The police were ambushed in Les Mureaux (Yvelines) this Thursday evening. About 30 people attacked them with fireworks and threw stones at them. Everything had been prepared in advance. Source Actu17
Geopolitics
A patrol of the anti-crime brigade (BAC) was attacked by about twenty individuals during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, in Montereau-Fault-Yonne (Seine-et-Marne) . Five suspects were arrested. Source Actu17
About thirty individuals attacked the Sarcelles police station located on avenue du 8 mai 1945 around 7:30 p.m. The attackers fired fireworks mortars at the building. They also threw projectiles.
Other police stations have suffered the same type of attack in recent months. In particular that of Grand-Quevilly , near Rouen (Seine-Maritime) last month, or that of Cahors (Lot), attacked with Molotov cocktails in November. In Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), the Hautepierre police station was also attacked at the end of last year. Source Actu17
Greece is ready to welcome British tourists this summer regardless of whether they have had a coronavirus vaccine, Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis was quoted as saying on Thursday. Source Ekathimerini
Taiwan’s drive to plug a global shortage of microchips has hit a snag – a lack of water for its foundries caused by a drought.
Taiwanese high-tech chip foundries are some of the world’s biggest and most advanced, and European car manufacturers have been reaching out to Taipei for help. Source The Star
The police have put an end to the crowds in the Vondelpark. Due to the beautiful weather, thousands of visitors were present in the park. Mayor Halsema called the crowds ‘a massive violation of the corona rules’. In a statement, she writes: “Those present show no respect whatsoever for anyone in the city who is doing their best to prevent more infections.” Source AT5
France may need to impose new local restrictions to deal with a worsening Covid-19 situation as it scrambles to avoid a new national lockdown, a government spokesman said Wednesday. Infections have reached worrying levels in several parts of the country, spokesman Gabriel Attal told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting. Source France 24
Greek media reported that Egypt’s announcement of holding a tender for hydrocarbon exploration in the Eastern Mediterranean by recognizing the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) demarcated by Turkey could be a sign of a possible agreement between Ankara and Cairo on the issue. Source Daily Sabah
Urban violence broke out in Fréjus (Var) in the district of La Gabelle, this Sunday evening. About forty individuals attacked the police, using fireworks in particular. They also committed degradations. Source Actu17
Authorities in France have opened an investigation for attempted murder after a news photographer was attacked and seriously injured while reporting on a suspected outbreak of youth violence in the northeastern city of Reims, his newspaper said. Source France 24
The police were attacked by about twenty individuals in the Saint-Jean district of Beauvais (Oise) this Sunday evening. Three officials were injured and a 16-year-old boy was arrested before being taken into custody. Amateur images showing this incredible scene of violence have been posted on social networks. The police were called around 8:30 p.m. for a car that had been set on fire in the Saint-Jean district. Source Actu24
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy will appeal his conviction for corruption and influence peddling, which saw him handed a three-year prison sentence on Monday, his lawyer said. Sarkozy’s lawyer Jacqueline Laffont called the verdict “extremely severe” and “totally unfounded and unjustified”, adding that the former president was “calm but determined to continue to prove his innocence”. Source France24
Prosecutors are considering bringing charges against Forum voor Democratie leader Thierry Baudet for breaching coronavirus restrictions on a campaign visit. Baudet, 38, was photographed embracing supporters and shaking hands during a rally in the Flevoland village and former island of Urk on Tuesday. His campaign team later ate dinner together in a seafood restaurant. Source DutchNews
The number of babies born in France in January fell by 13 percent, the biggest drop in 45 years which statisticians on Thursday linked to the coronavirus pandemic. The 53,900 babies born in January 2021, down from 62,180 in January 2020, were conceived at the start of the first nationwide lockdown imposed by France in March 2020 to halt the spread of Covid-19. Source France24
The police were ambushed in Les Mureaux (Yvelines) this Thursday evening. About 30 people attacked them with fireworks and threw stones at them. Everything had been prepared in advance. Source Actu17
A patrol of the anti-crime brigade (BAC) was attacked by about twenty individuals during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, in Montereau-Fault-Yonne (Seine-et-Marne) . Five suspects were arrested. Source Actu17
About thirty individuals attacked the Sarcelles police station located on avenue du 8 mai 1945 around 7:30 p.m. The attackers fired fireworks mortars at the building. They also threw projectiles.
