Ligue des champions: pour Matuidi, “une grande partie du pays” sera derrière le PSG en finale

“Ils vont avoir toute une ville derrière eux et même, je crois, une grande partie du pays”, a déclaré mercredi à l’AFP l’ancien international Blaise Matuidi, convaincu que le Paris SG peut remporter sa première Ligue des champions.”Pour la ville de Paris, c’est quelque chose d’extraordinaire de vivre cette finale de la Ligue des champions”, a estimé Matuidi, en référence au choc du 31 mai prochain à Munich entre le PSG et l’Inter Milan.Matuidi, champion du monde avec la France en Russie en 2018 et qui a remporté plus de quinze titres avec le PSG entre 2011 et 2017, s’est exprimé à Luque, près d’Asunción au Paraguay, où il participe au 75e Congrès de la Fifa au siège de la Conmebol (Confédération sud-américaine de football).Les joueurs du PSG “ont démontré dès le début de cette compétition qu’ils ont des chances de la gagner. En tout cas, ils vont avoir toute une ville derrière eux et même, je crois, une grande partie du pays et je pense que ça va fonctionner”, a-t-il développé.L’ancien milieu de terrain infatigable a salué le travail de l’entraîneur du PSG, l’Espagnol Luis Enrique : “Il l’a déjà fait avec Barcelone et l’équipe nationale espagnole, aujourd’hui on le voit avec le PSG. C’est un grand entraîneur, il sait comment construire un groupe”.À propos de l’Inter Milan, il a déclaré qu’il s’agissait d'”un adversaire très fort, une équipe italienne bien organisée qui est aussi capable de marquer beaucoup de buts, comme elle l’a démontré contre Barcelone”, et il a ajouté : “Ce sera un grand match de football, espérons avec une victoire de Paris”.Interrogé sur les conséquences du départ de Kylian Mbappé du PSG vers le Real Madrid en 2024, Matuidi a affirmé que “Paris a su se relever de ce grand départ” et a souligné que “Kylian fait aussi de grandes choses à Madrid au niveau individuel”.Il a également évoqué la situation actuelle d’Ousmane Dembélé, l’un des joueurs clés du PSG : “Il fait une saison extraordinaire. Son talent, tout le monde le connaît, mais aujourd’hui il est efficace, c’est ce qui fait la différence”, a-t-il souligné.Arrivé au début de l’ère qatarie du PSG, Matuidi n’a jamais atteint les demi-finales de la Ligue des champions avec Paris, qu’il quitte à l’été 2017 pour rejoindre la Juventus. C’est après son départ, en 2020, que le club atteindra sa première finale de Ligue des champions, perdue contre le Bayern Munich.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés, village tarnais fracturé par le chantier de l’A69

