closer to that of Jean
Castex than that of Edouard Philippe, Emmanuel Macron proceeded
differently and took the risk of leaving the field open to Jean-Luc's
media omnipresence strategy. Mélenchon and Nupes. Elisabeth
Borne and the Renaissance candidate of the 3ᵉ district of Côtes-d'Armor
Olivier Allier on a market in Lamballe as part of the electoral
campaign for the legislative ballot.
The
appointment of the new government should make it possible to highlight
the priorities of the new five-year term (ecology, purchasing power,
etc.) and regain control from a media point of view. But
the choice of Elisabeth Borne and the confirmation of several
heavyweights in key positions did not help, despite some notable strokes
of brilliance quickly tarnished by controversy (Pap Ndiaye at National
Education or Damien Abad at Solidarity) , to trigger a new dynamic. Emmanuel
Macron's recent trips certainly testify to a desire to refocus the
legislative elections around his project and his person in order to
succeed in winning. Will this involvement be sufficient to obtain the majority and avoid cohabitation? If
the first-past-the-post system in two rounds of the legislative
elections makes projection difficult and should theoretically favor the
candidates placed in the center of the political spectrum, it
nevertheless seems to give credence to the idea that the legislative
elections have indeed become the 3ᵉ round of the French presidential
election. |
|
Article by Olivier Guyottot , teacher-researcher in strategy and political science, INSEEC Grande École, published in TheConversation |
TAIWAN THE TONE IS RISING BETWEEN BEIJING AND WASHINGTON
|
 During a summit bringing together the United States and China in Singapore yesterday, the Chinese Minister of Defense affirmed that his country would fight “until the end” against the independence of Taiwan, while calling on Washington to “stop denigrating and containing China”. This statement by the Chinese Minister of Defense sounds like a response to that, the day before, of the American Minister of Defense, Lloyd Austin, who had denounced the “provocative and destabilizing” military activity of Beijing near Taiwan. This verbal contest between the two superpowers comes in a context of strong diplomatic tensions over the autonomous and democratic island, which Beijing considers to be an integral part of its territory.
It is that tensions between Beijing and Taiwan have increased in recent weeks, against a backdrop of war in Ukraine.
The war waged by Russia to subjugate or dismember Ukraine has in fact fueled concerns about an imminent use of force by the People's Republic of China against Taiwan in order to achieve the "Chinese dream of reunification national". A concern all the greater since, three weeks before the invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping had published a declaration of total solidarity during the visit of the Russian president to Beijing.
The thorny issue of Taiwan
China considers this democratic and self-governing island of 24 million to be one of its historical provinces, even if it does not control it, and has increased pressure against Taipei in recent years, for example through campaigns incursions into the Taiwan Air Defense Zone. These actions have increased tensions with the United States, while they are already high on many other levels (China Sea, nuclear in particular).
"Those who pursue Taiwan independence with the aim of dividing China will certainly not achieve their ends," said Wei Fenghe, adding that "no one should ever underestimate the determination and ability of the Chinese armed forces. to safeguard its territorial integrity". According to the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Defense, said Friday during a meeting with Mr. Austin on the sidelines of this forum: "If anyone dared to separate Taiwan from China, the army China would not hesitate for a moment to start a war, whatever the cost. »
A geostrategic challenge for China
The autonomy of Taiwan under US protection is indeed, in the eyes of the Chinese authorities, the anchor point of a barrier closing the seas of China along the “first chain of islands”. The textbook on the military geography of the Taiwan Strait published in 2013 by the Beijing Defense Academy contains a very explicit presentation of the geostrategic stake constituted by the possession of Taiwan: control of the island is vital to guard against a blockade, at the same time as it would threaten the communications of Japan; and it would provide the People's Army Navy with free access to the Pacific Ocean and a decisive means of exerting pressure on the states of the region, report researchers William Murray and Ian Easton.
The political argument
As real as the strategic and geopolitical stakes in question are, an additional dimension would intervene according to Pierre-Yves Hénin, professor emeritus in economics, University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, in the Chinese motivation to put an end to the status of Taiwan.
This authoritarian regime sees a threat in the democracies located on its doorstep, showing the Chinese that they can live perfectly well other than in dictatorship. “Academics Kelly Brown and Kalley Wu Tzu-Hui point out that Taiwan now presents an alternative model of modernity and democracy in the Chinese world;
this is, according to them, the main reason why Beijing has a problem with Taiwan – “Trouble with Taiwan”, an expression chosen as the title of their book published in 2019,” he continues.
|
|
|
|
Garett Skyport for DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
LEGISLATIVES EN FRANCEVERS UN DUEL ENTRE ENSEMBLE ! DE MACRON
ET LA NUPES DE MELANCHON ?
|
Les 12 et 19 juin 2O22, les Français éliront leurs 577 députés. « Troisième tour » de la présidentielle attendu par les oppositions, il sera déterminant pour l'ensemble des forces politiques. Depuis l’inversion du calendrier électoral en 2001, jamais un président élu n’a perdu les législatives. Mais à l’approche du premier tour, les macronistes et la Nupes de Mélenchon sont au coude à coude
D'après le dernier sondage Elabe pour L'Express et BFMTV, en partenariat avec SFR, LR ne récolterait que 12,5 % des voix au niveau national, contre 25 % et 24,5 % pour l'alliance des partis de gauche et la confédération rassemblant LREM, le MoDem et Horizons. S'oriente-t-on vers un coude-à-coude entre entre les macronistes et le chef de file des Insoumis reléguant dans l’ombre les autres formations, y compris le Rassemblement national ?
Les LR résisteront-ils ?
Après la bérézina des députés PS en 2017, va-t-on assister à la Saint-Barthélemy des députés LR sortants , s'interroge une journaliste.
Les Républicains « devraient en effet être les grand perdants » de ces élections législatives. Le parti a choisi l'indépendance : une ligne périlleuse au regard des 4,8 % obtenus par Valérie Pécresse. Quelques-uns des 101 élus sortants ont rallié le chef de l'État et une quinzaine de candidats bénéficieront d'un traitement particulier en n'ayant pas à affronter de représentant de la majorité. Les autres misent sur leur ancrage territorial. « Une partie des sortants ont été élus dans des circonscriptions semi-rurales et l'ont emporté en 2017 face à la macronie triomphante, il n'y a donc pas de raison d'être pessimiste », indique le député européen Brice Hortefeux. LR ne donnera en tout cas pas de consigne de vote au soir du premier tour des législatives si ses candidats ne sont pas qualifiés, dans le cas d'un duel entre LREM et Nupes, a assuré mardi 7 juin le président du groupe LR au Sénat, Bruno Retailleau.
Un mode de scrutin défavorable pour le Rassemblement national
Marine Le Pen, quant à elle, elle a jeté en quelque sorte l'éponge malgré sa seconde position au premier tour et ses 13,2 millions de voix du 24 avril, ne réapparaissant que ces derniers jours. C'est que les ambitions du RN, qui a refusé de s'allier à Reconquête, le parti d'Éric Zemmour (finalement candidat à Saint-Tropez), se révèlent raisonnables dans la mesure où le mode de scrutin lui est très défavorable. Autoproclamée « candidate de la vérité », Marine Le Pen répète d'ailleurs que la logique des institutions veut que le président de la République obtienne une majorité. Alors qu'elle a obtenu 41,4 % des voix au second tour et plus de 55 % dans 87 circonscriptions, elle s'est fixé comme objectif d'obtenir au moins quinze élus, ce qui permettrait à son parti de constituer un groupe à l'Assemblée.
En effet depuis l'instauration du quinquennat en 2002 et l'inversion du calendrier électoral - l'élection présidentielle se tient juste avant les élections législatives et non l'inverse, afin de donner au président de la République une majorité cohérente à l'Assemblée nationale - le vainqueur de la course à l'Elysée a pour le moment systématiquement obtenu une majorité pour mener à bien son programme. De quoi faire des législatives une élection ratifiant le résultat de la présidentielle.
Ainsi, en 2002, dans la foulée de sa réélection face à Jean-Marie Le Pen, Jacques Chirac a retrouvé une majorité à l’Assemblée nationale. En 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy, élu face à Ségolène Royal, a, lui aussi, gagné les législatives. En 2012, la victoire de François Hollande s’est doublée d’une vague rose au Palais Bourbon. Quant à Emmanuel Macron en 2017, il a remporté les législatives avec 308 députés élus.
Mais cette mécanique serait-elle sur le point de s’enrayer pour la première fois? C’est ce que veut croire Jean-Luc Mélenchon , faisant habilement de ce rendez-vous le «troisième tour» de la présidentielle lui qui se voit désormais Premier ministre. Dès lors, que disent les sondages? Sur ce point, les sondages donnent la majorité présidentielle et la Nupes au coude à coude. Vendredi dernier, l’institut Cluster 17 plaçait la Nupes en tête (31%) devant Ensemble! (27%), le RN (19%) et LR (10%).Mais Selon une enquête de l’Ifop du 31mai, c’est Ensemble! qui arriverait en tête avec 27% devant la Nupes (25%) et le RN (21%). Selon ce sondage, qui confirme la tendance de celui publié hier par l’Institut Harris (26 % et 24 %), les marcheurs et leurs alliés obtiendraient ainsi entre 275 et 310 sièges, contre 170 à 205 pour la Nupes et 20 à 50 pour le RN. La majorité absolue étant fixée à 289 sièges, Emmanuel Macron pourrait donc ne pas l’avoir.
Vers un duel entre la Nupes de Mélanchon et Ensemble ! de Macron
Dans cette dernière ligne droite, les sondages confirment ce duel entre les macronistes réunis sous la bannière Ensemble! et Jean-Luc Mélenchon, désormais à la tête de la Nupes, la Nouvelle alliance populaire écologiste et sociale qui regroupe LFI, EELV, le PS et le PC.
Car il faut désormais compter avec cette union purement «électoraliste» qu'est la Nupes.
Les députés de la Nupes (Nouvelle Union populaire écologique et sociale) pourrait bien se retrouver majoritaires dans l'hémicycle. L'ex-socialiste, qui ne se représente pas, a d'ores et déjà réussi un exploit en réconciliant (plus ou moins) quatre formations politiques : LFI, EELV, PC 4 et PS. « Nous sommes en train d'écrire une histoire politique de la France », a-t-il assuré. Sorti en tête le 10 avril dans 106 circonscriptions et majoritaire dans 43, il estime qu'il s'agit d'« une bonne base de départ ». Les projections donnent ses candidats présents au second tour dans plus de 300 circonscriptions. « Le fait que la gauche se soit unie et qu'elle puisse ainsi prétendre à avoir beaucoup d'élus, voire pourquoi pas, une majorité relative ou absolue à l'Assemblée nationale, est plutôt un facteur de mobilisation voire de surmobilisation de son électorat », relève Jean-Yves Dormagen, professeur de Science politique à l'Université de Montpellier et spécialiste de la question de l'abstention.
Quelle majorité pour Emmanuel Macron ?
En 2017, le chef de l'État avait réussi à se constituer une solide majorité avec 350 élus dont 308 LREM. Il souhaite réitérer l'exploit. Dans l'histoire de la Ve République, les présidents n'ont-il pas toujours gagné les législatives organisées dans la foulée de leur élection ? Après d'interminables négociations, un accord a également été trouvé entre les partenaires qui partiront sous la bannière Ensemble. Le parti majoritaire s'est réservé 400 circonscriptions et en a accordé une centaine à ses alliés du MoDem et 58 à Horizons, le parti d'Édouard Philippe. Alors que plus d'un tiers des candidats de 2017 étaient issus de la société civile et ne disposaient d'aucun mandat, les 505 candidats déjà investis sont de plus pour la plupart rodés, notamment du fait que plus de 90 % des députés sortants ont été reconduits.
Mais face aux sondages et à la campagne offensive de Mélenchon , Emmanuel Macron bat à nouveau le terrain. Après avoir agité le chiffon brun pendant la présidentielle, le chef de l'État agite le chiffon rouge, multipliant les attaques contre Jean-Luc Mélenchon, désigné comme l'adversaire numéro un. Après deux déplacements la semaine dernière, à Cherbourg sur la santé, puis à Marseille sur l’éducation, il est ce jeudi 9 juin 2022 , demain, dans le Tarn, à Gaillac, pour évoquer la sécurité du quotidien. Une visite qui intervient alors que les forces de l’ordre sont de nouveau montrées honteusement du doigt et dans la ligne de mire de… la Nupes. Samedi, à Paris, la passagère d’un véhicule dont le conducteur en semi-liberté, sans permis et sous l'effet de stupéfiants, a refusé d'obtempérer à un contrôle, a été tuée par les tirs des policiers .« Je
ne vois pas comment ce puzzle de circonstances qu'est la Nupes peut
l'emporter », estime Richard Ferrand, le patron de l'Assemblée
nationale, confiant.
L' arbitre du scrutin : la forte abstention attendue
Après avoir atteint un record en 2017, c'est l'abstention en fait qui sera à nouveau l'arbitre du scrutin, les 12 et 19 juin. En effet pour se maintenir au second tour, les candidats devront réaliser au moins 12,5% des inscrits. Ce qui, dans la perspective d’une forte abstention, rend les projections particulièrement difficiles. Selon la dernière enquête d'Ipsos Sopra-Steria pour le Cevipof, la Fondation Jean Jaurès et Le Monde publiée ce mercredi 8 juin, l'abstention pourrait en effet atteindre dimanche entre 52% et 56%, avec un point moyen à 54%.
Une abstention élevée qui ne sera pas sans conséquence sur le scrutin puisqu'elle éliminera pratiquement toute possibilité de triangulaire et imposera donc probablement des duels dans toutes les circonscriptions... En 2017, déjà, il n'y avait eu qu'une seule triangulaire, contre 34 en 2012.« Avec
cette situation, on aura uniquement des duels au second tour », parie
également Gérard Grunberg, directeur de recherche émérite au CNRS et
directeur du site Telos.
Une faible participation, en favorisant les duels, pourrait avantager la majorité sortante regroupée sous la bannière Ensemble !, davantage susceptible de bénéficier du « vote utile », c'est-à-dire des votes des électeurs souhaitant faire barrage à un autre candidat. « On peut estimer que le candidat de la majorité arrivera dans les deux premiers, sauf quelques exceptions », prédit Jean Petaux, évoquant la mobilisation attendue « assez forte » de l'électorat d'Emmanuel. De plus le programme économique de la Nupes étant radical -Retraite à 60 ans, augmentation du smic à 1 400 euros, blocage des prix des biens de première nécessité et formule à l'emporte-pièce comme « la police tue » , certains pourraient pencher vers les macronistes.
Quoi qu'il en soit rien n'est joué dans ce duel entre la Nupes et Ensemble...
|
|
|
|
Joanne Courbet pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
PROCES DU 13 NOVEMBRE PEINE MAXIMALE CONTRE SALAH ABDESLAM ET NEUF AUTRES ACCUSES DEMANDEE PAR LE PARQUET NATIONAL ANTITERRORISTE
|
Au bout d’un réquisitoire de trois jours, l’accusation a demandé ce
vendredi des sanctions exemplaires, dont la plus lourde existant dans le
Code pénal pour Salah Abdeslam, le survivant des commandos.Le Parquet national antiterroriste (Pnat) a ainsi demandé la peine maximale contre Salah Abdeslam et neuf autres accusés. Les autres peines requises s’échelonnent de cinq à trente ans de prison ferme.
« Votre verdict ne rendra pas leur tranquillité aux victimes, il ne guérira pas les blessures physiques et psychiques, il ne ramènera pas les morts, prévient Camille Hennetier en concluant le réquisitoire fleuve des trois avocats généraux du Parquet national antiterroriste (PNAT) entamé mercredi. Mais il dira que la justice et le droit ont le dernier mot. »
Les vingt hommes accusés d’avoir aidé et soutenu les tueurs du 13 novembre 2015 connaissent, depuis hier, les sanctions que le Parquet national antiterroriste (Pnat) requiert à leur encontre, au nom du peuple français. Le verdict de la cour d’assises spéciale tombera le 29 juin.
« Leur sang sur les mains »
Sans surprise, le parquet demande la réclusion criminelle à perpétuité « incompressible » contre le Franco-Marocain Salah Abdeslam, 32 ans, « soldat de l’armée islamique, seul co-auteur survivant des 130 morts du 13-Novembre. Il a leur sang sur les mains, comme d’autres l’ont sur la conscience », considèrent Camille Hennetier, Nicolas Braconnay et Nicolas Le Bris, magistrats du parquet. Selon eux, Salah Abdeslam, « qui avait déposé trois bombes humaines » – trois kamikazes – devant le Stade de France, a minutieusement préparé « ces massacres » avec Abdelhamid Abaaoud, tué dans l’assaut de Saint-Denis, le 18 novembre 2015. L’accusation a consacré de longs développements à Salah Abdeslam avec une obsession : démonter le rôle de « prétendu invité surprise » des attentats mis en avant à l’audience. « Son engagement djihadiste est ancien. Rien ne permet de dire qu’il a été la marionnette de son frère », rappelait dès mercredi Nicolas Le Bris. Le PNAT souligne aussi son rôle primordial dans l’acheminement des membres du commando vers la Belgique. « C’est une mission clé : celui qui rapatrie est nécessairement quelqu’un en qui la cellule porte toute sa confiance », relève Camille Hennetier. L’arrivée par vague des futurs assassins entre le 1 er septembre et le 14 octobre acte « la constitution d’une véritable katiba au cœur de l’Europe ».
Pas de circonstances atténuantes non plus, aux yeux de l’accusation, à l’encontre des compagnons de cavale d’Abdeslam entre novembre 2015 et le 22 mars 2016, date des attentats de Bruxelles. La perpétuité est donc requise aussi contre Sofien Ayari, 28 ans, et Osama Krayem, 29 ans, que l’accusation suspecte d’avoir visé un attentat à l’aéroport d’Amsterdam. Quant à Mohamed Abrini, « l’homme au chapeau » des attentats de Bruxelles, « parti comme un voleur » dans la nuit du 12 au 13 novembre en obligeant la cellule à se réorganiser, « son renoncement ne saurait s’analyser comme un désistement volontaire, et il est sans effet sur ses actes de complicité antérieurs. Ce qui va se passer le soir du 13 novembre, il le souhaitait ardemment », cingle Nicolas Le Bris. L’accusation a néanmoins tenu compte de sa fuite en assortissant la perpétuité requise à une période de sûreté de vingt-deux ans.
Les avocats généraux du Pnat requièrent également la perpétuité contre Mohamed Bakkali, 35 ans, qui a déjà écopé de vingt-cinq ans de prison pour l’attentat, en août 2015, du train Thalys. Et contre l’accusé détenu par la Turquie, le parquet demande trente ans. Perpétuité requise, encore, pour les cinq grands absents de ce procès, supposés morts en Syrie et donc jugés par défaut. Parmi eux, Oussama Atar, considéré « comme le cerveau des attentats, le cadre supérieur de la terreur ». Idem pour les frères Fabien et Jean-Michel Clain, Normands à un moment de leur vie « et qui avaient revendiqué au téléphone – en chantant – les carnages de Paris ». Pour neuf autres accusés, âgés de 29 à 41 ans, poursuivis pour « participation à une association de malfaiteurs terroristes », les peines demandées s’échelonnent de cinq, six (trois accusés), huit, neuf, seize et vingt ans de réclusion pour les deux plus impliqués selon le Pnat. Si le parquet admet que les accusés ne partagent pas tous les mêmes convictions djihadistes, l’idéologie est à ses yeux au cœur de ce dossier. « On n’est pas condamné pour ce que l’on pense, souligne Camille Hennetier. Mais on devra l’être pour ce que l’on a fait au nom de ce que l’on pense. »
Et qui pourra oublier ce terrible bilan ? Quatre-vingt-dix morts au Bataclan, trente-neuf sur les terrasses de café, un au Stade de France. Deux blessés, une femme et un homme, se sont donné la mort depuis. 397 rescapés ou proches de victimes sont venus témoigner de leur traumatisme depuis septembre. La défense plaidera à partir de lundi.
« Ce soir d’épouvante du 13 novembre 2015, les djihadistes ont tiré à
l’aveugle, faisant tomber les victimes comme des dominos, les
déshumanisant, les traitant comme des animaux », avait rappelé Nicolas
Le Bris en début d’audience.
|
|
Alyson Braxton pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
COVID 19 VERS UNE SEPTIEME VAGUE EPIDEMIQUE AVEC LES SOUS-VARIANTS BA.4 ET BA.5 EN FRANCE ?
|
Le Covid-19 n’a pas fini de se réinventer pour continuer de circuler. Les sous-variants du coronavirus, BA.4 et BA.5 causent une énième flambée de l’épidémie en Afrique du Sud et une sixième vague au Portugal. Le nombre de contaminations au Covid-19 connaît un léger rebond depuis une semaine en France.Les sous-variants BA.4 et BA.5 entraîneront-ils une nouvelle vague épidémique en France ?
Une progression de BA.4 et BA.5 en France
Après une nette décrue du nombre de cas positifs au mois d’avril et de mai, le début du mois de juin voit cet indicateur significatif repartir à la hausse. Les dernières données de Santé publique France, mises en forme par Covid Tracker, dénombrent 22 952 personnes testées positives au coronavirus le 7 juin, soit une augmentation de 29,3 % en moyenne sur sept jours. « Il semble que l’on reparte sur une nouvelle vague » de coronavirus, avait affirmé vendredi 3 juin sur Franceinfo le professeur Antoine Flahault, épidémiologiste, directeur de l’Institut de santé globale à la faculté de médecine de l’université de Genève. L’arrivée des sous-variants d’Omicron, BA.4 et BA.5, pourrait expliquer cette augmentation des cas.
Certes la majorité des cas en France provient à 94% du sous-variant BA.2 d’Omicron, les deux sous-variants gagnent cependant du terrain. Leur détection est bien en augmentation : 0,8 % pour BA.4 et 5 % pour BA.5 dans la dernière enquête Flash de Santé publique France (semaine 20), contre 0,5 % et 1,5 % pour Flash semaine 19. « La circulation des sous-variants BA.4 et BA.5 est en progression exponentielle », juge l’épidémiologiste Antoine Flahault, directeur de l’Institut de santé globale (université de Genève). C’est bel et bien cette multiplication de ces souches qui pourrait causer la septième vague.
La progression des sous-variants est donc très surveillée. Déjà, le 13 mai, le Centre européen de prévention et de contrôle des maladies (ECDC) lançait l’alerte, les classant comme « variants préoccupants » et les jugeant susceptibles de s’imposer en Europe et « d’entraîner une augmentation globale significative des cas ».
Ces deux variants qui sont en train de progresser en France ont bien été la cause d’un rebond de l’épidémie au Portugal en mai. Selon les données d’Our World in Data, une plateforme reconnue pour le recensement des données internationales pour la pandémie du Covid-19, le Portugal a en effet connu un pic de près de 3 000 cas pour un million d’habitants au 2 juin, pour cette vague de contaminations portée par les deux sous-variants BA.4 et BA.5.Un niveau dix fois plus élevé que celui d’environ 300 cas positifs pour un million d’habitants en France le même jour. Mais bien inférieur à son pic pour la première vague d’Omicron BA.1 en janvier, qui a provoqué plus de 6 000 cas pour un million d’habitants fin janvier au Portugal.
Le scénario pour les semaines à venir en France
Selon l’épidémiologiste Antoine Flahault, « on devrait voir une augmentation de circulation du virus en France » dans les jours à venir, liée à ces deux sous-variants. Mais pour lui, « les Français triplement vaccinés devraient bien passer cette vague comme ils ont bien passé la vague BA.1 et BA.2. » « Le port du masque doit être cependant largement recommandé aux personnes vulnérables et encouragé pour les personnes en contact avec elles. »
Face à ce scénario « fortement probable » d’une reprise prochaine de la circulation du coronavirus en France, les autorités sanitaires recommandent cependant un nouveau rappel de vaccin à l’automne, efficace face à ces sous-variants.
L’objectif ? « Anticiper » pour « limiter l’impact d’une future vague, en particulier sur les plus fragiles », réduire la mortalité « associée au Covid-19 et la diffusion de l’épidémie et maintenir les capacités du système de soin et les besoins vitaux de fonctionnement du pays », a expliqué fin mai la Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS), |
|
|
|
Andrew Preston pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
LA GUERRE EN UKRAINE VA LOURDEMENT PESER SUR LA CROISSANCE ET L'INFLATION DANS LE MONDE SELON L'OCDE
|
Dans ses dernières prévisions de mercredi, l'organisation internationale a doublé sa prévision d'inflation pour ses pays membres en 2022 à 8,5%.
