In the spotlight: Boris Johnson's new casserole dish

Audio 04:27

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a press conference Thursday, December 8, 2021, in Downing Street, London.

© AP / Adrian Dennis

By: Sébastien Duhamel Follow

4 min

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This is starting to do a lot. You know what Jacques Chirac said: " 

Emmerdes, it always flies in squadron.

 And it is not the British Prime Minister who will make him lie. On Thursday, December 9, we were already talking about the scandal around a party organized last year by Boris Johnson's team, while London was subject to assembly bans, which resulted in the resignation of one of his advisers . This Friday, it is another personality who is about to resign, tells us the front page of the

Daily Telegraph

, for a case which is not new, but which knows a rebound.

It is Lord Geidt, independent adviser who had been charged with investigating the renovation of Boris Johnson's private apartment, on the private financing of this renovation more precisely.

A few months ago, he concluded that the Prime Minister had acted " 

recklessly

 " by borrowing private funds, but that he had not violated any rule.

Boris Johnson accused of lying

However, the problem is that Boris Johnson had obviously not told him everything. The Prime Minister is accused of having " 

deceived

 " him, according to the

Guardian

. Revelations which are the fruit of an investigation carried out over eight months by the electoral commission. The latter condemned Boris Johnson's party to pay a fine of 17,800 pounds, nearly 80,000 euros, for " 

serious breaches of the obligation to declare donations

 ", in particular for not having declared all of the funds. private individuals involved.

Boris Johnson had said he didn't know anything about the money, but he reportedly personally messaged a Whatsapp to ask for more funds from a donor.

Many voices are calling for a new investigation, and the political consequences can be dire.

Boris Johnson can be suspended from the House of Commons, reports

The Guardian

and, above all, his party falls in the polls according to

The Times

.

Confidence in “BoJo” plunges: “ 

More than two-thirds of those polled today question its integrity.

 "

Joe Biden's Democracy Summit

The international press is also following Joe Biden's democracy summit. A virtual summit, which brought together more than 100 countries, during which the American president " 

calls on the international community to" close ranks "against the rise of autocracies

 ". This is what

El Pais

retains

in Spain, like many others. " 

A controversial summit which has aroused criticism from Russia and China, both excluded from the summit,

 " the newspaper recalls. The

Financial Times

comes back to the messages sent on the occasion of this summit, the main one being this new announcement of sanctions aimed at China: Washington places on its blacklist of investments the company SenseTime, specializing in artificial intelligence and technology of facial recognition. Decision taken due to human rights violations against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.

Opposite, the

Washington Post

observes with what mocking eye the Chinese view this summit for democracy.

He denounces a campaign of " 

troll

 " on the internet with, among other things, " 

jokes on Harry Potter

 "

,

 comparing democracy to the big bad Voldemort.

But " 

beyond slander and bad humor

 ", analyzes the

Washington Post

, this propaganda campaign of the Chinese Communist Party more seriously betrays " 

the desire of Beijing to present its political system as being not only legitimate, but also ideologically superior to liberal multiparty democracies

 ”.

"Birds Aren't Real", a new conspiracy theory

Democracies, if you take a closer look, may have a bad time. And that's the case to say, hang on tight: the birds would no longer be real! " 

Birds aren't real

 ", in English, is the name of the new conspiracy theory in vogue in the United States. One more that abounds in our societies.

New York Times

investigation

this Friday into this "

Generation Z

 "

conspiracy theory 

. It blooms in Pittsburgh, Memphis or even Los Angeles, the newspaper explains to us. And of course, on the internet. On Instagram, TikTok or YouTube, the videos are viral and are already reaching " 

hundreds of thousands of young people who have joined the movement,

 " says

New York Time

s.

A movement that could even " 

slap QAnon

 ", the newspaper tells us.

So what are their beliefs?

What would birds be if they are no longer real?

Well, according to " 

Birds Aren't Real

 " they have all been replaced by drones deployed by the government to " 

spy on Americans

 ".

And they believe in it.

Last month, some of them even demonstrated in front of the Twitter premises to demand that the social network “ 

stop using a bird as a logo

 ”.

Logical after all, if they no longer exist ...

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