Comme dans l’album d’Astérix, un “grand fossé” coupe en deux la commune rurale de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Tarn), où le chantier de l’A69 divise aussi les esprits avant l’examen au Sénat d’une demande de reprise des travaux de l’autoroute contestée.Sur la carte affichée dans le bureau du maire, un large trait rouge coupe le territoire communal. Et à quelques centaines de mètres de la petite mairie accolée à l’église du village, le trait devient un gouffre de plusieurs dizaines de mètres de large, avec en son cœur deux piles d’un pont inachevé qui en attend une troisième.”Très impactés”: c’est par ces deux mots que Raymond Frede, le maire de Saint-Germain-des-Prés depuis 18 ans, résume la situation de ses quelque 950 administrés face au chantier de l’A69.”Le va-et-vient des camions, beaucoup de poussière, oui c’est une grosse contrainte mais on ne fait pas d’omelette sans casser des œufs”, rappelle le maire sans étiquette, favorable à l’autoroute même s’il aurait préféré un aménagement de la nationale actuelle en 2X2 voies, un projet abandonné il y a plusieurs années.Depuis le 27 février, date d’un jugement ayant interrompu les travaux de l’autoroute Castres-Toulouse, le ballet des semi-remorques s’est certes interrompu mais le chantier continue de chambouler la vie du village. “Tant qu’on n’aura pas le pont, on a une partie de Saint-Germain qui est isolée”, explique M. Frede, l’ouvrage devant permettre de rétablir la route actuellement coupée par le chantier. Les habitants de “45 maisons” de petits hameaux situés d’un côté du chantier ne peuvent plus traverser. “Moi, c’était surtout l’autre côté qui me faisait le plus travailler. Du coup, perte de clientèle d’environ 80%”, abonde Nadège, qui tient la seule épicerie-café du village.- “Usine à bitume” -“Les gars qui travaillaient (sur le chantier, ndlr) ont compensé cette perte parce qu’ils sont venus manger”, ajoute-t-elle, “mais là c’est double peine puisqu’ils ne sont plus là et que je n’ai toujours pas de route”.”C’est compliqué”, dit également Céline Maurel à bord de sa voiture, alors qu’elle vient chercher son fils, lycéen à Castres, à l’arrêt de bus coincé entre la nationale et le chantier. “On ne peut pas se garer, il y a de la boue, le croisement est dangereux”.L’arrêt du chantier est loin d’avoir apaisé les esprits dans la petite commune où le projet a creusé un “grand fossé”, métaphore volontiers reprise par les habitants, de l’album éponyme d’Astérix.”Il y a les pour, les contre; on ne veut pas en parler justement parce que ça crée des tensions”, confie Mme Maurel, qui s’occupe du secrétariat de l’association locale de pétanque.”J’ai senti clairement des voisins prendre du recul”, raconte Marie-Claude Amand, retraitée engagée contre l’autoroute et son “usine à bitume”, la centrale de production d’enrobé à chaud qui devait s’installer en surplomb du village pour produire la moitié des 500.000 tonnes de revêtement de l’autoroute.- “Chantier pharaonique” -Alexandre Lafon, un autre opposant, parle d'”une logique vieux monde et nouveau monde” entre “ceux qui voient qu’il y a un tournant à prendre (à cause de la) crise climatique, qu’il est nécessaire peut-être d’avoir une politique de limitation des déplacements carbonés, et ceux qui sont habitués à l’agriculture intensive, attachés à un mode de vie et ne comprennent pas pourquoi on les empêche d’aller plus vite à Toulouse”, détaille ce professeur d’histoire qui se partage entre le lycée de Castres et l’université de Toulouse.Les opposants et partisans se retrouvent sur le fait que le statu quo actuel n’est pas possible mais leurs visions de l’avenir continuent de diverger.”On ne peut pas rester avec un chantier ouvert, des ponts pas finis, ça ressemble à quoi, on ne va pas tout casser, ce serait une aberration”, estime le maire qui souhaite la reprise des travaux, tandis que Marie-Line Lattuca, opposante, espère un projet alternatif.”Il y a eu des grands esprits pour concevoir cette espèce de chantier pharaonique, on a sans doute des grands esprits qui vont pouvoir refaire tout ça, refaire pousser des choses”, espère cette retraitée.Dans son commerce, Nadège l’épicière aimerait en tout cas que les gens “arrêtent de se déchirer”. “Mon souhait? Qu’il y ait des solutions et pas dans dix ans”. 

Combs’s ex Cassie to face intense defense questioning

Casandra Ventura, the former girlfriend of Sean “Diddy” Combs, is set to receive intense cross-examination from the music mogul’s defense team Thursday in his sex trafficking trial.Ventura, the singer widely known as Cassie, told jurors over two days that Combs raped, beat and forced her into drug-fueled sex parties over the course of their more than a decade together, excruciating testimony that now subjects her to a grilling from defense lawyers.Combs’s lawyers indicated they would seek to emphasize that Ventura took drugs of her own free will, and behaved erratically and even violently herself.While Ventura’s relationship with Combs was complicated and included domestic abuse, the defense said in opening statements, it did not amount to the sex trafficking he is charged with.”Being a willing participant in your own sex life is not sex trafficking,” said defense lawyer Teny Geragos earlier this week.Combs, 55, was once one of the most powerful figures in the music industry, but is now incarcerated on charges of sex trafficking and leading an illegal sex ring that enforced its power with crimes including arson, kidnapping and bribery.Ventura is the case’s star witness: over two days of testimony, the now 38-year-old described Combs as controlling and willing to wield his wealth and influence to fulfill his desires.She gave vivid accounts of coercive sex parties — she participated in hundreds, she testified — and violent beatings that will underpin much of the prosecution’s case against the music industry figure, who is alleged to have used violence and blackmail to manipulate women over many years.- ‘Humiliating’ -Heavily pregnant with her third child, Ventura told jurors in a measured tone — but sometimes through tears — how she was forced to engaged in “freak-offs” with Combs and male escorts, sometimes engaging in days-long sex performances directed by the music mogul.She described how in 2018, as she and Combs were breaking up, he raped her in her living room.And she testified that her time with the artist left her with post traumatic stress disorder, drug addiction and suicidal thoughts.The drugs were a “buffer” to withstand the “humiliating” and often-filmed sexual encounters, she said.In a graphic hotel surveillance clip from March 2016 shown to jurors Monday, Tuesday and again Wednesday, Combs is seen brutally beating and dragging Ventura down a hallway.The prosecution played portions of the footage while Ventura was on the stand.When asked why she didn’t fight back or get up, Ventura answered simply that curled up on the ground “felt like the safest place to be.”Following the hotel assault, Ventura was forced to attend the premiere of her movie “The Perfect Match” days later while covered in bruises, the jury heard as they were shown photographs of the actress with Combs at the event.Ventura said she wore sunglasses to conceal a black eye.Combs’s defense team insists while some of his behavior was questionable, it did not constitute racketeering and sex trafficking. He denies all counts.Ventura’s testimony is expected to last at least until the end of the week, and trial proceedings are anticipated to continue well into the summer.