Les conséquences de la guerre en Ukraine pourraient engendrer une flambée de l'inflation de 8,5% parmi les pays membres de l'OCDE en 2022, alerte l'organisation internationale dans ses dernières prévisions économiques mercredi, un niveau deux fois plus élevé que celui qu'elle anticipait en décembre.
La hausse des prix devrait ensuite ralentir en 2023, prévient l'OCDE, qui regroupe 38 pays développés à travers la planète, tout en mettant en garde contre une aggravation de ces perspectives en cas de nouveaux chocs économiques.
Une croissance mondiale pour 2022 abaissée à 3%
La croissance mondiale va fortement ressentir les conséquences de la guerre en Ukraine cette année, a également mis en garde l'organisation, faisant passer son anticipation de croissance à 3% contre 4,5% en décembre dernier. Particulièrement affectée, la zone euro devrait enregistrer une hausse de 2,6% de son PIB contre 4,3% prévus précédemment, et la France par exemple une progression de 2,4% contre 4,2% imaginés en décembre par l'organisation internationale basée à Paris.
«Le monde paiera un lourd prix à la guerre russe contre l'Ukraine», a alerté la numéro deux et cheffe économiste de l'OCDE, Laurence Boone, dans un texte introductif à ces prévisions intitulé «le prix de la guerre». «Une crise humanitaire se déroule sous nos yeux, laissant des milliers de personnes décédées, forçant des millions de réfugiés à fuir leur foyer et menaçant une reprise économique qui était en chemin après deux années de pandémie», poursuit-elle.
Une facture qui change entre les zones géographiques
La facture de la guerre varie nettement selon les zones géographique: la zone euro voit sa prévision de croissance nettement réduite à 2,6% contre 4,3% en décembre, avec un plongeon pour l'Allemagne à 1,9% (-2,2 points) et la France à 2,4% (-1,8 point). Le Royaume-Uni s'en sort plutôt bien cette année avec 3,6% anticipés (-1,1%) mais cale complètement à 0% concernant la prévision 2023, contre 2,1 anticipés auparavant.
Les États-Unis devraient quant à eux connaître en 2022 une croissance de 2,5%, contre 3,7% attendus en décembre, et la Chine de 4,4% (contre 5,1%). Jugée encore «temporaire» en septembre 2021 par l'OCDE, l'inflation s'est nettement tendue avec la persistance des problèmes dans les chaînes d'approvisionnement et la flambée des prix sur l'énergie, les aliments et les métaux, à la suite de la guerre.
Si l'OCDE voit ces pressions s'apaiser l'an prochain elle prévient cependant qu'au regard de l'incertitude ambiante, celles-ci pourraient encore s'aggraver.
Or une inflation qui s'emballe pourrait entraîner des hausses brutales de taux d'intérêt par les banques centrales, menaçant d'autant plus une reprise économique déjà chancelante, craint l'organisation. |
|
|
|
Carl Delsey pour DayNewsWorld |
 |
LABOR SHORTAGE
A THREAT TO THE HOLIDAYS |
 Faced with the labor shortage as the high season approaches, several sectors are sounding the alarm. In a few weeks, on the seaside or in tourist towns, will holidaymakers find cafes closed in the middle of the day ?
Swimming pools with closed doors, crowded airports due to a lack of ground staff and summer camps canceled at the last minute for lack of facilitators ?
"It's a dark scenario, tempers Thierry Grégoire, president of Umih-Seasonals, the main employers' union in the hotel and catering industry. But it is very likely that we will have another organization of work this summer. Restaurants may close in the evening, or one or two days a week, or reduce their opening hours.
As for hotels, they may offer housekeeping every other day. Everyone will adapt. The first troubles could start at the airport. Aéroports de Paris (ADP) is concerned about the lack of maintenance technicians and security guards. Endless queues at baggage checks and flight delays are to be feared. Once at the seaside, vacationers could also see the red flag raised at the water's edge. Three quarters of aquatic structures are struggling to recruit for the summer. The risk ?
Closed swimming pools, pools open a few hours a day only and a very low offer of swimming lessons. Homair, a specialist in outdoor accommodation, is struggling to find the 300 seasonal workers it lacks in all areas (reception, sports activities, maintenance, upkeep, etc.).
Finally, some parents who planned to send their offspring to summer camp could become disillusioned. Because the directors of centers are tearing their hair out to find facilitators – not always trained – to supervise the stays.
600,000 seasonal workers needed
So the professionals pull out all the stops to unearth rare gems. Each summer, an average of 600,000 seasonal workers must be recruited (including 300,000 in the hotel and catering industry alone). All these positions are far from being filled, even if no official figure is communicated. To attract candidates, the bosses offer salaries above the minimum wage and benefits (days off, uninterrupted hours, accommodation, meals, etc.).
Overheated, temp agencies are trying to find motivated staff, sometimes failing to be qualified. But students – an essential resource for summer jobs – are shying away from overly physical, restrictive contracts this year. Waiters, lifeguards, summer camp leaders, security guards...
The summer of 2022 promises to be complicated to manage for tourism professionals, who are struggling to recruit motivated staff.
|
|
Jaimie Potts for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE FUTURE OF BORIS JOHNSON AT STAKE
BY A MOTION OF DEFIANCE FROM HIS PARTY |  After the respite of the four holidays of the jubilee of Elizabeth II, the rights of politics resume their course.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, weakened by months of Downing Street holiday scandals during lockdowns, will face a vote of no confidence from Conservative Party MPs on Monday night.
"The threshold of 15% of parliamentarians requesting a vote of confidence from the leader of the Conservative Party has been exceeded," said Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 committee in charge of internal organizational matters, in a press release. It took 54 letters from MPs to trigger this vote.
The ballot will be held between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. (local time) (between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.) and the result announced in stride.
“The Prime Minister welcomes the opportunity to present his case to MPs and will remind them that there is no more formidable political force than when they are united and focused on the issues that matter to voters . »
“(The vote) tonight offers an opportunity to end months of speculation and allow the government to draw a line and move on by responding to the priorities of the people”, reacted the spokesperson for Boris Johnson in a statement.
If the Prime Minister receives the confidence of less than 50% of his troops, he will lose the leadership of his party, which will have to choose a new Prime Minister.
If he wins, no other vote of no confidence can be organized for a year, even if Graham Brady affirms that it would be "technically possible" to change this internal rule of the Conservative party.
A drop in popularity with electoral consequences
Far from putting an end to the scandal that has plagued the Conservative government for six months, the publication last week of an administrative report detailing the extent of violations of anti-Covid rules in Downing Street has prompted new calls for the resignation. Boris Johnson, himself subject to a fine (unheard of for a Prime Minister in office), then said that he assumed "full responsibility for everything that happened" but felt he had to "continue" his work.
The scandal, along with soaring prices that are causing a historic drop in household purchasing power, has already caused its popularity to plummet, leading to heavy setbacks for the Conservatives in local elections in early May. He was maintained by highlighting in particular the context of the war in Ukraine, but also for lack of an obvious successor in the ranks of the Conservatives, in power for 12 years in the United Kingdom.
If the Prime Minister is defeated by a motion of no confidence, an internal election will be held within the party to appoint a new leader. If he survives there, he cannot be dislodged for a year.
Two partial legislative elections are scheduled for June 23, the next date likely to relaunch the revolt against the head of government.
|
|
Joanne Courbet for DayNewsWorld |
 |
HOSPITAL CRISIS NEW GENERAL MOBILIZATION
|
 A week after Emmanuel Macron's announcement of a "flash mission" to find solutions to the emergency crisis and just days before the legislative elections, nine unions (including CGT, SUD and CFE-CGC) and collectives (including Inter-Hospitals and Inter-Urgences) are organizing a mobilization day. The unions and collective organizations of caregivers have planned rallies in at least 50 cities. And are convinced neither by the Ségur de la Santé which was held in 2020, nor by the announcement of a “flash mission” which should lead to new proposals at the end of June.
In a leaflet distributed for a few days and entitled "there will be deaths", the inter-union denounces the immobility of the government despite regular alerts for three years.
“Access to first aid care is more and more complicated and the hospital no longer fulfills its public service role,” reads this leaflet. “Staff are angry and tired. (...) The Philippe and then Castex governments managed on a small scale, responding to emergencies with discriminatory measures such as hiring bonuses, without consideration for the staff already in office, despised ! »
The situation of emergency services in France is more than worrying. For lack of caregivers, at least 120 services have been forced to limit their activity or are preparing for it, according to a count at the end of May from the Samu-Urgences de France association.
The main demands
This Tuesday, the latter will therefore be in the street to make their five main demands heard, "the same for three years" remind the unions:
1 ° Immediate recruitment of additional caregivers
2° General increase in wages, taking into account time constraints and arduous work
3° Reinforcement of the financial means of establishments, recruitment of administrative staff to refocus caregivers on their tasks
4° Stopping of all closures of establishments and beds;
5° Implementation of measures to guarantee access to care for all French people, in all territories.
The salary increase for caregivers in the public and private non-profit sector to the tune of 183 euros, obtained at the end of the Ségur de la Santé, will therefore not have been enough to allay fears and anger..
|
|
|
|
Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE ROLLING STONES GO ON EUROPEAN TOUR
|
 Nothing seems to want to stop the Rolling Stones, among the ultimate rock legends still on stage...
At 78 for Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, 74 for Ronnie Wood, the grandfathers of rock still have the sacred fire in them, continuing decade after decade to roll their bumps on the roads. not joined with the musicians of Queen, Elton John and others who will perform in tribute to the sovereign.
It was in a football stadium, that of Atlético de Madrid, that they kicked off a European tour which will end on July 31. Sixty years just after the first official concert of the London blues formation, as part of the Marquee Club, on July 12, 1962.
Accompanied by Steve Jordan on drums, following the death of Charlie Watts on August 24, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood will take the opportunity to return to their countless hits, like "Gimme Shelter", "Paint it Black », « Start Me Up » or even « (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction »...
The musical event also promises a beautiful visual spectacle with a huge stage, lights and video design at the cutting edge of creativity and technology!
A tour of fourteen dates in Europe, including two in France, at Groupama Stadium, in Lyon, on July 19, and at the Longchamp racecourse, in Paris, on July 23, 2022.
Certainly a farewell tour: The Stones will indeed perform in Hyde Park on the anniversary of the death of Brian Jones, July 3, the group's founder....
|
|
|
|
Jenny Chase for DayNewsWorld |
 |
PLATINUM JUBILEE MAJESTIC APPEARANCE OF ELIZABETH II ON THE BALCONY
|
 Will she come ?
This question was on everyone's lips. Queen Elisabeth has been suffering from mobility problems for some time, but her people are eagerly awaiting this popular sovereign who has devoted her entire life to her country.
The answer falls at 12:20 p.m. London time. Leaning on a cane but without help, Elizabeth II appears majestic on the balcony of Buckingham this Thursday, June 2, 2022, which marks the first day of the festivities of her platinum jubilee.
The 96-year-old sovereign, dressed in a “flashy” sky blue outfit, was accompanied by the Duke of Kent, Colonel of the Scots Guards, one of the elite regiments of the British Royal Guard, who greeted the participants of the annual military parade of the "Hail to the colors".
Then the sovereign returned to the balcony a little later, for an aerial flight over the Royal Air Force, this time accompanied by the members of only certain members of the royal family: those "working" for the monarchy could come and salute there with their children, i.e. 18 people. So decided Elizabeth II.
Around her were crowded Prince Charles, heir to the Crown and his wife Camilla, Prince William, second in line of succession and his wife Kate, Princess Anne, daughter of the Queen, and her husband, as well as the youngest son of Elizabeth II, Edward, and his wife, as well as three cousins of the sovereign. William and Edward's children were also present.
Exit, however, Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, settled in California and Prince Andrew, younger son of the sovereign, deprived of any official function since accusations of sexual assault in the Weinstein affair.
Never has a British monarch reigned so long, hence the importance for the country of celebrating this Platinum Jubilee of a queen who is still extremely popular. For many Britons who have always known her, Elizabeth II has been a symbol of stability and unity for 70 years.
|
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
WILL THE RUSSIAN APPETITE GO TO TRANSNITRIA ?
|
 The war in Ukraine does not fail to worry the neighboring countries and, first of all, the small Moldavia (2.6 million inhabitants), which today plays an essential role in the reception of refugees from South Ukraine.
The situation of this former Soviet republic, independent since 1991 and neutral since 1994, wedged between a Romania that is a member of NATO and a Ukraine at war, is all the more precarious in that it has had to deal almost, since its independence, with a pro-Russian separatist territory located in its eastern part, Transnistria.
This last entity, where some 470,000 people reside, hosts around 1,500 Russian soldiers, present as part of a peacekeeping mission, as well as large stocks of armaments inherited from the USSR.
If the clashes between Transnistrians and Moldavians have not resumed since July 1992, and if the two parties coexist in a relatively serene way, maintaining in particular quite extensive commercial exchanges, the situation in Ukraine, and possible Russian appetites for Transnistria could in the short term weaken this balance.
From the conflict of 1992 to today
Without going into too detailed a chronology, let us briefly recall that, after the First World War, Bessarabia, whose territory more or less corresponds to present-day Moldova (minus Transnistria), and which had belonged for a century to the empire of the tsars, is integrated into Romania. The territory of present-day Transnistria remains in the hands of the USSR. In 1924, the latter established an administrative entity there called Autonomous Soviet Socialist Moldavian Republic (RASSM), which was incorporated into the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic.
In 1940, the USSR occupied and annexed Bessarabia, which it hastened to merge with the RASSM to create a “Soviet Socialist Republic of Moldavia”.
The Moldavian SSR will remain for fifty years within the USSR, as an equal of the fourteen other Republics (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, the three Baltic republics, the three Caucasian republics and the five Central Asian republics) and will therefore become independent in 1991, when the USSR collapses.
At that time, the union of Transnistria and Bessarabia was already cracked. For some years now, feeling the USSR wavering, Bessarabia has seriously considered joining Romania. Transnistria, with close ties to Moscow, decided to secede in 1990, but the Soviet center rejected this option. It is therefore together, as the State of Moldova, that Bessarabia and Transnistria gained independence in 1991. Transnistria immediately proclaimed its independence from Moldova, which led to a violent conflict soon after. From March 1992 until the ceasefire of July 21, 1992, the 14th Russian Army, which had come to support the Transistrian separatists, and the Moldovan forces engaged in violent clashes, which killed more than 2,000 people.
A frozen conflict
Since then, the conflict has not known any new episodes and is said to be "frozen", an expression which can moreover be advantageously replaced by the epithet "unresolved", Transnistria being de facto independent, but recognized by no State, not even Russia, which nevertheless largely supports it. It was to find a diplomatic and political solution to this status quo that Moldova adopted the status of a neutral country when it adopted its Constitution in 1994.
Over the past 28 years, the country's various political tendencies that have succeeded each other in power, whether they have been classified as pro-Russian (like Igor Dodon, president from 2016 to 2020) or pro-European, like the current president Maïa Sandu, all wanted to keep this status. It implies Moldova's non-adherence to a military alliance such as NATO, but also demands the departure from Transnistria of Russian troops present since 1992. This departure is regularly demanded by the Moldovan authorities in international forums. Again recently, Maïa Sandu reiterated this requirement, receiving a dismissal from the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova.
Since the end of hostilities in 1992, a negotiation format has taken place, including Russia, Ukraine, the OSCE, as well as Moldova and Transnistria, in order to find the way to a political settlement through some form autonomy of Transnistria within a reintegrated Moldova.
Alas, Russia, if it never recognized the independence of Transnistria, did not help in a decisive way to settle the conflict either. It had proposed its own solution in 2003 through the Kozak memorandum (named after the Russian negotiator Dmitry Kozak, born in Ukraine and now deputy head of the Russian presidential administration in charge of relations with Ukraine), but this attempt was not successful. While discussions have continued since then, there has not been a high-level meeting since the fall of 2019.
The fact remains that – at least until Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24 – this conflict probably appeared to be the one with the best chance of being resolved of all conflicts. post-soviet frosts. After three decades without confrontation, a modus vivendi has emerged between the two parties, with tensions limited and expressed in interpersonal terms, while economic pragmatism has pushed for relatively close relations. Thus, the Sheriff Tiraspol football club (Tiraspol is the “capital” of Transnistria), which distinguished itself during its participation in the Champions League this year, plays in the Moldavian championship. Proof that a space of coexistence between Moldovans and Transnistrians is possible, at least on sports grounds!
First, is Moldova moving closer to open conflict with Russia? For the time being, the authorities in Chisinau are mainly focused on welcoming Ukrainian refugees and on the energy issue, considering that the extension of the war to their territory is unlikely. Several observers, such as the Romanian Mircea Geoana, deputy secretary general of NATO, or the American ambassador to Moldova, Kent Logsdon, share this opinion. It is true that Moldova is less important for Moscow than Ukraine.
On a military level, the development of the region depends directly on the fate reserved for the port of Odessa, a city in southern Ukraine located some 60 kilometers only from Moldova. Indeed, if Mariupol makes it possible to close off the Sea of Azov, the port of Odessa allows Russia to control the whole of the Ukrainian coastline, cutting Ukrainian territory off from access to the sea. In this case, one can estimate that the number of refugees would still grow in Moldova, when it has already seen 360,000 people pass through since the start of the war.
This objective of controlling the coastline certainly explains the extent of the attacks against Mykolaev, a town bitterly disputed between Russians and Ukrainians. It is only after the eventual fall of Mykolaev and Odessa that Russia can afford a corridor towards Transnistria; it is not certain, at the same time, that Transnistria can play a decisive role in the Russian offensive in the region, given the low number of men available.
The war in Ukraine has also prompted several countries to move towards the European Union. Thus, like Ukraine before it, and at the same time as Georgia, Moldova applied for membership of the European Union. If the "fast track" demanded by these three countries does not exist in practice, these requests have at least had the merit of drawing the attention of European capitals to the fate of these countries, as well as to their request for membership.
Although Georgia and Moldova have taken a stand in favor of respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, these two countries have not, on the other hand, endorsed the policy of sanctions adopted by the EU. The Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, indeed conceded that it would be difficult to adopt the sanctions without suffering insurmountable reprisals. It should be noted that in 2014, Moldova did not support the sanctions imposed on Russia after the annexation of Crimea.
Tensions further rekindled by a Council of Europe resolution
Finally, on the diplomatic level, Russia's departure from the Council of Europe had a direct impact on Moldova. Indeed, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) passed a resolution in which Transnistria was described as a Russian occupation zone.
This interpretation naturally aroused disputes in Tiraspol. Authorities in Transdniestria called the document "detached from reality" and "extremely dangerous", as well as in Moscow where the resolution is considered to ignore the realities on the ground. Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu contented himself with recalling that this resolution reflected “the political opinion of parliamentarians from member countries of the Council of Europe”. At the same time, Popescu stressed that Chisinau will continue to seek solutions for the reintegration of the country and insist on the withdrawal of Russian troops from the territory of Moldova.
In conclusion, while concerns about a resumption of conflict are at their highest for three decades, Moldova is currently relying on its status as a neutral state to avoid being drawn into the war in turn.
But the caution of the Chisinau authorities will probably not weigh heavily if Vladimir Putin manages to seize Odessa and decide that Transnistria will be the next stage of his war...
Florent Parmentier
Secretary General of CEVIPOF. Teacher at Sciences Po. Research associate at the HEC Paris Center for Geopolitics, Sciences Po. Article published in TheConversation..
|
|
|
|
Simon Freeman for DayNewsWorld |
 |
SERIOUS MALFUNCTIONS AT THE STADE DE FRANCE OR THE DENIAL OF THE MACRON GOVERNMENT
|
 How to explain the nightmarish evening at the Saint-Denis stadium on Saturday May 28, 2022 ?
The fault of the British supporters and the counterfeit banknotes maintained the Minister of the Interior Gérard Darmanin, before the Senate hearing committee. In a report to the Minister of the Interior, Didier Lallement barks in the same direction as his master announcing to seize the public prosecutor for "massive fraud with counterfeit notes".
According to him, between "30,000 and 40,000 people" showed up at the Stade de France without a ticket or with fake tickets, while the enclosure can only accommodate 80,000 people. The Paris police headquarters assures that the attempts of intrusion or use of counterfeit tickets were “generally” the act of “English supporters”.
There is outcry and indignation across the Channel. “Stade de Farce”, title in French the British newspaper The Sun, which does not take off. Police officers, present as British observers, were the first to be surprised by this communication from the French authorities. "The vast majority of England fans behaved in an exemplary manner, arriving at the turnstiles early and queuing." Liverpool club chairman Tom Werner wrote to the Sports Minister: “Your comments are irresponsible, unprofessional and totally disrespectful. […] These fans were treated like cattle […] and attacked by gangs. ".
The Liverpool club immediately called for the opening of an investigation "to determine the causes of these unacceptable problems". On Sunday, Britain's Secretary of State for Sport, Nadine Dorries, called on "UEFA to launch a formal investigation to find out what went wrong and why, in cooperation with stadium staff, the French police, the French Football Federation, the Merseyside Police [the Liverpool region] and Liverpool FC”. Apologies are requested. So what really happened ?
Counterfeit notes? “There were fake tickets and fake accreditations, we saw some, but in a very marginal way”, describes Pierre Barthélemy, lawyer for several groups of French supporters, present in Saint-Denis in Le Parisien. Ronan Evain, general manager of the Football Supporters Europe association, adds on France Inter that the fraudsters were "mostly young Parisians who came to try their luck around the Stade de France"
Contrary to what the Minister of the Interior has argued, the English supporters around the stadium were not Anglo-Saxon hooligans carrying counterfeit tickets. No desire to break or cause clashes among English fans who came to the Stade de France, unlike the usual actions of hooligans.
But it was a horde of young delinquents from the neighborhoods who were largely responsible for the mess that was created at the Stade de France. The number of 300 to 400 young people who looted personal effects and tickets for the match is mentioned. These young people also committed physical violence against the supporters present to enter the stadium. "We have undocumented thugs and city thugs who came opportunely to rob mainly Spanish and English spectators by stealing their personal effects, mobile phones and wallets and there were many thefts from vehicles parked around the Stade de France”, reported Matthieu Valet, spokesperson for the independent union of police commissioners to CNEWS.
In addition, Jérôme Jimenez, Ile-de-France UNSA Police spokesperson, indicated the majority presence of "people known to the police services" and many "minors". In total, 105 arrests and 48 police custody were made following the incidents. Only 2 Britons among them!! Reasons for their arrest: theft with a weapon, theft with violence, concealment, violence against persons holding public authority, violence in meetings, damage, attempted intrusion into the stadium, theft from the trailer.
The young rioters who came to provoke, to stir up trouble, to steal, thus confirm the “opportunity theory”. Aren't there frequent pickpockets and thefts near major sporting events ?
In addition, Seine-Saint-Denis, a department, many cities of which are part of the "republican reconquest district" system, has the highest crime rates in France, with nearly 145,000 crimes and offenses recorded in 2017 so how surprised by this delinquency?
A few days before the legislative elections, the minister's statement therefore seems above all very political. Not a single French authority proves capable of assuming the disastrous organization and not an official voice to blame the offenders that Seine-Saint-Denis for fear of displeasing some ... but at the cost of a shameless lie which only discredits political speech.
But would better organization have prevented this “ carnage ” ?
Yes without a doubt. The Stade de France is almost half the population of the city of Rennes or the 19th arrondissement of Paris. It is a city and its inhabitants who must settle in less than an hour in the stadium after having been partially searched, palpated, filtered, distributed.
The first mistake already lies in the fact of having accepted paper tickets, at least in part. It is already accepting that fraud can be organized as printers and software are today capable of reproducing and creating anything. This could only have delayed the entry and created grotesque situations in which jostling, impatience, vociferations and provocations took shape before being repressed.
Added to this, without a doubt, were the quite questionable choices of intervention, in the eyes of the public who crowded together and grew impatient. No hooligan, but supporters, certainly angry at not being able to enter the stadium, but also women, families, people of all ages. Added to these factors are transport strikes not anticipated by the organizers and the government, which could have provided alternative means.
These incidents, provided that everyone recognizes their responsibility for them, constitute a warning of what must be thought about, considered and implemented in a year (Rugby World Cup) or two years (Olympic Games 2024).
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
TRUTH OR DISINFORMATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN SICK ? |  The state of health of the Russian president has been fueling rumors for many weeks.
According to the weekly Newsweek, a report that was compiled by Washington in late May claims that the Russian president was treated for "advanced stage" cancer before reappearing in the media in April.
The American magazine quotes on condition of anonymity three senior American intelligence officials, "in three different agencies":
one working in the office of the Directorate of National Intelligence (DNI), one in the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and a former Air Force officer.
