Those celebrating Saint-Jean in Montreal may need to gear up with umbrellas and wellies for metropolitan shows. However, eastern Quebec will see the most rainfall, particularly in the Sherbrooke area.

In Estrie, the umbrellas are put up for the national holiday, as 20 to 30 mm of rain is expected in the region. The outaouais should get just under 15 mm, especially in the Gatineau sector.

The weather remains uncertain across most of the province, with a risk of showers and thunderstorms expected in several regions including Montreal, the Capitale-Nationale and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean.

On the north coast and in the Laurentians, the temperature will drop to 23 degrees, it will be cloudy and there is a risk of showers.

The residents of Bas-Saint-Laurent are spared the rain and can look forward to a summer temperature of 26 degrees.

A smog warning applies to the regions of Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. Poor air quality is normally expected to spread east and south of Quebec over the next few days.

Morocco has in recent weeks strengthened the border with Melilla by building a few hundred meters of intermediate fence section between the sharp accordion-strewn fence on the Moroccan side and the separating barrier system in the Spanish zone, up to 10 meters high and topped by mechanisms be used to prevent pinching. The new security structure, complemented by levees with ditches, is in an advanced stage of completion, as was observed this Saturday near the Chinatown border crossing, Rabat security services sources confirmed. In the same spot, at least 23 sub-Saharan Africans lost their lives trying to storm the fence to invade Spanish territory, according to Moroccan authorities a year ago.

“There are no more irregular migrants in Nador,” says a security official in charge of relations with the Spanish media covering the anniversary of the tragedy at the Melilla fence in front of the closed Chinatown border. “The fence is being reinforced in a damaged section and ditches have also been dug,” he stressed, but without allowing photos to be taken in the area. Behind him could still be seen the portions of tall metal structures and wire fences that had been brought down in the June 24, 2022 attack by nearly 2,000 sub-Saharan Africans, the vast majority of whom were Sudanese. According to the Moroccan authorities, local and international humanitarian NGOs have brought the death toll to 37 by including migrants who allegedly perished in their forced relocation to remote areas of the Maghreb country. These organizations also report the disappearance of 76 people.

According to a cemetery worker, the remains of Mohamed Ali Adam, who was born in Sudan in 1987, rest at the Sidi Salem Cemetery in Nador. His tomb is identical to the rest of the tombs, with a small ceramic plaque bearing his dates, although there are no manicured plants covering it on earth as in many other tombs. She is the only victim of the Melilla fence tragedy who has been identified so far from photos sent to her relatives. “You can’t go through there,” the same cemetery worker warned journalists trying to get closer to the two dozen unearthed and still empty graves at one end of the site. In the freezers of the morgue of a hospital in Nador, 22 bodies of sub-Saharan Africans who died trying to cross the border into Melilla by force have been waiting for identification for a year. Several groups of people from Spanish NGOs working in the region took to the fence this Saturday to express their opposition and to demand a thorough investigation into last summer’s tragedy.

Closed passage of Chinatown from the Moroccan side.

There are no black Africans on the streets of Nador, nor in nearby Beni Ensar, which borders Melilla. Nor on nearby Mount Gurugú, where they camped until they found an opportunity to jump. Along the narrow road that goes up you can see a bird’s eye view of the coastline of the tip of Cabo de las Tres Forcas, where you can see Melilla and the Mar Chica or Nador marine lagoon. At the top of Gurugú, the military installations block the way for visitors. On the hillside, just a stone’s throw from the Chinatown border, there is a barracks for the mobile security forces. Half a dozen tents outside indicate it has been reinforced with more agents.

“There are no more black people here,” says Mohamed, 70, a retired Spanish worker who lives in Melilla, as he feeds his calves along a bend in the mountain road. “Since I retired I’ve become a rancher to entertain myself,” he laughs, composing a pastoral scene with his cattle near ravines where the Riffian intrigues of the nationalist Abdelkrim a little over a century ago 150 Spanish soldiers massacred. “There used to be a lot of immigrants. They never messed with anyone and never touched my cows,” he explains with a friendly expression, but without allowing himself to be photographed. “They lived in caves, in tents, in the forest, but a year ago the police threw them all out. The guards come to search the area almost every day. “There aren’t any more of them,” he concludes.

