cyclone Chido in Mayotte, the first consultations of François Bayrou, the pope’s visit to Corsica…

Cyclone Chido in Mayotte leaves at least 14 dead, according to a still provisional report

At least 14 dead and nearly 250 injured: tropical cyclone “exceptional” Chido sowed chaos on Saturday December 14 in Mayotte, the poorest department in France, in the Indian Ocean, where precarious housing was completely destroyed, according to a still very provisional report, communicated Sunday morning to Agence France- Press (AFP) by a source from the security services. With gusts observed at more than 220 kilometers per hour, Cyclone Chido is the most intense to hit Mayotte in more than ninety years, according to Météo-France. Extremely violent winds have ravaged the archipelago: electrical poles are down, trees uprooted, and roofs or sheet metal partitions blown away, in a territory where precarious housing affects at least a third of the population. The airport, closed until further notice to commercial flights, suffered significant damage, and more than 15,000 homes were deprived of electricity.

The resigning Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, estimated on Saturday evening after an interministerial crisis meeting that he “will probably take days” pour “refine” the human toll. “We fear it will be heavy”he said, speaking of a “dramatic situation”. Air and sea rotations are operational from Sunday to transport medical personnel and equipment. “The inventory of the needs of the emergency services and the populations continues in order to organize rotations, for as long as necessary”according to the prefecture of the southern Indian Ocean defense zone.

François Bayrou began his consultations in Matignon

François Bayrou began his consultations on Saturday, with a view to forming a government with the presidents of Parliament and personalities from the economic world. The day after his appointment to Matignon, the new Prime Minister received the first president of the Court of Auditors, Pierre Moscovici; the prefect of Ile-de-France, Marc Guillaume; the president of the Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet; his Senate counterpart, Gérard Larcher; and the governor of the Bank of France, François Villeroy de Galhau. The previous night, France's sovereign rating was downgraded by the Moody's rating agency.

Mr. Bayrou's first challenge will be to provide France with a budget for next year, with a National Assembly still without a majority, which can bring it down, if the voices of the left unite with those of the National Rally (RN). Jordan Bardella also demanded that the RN, excluded from a meeting with the head of state on Tuesday, be ” quickly “ received by the Prime Minister, and recalled his “red lines”whether on the “purchasing power”security or even proportional.

The New Popular Front has already announced that it will not participate in the government. In addition, LFI will file a motion of censure as soon as possible, probably after Mr. Bayrou's general policy statement. For her part, Marine Tondelier affirmed on Saturday that she was already starting “to have preconceptions of censorship”. On the right, the Republicans have conditioned their participation in government on ” project “ that the new Prime Minister will present to them. According to Mr. Bayrou's entourage, formal consultations should take place at the beginning of next week, his idea being “to go quickly” to form his government.

The Pope, visiting Corsica, pleaded for a secularism that is not “static [ni] frozen »

This is a first, Pope Francis is visiting Corsica, Sunday December 15, for a conference on “popular religiosity in the Mediterranean”. The island has never received a pope, despite its “strong Christian imprint, which dates back, in its origins, to the Roman occupation of the island”estimates the Corsican Church. This event is, “for all Corsicans, an authentic moment of history, a subject of great pride for a small people of the Mediterranean”she adds.

Pope Francis has pleaded for a secularism that is not “static [ni] frozen »a secularism “able to adapt to different or unforeseen situations, and to promote constant cooperation between civil and ecclesiastical authorities for the good of the whole community, each remaining within the limits of its competence and space”he said in front of religious people and theologians.

The sovereign pontiff also launched an appeal on Sunday in favor of “peace” pour “the whole Middle East” but also “for the Ukrainian people and the Russian people”in a speech at Ajaccio Cathedral, ensuring that “war is always a defeat”. “Peace to the whole world”he concluded.

The head of the Catholic Church was then to participate in a mass at the Casone green theater, before, according to the Holy See, an interview at the airport with Emmanuel Macron. Together, they were to discuss the wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and ecology. During his urbi et orbi address of the traditional blessing of Easter Sunday, at the end of March, the sovereign pontiff recalled that “the war [était] always an absurdity and a defeat”.

Hezbollah leader hopes new power in Syria will not “normalize” relations with Israel

The leader of Hezbollah hoped on Saturday that the new Syrian authorities, who overthrew his ally Bashar Al-Assad, “will not normalize” their relations with Israel, sworn enemy of the pro-Iranian movement. He has ” wish “ that the new power in Syria “considers Israel an enemy”said Naïm Qassem, the leader of Hezbollah, in his first televised speech since the fall of Mr. Al-Assad on December 8.

“Hezbollah is losing (…) a military supply line via Syria, but this loss remains a detail in the context of the resistance action” to Israel, the Hezbollah leader said, adding that “resistance must adapt to circumstances”. His pro-Iranian formation supported Bashar Al-Assad militarily during more than a decade of conflict in Syria.

Five people killed in the North; an individual went to the police

Five people were killed on Saturday December 14 afternoon in the Nord department, AFP learned from the gendarmerie. From a source close to the investigation Mondea man of French nationality, aged 22, went to the gendarmerie the same day around 5 p.m., declaring that he was the author of these murders. Placed in police custody, the man “is unknown to the police and the judicial authorities”et “several firearms were found in his car”reported Sunday the public prosecutor of Dunkirk, Charlotte Huet.

An investigation was opened for “murders preceded, accompanied or followed by another crime” and “acquisition, possession, carrying and transport of category A and B weapons”, acts punishable by life imprisonment. She was entrusted to the organized and specialized crime division of the interdepartmental service of the judicial police of the North (SIPJ 59), according to the prosecutor's press release.

The victims are a 29-year-old man, killed in front of his home, two security agents in the exercise of their duties, and two men who “could be of Iranian nationality, aged between 19 and 30 and staying in the neighboring camp”. According to the prefecture and the police, they are two migrants.

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