Fed’s Yellen says research needed to understand inequality issue - Reuters News 4/2/2015 8:43 AM
▻http://townhall.com/news/politics-elections/2015/04/02/feds-yellen-says-research-needed-to-understand-inequality-issue-n1979957
Quand le “conservateur” est celui qui hallucine impunément, le “progressiste” est celui qui fait mine de ne rien voir.
Pas de réhabilitation pour Iagoda
Russian court refuses to rehabilitate Soviet-era commissar Yagoda | Top News | Reuters
▻http://ca.reuters.com/article/topNews/idCAKBN0MT29E20150402
Russia’s highest court on Thursday refused to legally rehabilitate Genrikh Yagoda, the head of the Soviet-era NKVD secret police who oversaw Stalinist purges in the 1930s and set up the GULAG forced labor camps.
Et comme, en Russie, rien ne se fait sans VVP :
The decision indicates there are limits to what critics of President Vladimir Putin say is his drive to whitewash the Soviet past, including the legacy of Stalin, and buoy his own political reputation by channeling the pride felt by many Russians about the Soviet Union’s achievements.
The Other White Saviors: Media’s Faith in the South African #mercenaries Fighting Boko Haram in #Nigeria
▻http://africasacountry.com/the-other-white-savior-international-medias-faith-in-the-south-afri
In the weeks leading up to the Nigerian election this weekend (official results expected sometime today), Reuters stirred up a lot of speculation with a report which claims the Abuja.....
#AFRICA_IS_A_COUNTRY #Executive_Outcomes #JOURNALISM #South_Africa
Putin signs treaty integrating South Ossetia into Russia - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/putin-signs-treaty-integrating-south-ossetia-russia-134209512.html
Russia tightened its control Wednesday over a second breakaway region of Georgia, with President Vladimir Putin and the leader of South Ossetia signing a new treaty that calls for nearly full integration.
South Ossetia broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s, and Russia effectively gained complete control over it and a second breakaway region, Abkhazia, after a brief war against Georgia in 2008.
Under the agreement signed in the Kremlin, South Ossetia’s military and economy are to be incorporated into Russia’s. The treaty also promises to make it easier for South Ossetians to get Russian citizenship, and to raise salaries for civil servants and state pensions.
A similar treaty was signed last year with Abkhazia.
Both regions depend on subsidies from Russia, and the signing of the two integration agreements was accompanied by promises to boost that funding.
Georgia has denounced the agreements, saying they jeopardize efforts to normalize relations with Russia.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry called Wednesday’s signing ceremony an “intentional provocation,” since it coincided with the latest round of talks in Geneva aimed at finding a diplomatic solution to the dispute.
Réactions sans surprise :
• É.-U.
U.S. does not recognize Russia’s treaty with rebel Georgia region : State Dept | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/18/us-russia-georgia-usa-idUSKBN0ME2CH20150318
The United States does not recognize legitimacy of the treaty signed on Wednesday between Russia and Georgia’s rebellious South Ossetia region, a U.S. State Department spokeswoman said.
“The occupied regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are integral parts of Georgia, and we continue to support Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity,” department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
(Reuters : intégralité)
• OTAN
Russian treaty with South Ossetia breaks international law : NATO - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/russian-treaty-south-ossetia-breaks-international-law-nato-162225556.htm
Russia’s new treaty with Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetia region breaks international law and hampers efforts to strengthen regional security, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
Stoltenberg said the agreement "violates Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and blatantly contradicts the principles of international law, OSCE principles and Russia’s international commitments.
“This so-called treaty is yet another move by the Russian Federation that hampers ongoing efforts by the international community to strengthen security and stability in the region,” Stoltenberg said in a statement, adding that NATO did not recognize the treaty.
(Reuters : intégralité)
• Géorgie et UE
Russian treaty with rebel Georgian region alarms West | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/18/us-russia-georgia-southossetia-idUSKBN0ME1G620150318
Tbilisi described the “alliance and integration” treaty as a “move aimed at annexation” and the United States and European Union said they would not recognize the agreement, which the EU depicted as a threat to regional security and stability.
(…)
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the signing would be “yet another step” against “ongoing efforts to strengthen security and stability in the region”.
Où Poutine profite de l’état déplorable des relations avec É.-U. & UE pour avancer ses pions sans trop de risque. Aggraver les sanctions ? De toutes façons, on y va…
Pour les Mistral français — dont on ne parle plus du tout… — ça commence à devenir carrément difficile.