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Omar Naji, head of the Nador section of the Moroccan Human Rights Association, has assured that there are still some migrants around Mount Gurugú. “Almost all of them left before Spanish and Moroccan immigration policies were based solely on security. They hide day and night to avoid being arrested or deported to other parts of the country,” Naji specified in an interview ahead of events organized by the AMDH this Saturday to mark the anniversary of the Melilla fence tragedy.

The AMDH says it counted 27 dead and 70 missing in its latest report, presented to mark the anniversary of the tragedy. He says he has documented incidents of police violence in the sub-Saharan African camps on Mount Gurugú, including the destruction of tents and the burning of food supplies, that preceded the massive attack on the fence between June 23 and 24, 2022.

Their research on the ground, the Nador association points out, confirms that the migrants were able to walk more than four miles from Mount Gurugú to the fence at the Chinatown post without being intercepted during a mass march that lasted an hour and a half, despite passing by a police station.

The Moroccan organization for the defense of human rights assures that the victims’ relatives, some of whom were from the United Kingdom, Oman or Norway, could not identify their remains due to the restrictions imposed by the authorities that allowed them to see the bodies.

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The conflict in Ukraine has allowed the unpredictable leader of the paramilitary group Wagner to establish himself as a leading player in Russia.

• Also read: Key moments of the war in Ukraine

• Also read: In the Russian city of Rostov, Wagner deploys tanks and his armed rebels

• Also read: Putin “is deeply wrong,” says Wagner boss, who is accused of “treason.”

However, Yevgeny Prigoyine crossed the Rubicon with the call for the Russian army and population to rise up against the General Staff.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday strongly condemned Yevgeny Prigoyine’s “betrayal” which was “due to excessive ambition and personal interests” and pointed to the risk of “civil war”.

The boisterous billionaire with a shaved head and tough features claimed to have arrested the Russian army general “without a shot” in Rostov, the nerve center of operations in Ukraine, after he accused the Russian army of bombing his camps the day before Group.

AFP

Claiming that “25,000” fighters were “ready to die,” the 62-year-old mercenary leader called on the Russian army and people to join him while defending themselves against any “military coup.”

In response, Russia’s powerful security services have launched an investigation into him for “inciting armed mutiny,” a serious charge that could theoretically see him behind bars for a long time.

But nothing is certain when it comes to Mr. Prigojine, a former master in the art of provocation and backlash.

“We still need to understand what is happening,” notes independent Russian analyst Tatiana Stanovaya, for whom the authorities “may try to take Prigozhin out of the game, with his active participation.”

“It is clearly holy bread for the FSB and the staff. At least Prigojine will take a hit on the head,” she adds.

However, the conflict in Ukraine appeared to have been a golden opportunity for the businessman to emerge from the shadow in which he had operated for years and finally assert himself as a leading player in Russia.

In May 2023, after months of hard and bloody fighting, Mr. Prigojine achieved consecration by claiming Wagner’s capture of Bachmout (eastern Ukraine), thereby celebrating a rare battlefield victory for Russian forces.

However, tensions with the General Staff also increased during this battle: Mr. Prigoyine accused him of depriving Wagner of ammunition and multiplied the number of videos in which he insulted the Russian commanders.

Unthinkable for anyone else in Russia in the face of total repression.

His transition from shadow to light began in September when the Russian army suffered setback after setback in Ukraine, a humiliation for the warmongers of which he is a part.

At the head of the Wagner group

Then he bounces back by admitting for the first time that in 2014 he is in fact the founder of the Wagner paramilitary group, active in Ukraine as well as in Syria but also in Africa. And excels as a leader.

“These guys, heroes, defended the Syrian people, other peoples of Arab countries, poor Africans and Latin Americans, they became a pillar of our homeland,” he claims.

AFP

In October, he takes this advertising logic even further by setting up the headquarters of the “private military company Wagner” in a glass building in Saint Petersburg (northwest) with great fanfare.

