Refinery strikes: other sectors in dance

Public and private sector employees are called on Tuesday to stop work and demonstrate, calling for higher wages and against the demands of strikers. Indeed, several other sectors have filed strike calls for today. These include public service, energy, public transport, roads, agri-food, commerce etc.

Emmanuel Macron, anxious to solve French people's fuel supply problems “as quickly as possible” convened a meeting at the Élysée Palace on Monday afternoon. According to a participant in this meeting, “The President of the Republic appealed to everyone's spirit of responsibility and highlighted the unbearable consequences for those who suffer daily from this ordeal.”

Mitigating soaring energy prices: European Commission makes new proposals

Today, the European Commission is giving details of its proposals to mitigate soaring energy prices by tackling volatile gas market prices under pressure from worried member states at the dawn of winter. The lowest common denominator is put forward by Brussels in the face of the profound divisions of the Twenty-Seven over the idea of a price cap. The European executive has assured that these are measures that “are the subject of maximum consensus.” The heads of state and government meeting at a summit in Brussels will examine these proposals on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 October 2022 before their possible adoption in November. They were unveiled in Strasbourg.

Russian strikes: at least 13 deaths recorded

On Monday, October 17, 2022, Russian strikes killed at least eight people in Ukraine and three people died in Russia when a Russian military plane crashed not far from the Ukrainian border. A total of 13 deaths were recorded. Yesterday's Russian strikes included suicide drones.

The Ukrainian Army General Staff summed up throughout the day that “the enemy carried out nine missile strikes, 39 airstrikes, (fired) up to 30 shells with multiple rocket launchers.” A week after massive bombings on Ukraine, the areas around Kharkiv and Sumy (north-east), Donetsk (east), Dnipropetrovsk (central-east) or Kherson and Mykolaiv (south) were affected.

Ballon d'Or: Karim Benzema takes first place

Since Zinédine Zidane achieved this acclaim in 1998, Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema became the first Frenchman to win the Sacré Ballon d'Or after a dream season. Alexia Putellas of Spain won it for the second year in a row.

Last night, he was rewarded at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris, despite a serious injury that caused him to miss the Women's Euro. It was a glorious day for Benzema (34), a sometimes unloved striker who ended up getting everyone in agreement, as for Putellas (28).

IN SHORT

The authorities in Tehran announced yesterday that at least eight detainees died in a fire at Evin prison two days after incidents that have further increased tensions in Iran, which has been shaken by protests since the death of Mahsa Amini a month ago.

Three days after the body of the 12-year-old high school student was discovered Friday in a trunk in Paris, a 24-year-old woman, the main suspect in the murder of Lola, was indicted on Monday by a Parisian investigative judge for “murder” and “aggravated rape” and then imprisoned.

Attacks on secularism at school “have multiplied since the start of the school year”. Yesterday, Gérald Darmanin asked the prefects to “support the educational community in an indispensable and firm response to this problem.

The French State has been sentenced by the Council of State to a record 20 million euros for not doing enough to address air pollution in its country, after being fined for the first time in August 2021.