So far, the leaks have come mainly from British tabloids and not necessarily very reliable ex-spies.
But the latter, even if it emanated from American intelligence, would it not be part of American disinformation?
The quality of this information should therefore be taken with a grain of salt.
At the end of May, Sergei Lavrov, head of diplomacy in Moscow, assured that Vladimir Putin was doing well.
"I do not believe that anyone with all his senses can see in this person (Putin) signs of any illness or ailment", said the Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time, underlining the "daily appearances from its leader.
“Everyone feels that their end is near”, believes one of the officials, but another warns that we must not fall into “wishful thinking” (taking our dreams for reality), like the United States were able to do it with Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden.
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
JUDICIARY VICTORY OF JOHNNY DEPP AGAINST AMBER HEARD GUILTY OF DEFAMATION
|
After six weeks of a trial during which no scabrous details about their toxic relationship were spared, neither the jurors nor the millions of spectators who followed the hearings, broadcast live every day, like episodes of a series , Johnny Depp's lawyers managed to convince the jury. The seven jurors – five men and two women – indeed answered in the affirmative to the question of whether the title and two passages of the tribune, published by the Washington Post in 2018 and signed by Amber Heard, contained remarks defamatory towards Johnny Depp, according to the reading of their decision.
A column published in 2018 in question
The star of the Pirates of the Caribbean saga sued his ex-wife for a forum in which she said she was "a public figure representing domestic violence". Although he is not named, Johnny Depp believed that this media outlet had destroyed his career and his reputation and claimed 50 million dollars.
And to award damages, they also ruled that the author of the declarations had acted out of "real malice". The actress was therefore ordered to pay 15 million dollars in damages to the actor of Pirates of the Caribbean.
However, the jury also awarded Amber Heard $2 million in damages in her own counterclaim, in which she claimed that statements by a controversial lawyer for Johnny Depp - who called the charges violence that she carried against her ex-husband of "hoax" - had harmed her.
"Inexpressible disappointment"
“Devastated”, the star of Aquaman confided his “inexpressible disappointment” just after the verdict. She said she was heartbroken, and it was a step back for women. “The disappointment I feel today is beyond words. I am heartbroken that the mountain of evidence is still not enough to stand up to the disproportionate power, influence and sway of my ex-husband, Amber Heard said. I am even more disappointed with what this verdict means for other women. It's a setback. It harkens back to a time when a woman who spoke up and spoke out could be publicly shamed and humiliated. It pushes back the idea that violence against women should be taken seriously,” she said.
Willingness to appeal
Amber Head wants to appeal the verdict pronounced this Wednesday, May 31, 2022. However, the courts of appeal can only interfere in a verdict if the judge's decisions have seriously undermined the verdict, but it will be difficult to find a fault on this side- there, say specialists relayed by the American press. The other problem is that it is not possible to appeal a finding of fact, such as the finding of the jurors who found that Amber Heard had acted maliciously, that she had lied, that she had defamed.
To be granted an appeal, Heard will therefore have to demonstrate that there were errors in the trial or in the judge's reading of the law.
"Given back his life".
Johnny Depp was absent for the verdict "due to professional commitments made before the trial", according to the ABC television channel, citing sources close to the actor. In a statement to the press, Johnny Depp thanked the jurors for giving him "his life back".
“From the beginning, the goal of bringing this case was to reveal the truth, whatever the outcome. Telling the truth was something I owed to my children and to everyone who supported me unwaveringly. I feel at peace knowing that I have finally accomplished this”.
After all this sordid unpacking on their ex-couple Johnny Depp will he again be able to seduce the spectators and particularly the female public? Some of his remarks contained in text messages quoted during the trial, in which Johnny Depp notably called his ex-wife a “rotting corpse” and had sworn that she would suffer “total humiliation”, undoubtedly shocked.
Other Hollywood stars, such as Robert Downey Jr for example, have however made a successful comeback after devastating controversies for their careers.... |
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE ELIZABETH II JUBILEE PROGRAM
|
 The United Kingdom will celebrate its queen with great fanfare from this Thursday, June 2, 2022 for her 70 years of reign.
For the occasion, the whole country will dress in British colors. Many residents have decorated their homes.
The streets and shops are also ready to celebrate the Queen. Four days of festivities for this jubilee with a great parade, thousands of light signals lit in all the countries of the Commonwealth and dozens of festive meals.
For the occasion, Thursday June 2 and Friday June 3 have been declared public holidays throughout the kingdom. The queen's subjects will thus be able to attend all the celebrations on the program for these four days, which are akin to a marathon.
Thursday, June 2: anniversary and military parade
To kick off the festivities, more than 1,500 soldiers and musicians from the British army will parade in the streets for the "Salut aux couleurs" ceremony which will take place from noon, Paris time. This is to celebrate a second time the "official" birthday of the Queen, yet born on April 21. They will join Trafalgar Square at Buckingham Palace. The Royal Air Force will engage in an aerial ballet.
This military parade is a tradition that goes back more than two centuries. June 2 also marks the coronation of Elizabeth II, on June 2, 1953. Like all her predecessors since Edward VII, Queen Elizabeth II, who was born on April 26, 1926, is entitled to a second birthday celebrated in June.
It's an opportunity for the Queen and the entire working royal family, which excludes Harry, Meghan and Prince Andrew, who signed a financial deal to end sexual assault charges, to attend a parade military: the “Trooping colors”. An event that the queen can not miss.
In the evening, more than 2,800 beacons in honor of the Queen will be lit at the Palace and across the UK. This tradition is called the “Platinum Jubilee Beacons”.
Nine bridges spanning the Thames in London will also be illuminated, as will the iconic BT Tower (eleventh tallest skyscraper in London) in the capital, and several English cathedrals. Signals also lit in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and British Overseas Territories.
The same is true in the 54 Commonwealth capitals on five continents, from the Kingdom of Tonga in the South Pacific to Belize in the Caribbean.
Friday, June 3: high mass
A religious service, to give thanks to Queen Elizabeth II, will be held at Saint Paul's Cathedral this Friday morning. It will be an opportunity to hear the biggest bell in the country ring, for only the ninth time since 1970, its broken mechanism having been repaired in 2021.
Saturday June 4: horse racing and concert
Saturday will be one of the busiest days of the week across the Channel. The Queen is a keen horse racer and she is expected to attend the prestigious Epsom Derby race. The Royal Family are expected at Epsom Racecourse in Surrey from 5.30pm.
In the evening, a big concert will animate Buckingham Palace. 22,000 spectators – including 5,000 key workers during the Covid-19 pandemic – are expected in the courtyard of the Palace to attend the BBC Platinum Party show, broadcast live on the BBC.
On the menu, a 2.5-hour concert with prestigious headliners including Elton John, Diana Ross, Alicia Keys, Nile Rodgers, Craig David and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli. The British representative at Eurovision, Sam Ryder, will also be there.
Sunday June 5: outdoor dining and parade in London
This Sunday will be marked initially by the party in the street. This will begin with a giant “jubilee lunch” in the streets of London. Alfresco dining will be held across the kingdom and millions of Britons are expected.
More than 600 lunches are also planned in Commonwealth countries and the rest of the world, from Canada to Brazil, from New Zealand to Japan and from South Africa to Switzerland.
This platinum jubilee will end with a great festive parade through the streets of London to Buckingham Palace. About 10,000 dancers, actors and musicians will take part in this show, which is supposed to represent the longevity of the reign of Elizabeth II through the upheavals that the country has gone through over the past 70 years.
Then, it will be the British star Ed Sheeran who will close these four days of festivities. He will lead the a cappella performance of the anthem "God save the Queen", in the courtyard of the royal palace.
|
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
AFTER CANNES IN CANNES
|
Cannes begins with the arrival of our team with our "CEO" who takes us to the command of his jet (and yes he loves to pilot) in Cannes-Mandelieu.
Then after an interminable wait, the cars arrive for Cannes. Once installed, it's madness !
 More work than you can even imagine!! After all this, here is the results of this Cannes 2022 !!!
The 75th Cannes Film Festival has given back its panache to an event that had suffered a lot in recent years ! But after the sequins, the strasses, a more discreet, even more confidential “Cannes” continues, where the companies, the agents, and a whole small world have finished organizing themselves for business. Do not forget the objective of Cannes, it is to present films but it is necessary well before that to finance them, the turns…. ! Some even say that Cannes 2023 is in the process of being built at the moment, here in discreet alcoves without bling-bling or projectors. Too bad no more sexy dresses, handsome kids who make you fall in love ( Hey! Tom, I already miss you ), but a ballet of sober and austere suits of ties, well I'm here with the team and as the "work it" said is work”. Files, documents, reports, interviews, nothing very glamorous but....!! I'm dying to tell you some secrets about what's going to happen in the coming months but I'm not sure I'm allowed to by......!
    To make you wait, I illustrate all this with some beautiful photos to make you wait before telling you more.
|
|
Mia Kennedy for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LIFTING OF THE STRICT CONTAINMENT OF SHANGAI
|
 The 2nd longest confinement in China, that of Shanghai, was finally lifted this Wednesday, June 1, 2022. For two whole months, 25 million exasperated inhabitants lived cloistered at home with very severe anti-covid restrictions. Several measures had already been relaxed in recent days thanks to a sharp drop in the number of positive cases. But the population could not usually go out, at best, for a few hours a day, and provided they were in a neighborhood without any cases.
Wednesday morning, therefore, Shanghainese returned to work, while some stores reopened. The metro and public transport were working again. “This is the moment we have been waiting for for a long time”, welcomed the mayor of Shanghai on social networks.
Authorities have warned, however, that the return to normal is not for now.
Restrictions still in place
Shopping centers, convenience stores, pharmacies and beauty salons can only operate at 75% of their capacity. Sports halls and cinemas will remain closed and the reopening of schools will be done on a case-by-case basis.
The shutdown of China's largest city was a crushing blow for Shanghainese.
Despite a dizzying increase in positive cases in March, the municipality initially dismissed the idea of confinement, citing the importance of Shanghai for the economy.
But the authorities reversed their decision in early April to hastily confine the entire metropolis. Some residents were already there long before this date. Many have been exasperated by the problems with the supply of fresh produce and access to non-Covid medical care.
A confinement that has weakened the economy, penalized production, limited consumption and seriously disrupted supply chains.
|
|
Carl Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
A PACK OF NEW EU SANCTIONS
AGAINST RUSSIA |  At the end of a European summit in Brussels, Emmanuel Macron detailed, Tuesday, May 31, 2O22, the sanctions taken by the European Union against Moscow after its offensive in Ukraine.
1° Reduce EU imports of Russian oil by 90% by the end of the year. The agreement provides for a temporary exemption to transport Russian oil by pipeline in order to lift Hungary's veto.
2° Extend the blacklist to eighty Russian oligarchs.
3° Prohibit three television channels.
4° Exclude Russian banks from the Swift international system, including Sberbank
For the Head of State, “this sixth package [of sanctions against Russia] is historic. Exemption measures have been decided for very dependent States (…) and which do not have access to the sea, in a very specific framework with a time limit of eighteen to twenty-four months”. “We are sanctioning Russia and we are helping Ukraine because there is a war on our continent decided by Russia against a people, against democracy. Our objective is always the same: to stop the war without participating. »
Emmanuel Macron also announced that he had proposed to Vladimir Putin the vote of a resolution at the UN to lift the Russian blockade of the port of Odessa in order to allow the export of Ukrainian cereals which are blocked there. "I proposed, in the discussion we had with Olaf Scholz [the German Chancellor] last Saturday, to President Putin that we take the initiative of a resolution at the United Nations to give a very clear framework to this operation" , he declared after a European summit in Brussels.
Emmanuel Macron also reacted to the death of Frédéric Leclerc-Imhoff, a French journalist killed by shrapnel in the Donbass, while he was in a humanitarian convoy.
He “condemned in the strongest terms” the “unacceptable” remarks by Russian officials questioning the young man's status as a journalist.
|
|
Boby Dean for DayNewsWorld |
 |
WHY ARE ELECTRICITY PRICES SOAR ?
|
Taxes and transport costs, as well as the financing of the energy transition, explain in particular why liberalization has not, as expected, led to a drop in prices.
Between 2007, a symbolic date in France since it marks the eligibility of all consumers for market tariffs, and 2020, the average price per megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity for households rose from 124 euros at 181 euros, or 57 euros per MWh of increase. At first glance, the finding is therefore clear: with nearly a 50% increase since 2007, the opening up to competition does not seem to have fulfilled its objective of lowering prices for consumers.
The two finalists of the last presidential election, Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, moreover openly debated it during the intervening rounds and, if the proposed remedies differed, both agreed on the fact that the market energy system was inefficient and would, in its current form, contribute to price increases. This is also the conclusion of the central social and economic committee of Electricité de France (EDF), which has just launched a petition for the exit from the European electricity market and the return to a public energy service. For his part, the leader of the left, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who aims to become Prime Minister after the legislative elections, calls for a return to a national energy market.
But is this surge in prices really linked to the liberalization of the sector, which was precisely supposed to stimulate competition and therefore innovation, particularly in the deployment of renewable energies (EnR), and lower prices? In reality, the observation appears more nuanced.
First of all, part of this increase is explained by taxes (particularly the CSPE) which weighed 25% on the consumer's bill in 2007 (i.e. 31 euros/MWh), and 34% in 2020 (i.e. 61 .5 euros/MWh). In other words, the increase in taxes alone explains 31.5 euros/MWh out of the 57 euros/MWh increase in average prices observed (ie 55.3% of the total).
Prices would soar if France isolated itself
Another part of the increase is based on the costs inherent in the transport networks, which had to be reassessed on several occasions to take into account the necessary investments in the maintenance, but also the modernization of these essential infrastructures. This modernization seems all the more necessary as electricity production becomes decentralized (particularly with the deployment of renewable energies), and as new uses develop. These electricity transmission tariffs (Turpe) thus rose from 41 euros/MWh in 2007 to 53.5 euros/MWh in 2020, or 21.9% of the total increase observed.
A quick calculation therefore allows us to deduce that supply costs, or in other words, market factors, explain on average only 22.8% (100%-55.3%-21.9%) of the price increase observed over the period, i.e. approximately 13 euros/MWh. For opponents of the European energy market, this residual 22.8% would therefore sound like an acknowledgment of failure and would justify a return to national markets.
However, according to projections by RTE (manager of the national high-voltage electricity transmission network), an isolated France by 2050-2060 would cost taxpayers several billion more per year. Indeed, to reduce our CO2 emissions and our dependence on fossil fuels, we have already closed and planned the closure of the equivalent of nearly 10 gigawatts (GW) of thermal power plants. In addition, our aging nuclear power plants are experiencing prolonged shutdown and monitoring periods that prevent their full operation.
All this makes France an importer of electricity, in particular to cover its consumption peaks. In 2021, RTE reminds us that France will have imported 44 terawatt-hours (TWH, one million MWh) of electricity (including 22.2 TWh from Germany and Benelux). This figure was “only” 27.5 TWh in 2007!
This can only mean two things: France is finding it increasingly difficult to cover its domestic energy needs and/or it is sometimes profitable for it to import energy, especially when market prices are low.
The EDF paradox
In the midst of this market dynamic, EDF is the object of a curious paradox. It should be understood that the main player in the electricity production market in France remains bound to cede to its competitors a ceiling of 100 TWh/year of nuclear energy at an "Arenh" tariff (regulated access to historical nuclear energy ) fixed since 2012 at 42 euros/MWh.
This provision, which commits about a quarter of EDF's nuclear production capacity, has enabled the establishment of competition on the supply market, electricity of nuclear origin being highly competitive, in particular to cover “basic” needs. It is also very much in demand at present due to soaring market prices.
The Arenh, which has not been revised since 2012, is supposed to cover EDF's nuclear electricity production costs.
However, this is no longer the case if we are to believe the Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) and the incumbent operator, who respectively estimate these production costs at 48.36 euros/MWh and 53 euros/ MWh.
In other words, EDF sells part of its nuclear production at a loss... which, from the point of view of the French taxpayer who participated in the constitution of the EDF fleet and is one of its shareholders, is akin to a double penalty since, at the same time, it is also being hit by rising prices.
However, it should not be overlooked that EDF is both a leader in the supply of electricity, but also a very important exporter. And if it loses money on the 100 TWh conceded at the Arenh tariff, it gains some on the rest of its production, all the more so when market prices soar! Moreover, its cost price remains very competitive, due in particular to its nuclear and hydropower revenues.
On the balance sheet, despite the paradox of the Arenh, this situation allows it to generate significant gains that benefit the state shareholder… and, in one way or another, the taxpayer. Are measures of the “energy shield” type, for example, not indirectly deducted from EDF's profits?
The heavy financing of renewables
Finally, it should be borne in mind that the opening up to competition met other objectives than simply lowering prices. It was also a question of reacting to a series of problems identified in the mid-1990s. At that time, the European Union had already anticipated a sharp increase in global demand for energy, and the subsequent tensions over access to fossil resources on which Europe remains highly dependent. European energy sovereignty cannot, in this context, do without a real unified energy policy that allows both to influence the markets, but also to plan the gradual exit from fossil fuels. The method of financing renewable energies (EnR) and their costs associated with their integration into the network thus partly explains the price increases.
Indeed, private financing is carried out at a market rate generally between 4% and 7% when the State could benefit from much more advantageous financing conditions. In other words, the energy transition is more expensive – all other things being equal – when it involves private rather than public investment. Certainly, but that would be to forget a little too quickly that the European States, already burdened with very significant sovereign debt for some, have multiple budgetary arbitrations to carry out (subject to the constraints of complying, in normal times, with the Stability and Growth Pact) . However, they already directly and indirectly subsidize renewables a lot, through purchase obligations at a regulated price or additional remuneration for the exclusive benefit of renewables producers.
Renewables also have the disadvantage of being intermittent, but above all decentralized and generated by multiple heterogeneous producers. This dispersion makes the network more difficult to control and balance and requires massive investments to adapt the lines to this new situation. For example, the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE), which transports electricity in France, plans some 33 billion euros in investments by 2035 (including 13 billion for the absorption of renewable energies alone), and an exponential increase beyond that depending on the share of renewables in the French energy mix.
In return, these investments pave the way for more intelligent management of energy, and the development of the uses that go hand in hand, whether it is the massive electrification of vehicle fleets, "smart" electrical networks (smart grids) allowing production/injection of energy that can be adjusted in real time, remote control of demand… In short, an optimization that will ultimately lead to better energy efficiency. And to continue to reduce, by increasing the density of our renewable energy park, our CO2 emissions. The evolution of tariffs in the future will therefore partly reflect our political choices concerning the environment.
We understand from reading this brief overview that, of course, we remain far from the promises of moderating price competition, but that all the price increases do not result from the imperfections of the liberalized market, and that the many benefits linked to the construction of the European energy market cannot be totally overlooked .
However, the leeway to protect consumers' wallets and ensure the energy transition remains limited.
Unless we bet on energy sobriety, see the emergence of radical innovations in energy generation, or hope for more favorable macro conditions, the rise in prices does not seem to be able to be stemmed in the short term. And this, even if it was decided to cap the marketing expenditure of suppliers, EDF and its rivals that have appeared since 2007...
Julien Pillot , Teacher-Researcher in Economics (Inseec) / Associate Professor (U. Paris Saclay) / Associate Researcher (CNRS), INSEEC Grande École
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license |
|
|
|
Simon Freeman for DayNewsWorld |
 |
PRESIDENTIAL IN COLOMBIA
SOON A LEFT PRESIDENT ? |  The candidate of the historic Pact coalition, Gustavo Petro, won 40% of the votes in the first round, against 28% for Rodolfo Hernandez. Mr. Petro could become the country's first left-wing president after the polls on June 19.uche
Gustavo Petro came out on top on Sunday, May 29, in the first round of the presidential election in Colombia. He will face, in the second round, an independent candidate, Rodolfo Hernandez, according to the provisional official results published in the evening. Mr. Petro has 40.32% of the vote, ahead of Mr. Hernandez (28.20%). Conservative candidate Federico Gutierrez is in third place with 23.87%, a surprise result that marks an unprecedented defeat for Colombia's traditional right. For the first time in its history, Colombia could elect a leftist president in the election presidential election, the second round of which will take place on June 19.
In the opinion of all observers, Senator Petro, a former guerrilla convert to social democracy, an economist and former mayor of Bogotá, was able to exploit the thirst for change shown by Colombians in the face of inequalities and corruption, a need which he made his emblem with his slogan "For life".
The four years in office of outgoing Conservative President Ivan Duque, who could not stand for re-election, saw no substantive reform. They have been marked by the pandemic, a deep recession, massive anti-government protests in cities and worsening violence by armed groups in the countryside. The "paro" (strike) of spring 2021, severely repressed by the police, revealed the extent of frustration, especially among young people, in the face of poverty, inequality and corruption, an evil endemic to the country. rural areas, guerrillas and armed groups linked to drug trafficking have increased their violence and their influence within communities, undermining the few achievements of the peace agreement signed in 2016 with the Marxist Farc.
“There are only two options: leave things as they are (…), which means more corruption, violence, hunger. Or change Colombia and lead it towards peace, prosperity and democracy,” Petro said on Sunday after voting in Bogota.
This is the third time that Mr. Petro has participated in the presidential election. This time, he has as a running mate for the vice-presidency an Afro-Colombian, Francia Marquez. The rise to the top of the state of this charismatic activist with a feminist and anti-racist discourse would also mark a turning point in Colombian politics, traditionally dominated by the same elites.
Facing the “Colombian Trump”
As some polls at the end of the campaign suggested, millionaire Rodolfo Hernandez, 77, came in second. The former mayor of the city of Bucaramanga (north), a businessman with often outrageous or eccentric statements, is nicknamed by the local press the "Colombian Trump".
While Mr. Gutierrez was seen throughout the campaign as Petro's challenger, these surprise results mark the historic rout of Colombia's old right, like his mentor, ex-president Alvaro Uribe, today. mired in legal disputes.
After Chile, Colombia is in the process of electing a left-wing president. The country could turn the page on half a century of right-wing government and see a black woman and environmental activist take up her vice presidency.
|
|
|
Alyson Braxton for DayNewsWorld |
 |
AWARDS OF THE 75TH CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
|
 The 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival ended this Saturday May 28, 2022 in the evening after twelve days of competition. The 2022 Cannes Film Festival jury chaired by Vincent Lindon presented its prizes during a closing ceremony hosted by Virginie Efira.
Palme d'or - Without filter
The most prestigious prize of the event, the Palme d'Or of the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival was awarded to Without Filter (Triangle of Sadness, in its original version), the sixth feature film by 48-year-old Swedish director Ruben Östlund . The film is an enjoyable satire that shatters the codes of modern society by following a couple of influencers and models on a luxury cruise where nothing goes as planned. This is for this filmmaker his second Palme d'or, the first having been awarded to him in 2017 for The Square.
Iranian actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi won the Best Actress award for her role in Ali Abbasi's thriller Holy Spider (The Nights of Mashhad).
The love of the Cannes Film Festival for South Korean cinema is confirmed once again with the distinction of actor Song Kang Ho (already headlining Parasite, palme d'or 2019). The actor was rewarded for his role in Les Bonnes Étoiles (Broker), the feature film by Japanese director Kore-Eda Hirokazu. The festival jury also rewarded South Korean director Park Chan-Wook (Mademoiselle, Thirst, Old Boy) for Decision to Leave.
Directors Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen (for Les Huit Montagnes) and Jerzy Skolimowski (for EO) share a jury prize ex aequo. While a special 75th anniversary prize was awarded to brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Tori and Lokita.
The full list
Palme d'or: Without filter by Ruben Östlund
Joint Grand Prize: Close by Lukas Dhont and Des étoiles à midi by Claire Denis
Best Actress Award: Zar Amir Ebrahimi in Holy Spider
Best Actor Award: Song Kang-ho in Les Bonnes étoiles
Joint Jury Prize: Les Huit Montagnes by Charlotte Vandermeersch and Felix Van Groeningen and EO by Jerzy Skolimowski
Best Director Award: Decision to leave by Park Chan-wook
Screenplay Prize: Boy from Heaven by Tarik Saleh
75th anniversary prize: Tori and Lokita by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for
Golden Camera: War Pony by Gina Gammell and Riley Keough
Special Mention of the Camera d'or: Plan 75 by Hayakawa Chie
Palme d'or for short film: The Water Murmurs by Jianying Chen
Special mention for the short film: Lori by Abinash Bikram Shah
Grand Prize - Close and Stars at Noon
A good vintage for the 75th Cannes Film Festival !
|
|
Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
EMILY RATAJKOWSKI DRAWS THE MARKETS OF THE CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 2022
|
   
   Customary of this Emily Ratajkowski panics the steps of the Cannes Film Festival 2022.
