Italy holds Egyptian security responsible for the "kidnapping and killing" of student Giulio Regeni

A committee of the Italian House of Representatives issued a report blaming Egyptian security for the kidnapping and murder of doctoral student Giulio Regeni in Cairo in 2016.

A committee of the Italian Chamber of Deputies has held Egyptian security forces responsible for the killing of doctoral student Giulio Regeni in Egypt in 2016.

This came in a report on the murder of Regeni, revealed by the investigation committee, on Wednesday.

According to the Italian news agency (ANSA), the committee stated that "responsibility for Regeni's death rests with officials of the Egyptian National Security Agency."

The committee stated that the public prosecutors in the capital, Rome, who are investigating the murder, "revealed everything from the circumstances of the accident, from the kidnapping of Regeni to his death under torture."

The final report of the commission stated that "Egypt must bear its responsibility in this incident."

The Italian Regeni (28 years old) was a graduate student at the University of Cambridge, and was conducting research in Cairo to obtain his doctorate, and then disappeared for nine days, after which his body was found bearing signs of torture on February 3, 2016.

Maurizio Massari, the Italian ambassador in Cairo at the time, stated that he saw traces of torture on Regeni's body.

On December 10, 2020, the Public Prosecutor of Rome, Michele Prestipino and Prosecutor Sergio Colaiocco, presented before the Italian Chamber of Deputies information to the Commission for the Investigation of Crimes that they had reached important results in the investigation.

He added that Regeni was kidnapped by members of the Egyptian National Security Agency.

On May 25, the Public Prosecutor's Office in Rome called for the trial of 4 high-ranking Egyptian officials, alleging their involvement in the murder of a doctoral student.

On November 14, an Italian court began the trial in absentia of Major General Tarek Saber, the former head of the National Security Agency, Colonel Asser Kamal, the former head of Cairo's escort investigations, Police Colonel Hisham Helmy, and Major Sherif Magdy, of the Egyptian General Intelligence.

The Italian court suspended the trial, citing its "fear that the suspects might not know that they are accused, which would render the proceedings void."

Relations between Cairo and Rome were severely strained, especially in light of Italian media accusing the Egyptian security services of involvement in the torture and murder of Regeni, which Cairo has repeatedly denied.

French newspaper: Macron described Johnson as a "clown" in a meeting with his close associates

What happened between French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson? Did he call him a clown?

A number of British newspapers, including The Independent , reported news circulated by the French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, according to which French President Emmanuel Macron, during a private meeting with his advisers, described British Prime Minister Boris Johnson as a "clown".

This comes after talks between the two leaders last week, in which they discussed the escalating row between Britain and France, days after 27 migrants drowned while trying to cross the narrow sea passage between the two countries in the worst tragedy of its kind in the world's busiest shipping lane.

The French newspaper said Macron had told aides that Johnson was serious about private conversations with him, but that he appeared to be more difficult in public.

According to the newspaper, Macron said: "Johnson privately apologized for making France a scapegoat for the issues of small boats in the Channel and fishing."

Macron's comments to his confidants came after Johnson tweeted a message to Macron asking him to "take back all the migrants who crossed the Channel."

Macron had publicly responded at the time, that Britain must deal "seriously" with the migrant crisis, or else it would remain excluded from discussions about ways to curb the flow of migrants fleeing the war and the hardships of living across the English Channel.

The most prominent French right-wing party begins selecting its candidate for the presidential elections Who are the contenders?

The most prominent French right-wing party began voting from Wednesday to choose its candidate for the presidential elections, hoping to spark a dynamic that would allow the candidate to reach the second round. Who are the main competitors?

Activists of the most prominent right-wing French party, "Republicans", began voting from Wednesday to choose its candidate for the presidential elections, in the hope of sparking a dynamic that would allow the candidate to reach the second round.

The party, the heir of the de Gaulle movement in the post-war era, which for nearly 60 years was the most prominent party in the government, has not yet gone beyond the issue of the failure of its candidate to reach the second round in the presidential elections in 2017, a precedent in the Fifth Republic.

And about four months before the first round, opinion polls predict another setback for this party, and indicate that its candidate, regardless of who he was, will replace the two candidates who reached the final stage in 2017, President Emmanuel Macron and leader of the far-right Marine Le Pen, or even the controversial far-right candidate. Eric Zemmour who just entered the race.

With about 140,000 voters, including 40% of the new members, this primaries, the results of which will be known on Saturday afternoon, seem open to all possibilities, and no candidate appears ahead of the others among the five candidates.

The candidates are the former European negotiator on the Brexit file, Michel Barnier, the presidents of the Upper France (north) Xavier Bertrand, and the Paris region Valerie Becresse, the representative of the Alps-Maritimes region (south) Eric Chiuti, and the new face Philippe Gouvin, head of emergency in a major Parisian hospital.

Four hours after the opening of the first round of this electronic poll, the participation rate reached 25.4% at 11:00 GMT, according to the party.

It is expected that the second session will be organized from Friday to Saturday at 13:00 GMT.

Before the end of the official campaign on Tuesday evening, the candidates were able to show their shows during a final debate, and they considered that Eric Zemmour's nomination on the same day was intended to disrupt their campaign.