A master of provocation, he released a video in February showing him aboard a fighter jet, where he proposed in an aerial duel to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to decide Bakhmout’s fate.

In order to arm himself with an army worthy of his ambitions, Mr. Prigoyine, a native of Saint Petersburg like Mr. Putin, is recruiting thousands of prisoners to fight in Ukraine in exchange for an amnesty.

AFP

Evguéni Prigojine knows the world of prison well, having been imprisoned for common law violations for nine years during the Soviet era.

golden business

He was released when the USSR collapsed in 1990 and started a successful business selling hot dogs.

He then switched to fine dining and opened a luxury restaurant that became one of the most popular in Saint Petersburg, where Vladimir Putin was simultaneously experiencing his own political rise.

After Vladimir Putin became president in 2000, his catering group operated in the Kremlin, earning him the nickname “Putin’s Chef” and a reputation for becoming a billionaire thanks to public contracts.

With that money he would therefore have founded Wagner, a private army originally composed of experienced veterans of the Russian army and special services.

While in 2018 there are suspicions that this group, which has already attracted attention in Ukraine, Syria and Libya, has gained a foothold in Africa, three Russian journalists investigating the affairs of the paramilitary company are killed in the Central African Republic.

A champion collegiate swimmer revealed that she and her teammates were forced to hide in a closet to avoid trans athlete Lia Thomas at the 2022 NCAA championships.

Kylee Alons, one of the most decorated swimmers in North Carolina history, told she felt the organizers had “unnecessarily put women in an awkward position” by allowing Thomas into the women’s locker rooms.

“Not only did he have an advantage over us, he was stronger, bigger and stole titles from some of these women, but he created a very awkward atmosphere in the dressing room,” she said.

Alons said she was “really stressed” by the presence of Thomas, who made her feel the dressing room was “not a safe and private place”.

“I tried to cover up for the most part just in case he came in … I ended up changing in a closet that was behind our team’s stands,” she said, adding that she “wasn’t the The only one” who resorted to the hiding place.

Kylee Alons, one of the most decorated swimmers in North Carolina history, told that organizers at the 2022 NCAA championships “put women in an awkward position.”

Alons told that debates about including transgender athletes in women’s swimming were “frustrating” even before Thomas’s victory at the 2022 NCAAs.

Before bursting onto the scene as a transgender athlete competing against women, Lia Thomas ranked 500th among American male college swimmers.

But Alons said when Thomas made the move, the women’s division was suddenly rocked by rumors that “someone we’ve never heard of is setting very fast times”.

Thomas’ early success earned her a spot at the 2022 NCAA Championships, the nation’s most prestigious collegiate track and field competition.

In a move that sparked backlash, NCAA Championships organizers allowed Thomas to use the women’s locker rooms at the 2022 tournament. Thomas won the 500m freestyle race at the event.

Alons and her fellow contestants said it was a decision that suggested organizers had “determined to respect women and put them in an awkward position” months before the event.

She said the atmosphere at the meeting was “tense” and other attendees “tested that it was a very uncomfortable environment, it got quiet and stiff.”

When other swimmers saw Alon’s tactic of using the closet, which she said was “very difficult to get to,” she claimed several other teams in her area were also hiding from their transgender rival.

Her decision to hide in the closet was originally announced by Florida Congressman Greg Steube, and she said she’s speaking out now because “I know so many women who are swimmers as a freshman, even that happens on.” high schools.”

“I realized I have a story, I have a voice and I want to use it to help change that.”

Riley Gaines (right) is seen in Atlanta, Georgia in March 2022 after swimming against Lia Thomas (left) at the NCAA Championships

Alons criticized NCAA organizers for failing to make the women’s locker room a “safe and private place.”

With Thomas’ spectacular victory sparking outrage among those who say she has an unfair advantage, Alons said she mistook the “rules were about to change”.

“I thought things would be different in a few months — but it’s been over a year since the NCAA championships and there has been no apology for the hostile atmosphere they created,” she said.

“They haven’t revised their policies going forward.”

Alons said the “hostile environment” was created by organizers because they allowed a physical male to compete “without hearing the voices of the female athletes involved.”

