Need an update on the news of the weekend? Let’s go.
1. Investigation opened for manslaughter after the accident involving Pierre Palmade
The comedian, seriously injured in a car accident on Friday around 7 p.m. on the D372 departmental road in Seine-et-Marne, is still in intensive care. According to the first elements of the investigation, the vehicle he was driving “made a sharp swerve which brought him to the opposite roadway with an almost frontal impact” with an oncoming car, seriously injuring three people who were there, including a pregnant woman who lost her baby, a police source said. The toxicological analyzes carried out on Pierre Palmade showed that he was under the influence of cocaine. On Saturday, an investigation was opened for homicide and unintentional injuries resulting in total incapacity for work for more than three months, by driver under the influence of narcotics. This Sunday, a search was carried out in the artist’s house in Cély-en-Bière.
More info: Death of Héléna Cluyou: “Discreet, smiling and altruistic”… The Brest hospital paid tribute to the young student nurse whose charred body was found Thursday at the entrance to the Crozon peninsula.
2. The mobilization against the pension reform does not weaken
On Saturday February 11, a new demonstration, without a call for a strike, was organized by the unions so that people wishing to mobilize against the pension reform could easily join the procession. The CGT claimed 2.5 million demonstrators in France, and the Interior Ministry 963,000. A figure up from Tuesday, February 7 (757,000 demonstrators for the police). The examination of the bill continues in the Assembly and the unions have already announced a day of action on Thursday February 16, which should be, theoretically, the day before the end of the examination of the text in the Assembly national. But it is March 7 which seems to be a target date for the unions, which are threatening to put “France on hold” before planning targeted actions on March 8, International Women’s Day.
More info: Majority, LFI, LR, RN… Which deputy are you? The government’s pension reform bill is currently being debated in the National Assembly. What would be your strategy in the Hemicycle?
3. Frenchwoman Julia Simon, biathlon pursuit world champion
French biathlete Julia Simon, 26, became world pursuit champion (10 km) for the first time on Sunday in Oberhof, Germany. The overall leader of the World Cup finished ahead of Germany’s Denise Herrmann-Wick and Norway’s Marte Olsbu Roeiseland. Simon offers himself a second medal in these Worlds after the bronze won with the French mixed relay at the start. With this first individual world title, Simon confirms his domination this season. Leading the overall World Cup standings, she has already won three individual races (including two pursuits).
More info: Nothing is going well at PSG. Beyond the defeat on the rock, Paris Saint-Germain experienced some internal tensions in Monaco. Starring Neymar, Marquinhos and Luis Campos.
4. Death toll from Turkey and Syria quake exceeds 33,000
The toll of the violent earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria on Monday rises to 33,179 dead on Sunday, according to the latest official reports. The 7.8-magnitude quake, followed by a second earthquake barely less powerful, killed 29,605 people in southern Turkey, the Turkish public disaster management agency Afad announced on Sunday, while authorities have counted 3,574 dead in Syria. According to the UN, the toll could “double”, especially in Syria where international relief is struggling to arrive.
More info: Eleven people, mostly civilians, were killed Saturday in an attack attributed to the Islamic State (IS) group in central Syria. The jihadist group attacked around 75 people on Saturday as they were picking truffles in the Palmyra region.
5. An “unidentified object” shot down in Canadian skies
Certainly, the North American sky has been cluttered with curious objects for a week. An American fighter plane shot down an unidentified object over Canada on Saturday afternoon, as part of a joint operation between Washington and Ottawa. The craft, which was flying at an altitude of about “40,000 feet” (12,200 meters), “had illegally entered Canadian airspace and posed a (possible) threat to the safety of civilian flights”, the press Canada’s Minister of National Defence, Anita Anand. The object was shot down “about 100 miles (160 km, editor’s note) from the Canada-US border” around 8:40 p.m. GMT, she added. The day before, the United States destroyed another flying object “the size of a small car” which was flying over the Yukon, a border region with Canada. These destructions come less than a week after the destruction of a Chinese balloon “the size of 3 buses” shot down over American territory. Images captured by US military aircraft show that this balloon was well equipped with spy tools and not intended for weather.
More info: Arne Treholt, Norway’s most famous spy, is dead. Sentenced in 1985 to twenty years in prison for espionage and high treason, he admitted having provided foreign powers with documents, which he considered unimportant, and having received financial compensation, while rejecting the charges of espionage.