France: Macron consults his ministers and his majority on the expected slippage of the public deficit

The French President held a series of meetings on Wednesday evening at the Elysée Palace on the expected deterioration of the public deficit. The 2023 public deficit will be “significantly” higher than the forecasted 4.9% of GDP, warned Bruno Le Maire. The objective of reducing the deficit to 4.4% this year seems out of reach. The government now fears a public deficit that would reach 5.6% of GDP by 2023.

Middle East Tour: Blinken to Egypt on Thursday and Israel Friday

On the first day of the American Secretary of State's Middle East tour, the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas deemed Israel's response to its truce proposal “negative”, dampening hopes for a rapid cessation of hostilities. Blinken is due to travel to Egypt on Thursday and Friday to Israel, who has arrived in Saudi Arabia, where he is due to discuss efforts to reach a ceasefire. International concerns are growing over the threat of famine and the ever-increasing human toll in Gaza, with more than 31,923 dead, according to the Hamas' Health Ministry

Bombings in Ukraine and Russia: several civilians dead

Bombings have increased recently. Ukraine and Russia reported strikes on Wednesday that caused the death of several civilians on each side of their common border, prompting Vladimir Putin to promise to ensure “security” in the targeted Russian regions. According to the local governor Vyacheslav Gladkov, three people died and four were injured in a series of bombings, which were particularly “massive” in

Help for Ukraine: The American Congress is preparing to leave Washington for two weeks

The elected members of the American Congress will leave Washington for two weeks without having voted for new aid for Ukraine, whose army is running out of ammunition in the face of Russian troops. Republican Mike Johnson mentioned several scenarios under consideration to make progress on this hot issue, such as the idea of a loan to Kiev rather than a check or the use of frozen assets of Russian oligarchs

IN SHORT

The Senate will examine the CETA free trade agreement between the European Union and Canada on Thursday.

Three days after winning Milan-Sanremo, Belgian Jasper Philipsen won the Bruges-La Panne sprint race for the second year in a row in his country for the second year in a row.