Have you been off the news a bit over the past two days? We summarize the main information to remember.
US shoots down Chinese spy balloon, China “reserves the right to respond”
The Chinese spy balloon which flew over the United States was shot down on Saturday February 4 by a missile fired by an American fighter plane over the Atlantic Ocean. Since Tuesday, Joe Biden had been ready to shoot down the device, but Pentagon officials had advised him against doing so, because of the risk represented by the fall of the debris on American territory.
China has denounced a “obvious overreaction”. She assures us that it was a civil balloon for meteorological observation which had mistakenly entered American airspace. Beijing reserves the right to use whatever means necessary to deal with a similar situation, a defense ministry spokesman said, without further details.
Pension reform: Elisabeth Borne makes a concession on long careers
Executive and unions tackle Monday a crucial week for pension reform, the latter planning two days of action to try to influence the debates which begin in plenary session at the Assembly. The Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, announced to the Sunday newspaper that people who started working between the ages of 20 and 21 will be able to retire at 63, and not at 64, taking a step in the direction of the deputies of the Les Républicains (LR) party.
The votes of LR deputies are essential to pass the reform. They have raised the stakes and have been pleading for several days to prevent “those who started working the earliest must contribute the longest”, according to the president of the party, Eric Ciotti. An agreement to their proposal on long careers “will allow us to win a very large majority in the LR group”he assured the Parisian, SATURDAY. But the executive vice-president of the party, Aurélien Pradié, sees in the gesture of Elisabeth Borne “a deception that respects neither the Republicans nor the French”. Laurent Berger, secretary general of the CFDT, the first French union, described this type of announcement “which will affect up to 30,000 people a year” of « rustines ».
The SNCF announced Sunday evening that traffic sera “very disturbed” for trains, Tuesday, February 7, on the occasion of the third day of national strike against the pension reform project.
The former French aircraft carrier « Foch » sunk in the Atlantic Ocean by the Brazilian Navy
This time it’s really over for the Foch. The former French aircraft carrier was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean after several years of wandering and reversals in its fate. THE “planned and controlled sinking occurred at the end of the afternoon”, Friday, February 3, some 350 kilometers from the Brazilian coast, in an area of “approximate depth of 5,000 meters”the Brazilian Navy said in a statement.
Earlier in the week, she felt she had no other choice given the very degraded state of this old 266-meter-long hull, described as “toxic package of 30,000 tonnes” by the Robin des Bois association.
Ukraine: the situation “is getting more complicated” in the face of Russian troops, according to Zelensky
President Volodymyr Zelensky has recognized a situation that “gets complicated” and “hard fights” in the northern districts of Bakhmout, a hot spot on the front in eastern Ukraine against troops from Moscow. The Ukrainian general staff announced without detailing fighting and bombardments in several points in the east of the country.
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Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s Defense Minister, on Sunday criticized the “reluctance” of Westerners to deliver fighter planes to his country, for fear of an escalation of the conflict with Russia, an uncertainty which, according to him, goes “cost more lives”. He tried to reassure Ukraine’s allies by saying that long-range weapons, the delivery of which has been promised to Ukraine, will not be used to target Russian territory but only occupied areas.
Six Nations Tournament: the XV of France wins with difficulty for its first match
The Blues won in pain against Squadra Azzurra (29-24), Sunday afternoon, for their first match in the Six Nations Tournament. The XV of France, very undisciplined, nevertheless managed to pocket the offensive bonus thanks to its four tries. Ange Capuozzo, the back of Stade Toulouse, will be the main threat of the Squadra Azzurra against the XV of France.
Saturday, in Cardiff, Ireland largely dominated Wales (34-10), and placed itself as the main competitor of the XV of France. England ended up cracking at home against Scotland.
And also
Cyclo-cross. Mathieu van der Poel champion of the world.
Boss skis. Perrine Laffont wins her first victory of the winter.
Homeless families. More than twenty left-wing mayors challenge Emmanuel Macron.
Pakistan. Former President Pervez Musharraf died in Dubai, where he lived in exile.
Pope’s visit to Africa. In Juba, François is trying to restore hope to the people.