Kinshasa deploys excavators against illegally built homesThu, 15 May 2025 05:32:56 GMT

A mother watched in despair as an excavator demolished her Kinshasa home, part of a campaign to clamp down on unauthorised buildings after deadly floods.Flash flooding in the overcrowded megalopolis, which sits on the banks of the mighty Congo River, killed dozens of people early last month.Authorities have begun demolishing riverside constructions built without permits, …

Kinshasa deploys excavators against illegally built homesThu, 15 May 2025 05:32:56 GMT Read More »

‘Unscientific’ Japan megaquake rumours spook Hong Kong tourists

Unfounded online rumours warning that a huge earthquake will soon strike Japan are taking a toll on travel firms and airlines who report less demand from worried Hong Kongers.People from Hong Kong made nearly 2.7 million trips to Japan in 2024.Although it is impossible to know exactly when earthquakes will hit, fear-inducing predictions have spread widely among the city’s residents.Some of the false posts cite a Japanese manga comic, republished in 2021, which predicts a major natural disaster in July 2025 — based on the author’s dream.Other posts give different dates, while a Facebook group that claims to predict disasters in Japan has over a quarter of a million members, mainly in Hong Kong and Taiwan.”The earthquake prophecy has absolutely caused a big change to our customers’ preferences,” said Frankie Chow, head of Hong Kong travel agency CLS Holiday.Chow told AFP that in March and April his company received 70-80 percent fewer inquiries about travelling to Japan than last year.”I’ve never experienced this before,” said Chow, who also runs the booking website Flyagain.la.While some people changed their destination, others “did not dare to travel”, he said.Mild to moderate earthquakes are common in Japan, where strict building codes minimise damage, even from larger shakes.But the nation is no stranger to major disasters, including in 2011 when a magnitude-9.0 quake triggered a tsunami that left 18,500 people dead or missing and caused a devastating meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant.Earthquakes are very rarely felt in Hong Kong, but some people are easily spooked by disinformation, Chow said.- ‘Megaquake’ warning -Last month, Tokyo’s Cabinet Office said on social media platform X: “Predicting earthquakes by date, time and place is not possible based on current scientific knowledge.”A Cabinet Office official told AFP that the X post was part of its usual information-sharing about earthquakes.But Japan’s Asahi Shimbun daily reported that it was responding to prophecies that sprung up online after a Japanese government panel in January released a new estimate for the probability of a “megaquake”.The panel said the chance of a massive earthquake along the undersea Nankai Trough south of Japan in the next three decades had marginally increased to 75-82 percent.This was followed by a new damage estimate in March from the Cabinet Office, which said a Nankai Trough megaquake and tsunami could cause 298,000 deaths in Japan.Despite being a routine update of a previous 2014 figure, the estimate appears to have fanned tourists’ fears.A YouTube video featuring a feng shui master urging viewers not to visit Japan, published by local media outlet HK01, has been viewed more than 100,000 times.Don Hon, one of Hong Kong’s 7.5 million residents, does not entirely believe the online claims, but has still been influenced by them.”I will just take it as a precaution, and won’t make any particular plans to travel to Japan,” the 32-year-old social worker said.And if a friend were to ask him to visit Japan in July, Hon “might suggest going somewhere else”.- ‘No reason to worry’ -Hong Kong-based Greater Bay Airlines has reduced flights to Japan’s southern Tokushima region, a local tourism official told AFP.”The company told us demand has rapidly decreased amid rumours there will be a big quake and tsunami in Japan this summer,” she said.”Three scheduled weekly round-trip flights will be reduced to two round-trips per week from May 12 to October 25.”The airline is also reducing its flights to Sendai in the northern region of Miyagi.”There’s no reason to worry,” Miyagi’s governor Yoshihiro Murai reassured travellers, adding that Japanese people are not fleeing.But “if unscientific rumours on social media are impacting tourism, that would be a major problem”, he said last month.According to the Japan National Tourism Organization, the number of Hong Kong visitors in March stood at 208,400 — down nearly 10 percent year-on-year.However, this decline was partly due to the Easter holidays starting in mid-April this year, instead of March, they said.Hong Kong-based EGL Tours has not seen a massive decline in customers travelling to Japan, its executive director Steve Huen Kwok-chuen said.But recent bookings at its two hotels in Japan show fewer from Hong Kong guests, while the number from other global destinations remains stable.In any case, in the likely event that the predictions do not come to pass, “people will realise it’s not true”, he said.burs-nf/kaf/tc/sco

