Paris threatens to withdraw its troops if Mali allies with a Russian group

French authorities have been concerned about discussions between Bamako and the Russian private company Wagner, warning that a deployment of these paramilitaries in Mali could lead to a withdrawal of French troops, who have been fighting jihadist groups there for eight years. An involvement of the Wagner company in Mali would be "incompatible" with the maintenance of a French force, warned the head of French diplomacy, Jean-Yves Le Drian, before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. "It is absolutely irreconcilable with our presence" and "incompatible with the action of Mali's Sahelian and international partners," he said, stressing that Wagner's paramilitaries "have distinguished themselves in the past singularly in Syria, in the Central African Republic many with abuses, predations, violations of all kinds (and) cannot correspond to any solution". According to a French source close to the matter, the junta in power in Bamako is studying the possibility of concluding with Wagner a contract on the deployment of a thousand Russian paramilitaries in Mali, in particular to train its armed forces. Malian authorities have admitted that discussions are ongoing, but that "nothing is signed".

IN BRIEF

The Pentagon's top brass was so worried about Donald Trump's mental state in the final days of his tenure that he secretly took steps to avoid a war with China, according to a new book.

Nearly 1,400 Palestinian prisoners are preparing to go on hunger strike to denounce the deterioration of their detention conditions in Israel after the recent escape of detainees, the Palestinian Authority said.

A 19-year-old man died after a car hit the public, causing five other injuries, during a "wild" race organized on the night of Friday to Saturday in Libercourt (Pas-de-Calais), it was learned Tuesday from the prosecutor's office of Béthune.

Champions League: Lille, who played in numerical superiority during the last half hour, made a great performance and dominated Wolfsburg but failed to win (0-0) in front of their home crowd on Tuesday for their champions league debut.