Fortunately, the red carpet is fireproof otherwise it would have caught fire under his feet.
With class and beauty, she delights all her fans as she does at each of her appearances.
Her perfect and so light makeup gives the impression that we are facing a fairy tale princess, chic, glamorous and sensual with her long transparent slit dress, adorned with black lace without forgetting to mention her new cut of awesome hair, with bangs that fit her like a glove and that will definitely inspire many of her fans.
Even though Emily was alone on the steps. Bad luck for gentlemen because our Emily is married (Hey Yes!), so her fans can only dream!.
Sure that in the weeks to come Emily will tell us more about her Cannes Film Festival 2022 which is regaining its splendor (end of the Covid-19 pandemic).
We bet that Emily Ratajkowski will not leave the Croisette immediately, and will still gratify us with her most beautiful assets in the days to come. Remember that the 75th Cannes Film Festival 2022 runs until Saturday May 28, without counting on the after Cannes or numerous negotiations, dialogues, meetings (artists, agents, producers, TV channels, and Major Networks, Vod,... ) take place to establish the projects (battle plan) to come concerning the 7th art.
With its beautiful images we can say to ourselves as in the song:
Summer will be hot, summer will be hot…!!
Emily continues for our greatest pleasure, very affectionately full of kisses!!!
Postscript (I have in my hood in preparation a new muse of which you will go crazy and who will set the fire Yes!: Light the fire, light the fire.... hi hi!! ) |
|
Mia Kennedy from Cannes for DayNewsWorld |
 |
SAFE FIASCO AT STADE DE FRANCE
|
 The Champions League final was postponed for a long time on Saturday May 28, 2022, due to incidents near the Stade de France (Seine-Saint-Denis). The gala match hasindeedtransferred to the debacle around 7:30 p.m. A kick-off postponed for more than thirty-five minutes. Images of congested supporters then sprayed with tear gas around the Stade de France. Intruders stepping over the gates of the enclosure. Stripped supporters. 27OO ticketed British supporters were unable to enter. The fiasco is resounding for the organization, and invites itself in the political field while the first round of the legislative elections is held in ten days. Between scenes of violence and overwhelmed security, the organization of the event was a serious failure.
An influx of Liverpool supporters with counterfeit tickets
This is the official version on which the Ministries of the Interior, Sports and UEFA agree. According to them, "thousands" of British supporters resorted to counterfeit tickets in an attempt to attend the Mersey club final. For the time being, it is difficult to know the extent of the phenomenon, even if a source within the organization assures us that a large number of these tickets have been identified. The FSE association evokes a “marginal” subject. One point may have favored the multiplication of these counterfeits. The Liverpool club, of which 20,000 supporters had valid tickets, asked to have paper tickets for the event. A support easier to divert than its electronic equivalent. Between 25,000 and 30,000 counterfeit banknotes were identified on Saturday evening. The prefect of police of Paris,
300 to 400 offenders
But a horde of young delinquents from the neighborhoods were also largely responsible for the mess that was created at the Stade de France. The number of 300 to 400 young people who looted personal effects and tickets for the match is mentioned. These young people also committed physical violence against the supporters present to enter the stadium. "We have undocumented thugs and city thugs who came opportunely to rob mainly Spanish and English spectators by stealing their personal effects, mobile phones and wallets and there were many thefts from vehicles parked around the Stade de France”, reported Matthieu Valet, spokesperson for the independent union of police commissioners to CNEWS. In addition, Jérôme Jimenez, Ile-de-France UNSA Police spokesperson,
Liverpool supporters and British officials were furious on Sunday. The Liverpool club immediately called for the opening of an investigation "to determine the causes of these unacceptable problems". On Sunday, Britain's Secretary of State for Sport, Nadine Dorries, called on "UEFA to launch a formal investigation to find out what went wrong and why, in cooperation with stadium staff, the French police, the French Football Federation, the Merseyside Police [the Liverpool region] and Liverpool FC”.
After this fiasco on Saturday, the ability of France to manage the crowds of supporters is called into question by the foreign press. An image of France once again tarnished two years before the Olympic Games in Paris.
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THIS TRADITION THAT IS MOTHER'S DAY
|
 This Sunday at the end of May families celebrate their mothers. A long tradition that dates back to ancient Greece: the Greeks already used to take advantage of spring to celebrate Rhea, the mother of the gods of Olympus. The Romans then appropriated the celebration in honor of Mater Matuta, goddess of dawn and childbirth at the summer solstice and extended it to all mothers.
From the sixteenth century, in England, large families celebrated "Mothering Sunday", to which they invited their servants.
Across the Atlantic, Anna Jarvis, an American activist, decided in 1907 to launch a campaign to dedicate a day to those raising children. Her idea was born out of a desire to celebrate her own mother, whom she had lost three years earlier. In 1914, the text was finally approved by the government. Since then, the United States has celebrated "Mother's Day" every second Sunday in May.
It was only in the 19th century in France that Napoleon gave birth to the idea of a party that would celebrate all mothers in the spring. Originally, this day was intended to demonstrate the importance of family values and therefore to stimulate the birth rate. In 1906, the Fraternal Union of Deserving Fathers of Artas, in Isère, established a "Mother's Day" to reward the most deserving mothers. This will be democratized during the First World War with Colonel La Croix-Laval who created a "Mother's Day" in Lyon to pay tribute to all the women who lost their son or their husband during the war.
In 1920, a first nationwide "Mother's Day for large families" appeared. The government formalized "Mother's Day" in 1929 to support the pronatalist policy following the Great War. The first official ceremony in favor of women will not take place until April 20, 1926.
It was Marshal Pétain who definitively instituted "National Mother's Day" on May 25, 1941. But it was not until May 24, 1950 that the President of the Republic, Vincent Auriol signed a law that finally legitimized Mother's Day. mothers.
Mother's Day is now fixed for the last Sunday of May or the first weekend of June if it coincides with the date of Pentecost.
|
|
Emily Jackson for DayNewsWorld |
 |
There are no translations available.
|
|
|

|
Oui vous allez pas nous dire que vous n'avez pas aussi des fantasmes.
Refoulés ou non vous en avez.Des jeux coquins que l'on adore. Après enquête auprès de vous et de la pratique perso.....
|
Tu affiches un plantureux 75A !
.Avoir une petite poitrine est-il complexant ? Non: fais-en une force et assume ! Les points positifs et négatifs :Pour les premiers, tu ne souffres pas de .......
|
Un rendez-vous incontournable de la littérature que le Salon du livre de Paris :
Trois mille auteurs pendant quatre jours avec d'immenses auteurs, de grands poètes ........
|

|
Suite.... |
Suite.... |
Suite....
|
|

|
|
|
|

|
C'est Lady Gaga qui animera avec Bruno Mars et The Weeknd le grand show de Victoria's Secret et ses anges dans la Ville lumière.
L'événement se tient demain, au Grand Palais, pour être retransmis à la télévision américaine ..........
|
Le calendrier existe lui depuis 1964. Non commercialisé mais offert comme cadeau d'entreprise pour des clients importants ou les célébrités l'édition 2016 a été publiée par Pirelli le 30 novembre. Avec le photographe Peter Lindbergh le calendrier Pirelli 2017 met en valeur des corps......... |
Jamais les paradis fiscaux ne se sont aussi bien portés malgré la croisade lancée en 2009 par les dirigeants des pays développés.
Si l'on regarde l'origine géographique des investissements directs .....
|

|
Suite.... |
Suite.... |
Suite.... |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
AN ORCA IN DANGER IN THE SEINE WILL BE GUIDED TO THE CHANNEL
|
 An orca has been lost in the Seine for ten days. Spotted for the first time on May 16 near the Normandy bridge, it now finds itself in great difficulty between Le Havre and Rouen. Probably ill or injured, his vital prognosis is engaged.
“She is very weak and thin. His body is covered with fungus. But for the past few days, his condition has remained stable, "says Sophie Poncet, marine mammal specialist for the French Office for Biodiversity (OFB). This "male orca, a protected and wild species", is "very weakened", confirmed the prefecture of Seine-Maritime in a press release.
The orca, a young male of about four meters, would come from a population which is "on the side of Ireland", explained Sébastien Jacquot, project manager at the Cotentin Cetacean Study Group (GECC) . Usually, this species lives in groups, but several hypotheses have been put forward to explain this isolation. She would have escaped from the group “out of curiosity”, or to “hunt, seals probably”, assures Sébastien Jacquot. Delphine Eloi, of the GECC explains that an illness could have been the cause of this distance.
“It would thus have come to calmer waters to feed more easily. “Her state of health makes it more comfortable for her to be in a river because it's less rough. She spends less energy, but it's more complicated to feed herself: there is less prey than at sea. And she's all alone whereas these are animals that hunt in packs. “, she continues. This animal “naturally has no vocation to evolve separated from its group, nor in fresh water courses. Deprived of the minerals provided by seawater, the orca's immune system weakens in fresh water.
According to several specialists, the competent authorities must intervene to save his life.
This Friday, May 27, 2022, the prefecture of Seine-Maritime announced that a device would be put in place to attract the killer whale to the sea. been taken to favor a gentle intervention method, aimed at ensuring remote monitoring of the animal by using a drone, coordinated with an intervention aimed at ensuring the dissemination of sound stimuli (sounds emitted by a population of killer whales ) to attract and guide the animal to the sea,” she wrote in a statement.
This first attempt less invasive than a drive with boat maneuvers increases its chances of survival, by reducing the stress induced. Endowed with a particular intelligence, the orca in difficulty could also understand the subterfuge and not be attracted towards sound signals.
The experiment is a first in France, but has already been successful with a group of killer whales in Norway.
|
|
Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
3D PRINTABLE GUN
|
 The Americans should normally be able to ignore their own arms control system, quite legally.
People who are banned from buying guns, and those who want to own a gun that is illegal in their state could have easily circumvented the law.
3D printable guns?
Why ?
The little story:
An American crypto-anarchist had obtained permission to distribute 3D firearms manufacturing plans.
After several years of legal adventures, the Defense Distributed site had been authorized to distribute - legally - the 3D printing files of several types of firearms.
Among them, AR-15 style rifles, used in several mass shootings such as the one in Las Vegas or Parkland.
And this Wednesday, each inhabitant had prepared to be able to make a "do it yourself" gun using a simple 3D printer, from home and without any restrictions. The plans were to be published on the web this Wednesday!!
These guns are all plastic, but have the capacity and power to fire live ammunition.
These functional weapons, nicknamed "phantom weapons", from a digitized plan are completely anonymous, and without it being possible to trace them, unlike those produced by an approved manufacturer.
The creation and publication of these weapons plans had been made possible following an agreement in June 2018 between the government and Cody Wilson.
On the homepage of its site is indicated: "August 1, 2018: the era of downloadable weapons officially begins".
But prosecutors in eight U.S. states have announced they will ask a federal judge to block the plastic weapons 3D printing program from going online.
The embarrassment of the White House was such that Donald Trump himself said on Tuesday, before the court decision was rendered, that the sale of plastic guns did not make "very much sense" to him.
"The dissemination of these files is now illegal," insisted Judge Lasnik. But Cody Wilson, the founder of the Texas organization Defense Distributed, at the initiative of the Liberator, anticipated the bans and posted the plans for seven models of pistols online as of Friday, July 27, 2018.
Judge Robert Lasnik ruled in his injunction that the online dissemination of these files undermines the security of Americans. "There are 3D printers in universities and public places and there is a risk of irreparable damage," said the magistrate at the end of the one-hour hearing.
"It's just insane to give criminals the tools to 3D print untraceable and undetectable weapons at the push of a button," said New York State Attorney Barbara Underwood. attached to the court proceedings.
The assessment in 2022, after its declarations of 2018 is without appeal! The number of weapon files has multiplied so much around the world that it seems illusory to stop this by law the distribution of 3d printing files of firearms.
|
|
|
| Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
POLLEN ALLERGY ALERT
|
 All you have to do is read the map of the risk of allergy to pollens updated on May 25, 2022 by the National Aerobiological Surveillance Network (RNSA): only two departments of metropolitan France, Landes and Pyrénées-Atlantiques present currently a "medium" risk of allergy to pollens.
Elsewhere, “the risk of allergy is high throughout the country and will remain so for several more weeks with very favorable weather conditions for the emission and dispersion of high concentrations of grass pollen in the air. »
This is why the RNSA recommends four applications to download to your smartphone: “Pollen alerts”, “My life as an allergik”, “Pollen” and “MASK-AIR” which can help people suffering from pollen.
|
|
Abby Shelcore for DayNewsWorld |
 |
TEXAS SCHOOL SHOOTING
CAUSED 21 DEAD |
 An 18-year-old American opened fire in an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on Tuesday May 24, 2022, killing 21 people, including 19 children under the age of 10 and 2 teachers. The teenager, who had two assault rifles (it is not known if these are the weapons he used to perpetrate this massacre), was shot dead by the police after barricading himself in the establishment, reported several American media, including CNN and the New York Times.
The shooter was quickly identified as Salvador Ramos, an 18-year-old American boy who had recently shared photos of guns and ammunition on his social media.
A former classmate, with whom he still played video games online from time to time, also told CNN that he had exchanged messages with him four days before the shooting. “He sent me a picture of the weapon he was using…and a backpack full of ammunition,” he explained to the American channel.
“I asked him: Bro, why do you have that ?
And he answered me:
Do not worry.
Then: I am very different now. You wouldn't recognize me. "
Chronology of events
The first elements indicate that the assailant shot his grandmother before going to the primary school. The latter is still hospitalized in a state of emergency. During a speech, the governor of Texas explained that he did not know the link between the facts.
Equipped with a bulletproof vest and a rifle, he would then have taken his car and had a “spectacular accident”. Then, chased by the police, he entered the school where he opened fire.
Bullied when he was younger
According to several American sources, Salvador Ramos was the victim of harassment during his schooling. What his former classmate, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed with CNN. He explained that the shooter's family had serious financial difficulties and that the other students made fun of him daily because of his clothes. Reason why he would have "slowly abandoned school", according to this witness.
The arms lobby
“When, for God's sake, are we going to face the gun lobby? “Reacted Joe Biden, while the United States is unfortunately regularly in this kind of school shooting. A few days ago, a man opened fire in a Buffalo convenience store with racist motives, killing a dozen people.
While Joe Biden and Barack Obama have called for “standing up against the gun lobby”, some Republican Party politicians believe that the solution, on the contrary, lies in massive arming in schools. Texas Senator Ted Cruz has proposed putting more armed police in schools, saying it would be more effective than restricting gun control laws. "We know from experience that the most effective tool to keep children safe is armed law enforcement on campus," he told reporters, as reported by Newsweek.
Arm the teachers
Texas State Attorney General Ken Paxton, meanwhile, suggested that giving the teachers guns could have prevented the tragedy. Paxton said one way to prevent mass shootings would be to make it "more difficult for people to even get to that entry point," by having "teachers and other administrators who have gone through training and who are armed," added, "First responders usually can't get there in time to prevent a shooting, it's just not possible unless they have a police officer on camera on every campus, which for many of these schools is almost impossible. I think you're going to have to do more in school, because that meansusually very short periods of time, and you need to have trained people on campus to respond. »
A way out
“If only 30% of Americans own guns, there is quite a lot of support for the Second Amendment,” according to Marie-Christine Bonzom, a journalist specializing in the United States. “But there is also a lot of support around the restriction of firearms,” she also notes.
“Fundamental reform in the United States, what would it be ?
It would be a reform that would be inspired by what has been done in Australia, that is to say the creation of a national firearms register, ”she says.
The Australians indeed tightened the legislation around the weapons in 1996.
According to a study published in 2017 by two researchers, this new framework has led to a 61% drop in the number of firearm deaths in the country compared to the standards prevailing before its implementation.
|
|
|
|
Alyson Braxton for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LIFE PRISON SENTENCE OF RUSSIAN SOLDIER TRIED FOR WAR CRIME
|
 The verdict in the first war crimes trial fell on Monday, May 23, 2022 in Kiev. A 21-year-old Russian soldier who admitted killing a 62-year-old civilian who was pushing his bicycle while on the phone at the start of the Russian offensive has been found guilty by a court in the capital.
The boyish-faced, shaven-headed soldier, dressed in a gray and blue sweater, listened to the verdict, alone in a glass box. "The murder was committed with direct intent," the judge said. “Chichimarine violated the laws and customs of war,” he continued.
During the trial last week, Vadim Chichimarine admitted to having shot the sexagenarian but said he was "sincerely sorry" and had "asked forgiveness" from the victim's widow, justifying his act by the "orders" received at that time. the.
Arguments swept away by the prosecution who had demanded life imprisonment. "He was carrying out a criminal order and was well aware of it," said one of the prosecutors.
The soldier will appeal his sentence, according to his lawyer.
According to the Ukrainian prosecutor's office, the country has opened more than 12,000 war crimes investigations since the start of the conflict.
|
|
|
|
Carl Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
TOP GUN MAVERICK WITH TOM CRUISE |
 To see Top Gun: Maverick is to be instantly taken with a feeling of déjà vu. Joseph Kosinski's film, broadcast out of competition at the Cannes Film Festival this Wednesday, May 18, does not just take up the codes of the original Top Gun.
The 2022 version quite simply acts as a remake: the identical scenes follow one another, playing on the same codes and the same narrative axes, using the same little sentences that kill.
The Maverick that we left in 1986 after 1h50 of film seems forced to relive the same sequence identically, Age of Tomorrow style.
And yet, Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick are fraternal twins.
A little hint of nostalgia is already missing from the Top Gun reunion promised by the second installment, which is released in France on May 25.
If Maverick and Iceman will be reunited, we will not see Charlie again. There was no question of re-casting Kelly McGillis for the simple reason that her character does not appear in the Tom Gun script:
maverick. Exit her role as an instructor and her romance with the hero embodied by Tom Cruise, so, thirty years after the events of the story released in 1986, the whole issue for director Joseph Kosinski was not to "always look in the 'back " :
"[The first installment stories] aren't stories we're pitching" for the sequel, he told Insider.
For the director, it was “important to introduce new characters […] It was an incredible opportunity to integrate the character of Jennifer Connelly. The 51-year-old actress plays Penny Benjamin, the romantic protagonist of this new era for Top Gun.
Top Gun wasn't the hottest movie of the 1980s. But still, young Tom Cruise, with his crooked teeth and beatnik smile, Charlie's (Kelly McGillis) wavy hair and penetrating gaze, had something hot.
We see again with excitement this scene where, invited to dinner at his teacher's house, Pete Mitchell asks him if he can "take a shower", before discussing everything and nothing on the patio. The shower is taken by Top Gun: Maverick. Never has a sex scene been so stark as the one that brings together Tom Cruise and Penny (Jennifer Connely) in the single mother's attic. So nothing happens on the screen that one comes to doubt that they really slept together.
Top Gun was a height of homoeroticism, but Maverick does not seem determined to take over this part of the legacy of Tony Scott's blockbuster. The modest love between Pete Mitchell and the one who shared his cockpit, Goose (Anthony Edwards), died with the co-pilot. This love, which unfolded with great blows of hefty, bare-chested guys in the locker rooms of the flight school, is replaced by a good old conflicting father-son relationship between Tom Cruise and Goose's son.
Goose, original co-pilot of Pete Mitchell, died in the crash of his plane, after having ejected in flight. The experience, traumatic for Pete Mitchell, is all the more so for the widow of Goose and their infant, Bradley.
Thirty-five years have passed but the son has forgiven nothing for his father's co-pilot, especially since he rotted his record at flight school, for reasons he does not know.
Miles Teller was given the heavy task of playing the role of Bradley Bradshaw: a character torn between his resentment towards Pete Mitchell and his sense of military duty.
Teller delivers a fair and sensitive performance of this character. And the narrative axis it carries is crucial, but let's say no more.
And for aviation enthusiasts: In Maverick, Top Gun students no longer fly Grumman F-14 Tomcats like in 1986, but Boeing F-18 Super Hornets. The enemy MiGs have disappeared, like the red star on their bodywork...
The voice of Val Kilmer (Iceman) is a subject that, today, is not funny.
The actor, a huge fallen Hollywood star, underwent a tracheotomy in 2017, following throat cancer. Unable to speak, he is voiced by an artificial intelligence in Top Gun: Maverick. Which allows his character to express himself to taunt this devil of Pete Mitchell: “From you or me, Pete, who is the best driver ? smiles Iceman.
Response from Tom Cruise: "We had such a good time so far." |
|
Andrew Preston from Cannes for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE UNITED STATES RAISE THE TONE AGAINST CHINA
TO DEFEND TAIWAN |  Usa President Joe Biden has said in Tokyo that he would be prepared to use force to defend Taiwan, appearing to move away from the U.S. policy of "strategic ambiguity" under which Washington is helping Taipei strengthen its defence, but without explicitly promising to come to its aid in the event of an attack from China.
Joe Biden made this statement at the end of his talks with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The American president wants to tone up American strategy in Asia as Japan is determined to strengthen its military capabilities as part of its alliance with the United States.
The American president thus answered “yes” during a press conference, “if China invades Taiwan, we will come to its defense”. Then he brings this nuance: “We agreed with the policy of one China, but that Taiwan can be taken by force, it is not appropriate. The Chinese are already flirting with danger by flying so close to Taiwan. »
Dissuade China from invading Taiwan
This franchise access from Joe Biden relieves Japan, which would be on the front line in the event of an attack on Taiwan by China. The last Japanese island, in the very south, is only a hundred kilometers from Taiwan.
On Russia, Joe Biden says, “Making Putin pay a high price for his invasion of Ukraine is necessary to deter China from invading Taiwan. »
Maintain calm economic relations with China
The US president is tough on the diplomatic front with China, but he is looking for appeasement on the economic front.
Joe Biden is ready to lift certain tariff barriers vis-à-vis China. Big American business wants neither an economic war nor a military war with China.
Biden launches new Asia-Pacific economic partnership
Joe Biden announces the start of a new economic partnership in Asia-Pacific with 13 first countries, excluding China which does not see it with a good eye. "It's a commitment to work with our close friends and partners in the region on the challenges that matter most to ensuring economic competitiveness in the 21st century," the US president said in Tokyo during a press conference with Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.
This new Indo-Pacific Partnership (IPEF), which is not a free trade agreement, revolves around four key sectors: the digital economy, supply chains, green energies and the fight against corruption. It is made up of 13 countries, the famous diplomatic "Quad": the United States, Japan, India and Australia, as well as Brunei, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand , the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Together, they represent 40% of global GDP, and are well regarded in business circles. Other countries could be included.
But this partnership does not include Taiwan, which is world champion in semiconductors.
With this initiative, the United States wants to offer an alternative to China, the second world power, very influential in Asia-Pacific.
Beijing also accuses Washington of seeking
"to form small cliques in the name of freedom and openness" hoping to "contain China", according to Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
|
|
|
|
Boby Dean for DayNewsWorld |
 |
A MEMBER OF THE MARCOS FAMILY RETURNS
IN POWER HERE'S WHAT IT MEANS FOR
DEMOCRACY IN THE PHILIPPINES | Under Duterte 's rule since 2016, the president has earned a reputation for using disinformation on social media - particularly via Facebook - to cultivate support for his brutal "war on drugs". At the same time, he frequently attacked the work of journalists and critics of his regime.
Duterte made a deliberate attempt to undermine the free press. In December 2020, after months of systematic targeting by President Duterte, the Philippine Congress voted to shut down ABS-CBN – the country's largest broadcast network.
The Philippines remains one of the most dangerous places for journalists. As recently as December 2021, journalist Jesus Malabanan was shot dead by gunmen in his own home. Malabanan, a well-respected journalist who worked on Reuters' coverage of the Philippines' drug war, was the 22nd journalist murdered under Duterte's regime.
The weakening and intimidation of journalism and independent media have paved the way for the growth of disinformation.
Bongbong Marcos' presidential run has been widely criticized for media manipulation. And misinformation has been at the heart of shifting public opinion toward the family.
In 2019, Rappler, the independent news site founded by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa, conducted a three-part investigation that revealed the extent to which Marcos deployed digital propaganda to propel himself into favor. of the public through the use of disinformation disseminated on other social networks. platforms, and through various fan pages and other viral content. The early Marcos regime was recast in misleading propaganda that portrayed the era as a time of progress while denying its human rights abuses.
And in 2020, Cambridge Analytica whistleblower Barbara Kaiser alleged that Marcos contacted the company – known for its collection of Facebook user data for political campaigns – in a bid to further bolster the picture of his family. The Marcos campaign denies this link.
Never again ?
Bongbong Marcos' election comes nearly 50 years after his father declared martial law on September 23, 1972.
