The news:
Macron warlord and future protective candidate. No declaration of candidacy, but forty days before the first round and on the probable eve of his official declaration, Macron played on Wednesday evening during his televised address on the situation in Ukraine, on the two tables of the warlord and the candidate guarantor of the unity and security of the nation, a clever mix of genres: “This war is also impacting our democratic life, and the campaign which officially opens at the end of this week. This campaign must allow an important democratic debate for the nation”, promises the head of state. “I know I can count on you, your attachment to freedom, equality, fraternity, the place of France in the world. I will never stop defending them and carrying them high in your name”.
War in Ukraine: the Russian army increases the pressure on the cities of the south. On the seventh day of the invasion, Russian pressure is intensifying on several strategic Ukrainian cities, notably Kherson and Mariupol in the south, according to our daily report. In Boutcha, 25 km north of the capital Kyivn the Ukrainians have managed to resist, but the victory remains precarious, the enemy artillery is only three kilometers away Russian forces are fighting for control of the airport of ‘Hostomel. If they take it permanently, an offensive on the capital would be inevitable, writes our special correspondent in his report. At the same time, the holding of new negotiations remains pending, three days after those, unsuccessful, which took place on Monday at the Belarusian border. The Kremlin spokesman first mentioned a meeting this Wednesday evening. To which Kyiv replied that no date had been decided and accused Russia of issuing “ultimatum”. But this evening the Russian negotiator maintains: the Ukrainian delegation is expected in Belarus on Thursday. Since the start of the offensive, more than 350 Ukrainian civilians have been killed, including 14 children according to Kyiv authorities.
On the seventh day of war, Moscow announces 498 Russian soldiers killed. The Russian Ministry of Defense announced on Wednesday the death of 498 of its soldiers since the start of the offensive, as well as 1,597 wounded. “Unfortunately […] we had losses,” said Russian army spokesman Igor Konashenkov, during a briefing broadcast on Russian public television. This is the first report unveiled by Moscow since the start of the offensive on Thursday. According to this spokesperson, the losses on the side of “soldiers and Ukrainian nationalists” amount to “2870 killed and about 3700 wounded”. Ukraine claims for its part that 5,840 Russian soldiers were killed.
Yvan Colonna, between life is death. The former shepherd and Corsican independence activist was attacked by one of his fellow prisoners, this Wednesday morning, in the prison of Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône) where he is imprisoned. The murderer of the prefect Erignac, 61, was rushed to hospital before being transferred to Marseille. While several media announced his death, his lawyers “denies” his death. The altercation took place in the morning. Yvan Colonna was alone in the weight room when Franck Elong Abé, another prisoner, entered to clean the room, according to the Tarascon prosecutor. “The first elements collected make it possible to establish that Yvan Colonna was the victim of strangulation with his bare hands, then of suffocation”, states its press release. We do not know the reasons for this surge of violence against the Corsican nationalist. According to an internal prison source, the career of Franck Elong Abé, 36, would be punctuated by attacks on other prisoners and cell fires. This Cameroonian “jihadist” was arrested in Afghanistan in 2012.
End clap for Taubira. The former Keeper of the Seals will not be a presidential candidate. The Guyanese called the press on Wednesday at midday to confirm the obvious: three days before the deadline to collect the 500 sponsorships necessary to be able to stand for the supreme election, the now ex-candidate is not in able to collect enough of them. According to the latest count, the former minister has so far only been able to garner 181. Claiming to want “keep fighting”without specifying how, Taubira will speak “in the coming weeks” to say which candidate she plans to vote for in the first round.
Jean-Pierre Pernaut is dead. Boss of TF1’s 13-hour newscast for thirty-three years, the journalist died on Wednesday at the age of 71 from lung cancer. With a very frank touch based on a network of correspondents in the regions and granting complete stories on local farmers’ markets or sausage fairs, his newspaper gathered for many years nearly five million viewers. They are very sad.
Joe Biden speaks against the state of disunity. During the ritual address to Congress to defend his record and his promises still to be kept, the American President advocated a return to the unity of the country to defend its democratic values, in the mirror of a Ukrainian disaster that the Republican opposition reproaches him for not having known how to prevent.
To read on Liberation.fr:
Reindustrialisation: factories return to the North. Innovative robotics, relocated textiles… Hauts-de-France is taking advantage of its advantageous geographical location and its industrial history to once again become a land of production. Our article.
QAnon: how researchers tracked “Q”, the world’s most famous conspirator. Using artificial intelligence, two French researchers conducted a long linguistic investigation to identify who is hiding behind “Q”. For several years, this mysterious account has been spreading a conspiracy theory on online forums. Our story.
Philippe Poutou, “candidate for the presidential candidacy” to make the “anger of the street” heard. At a meeting in Villeurbanne, the NPA candidate, who has still not reached the 500 sponsorship mark to stand for election, defended his program on Tuesday evening aimed at countering the “rapacious system of capitalism” in front of an audience of young activists. Read a report here.