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3:10 p.m. : Pope Francis has revealed that a meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kyrill was scheduled for June but had to be canceled because it could have “lead to confusion” in the actual context. It would have been their second after the historic meeting in 2016. The pontiff assures that his relations are very good with Kyrill, in this interview The Nation (in Spanish).
2:19 p.m. : Five million Ukrainians have fled their country, an unprecedented number of refugees since the Second World War. At the same time, encouraged by the departure of the Russians for the West, more than a million Ukrainians are returning home despite the authorities’ appeal for caution. “On must sign a discharge to be able to return, but we have nothing left“, deplores a resident of Moschunnear Kyiv.
(FRANCEINFO)
2:15 p.m. : The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin, during a telephone interview, to guarantee humanitarian corridors in Mariupol on the occasion of the Orthodox Easter holiday. “Humanitarian corridors in Mariupol and other besieged cities must be immediate”he wrote on his Twitter account.
1:25 p.m. : In a game of logistical musical chairs, the UK is considering “to send tanks to Poland to help it send some of its T72 [de conception soviétique] in Ukraine”said Prime Minister Boris Johnson at a press conference in New Delhi (India).
1:22 p.m. : The Russian army says it is ready to observe “at any time” a truce “on all or part” of the industrial site of Azovstal, the last bastion of Ukrainian forces in Mariupol. “The starting point of this humanitarian pause will be the raising by Ukrainian armed formations of white flags over all or part of Azovstal”adds the Russian Ministry of Defense in a press release.
12:55 p.m. : France is supplying Milan anti-tank missiles and Caesar cannons to Ukraine to help it deal with the Russian invasion, French President Emmanuel Macron has announced in an interview at West France. So far, Paris had been careful not to specify the types of armaments delivered to kyiv, conceding just in mid-April “100 million euros in donations of equipment already made”.
12:06 : It’s noon, here are the main titles:
• Marine Le Pen returns to the pension reform wanted by the candidate LREM. “The French with Emmanuel Macron will therefore take it for life”, she says in Etaples (Pas-de-Calais). Emmanuel Macron is expected in the Lot for this last day of the campaign. Follow him in our live.
• Anger of the French, serial selfies and electoral flirting… We tell you about the campaign between the two towers. And we present to you the main issues of the second round.
• The UN accuses the Russian army of shares “possibly amounting to war crimes” in Ukraine. “Russian armed forces indiscriminately bombarded and shelled populated areas, killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure,” says Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
• French justice issued an international arrest warrant against Carlos Ghosn, former head of the Renault Nissan alliance. The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, which made this announcement, specifies that this mandate is part of an investigation, in particular for misuse of corporate assets and money laundering.
11:32 am : The UN, through the voice of Ravina Shamdasani, also accuses the Russian army of actions “possibly amounting to war crimes” in Ukraine. “Russian armed forces indiscriminately bombarded and shelled populated areas, killing civilians and destroying hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, all actions that may amount to war crimes”, she declares.
11:27 : The UN has documented the “murder, including some by summary execution” of 50 civilians in the town of Boutcha, near kyiv, said Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the High Commission for Human Rights.
11:11 a.m. : “Since the beginning of the second phase of the special operation, which began two days ago, one of the objectives of the Russian army has been to establish full control over Donbass and southern Ukraine.”
The Russian army is targeting the “full control of Donbass and southern Ukraine”according to one of its generals. “This will ensure a land corridor to Crimea, as well as weigh on vital infrastructure of the Ukrainian economy”he says, according to Russian news agencies.
10:04 am : According to figures from the Ministry of National Education, 11,588 pupils arriving from Ukraine are currently enrolled in French territory. That’s 388 more than a week ago. In detail, 40% of these students are welcomed in elementary school, 31% in college, 19% in kindergarten and 10% in high school.
09:16 : Evacuations of civilians have been difficult if not impossible in recent days in Ukraine. Yesterday, only three buses carrying people evacuated from the besieged port of Mariupol arrived in Zaporizhia, a major city in the south-east.
09:11 : No civilian evacuation corridors can be organized today in Ukraine “due to the danger threatening our routes”says Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk. “To all those waiting to be evacuated: be patient, please hold on!”she adds in a message on Telegram.
09:07 : It’s a little past 9 a.m., here are the main headlines:
• The campaign ends tonight at midnight. Marine Le Pen and Emmanuel Macron remain on the ground until the end: the RN candidate will be in Abbeville (Somme), Emmanuel Macron in Figeac (Lot). Follow the home stretch in our live.
• Emmanuel Macron affirms that the revaluation of teachers’ salaries “is not conditioned to anything”. This is an evolution because before the 1st round, he had caused controversy by proposing to condition an increase “meaningful” teacher salaries to “new assignments”.
• French justice issued an international arrest warrant against Carlos Ghosn, former head of the Renault Nissan alliance. The Nanterre public prosecutor’s office, which made this announcement, specifies that this mandate is part of an investigation, in particular for misuse of corporate assets and money laundering.
• The port city of Mariupol, that Moscow claims to have “liberated”is still resisting Russian forces, says the Ukrainian government, according to which thousands of Ukrainian fighters continue to fight fiercely.
07:07 : Let’s start the day with a first reminder of the main titles:
• The official campaign ends tonight at midnight. Emmanuel Macron is expected in the Lot. Last night he was the guest from the “20 hours” of France 2. Last night, Marine Le Pen virulently attacked the outgoing president during his last meeting in Arras (Pas-de-Calais).
• The port city of Mariupol, that Moscow claims to have “liberated”is still resisting Russian forces, says the Ukrainian government, according to which thousands of Ukrainian fighters continue to fight fiercely.
• Jacques Perrin died in Paris at the age of 80. The actor, filmmaker and producer, who had starred in Donkey Skin Where The Drum Crab also co-directed the documentary The migrating people.
• The WHO strongly recommends the antiviral paxlovid from Pfizer for patients with less severe forms of Covid-19 and “at higher risk of hospitalization”. At the same time, the body issued a “weak recommendation” for remdesivir from the American laboratory Gilead, which she had advised against until then.