This original era of Marcos – with its extrajudicial executions and rampant corruption – was subjected to revisionism, with many Filipinos seeing the Marcos years as a time of stability and growth while ignoring abuses. The $10 billion looted by the Marcos - which once made headlines - is less talked about. Imelda Marcos, herself a notorious kleptocrat, has turned into an object of fascination.
Protesters gather holding signs saying 'Never Again Martial Law'.
Meanwhile, the voices of martial law era survivors and activists who oppose authoritarian rule have become less effective in the face of President Duterte's popularity. Their message of "never again" failed to disrupt the Marcos family's return to power.
In 2018, on the 35th anniversary of Ninoy Aquino's assassination, Imee Marcos - Bongbong's sister - said that "Generation Y has evolved [from the story of Ferdinand Marcos], and I think the people my age should also move forward".
From Adrian De Leon, published in TheConversation Assistant Professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences University of Southern California
His brother's electoral victory seems to have given reason to Imee Marcos. |
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE BORNE GOVERNMENT OR THE CALL OF THE FOOT ON THE MELANCHONIST LEFT |
 It is a government marked by continuity, but more cynically marked on the left,announced yesterday afternoon by Alexis Kohler, the secretary general of the Elysée. If the first government of Elisabeth Borne welcomes 13 new recruits out of the 27 ministers, deputy ministers and secretaries of state appointed yesterday, the vast majority of key positions have indeed been entrusted to pillars of the last five-year term.
Admittedly, the appointments to the Quai d'Orsay of Catherine Colonna and to Culture of Rima Abdul Malak could be a novelty, but in fact they are nothing extraordinary: the former, a seasoned diplomat, has already been a minister twice under Jacques Chirac and the second was until then the cultural adviser to Emmanuel Macron.
In addition, the vast majority of the most important positions have been entrusted to ministers already in place or to experienced politicians. Indeed, to carry out the ecological planning, the tenant of Matignon has surrounded herself with two faces known to the Castex government. Amélie de Montchalin – ex-Public Service – who will be in charge of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion and Agnès Pannier-Runacher (ex-Industry) who will lead Energy Transition.
As for the other sovereign ministries, except for Foreign Affairs, therefore, there again, Elisabeth Borne trusted the “elders” of the last five-year term. Thus, Bruno Le Maire was reappointed at the head of Bercy as Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty. The one who put in place “whatever it costs” at the height of the pandemic, then the recovery plan and who had the support of the bosses and the support of Brussels confirms his key role in the macronie. He is now number 2 in the government. In number 3, another essential of the last quinquennium the former Sarkozyist Gérald Darmanin remains indeed inside. Damien Abad, the former boss of the LR deputies in the Assembly, is the latest war prize. The deputy for Ain inherits the Ministry of Solidarity, autonomy and people with disabilities. Yet given as a starting point, Éric Dupond-Moretti also retains his functions in Justice, despite his indictment. Finally, Sébastien Lecornu, the former overseas minister, waspromoted to the Armies, in place of Florence Parly.
In addition, Olivier Véran left Health to Brigitte Bourguignon (former Secretary of State in charge of autonomy) and took over the Ministry of Relations with Parliament. As for Gabriel Attal, he was appointed to the Public Accounts. And it is Olivia Grégoire, (former Secretary of State for the Social and Solidarity Economy), who replaces him as government spokesperson. Close to Emmanuel Macron, Clément Beaune remains in Europe.
To the left of Mélanchon
This new government must also be read through its political balances.
Elisabeth Borne, through her career, must mark a leftward inflection. The Modem Marc Fesneau, the former Minister of Relations with Parliament, goes to Agriculture. Olivier Dussopt, the boss of Territories of Progress, the left wing of Macronie, is appointed Minister of Labor. He was previously in charge of the Budget. As for Franck Riester, the president of Agir, he remains in Foreign Trade. Christophe Béchu, the mayor of Angers and number 2 of Horizons - the party of Édouard Philippe -, has been appointed minister delegate in charge of local authorities.
Places also go to first-day walkers. Party boss Stanislas Guerini has been appointed Minister of Transformation and Public Service, the President of the Law Commission in the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, has been promoted to Overseas France. Amélie Oudéa-Castera, the former patroness of the Tennis Federation, reaches the Ministry of Sports.
The greatest turn to the left is embodied on the side of National Education in the replacement of Jean-Michel Blanquer, holding a strict secular line, by the historian Pap Ndiaye, "who is accused of to belong to "decolonial" thought, and to have declared a few years ago in an interview with Le Monde, that "there is indeed structural racism in France".
For the right, this appointment is above all a signal to a fringe of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's electorate…”, analyzes Anita Hausser, journalist, in her editorial Electoral cynicism and deconstruction in government at Atlantico.
|
|
|
|
Garett Skyport for DayNewsWorld |
 |
A WOMAN PRIME MINISTER IN MATIGNON ?
|
 President is looking for the ideal woman to establish a professional relationship of trust. Already in 2017, Emmanuel Macron had mentioned his ambition to install a head of government in Matignon. Before sending Édouard Philippe there.
Required profile: ecological fiber, social dimension, attachment to the "productive question", political experience and a sense of listening. The only certainty, believes his entourage : it will be a woman. For the head of the Modem François Bayrou, an ally of Emmanuel Macron, you need a person, man or woman, who has “leadership, experience.
And you need a fairly great empathy with the President of the Republic "because" when the President of the Republic hates the Prime Minister things can only turn out badly, "he stressed to the Grand Jury on Sunday, citing the case of François Mitterrand and his Prime Minister Michel Rocard (1988-1991).
The women's card seems to be a major asset for Macron. Because 74% of French people are for it, according to an Ifop poll published in the JDD. Because installing a "Prime Minister", for the first time since Edith Cresson, the only woman in the entire history of the Fifth Republic to have held the post of head of government, from May 1991 to April 1992, would certainly be a signal strong.
And, also, because the Head of State knows that he must correct the image that his political system has offered up to now: that of a "boys' club", as he had shaken up one of his interlocutors during the debate “Face aux Françaises”, organized at the beginning of March by LCI and the magazine Elle.
The name of Catherine Vautrin emerges
After those of the Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne and the former Minister of Health Marisol Touraine, the name that comes up insistently is that of Catherine Vautrin, former Minister of Social Cohesion of Jacques Chirac, who had given her support to Emmanuel Macron before the 1st round of the presidential election. Problem: this former LR MP, who campaigned against same-sex marriage in 2012 and 2013, bristles on the left.
"She is undoubtedly a woman of quality" but "is she ready to deny all the ideas she has defended for so long", criticized MEP LR Nadine Morano on Europe 1.
Also points to the name of the Vice-President of the Senate Valérie Létard, stamped "baby Borloo" for having started in politics in Valenciennes alongside the centrist Jean-Louis Borloo, before being Secretary of State in charge of green technologies in his ministry. of Ecology from 2009 to 2010, within the Fillon government. She also ticks the "social box" since she was Secretary of State for Solidarity in the same Fillon government from 2007 to 2009.
A casting intended to confirm or not the orientation that the Head of State intends to give for this start of the second five-year term, as important as the ability of the future Prime Minister to pilot the explosive pension reform, to support the ecological transition and even, above all this, to lead the battle for the legislative elections.
End of suspense at the end of the day...
|
|
|
|
Alyson Braxton for DayNewsWorld |
 |
NORTH KOREA FACES 1.2 MILLION COVID-19 CASES IN THREE DAYS
|
 After having denied the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus on its territory for nearly two years, Pyongyang reported an explosion of contamination.
While almost all countries have been affected to varying degrees by successive waves of Covid-19 for more than two years, North Korea has always claimed to be part of the three territories, with Turkmenistan and the Tuvalu islands, to have never been exposed to the virus, observes Vice.
If doubts still remain as to this absence of SARS-CoV-2 on North Korean territory since the start of the pandemic, the situation has in any case changed since Thursday, May 12. That day, state media reported – admittedly half-heartedly – the very first case of Covid-19 in the country. Since then, there have been nearly 1.2 million people infected and fifty deaths from infection with the virus. An impressive development in such a short time which, according to Vice, could be greatly underestimated. A question is now on everyone's lips: how did the virus enter the country? Especially given the fact that “North Korea was one of the first to seal its foreign borders in January 2020 and to paralyze international trade – including with China”, recalls Vice.
According to Ethan Jewell, Seoul-based correspondent for NK News, one of the main avenues to explain the spread of the virus on North Korean territory would however be to be sought on the side of China, a country also hard hit by the Covid- 19 for several months. Also according to Vice, "there have been numerous reports of people making illegal trips [...] in an effort to provide essential resources to impoverished and starving North Korean communities".
A strained medical system
According to Vic e, North Korean soldiers could then have found themselves in contact with some of these Chinese smugglers. They would then have gone to a military parade organized in Pyongyang on April 25, transforming the event into a giant cluster. For Hong Min, a researcher at the Korea Institute for National Unification, there is no doubt: “The current Covid epidemic [in North Korea] is closely linked to the April 25 parade”.
On the other hand, faced with the number of cases which continues to increase, the North Korean health system is struggling. "In town, you have a very big general hospital... but if you go to the villages, they hardly have any clinics," Hong Lim explains. The medical system is under strain and the shortage of drugs is evident.”
Due to the few people vaccinated and the lack of available treatments, experts believe that North Korea could introduce draconian containment measures to limit the spread of the virus, like its Chinese neighbor.
|
|
|
|
Andrew Preston for DayNewsWorld |
 |
DEPP-HEARD TRIAL WHO IS LYING ?
|
 It is impossible to escape the new legal series of the two terrible children of Hollywood – a trial had already opposed them in London in 2018 –, fully broadcast, live, by the American channel Court TV, as authorized by American law. The best of is repeated in a loop by social networks until the overdose.
Since April 11, the conflict between Johnny Depp and his ex-wife Amber Heard has unleashed passions. While the former filed a $50 million lawsuit against the latter over an article in the Washington Post where she said she was the victim of domestic violence, Amber Heard filed a $100 million countersuit , all leading to an extraordinary trial because of the status of the protagonists, their excesses, and its resonance. The ex-spouses wage a merciless war with sordid revelations.
Amber Heard was still at the helm Tuesday in Fairfax court. And after delivering new prosecution testimony against Johnny Depp, the latter's lawyers proceeded to cross-examination. And it's an understatement to say that she was mistreated… but she didn't flinch.
During this day, Amber Heard was questioned about her alleged injuries. Because if she has repeatedly claimed that Johnny Depp had hit her, especially in the face, she never went to a doctor to have her injuries noted (but she says she has breathing problems because of scars in her nose) . Nor does anyone seem to have ever seen any traces of beatings. In real life, or in a photo… “You should see what it looks like under the makeup“, she replied. If Amber Heard had already admitted having beaten her ex-husband at least once, it was only ever to respond to violence, to defend herself, she continued to support.
Camille Vasquez, one of the actor's lawyers, read a message left by Amber and addressed to Johnny in a "love diary": "I'm sorry, I can go crazy, I'm sorry to have you hurt, like you I can get mean when provoked”.
And when Camille Vasquez claimed that he "isn't the first partner you've assaulted, is he?" “, Ambert Heard denied. What is it about? In 2009, Amber Heard was suspected of punching then-girlfriend Tasya van Ree in the arm at Seattle airport. The police had intervened and Amber had been summoned to court the following day. But no charges were filed. The artist had defended the actress, citing a "minor" and "misinterpreted" incident.
And even today, Amber Heard assures her, “I never assaulted Mr. Depp or anyone with whom I had a romantic relationship, ever. Many times I had to use my body to defend myself, and that included hitting where I could if it allowed me to escape. It meant a swollen face rather than a broken nose. »
The two camps are preparing their weapons without worrying that their increasingly convoluted passes weaken the voice of the victims in general and, beyond that, the MeToo movement. "We ask a victim of domestic violence to be perfect, we scrutinize the smallest corners of his existence, his flaws, his addictions, his sexuality, and we judge him unfit for the status of victim, nuance Yael Mellul, lawyer and specialist in this subject. However, a victim of violence is a person who is doing badly, very badly, often in serious depression, with risky behavior, who may have sunk into alcoholism or drug addiction, on psychotropic drugs. “A definition which, in the end, seems to stick as well to Amber Heard as to Johnny Depp. Worried, the interpreter of Divinidylle, however, has reason to be,
By the end of the trial, in mid-June, the suspense remains at its height. |
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
ELISABETH BORNE PRIME MINISTER
A CHOICE OF REASON |  The appointment of Elisabeth Borne to the post of Prime Minister did not generate, this Tuesday, May 17, enthusiasm in the French press, which however welcomes the choice of a woman at Matignon. For the Iberian newspaper El Pais , the former Minister of Ecology is perceived more as a pragmatic choice, “who fulfills almost) all the conditions to be Prime Minister of France. "It is the choice of competence in the service of France, of a woman of conviction, action and achievement" soberly announced the Elysée in its press release, Monday afternoon.
The Head of State indeed wanted a profile "attached to the social question, the environmental question and the productive question". He also wanted to entrust the reins of government to a woman, thirty years after Edith Cresson, the only woman to have held the position in France until then. Minister since 2017 of the Philippe and Castex governments, this “techno” had been cited for several weeks to enter Matignon. Woman, on the left and with an environmental streak, the former boss of the RATP, aged 61, ticked many boxes wanted by Emmanuel Macron
"I think it's a very good choice, because she's a remarkable person, not because she's a woman," immediately reacted her distant predecessor on BFM. “She is sufficiently competent and experienced, and in addition, she is courageous, which is a very necessary virtue in this function”.
A former student of the Ecole Polytechnique (class of 1981), an engineer with a degree from the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, Elisabeth Borne did not go through the ENA, the classic course for great servants of the State. She began her career in 1987 at the Ministry of Equipment, before joining various ministerial cabinets and being appointed prefect of Vienne and the Poitou-Charentes region in February 2013 – she is the first woman to hold this position. Her career in the senior public service earned her this image of "good technician", combining discretion and loyalty to the president.
If Elisabeth Borne cut her teeth in the ministerial mysteries, the polytechnician also rubs shoulders with the business world. In 2002, she was director of strategy for SNCF before joining Eiffage in 2007. But she is best known for her time at RATP, which she headed between 2015 and 2017.
She led two major reforms of the quinquennium
Elisabeth Borne joined the government in May 2017 as Minister in charge of Transport under the leadership of Nicolas Hulot, Minister for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition. She impresses in this position by leading one of the first projects of the five-year term, the thorny reform of the SNCF.
With the arrival of Jean Castex at the head of the government, she changed her portfolio to that of the Minister of Labour, Employment and Integration. She is notably responsible for two major reforms, that of pensions and that of unemployment insurance. If the first does not succeed, the second comes into force in December 2021.
"Minister of impossible reforms made possible", according to the punchline of former Minister Castaner, the new tenant of Matignon will now have to demonstrate her ability to lead a government team.
|
|
Alyson Braxton for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE ISSUES OF MEMBERSHIP IN NATO
FROM FINLAND AND SWEDEN |  After nearly decades spent on the sidelines of military alliances, Finland announced on Sunday, May 15, its candidacy for NATO, and Sweden could follow. Both countries are worried about what their big neighbor Russia might do after the invasion of Ukraine that began in February.
For decades, most Swedes and Finns remained committed to their long policy of military non-alignment. But the invasion of Ukraine on February 24 marked a major turning point, especially for Finland, which shares a border of nearly 1,300 kilometers with Russia.
While support for joining NATO has hovered around 20 to 30% for 20 years, the latest polls now suggest that more than 70% of Finns and 50% of Swedes support membership. In both countries, many parties have been or are changing their position on the issue. In the Finnish Parliament, a river majority of at least 85% in favor of membership is emerging. In Sweden, the Social Democratic Party, historically opposed to joining NATO, decides this Sunday, with a green light paving the way for a candidacy of the country.
So that's the end of the doctrine of non-alignment. The reversal of opinion is all the more astonishing as the previous crises had never affected their placidity: neither the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 nor the Donbass conflict for eight years.
“Finlandization”, forced neutrality
A historic reversal for this country of 5.5 million inhabitants, a member of the European Union since 1995 and so far braced on its neutrality negotiated with the USSR in the aftermath of the Second World War. The Finnish swing opens up a disastrous prospect for Russia. Vladimir Putin's regime will see NATO get closer, with 1,340 kilometers of additional common border, twice as much as today.
Ceded by Sweden to Russia in 1809, Finland proclaimed its independence from Moscow on the occasion of the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. Invaded by the Soviet Union in 1939, the country resisted valiantly during the three-month war of Winter. After the resumption of the conflict in 1941, Finland was forced into an armistice after three years of fighting. At the end of a "friendship" treaty signed in 1948 under pressure from Moscow, the Finnish leaders agreed to remain outside Western military cooperation in a form of forced neutrality, which has remained in history under the name of “Finlandization”.
The country escapes the rank of satellite state of the USSR, but remains under the eye of Moscow with regard to its foreign and military policy.
After the fall of the Soviet Union, Finland joined the European Union (1995) and NATO's Partnership for Peace, but remained officially non-aligned militarily.
Sweden, for its part, maintained for nearly two centuries an official policy of neutrality inherited from the end of the Napoleonic wars, in particular during the two world wars. If it participated in military missions in Afghanistan or more recently in Mali, it does not t has not been at war since an 1814 conflict with Norway. In the 1990s, its neutrality policy was amended to military non-alignment 'aiming to allow' neutrality in the event of war.
While remaining outside NATO, the two countries have forged ever closer ties with the Alliance, which now considers them to be the two closest non-member states. The two countries have thus taken part in missions led by NATO in the Balkans, in Afghanistan and in Iraq, as well as in numerous joint exercises.
Significant resources devoted to the army
During the Cold War, Sweden and Finland devoted significant resources (4 to 5% of their GDP) to their armies, a consequence of their absence of military allies.
With the disappearance of the Soviet threat, both reduced their appropriations, but Finland maintained a massive use of military service and reservists.
With its 5.5 million inhabitants, Finland can thus count on a wartime army of 280,000 combat-capable soldiers, plus 600,000 other reservists, an exceptional force for a European nation. The professional army, however, has only 13,000 soldiers, although it trains 22,000 conscripts each year.
Sweden, for its part, has divested further, reducing its military budget from 2.6% of GDP in 1990 to 1.2% in 2020. But the country began to reverse the trend after the annexation of Crimea by Russia. in 2014. Compulsory military service, abolished in 2010, was partially reintroduced in 2017. Currently, the Swedish army has some 50,000 soldiers, half of whom are reservists. Both countries have announced major military investments since the start of the war in Ukraine.
Disruption of the fragile balance in the Arctic
This region is a potential gold mine – in terms of energy resources and maritime routes – often governed by multiple bilateral agreements between the various states with interests there: Canada, Finland, Denmark, United States, Iceland, Norway , Sweden and Russia. These eight countries generally manage to get along, united by their common Arctic coastline, with agreements on maritime law, environmental balance and security needs.
But there are signs that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is already disrupting these fragile relations. Russia shares the Arctic coastline with five NATO member states, Finland and Sweden – all of which support Ukraine militarily and financially.
“A fifth ocean at the top of the world”
In the Arctic, political and economic concerns are conditioned by the unique climate of this region and its rapid evolution. Over the past 30 years, the thickest ice has lost 95% of its area. At the current rate of evolution of greenhouse gas emissions, there could be no summer ice in place by 2040. The dramatic melting of the ice is changing the political and economic landscape of the region. “We are witnessing the appearance of a fifth ocean at the top of the world,” warns Katarzyna Zysk, professor at the Norwegian Institute for Defense Studies. “And when that ocean is there, it will be used for economic and military purposes. »
The melting ice is also changing the military strategy of Russia – which owns 53% of the Arctic coastline. “It's an incredibly large area. Russia's borders used to be protected by ice, but now it is disappearing, making it more vulnerable to potential attacks,” says Katarzyna Zysk.
This is one of the reasons why Moscow has strengthened its military presence in the Far North in recent years. The Kremlin has created an Arctic Navy (“the Northern Fleet”) based on the Kola Peninsula – close to Finland and Norway. According to Katarzyna Zysk, this is where Russia has its largest share of strategic submarines and other important non-nuclear capabilities.
The current war in Ukraine has raised the stakes even further. If Sweden and Finland join NATO – which they are seriously considering – all the states that share the Arctic, except Russia, will be part of the Atlantic Alliance. This could cause tensions with Russia.
“The concern remains not to annoy the Russian bear further. In our debate on NATO, we must be clear about the need not to host foreign military bases and nuclear missiles,” insists former Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja.
The post-Putin period also worries him: “We must not humiliate Russia as Germany was humiliated after the First World War. »
Russia has already made known that if Sweden and Finland joined NATO, it would deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles in the Baltic region.
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
ERIC ZEMMOUR CANDIDATE IN THE LEGISLATIVE BATTLE |
 Will I go or won't go ? The suspense is finally lifted. Eric Zemmour has finally announced that he will be a candidate in the legislative elections in the 4th district of Var. He will be present this Thursday evening at a meeting with activists in Cogolin in the Var.
It had been several weeks since the leader of Reconquest! cast doubt on his candidacy for the legislative elections. "It will be in Paris or in the Var," he said ten days ago. And it will be in the Var, in the 4th constituency, the only one where his party had not yet unveiled a candidate.
Eric Zemmour will make it official this Thursday evening on the land of Marc-Etienne Lansade, the mayor of Cogolin, former FN, and early support in the Var of the former journalist. It is also the stronghold of the outgoing Renaissance deputy, Sereine Mauborgne, candidate for re-election.
The choice to settle in the Gulf of Saint-Tropez is not insignificant, Eric Zemmour, "very attached to his Mediterranean roots" achieved his best scores in the presidential election in the Var. Moreover, "it is a region in which he has been coming regularly for 20 years" according to his entourage. In Saint-Tropez in particular, where it exceeded 22%, but also in Grimaud, Sainte-Maxime and Cogolin.
It is also in Toulon that Eric Zemmour had started the campaign to promote his book before launching into the presidential election. |
|
|
|
Andrew Preston for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE WHEAT CRISIS COULD CAUSE
A FOOD CRISIS |  In New York, before the UN Security Council, the secretary general of the organization, the Portuguese Antonio Guterres, had from the start of the war in Ukraine uttered a big "rant", predicting "a hurricane famines and a collapse of the global food system. The President of Ukraine urged as recently as Monday, May 10, 2022 the international community to take action to end the blockade of its wheat exports. Odessa, the main port on the Black Sea, no longer experiences regular movements of the merchant fleet.
The blockade is total from the Sea of Azov to the port of Odessa, which normally represents 60% of the country's port activity. The port of Constanta, in Romania, has become a rare maritime outlet for Ukrainian wheat. Trains loaded with cereals also reach Lithuanian or Polish ports. Brussels must present, this Thursday, an action plan to facilitate agricultural exports and bilateral trade of Ukraine with the European Union, in particular at the logistics level.
Because the slightest geopolitical incident fuels speculation. Due to the war in Ukraine, the price of a tonne of wheat, which will be harvested this summer in the northern hemisphere, is trading at around €400 (compared to €200 in May 2021). Never seen.
Ukraine the granary
The war in Ukraine has set the planet's breadbasket on fire and bloodshed. “Faced with Western sanctions after the annexation of Crimea in 2014, Putin decided to invest massively to move towards food independence, particularly in cereal crops, says Sébastien Abis, researcher at Iris and director of the Club Demeter. As for Ukraine, the turning point was taken at the end of the 1990s, with export volumes of agricultural products having multiplied by six in twenty years”. As a result, a third of the common wheat (used in particular for making bread) exported on the planet comes from these two countries, which are also essential on the corn, barley, sunflower and rapeseed markets.The Black Sea countries (Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan) export 40% of the world's wheat. Nearly fifty countries depend on Russia and Ukraine for more than 30% of their imported wheat.
Drop in global production
But since the start of the war, the situation has changed. According to FranceAgriMer, whose “cereals” commission met this Wednesday, May 11 in Paris, “world wheat production (2022-2023) could fall for the first time in four years”. The spring drought threatens wheat yields in European countries such as Romania, Italy or part of France. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, the drought has also affected the winter wheat harvest in the United States. Since the start of the war, Moscow has taken over from kyiv, particularly in Egypt (+580% in March).
