Back to the wall, France and Europeans close to the moment of truth in Mali

Faced with a hostile junta which has just expelled its ambassador, France has given itself two weeks to decide on the future of its military presence in Mali, after nine years of anti-jihadist struggle in which it had finally succeeded in involving European partners. The partner countries of the European special forces grouping Takuba, created in 2020 at the initiative of France to share the burden, will work "by mid-February" to "plan an adaptation" of their system in Mali with regard to of the "gradual isolation" of this country, announced government spokesman Gabriel Attal. "The unjustified expulsion of the French ambassador is leading to an impasse", reacted on Tuesday Berlin, which has German troops within the European Union (EU) training mission and the UN mission ( Minusma). This decision culminates tensions between Bamako and the former colonial power, which has around 4,000 soldiers in the Sahel, more than half of them in Mali, despite a reduction in the system started last summer, partially offset by the arrival of reinforcements Europeans from Takuba.

JO-2022: the Games start, curling lays the first stone

Two days before the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics (February 4-20) and after weeks marked by concerns about the Covid-19 and political tensions linked to diplomatic boycotts, curling launches sports competitions on Wednesday. At 8:05 p.m. local time (1:05 p.m. Paris time), the first stones will be thrown in the magnificent "Ice Cube", the former Olympic swimming pool of 2008, with four matches of the mixed doubles tournament (Sweden - Great Britain, Australia - United States , Norway-Czech Republic and China-Switzerland). In Beijing, the first city in history to host the Summer (2008) and Winter Olympics, curling is launching the sports fortnight, at the end of which 109 Olympic titles will be awarded in the 15 disciplines on the program, bringing together nearly 3,000 athletes. The events are organized around three distinct zones. In Beijing, ice sports will take place, which take place mainly on the sites recycled from the 2008 Olympic Games, and big air, organized on an impressive 60 m high platform on the ruins of an old steelworks. Zhangjiakou station, 180 km northwest of Beijing, hosts Nordic events, biathlon, snowboarding and freestyle skiing, with the exception of big air, and finally the city of Yanqing, 75 km north -west of Beijing, is the scene of alpine skiing and luge, skeleton and bobsleigh events.

IN SHORT

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Lyon overthrew Marseille 2-1 in a match of the 14th day, given to replay behind closed doors after being interrupted on November 21 because of the bottle throwing on Dimitri Payet, and climbed to 7th place in the standings.