Here is some international news in brief.
Posted at 7:18 a.m.
Georgia experienced another night of pro-European mobilization, where 26 people were injured. A new report from the floods affecting the south of Thailand for more than a week shows 25 deaths.
The Constitutional Court of Georgia on Tuesday upheld the controversial result of the legislative elections, won at the end of October by the ruling party, a decision which comes in the midst of a wave of pro-European protests targeting the government.
The opposition has been calling for new elections for more than a month, accusing the Georgian Dream party, in power since 2012, of rigging the vote. In addition, since Thursday, demonstrations, punctuated by violence, have targeted the government, accused of pro-Russian authoritarian drift and of having put on hold the ambitions of membership in the European Union.
In mid-November, opposition groups and President Salomé Zourabichvili, breaking with the government but with limited powers, filed an appeal before the Constitutional Court to have the results of the October legislative election annulled.
The Court, in a decision published Tuesday, refused this request, specifying that its verdict was final and without appeal.
This decision risks fueling the discontent of the thousands of Georgians who have been demonstrating every evening since Thursday. A new rally is planned for the evening in Tbilisi, the capital.
Agence France-Presse
Death toll from Thailand floods rises to 25
Floods caused by heavy rains have killed 25 people in southern Thailand, according to a new report published Tuesday by the national disaster management agency.
The province of Songkhla, with nine deaths, is the most affected.
In total, since November 22, floods have affected more than 660,000 homes in ten regions stretching from Chumphon to the Malaysian border, along the Gulf of Thailand.
This total does not specify the degree of damage suffered, nor the number of people affected.
A previous report, released on Sunday, reported 12 deaths.
Agence France-Presse
Joe Biden visits Angola
US President Joe Biden met his Angolan counterpart Joao Lourenço on Tuesday, at the start of a two-day visit to the southern African country, focused on a major infrastructure project aimed at asserting Washington’s ambitions against China on the continent.
Mr. Biden, who will cede power on January 20 to Donald Trump, arrived Monday evening in this oil-rich Portuguese-speaking country and was to discuss trade, and investments, security and stability, as well as strengthening cooperation between the two countries.
As the American convoy passed through the empty streets of Luanda, flanked by police and soldiers, many local residents were perched at their windows and balconies to greet this historic visit, the first by an American head of state to the country.
At the end of the day, Joe Biden will also give a speech at the National Slavery Museum, in the suburbs of the capital of the former Portuguese colony, which borders the Atlantic.
In the 19th centurye century, Angola supplied large numbers of slaves in the trade to the Americas.
The United States said in a statement it would contribute more than $200,000 to support the restoration and conservation of the building, once owned by a slave trader.
Agence France-Presse
French government calls for accountability ahead of censorship vote
End of reign atmosphere in France: the coalition of former European Commissioner Michel Barnier on reprieve called on Tuesday for responsibility so as not to bring down the government and avoid political and budgetary “chaos”.
Threatened with a vote of censure on Wednesday in the National Assembly, the center-right Prime Minister, appointed only three months ago, will speak on television at 8 p.m. answering questions from the press on two television channels , live from his residence at the Matignon hotel.
On Monday, the 73-year-old leader engaged the executive’s responsibility by having the Social Security budget adopted without a vote, ensuring that he had been “at the end of the dialogue” with political groups and exposing his government to a motion of censure.
Unless there is a spectacular reversal, the motion has every chance of being approved, the left and the far right with Marine Le Pen having announced that they would vote for it. The debate will take place on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (10 a.m. Eastern time) and the first result is expected around 8 p.m. (2 p.m. Eastern time), according to several parliamentary sources. To bring down the government, 288 out of 577 will be necessary.
Agence France-Presse