But if the war lasts until the end of the year, Russian and Ukrainian exports could fall by 60%, according to American experts. The Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture estimates that local agricultural production will be at least halved this year. Spring sowing (rapeseed, maize, and sunflower) and harvests are likely to be hampered given the number of men who have gone to the front to defend their country. Inadequate harvests would keep prices high, pushing importing countries off the market. Wheat is a staple food for 35% of the world's population, recalls the FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Risk of food shortage
The Russian invasion sent shockwaves through the emerging world: prices soared to levels they hadn't reached in decades and imports of raw materials are struggling, causing shortages ( especially in the most disadvantaged countries that were already struggling to recover from the pandemic). In parts of Kenya, the price of bread has increased by 40%. In Indonesia, the government has capped those for oil. Yemen depends on Ukraine and Russia for more than 40% of its wheat imports.
In Turkey, the explosion in the price of sunflower oil has prompted customers to rush to stores to stock up on as much as possible. In Iraq, protests have brought together citizens unhappy with rising food prices who have dubbed their movement the “starvation revolution”.
About fifty countries, mainly underprivileged, buy at least 30% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), between them they provide a third of world grain exports and 52% of the sunflower oil market. "If the conflict continues, the repercussions will likely be greater than the coronavirus crisis," said Indermit Gill, World Bank vice president in charge of economic policy. »
"The Hunger Revolution"
The Middle East and North Africa are particularly dependent on Russian and Ukrainian wheat imports. Egypt, the world's largest importer, buys nearly 70% of its consumption from these two countries. Same for Lebanon. For Turkey, it is more than 80%. In 2011, soaring bread prices played a role in triggering the Arab Spring. The Egyptian government has said the Ukraine crisis will cost it about $1 billion in bread subsidies and it is looking for new suppliers. He also introduced unsubsidized bread price controls to curb soaring tariffs; A surge in prices which increases the risk of a popular uprising in Egypt, years of austerity having already greatly eroded the purchasing power of the population.
In 2008, skyrocketing food prices sparked riots in 48 countries. The war in Ukraine now poses a food risk in Africa and the Middle East, wheat being a staple food for 35% of the world's population, recalls the FAO.
|
|
Alyson Braxton for DayNewsWorld |
 |
BEIGED COMMANDER IN MARIOUPOL SEEKS HELP FROM ELON MUSK
|
 A Ukrainian commander among the fighters besieged by Russian forces at the Azovstal factory in Mariupol on Wednesday appealed for help directly to US billionaire Elon Musk to intervene to save them.
“People say you come from another planet to teach people to believe in the impossible. […] In the place where I live, it is almost impossible to survive”, tweeted Sergey Volyna, commander of the 36th Marine Brigade of Mariupol.
“Help us to leave Azovstal for a third country. If not you, who else ?
Give me a lead, ”he continued, indicating that he created an account on Twitter specifically to directly challenge the richest man in the world who is trying to buy the social network for 44 billion dollars.
The serviceman asked "every person on planet Earth" to help ensure that Elon Musk is aware of his appeal.
kyiv said this week that more than a thousand soldiers, many of them injured, were still in the bowels of the steelworks which house a sprawling underground maze dating back to the Soviet era.
It is the only pocket of resistance in the strategic port city of Mariupol, now controlled by the Russians.
|
|
|
|
Emily Jackson for DayNewsWorld |
 |
CELINE DION BACK IN CONCERT IN EUROPE
|
 Céline Dion announced this Tuesday, May 10, new dates in Paris as part of her European tour, which has already been postponed due to Covid-19 in 2020 and 2021, then a third time due to the health of the singer a few weeks ago.
During the Courage World Tour, the Canadian star will therefore give a series of six concerts between September 1 and 10, 2023 at Paris La Défense Arena. Tickets purchased for the initial concerts remain valid for new shows, as specified by the organizers on the booking site.
Celine Dion is also scheduled for the Vieilles Charrues festival in Brittany, Thursday July 13, 2023, after a double cancellation. A tour postponed for health reasons
On Friday April 29, the singer posted a message to her fans on her social networks. She announces the postponement of her European tour, once again. “The first time, it was obviously because of the pandemic and this time, it is my health that forces me to postpone the shows of the European tour”, she explained in a video.
Celine Dion confided then to suffer from persistent muscle spasms. Recovery was taking "much longer" than she thought.
“I am so sorry, saddened to be forced to postpone the shows”, she lamented on the eve of a tour which was to start on May 25 in Birmingham (United Kingdom). "I have to be in good shape, in good health so that I can give 100% of myself on stage, because that's what you deserve," she added.
It is finally from February 24, 2023 that this tour of Europe will begin, with a first date in Prague. It will run until the end of the year, with two dates in Helsinki at the beginning of October 2023.
|
|
Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
WHY ARE THE REMUNERATIONS OF BIG BOSSES EXPLODING ?
|
 As every spring, with the publication of the reference documents of listed companies, the remuneration of the big bosses arouses indignant reactions. This year, a study by Fintech Scalens, a platform specializing in services for listed companies, showed in particular that the leaders of the CAC 40, the forty best valued companies on the Paris stock exchange, saw their remuneration double in one year. year, reaching an average of 8.7 million euros. Same upward trend in the United States: the 100 main American executives saw their remuneration increase by 31% in 2021 to around 20 million euros per person on average (including +569% for the boss of Apple, Tim Cook, or even +65% for that of Goldman Sachs).
One name in particular caught the attention of the French press: that of Carlos Tavares, the general manager of the automobile group Stellantis (born from the merger between Fiat Chrystler and PSA Peugeot Citroën), supposed to receive 66 million euros in total compensation. in 2021, including a fixed portion of €19 million. This figure, made public during the intervening rounds of the presidential campaign, was deemed "shocking" both by the candidate of the National Rally, Marine Le Pen, and by the candidate president Emmanuel Macron, who also called for a cap on executive compensation at European level.
The case of Carlos Tavares indeed appears all the more controversial since, under the mandate of François Hollande, a law was adopted so that the employer's remuneration is subject to the approval of the shareholders. On April 13, the latter also opposed the payment of 66 million euros at the general meeting of the group. But the vote took place at the new headquarters located in the Netherlands, where this vote only has an advisory function... The CFDT central union representative, thus bitterly regretted the move: was for geographical neutrality, not for financial advantages…”
A decorrelation of performance
During the general assembly of the Stellantis group, the president John Elkann had justified this level of remuneration by explaining that he wanted to "reward the performance" of the manager who carried out the merger between Fiat Chrystler and PSA Peugeot Citroën.
Yet the question of whether to reward success financially, although it has been widely debated in psychology since the seminal work of Edward Deci, is not what is primarily at stake here. What is shocking is the level of this reward. How can we explain it? Is this a relevant practice in terms of management?
66 million euros for Carlos Tavares: the salary of the leader of Stellantis disputed (France 24, April 14, 2022).
In the United States, managers earned on average 254 times more than their employees in 2021, compared to 238 times in 2020. A level close to that observed in France. However, if the absolute level of this difference can legitimately shock, it is especially its evolution during the last decades which constitutes the most surprising phenomenon.
Indeed, this gap was only 1 to 20 in the United States in 1965. This was also the maximum pay gap recommended at the beginning of the 20th century by the famous banker JP Morgan, not well known for his activism. egalitarian. What can explain such inflation? This is certainly not a proportional increase in the talent and responsibilities of the big bosses: whatever the indicator chosen, nothing indicates that the performance of the leaders (and of the companies they lead) has multiplied by 20 since the 1960s.
Consanguinity of boards of directors
In fact, the explosion in the compensation of managers of listed companies is explained by the conjunction of two perverse effects. The first of these effects is the consanguinity of boards of directors and supervisory boards, known in France by the sweet name of "barbichette" , in reference to the nursery rhyme "I hold you, you hold me by the goatee", which becomes: “you are a member of my board, you vote my compensation, I am a member of your board, I vote your compensation”.
To legitimize executive compensation, some argue that there is a "market" for talent, and that compensation, however exuberant it may be, would correspond to the "market price" of skills. However, if such a market exists for the leaders of large groups, it is certainly not a free market and the price there is certainly not an objective measure of value. Indeed, the boards of directors of listed groups are often made up of individuals who are themselves leaders, and who often sit on several other boards.
There is therefore a form of collusion more or less displayed between the managers and those who evaluate their action and decide on their remuneration. Moreover, this situation is not specific to French capitalism (even if collusion between alumni of the same Grandes Ecoles and the same Grandes Corps tends to reinforce it), since it is found, for example, in the United States.
The consanguinity of the boards of directors and supervisory boards, one of the factors which maintains the salaries of the leaders on the rise.
We can thus explain the level of remuneration of the big bosses by the fact that they attribute it to themselves, through their administrators, with whom they share the same interests and the same networks. However, if this phenomenon can make it possible to understand the amount of remuneration, it does not explain their multiplication since the 1960s. Indeed, the endogamy of the instances of power is as old as the world, and nothing indicates that it be worse today than it was yesterday.
“Lake Wobegon effect”
To explain the explosion in executive compensation, we must therefore invoke a second perverse effect, much more formidable because it is largely counter-intuitive. It was from the 1990s that regulations gradually imposed disclosure of the levels of remuneration of the managers of listed companies. In the United States, this took the form of a new rule enacted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in 1992. In France, it is the NRE law of May 15, 2001, revised by the financial security law of August 1, 2003 which fixed this framework.
In both cases, the objective was the same: to better inform shareholders about executive compensation, with the underlying assumption that if this compensation became public, it would remain contained. However, paradoxically, it is exactly the opposite that has happened: it is the publication of salaries that has caused their inflation.
Indeed, as soon as the remuneration is public, it becomes a measure of the value of the leaders and therefore an issue. As long as it was secret, it did not make it possible to compare individuals and therefore remained a purely private matter. Having become public, it imposes itself as the standard of their talent. When a listed company appoints a new leader and decides to pay him less than his predecessor, everyone knows it, and we will deduce that he is not as capable as the one he replaces. Similarly, if the leader of a company is paid less than the average for his industry, everyone knows it, and we will deduce that he is not among the most talented.
It is because remuneration is public that all leaders seek to earn more than the average and that all boards of directors are constantly paying them better. Indeed, a director who would publicly doubt the competence of the manager would cause a collapse of the share price. Conversely, to positively influence shareholder value, a board of directors has an interest in giving all the most patent, measurable and most visible signs of the extreme confidence it has in the exceptional talent of the manager: this is what he does when he decides to increase it. Therefore, once public, executive compensation becomes instrumentalized as both a measurement tool and a mechanism of influence.
The phenomenon of instrumentalization of the average is known in the United States as the "Lake Wobegon effect", named after the fictional town of Lake Wobegon, where, as the legend goes, "all women are strong, all men are beautiful and all the children are above average”. If it is impossible for everyone to be better than the average, the fact that everyone seeks to be so causes their inflation.
A simple solution for a recent anomaly
What to remember from all that ? In the light of history, the explosion in the remuneration of the bosses of large companies remains an anomaly, and it is a recent anomaly (the French economist Thomas Piketty condemns “meritocratic extremism” in this regard). From a managerial point of view, the current levels of remuneration are not justified, because for a long time companies have been very well managed without their bosses being so handsomely paid.
Moreover, such pay gaps cause a deep feeling of inequity, at the risk of general demotivation, which is much more detrimental to company performance than a very hypothetical erosion of executive talent. As American billionaire Warren Buffett slyly puts it:
"When a leader with a reputation for excellence meets an industry with a reputation for difficulty, it's usually the industry that retains its reputation."
Consequently, if we want to put an end to this historical anomaly that is the explosion of the salaries of big bosses (or that of movie stars and sports champions), the conclusion that must be drawn is clear: we must make these salaries secret. As soon as they are secret, remuneration will cease to be a measure of the value of individuals, and therefore to be an issue. Of course, nothing says that by becoming confidential, remuneration will go down to more reasonable levels (for that, the law would have to impose it or the shareholders would have to demand it), but at the very least they will have fewer reasons to 'increase.
Remains a major obstacle: it is difficult to see how public opinion, scandalized by the current levels of these remunerations, could accept that we decide to hide them. I invite our most pedagogical readers to solve this thorny problem.
According to Frédéric Fréry
Professor of Strategy, ESCP Business School, CentraleSupélec – University of Paris-Saclay in TheConversation.
|
|
|
|
Boby Dean for DayNewsWorld |
 |
IN THE UNITED KINGDOM A SPEECH FROM THE THRONE
WITHOUT QUEEN ELIZABETH II |  "Historical moment" in the United Kingdom: Prince Charles gave the traditional speech from the throne in Parliament on Tuesday, May 10, in place of his mother Elizabeth II, the queen having given up on the advice of her doctors.
Bringing a new sign of the transition underway for the British monarchy under the effect of the health problems of the nonagenarian sovereign, it was Prince Charles who arrived in Parliament while the anthem “God Save the Queen” sounded. The 73-year-old heir to the crown, in a decorated uniform, then read, on behalf of the Queen, the speech setting out the government's program at the opening of the parliamentary session.
He sat on the throne reserved for the consort, once used by his father Prince Philip, and symbolically smaller than that of the monarch. On her right, the space usually reserved for the sovereign's throne had been left empty. Alongside Charles was also his wife Camilla, 74, as well as his eldest son, Prince William, 39, who was present for the first time. Further proof of a change of generations taking place.
It is only the third time in her 70-year reign that the 96-year-old head of state has missed this solemn appointment of British democracy. Pregnant, she had been absent in 1959 and 1963.
It is also the first time that the Prince of Wales, who has already represented her abroad for several years and is taking a growing place, replaces her. As a symbol, the crown of Elizabeth II was placed on a cushion in front of Prince Charles during the entirety of his speech.
The Queen had long hoped to attend before Buckingham Palace announced on Monday evening that she had "reluctantly decided not to take part in the Speech from the Throne", due to her "episodic mobility problems".
Signs, for the Daily Mail, that the queen “is still really in charge”: “But make no mistake, this is a historic moment for the Crown”.
His absence raises questions about his participation in early June at the platinum jubilee celebrations, marking his 70 years of reign.
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE NUPES OR THE OPPORTUNIST ALLIANCE
LEFT FOR LEGISLATIVES |  Ahead of the legislative elections in June, insubordinate France, Europe Écologie les Verts, the Communist Party and the Socialist Party are now forming an alliance in a New Popular Ecological and Social Union (Nupes). The national score obtained by the leader of LFI ( 21.95%) made his party the main political force on the left in the first round of the presidential election, far ahead of the other candidates appearing on this side of the political spectrum, namely Yannick Jadot (4.63%), Fabien Roussel (2.28%) or Anne Hidalgo (1.74%). Their three respective parties have joined the New Popular Ecological and Social Union, alongside La France Insoumise.
What changes the union of the left in the balance of power in the different constituencies? After insubordinate France, Europe Ecology, the Greens and the Communist Party, the Socialist Party finally joined the New Popular Ecological and Social Union on Thursday, May 5. An alliance formed by parties that hope to impose themselves in the territories and form, after the election, a majority in the National Assembly in June.
In an attempt to analyze the potential strength of this union of the left in each constituency, we immersed ourselves in the scores of the first round of the 2022 presidential election, adding up the results of the candidates of the four parties of Nupes, territory by territory.
Nupes gains ground in the South
On the basis of these results, the left alliance won in the south of the country, and collected a majority of votes in half of the constituencies in the area.
To compare, during the first round of the 2022 presidential election, the candidate of La France insoumise Jean-Luc Mélenchon came out ahead in the votes in the constituencies of the Ile-de-France region and the overseas territories.
Leading in almost half of the ridings
In the first round of the presidential election, it was Emmanuel Macron who most often came out on top in the territories (256 constituencies), ahead of Marine Le Pen (206) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (104).
Thanks to this alliance, and if we stick strictly to the results of the presidential election, Nupes passes in front of the two candidates of the second round of the presidential election. The union comes first in 260 constituencies among the 566 of metropolitan France and the overseas territories, against 161 constituencies for Marine Le Pen and 145 for Emmanuel Macron.
Nevertheless, this remains a simple overview, because due to their historical local roots, the balance of power of the parties on the ground is different. It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the method of voting for the legislative elections is not comparable to that of the presidential election.
Deputies are elected by direct universal suffrage, by two-round majority voting and by constituency. To be elected in the first round, a candidate must obtain more than 50% of the votes cast. And in the second round, more than two candidates can present themselves, unlike that of the presidential ballot. The two who came first, and the following candidates, provided they had obtained a number of votes at least equal to 12.5% of the number of registered voters.
However, "we cannot mechanically translate these votes from the first round of the presidential election into legislative votes", tempers Olivier Rouquan, political scientist, teacher-researcher in political science and researcher associated with CERSA (Center for Studies and Research in Administrative Sciences and Policies). But these projections can still shed some light on the possible weight of this alliance of the left during the next legislative elections.
Verdict next June.
|
|
Garett Skyport for DayNewsWorld |
 |
A MAY 9 SPEECH BY VLADIMIR PUTIN
WITHOUT SURPRISE |  In the conflict in Ukraine, the date of May 9 was expected and feared. On the Russian side, it is a day of celebration of the end of the Second World War, with a military parade and a speech by Russian President Vladimir Putin. But for several days, it was feared that the head of the Kremlin would make serious announcements, leading to an escalation of the current war in Ukraine.
The Russian president, however, made a shorter speech than usual, with the usual propaganda justifying Russian intervention in Ukraine, but he did not mention a potential nuclear attack, did not talk about war or extension of the conflict, and even called for avoiding world war.
A “classic” speech with no real surprises
He recalled the fact that Russia had no choice, that the homeland had to be defended, that pro-Russian separatists and Russian troops were fighting on their land..."Despite all international differences, Russia has always been in favor of setting up an indivisible security system. Last December, we offered to sign new agreements offering security guarantees. Russia acted honestly but to no avail. They didn't want to listen to us.
In reality, our partners had very different plans. We see it: they openly prepared a mission in the Donbass, against our historic Crimean lands. In kyiv, the acquisition of nuclear weapons was mentioned. An unacceptable threat was brewing in the immediate vicinity of our borders. The clash with neo-Nazis and Western-backed Banderists was inevitable. We have seen hundreds of military advisers bring advanced NATO weapons to them. »
If the possibility of a nuclear attack has not been raised, Vladimir Putin has shown that he wants to continue this war, evoking "an absolutely unacceptable threat" which "is forming, directly on our borders", and renewing his accusations of Nazism at the against Ukraine.
On February 24, during his speech announcing the invasion of Ukraine, he had however been much more virulent, threatening for example "those who would try to interfere with us" with an "immediate" response from Russia, with " consequences you have never experienced before”. This time, he mainly addressed the Russian people, announcing aid for the families of soldiers killed at the front, and declaring that it was necessary "to do everything so that this global war [in reference with the Second World War, Editor's note] not happen again”.
Observers expecting strong statements, did the Kremlin not want to play on this expectation?
Vladimir Putin likes to blow hot and cold: less offensive on May 9, 2022, he remains no less determined.
“After the collapse of the USSR, the United States claimed exclusivity, humiliating the whole world. “, he continued.
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
ALINA KABAEVA "THE SUPPOSED COMPANION"
BY VLADIMIR PUTIN AFFECTED BY INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS |  She is part of a new list of personalities threatened with an EU entry ban and an asset freeze, as part of a sixth package of European sanctions currently under discussion, in response to the war in Ukraine. Alina Kabaeva, gymnastics champion is indeed at the heart of geopolitical news. The one who is nicknamed "the most flexible woman in Russia" has had an affair with the Russian dictator since 2006.
They would even have several children together. The liaison rumors had, however, been publicly brushed aside by Vladimir Putin in April 2008 during a press conference:
"I've always had a bad opinion of brats who plant their erotic fantasies in other people's private lives."
Still, Alina Kabaeva suddenly became very rich, just like her family.
She also became a member of Vladimir Putin's party, before heading the Board of Directors of the largest Russian media group. It is therefore surprising to discover that, in this context of international sanctions, Alina Kabaeva escapes it.
While Putin's ex-wife and Putin's daughters are on the international sanctions list, the young woman was not there. One way, according to Paris Match, to avoid an escalation between Russia and the United States from the start. But still according to the Paris Match survey "she is not only very close to Vladimir Putin, but she is also an essential link in his chain of power, since she is at the head of the Board of Directors of the largest Russian propaganda group »
Brussels therefore offered to sanction former Russian gymnast Alina Kabaeva.
|
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
COMMEMORATION OF THE VICTORY OF MAY 8, 1945
|
 The commemoration of the victory of May 8, 1945 over Nazi Germany was held in Paris, on the eve of the traditional Russian military parade in Moscow, a potential show of force this year, in the context of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
The French president, invested the day before for a new mandate, celebrated, Sunday, May 8, in Paris, the 77th anniversary of the victory of May 8, 1945 of the Allies over Nazi Germany, a special ceremony in the context of the war in Ukraine and on the eve of the traditional Russian military parade in Moscow.
This commemoration opens an international sequence for the Head of State, who will participate the same day, from 5 p.m., in a videoconference of the members of the G7 "relating to the situation in Ukraine", before going to Strasbourg on Monday to Europe Day and, in the process, to Berlin to meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Mmanuel Macron arrived by car to lay a wreath in front of the statue of General de Gaulle at the bottom of the Avenue des Champs-Elysées in 11:00.
A cornflower in his buttonhole, the Head of State exchanged a few words with the general's grandson, before getting back into his car to reach the Arc de Triomphe, accompanied by the large mixed escort of the Republican Guard, greeted by passers-by. It was the first time since 2019 that the public was allowed to attend this ceremony, after two years of restrictions linked to the Covid-19 epidemic. Place de l'Etoile, Mr. Macron found the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, and the ministers of the armies and veterans, Florence Parly and Geneviève Darrieusecq. He honored the flag, before reviewing the troops. Then he laid a wreath of flowers on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and rekindled the flame.
Asked about the very particular context of this ceremony, the Minister of Culture, Roselyne Bachelot, told the journalists present that it was a “moment which takes on a very considerable significance” with the war in Ukraine. "We thought the war was gone from Europe," she added.
Read also Article reserved for our subscribers In the midst of war in Ukraine, Emmanuel Macron clings to "European sovereignty"
“Today we commemorate the end of the Second World War in Europe and the victory of the Allied fighters over Nazi Germany.
We do not forget the soldiers from all over the former USSR, including Ukrainians and Russians, who contributed to this victory, ”wrote the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, on Twitter.
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
G7 LEADERS AGREE
ON A GRADUAL EMBARGO ON RUSSIAN OIL |  The leaders of the G7 countries meeting by videoconference on Sunday at the initiative of US President Joe Biden announced that they had agreed to ban or phase out their imports of Russian oil.
In a joint statement, the G7 leaders also pledge to ban or prevent the provision of key services on which the Russian economy depends, as well as to continue to take action against "systemic" Russian banks connected to the financial system. global.
They also call on Moscow to lift the blockade of exports of grain production from Ukraine, which threatens the world with a serious food crisis, and promise to continue to target Russian financial elites who support President Vladimir Putin.
The United States, which already imposes an oil embargo on Russia, while the European Union continues to discuss its own, unveiled at the same time a new series of sanctions targeting the bank Gazprombank, the public media and the industry of Russian arms or the export of nuclear material to Moscow.
|
|
|
|
Andrew Preston for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LEGISLATIVE HOW JEAN-LUC MELANCHON ESTABLISHED HIS DOMINATION
ON THE LEFT PARTIES |  By obtaining 21.95% of the vote in the first round of the presidential election, Jean-Luc Mélenchon officially distinguished himself as the strong figure of the left-wing opposition to Emmanuel Macron. But he also wants to establish his domination over the left-wing parties in view of the legislative elections. Also on the occasion of the traditional May Day parades, Jean-Luc Mélenchon urged other left-wing groups and environmentalists to join La France Insoumise (LFI) without delay within its "Popular union", in order to to achieve a majority opposed to Emmanuel Macron in the National Assembly during the June legislative elections. "We took the matured, considered decision to sacrifice everything to the objectives of the fight, [...] to pass over divisions which had a deep reason and which we could not overcome", he said. explained on Sunday. The only subject now, "is to know if we set ourselves the goal of victory", added the deputy of Bouches-du-Rhône who shook hands with the first secretary of the PS, Olivier Faure, from the start of the Parisian procession. . Negotiations with EELV, the PS and the PCF were in full swing this weekend in order to conclude a possible agreement before May 3, the anniversary of the victory of the Popular Front in 1936. Faced with the imminence of an agreement, the central question is: yes to an electoral coalition but which one and at what price ?
First successful bet for Jean-Luc Mélenchon: LFI-EEVL agreement
La France insoumise and Europe Écologie-Les Verts (EELV) have reached a historic agreement for the June legislative elections on the night of Sunday to Monday. With EELV, the weekend indeed made it possible to make the final compromises, around the relationship to Europe ("disobedience" but only to certain economic and budgetary rules if necessary), the common label ("New People's Ecological and social”) or even on the division of constituencies, the most fiercely debated subjects. Another decided question: in the event of a majority in the National Assembly, "the Prime Minister would come from the largest group in the Assembly", ie Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
On the strength of a historic agreement for the legislative elections concluded with EELV, La France insoumise resumed negotiations yesterday with the PS and the PCF. The PRG will go it alone in this election, he warned.