British girls were helped into Syria by spy from U.S.-led coalition | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-mideast-crisis-britain-schoolgirls-idUSKBN0M81O120150312
British girls were helped into Syria by spy from U.S.-led coalition
Ca plus ça (▻http://sputniknews.com/middleeast/20150307/1019201301.html) :
Iraqi counter-terrorism forces arrested four foreign military advisors from the United States and Israel who were aiding the Islamic State, Iranian Tasnim News Agency reports.
ISIL is Secret American Army in Middle East – US Historian
Three of the arrested military advisors are dual citizens of the United States and Israel, while the fourth advisor is from a Persian Gulf country, Iraq’s Sarma News Agency said.
ça commence à faire beaucoup...
Pour essayer d’y comprendre quelque chose, j’essaie de lire tout le monde : les agences iraniennes, russes ... plus TF1 et le Monde ... etc..., et ... je ne sais vraiment plus quoi penser. Très difficile de construire une analyse un peu réaliste et nuancée de la montée de Daesh et des actions des pays occidentaux dans cette partie du monde (à moins sans doute d’y travailler à plein temps et en partie sur place).
A part que tous ces acteurs ont bien tous compris que faire la guerre c’est aussi faire de la communication.
@Stephane_M Interrogations tout autant partagées. Une certitude malgré tout, celle que les guerres modernes sont affaire, pour l’essentiel, de professionnels hautement spécialisés (et pas de petits malfrats rêveurs de banlieue). Un fait qui ne coïncide pas du tout avec la majorité des récits qui nous sont donnés.
Khamenei condemns Republican letter on Iran, bemoans U.S. ’tricks’ | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/12/us-iran-nuclear-khamenei-idUSKBN0M810L20150312
Iran’s Supreme Leader hit out on Thursday at a letter by U.S. Republican senators threatening to undo any nuclear deal between Washington and Tehran, saying he was worried because the United States was known for “backstabbing”, Mehr news agency reported.
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the ultimate authority on all Iranian matters of state, added at a meeting with President Hassan Rouhani and senior clerics that whenever negotiators made progress, the Americans became “harsher, tougher and coarser”.
The letter signed by 47 Republican senators warned Iran that any nuclear deal made with U.S. President Barack Obama, a Democrat, could last only as long as he remained in office - an unusual intervention into U.S. foreign policy-making.
The White House has described the letter as “reckless” and “irresponsible,” saying it interfered with efforts by six major powers to negotiate with Iran on a deal to prevent it from building a nuclear bomb.
Que voilà une belle manœuvre, en tous points conforme au fonctionnement démocratique…
L’image du jour pour Reuters
Exclusive: U.S. asks Vietnam to stop helping Russian bomber flights - Yahoo News
▻http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-u-asks-vietnam-stop-helping-russian-bomber-145514780.html
The United States has asked Vietnam to stop letting Russia use a former U.S. base to refuel nuclear-capable bombers engaged in shows of strength over the Asia-Pacific region, exposing strains in Washington’s steadily warming relations with Hanoi.
The request, described to Reuters by a State Department official, comes as U.S. officials say Russian bombers have stepped up flights in a region already rife with tensions between China, U.S.-ally Japan and Southeast Asian nations.
General Vincent Brooks, commander of the U.S. Army in the Pacific, told Reuters the planes had conducted “provocative” flights, including around the U.S. Pacific Ocean territory of Guam, home to a major American air base.
It is the first time that U.S. officials have confirmed the role of #Cam_Ranh Bay, a natural deep-water harbor, in Russian bomber plane activity that has increased globally.
Le point sur les projets de gazoducs par le Ministre de l’énergie russe, Alexandre Novak
(en deuxième partie, après les considérations sur les « négociations » entre l’Ukraine et la Russie…)
Russia may ease Ukraine’s gas terms, but Kiev must settle its bills | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/11/us-russia-crisis-novak-gas-idUSKBN0M70IQ20150311
Russia has a long-term goal of bypassing Ukraine as a transit country. It ships around 40 percent of its gas to Europe via Ukraine, while the rest goes via Belarus, Moldova, the Nord Stream subsea pipeline to Germany and the Blue Stream subsea pipeline to Turkey.
In December last year it canceled plans to build the South Stream gas pipeline under the Black Sea to Bulgaria and onwards into southeast Europe.
It is now planning an alternative export route, unofficially called Turkish Stream, with a capacity of 63 bcm per year.
