Russians and Americans talk to each other in Geneva to try to defuse the Ukrainian crisis

The heads of American and Russian diplomacy gave themselves a handful of hours on Friday in Geneva for a final attempt to defuse the Ukrainian crisis, Washington suspecting Moscow of wanting to invade its neighbor despite threats of heavy reprisals. The meeting between Sergei Lavrov and Antony Blinken in a palace on the shores of Lake Geneva is the last pas de deux of an intense diplomatic ballet which began 11 days ago, already in Geneva, between their deputies. They had agreed to continue talking to each other despite the strong differences of opinion and the hundreds of thousands of Russian soldiers massed on the borders of Ukraine. If the diplomatic sequence of January 10 had lasted nearly eight hours, the face-to-face Blinken-Lavrov should not exceed two hours. The two men, seasoned negotiators, have known each other for many years. Antony Blinken has a reputation for unshakable calm, Sergei Lavrov is more sanguine and has a biting verb.

Timid resumption of immigration in 2021, still weighed down by the pandemic

Asylum applications, deportations, visa issuance... All immigration sectors showed the first signs of recovery in 2021, after a year 2020 of record drop in migratory flows, according to statistics published Thursday. With 104,577 first asylum applications recorded in dedicated one-stop shops (Guda), this figure rose by 28.3% in 2021, according to provisional data released by the Ministry of the Interior. An increase accentuated by the evacuation of thousands of Afghan nationals from Kabul, after the Taliban took power in mid-August 2021. Afghanistan thus consolidates its position as the main country of origin of asylum seekers in France, with 16,126 files submitted (+62%), far ahead of Côte d'Ivoire (6,268), Bangladesh and Guinea.

IN SHORT

Violence erupted Thursday in Guadeloupe where a gendarme was injured with live ammunition in Pointe-à-Pitre and six people arrested, we learned from the gendarmerie and the police.

An explosion caused by the accident of a truck carrying explosives for a mine killed at least 17 people and injured 59 on Thursday and devastated a town in western Ghana, according to the government.

A giant iceberg detached from Antarctica in 2017 released more than 150 billion tonnes of fresh water mixed with nutrients as it melted 4,000 km from its starting point, an "enormous" volume that could significantly alter an ecosystem brittle.

Thanks to two perfect half-time starts (5-0 then 4-0), the French handball players, Olympic champions, five and a half months ago in Tokyo, knocked out the Netherlands 34 to 24 on Thursday for their first meeting of the main round of the Euro in Budapest.