At the PS, the difficult acceptability of an agreement with LFI
It remains to come to an agreement with the Socialist Party. A major challenge as the estrangement is deep since the departure of Jean-Luc Mélenchon from Solférino in 2008. “It is progressing, be sure that we are doing everything in our power to make it move forward”, assured Jean-Luc Mélenchon during the May Day demonstrations. Already weakened by the defeat of Anne Hidalgo in the first round of the presidential election (1.75% of the vote), the PS now finds itself threatened by the shock wave of the ongoing discussions with La France insoumise (LFI) for an agreement with the June legislative. Several PS figures, from François Hollande to Jean-Christophe Cambadélis via Stéphane Le Foll have accused party boss Olivier Faure of "submission" to LFI. "A first base of proposals" taking up the essentials of Jean-Luc Mélenchon's program was given by the party on Friday: Retirement at 60, minimum wage at 1,400 euros net, repeal of the El-Khomri law, ecological planning, changeover towards a Sixth Republic... But the document quickly set fire to the powder. "It's not an electoral alliance but a submission, I get lots of messages from activists who tell me: 'If that's it, I'm leaving'", strangled a parliamentarian in the morning. The president of Occitanie, Carole Delga, made known her disapproval on social networks by quoting Pierre MendèsFrance … and by presenting the socialist candidates for the legislative elections in the Tarn on Thursday. His Breton counterpart, Loïg Chesnais-Girard,
Failing to link their entire destiny to the LFI project for the coming term of office, will they have to hear the voice of the cynical former Prime Minister Manuel Valls who, like a bad dancer, constantly changes his waltz step? “The Socialist Party is dead (...) we have to get out of old divisions and outdated software. I say this to these sincere activists and elected officials, attached to a government, social, secular and republican left who refuse this submission: your place is alongside Emmanuel Macron, ”he proclaims.
Would the end (a few seats in Parliament) justify all the means (moral corruption) ?
The Melanchon strategy
The arm wrestling, as tough as it is, for Jean-Luc Mélenchon, this "new People's Union", extended to other forces must always remain in line with the strategy that has built its success in the presidential election.
This project of popular union for the legislative represents, indeed for him, the culmination of a long-standing strategy. A year ago, Yannick Jadot tried to become the strong man of the left by bringing together all the leaders for the presidential election. a total failure. At this meeting, Jean-Luc Mélenchon already had 2022 in mind. As of April 11, on the strength of his third place in the first round of the presidential election with 22% of the vote, the leader of the Insoumis therefore put himself in order battle to execute his vision. The objective now displayed: to unite the left for the "third round", the legislative elections, and to run for the post of Prime Minister.
And with his slogan, "Elect me Prime Minister" drawn between the two rounds, he succeeded not only in mobilizing his camp for the legislative elections but also in displaying himself as the number 1 opponent to Emmanuel Macron.
However, on April 24, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was clearly beaten: Emmanuel Macron obtained 2 million votes more than him and Marine Le Pen 421,000. He failed to rally more voters on his name and his project. Moreover, the camp he claims to lead is very clearly in the minority: the entire left won 11.2 million votes in the first round, ie 32% of the vote; in other words, the other political currents won 68% of the vote and 12.7 million more votes. The left and La France insoumise lost, by far, the presidential election, counts a journalist.
It is therefore a title that could well claim the National Rally of Marine Le Pen, unfortunate finalist of the presidential election.
|
|
|
|
Joanne Courbet for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE PANDEMIC HAS DEAD NEARLY 15 MILLION, ACCORDING TO WHO
|
 The COVID-19 pandemic was responsible for the death of 13 to 17 million people at the end of 2021, far more than the official death toll recorded worldwide, according to a new WHO estimate, which is already raising polemic.
These highly anticipated figures give a more realistic idea of the devastating effects of the worst pandemic in a century which, according to this data, has already killed 1 in 500 humans and continues to claim thousands of lives every week.
“The total death toll associated directly or indirectly with the COVID-19 pandemic between January 1, 2020 and December 31, 2021 is approximately 14.9 million deaths (a range of 13.3 to 16.6 million)”, revealed the organization on Thursday.
Since the start of the pandemic, official figures from member countries compiled by the WHO come to a total of 5.4 million deaths over the same period, but the WHO has long warned that this statistic underestimates the reality.
The WHO said most of the excess deaths (84%) were concentrated in Southeast Asia, which in the WHO regional breakdown includes India, Europe (which includes Russia and other countries of the former USSR) and in the Americas.
Some 10 countries alone accounted for 68% of the total excess mortality, these are in descending order Brazil, Egypt, India - which strongly disputes the WHO figures much higher than its official figures -, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, Russia, South Africa, Turkey and the United States.
“These sobering data underscore not only the impact of the pandemic, but also the need for all countries to invest in more resilient health systems capable of sustaining essential health services during crises, including including stronger health information systems,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
In fact, the figures published Thursday by the WHO suffer from holes in the statistics, the collection of data being sometimes fragmented, or even completely non-existent, for certain countries. The ranges given sometimes go from simple to double.
The Organization thus estimates that 6 out of 10 deaths are not recorded worldwide.
Excess mortality is calculated by taking the difference between the actual number of deaths and the number of deaths estimated in the absence of a pandemic, based on existing statistics.
Excess mortality includes both deaths directly caused by the disease and those indirectly caused.
The indirect causes can be due in particular to overloaded health structures and forced, for example, to delay surgical procedures or chemotherapy sessions for cancer patients.
Sometimes, confinements have also avoided deaths, such as traffic accidents.
"Measuring excess mortality is an essential component for understanding the impact of the pandemic", explained Samira Asma, in charge of the file at the WHO.
More reliable information allows decision-makers to better prepare the ground to limit the impact of future crises.
"These new estimates are based on the best available data produced using a robust methodology and a completely transparent approach," she said.
It is this methodology that is contested by India, for which COVID-19 has killed 525,000 people in total. The figures published by the WHO on Thursday are 9 times higher at around 4.7 million. In mid-April the Indian government had criticized "an undifferentiated approach and models that may work for smaller countries like Tunisia, but are not applicable to India and its population of 1.3 billion".
The subject is extremely sensitive because of the political repercussions, these figures being indicators of the quality of the management of the crisis by the authorities.
|
|
|
|
Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
RUSSIA LAUNCHES MILITARY AID PROVIDED
BY WESTERNS TO UKRAINE |  Western military aid and intelligence to Ukraine prevents Russia from “quickly” completing its offensive on its neighbor, the Kremlin said on Thursday, nevertheless ensuring that all its objectives will be met .
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov further assured the press that the corridors
“The United States, the United Kingdom, NATO as a whole constantly share intelligence data with the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Combined with the supply of weapons […], these actions do not allow the operation to be completed quickly, ”Dmitri Peskov told the press, reacting to a publication published on Wednesday in the New York Times.
According to this newspaper, citing anonymous sources within the American services, the information provided by the United States to the Ukrainian army made it possible to target several Russian generals near the front.
These Western actions “are however not able to prevent” that the objectives of the Russian offensive in Ukraine are fulfilled, underlined the spokesman of the Kremlin.
He also assured that the Russian army respected the ceasefire it had announced the day before for Thursday in order to allow the evacuation of civilian refugees at the Azovstal factory site.
"The corridors are working there today," said Mr. Peskov, denying statements from Kyiv that fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces was underway for control of this steel plant.
"The Ukrainian side and especially (the fighters) who have taken refuge on the site of the factory are known to fabricate a lot of lies", he assured.
According to the Kremlin, no assault is underway in Azovstal, Vladimir Putin having ordered to besiege the site to make the Ukrainian units give in, cut off from the world.
This resistance as well as civilians are concentrated in the vast network of underground galleries of the steelworks which are difficult to storm or destroy by bombardment.
|
|
|
|
Carl Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
TOWARDS THE END OF THE RIGHT TO ABORTION
IN THE USA ? | 
The right to abortion is once again threatened in the United States. According to the Politico newspaper, the Supreme Court is considering overturning the landmark Roe v. Wade of 1973 which recognizes abortion as a right protected by the American constitution.
The American daily says it has obtained the preliminary draft of a majority decision written by conservative judge Samuel Alito and dated February 10, which must still be the subject of negotiations until its publication before June 30.
A right “totally unfounded from the start”
Roe v. Wade, who almost half a century ago believed that the US Constitution protected women's right to abortion, was "totally unfounded from the start", it is written in this proposed text.
"We believe that Roe v. Wade must be canceled”, adds Samuel Alito, for whom the right to abortion “is not protected by any provision of the Constitution”.
If this conclusion is accepted by the High Court, the United States will return to the situation in force before 1973 when each state was free to prohibit or authorize abortions. Given the significant geographical and political divisions on the subject, half of the states, especially in the conservative south and center, should quickly banish the procedure on their soil.
“Let's be clear: this is a preliminary draft. It is outrageous, unprecedented but not final: Abortion remains your right and is still legal,” tweeted Planned Parenthood, which runs many abortion clinics.
Protests outside the Supreme Court
Without waiting for the official decision, the political class reacted strongly to Politico's article. Several elected Democrats felt that he confirmed “the urgency” of enshrining the right to abortion in law. "We must protect the right to choose and enshrine Roe V. Wade in law," tweeted Senator Amy Klobuchar.
A proposal to that effect passed the House of Representatives but is bogged down in the Senate due to fierce Republican opposition.
Handfuls of abortion rights advocates gathered spontaneously in the evening in front of the white marble temple that houses the Supreme Court in Washington.
Six out of nine conservative judges
The Supreme Court has been profoundly overhauled by Donald Trump who, in five years, brought in three magistrates, solidifying his conservative majority (six judges out of nine). Since September, this new Court has sent several favorable signals to opponents of abortion.
She initially refused to prevent the entry into force of a Texas law which limits the right to an abortion to the first six weeks of pregnancy against two trimesters under the current legal framework. During the December review of a Mississippi law, which also questioned the legal deadline for an abortion, a majority of its magistrates made it clear that they were ready to nibble or even simply overturn Roe v. Wade.
The document presented by Politico relates to this file. Its publication constitutes an extremely rare leak for the Supreme Court, where the secrecy of the deliberations has almost never been violated. |
|
|
|
Britney Delsey for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LEGISLATIVE A MAJOR FINANCIAL ISSUE
FOR PARTIES |  Behind the political issue of the legislative elections, which are being held on June 12 and 19, 2022, lies a major financial issue.
It is the results of this election which in fact determine the public aid from which each party will benefit for the next five years. Allocations which represent part of the financing necessary for the life of the parties.
However, some, such as Les Républicains or Europe-Écologie Les Verts are now "on the bone" after their debacle in the presidential election.
The rules: two envelopes and conditions
There are two public funding envelopes. When you vote for a legislative candidate, your vote will allow the candidate's party to collect, for five years, €1.64, even if he is not elected. One condition: his party must have won at least 1% of the votes in fifty constituencies in the first round.
To receive the most funding possible, the parties therefore have an interest in presenting as many candidates as possible, even without the hope of seeing them elected. This is also why each party is currently fighting to have a maximum of invested candidates.
Since 2017, La République en Marche has received, for example, 10.1 million euros per year, the National Rally 4.9 million euros.
Please note that financial penalties may apply if the parties have not respected the principle of gender parity in the presentation of candidates for the elections.
This is what happened to the Republicans, who lost 1.8 million euros on their first envelope of 3.9 million euros. Or to La France insoumise, which lost €252,000 out of €3.8 million.
Second envelope. After this election, the final number of parliamentarians, deputies and senators will make it possible to release an additional €37,400 per elected official and per year. With its 291 parliamentarians, LREM, for example, received 10.9 million euros, i.e. a total, over the two envelopes, of more than 21 million euros per year.
In 2020, the total amount paid to the parties amounted to 66 million euros.
Within the framework of a coalition, each wanting his share of the cake, the rules of the game of public aid lead to strange negotiations: a candidate can for example be invested under the name of a party (for the first envelope), and be attached to the group of his original party (for the second)…
Other financing
Public aid is not the only source of financing. The parties are also financed, in particular, thanks to donations from people, contributions from members and elected officials. Substantial sums: in total, 60.1 million euros in 2020.
Public aid is paid only to parties that have presented candidates. This does not favor the emergence of new parties. Unless relying on private donations.
|
|
|
|
Jaimie Potts for DayNewsWorld |
 |
TRIBUTE TO REGINE "QUEEN OF THE NIGHT"
|
 Long queen of Parisian nights, popular singer and businesswoman, Régine, who died on Sunday at the age of 92, was known to the public for songs like "La grande Zoa", "Azzurro", "Les p'tits papers” or “Patchouli Chinchilla”. Big names in French song, such as Charles Aznavour or Barbara, have signed hits for this pragmatic, melancholy and humorous fighter, with a bewitching and slightly scratchy voice.
Other authors and composers wrote for Régine, including Emil Stern, Eddy Marnay, Francis Lai, Jean Cau, Jean-Loup Dabadie, Michel Grisolia, Charles Level, Françoise Sagan, Serge Lama, Romano Musumarra, Françoise Dorin, Didier Barbelivien, Michel Leeb and Patrick Modiano.
In 1967, she received the Pierre-Brive Consecration prize from the Charles-Cros Academy, at the same time as Jacques Dutronc. She lost her father the same year.
Making her film debut in 1962, Régine played or appeared in a few films, notably Le Train (1973), Les Ripoux (1984) and Grosse Fatigue (1993).
Régine was born in Belgium at number 9 rue Bara in Anderlecht, then in the province of Brabant. Her parents, who lived in Argentina for eight years, are Polish Ashkenazi Jews. His younger brother, later known as Maurice Bidermann, a future industrialist in textiles and clothing, was born in the same town in 1932.
The Zylberberg family emigrated to Paris in 1932 after their father Joseph lost the family bakery to poker in Anderlecht. Her mother returned to South America, she and her brother Maurice were then placed in different pensions, then found refuge during the Second World War in various cities such as Lyon and Aix-en-Provence: she was then baptized Catholic. It was in Aix-en-Provence that her passion for singing and her vocation for parties were born.
Little Régine spends whole nights waiting for her father, who plays at the Casino d'Aix-en-Provence, thinking about who she could become. She joins a shelter for the elderly in Lyon, where she falls in love with Claude, the son of the family, nephew of the chief rabbi of Lyon, Bernard Schonberg who, at the time of the marriage proposal, is arrested by the Gestapo and dies assassinated in deportation.
At the Liberation, his father opened a Parisian café, La Lumière de Belleville, then asked him to take care of it. She discovered American balls, jazz, bebop and other dances which became her passion. A friend entrusted him with running a nightclub in the center of Paris, “le Whiskey à gogo”. She sometimes enjoys dancing there with a full glass on her head, but prides herself on never drinking alcohol.
In 1956, she opened her first nightclub, "Chez Régine", in the Latin Quarter. She continues with the "New Jimmy's", in Montparnasse, where we dance frenzied twists. “Time spent sleeping is time wasted,” she said.
Then will follow New York and Monaco, Brazil, Malaysia... Régine will manage a total of twenty clubs frequented in particular by Andy Warhol, Liza Minelli, the Rothschilds or the Kennedys.
She discovered the music hall in the 1960s. After passing through the Olympia in Paris, she sang at Carnegie Hall in New York in 1969, becoming - notably with Edith Piaf - one of the rare French women to have conquered the America. At the same time, with her second husband, businessman Roger Choukroun, who married in 1969, she continued to expand her businesses. In particular, it creates a membership card giving access to all its clubs around the world. Up to 20,000 people paid dearly for this card in the 1980s.
The couple invests in hotels, restaurants, launches clothing lines, perfumes, sponsors luxury cruises... Régine knows how to mobilize "celebrities" for causes that are important to her, such as the fight against drugs, launching the association "SOS Drugs International". In 2008, her "friend", President Nicolas Sarkozy, whom she accompanied on a trip to Israel, elevated her to the rank of officer of the Legion of Honor. Ironically, a search in 1996 caused the closure of the "Palace", a legendary club that she had owned for four years, after the discovery of narcotics. In 2004, she separated from most of her clubs. And divorce her husband.
Two years later, she lost her only son, the journalist Lionel Rotcajg, born from a first marriage. “I am an exhibitionist. But I have always been unhappy with dignity, ”she says, careful not to spread her pain in the public square. In 2009, she had to sell her "Chez Régine" nightclub near the Champs-Élysées, a long-time unmissable meeting place for Parisian golden youth. The one who said she spends a fortune every day then claims to be “ruined”. This does not prevent him from multiplying talk shows and concerts.
At 86, wrapped in her legendary boa, she was still singing in 2016 at the Folies-Bergères "I will survive", a cover of Gloria Gaynor's hit.
|
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
A FLAN HOUSE
|
The dessert that everyone agrees a homemade FLAN with soft cider.
For 8 people you need 5 minutes of preparation, and 40 minutes of cooking.
For the races
1 puff pastry from the supermarket
1 l of semi-skimmed milk
3 eggs
160 g of sugar
100 g cornflour
2 bags of vanilla sugar
3 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla powder
First with your electric whisk, beat the eggs with the cornflour, vanilla extract and 125 ml of milk in a bowl.
Then pour the remaining milk into a saucepan, with vanilla sugar, sugar, vanilla powder.
Bring to a boil. Pour the boiling vanilla sweet milk over the egg mixture while beating (with your electric whisk).
Pour everything back into the saucepan, put back on very low heat and stir with a wooden spatula. Let it cook a few seconds while it thickens a little.
Then pour the mixture on the dough into the mold and bake for 40 minutes at 180 ° c. Put in the refrigerator on a porcelain dish having previously unmoulded. Accompanied by a sweet cider.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marie-Chantal de Verneuil for DayNewsWorld |
 |
LEGISLATIVE
THE CRITICAL VOTING METHOD |  The two-round single-member ballot and the high risk of abstention make small parties invisible. He forces them to make alliances to increase their chances.
The election of the 577 deputies to the National Assembly is by uninominal majority ballot in two rounds. Voting is by constituency, each corresponding to one seat. The seat is won by the candidate who obtains the most votes. The objective is to obtain an absolute majority of seats, ie 289 deputies.
Since 2002, the legislative elections follow the presidential elections. And usually voters give the newly elected president a majority in the National Assembly.
To be elected in the first round, the candidate must have obtained an absolute majority (50% of the votes plus one, representing at least 25% of those registered). Otherwise, a second round is organized and it is then the candidate who has obtained the most votes (the relative majority) who wins. But only candidates who have obtained 12.5% of the votes of the number of registered voters can participate in the second round.
Benefits
This voting method offers the benefit of achieving clear majorities through candidates having obtained an (absolute or relative) majority of votes. Stop overrepresenting them. It generally has the virtue of giving the executive a solid basis for governing. It was moreover to put an end to the political instability of the Fourth Republic that General de Gaulle had reestablished, in 1958, the majority ballot for the election of deputies.
The inconvenients
This ballot eliminates, conversely, the other candidates, whether they have obtained 5% or 40% of the votes. This is why he is criticized for penalizing the smallest parties, established on the territory but benefiting from an insufficient number of voters to win. These rules of the electoral game therefore do not allow all political sensitivities to be heard.
Five years ago, the National Rally, little established and without allies, had obtained only six deputies and two relatives despite its 13.2% of the votes in the first round of the legislative elections. The abstention, which reached records, also weighs very heavily on the ballot.
To qualify for the second round, you must obtain 12.5% of the votes of the number of registered voters. But with a 50% abstention, this amounts to having to win 25% of the votes cast in the first round. And with almost 58% abstention as in 2017? 29%.
The results
The vote and the level of abstention require alliances to be forged from the first round to increase one's chances. This is what the various political parties are currently actively working on.
Aborted reforms
The smaller parties have long been calling for a change in the voting system in the legislative elections. And the debate is reactivated this year, as was already the case in 2017.
Emmanuel Macron then promised to integrate a dose (15%) of proportional representation in the legislative ballot, "to reflect the pluralism of our political life". Text finally buried.
The election concerns the 577 deputies in the National Assembly.
|
|
|
|
Jaimie Potts for DayNewsWorld |
 |
STOP AGING REJUVENATION
HUMAN CELLS
|

Is science promising us eternal youth ?
Not quite, let's face it, but the discovery of researchers from the University of Exeter (UK) can only give us hope to better deal with age-related pathologies.
Thanks to hydrogen sulphide, British researchers have managed to stop the process of cellular aging ...
Scientists have indeed shown the benefits of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in the laboratory. This gaseous molecule would have a beneficial effect on cells, whose functioning is altered with age, according to scientists in the study published last July in the journal Aging.
Hydrogen sulfide is a gaseous molecule naturally present in the body, which has a protective role against aging and senescence of cells. He is known to smell rotten eggs.
Hydrogen sulfide to invigorate the cells.
Hydrogen sulfide helps the body fight against aging and senescence of cells:
these become unable with age to divide and thus function properly. They release around them pro-inflammatory cytokines, which induces the senescence of their neighbors.
However, with age, the level of H2S in the blood decreases.
By slowing down the accumulation of senescent cells, specialists hope in the long term to fight against cell-specific diseases. And especially in heart and vascular tissues ..
For the reintroduction and the restoration of a good cellular genetic control, it is therefore necessary to use hydrogen sulphide in a limited dose and even within the mitochondria, the genetic factories of the cells. This is what British researchers have been able to do.
Genetics could slow aging, even reverse aging !
|
|
|
|
Larry Ricky for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE MONTH OF MAY IDEAL TO EAT MUSSELS
|
D onc we will make molds in Provencal style. For this recipe nothing better than going for a ride on the market. Fresh products always stand out with flavors of the Midi. We need: 1 kg of mussels 2 onions A branch of celery A small pot of fresh basil 400 g ripe tomatoes A clove of garlic A bouquet garni Then half a teaspoon of sugar A tablespoon of olive oil A tablespoon of tomato paste First clean the mussels thoroughly. Then in a large saucepan heat the olive oil with the chopped onions the chopped celery as well as the garlic, basil and bouquet garni. For 5 minutes cook on low heat and add the tomato concentrate sugar a little pepper and salt that will simmer for about twenty minutes. Finally we add the mussels and there we cook on high heat only and your dish is ready to serve.
I accompany this dish always fries with a good white wine I take a pinot blanc.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Marie-Chantal de Verneuil for DayNewsWorld |
 |
MACRON WHICH STRATEGIES
FOR THIS NEW FIVE-YEAR ? |  As the legislative elections are now widely perceived as a third round of the presidential election that could lead to a period of cohabitation, the strategic challenges appear numerous for Emmanuel Macron.
By becoming, at the age of 44, the first President to be re-elected by direct universal suffrage without following a period of cohabitation, Emmanuel Macron achieved an unprecedented performance in the history of the Fifth Republic.
This success, however, hides a paradoxical situation since it is accompanied by the highest abstention in the second round of a presidential election after Georges Pompidou in 1969 (31% against 28% this year) and the highest score ever obtained by a far-right candidate at this stage of the election.
The celebrations and the speech that followed the results of this second round reflected this contrasting situation. The party was short and Emmanuel Macron did not fail to underline the things he was going to have to change (need to change his method, to take into account opposition, to highlight certain themes such as ecology, etc.) even though he had just been elected with the 3rd best percentage score of the Fifth Republic (58.54% after Jacques Chirac's 82.21% in 2002 and his 66.10% in 2017) and a superior performance to the polls between the two towers.
While the legislative elections are now widely perceived as a third round of the presidential election that could lead to a period of cohabitation (which no newly elected president has ever known), the strategic challenges appear numerous for Emmanuel Macron.
The crucial choice of the Prime Minister
The 2017 legislative elections were marked by record abstention (51.3% in the first round and 57.4% in the second round) and by disunity among opponents of the new President. Driven by the momentum of Emmanuel Macron's victory, the alliance between En Marche and the MoDem had won this election by a large margin by obtaining 350 deputies out of 577 seats and the choice of a close friend of Alain Juppé, Édouard Philippe, as Prime Minister had undoubtedly contributed to this success.
The situation could be different this year if the National Rally finally decides to agree with the movement of Éric Zemmour Reconquête! or if Jean-Luc Mélenchon managed to bring together, under the banner of a new People's Union, all the leftist formations.
The first strategic challenge for the re-elected president therefore certainly lies in the choice of the new prime minister and in the impact that this appointment could have on the results of the general elections on 12th and 19th June.