Other police stations have suffered the same type of attack in recent months. In particular that of Grand-Quevilly , near Rouen (Seine-Maritime) last month, or that of Cahors (Lot), attacked with Molotov cocktails in November. In Strasbourg (Bas-Rhin), the Hautepierre police station was also attacked at the end of last year. Source Actu17
Greece is ready to welcome British tourists this summer regardless of whether they have had a coronavirus vaccine, Tourism Minister Harry Theocharis was quoted as saying on Thursday. Source Ekathimerini
- A movement supporting reparations as a way to make amends for the atrocities of slavery and to reduce the persistent wealth gap is gaining momentum.
- One hundred and forty-two members of Congress support H.R. 40, the bill to study reparations.
- William Darity, professor of public policy at Duke University, estimates a concrete program could cost the U.S. government between $10 trillion and $12 trillion. Source CNBC
The House passed President Biden’s $1.9 trillion stimulus plan early Saturday in a nearly party-line vote, advancing a sweeping pandemic aid package that would provide billions of dollars for unemployed Americans, struggling families and businesses, schools and the distribution of coronavirus vaccines. Source MSN
Exxon Mobil erased almost every drop of oil-sands crude from its books in a sweeping revision of worldwide reserves to depths never before seen in the company’s modern history.
Exxon counted the equivalent of 15.2 billion barrels of reserves as of Dec. 31, down from 22.44 billion a year earlier, according to a regulatory filing on Wednesday. The company’s reserves of the dense, heavy crude extracted from Western Canada’s sandy bogs dropped by 98%. Source World OIl
German construction and engineering group Bilfinger has withdrawn from work related to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, German tabloid Bild reported, citing letters it has obtained. Source World Pipelines
Spain’s public debt ended 2020 at 117.1% of gross domestic product as the coronavirus pandemic and the measures imposed to curb it lifted borrowing and led to a deep economic contraction, the Bank of Spain said on Wednesday. Source Reuters
- Spain’s Abengoa (OTCPK:ABGOF, OTCPK:ABGOY) says it filed a request for bankruptcy before the court in Seville, becoming the country’s biggest company to go bust.
- The renewable energy company had €7.9B ($9.6B) in liabilities as of March 31, of which €3.9B were net corporate debt, according to its latest earnings statement.
- Abengoa’s restructuring deal with creditors fell apart after it failed to secure €20M from Andalusia’s regional government. Source Seeking Alpha
Global debt rose to a new record high of $281.5 trillion in 2020, driven by measures to curb economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to the Institute of International Finance (IIF), a global trade group of financial institutions. Source AA
Less than a month after a senior politician in Paris asked Germany to put a stop to the controversial Nord Stream 2 pipeline, energy giant Gazprom has revealed that France has bought 43 percent more Russian gas so far this year. The latest financial report from the country’s largest company divulged that France’s underground gas storage facilities are less than 30 percent full. Source RT
The cryptocurrency’s value has jumped by nearly 75% since the start of this year as more companies, including Tesla, have lent their support. The surge also coincides with volatility on the markets during the pandemic. Source DW
- The federal budget deficit is projected to be $2.3 trillion in fiscal 2021, the Congressional Budget Office said.
- That’s smaller than 2020 shortfall of $3.13 trillion but larger than anything the nation had seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Federal debt will swell to $35.3 trillion in 2031, it said, the largest debt-to-GDP ratio in U.S. history. Source CNBC
- Mastercard said it will offer support for customers to transact in some select cryptocurrencies this year.
- The card-payments firm is “actively engaging” with major central banks to launch digital currencies.
- All crypto coins won’t be supported on its network because many still lack compliance measures. Source Businessinsider
