Soccer: After the Champions League fiasco, time for explanations

After the chaos on Saturday and the controversy on Sunday, the first explanations: the Ministry of Sport is bringing together the organizers of the Champions League final, the police and local authorities on Monday (11:00) to “learn from” a fiasco that occurred one year before the 2023 Rugby World Cup and two years from the Paris Olympics. Two days after chaotic scenes around the Stade de France, stampedes, attempted intrusions by individuals without tickets or even supporters who are shocked by the intervention of the police or victims of thefts, the new Minister of Sport, Amélie Oudéa-Castera, must manage her first crisis.

"Together with the Minister of the Interior, we deplore the incidents that marked the Champions League evening on Saturday night at the Stade de France and regret that some fans with tickets were unable to attend the match,” she explained in a statement released Sunday. Alongside the Minister of Sport, the organizers of the final - won by Real Madrid (1-0) against Liverpool -, UEFA and the French Football Federation, as well as representatives of Stade de France, the Paris Police Prefecture, the Seine-Saint-Denis Prefecture and Saint-Denis City Hall will be present.

Ukraine says it's regaining ground near Kherson, Zelensky addresses Europeans

Ukraine says it is regaining ground in the Kherson region, which has been in Russian hands since the start of the invasion, as President Volodymyr Zelensky is due to address European leaders meeting in Brussels for an extraordinary summit on his country on Monday. “Kherson, hold on, we are close! “, says the Ukrainian General Staff on its Facebook page. In its status report published overnight from Sunday to Monday, the Ukrainian army claims to be advancing in the Kherson region, on the side of the villages of Andriyivka, Lozove and Bilohirka.

There were initially no comments from the Russian side regarding Kiev's claims that Russian troops were “building defensive lines” around Kherson. The Ukrainian president is due to speak at the start of the European summit on Monday, via video conference from Kiev. New sanctions against Moscow are on the agenda of this meeting of the 27. In addition to the oil embargo, the sanctions package aims to exclude Russian banks from the international financial system Swift, an aid to Ukraine of up to nine billion euros in 2022.

Torrential rains in Brazil: at least 79 dead and 56 missing

The torrential rains that have caused floods and mudslides since Tuesday in the Recife region in northeastern Brazil have left at least 79 dead and 56 missing, according to the latest official toll published Sunday. During a lull, some 1,200 men, with helicopters and boats, resumed the search for missing and isolated people on Sunday. The storm caused landslides on the sides of the hills, overflowing rivers, and large torrents of mud that washed away everything in their path.

IN SHORT

Left-wing opponent Gustavo Petro won by a wide margin in the first round of the presidential election in Colombia on Sunday, and will face an unclassifiable and independent candidate in the second round, a surprise result that marks a historic defeat for the traditional right.

It's the “D-day” for Les Bleues: Corinne Diacre announced at midday on Monday her selection of 23 players selected for the Women's Euro in England (6-31 July), with no big returns or surprises expected, in line with the latest rallies.

Rescuers recovered the wreckage of the missing passenger plane in Nepal on Monday, a military official said, without giving details about the 22 people, including two Germans, who were on board.