End of nuclear in Taiwan fans energy security fears

Taiwan will turn off its last nuclear reactor on Saturday, fuelling concerns over the self-ruled island’s reliance on imported energy and vulnerability to a Chinese blockade.The island, which targets net-zero emissions by 2050, depends almost entirely on imported fossil fuel to power its homes, factories and critical semiconductor chip industry.President Lai Ching-te’s Democratic Progressive Party has long vowed to phase out nuclear power, while the main opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party says continued supply is needed for energy security.Ma’anshan Nuclear Power Plant in southern Pingtung county is being closed as China intensifies military activity around Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory and has vowed to bring under its control one day. During large-scale military drills around Taiwan in April, China simulated strikes on key ports and energy sites as well as blockading the island.Ma’anshan has operated for 40 years in a region popular with tourists and which is now dotted with wind turbines and solar panels.More renewable energy is planned at the site, where state-owned Taipower plans to build a solar power station capable of supplying an estimated 15,000 households annually.But while nuclear only accounted for 4.2 percent of Taiwan’s power supply last year, some fear Ma’anshan’s closure risks an energy crunch.”Taiwan is such a small place and currently there’s no other better and more efficient natural energy source that can replace nuclear power,” said Ricky Hsiao, 41, who runs a nearby guesthouse.”The reality is that TSMC and other big companies need a lot of electricity. They would leave Taiwan if it’s not stable,” he told AFP, referring to chipmaking giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company.But mother-of-two Carey Chen fears an accident like the 2011 Fukushima nuclear meltdown in Japan, which like Taiwan is prone to earthquakes.”If we can find other stable power sources, I support a nuclear-free homeland for everyone’s safety,” Chen, 40, told AFP.- Stable supply – At its peak in the 1980s, nuclear power made up more than 50 percent of Taiwan’s energy generation, with three plants operating six reactors across the island. Concerns after the Fukushima disaster sawa new plant mothballed in 2014 before it was even finished.And two plants stopped operating between 2018 and 2023 after their operating permits expired.Most of Taiwan’s power is fossil fuel-based, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) accounting for 42.4 percent and coal 39.3 percent last year.Renewable energy made up 11.6 percent, well short of the government’s target of 20 percent by 2025.Solar has faced opposition from communities worried about panels occupying valuable land, while rules requiring locally made parts in wind turbines have slowed their deployment.Lai insists Taiwan’s energy supply will be stable even as AI technology boosts demand, with new units in existing LNG and coal-fired plants replacing Ma’anshan’s output.The KMT and Taiwan People’s Party, which control the parliament, amended a law on Tuesday enabling nuclear plants to extend their operating life by up to 20 years.”Nuclear power is not the most perfect way to generate electricity,” KMT lawmaker Ko Ju-chun told AFP.”But it is an option that should not be eliminated when we are developing technology, defence, and strengthening national security.”- Chinese threat -Taiwan’s reliance on imported fossil fuels is of particular concern given the risk of a Chinese blockade.The island has enough LNG and coal reserves to last just 11 and 30 days, respectively, government data show.Taiwan’s centralised electricity grid also leaves swaths of the island at risk of major power outages in case of a single fault. Without nuclear, “our energy security cannot be guaranteed, and national security will be affected”, said Yeh Tsung-kuang, an energy expert at Taiwan’s National Tsing Hua University.Environmental activists argue renewables are the best way to bolster Taiwan’s energy resilience.”If every community has solar panels on its roofs, the community can be (more) self-sufficient”, said Tsui Shu-hsin, secretary-general of Green Citizens’ Action Alliance.But others note Taiwan’s break-up with nuclear is at odds with global and regional trends.Even Japan aims for nuclear to account for 20-22 percent of its electricity by 2030, up from well under 10 percent now.And nuclear power became South Korea’s largest source of electricity in 2024, accounting for 31.7 percent of the country’s total power generation, and reaching its highest level in 18 years, according to government data.Yu Shih-ching, chief of Hengchun town where Ma’anshan is located, said the plant had brought jobs and boosted the local economy.”Our view is that nuclear power is necessary,” he told AFP, calling it “an important driving force for the national economy” and a “great help to local areas”.And Lai acknowledged recently he would not rule out a return to nuclear one day.”Whether or not we will use nuclear power in the future depends on three foundations which include nuclear safety, a solution to nuclear waste, and successful social dialogue,” he said.