After two Prime Ministers from the ranks of the right (Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex), it would seem logical, given the results of the 1st round and the announcement of a future Prime Minister in charge of ecological planning, to favor a personality more marked on the left and of ecological sensitivity. After two men, the idea of a female personality is also attractive and would respond to stated ambitions in terms of parity. The possibility of a person coming from civil society would also undoubtedly be an interesting strategic option and a sign in the direction of people who have turned away from the elections or who are demanding new forms of political expression.
After Édouard Philippe and Jean Castex, a woman at Matignon ?
The question of leadership
Two other elements will also be taken into account: the capacity of the person appointed to lead a battle in the legislative elections which promises to be particularly virulent in view of the declarations of Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the progression of votes in favor of the extreme right and the ability to get along with the President of the Republic. This last aspect refers to the question of leadership and the balance of power between the president and the prime minister. At this stage, Emmanuel Macron gives the impression of wanting to favor a more transformational leadership, relying more on trust in others and the ability to convince, and less narcissistic and Jupiterian, as he has often been criticized for. This apparent desire could also weigh in his choice.
The choices of the people who decide to work with him, like that of the alliances that will be forged, will necessarily be marked by the ambitions that the prospect of the presidential election of 2027 is already giving rise to.
But if the agreement and the complicity between the two heads of the executive are important elements, the situation which begins will also be particular insofar as Emmanuel Macron will not be able this time to succeed himself after two successive mandates. The choices of the people who decide to work with him, like the projects of the alliances that will be forged, will necessarily be marked by the ambitions that the prospect of the presidential election of 2027 is already giving rise to. Personal strategies risk colliding and his ability to control the power and balance of power of each other will be a key element as the end of his five-year term approaches.
The issue of alliances
In terms of alliances, the coopetition strategies (a term designating cooperation between competitors) that Emmanuel Macron will try to put in place also risk being affected by this deadline and it is likely that competition will quickly take precedence over cooperation and collaboration.
The results of this presidential election seemed to mark the end of the right/left divide which had structured the Fifth Republic until 2017. This historical bipolarization has given way to a French political spectrum made up of three blocks.
In this new landscape, the presidential movement represents an enlarged center. Emmanuel Macron's ability to bring together, for the legislative elections and over the next five years, former members of the Socialist Party and the UMP, tempted by the gathering of patriots from all sides desired by Marine Le Pen, the Union of the Rights defended by Éric Zemmour or the new People's Union advocated by La France Insoumise, will be crucial if he wishes to carry out his projects.
The Macronian “at the same time” symbol of a paradoxical world ?
Finally, the most difficult challenge for Emmanuel Macron in the period that opens will perhaps concern the sustainability of his doctrine of "at the same time". This calls for taking into account the complexity of the world around us to justify seemingly opposing actions and projects.
This approach notably echoes the theory of paradoxes increasingly used today in management science to understand and resolve the tensions arising from contradictory injunctions and paradoxical situations faced by organizations.
At a time when Emmanuel Macron's main opponents reproach him for the lack of radicalism in his decisions, the first question is whether such a strategy can enable him to gather and obtain a majority to govern after the legislative elections. next June. Above all, can this approach respond effectively to problems as profound as the strength of migratory flows, purchasing power difficulties or environmental issues ?
Beyond the actions necessary to reconcile rural and urban, globalist and national, rich and poor, the strategy advocated by Emmanuel Macron in environmental matters, and focused both on strong economic growth and on the preservation of the planet, could well come up against the limits of his “at the same time” method.
This is undoubtedly the biggest strategic challenge facing Emmanuel Macron if he wants to make his second five-year term a recognized and indisputable success.
According to Olivier Guyottot in TheConversation, teacher-researcher in strategy and political science, INSEEC Grande École. |
|
|
|
Simon Freeman for DayNewsWorld |
 |
RISKS OF SOCIAL CRISIS
FACING THE DECLINE IN PURCHASING POWER |  It is the first subject of concern of the French, the one which occupied a major part of the campaign and will remain at the heart of the attention of the president: purchasing power. In this regard, Emmanuel Macron is not beginning his second five-year term with great credit. At the end of March, 74% of French people believed that their purchasing power had deteriorated since his election in 2017… Inflation in France jumped 4.8% over one year in April after 4.5% a month earlier according to the provisional estimate published this Friday morning by INSEE.
Price growth in France continues to be driven by soaring hydrocarbon prices exacerbated by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Over twelve months, energy prices rose another 26.6%. But the increase is also fueled by an “acceleration in the prices of services, food and manufactured products”, specifies INSEE.
An impact evaluated between 168 euros and 421 euros
France is therefore rediscovering a waltz of labels unprecedented since the beginning of the 1980s and which is likely to last. After the entry into force of trade agreements between producers and large retailers - which are also being renegotiated - food prices soared by 3.8%, against 2.9% in March. Fresh produce soared by 6.6%.
The rise in food prices alone "could reduce household purchasing power by 0.4% to 1.1% this year, i.e. between 168 euros and 421 euros with" an impact three times greater for the 10 % the most modest compared to the 10% most affluent”, calculated the economists of Asterès. But the prices of services also increased, by 2.9%.
“The price shocks are spreading throughout the economy, which does not bode well ,” summarizes Philippe Waechter, director of economic research at Ostrum Asset Management.
Decline in growth
Inflation risks leading to losses of purchasing power even if the executive has multiplied the devices in the form of a “resilience plan” to help French people get through this difficult period. Energy check, then tariff shield on gas and electricity prices.. .
As a result, household consumption is down, and GDP growth is zero in the first quarter of 2022 in France, again according to INSEE. In March, consumption fell by 1.3%, halting French growth in the first quarter, INSEE announced on Friday.
After peaking at 7% in 2021, economic growth is likely to stall in the coming months. Most forecasting institutes have recently downgraded their GDP growth figures for 2022.
“For the next government, the equation will be very complicated. He will have to manage the effects of this inflation on the purchasing power of households”, underlines the economist of Ostrum Asset Management Philippe Waechter. “As no government wants to enter into indexation procedures, there are necessarily losses of purchasing power and therefore inequalities which will increase”, he recalls.
On this point, the rise in fuel prices in recent weeks has accentuated territorial disparities in France. All households living in rural areas and dependent on the car find themselves penalized by the rise in fuel prices. Even if the government has implemented several measures such as the 18-cent discount on fuel prices or the inflation check, these non-targeted devices benefit a large number of households without distinction.
Several recent works by economists have shown that these measures could widen the gap between population categories, while those at the bottom of the scale are the most exposed.
An increased risk of social tensions
The next government will also have the heavy task of curbing strong social tensions if inflation continues in the coming months. Already during the presidential campaign, numerous snail operations and blockades of fuel depots took place throughout the territory. The discontent could grow as economic activity slows down. Macronia.
“Inflation generated political crises throughout the 20th century. Inflation has led to social crises in many countries,” recalls Anne-Sophie Alsif.
|
|
|
|
Abby Shelcore for DayNewsWorld |
 |
DOES THE DELIVERY OF OFFENSIVE WEAPONS TO UKRAINE LEAD TO A RISK OF "COBELLIGERANCE" FOR WESTERN PEOPLE ?
|
 Washington brought together Tuesday, April 26, 2022, in Germany, 40 countries to accelerate deliveries of military equipment to Ukraine. The United States says it is ready to "move heaven and earth" to make Ukraine win against Russia. At the risk of falling into co-belligerence ?
On Tuesday, 40 countries allied with Ukraine gathered at the American base in Ramstein, Germany, on Washington's initiative to speed up deliveries of military equipment. Unheard of in Europe. To deal with the Russian invasion launched on February 24, more than twenty countries are helping Ukraine by sending humanitarian aid, but also military equipment, whether defensive (helmets, vests bulletproof) or offensive. Weakening Russia is now a goal. Biden's objective is no longer in doubt: Ukraine must win the war but is it at the risk of co-belligerence ?
Military support was intended to be discreet at the start so as not to be considered as a co-belligerent country against Russia, but also so as not to be dispossessed of the necessary armaments if the conflict is settled. Now, many countries, including France, Germany or the Netherlands, have announced the shipment of heavy weapons such as tanks or howitzers.
According to Mike Jacobson, a civilian artillery specialist, the West wants to allow the Ukrainians to respond to the long-range Russian bombardments, which aim to push back the bulk of the Ukrainian forces and then send tanks and soldiers to occupy the ground. Ukraine also received fighter jets and spare parts to strengthen its air force, Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said before retracting.
Small non-exhaustive inventory
Similar announcements have been cascading in recent days. Without going through a Prévert-style inventory, let us detail some military aid made public - others may remain secret -.
US President Joe Biden thus announced this Thursday new military aid of 800 million dollars, including 72 howitzers and theirvehicles, 144,000 shells and 121 Phoenix Ghost killer drones, bringing aid to Ukraine to more than 4 billion USD since the beginning of his mandate. On April 13, he had already announced aid including armored vehicles, artillery (18 howitzers) and helicopters. Previously Washington had provided or promised 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, 5,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles, 7,000 anti-tank weapons of another model, several hundred Switchblade kamikaze drones, 7,000 assault rifles, 50 million bullets and various ammunition, rockets laser-guided systems, Puma drones, anti-artillery and anti-drone radars, light armored vehicles and secure communication systems.
Slovakia, which contributed military equipment worth around 62.5 million euros (fuel, ammunition, surface-to-air missiles, anti-tank missiles) and provided an S-300 air defense system, is negotiating currently with Ukraine the possibility of sending Zuzana Howitzer howitzers.
The Netherlands, they promised at the end of February the delivery of 200 Stinger missiles. During the Ramstein meeting, they announced the dispatch of a "limited number" of armored howitzers of the Panzerhaubitze 2000 type to kyiv. They have the ability to eliminate enemy targets 50 kilometers away in all weather conditions. In mid-April, the German Minister of Defence, Christine Lambrecht, announced that the supply capacities for equipment drawn from the Bundeswehr's reserves had reached their limit. The sector will now go directly through manufacturers. The Rheinmetall group, constructor of the Leopard tank among others, informed Handelsblatt that it is preparing to deliver around fifty armored vehicles to the Ukrainian army. According to its leader, Armin Papperger, the first of
If France remains discreet on the type of weapons, it has nevertheless delivered more than 100 million euros of military equipment. "We still deliver substantial equipment, from Milan to Caesar through several types of armaments" , revealed Emmanuel Macron, adding “I think we have to continue on this path. With always a red line, which is not to enter into co-belligerence”.
A shift in Western military aid to Ukraine
According to Elie Tenenbaum, director of the Center for Security Studies at the French Institute of International Relations, we are witnessing a real “turning point in the war” . This is indeed a second phase of delivery of weapons, and this time offensive. The first, just after February 24, concerned so-called “defensive” weapons, that is to say that they are used to counter an enemy attack, even if their effects can be lethal. Since then, we have reached a certain plateau with the requests made by Ukraine for more offensive or versatile means (combat planes for example).
At the risk of falling into co-belligerence ?
A new word has appeared. It is that of “co-belligerent”. Have Western states, Europeans and Americans already, de facto, gone to war alongside Ukraine? The retreat of the United States at the time of sending Polish Mig-29 fighter planes to the conflict zone shows enough the embarrassment of the Western camp. "We don't want an open war between Russia and NATO", repeated Jens Stoltenberg, a secretary general of the Alliance placed between a rock and a hard place: increasingly desperate Ukrainian calls for help , on the one hand, and constant Russian threats, on the other.
Especially since Joe Biden also announced yesterday, Thursday April 27, that he was going to ask the American Congress to grant aid of 33 billion dollars to Ukraine, including 20 billion in military equipment, while specifying that the United States "does not attack" Russia but "helps Ukraine to defend itself against Russian aggression".
The risk of real escalation is indeed always present, the risk of widening the conflict too, with a potential destabilization of Moldova.
Already present this escalation takes place in the war of words. To astonish Western public opinion, Vladimir Putin, from February 27, stirred up nuclear fear. Yesterday Sergei Lavrov explicitly mentions the risk of a Third World War. And on Wednesday April 28, 2022 it was the President of Russia himself who asked the United States to stop sending arms to Ukraine, declaring that Western arms supplies were fueling the conflict. Addressing Russian parliamentarians, Vladimir Putin said the West wanted to cut Russia into pieces, and accused Western countries of pushing Ukraine into conflict with Russia. "If anyone intends to interfere in the current events and create strategic threats against Russia, this will be unacceptable to us. They should know that the strikes we will carry out in retaliation will be meteoric,” Vladimir Putin said, according to a video of his speech broadcast by Russian media.
A direct military involvement against Russia is certainly excluded, but the debate on the extent of arms deliveries to kyiv is raging. But how far can the allies go without being considered as parties to the conflict?
The "balancing of Westerners, neither neutral nor co-belligerent"
A direct military involvement in Ukraine, against Russia, is certainly excluded. The risks of a large-scale conflict, spilling over into the territory of NATO countries, are too serious. It is therefore a question of containing the fighting on Ukrainian soil, without abandoning its population to its fate. Interviewed by BFMTV, Admiral Hervé Bléjean, Director General of the European Union Military Staff, said: “International law and the law of armed conflict do not make countries that supply another country [ for] his self-defense of the belligerents. So the countries of the European Union and the other countries which help in this war effort cannot be characterized as belligerents despite the misinformation and despite the speech that can be made by Vladimir Putin on this subject”.
The "balancing of Westerners, neither neutral nor co-belligerent", according to the expression of journalists from Le Monde, cannot however hide a reality: the growing isolation of Russia and the political instability that Vladimir Putin now represents in the concert of nations are particularly fearful of unpredictable reactions to its interlocutors.
"We don't know what's in Vladimir Putin's head", observed the journalist specializing in Eastern Europe, Bernard Lecomte on BFM: "We have a huge country 11,000 km long which is in the process of having the status of North Korea, it's dizzying."
|
|
|
|
Joanne Courbet for DayNewsWorld |
 |
JOHNNY DEPP AGAINST AMBER HEARD DOMESTIC ABUSE AND PERSONALITY DISORDER
|
 It has now been two weeks since Johnny Depp and Amber Heard engaged in a new legal standoff in Virginia. Six years after their breakup, the ex-couple continues to tear each other apart over accusations of domestic violence.
The defamation lawsuit between Amber Heard and her ex-husband Johnny Depp continues in the United States, in the state of Virginia. Tuesday, April 26, this time it was the testimony of a psychologist, hired by the actor's lawyers, who drew attention. Shannon Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist, presented a surprising diagnosis to the bar: according to her, Amber Heard suffered from personality disorders.
The expert indicated that people with the disorders observed in the actress "can react violently", adding that they "often have abusive behavior towards their partners". The clinician reported that in a test she conducted during her analysis, Amber Heard had "grossly exaggerated" any post-traumatic stress symptoms she may have suffered from as a result of alleged domestic abuse.
The actress' lawyers sought to discredit this testimony, arguing that the psychologist had been hired by the opposing party. To which the latter replied: "I report scientific facts regardless of what they tell us."
An actor who has lost everything
During his court testimony last week, Johnny Depp denied ever hitting Amber Heard or any other woman in his life. The star of the films "Pirates of the Caribbean"" has several times indicated that Amber Heard was, on the contrary, the one who, in their couple, gave the blows Married from 2016 to 2018, the former spouses accuse each other of defamation during this trial, very followed and partly retransmitted on the American news channels.
In a column published in 2018 in the "Washington Post", Amber Heard did not mention Johnny Depp by name, but she mentioned the accusations of domestic violence that she had brought against her husband in 2016. Last week the ex-companion of Vanessa Paradis, father of Lily-Rose and Jack (22 and 20 years old), had assured that he had lost "everything" because of these accusations of violence, starting with his role in the saga "Fantastic Beasts". He is claiming $50 million in damages, against which Amber Heard also filed a complaint demanding $100 million in compensation, claiming that Johnny Depp had subjected him to "permanent physical violence and abuse".
Johnny Depp has already lost his defamation lawsuit – highly publicized – against the English tabloid “The Sun”, which accused him of domestic violence, in November 2020. |
|
|
|
Kate White for DayNewsWorld |
 |
WITH ELON MUSK CAN TWITTER BECOME
THE SOCIAL NETWORK OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION ? |  Elon Musk becomes the owner of the Twitter platform which he considers "the digital public square where subjects vital to the future of humanity are debated", according to a quote in the press release. The richest man in the world – 250 billion euros at the last score – announced in early April his 9.1% stake in Twitter. Elon Musk, who decided not to join the microblogging company's board of directors, became its largest shareholder ahead of founder Jack Dorsey.
Across the Atlantic, no one seems indifferent to efforts to restore voice to what was Donald Trump's favorite "megalophone". With six months of key legislative elections for the White House, the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk is feared by part of the American political class, approved by the other part. According to a recent YouGov poll, more than three out of four Donald Trump voters (77%) approved of Elon Musk's project in recent days, compared to only 20% of Joe Biden voters.
In fact, the reactions largely overlap with political divisions. On the right, the critics of "political correctness" rejoice. They consider the arrival of the libertarian billionaire very promising in their fight against “Bigh Tech censorship”, nicknamed to the big companies of Silicon Valley. On Twitter, the organization that brings together Republican MPs has called on Elon Musk to "liberate" the account of Donald Trump, banned since the assault on the Capitol. On the left, on the other hand, there are concerns about the arrival at the head of Twitter of a man who, as the New York Times writes in an editorial, "uses the platform to drag his critics through the mud, irony on the physique of certain people and to promote cryptocurrencies”. Robert Reich, former minister of Bill Clinton, speaks of “a nightmare”.
It is that the businessman from Tesla and SpaceX indicated that he would make improvements to the platform and in the first place that he adhered to the principle of freedom of expression. The boss of Tesla took the opportunity to reiterate its desire to relax the moderation of content broadcast on the platform: “freedom of expression is the cornerstone of a functioning democracy, he underlined in the press release announcing the operation. Twitter is the virtual agora in which we debate the issues that will decide the future of humanity. ". And Twitter has 217 million active and monetizable users worldwide, including 38 million in the United States. A sacred sounding board!
Elon Musk, a self-described “free speech diehard,” said in the April 14, 2022 TED Talk that Twitter was “an agora” and that it was “very important that this agora is an inclusive space for freedom of expression”.
Freedom of expression, censorship, even misinformation ?
However, the Republicans regularly denounce the censorship of social networks, and in particular of Twitter. During the 2020 presidential campaign, the founder of the social network with the blue bird, Jack Dorsey, had been the least reluctant, among the major platforms, to moderate content more, first by refusing political advertisements then by further contextualizing speeches. But Twitter had finally "permanently" censored all of Donald Trump's accounts, after the attack on Capitol Hill by his supporters on January 6, 2021.
Elon Musk has already declared, during an interview with the boss of the TED conferences, that he is opposed to this type of indefinite sanctions. It is therefore not excluded that Donald Trump's account could be restored even if the latter declared on Fox News on Monday that he would not return to this social network following the takeover of the platform. He clarified that he will officially join his own platform dubbed "Truth Social" in the next seven days, as planned.
Elon Musk , often close to the ideas of libertarians , is well aware of the uses of Twitter to use it frequently... and provoke just as regularly, fully enjoying his freedom of expression. On March 14, he challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin “in a man-to-man fight. The stake is Ukraine,” he wrote on Twitter, addressing the official Kremlin Twitter account. And faced with the incomprehension of a surfer, Elon Musk had assured that he was "completely serious".
But can this desire for freedom of expression at all costs happen for any social network to be regulated ?
Moderation or not?
Elon Musk plans to generate Twitter revenue from subscriptions rather than advertising. But by sparing itself the worry of attracting and retaining advertisers, Twitter would have less need to focus on content moderation. Twitter would thus become a kind of opinion site, for paying subscribers, devoid of control. Elon Musk's description of a platform that no longer cares about moderating content is worrisome considering the harm done by social media algorithms.
Testimony from whistleblower Frances Haugen, a former Facebook employee, and recent regulatory efforts, such as the Online Safety Bill unveiled in the UK or future European Union legislation, show that the public is widely concerned about the role played by technology platforms in shaping societal ideas and public opinion. Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter highlights a host of regulatory concerns.
Due to Elon Musk's other activities, Twitter's ability to influence public opinion in the sensitive aviation and automotive sectors automatically creates a conflict of interest, not to mention the implications for disclosing important information needed by shareholders. In this sense, Elon Musk has already been accused of delaying the disclosure of his participation in Twitter.
This is why since 2016, the American left has dreamed of effective regulation of social networks, but the election of Joe Biden has not made it possible to move the file forward. One of the most ardent militants of this cause is none other than Barack Obama. In recent days, the former president was in Silicon Valley to raise this issue again. In front of Stanford students, he insisted on the dangers that social networks posed to democracy. Among the avenues he suggested is the supervision of algorithms by a regulatory authority, in the same way as cars or the food industry. Barack Obama is the most followed personality on Twitter.
“Nothing prevents Elon Musk from buying Twitter, it is his right, it is the law of the market, there is no reason to oppose it. But in a few months, it will have to submit to the Digital Services Act when it operates on European territory,” warns MEP Geoffroy Didier (Les Républicains), who participated in the negotiations for this new regulation. , the now famous “DSA”, or “digital services legislation” in French, which was the subject of an agreement between the European Parliament and the Member States on Saturday 23 April.
"I hope even my worst critics will stay on Twitter, because that's what freedom of expression means," added Elon Musk on Monday.
One way to respond to his critics, who consider that there is a risk that the billionaire will seek to censor accounts that disagree with him on the platform and, in turn, make misinformation...
|
|
|
|
Alize Marion for DayNewsWorld |
 |
THE RE-ELECTION OF EMMANUEL MACRON
OR A DEFAULT VICTORY |  The re-election of Emmanuel Macron against Marine Le Pen in the second round of the presidential election, on April 24, 2022, does not come as a big surprise when we know that the Republican front was set up between -two-tower.
This success is also in line with the results of the first round, which had interrupted a dynamic that seemed to benefit, at the beginning of April, the main opponents of Emmanuel Macron (Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon): with 4.5 points and 1.6 million voters ahead of his pursuer, the outgoing president approached this second round in a favorable tie situation, especially since he could count on the support of a larger number of candidates in the first round (Pécresse, Jadot, Roussel, Hidalgo – against Zemmour and Dupont-Aignan) as well as on Jean-Luc Mélenchon's repeated appeal not to “give a single voice to Mrs. Le Pen”.
Emmanuel Macron's victory should not, however, hide the lessons of the ballot.
The Three Teachings
First: Only 33% of his voters say they voted for him on his policy proposals. A victory yes, but a victory by default, even if one in two of his voters also voted for his presidential stature.
Second: Never has a far-right candidate been so high under the Fifth Republic, never have the French seemed so divided. Nor as defiant towards politics, to see the record rate – except for the Pompidou-Poher second round of the 1969 presidential election – of abstention: 28.01% (final figure). Almost one in three voters.
Third: Melancholy voters in the second round did not behave mechanically and uniformly. 38% of them abstained and 8% voted blank or null. On the other hand, the votes carried over were more in favor of Emmanuel Macron (36%) than Marine Le Pen (18%) but with however an increase of 10% compared to 2017. A significant proportion voted for Marine Le Pen, especially in the countryside, where Le Pen is now the majority, in this "peripheral France" described by Christophe Guilluy as well as in the overseas territories.
A fractured country
Doesn't the Ipsos-Sopra Steria survey also point out that 77% of French people think, after this election, that "there will be unrest and tension in the country in the coming months"? Equally worrying, 20% of those polled confide that their feelings after this re-election are “disappointment” (20% saying they are relieved) and 18% say they are angry. After a first five-year term marked by the Yellow Vests crisis, such a feeling is obviously not to be neglected.
Well aware of this deep divide, Emmanuel Macron tried to reassure this other France, also addressing these voters in his victory speech at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, late in the evening. "I am no longer the candidate of a camp but the president of all," he says. Reducing the divide, calming the country will be his first task. “We will have to be benevolent and respectful, because our country is steeped in so many doubts and so many divisions”, he warns, serious, in contrast to the joy of the supporters.
But reducing the divide, calming the country will not be easy, especially in such a tense context, with the war in Ukraine, the economic and social effects of which are added to those of the pandemic. The defeated in the 2 nd round as in the 1 st are not mistaken, who launched, barely proclaimed the results of the presidential election, the battle of the 3 rd round, the legislative elections of 12 and 19 June.
“A resounding victory” for Le Pen
Without even giving Emmanuel Macron time to join his supporters on the Champ-de-Mars to open the champagne, Marine Le Pen, Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Éric Zemmour sparked hostilities. “The result represents in itself a resounding victory”, she proclaims from the pavilion of Armenonville, in the Bois de Boulogne. | |