Putin calls St. Petersburg explosion a "terrorist act"

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called a "terrorist act" the explosion of a home-made bomb that left 13 people injured in a supermarket in St. Petersburg, in a context of concern over the return of jihadists who have gone to fight in Syria .


While asserting no track, investigators have opened an investigation for "attempted homicide" after the explosion occurred Wednesday night, four days of New Year's Eve, in the second city of Russia already struck in April by a murderous attack.

"Yesterday, a terrorist act was committed in St. Petersburg," said Putin, during a speech in the Kremlin at the beginning of a ceremony of decorations to Russian servicemen who participated in the Russian operation in Syria.

The Russian president announced that he ordered the country's security services (FSB) to "liquidate the bandits on the spot" at the time of their arrest in Russia, "in case of threat to life or health" forces of the order.

Police officers at the scene of an explosion in a supermarket, December 27, 2017 in St. Petersburg, Russia © Olga MALTSEVA AFP Police officers at the scene of an explosion in a supermarket, December 27, 2017 in St. Petersburg, in Russia © Olga MALTSEVA AFP
"These are the ones who are preparing to carry out attacks in our country," his spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

In a statement issued Wednesday night, the National Counter-Terrorism Committee (NAK) said the homemade bomb, with a power equivalent to 200 grams of TNT, had exploded in a locker of the supermarket's locker room. former Soviet cinema. He released images of the store entrance with the partially collapsed ceiling near the crates, surrounded by debris.

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Defense: 700 million euros of funds released for the army

Defense Minister Florence Parly announced on Twitter this budget thaw. In July, the suppression of credits had caused the resignation of General De Villiers.

 
This is a notable success for Florence Parly. The Ministry of Defense has secured the release of 700 million euros in Defense Budget 2017 appropriations that had been frozen and could not be spent. In a tweet published Wednesday, the minister writes: "Thaw 700 million euros: I was engaged, I got it.The army budget confirms its rise in power.

This $ 700 million, which was part of the 2017 budget, was frozen in July and was subject to arbitration. It was therefore made in favor of the Ministry of Defense.


On December 13, Florence Parly had confided her optimism on the release of funds: "I think I can say that the hypothesis of a favorable arbitration remains open and you can count on my determination to continue to convince of the need to obtain a thaw of credits up to 700 million euros ".

A budget of 34.2 billion in 2018
The defense budget is projected at 34.2 billion euros for 2018, up 1.8 billion euros compared to 2017, what the minister had described as "historic rise, never seen for 20 years" .


The Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces welcomed this thaw. "The tenacity of the minister has paid off: the Foreign Affairs, Defense and Armed Forces Committee is delighted with this good news and the armies will finally be able to have the means to fulfill their mission," the President said in a statement. of the committee, Christian Cambon (LR).

The budget allocated to the Ministry of Defense is a hot issue for the executive. In July, the army chief of staff Pierre de Villiers had resigned with a bang to protest against the cancellation of 50 million euros of credits.

The case of "leftovers to pay"
But as Le Monde reminds us, this unblocking does not allay tensions between the government and the army. At issue: the delicate question of "outstanding debts", budgetary commitments made by the State, which are not paid and will be recorded in future budgets. The government wants to cap the level reached in late 2017, or 107 billion euros.

This objective is included in the public finance programming bill for the years 2018 to 2022. But of this amount, 50 billion is for the Defense.

"The government amendment poses a serious risk of challenging our strategic ambitions as they were developed consensually in the recent strategic review," warned the chairman of the defense commission of the National Assembly, Jean-Jacques Bridey.

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Millas: two families of victims are civil parties

The Marseille prosecutor said Tuesday that there was no "at this stage" link between the drugs taken by the driver of the bus to sleep and the collision of his vehicle with a TER that killed 6 people in Millas. Le Figaro takes stock of the latest elements of the case. 

Drugs are not in question

The Marseille prosecutor said on Tuesday that there was no "at this stage of the investigation causal link" between the treatment taken by the bus driver "to sleep" and the collision of his vehicle with a TER that killed 6 Millas. "All analyzes will be done as part of the training," continued Xavier Tarabeux, stating that the driver took these drugs "for years". On Saturday, the lawyer of three of the six bereaved families, Me Jehanne Collard, had mentioned "in the conditional" the fact that she could have been "under the influence of antidepressants, anxiolytics".