Now, over a year after the event, Alons said she would describe the NCAA chiefs’ stance as “simple resistance.”

“They still haven’t apologized … It was total ignorance and silence from women who spoke out, such as Riley Gaines.”

Alons said several other swimmers were forced to hide from Thomas. She is pictured center right with her teammates (left to right) Katherine Berkoff, Sophie Sansson and Abby Arens

Alons was a star swimmer through high school and became an eight-time CHSAA champion. She is pictured at a swimming competition in Virginia on April 12, 2019

Lia Thomas (pictured) sparked controversy at the 2022 NCAA Championships by becoming the first-ever transgender winner

Alons became one of the most decorated collegiate swimmers in North Carolina history after winning numerous races over the years.

After graduating from high school, she was an eight-time CHSAA champion in the 50m freewheel, 100m freewheel, 200m medley relay and 400m freewheel relay.

She did not compete against Thomas at the 2022 NCAA Championships as they swam in different categories.

But she said she is now committed to saving the sport she loves because she feels transgender women have a physical advantage over biological women.

She was in Washington this week lobbying lawmakers for policy changes on the matter. She met with elected officials to bring about “real change.”

Florida Congressman Greg Steube tweeted praise for Alons after their meeting and acknowledged her bravery after clashing with Thomas.

“Today I met with Kylee, the most decorated swimmer in North Carolina state history,” he said.

“She told me how at the NCAA Finals she changed in a closet instead of experiencing the sexual harassment that comes with undressing in front of Will ‘Lia’ Thomas — a physical male who insisted on being in the dressing room for to be women.”

“Thank you @CWforA and @PYNance for working with me to pass the Women and Girls in Sports Protection Act in the House of Representatives,” Steube said in a follow-up tweet.

“The Senate must vote on this important bill to save women’s sports and protect athletes like Kylee from sexual harassment in the locker room.”

The law was also touted by Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville, who said after meeting Gaines and Alons, “Any girl who dreams of becoming the next Riley or Kylee deserves our support.”

“It’s time for the Senate to vote on my bill to save Title IX and save women’s sports.”

Responding to the post about Alons’ ordeal, Gaines condemned Thomas’ presence in female dressing rooms, saying, “She and her teammates changed in a janitor’s closet because it felt safer than changing in a locker room that has an intact man would move out at the same time.” .

“I’ve looked up to Kylee for a long time given how fast she is, but now that she’s speaking up, that’s even more important.”

Lia Thomas (right) and teammate Hannah Kannan stand on the pool deck at the Ivy League Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at Harvard University on February 18, 2022

Cece Telfer became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA title when she placed first in the 400m hurdles at the 2019 Division II National Championships (pictured)

Laurel Hubbard of New Zealand became the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympics when she competed in weightlifting at the Tokyo Games in 2020

The gathering comes at a time when more and more transgender athletes are finding success in women’s sports.

The issue came under the spotlight when Cece Telfer became the first openly transgender woman to win an NCAA title in 2019 when she placed first in the 400m hurdles at the Division II national championships.

The following year, New Zealander Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender woman to compete in the Olympics when she competed in weightlifting at the Tokyo Games.

Veronica Ivy won the 2018 UCI Women’s Masters Track World Championship for women aged 35-44 as Rachel McKinnon, becoming the first transgender track cycling champion.

The problem also exists in amateur sports, where trans cyclist Tiffany Thomas also took first place in a bike race in New York City in March.

Tiffany Thomas (center) placed first at the Randall’s Island Crit cycle race in New York City in March

The 46-year-old has been criticized by people who argue that trans athletes have an unfair advantage in women’s sport

While some argue that sex reassignment procedures such as hormone therapy and surgery are enough to level the playing field, experts believe the physical advantage is irreversible.

Tommy Lundberg, a lecturer in physiology at Sweden’s Karolinska Institute and a leading researcher on the subject, told : “The important thing is whether or not you have benefited from male development and male puberty, and if you have , then you.” “will have benefits that you cannot undo later.”

Nancy Hogshead, a former professional swimmer who won three golds and one silver at the 1984 Olympics, told , “Trans women have an undeniable physical advantage.”