Instead of extending the pipeline further to Europe, Gazprom now plans to sell its gas at a hub on the Turkish-Greek border, requiring those European countries who want access to the gas to build links to the hub.
“Now counties should be building (onshore links) on their own. The routes could be different - they may come to Italy if they want. This is not our business anymore,” he said.
Novak added that the costs of the offshore parts of Turkish Stream would be “comparable” to those of the South Stream project. The budget to build the offshore section of South Stream was previously estimated at up to 17 billion euros ($18.3 billion).
Russia is also planning to ramp up gas exports to Asia to reduce its reliance on sales to Europe.
Russia plans to ship gas to China via two yet-to-be-built pipelines: Power of Siberia, supplied exclusively by two Siberian gas fields, and Altai, which is to connect the Russian gas pipeline system from West to East.
Russia and China reached agreement on the Power of Siberia pipeline last May. Novak said he hoped for a firm contract for Altai in the first half of this year.
“These (two) projects are not linked to each other... (The contract signed last May) will be implemented irrespective of whether Altai happens or not,” Novak said.
He added that Russia was sticking to plans to deliver its first gas to China via Power of Siberia at the end of 2018 or start of 2019. Russia and China are not discussing a pre-payment or loan for the Power of Siberia project anymore, he said.
Donc, Gazprom laisse l’Europe se débrouiller à partir de la frontière turque : le « troisième paquet » sera respecté.
PA holding 50 Islamic militants, fearing terror attack will give election to Likud
Hamas officials call it the biggest round-up in years, say security coordination with Israel constitutes treason.
By Amos Harel, Jack Khoury and Reuters | Mar. 10, 2015 Haaretz
▻http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/.premium-1.646100
Palestinian Authority security services have arrested some 50 members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in the West Bank over the last two days, acting out of apparent fear that a terror attack in the coming days would give the Israeli election to Likud.
There’s a well-known precedent for this: the firebombing of a bus in Jericho on the eve of the 1988 Knesset election, which killed five Israelis, including a mother and her three children.
In later years, that incident was cited as having cost the Labor Party the victory by shifting votes from Labor to Likud at the last moment. Shimon Peres, who was Labor’s prime ministerial candidate at the time, claimed the attack had cost the left two or three Knesset seats, and that if not for this attack, Labor would have won the election.
Germany downplays report of rift with NATO over Breedlove comments | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/07/us-ukraine-crisis-germany-breedlove-idUSKBN0M30LB20150307
German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier downplayed a magazine report on Saturday of tensions with NATO over hawkish comments about Ukraine made by the Western alliance’s supreme allied commander.
Der Spiegel news magazine said an official in Chancellor Angela Merkel’s offices had complained of Air Force General Philip Breedlove’s “dangerous propaganda” over Ukraine and that Steinmeier had talked to the NATO General Secretary about him.
“It’s true that I asked in two instances, in which the information we had from our sources was not entirely consistent with the information that came from the United States or NATO,” Steinmeier said at a European Union foreign ministers meeting.
“But I also say that we have no interest in any dispute emerging from this,” Steinmeier said at the meeting in Riga. “We have to see that we stay closely together, also in the question of assessment of risk, and not differ in our advice.”
Der Spiegel said German government officials were surprised when Breedlove said on Feb. 25 that Russian President Vladimir Putin had “upped the ante” in eastern Ukraine. “What is clear is that right now it is not getting better. It is getting worse every day,” Breedlove said in Washington.
German officials said information from their BND intelligence agency and other sources was that a ceasefire agreed in Minsk was shaky but holding. The battles between the Ukraine army and pro-Russian separatists had mostly halted and heavy weapons were being withdrawn.
When asked about the Der Spiegel report, Breedlove said in a statement: "It is my responsibility as the commander of NATO’s military forces to deliver clear assessments regarding potential threats in our periphery.
“Sometimes realities on the ground are unwelcome and sobering. But public communication has been critical during the Ukraine crisis, because Russia has embarked on a deliberate strategy to confuse using disinformation and propaganda.”
Bon, ce que dit l’ennemi c’est de la #propagande (Breedlove), mais si, maintenant, ce que dit l’allié c’est aussi de la propagande (cabinet de Merkel), ça va devenir difficile à suivre…
À partir du même Breedlove et de la réserve (?) allemande, une vaste enquête sur les #va-t-en-guerre étatsuniens ►http://seenthis.net/messages/349201
#merci @kassem !
