Floods in China, Colombia, War in Ukraine, Rachida Dati: the night's news

At least 30 dead in torrential rains in Beijing. Citing the municipal flood control center, the official Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday that “continuous extremely heavy” rainfall had caused “serious disasters,” explaining that the Miyun district in the northeast of the Beijing municipality had the heaviest toll. The districts of Huairou, in northern Beijing, and Fangshan, in the southwest of the city, were also seriously affected, according to the media. “Currently, a total of 80,332 people have been displaced” due to the bad weather, the local newspaper Beijing Daily reported on the WeChat platform. According to the Beijing Municipality, “the maximum flow of water entering the Miyun Reservoir – the largest water conservancy project in northern China, which mainly supplies the capital – reached 6,550 cubic meters per second on Sunday, the highest flow recorded on this river since 1951,” reports the South China Morning Post .

Colombia: Former President Alvaro Uribe Found Guilty of Witness Tampering. At a hearing Monday in Bogota, the court ruled that the former Colombian head of state had attempted to pressure a witness to avoid being associated with the far-right militias that waged a bloody war against the guerrillas. Also charged with procedural fraud, the former leader faces up to 12 years in prison. Uribe can, however, appeal. “This decision marks a historic day, as it is the first time in Colombia's modern history that a former president has been convicted,” notes El País . Monday's court ruling is a blow to Colombia's right-wing leadership ahead of the May 2026 presidential election. The former leader, who maintains his innocence, believes it is a political trial motivated by a desire for "revenge" by the left, the former FARC guerrilla group, and former President Juan Manuel Santos, a signatory to the agreement that disarmed the FARC in 2017. Washington, for its part, denounced on Monday the "instrumentalization of the judiciary" by "radical judges."

Trump gives Putin 10 to 12 days to end the war in Ukraine. The American president raised his voice again Monday against his Russian counterpart during a meeting in Scotland with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. “There is no reason to wait. We are not seeing any progress,” the Republican lamented. He said he was considering “secondary” sanctions, that is, sanctions against countries that buy Russian products, such as hydrocarbons, in order to dry up Moscow’s revenues. Trump said he was “very disappointed” by Putin, who continues his attacks in Ukraine. “Every time I think this is going to stop, he kills people,” he commented, adding: “I’m not really interested in talking to him anymore.” CNN , however, is “skeptical.” Faced with this new deadline set by Trump: the Republican “regularly promises something ‘in two weeks’, without ever delivering on it,” recalls journalist Aaron Blake in an analysis published on the channel’s website. “This is particularly true on the Russian issue, where Trump gave himself a series of deadlines” of 15 days “which he then let pass − before going to 50 days, then now to 10-12 days,” he notes.

By-election in Paris: The Republicans party nominates Michel Barnier as its candidate. “Tensions are rising within the Republicans in Paris,” notes the Moroccan website Yabiladi . The right-wing party’s nomination committee decided on Monday to present the former Prime Minister in the election of the capital’s 2nd constituency. LR Culture Minister Rachida Dati, for her part, told Le Parisien before the meeting that she would be a candidate “no matter what,” accusing Michel Barnier of running to serve “presidential ambitions.” “Determined, the former Minister of Justice is highlighting her local roots and her work as an opponent at Paris City Hall,” notes Yabiladi. Attempting to play the role of appeasement, the LR president of the Ile-de-France region, Valérie Pécresse, said at the exit of the investiture committee that she “regretted” these two candidacies and called for a “win-win agreement” so that Dati could be a candidate in Paris and Barnier in the partial legislative election.