»READ ALSO - Millas: the driver of the bus again placed in custody
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The driver was indicted on December 20 for "homicide and unintentional injury by recklessness". It was placed under judicial control including the driving prohibition. This mother was hospitalized "because her state of health requires significant care," then said his lawyer, describing it as "collapsed and in great distress" psychological, besides the physical injuries due to the accident. The last report of the accident reports 4 dead, 4 people still in intensive care or intensive care and two people in pediatric service.
• Two families of victims who are civil parties

Two of the families of adolescents who died in the collision filed a complaint with civil party in Marseille. This "will allow families of two dead college students to access the court file tomorrow, have information they do not have and possibly request additional investigations on the circumstances of the accident," said Me Jehanne Collard, their lawyer. The center specialized in accidents and collective disasters within the specialized interregional Jurisdiction (JIRS) of the public prosecutor of Marseille is seized of the investigation to determine the causes of this accident.

The driver ensured during her auditions that she saw the crossing barriers raised. A version contrary to the first "material findings" that had been reported by the prosecutor of Marseille, and which went "rather in the direction of a closed barrier", as the testimony of the driver of the TER and drivers of vehicles that were the other side of the road.
• 17,000 signatories in favor of the bus driver

Launched 5 days ago on the exchange.org website, the petition entitled "Support for Nadine driver of the bus" exceeded the 17,000 signature mark at Tuesday noon. "Supports Nadine driver of Millas car wrongly accused by the French state! Several testimonials of inhabitants of Millas and its surroundings we affirm that the barriers disfonctionner by moment! Thank you for sharing as much as possible, "says the text of the petition in an approximate French. "Huge support for the families of the victims. Rest in peace little angel, "concludes the text.
• Inter-ministerial delegate "thinks" about accompanying measures

Élisabeth Pelsez, an inter-ministerial delegate for victims' assistance, said that the care of bereaved families would be "improved" after three families of victims expressed their feelings of "abandonment". Me Collard, the lawyer for three of the six families, said that there was no care, citing the example of the mother of one of the victims, who "said she was not accompanied to the announcement of the death of his child whose body was in Montpellier. She would have waited several hours, before going alone to the scene of the accident to find the body of his son. Responding on RTL to the indignation of this mother, Elizabeth Pelsez judged "it is perfectly normal for this mother to say that the time seemed immensely long and that during all that time she had to be desperately alone with her pain ". "We will make sure that in the future we can take steps to ensure that people who need to travel are accompanied," she said.

»READ ALSO - Millas accident: testimonials evoke closed barriers
• A reception system set up at the town hall of Saint-Féliu-d'Avall

A reception system for families is organized under the auspices of the prefecture as of Tuesday morning and for the whole week. This device, installed at the town hall of Saint-Féliu d'Avall, includes the associations France Victim and FENVAC, as well as a representative of the president of the bar court near Perpignan. This device will be renewed next week as needed. 

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North Korea: Pyongyang to launch new satellite

According to the official organ of the ruling party, North Korean satellite launches are "absolutely" in line with the UN Charter.

North Korea, whose space program according to some experts is only a cover for its ballistic program, is preparing a new satellite launch, reported Tuesday, December 26, a South Korean newspaper.

A ninth round of sanctions was passed last week by the UN Security Council to force Pyongyang to give up its banned nuclear and ballistic programs, as well as satellite launches.
Does Pyongyang have the right to launch satellites?

"We have recently learned through different channels that the North has completed a new satellite called Kwangmyongsong-5," a government source told the daily "Joongang Ilbo". "Their project is to put into orbit a satellite equipped with cameras and telecommunication instruments," she added.

South Korean intelligence believes that the satellite could be launched from a mobile launcher, and not from the usual launch site in Sohae.

The article was published the day after the publication of a text in Rodong Sinmun, the official organ of the ruling party in North Korea, reaffirming Pyongyang's right to launch satellites.