Could Egypt and the UAE be about to part ways with Salman’s Saudi Arabia? | Middle East Eye
▻http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/could-egypt-and-uae-part-ways-salmans-saudi-arabia-729379076
“Unlike Egypt and the UAE, Saudi’s [current] leadership understands you can’t just cut off the Brotherhood,” an unnamed Qatari source told Reuters. “An ideology can’t be removed by force. That’s why communication is essential.”
While Isa was scornful of Saudi Arabia, he reserved special praise for the UAE, another close ally of and lucrative donor to the Sisi government.
He described the UAE as an “important, respected and great country with a wonderful people.”
The UAE too has been linked with criticism of the new Saudi government under King Salman, again in an indirect way, this time through an Emirati news site considered close to the country’s rulers.
The Erem News Agency recently criticised King Salman’s appointment of Saudi Interior Minister Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince, which makes him second in line to the throne.
According to Erem, the decision to appoint bin Nayef was taken “against the advice of the Allegiance Council,” the body set up by the late King Abdullah to determine succession in the kingdom.
“The person who fills the role [of deputy crown prince] should be chosen based on a decision by the council,” the article says.
However, it goes on to note that “it is very unlikely that Prince Mohammed Bin Nayef was chosen with the agreement of the Council of Allegiance.”
Rumours of emerging discord between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi have been fuelled by the fact that neither the UAE’s Vice President Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan nor Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum attended King Abdullah’s funeral in Saudi Arabia last month.
Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported that Mohammed bin Zayed had ordered only the rulers of three emirates – Sharjah, Ajman and Ras al-Khaimah – to go to Abdullah’s memorial.
According to Al-Akhbar, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed was angered by “the developments that took place […] on the morning of King Abdullah’s burial.”
“The first batch of royal orders were contrary to bin Zayed’s wishes, who received a painful blow with the appointment of Mohammed bin Nayef as deputy crown prince, the expulsion of Khalid al-Tuwaijiri from the Royal Court, and the exclusion of Mut’ab bin Abdullah (the late king’s son) from the first three positions,” wrote Duaa Sweidan.
The Emirati crown prince is said to have had a long-term spat with Mohammed bin Nayef, due at least in part to comments bin Zayed made about the late father of Saudi Arabia’s new deputy crown prince.
In a meeting with US officials prior to the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, bin Zayed suggested Nayef bin Abdulaziz al-Saud had ape-like qualities.
“MBZ took a dim view of some of the senior Al-Saud – sardonically noting that Interior Minister Nayef’s bumbling manner suggested that ‘Darwin was right’,” read the diplomatic cable published by Wikileaks.
In the midst of speculation that Egypt and the UAE now have strained ties with Saudi Arabia, it is unclear whether financial support from the wealthy Gulf monarchies will continue to shore up Egypt’s finances.
Kuwaiti and Emirati officials denied on Friday that they will deposit $10 billion in Egyptian accounts. It had been reported locally in Egypt this week that Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Kuwait would make the deposits prior to a March investment conference in Sharm el-Sheikh that it is hoped will bolster Cairo’s struggling economy.
Appel contre le non-lieu de Kirchner
Le Monde.fr avec AFP et Reuters | 04.03.2015
▻http://www.lemonde.fr/ameriques/article/2015/03/04/appel-contre-le-non-lieu-de-kirchner_4587465_3222.html
Un procureur argentin enquêtant sur les accusations de son défunt collègue Alberto Nisman a fait appel mercredi 4 mars de la décision d’un juge de ne pas poursuivre la présidente Cristina Kirchner, soupçonnée d’avoir entravé l’enquête sur un attentat contre la communauté juive à Buenos Aires en 1994.
L’appel a été formulé par le procureur Gerardo Pollicita après que la justice a annoncé, le 26 février, ne pas donner suite aux accusations de Nisman, qui soupçonnait la présidente d’avoir tenté de dissimuler les preuves d’une implication de l’Iran dans l’attentat de 1994. Les accusations avaient été jugées irrecevables par le tribunal.
Ukraine’s economy is starting to disintegrate: Polish Deputy PM | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/03/us-ukraine-crisis-poland-minister-idUSKBN0LZ1DH20150303
Ukraine’s economy is starting to disintegrate, creating a risk of hundreds of thousands of immigrants flowing into Poland, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Piechocinski said.
Piechocinski, leader of the centre-right junior coalition partner PSL, told Reuters he thought Ukrainian elites had made disappointing progress in building a Western-style democracy.
