The editorial staff of “Libération” compiles the main news from this Christmas Wednesday.
Every evening, the editorial staff of Libé selects the essential news of the day in France and the rest of the world.
A major Russian offensive in Ukraine
Massive Russian missile attacks damaged energy installations and injured at least three people on Wednesday in Ukraine, the day the country celebrates Christmas on December 25, like in the West, for the second time in its history. Russia launched more than 70 missiles and more than 100 explosive drones at Ukraine on Wednesday morning with its energy system as a target, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, denouncing an attack “inhumane” on Christmas Day from his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. The Ukrainian Air Force reported launches of Russian Kalibr cruise missiles this Wednesday morning from the Black Sea and the authorities in Kharkiv announced the fall of several ballistic missiles on this large city in the east of the country.
Suicide of on-duty train driver on Christmas Eve
More than 3,000 passengers traveling on the South-East high-speed line were forced to spend Christmas evening on a TGV or Ouigo “because of a personal accident in the south of Seine-et-Marne” which took place around 8 p.m. on December 24. This Wednesday, the SNCF explained that the disruptions were linked to the suicide of a driver at the controls of a moving train. A tragedy which could have led to others if an emergency device had not been triggered, allowing the train to stop alone and its passengers to save their lives.
Passenger plane crashes in Kazakhstan with 67 passengers on board
An Azerbaijan Airlines airliner, which was flying between Baku, the Azerbaijani capital, and Grozny, capital of the Russian Caucasian republic of Chechnya, with 67 people on board, crashed this Wednesday in Kazakhstan, announced the authorities. There were 38 victims and 29 survivors. The plane fell near the city of Aktau in western Kazakhstan. “The airliner flying from Baku to Grozny crashed near Aktau. This plane belongs to the airline Azerbaijan Airlines.the Kazakh Ministry of Transport said in a statement. In videos published by Russian media, we see the plane hit the ground, a gigantic fire immediately breaking out. Other images show the plane on the ground, partially charred, the front of the aircraft having been completely destroyed. In the afternoon, when images of the plane's cabin began to circulate, several military aviation specialists estimated that the visible holes in the tail of the aircraft could have been caused by shrapnel from an anti-aircraft defense system.
In Syria, discovery of a probable mass grave
Since the fall of Damascus on December 8 and the flight of Bashar al-Assad, thousands of people have been searching for their loved ones, sometimes missing for years after ending up in the hands of the regime's forces. Most worry about finding them dead, buried with dozens of other people in mass graves or behind prison walls. This Wednesday, November 25, the imagined horror seems to be taking shape: according to a White Helmets rescuer and an activist in Syria, a probable mass grave was unearthed during the day, containing the bones of detainees imprisoned by Bashar's forces al-Assad or fighters killed during the conflict.
In the Hautes-Alpes, 240 skiers evacuated from a chairlift using a helicopter
There are better ways to spend Christmas Eve than hanging several feet off the ground, feet in the air and swayed by the cold wind. Around 240 skiers were stranded on Tuesday December 24 on a chairlift at the Superdévoluy resort, in the Hautes-Alpes. The incident occurred shortly before 1 p.m., following a “electrical breakdown” of the engines of this fast six-seater chairlift, declared the department prefecture. Their evacuation ended around 4:45 p.m., and they are “all unhurt”, according to the authorities. Most of the skiers were able to be evacuated to the ground.with ropes”, said Laurent Thélène, general director of SEM Dévoluy. The helicopter of the high mountain gendarmerie platoon rotated for the rest of the evacuations.
Also read on Libération.fr
Marie Barsacq, former centerpiece of Paris 2024 and new Minister of Sports
The trained lawyer, in charge of the legacy aspect of the Games Organizing Committee, succeeded Gil Avérous on December 24. Her mission will be to build on the legacy of the Games and manage the burning issue of the Winter Olympics in 2030 in the French Alps. Read his profile.
“After a divorce, your rating increases”: the rebellious marriages of Mauritanian women
Contrary to regional practices, Moorish women, the ethnic group which represents around two thirds of the Sahel country, remarry frequently and several times, without being in the least stigmatized. Read the report from our special correspondent in Mauritania.
“It is plausible that the death toll from Cyclone Chido in Mayotte can only be counted in dozens of victims”
In the absence of a wave of submersion and landslides on the island, Delphine Grancher, who carried out a study on the results of Hurricane Irma in 2017, considers credible the hypothesis mentioned by François Bayrou on BFMTV on 23 December. Read his interview.
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