The daily argues that North Korean satellite launches are "absolutely" in line with the UN Charter and international space program law. The newspaper uses as an example the recent launch of an Algerian satellite.
A "peaceful" space program

On December 3, Rodong Sinmun again defended the "peaceful nature" of North Korea's space program and assured on December 10 that every country had the right to develop a space program.

In October, North Korea's deputy ambassador to the UN, Kim In-Ryong, said his country is following a four-year plan (2016-2020) on the development of "satellites contributing to economic development". and to improve the living conditions of the population ".

He added that North Korea had "entered the practical development phase of its satellites" with the successful launch in February 2016 of Kwangmyongsong-4 by Pyongyang.

After years of successive failures, North Korea would have succeeded in December 2012 to place a satellite in orbit.

The Russian newspaper "Rossiyskaia Gazeta" a few weeks ago quoted a Russian military expert, Vladimir Khrustalev, as saying that he expected North Korea to launch shortly two satellites, one for communications, the other for Earth observation.

He made the remarks when he returned from a week-long visit to North Korea in mid-November, during which he met with officials from the North Korean space agency.

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Youpi children's magazine removed from sale

 

Youpi magazine in turmoil after a sentence on the state of Israel.

CRIF
The magazine intended for 5-8 years had undertaken to explain the countries of the world to the youngest. But a passage about the state of Israel has angered the Crif.

"Gustave Eiffel, the king of iron", "How does an elevator work" ... the themes addressed in the issue 352 of Youpi magazine, for the month of January 2018, had a priori no reason to be controversial.

Except that on one of the small detachable cards intended for its young readers between 5 and 8 years, a comment on the State of Israel caused a real stupefaction. "We call these 197 countries states, like France, Germany or Algeria.There are some more, but all other countries in the world do not agree that these are real country (eg the State of Israel or North Korea). "

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The couple of artists, missing in China, was released

The couple of artists who were unreachable in China after painting a politically sensitive work has been "released" and is preparing to return to France, he said Monday, December 25 on Twitter. "I was released a few days ago and we are now in my hometown," Hu Jiamin wrote on the social network.
With his French wife, Marine Brossard, Hu Jiamin had not given any news since December 15, after making a mural in tribute to Liu Xiaobo, the Nobel Peace Prize died in July after eight years of detention for to have demanded democratic reforms in the Middle Kingdom.

A Hong Kong daily, the Ming Pao, claimed that the couple, living in Lyon, had been arrested after the work had been covered by the authorities. Everything related to Liu Xiaobo remains taboo in China.

An empty chair in front of bars
In his message written in English, Hu Jiamin does not specify the reasons for his detention but said he plans to return to France on the 30th. He adds that the couple had to change their return ticket "to avoid entering Hong Kong , to avoid getting into trouble.

Marine Brossard's brother, Mael, had previously told Agence France Presse that his brother-in-law had been released Thursday and that his sister had not been detained. The two young men had traveled to Shenzhen, in southern China, to participate in an exhibition of town planning and architecture.

They had managed to expose a fresco showing an empty chair in front of bars. This image evoked the memory of Liu Xiaobo: unable to travel to Norway to receive his Nobel Prize in 2010, the Chinese dissident was represented at the ceremony by an empty chair.

Liu Xiaobo died in cancer custody without the authorities letting him go abroad for treatment. His widow Liu Xia is still de facto under house arrest without any crime ever being held against her.

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iPhone: What solutions to the clamping of the battery by Apple

You own an "old iPhone", bridged by Apple, and would like to remedy that? There are solutions! The writing explains the procedure to follow to regain power...

It was one of the revelations this month: Apple intentionally bridles the "old iPhone", mainly to preserve the performance of the latter. So it's not for nothing if you could see, if you have a model that has more than a year, a big drop in battery life. Faced with this outcry, several users have decided to launch a class-action against the American firm. In the meantime, there are solutions to the clamping of the battery made by Apple. And, you suspect, most of them need to touch the latter via various means (more or less safe).