He defended comments by PSL presidential candidate Adam Jarubas who called for a softer stance toward Russia over Ukraine, signaling frictions in a government coalition that ranks as one of Kiev’s most outspoken supporters in its battle with pro-Russian insurgents.
“These signals which are coming from Ukraine are very disturbing, because the economy there is beginning to disintegrate, economic ties are beginning to disintegrate,” Piechocinski said in an interview.
“In a black scenario of developments in Ukraine, one cannot exclude an inflow of a few hundred thousand emigrants to Poland. Looking at what has happened during the last year, one has to take into account all scenarios and be ready.”
Germany prepared to sell tank howitzers to Lithuania - Der Spiegel | Reuters
▻http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/02/28/uk-germany-lithuania-howitzers-idUKKBN0LW0LH20150228
Germany is prepared to sell tank howitzers to Lithuania, German magazine Der Spiegel said on Saturday.
Deputy defence minister Katrin Suder said in a defence committee meeting it would be possible to sell howitzers to Lithuania as the German armed forces had a sufficient number of them, the magazine said.
It added that Suder had stressed Germany wanted to help its NATO partner modernise its forces and would “favourably examine” a potential request for tank howitzers.
Chinese diplomat tells West to consider Russia’s security concerns over Ukraine | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/27/us-china-ukraine-idUSKBN0LV0H120150227
Western powers should take into consideration Russia’s legitimate security concerns over Ukraine, a top Chinese diplomat has said in an unusually frank and open display of support for Moscow’s position in the crisis.
Qu Xing, China’s ambassador to Belgium, was quoted by state news agency Xinhua late on Thursday as blaming competition between Russia and the West for the Ukraine crisis, urging Western powers to “abandon the zero-sum mentality” with Russia.
He said the “nature and root cause” of the crisis was the “game” between Russia and Western powers, including the United States and the European Union.
Les Rencontres du dessin de presse à Caen annulées
▻https://www.actualitte.com/salons/les-rencontres-du-dessin-de-presse-a-caen-annulees-55483.htm
Le Mémorial de Caen devait organiser des Rencontres internationales du dessin de presse en avril prochain. Mais la crainte de nouvelles menaces d’attentats a poussé le directeur de cet établissement à jouer la carte de la sécurité en annulant purement et simplement l’événement, rapporte l’agence Reuters.
Bourse de Paris : France-Valls pour l’accélération des négociations Unedic
▻https://www.zonebourse.com/actualite-bourse/France-Valls-pour-lacceleration-des-negociations-Unedic--19917692
Manuel Valls reposera mercredi aux #partenaires_sociaux la question d’une #accélération des négociations sur une nouvelle convention d’#assurance-chômage, dont l’échéance est prévue en 2016, a-t-on déclaré lundi à Reuters dans son entourage.
Cette réunion à Matignon des dirigeants des organisations syndicales et patronales représentatives a pour principal objet la présentation des grands principes d’une future loi sur la #modernisation du #dialogue_social dans l’entreprise.
Mais le Premier ministre n’entend pas s’en tenir à ce seul dossier, précise-t-on de même source. « Il va profiter de cette opportunité pour remettre en perspective les différents sujets de l’agenda social. »
Ce n’est pas la première fois que Manuel Valls et son ministre de l’Economie, Emmanuel Macron, souhaitent que les partenaires sociaux gestionnaires de l’Unedic se penchent sur les règles d’indemnisation du #chômage et sur l’incitation à la reprise d’un #emploi. Objectif : réduire le #déficit de l’#Unedic, aggravé par la montée du chômage en France.
Arms exporters eye deals at Mideast’s largest defense show | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/19/us-emirates-defence-idUSKBN0LN0RO20150219
“That combination of military threats, local wealth, and no locally-built alternatives makes the area the best in the world for arms exporters.”
Le Conseil de sécurité soutient les accords de Minsk
U.N. Security Council calls for Ukraine fighting to stop | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/02/17/us-ukraine-crisis-un-idUSKBN0LL1YV20150217
The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday called on all parties in eastern Ukraine to stop fighting and implement a European-brokered peace deal as an almost three-day-old ceasefire rapidly began to unravel.
Russia drafted a resolution, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, in a move that U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, described as “ironic” given the rebels fighting in eastern Ukraine are backed by Moscow.