“Their bodies do what male bodies do when they go through puberty and that’s why we’re ubiquitously separating sports around the world…”

“Unless it’s just gaming, just recreational sports.” “All competitive sports are gender segregated.”

Estimated reading time: 4-5 minutes

WASHINGTON — For nearly a week, the story of a lost submersible that went to the depths of the ocean to view the wreck of the Titanic spread through the national and global discussion — culminating in the news that the ship and its five occupants were dead.

But a far greater catastrophe just days earlier, the sinking of a ship filled with migrants off Greece, killing at least 80 people and missing a staggering 500, did not move into global focus in nearly the same way in the blink of an eye.

One drew relentless attention from moment to moment. One of these was observed and discussed as another sad but routine news story.

What differentiates these two events at sea in the way they were recorded? Viewed side by side, what do they say about human reactions to tragic news? And why did the submersible saga get so much attention?

When the world learned of the Greek shipwreck, the event had already taken place and some of the outcome was already known. All that was left was the aftermath.

Conversely, the Titan was (so the world thought) an event in the process of happening – something that happened in real time with a deadline attached to it. As with any narrative, a ticking clock increases tension and attention.

The fact that no one could communicate with the submersible – or learn anything about what the people inside were experiencing – only increased the possibility of being closely watched.

Before anything even went wrong, the Titan was already venturing into an area of ​​great interest – the wreck of the Titanic, itself the archetype of modern disasters long before James Cameron’s popular 1997 film. So there was already an interest unrelated to the submersible had to do himself.

Cameron’s response to the Titan catastrophe only strengthened this connection.

He told the BBC in an interview broadcast on Friday that he “felt in my bones” that the Titan submersible had been lost shortly after hearing that it had made contact with the ocean liner while descending to the wreckage of the ocean liner at the bottom The Atlantic Ocean had lost its surface. He said that the allegation in the media over the next few days that the submersible had 96 hours of oxygen and that there were popping noises was a “protracted and nightmarish farce”.

Much of the reaction and meme this week revolved around the notion, fair or not, that one event was about rich people using the sea as a playground, while the other was an unfortunately frequent repetition of misfortunes that happened to people who lack status, resources or even a voice The modern marketplace of ideas.

Apryl Alexander, a professor of public health at the University of North Carolina-Charlotte who studies trauma and survivors, said the migrants on the ship in Greece did not seem to attract the same interest from the public as the wealthy individuals who 250,000 Paid dollars a piece to explore the Titanic.

This reminded Alexander of the differences in crime reporting across the United States. Crimes get more attention when the victim is white and wealthy compared to a person of color living in poverty, Alexander says.

Tim Recuber, an assistant professor of sociology at Smith College, who studies mass media, digital culture and emotion, says that people tend to be drawn to stories that allow them to empathize with the suffering of others – and that it’s easier to Empathize when there are fewer stories Number of people involved.

“I think some people are bringing attention this time around to the kind of inequalities that are ingrained in the classroom,” Recuber said. “We can find out who the people on the sub are because they are who. They are wealthy and have access to the press. Differences in race and national identity play a role in who one can identify with.”

Risk-takers who choose their own risks have always made headlines. So the public was probably excited about others cheating death by doing something dangerous, says Daryl Van Tongeren, a psychology professor at Hope College in Michigan who has studied the meaning of big events and how they affect people.

In other words, he said, readers and viewers can feel alive by living vicariously through others who are taking risks. “There’s a certain fascination with people who engage in these high-risk experiences,” said Van Tongeren. “Even though we know that death is the only certainty in life, we invest in these activities where we come close to death but overcome it. We want to demonstrate our mastery over death,” he said.

The Pandemic. mass shootings. Economic problems. War. climate change. Getting through another piece of bad news can be difficult. “People are starting to switch off,” Alexander said.

In the end, she said, what she wishes for is an equal societal interest in human tragedy, regardless of race, religion, demographics, or other factors: “For all of us, we hope that when one of our loved ones goes.” What was missing was that the media and the public would pay equal attention to all stories.”

contribute: Cara Rubinsky

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