January 17, 2025 marked the 50th anniversary of the promulgation of the Veil law on voluntary pregnancy interruption (abortion). The bill was initiated by the Minister of Health Simone Veil after the election of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing. The character of the text is more dissuasive than permissive.
The doctor had the right to invoke the conscience clause and not to agree to make the voluntary termination of pregnancy. The bill was adopted in November 1974 by 284 votes against 189. A few weeks later, the Senate adopted it by 184 votes against 90. According to data from the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED), there were 242,000 abortions in 2023.
2 – Entry into force of the Digital Operational Resilience Act
This Friday, January 17, will come into force the Digital Operational Resilience Act. The Dora is a European regulation which must harmonize the defenses in the face of digital threats. Its objective is to strengthen the IT security of financial entities such as banks, insurance companies and investment companies and to ensure that the financial sector in Europe is able to remain resilient in the event of serious operational disruption. The Dora acts as a response to cyber attacks or incidents that can affect vulnerable financial entities.
3 – The Iranian president meets Vladimir Putin
The President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Massoud Pezeshkian, will go on Friday 17 and Saturday 18 in Russia with meeting his Russian counterpart. Vladimir Putin and the successor of Ebrahim Raïssi, killed in a helicopter accident, will notably sign a global strategic partnership agreement. The objective of this meeting is to strengthen bilateral relations uniting Iran and Russia. The two leaders should also contact the media after signing this agreement.
4 – Launch of the electoral campaign of Olaf Scholz in Germany
Almost a month from the next German legislative elections launched by the implosion of the power coalition, the SPD electoral campaign, the social democratic party of the current Chancellor Olaf Scholz will launch its campaign this Friday, January 17 in Wolfsburg.
The party gathered last weekend during the SPD agreement. For the moment, the surveys promise to be bad: the party of Olaf Scholz would only collect 15 % of the votes. After the implosion of the so-called “tricolor fire” coalition following the dismissal of the Minister of Finance Christian Lindner, these elections are very good omen on the other hand for the Christian Democratic Party CDU and the AFD anti-immigration party.
5 – The good news of the day
Towards infinity and beyond. A Space X rocket successfully took off from Florida on a mission to the moon. The objective of the Falcon 9 rocket is to send a robot to the name of Blue Ghost for American and Japanese missions. This robot takes away with him a dozen scientific instruments and technological demonstrators. It will also have to measure the heat flow and thermal conductivity of the basement.