L’Egypte approuve le contrat Rafale, officialisation prévue dans les jours à venir
Le Monde.fr | 10.02.2015 Par Dominique Gallois
Le président égyptien Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi a approuvé, lundi 9 février dans la soirée, le contrat d’achat de 24 Rafale, d’une frégate multimission FREMM et de missiles MBDA d’un montant de plus de 5 milliards d’euros. La signature officielle pourrait intervenir dans les jours prochains, voire dès mercredi ou jeudi. « Il reste encore plusieurs jours de dialogue », a précisé l’entourage du ministre de la défense Jean-Yves Le Drian à Reuters.
Chez Dassault Aviation, le fabricant du Rafale, on ne fait aucun commentaire à ce stade. Ce contrat est le premier conclu à l’exportation par l’industriel français. Ce dernier attendait d’abord de conclure une première vente du Rafale avec le Qatar pour 36 appareils, suivi de l’Inde pour 126.
« Ce serait du jamais vu », indique-t-on à Paris, car l’affaire égyptienne serait ainsi bouclée en trois mois. Les questions de financement, qui posaient quelques problèmes, ont été réglées la semaine dernière à Paris lors de la visite d’une délégation égyptienne de haut niveau.
Tout s’est accéléré à l’automne, lors de la venue à Paris du président égyptien, Abdel Fattah Al-Sissi, venu rencontrer le président François Hollande. L’enjeu de la visite était la dégradation de la situation en Libye, Paris et le Caire redoutant que l’ancien fief de Mouammar Kadhafi bascule sous le contrôle des groupes armés djihadistes. Dans l’affaire, les très bonnes relations qu’entretiennent M. Sissi et le ministre de la défense français, Jean-Yves Le Drian, comptent. Contrairement aux usages du protocole, le chef de l’Etat égyptien est même allé discuter avec le ministre dans ses bureaux de l’hôtel de Brienne à Paris.
A cette occasion, M. Sissi a fait part de sa volonté de renforcer sa défense aérienne, composée notamment de Mirage-5 et Mirage-2000, en achetant 24 Rafale. Une première manifestation d’intérêt pour le chasseur de Dassault avait été émise en 2011, sans que Paris ne donne vraiment suite. Côté marine, l’armée égyptienne, qui a déja signé à l’été 2014 l’achat de quatre corvettes Gowind de DCNS pour un total estimé à milliard d’euros, souhaiterait en acquérir deux autres, mais aussi un ou deux bâtiments plus importants que sont les FREMM.
A cela s’ajouteraient des missiles de courte et moyenne portée fournis par MBDA, pour un contrat de l’ordre de 400 millions d’euros en faveur de la défense anti-aérienne égyptienne.
Le 26 novembre, lors de son dernier passage à Paris, le président Sissi a insisté sur l’urgence de sa demande, d’autant qu’il souhaiterait présenter ces nouveaux équipements en août prochain pour l’inauguration de l’élargissement du Canal de Suez. « Je reviens dans trois jours », aurait-il dit pour siginifier la nécessité d’aller vite.
Une très importante délégation d’une quinzaine de militaires égyptiens est à cette occasion restée plusieurs jours à Paris pour discuter avec les industriels. D’ailleurs, il mène en personne les discussions, accompagné d’un haut gradé. Une exception dans ces dossiers généralement négociés par de nombreux intermédiaires. C’est ainsi qu’à sa demande, voici une quinzaine de jours, les trois patrons français concernés, Eric Trappier pour Dassault Aviation, Hervé Guillou pour DCNS, et Antoine Bouvier pour MBDA, se sont envolés pour Le Caire pour répondre à sa convocation.
En dépit de ses relations privilègiées avec les Etats-Unis, l’Egypte est un client modeste mais historique des industriels de l’armement français. Entre 2009 ete 2013, elle a commandé pour près de 250 millions d’euros d’équipements. L’armée de l’air a acquis son premier Mirage 3 au lendemain de la guerre des six jours , en juin 1967. Elle a aussi été le premier client à l’exportation du Mirage 2000, pour vingt exemplaires en décembre 1981. Ce prédecesseur du Rafale était à l’époque qualifié d’invendable...
