The news not to be missed
As every year, the system is substantial. Gérald Darmanin went to the Paris police prefecture alongside Laurent Nuñez, this Friday, to announce that 90,000 police and gendarmes mobilized in France, including 6,000 in Paris during the evening of New Year's Eve.
This security device is reinforced for this New Year's Eve, always placed under high surveillance everywhere in France. But this year, the terrorist threat once again hangs over the country, which has been placed in "attack emergency", the highest level of vigilance.
Last week, the Minister of the Interior had already called on prefects to "maintain extreme vigilance" on the occasion of the Christmas and Epiphany celebrations, due to the "very high level of the terrorist threat that continues to weigh".
What else you need to know
- Jacques Delors. When his death was announced, Emmanuel Macron hailed him as an "inexhaustible craftsman of our Europe". The head of state will preside on January 5 at the Invalides "a ceremony of national tribute" to Jacques Delors, who died Wednesday at 98 years old, announced the Elysee on Friday, confirming information from France Inter.
- Drama in the Alps. Two skiers died on Wednesday after being trapped in an avalanche in an off-piste area of Saint-Gervais (Haute-Savoie). They were part of a group of eight people, consisting of a ski instructor and his students, who had engaged in an off-piste sector. The avalanche would have been triggered by the passage of other skiers, a little further up the slope.
- Extensive series of bombings in Ukraine. The toll is already heavy. At least 5 people died and dozens were injured in Russian shelling that hit several cities across the country at dawn on Friday. Half a dozen cities across Ukraine were hit, including Kharkiv (northeast), Lviv (west) and Odessa (south). A nationwide aviation alert was activated at around 7 a.m. GMT (<> a.m. in Ukraine). Already on Thursday, Russian shelling had killed three people in the Zaporizhzhia region.
- Another setback for Trump. After Colorado, Maine announced Thursday that the former president will not appear on the ballot in the Republican primary for the 2024 presidential election. The reason? The U.S. government relies on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution, which excludes from public accountability those who have engaged in acts of "insurrection," thereby deeming the businessman "unfit for the office of president." Donald Trump was quick to condemn the decision, which he said was taken by "a radical leftist" who was an "ardent supporter" of Joe Biden.
- Climate, poverty: Emmanuel Macron's op-ed. The head of state reiterated his desire "to accelerate at the same time in terms of the ecological transition and the fight against poverty", in an opinion piece published in the daily Le Monde. In particular, he announced that France and Kazakhstan will organize "in September 2024" a "One Planet summit on the sidelines of the next United Nations General Assembly" on the specific subject of access to water and its "governance mechanisms on a global scale".
It's about you
For the Christmas holiday weekend, marked by New Year's Eve, traffic is expected to be rather calm throughout the country, with the exception of Saturday in the Southeast. Caution and patience should be exercised if you are going to the mountains, especially in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. Bison futé classified Saturday as red in the direction of departures. "Traffic will be heavy in the direction of the mountain ranges and winter sports resorts of the region, especially on the A7, A40 and A43 motorways," warn the motorway traffic forecasting services.