Mali: the junta decides to expel the French ambassador

The Malian authorities dominated by the military decided to expel the French ambassador, in a new estrangement between Bamako and Paris. French Foreign Affairs was content to take "note" of a measure which, however, poses even more acutely the question of the French military commitment in Mali. The Malian authorities have justified this decision by recent "hostile" and "outrageous" remarks by French officials against them. "These statements tend to call into question both the legality and the legitimacy of the authorities to which the French ambassador is accredited (...) You cannot be accredited to authorities that you yourself do not recognize", Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop said in the evening on state television. Relations with France, a former colonial power engaged militarily against the jihadists in Mali and the Sahel since 2013, have continued to deteriorate since colonels took over by force in August 2020 the head of the country, plunged since 2012 into a deep security and political crisis.

Crucial call between Blinken and Lavrov on the Ukraine crisis

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday to decide how to proceed with a high-risk Ukrainian crisis. After written exchanges between the two former enemies of the Cold War, it is time again for oral discussion, with this crucial telephone exchange. The United States has received a written response from Russia to its own letter last week on the Ukrainian crisis, a spokesman for American diplomacy said on Monday, without wanting to specify the content of this last exchange of letters. The main sticking point: Moscow is demanding that NATO close its door to any new member country from Eastern Europe and, in particular, to Ukraine. A request deemed unacceptable by the West, and in particular by Washington, because it would be tantamount to recognizing Russia's reserved sphere of influence. This long-awaited telephone exchange comes the day after heated debates in the UN Security Council between Russia and the United States about the troops massed by Moscow on the border with Ukraine.

FC Barcelona: time for settling scores with the former management

Stuck in an unprecedented financial crisis, FC Barcelona unveils Tuesday (11:00 a.m.) the results of a long-awaited report on the accounting management of its former management team, which led the club to file a complaint for suspicion of embezzlement. This complaint led to the opening of a preliminary investigation by the Barcelona public prosecutor's office. The presentation of this report to the press on Tuesday by the current president Joan Laporta comes almost four months after the publication in October of a first audit which highlighted the seriousness of the financial problems facing the Catalan club, weighed down by a debt exceeding one billion euros. The new management of the club, which took control of Barça in March, regularly criticizes the management of ex-president Josep Maria Bartomeu, who was much criticized and who ended up resigning under pressure in October 2020. According to the new club general manager Ferran Reverter, Barça was in an "accounting bankruptcy situation", with a debt of 1.35 billion euros, cash flow problems and a huge wage bill, when Mr. Laporta, elected by the " socios" (supporters-shareholders) of the club, succeeded Mr. Bartomeu. "If the club had been a SAD (société anonyme sportive), that would have been a reason for dissolution", insisted Mr. Reverter, presenting in October the results of the financial audit carried out by the firm Deloitte, relating to the management of the club since the 2018-2019 season.

IN SHORT

Two young police officers, a 29-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman, were shot dead during a traffic check in southwestern Germany, triggering a vast search operation which ended in the end of the day. arrest of suspects whose motive remains to be determined.

Researchers have estimated that the number of tree species on Earth is significantly higher than currently known, with more than 9,000 species yet to be discovered, according to one study.

Nice eliminated Paris SG, double defending champions, in the round of 16 of the Coupe de France after a penalty shootout (0-0, 6-5 on pens), offering themselves a quarter-final against Olympique de Marseille.