LeMonde.fr : Check-list
▻http://abonnes.lemonde.fr/vos-newsletters/checklist
Selon le secrétaire d’Etat américain, John Kerry, la coalition a mené depuis août plus de 2 000 frappes en Irak et en Syrie, aidant à reprendre « un cinquième du territoire » à l’EI, privant les insurgés de « l’utilisation de plus de 200 infrastructures gazières » et mettant « sous pression leurs finances ». La Maison Blanche va demander d’ici à mercredi au Congrès de lui accorder des pouvoirs étendus pour utiliser la force contre l’EI en Irak et en Syrie, a appris Reuters lundi de sources parlementaires. Elle a défendu la légalité de son action en expliquant agir dans le cadre d’autorisations obtenues par le président George W. Bush pour entrer en guerre contre l’Irak, en 2002, et contre Al-Qaida et ses affidés après les attentats du 11 septembre 2001.
Consternant : comment peut on justifier légalement et moralement une nouvelle intervention en Irak en s’appuyant sur des « autorisations » elles-mêmes entachées de manipulations et de mensonges aujourd’hui connus de tous...
Syriza cernée - Les blogs du Diplo
►http://blog.mondediplo.net/2015-02-06-Syriza-cernee
Ce sont des salauds. Et ils sont partout. Reuters a rendu publique la teneur d’un rapport allemand préparé en vue de la réunion des ministres des finances du 5 février [3] : c’est non sur toute la ligne. Non et rien, les deux mots de la démocratie-européenne-selon-les-traités. Croit-on que l’Allemagne soit seule en cause dans cette ligne de fer ? Nullement – ils sont partout. Ni l’Espagne, ni l’Irlande, ni – honte suprême – la France « socialiste » ne viendront en aide à Syriza. Et pour une raison très simple : aucun d’entre eux n’a le moindre intérêt à ce qu’une expérience alternative puisse seulement se tenir : dame ! c’est qu’elle pourrait réussir ! Et de quoi alors auraient l’air tous ces messieurs d’avoir imposé en pure perte à leurs populations un traitement destructeur ? De ce qu’ils sont. Des imbéciles, en plus d’être des salauds.
" Dans une interview à laquelle on n’a probablement pas assez prêté attention, Yanis Varoufakis lâche une phrase qui vaut son pesant de signification : « nous sommes prêts à mener une vie austère, ce qui est différent de l’austérité » [4]. Et en effet c’est très différent, radicalement différent même. Entre la vie austère et l’austérité, il y a l’abîme qui sépare une forme de vie pleinement assumée et la soumission à une tyrannie technique. Car il est certain que la sortie de l’euro n’aurait rien d’un dîner de gala. Mais c’est faire de la politique, et au plus haut sens du terme, que de prendre à témoin le peuple et de lui mettre en mains les termes de son choix : nous pourrions bien, en effet, être plus pauvres un moment mais, d’abord, sous une tout autre répartition de l’effort, et surtout en donnant à cette « vie austère » la signification hautement politique d’une restauration de la souveraineté, peut-être même d’un profond changement de modèle socioéconomique."
Greece should follow EU line on Russia : EU’s Schulz | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/30/us-greece-eu-shulz-idUSKBN0L30KT20150130
Greece should not undermine EU policy on Russia at a time when it is seeking support from its partners over its economic problems, European parliament President Martin Schulz told Greek newspapers on Friday.
Within hours of taking office last week, Greece’s new government complained it was not consulted before the European Union moved to threaten tighter sanctions on Russia.
At a meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the new Greek foreign minister tried to dispel suggestions that Athens would side with Russia in the Ukraine crisis and signed up to extending the EU sanctions. But European allies remain wary.
“I was surprised by the statements that were made and the fact that the Greek government looked ready to abandon the common EU line on Russia,” Schulz, who met Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras on Thursday, told Kathimerini newspaper.
“It is difficult on the one hand to expect a revised common approach to one’s country, and on the other to be differentiating from the others, particularly as the first move after taking office,” he said.
Schulz also expressed concern over the make-up of Greece’s coalition government, saying it would limit its room for maneuver in crucial talks with the euro zone.
Tsipras formed a coalition with the right-wing, nationalist Independent Greeks party, which is also opposed to the bailout terms Athens agreed with its lenders.
“I find this coalition very strange. A leftist party like Syriza ... with a super-nationalist party at the other end. I think the common denominator is the scepticism against the European union,” Schulz told newspaper Ta Nea.
On continue dans la légèreté germanique…
• si tu veux des sous, t’as intérêt à être d’accord avec nous,
• t’as intérêt à faire gaffe à tes nouveaux copains, ils ont l’air de ne pas trop aimer l’Europe.
