A French soldier was killed on Saturday in Mali
Brigadier Alexandre Martin, of the 54th artillery regiment of Hyères, was killed in a mortar attack on the military camp of Operation Barkhane in Gao, the Elysée announced on Sunday. A press release expresses the “very strong emotion” of President Emmanuel Macron at the announcement of the death of the French soldier and “confirms France’s determination to continue the fight against terrorism in the region, alongside its partners” .
Alexandre Martin is the 53rd French soldier killed in action in the Sahel since 2013. His death comes as four French soldiers were injured in Burkina Faso on Tuesday when an improvised explosive device (IED) exploded as their vehicle passed. .
Ukraine: London accuses Moscow of “seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev”
The United Kingdom on Saturday accused Russia of “seeking to install a pro-Russian leader in Kiev” and of “considering” “occupying” Ukraine, the day after US-Russian talks appeared to have begun a detente. In an abrasive statement, the head of British diplomacy Liz Truss denounced “the extent of Russian activity aimed at shaking Ukraine”. Foreign Ministry says ‘ex-Ukrainian MP Yevgeniy Murayev is seen as a potential candidate’, but he is not the only one: Russian intelligence services have ‘links with many former Ukrainian politicians’ .
The United States described the British accusations in the evening as “deeply concerning”. Ukraine, for its part, declared on Sunday that it wanted to dismantle any pro-Russian group on its territory. “Our state will continue its policy of dismantling any oligarchic and political structure that could work to destabilize Ukraine or be complicit with the Russian occupiers,” declared Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration.
The humanitarian emergency in Afghanistan on the menu of discussions between Taliban and Westerners
The humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where millions of people are threatened with starvation, and human rights will dominate the discussions which open this Sunday in Oslo between the Taliban, Westerners and members of Afghan civil society.
During a three-day visit to Norway, the first in Europe since their return to power, the Taliban led by their Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mutaqqi will meet Norwegian officials and representatives of the United States, France, United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the European Union. “The formation of a representative political system, a response to humanitarian and economic crises, security and counter-terrorism concerns, and human rights, especially the education of girls and women” will be on the table. , the US State Department said.
With Omicron, an end to the pandemic in Europe “plausible”, according to the WHO
The Omicron variant, which could infect 60% of Europeans by March, has started a new phase of the Covid-19 pandemic in the region and could bring it closer to its end, the director of WHO Europe estimated on Sunday ” It is plausible that the region is approaching an end to the pandemic,” Hans Kluge told AFP, urging caution due to the versatility of the virus.
“Once the Omicron wave subsides, there will be for a few weeks and a few months overall immunity, either because of the vaccine or because people will be immune because of the infection and also a drop because of seasonality. “, he estimated. However, we are not in “an endemic era”, underlined the UN official.
In Perpignan, an LREM deputy attacked by anti-pass protesters
Deputy Romain Grau (LREM) in front of his campaign headquarters, January 27, 2020 in Perpignan
afp.com/RAYMOND ROIG
While more than 300 complaints for “death threat” on elected officials have been filed since July and the entry into force of the health pass, the LREM deputy Romain Grau, as well as a parliamentary adviser to the Minister of Justice and one of the neighbors of the parliamentarian, were “violently” taken to task on Saturday in Perpignan. According to him, demonstrators against the health pass “attacked” his permanence. “I was working with Guillem Gervilla, parliamentary adviser to Eric Dupond-Moretti, when all of a sudden we heard a horde of people heading towards the office and then banging on the windows,” said Romain Grau, estimating their number at over 250.
“We went out to talk to them and there, we were taken to task very violently. They clearly wanted to make us crack with rather heavy insults”, he added before specifying: “one of my neighbors intervened and got slapped. I got punched on the chin.” On Saturday, nearly 40,000 people, including 5,200 in Paris, took part in the demonstrations against the vaccination pass in France, which will come into force on Monday, a marked drop in participation compared to last Saturday.