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Goldman Sachs a plus d'un Bitcoin dans son sac

La déferlante d'articles sur les cryptomonnaies ces dernières semaines, à mesure que le bitcoin prenait de l'altitude, suffit à montrer l'engouement qu'elles suscitent aussi bien dans le grand public que chez les professionnels de la finance... Et ce n'est pas le débat, qui continue à faire rage entre les détracteurs et soutiens des cryptomonnaies, qui va faire retomber la fièvre, ni même sa sévère correction de vendredi !

Car le bitcoin constitue sans doute aussi une révolution majeure pour l'économie, que les intermédiaires financiers ne peuvent se permettre d'ignorer ou de laisser de côté. En substance, mieux vaut prendre ses pertes si c'est un feu de paille que rater le train en marche...


Avis personnel
Chez Goldman Sachs, les hauts dirigeants ont un avis sur la question... Mais ils ne l'expriment pas (encore) de manière tranchée. Le PDG Lloyd Blankfein avait résumé la position de la banque par un tweet du 3 octobre dernier : "Still thinking about Bitcoin. No conclusion - not endorsing/rejecting. Know that folks also were skeptical when paper money displaced gold" (Je pense toujours au bitcoin... Pas encore de conclusion, ni pour, ni contre. Les gens étaient aussi sceptiques lorsque la monnaie-papier a remplacé l'or.

Depuis cette date, les lignes ont bougé au sein de "The Firm". Goldman Sachs est en train de déployer un "desk de trading" à New York, dédié aux cryptomonnaies... L'objectif serait de disposer d'une entité opérationnelle en juin prochain, avant peut-être si les planètes sont alignées plus rapidement que prévu.

On peut raisonnablement penser que le stade de la rumeur est dépassé et que la banque d'affaires est effectivement en train de peaufiner une branche spécialisée. Surtout à la lecture de la réponse faite par un porte-parole interrogé sur la question : pour répondre à l'intérêt de nos clients pour les cryptomonnaies, nous étudions la meilleure façon de les satisfaire. Presque un aveu donc...

Les banques fourbissent leurs armes
Le "desk" pourrait être logé dans la division qui traite l'obligataire, les devises et les matières premières, mais rien n'a encore été décidé. Jongler avec les cryptomonnaies ne s'improvise pas... Goldman Sachs va devoir cadrer juridiquement son activité, la sécuriser, trouver un mode de conservation et décider du degré de liberté laissé à ses clients.

Des questions compliquées à régler... Bloomberg a rapporté une anecdote sur une certaine forme de conservatisme qui perdure au sein de l'institution, habituée aux montages financiers ultra-complexes, mais confuse face à ces cryptomonnaies qu'elle a du mal à appréhender : Lorsque le CBOE a lancé ses premiers contrats sur le bitcoin au début du mois, Lloyd Blankfein aurait exigé de certains clients de Goldman Sachs qu'ils disposent en face de leurs "trades" de fonds équivalents en bons vieux dollars. Une politique qui aurait amené certains d'entre eux à passer par d'autres intermédiaires... et qui a peut-être provoqué un branle-bas de combat pour mettre en place une division spécialisée dans le négoce des cryptomonnaies.

Dans la finance, toutes les entreprises ont commencé à plancher sur la question, mais si certaines s'en défendent encore... Pendant ce temps, les cryptomonnaies grignotent du terrain au sein de la sphère financière. Elles ne sont pas encore au stade de l'institutionnalisation, mais elles occupent un espace de plus en plus vaste.

Bandeaux défilants
Exemple, il y a désormais sur les terminaux Bloomberg un "moniteur de cryptomonnaie". On peut y lire la définition maison d'une devise cryptographique, un actif numérique défini mathématiquement, décentralisé, qui permet d'effectuer des transactions sous forme cryptographiée sans avoir besoin de banques centrales ainsi que la liste des plus importantes cryptomonnaies (bitcoin, ripple, ethereum, litcoin) avec leurs cours, les cotations sur diverses plateformes spécialisées, plus les deux "futures" disponibles sur le bitcoin, sur le CBOE et le CME.

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Le couple Macron présente ses vœux avec le chien Nemo

Le président de la République et son épouse ont souhaité « de belles fêtes de fin d’année » aux Français dans un message posté sur les réseaux sociaux ou apparaît le labrador qui a pris ses quartiers à l’Élysée.

