• Reunion Island on red cyclone alert, residents called to confine themselves
Under the threat of an intense tropical cyclone called Belal, Reunion Island went into cyclone red alert on Sunday January 14 at 8 p.m. (5 p.m. in Paris), as announced earlier in the day by Jérôme Filippini, the island's prefect French company located in the Indian Ocean.
The latter called on its 870,000 inhabitants to confine themselves from the beginning of the evening, “probably until Tuesday morning”. They were invited by the authorities to stock up on water and food to last several days, to prepare a first aid kit and to gather supplies to deal with power or water outages during the night from Sunday to Monday and the day of Monday.
“Belal is taking the path of a cyclone that could mark the history of Reunion Island,” said Sébastien Langlade, head of forecasting at Météo-France La Réunion, stressing that it “will be intense with winds that could exceed the 200 kilometers per hour on the coast and 250 kilometers per hour or more” in the heights of the island. “Destructive and devastating winds which can cause great damage,” he warned.
• Taiwan calls on China to “respect the results” of the presidential election
While he emerged as the winner of the Taiwanese presidential election on Saturday (January 13) with 40.1% of the vote, Lai Ching-te, the candidate of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), pledged to protect the island “threats and intimidations from China”.
Faced with the country which claims sovereignty of the territory and has continued to increase its diplomatic and military pressure against the island in recent weeks, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs called on Beijing on Sunday to "respect the results of the 'election, to face reality and to give up repressing Taiwan.
But China was quick to renew its threats, arguing, through its head of diplomacy, Wang Yi, that any step towards Taiwan’s independence will be “severely punished”. Lai Ching-te has been described by Beijing as “gravely dangerous” due to his past comments in favor of the island's independence and his fight to keep its autonomy from China.
• The Gaza Strip plunged into its hundredth day of war
Israel continued to massively bomb the Gaza Strip on the hundredth day of its war against the Islamist movement Hamas, Sunday December 14, which plunged the inhabitants of the Palestinian enclave into a serious humanitarian crisis and raised fears of a regional conflagration. According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, the conflict has caused the deaths of at least 23,968 people in the enclave since October 7.
“No one will stop us, neither The Hague nor the “axis of evil” nor anyone else,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proclaimed on Saturday evening, while his country rejects the accusations of genocide brought against it. being challenged by South Africa right now before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The Israeli army has said in recent days that it is concentrating its operations against Hamas on Khan Younes, a town in the south of the territory where there are hundreds of thousands of civilians who fled massive bombings in the north of the territory at the start of the war.
“The massive death, destruction, displacement, hunger, loss and grief of the last hundred days taint our common humanity,” the head of the UN’s Palestinian refugee aid agency warned on Sunday ( UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini.
• In Denmark, Frederik X becomes king and succeeds his mother
After fifty-two years of reign, Queen Margrethe II announced her abdication to cede her throne to her eldest son, during her New Year's greetings. Crowned on Sunday January 14, Frederik X is now the new king of Denmark.
“Today is Sunday January 14, 2024. Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II has abdicated (…). Long live His Majesty King Frederik Very popular, the new sovereign and his wife, Queen Mary, were then acclaimed by a huge crowd.
“My mother managed to become one with her kingdom like few others (…). My hope is to become a unifying king for the future,” said Frederik X, wiping away some tears, during this first meeting with his people. He added: “It’s a responsibility I take on with respect, pride and a lot of joy. »
• Teachers not replaced: after the bronca, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra “regrets” having been able to “hurt certain teachers”
Barely appointed Minister of Education, she caused an outcry on Friday by explaining that she had chosen to send her children to a private establishment due to the difficulties of replacing teachers in the public sector. Amélie Oudéa-Castéra said, Saturday January 13, “regret[r]” having been able to “hurt certain public education teachers” by her justification.
“I had no such intention,” she said in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse, arguing: “I know what I owe to the public school and its teachers. I will always be at their side, as I will be alongside the entire educational community. »
Since Friday, the new government has been trying to put an end to the controversy surrounding the education of the minister's children at the private Stanislas middle school and high school, a Catholic, elitist and conservative institution in the 6th arrondissement of Paris, by promoting its action.
“As for the question of unreplaced absences, there too I find that there is a lot of hypocrisy among certain commentators or among certain politicians,” said the new Prime Minister, Gabriel Attal, on Saturday, when questioned on the subject during a trip to Dijon, citing the reforms initiated by the government to respond to the problem, including the teachers' pact and the training of teachers outside of school hours.
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Kick-off of CAN 2024. The five favorites of the competition
War in Ukraine. In kyiv, the new French foreign minister assures that Ukraine remains “France’s priority”
