Covid: vaccination slows down, "we must do much better", urges Castex

Jean Castex deplored the decrease in the number of first doses of vaccine injected each day, urging to "do much better", during a trip to the Landes where a "reinforced action plan" will be deployed due to a resurgence of the epidemic Covid emia. " We vaccinate 200,000 people a day" in first injection, "it's too little", regretted the Prime Minister in Mont-de-Marsan, observing that "the appointments" were "decelerating ". He launched a "solemn appeal" to caregivers who are not yet vaccinated. "It is imperative that the caregivers, the staff of these nursing homes are all vaccinated, we will say by the end of August (...), otherwise we should obviously take our responsibilities", argued Mr Castex, without however making a clear statement on the possibility of making this vaccination compulsory. "We've done a lot better, we have to do a lot better," he said. The executive has set itself the goal of 35 million French people fully vaccinated by the end of August (19.6 million currently), and 40 million first doses injected (32.7 million currently).

Biden receives the Afghan president to discuss the US withdrawal

US President Joe Biden receives his Afghan counterpart Ashraf Ghani on Friday to discuss the future of Afghanistan at a time when the ongoing withdrawal of US troops opens a period of immense uncertainty. The White House's stated goal: to work closely with the Kabul government to ensure that Afghanistan "never again becomes a safe haven for terrorist groups that pose a threat to U.S. territory." But the questions are many and dizzying: will the Taliban seize Kabul after the departure of the last Western soldiers? How will the safety of Western diplomats – and the capital's airport – be ensured? What will happen to the thousands of Afghans who worked with U.S. forces as interpreters? The two leaders are due to meet in the afternoon in the Oval Office to discuss these thorny issues. Notably, no press conference is scheduled for the outcome of the meeting. Joe Biden decided in April to withdraw the 2,500 US troops still present in Afghanistan. He set a deadline of September 11, the 20th anniversary of the attacks that led Washington to overthrow the Taliban regime that sheltered al-Qaeda jihadists.

IN BRIEF

An Indigenous community announced the discovery during excavations of more than 750 unmarked graves at the site of a residential school in Canada, including

a new illustration of the decades-long ordeal suffered by indigenous children in schools run by the Catholic Church.

France midfielder Thomas Lemar injured his left foot in a contact in training in the late afternoon, leaving the session a few minutes after Marcus Thuram, also affected.

Uruguay and Paraguay qualified for the quarterfinals of the Copa America 2021 on Thursday by beating Bolivia in Cuiaba (central Brazil) and Chile in Brasilia, respectively, by the same score of 2-0.