Things are not going smoothly for Leandro Trossard (28) following the World Cup. After the Red Devil did not come off the bench in Brighton’s 0-4 win at Everton on Tuesday, coach Roberto De Zerbi has now left Trossard out of the selection for the move to Middlesbrough in the FA Cup. “Trossard is a good player, but he has to be 100%”, the Italian teacher was quite sharp yesterday.
Daily Archives
January 7, 2023
Russians and Ukrainians celebrate Christmas, hostilities continue
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Both Ukrainians and Russians celebrated the Orthodox Christmas holiday in the middle of the war on Saturday, as hostilities continued at several points on the front despite a unilateral ceasefire decreed by President Vladimir Putin.
Like the day before, the Russian army assured its intention to continue the truce until midnight Saturday (9:00 p.m. GMT), while denouncing Ukrainian artillery fire on its positions which are continuing.
She claimed to have repelled attacks or responded to Ukrainian fire in several places along the front, inflicting casualties on her opponent.
Ukraine questions the sincerity of the Russian truce, saying it is a ruse to buy time. Washington, Paris, London, Berlin and the EU lambasted the initiative.
Journalists present in Chassiv Iar, in eastern Ukraine, observed sustained bombardments throughout the morning.
In Bakhmout, the epicenter of the fighting further north, AFP had already heard artillery duels on both sides of the front on Friday, in the hours following the establishment of the unilateral ceasefire by Russia. .
However, these shots were of less intensity compared to the previous days.
According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor’s Office, two people were killed and 13 injured in Bakhmut on Friday, in a city largely destroyed by fighting and where both sides face heavy losses.
According to Ukrainian authorities, Russian troops also shelled the Kherson region (south) on Friday, killing a rescue worker and injuring seven other people.
– Chapel struggles –
The two countries, at war since February 2022, celebrated the Orthodox Christmas holiday on Saturday, the majority faith in Russia and Ukraine.
On the Russian side, Vladimir Putin attended a religious service alone in a Kremlin church at midnight on Friday, departing from his habit of attending the liturgy in the provinces or on the outskirts of Moscow.
In a message released by the Kremlin on Saturday, the Russian president sent his congratulations to Orthodox Christians, saying that this day inspires “good deeds and aspirations”.
Church organizations “support our soldiers who are taking part in a special military operation,” the Russian president said, using the official Kremlin term for the offensive in Ukraine.
On the Ukrainian side, hundreds of faithful attended a historic liturgy on Saturday in the famous monastery of the Lavra of the Caves of kyiv, formerly under the jurisdiction of the Moscow Patriarchate but passed in December into the bosom of the Independent Ukrainian Church.
The service was led for the first time by Metropolitan Epiphany, the head of this Church formed in 2018-2019 following a schism with the Moscow Patriarchate.
“We have waited a long time for this shrine to be handed over to us. This is a truly historic event, which all Ukrainians have been waiting for,” 19-year-old Veronika Martyniouk, who leads the choir, told AFP.
“Each country has its Church. And we have our own Church – it’s very good, a Ukrainian Church, that’s how it should be,” said Oksana Sobko, 47, a faithful.
– Arms deliveries –
Even if it had been respected, the ceasefire decreed by Vladimir Putin would have offered only 36 hours of respite in a high-intensity conflict, which has lasted for almost 11 months and whose settlement does not seem to have made progress. .
The United States, kyiv’s main backer, on Friday pledged a massive $3 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, which will include the supply of Bradley armored infantry vehicles, personnel carriers and howitzers.
“This victorious year has only just begun,” said the Ukrainian presidency, adding that the American “package” also includes HIMARS precision missiles and Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles.
This announcement followed that of Germany, which indicated that it would send 40 “Marder” armored vehicles in the first quarter, following in the footsteps of France, which announced on Wednesday an upcoming delivery of AMX-10 RC light combat tanks.
Western arms supplies are crucial for kyiv and have notably enabled it to carry out an effective counter-offensive which has driven Russian forces from the Kharkiv region in the northeast and from the city of Kherson in the south.
With winter, the front is largely frozen. Ukraine, however, said it feared a new Russian offensive.
Brooklyn beats the New Orleans Pelicans in the American basketball
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
The Brooklyn Nets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans, 108-102, in the NBA.
Sharjah 24 – Asaad Khalil:
Veteran Kevin Durant led his Brooklyn Nets to a 102-108 host to the New Orleans Pelicans, in the NBA.
The Nets, whose series stopped at 12 victories on Wednesday, lost at home to the Chicago Bulls, trailed 53-64 at halftime, but seized control of the match in the third quarter.
Durant also picked up 10 rebounds, marking the 111th time he had collected 30 points or more with 10 rebounds.
On the other hand, the Pelicans missed its stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram due to injury, but it gave a stubborn performance in front of its guest.
New Orleans made a strong start, with a 10-point lead in the first quarter, following a beautiful hat-trick from Nagy Marshall.
But the Nets entered the atmosphere of the match and made a big lead in the third quarter, by 35-21.
And to Durant, the other star, Kyrie Irving, emerged with “19 points” at the decisive time, scoring a long-time hat-trick 43 seconds before the end of time and putting his team ahead 106-100, before planting two free throws that secured the victory.
“It was a tale of two halves,” Durant, 34, said. “Even if we weren’t able to respond early in the game, we kept pressing and got a solid win.”
Brooklyn raised its tally to 26 wins once morest 13 losses, placing second in the Eastern Province behind leaders Boston Celtics 27-12.
As for New Orleans, who lost for the fifth time at home this season, its score became 24-15 in third place in the Western Region, behind the Denver Nuggets 26-13 and the Memphis Grizzlies 25-13.
The autopsy of the young Anderlechtoise found dead in Ougrée will take place on Monday
written by Alexandra Hartman Editor-in-Chief
Also on Friday, around noon, the lifeless body of a 14-year-old girl from Anderlecht was then discovered along a path in Ougrée, in the entity of Seraing.
The Liège public prosecutor’s office quickly established that the two facts seemed to be linked.
The Anderlecht teenager was probably contacted by the 30-year-old via social networks. The Sérésien would have offered to go shopping and an appointment would have been fixed in the Brussels region. The young girl would have accepted the proposal and would have taken her little sister with her.
The two girls had been reported missing as of Thursday evening.
The autopsy of the body of the Anderlecht teenager found in Ougrée will take place on Monday, the prosecutor of the king of Liège said on Saturday.
“The reports of the duties carried out, including the search carried out where the Seresian lived, are being drafted. At the current stage of the investigation, there is no element to say that a third person might be involved in this file. The results of the autopsy should provide us with more information”, concludes the Liège prosecutor.