Germans in shock as new Greek leader starts with a bang | Reuters
▻http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/28/us-greece-politics-germany-idUSKBN0L121R20150128
▻http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20150128&t=2&i=1020615792&w=130&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&r=LYNXMPEB0
(Reuters) - In his first act as prime minister on Monday, Alexis Tsipras visited the war memorial in Kaisariani where 200 Greek resistance fighters were slaughtered by the Nazis in 1944.
The move did not go unnoticed in Berlin. Nor did Tsipras’s decision hours later to receive the Russian ambassador before meeting any other foreign official.
Then came the announcement that radical academic Yanis Varoufakis, who once likened German austerity policies to “fiscal waterboarding”, would be taking over as Greek finance minister. A short while later, Tsipras delivered another blow, criticising an EU statement that warned Moscow of new sanctions.
The assumption in German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s entourage before Sunday’s Greek election was that Tsipras, the charismatic leader of the far-left Syriza party, would eke out a narrow victory, struggle to form a coalition, and if he managed to do so, shift quickly from confrontation to compromise mode.
Instead, after cruising to victory and clinching a fast-track coalition deal with the right-wing Independent Greeks party, he has signalled in his first days in office that he has no intention of backing down, unsettling officials in Berlin, some of whom admit to shock at the 40-year-old’s fiery start.
“No doubt about it, we were surprised by the size of the Syriza victory and the speed with which Tsipras clinched a coalition,” said one senior German official, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Another said Tsipras’s choice of coalition partner and finance minister were “not good signs”, while a third admitted to being “stunned” by the Greek leader’s first days in office.
Officials close to Merkel say they still believe Tsipras will ultimately change course, dropping his more radical election pledges and signing up to the economic reforms that Berlin and its European partners have insisted on as a condition for handing over more aid that Athens desperately needs by next month to service its debt.
But the past days have sown doubts about this hypothesis.
RADICAL CHANGE
Even as Greek stocks plunged and bond yields soared on Wednesday, Tsipras continued to promise “radical” change.
Over the past 24 hours, his government has put two big privatisations, of Piraeus port and Greece’s biggest utility, on ice, and his ministers have pledged to raise pensions and rehire fired public sector workers.
In response, German economy minister and deputy chancellor Sigmar Gabriel criticised Athens on Wednesday in unusually stark terms for halting the privatisations without consulting, and he issued a warning to Tsipras that the euro zone could survive without Greece.
“We no longer have to worry like we did back then,” Gabriel said, when asked about contagion if Greece were to exit the single currency bloc.
Marcel Fratzscher, head of the DIW economic institute in Berlin and a former official at the European Central Bank, said Tsipras was playing a “very dangerous game” by coming out with all guns blazing.
“If people start to believe that he is really serious, you could have massive capital flight and a bank run,” Fratzscher said. “You are quickly at a point where a euro exit becomes more possible.”
Officials point to a Brussels summit of European Union leaders on Feb. 12-13 as a first key test of Tsipras.
RUSSIA THREAT
The other major area of concern for Germany is a new Greek government’s stance on Russia.
Tsipras’s meeting on Monday with the Russian ambassador, who handed over a personal letter of congratulations from Vladimir Putin, and the new Greek leader’s howls of protest at the EU statement on Ukraine, have raised questions about whether the bloc’s fragile consensus towards Moscow can hold.
Even before Tsipras took power, officials in Berlin were worried about keeping countries like Italy on board for Russia sanctions, which must be renewed in mid-2015.
Now the fear is that Tsipras, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and sceptical eastern European countries like Slovakia and Hungary, could band together against an extension, and a ratcheting up of sanctions in response to a new advance by pro-Russian rebels on the strategic Ukrainian port of Mariupol.
Prying Tsipras away from his European partners on the Ukraine issue would be a coup for Putin. Some officials fear the Russian president could go so far as to offer Greece the financial support it needs to meet its debt obligations as a carrot.
One senior German official described Tsipras as part of a brash new generation of European leaders, including Italy’s Renzi, who weren’t afraid to stand up to Merkel and challenge the assumptions that have shaped policy in the euro zone and Ukraine crises in recent years.
“He doesn’t come from the establishment, he’s unvarnished, confident and capable of rallying the public behind his course,” the official said. “It clearly not going to be easy with him.”
No one can say the signs weren’t there in the run-up to the election.
Only days before the vote, Tsipras told thousands of people at a campaign rally in Athens: “On Monday, our national humiliation will be over. We will finish with orders from abroad.”
In the background loudspeakers blared lyrics from the Leonard Cohen song “First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin”.
(Corrects Tsipras quote in penultimate paragraph)