00:00Yeah. Time for the press review now. Dipti's with us. She's starting with the purging of China.
00:05Top military leaders, leaving the military there in crisis, Dipti.
00:08Yeah, that's right, Stuart.
00:10The purging has been called a seismic event in China. That's according to one.
00:15An analyst from the New York Times. The New York Times today reporting that in president.
00:20She's China. Even the mightiest general can fall. Now on the weekend.
00:25Zhang Yuxia, China's top military leader, who's also a celebrity.
00:30And another senior military leader. Well, both of them were.
00:35They were purged. Well, officially relieved of their duties, but they were not just.
00:40They were fired. They were publicly castigated in an editorial in the Chinese government.
00:45Newspaper, that editorial hinting that the two men had been accused of.
00:50Corruption and saying that they had severely undermined the party.
00:55Party's absolute leadership. Now, that's from the New York Times.
01:00The Guardian also reporting on this, saying that the fate of China's top general.
01:05More likely to do with a power struggle than it is corruption.
01:09In any case, it...
01:10It analyzes this photo you see here. This one was taken last December.
01:15This is Zhang, the fired military leader.
01:20His position, front and center, right next to President Xi itself is...
01:25It's not quite telling of just how important he was in the Chinese ranks and why he...
01:30Leaving now is going to create a big hole in the power structure.
01:34In the wake of those firing...
01:35There's lots of questions then, not only what it means for China, but also the region more widely, Dipti.
01:40Yeah, because he had a very important role in military...
01:45Partnerships, and this is from Radio Free Europe, which actually asks that very question.
01:49What are...
01:50What does this mean for China and its neighbors?
01:53Now, they explain that for a long time...
01:55President Xi has sought to sort of project this image of a China that is a superpower...
02:00But so this purge will really bring doubt on what exactly is happening...
02:05In China, and indeed, if President Xi really has an ironclad grip on...
02:10His inner circle, Zhang was particularly present in central...
02:15Asia, which looks to China as a beacon of stability.
02:18He was also...
02:20Part of a commission with Russia on military and technical cooperation...
02:25And on the issue of Taiwan, well, analysts say that Zhang's removal could affect...
02:30China's military readiness or even its future ambition...
02:35And on the island.
02:36Something different for you now.
02:38Diplomatic tensions...
02:39This is between...
02:40Italy and Switzerland now over the latest developments in the investigation into that Swiss scheme...
02:45The resort bar fire...
02:46I'm sure you remember killed dozens, of course, on New Year's Day.
02:50Well, Jacques Moretti is on the front of Aujourd'hui en France, the French paper.
02:54Here he is...
02:55With his partner, Jessica Moretti, the two owners of...
03:00The Constellation Bar in that Swiss ski resort town of...
03:05Montana.
03:06The owner of the bar was actually...
03:09He actually put a bail...
03:10On Friday and was released from custody while awaiting trial.
03:14Now...
03:15Some...
03:16Since then, he and his partner, who was free while awaiting trial...
03:20Have continued to blame their employees for the fire, which was triggered by...
03:25There are six bucklers in champagne bottles.
03:27Ah...
03:28You'll remember some 40 people died...
03:30And the city's two customers...
03:30in that fire. Of them, six were Italian. And on the weekend, Italy...
03:35...called its ambassador to Switzerland. Le Monde newspaper explains that...
03:40...Italian authorities are now demanding to...
03:45...co-run this investigation into what happened alongside Switzerland.
03:50The idea being or the suggestion being that they don't trust that...
03:53...Switzerland will do a thorough...
03:55...job. It's prompted some angry comments in the Swiss papers today. This is from...
04:00...L'OTAN, the Swiss daily, which in its editorial here evokes what it calls the...
04:05...indecency of Italian attacks. It says...
04:08...accuses Italian...
04:10...government of political profiting...
04:12...to detract attention away from its own shortcomings...
04:15...like the delays in the Winter Olympics, for instance...
04:17...or the fact that they never convicted someone...
04:20...in the Genoa bridge collapse...
04:22...back in 2018. And Dipti's found in fact that...
04:25...the reactions in the Italian press are also quite divided.
04:28Yeah, they are. Absolutely. This is...
04:30...from Il Messagero, which in its...
04:33...a commentary here...
04:35...accuses Swiss authorities of, quote...
04:38...obstinate inertia...
04:40...in its investigation, saying...
04:42...you cannot wash your hands of this one, not this time.
04:45The Swiss president, meanwhile, reacted by reminding Italy...
04:49...to...
04:50...to respect the separation of powers. And this is something that...
04:52...another Italian paper, La Stampa...
04:55...tails as a true lesson to Georgia Maloney and her government.
04:58Finally, from Dipti...
05:00...dry January is almost at an end, but this means...
05:03...it's the start of...
05:04...off...
05:05...February.
05:06What on earth is off...
05:07...February?
05:08Well, it's not an occasion to start drinking like you've...
05:10...ever drunk before. It's quite...
05:12...not quite that. It is a detox of somehow...
05:15...of some way, anyway.
05:16...off...
05:17...february is being launched in four countries...
05:19...including here...
05:20...in France.
05:21...the idea being to go on a digital detox. So after detox...
05:25...you're detoxing your body in January of alcohol...
05:27...you're detoxing, I guess, your sanity in February...
05:30...people are being encouraged to delete all their social media apps...
05:34...for 20...
05:35...in 28 days. And there's good reason too...
05:38...64% of French people...
05:40...according to the Huffington Post...
05:41...say they are ready for a digital detox. Great timing too...
05:45...because Le Monde reports that French MPs...
05:48...overnight actually...
05:50...approved a social media ban for children under 15...
05:53...that's in the lower house of French...
05:55...parlemen, it'll go to the Senate...
05:57...next. And if it's approved in the Senate...
05:59...well then France...
06:00...would follow in Australia's footsteps...
06:02...and become the second country to do so.
06:04Delete everything...
06:05...apart from, of course...
06:06...the France 24 app.
06:07Of course, that goes without saying.
06:09Yeah, she forgot to...
06:10...but it's written in all the papers...
06:11...but it's in...
06:12...the France 24.
06:13More coming up...
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