Emmanuel et Brigitte Macron ont tenu à souhaiter un bon réveillon à leurs compatriotes, sans préciser s’ils passeraient Noël à l’Élysée ou au Touquet.

« Nous souhaitons un joyeux Noël et de belles fêtes de fin d’année à tous nos concitoyens », écrit le couple présidentiel dans un message diffusé sur Facebook et Twitter, et signé « Brigitte et Emmanuel Macron ».

De retour du Niger
Le tweet et le post Facebook ont été mis en ligne à 18 h 30, ce dimanche 24 décembre, journée sans rendez-vous officiel à l’agenda du chef de l’État, de retour d’une visite officielle au Niger, où il a rencontré les troupes françaises engagées dans l’opération Barkane et été reçu par le président nigérien Mahamadou Issoufou.

Voir l'image sur Twitter

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Hauts-de-Seine : il découvre le corps de son fils dans le congélateur

La victime a été découverte à Colombes samedi après-midi. La thèse du suicide est privilégiée.

Découverte macabre ce samedi en fin d’après-midi à Colombes dans les Hauts-de-Seine. Un homme a trouvé le corps de son fils âgé de 41 ans dans le congélateur, laissé ouvert. Le père s’était rendu au domicile de sa progéniture inquiet de ne pas avoir de nouvelles, a révélé Le Point.

Selon les premiers éléments de l’enquête, la victime, traitée pour des troubles psychiatriques, a ingéré des médicaments avant de s’installer dans le congélateur. Aucune trace d’effraction et d’agression n’a été relevée par les enquêteurs qui privilégient la thèse du suicide.

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Noël : le pape plaide pour l’hospitalité des migrants

 "Noël, c’est le temps pour transformer la force de la peur en force de la charité", a insisté le pape. "Personne ne doit sentir qu’il n’a pas sa place sur cette Terre"

Le pape a demandé dimanche aux 1,3 milliard de catholiques de la planète de ne pas ignorer le drame des migrants souvent "expulsés de leurs terres" par des dirigeants prêts à "verser du sang innocent", dans une homélie de Noël appelant à "l’hospitalité".

L’Argentin Jorge Bergoglio, petit-fils de migrants italiens, a fait du sort des réfugiés l’un des thèmes fondamentaux de son pontificat entamé voici près de cinq ans. "Personne ne doit sentir qu’il n’a pas sa place sur cette Terre", a-t-il estimé.

Dans sa traditionnelle homélie de la veillée de Noël – célébration pour les chrétiens de la nuit de naissance de Jésus de Nazareth -, le pape a rappelé que selon l’Evangile Marie et Joseph étaient en fuite en raison d’un décret romain.

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"Dans les pas de Joseph et de Marie, se cachent de nombreux pas. Nous voyons les traces de familles entières qui, aujourd’hui, se voient obligées de partir", a souligné le pape, devant une dizaine de milliers de fidèles rassemblés dans la basilique Saint-Pierre de Rome.

"Nous voyons les traces de millions de personnes qui ne choisissent pas de s’en aller mais qui sont obligées de se séparer de leurs proches, sont expulsées de leur terre. Dans beaucoup de cas, ce départ est chargé d’espérance, chargé d’avenir; dans beaucoup d’autres, ce départ a un seul nom : la survie. Survivre aux Hérode de l’heure qui, pour imposer leur pouvoir et accroître leurs richesses, n’ont aucun problème à verser du sang innocent"
Le pape François

Le roi Hérode avait fait rechercher Jésus pour le mettre à mort, dans la tradition chrétienne.

"Hospitalité" et "tendresse"
"Dieu nous invite à être des sentinelles pour beaucoup de personnes qui ont cédé sous le poids du désespoir qui naît du fait de trouver fermées de nombreuses portes", a insisté François, appelant les croyants à balayer "l’indifférence" et décliner "hospitalité" et "tendresse".

Le chef des 1,3 milliard de catholiques dans le monde, qui vient de fêter ses 81 ans, adressera son cinquième message de Noël "Urbi et orbi" ("à la ville et au monde") lundi devant les fidèles massés sur la place Saint-Pierre.

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