BioNTech, Pfizer to start testing universal vaccine for coronaviruses | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/biontech-pfizer-starting-testing-universal-coronavirus-vaccine-h2-2022-06-2
The two partners, makers of the Western world’s most widely used COVID-19 shot, are currently discussing with regulators enhanced versions of their established shot to better protect against the Omicron variant and its sublineages.
Russia seizes control of Sakhalin gas project, raises stakes with West | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-decree-sakhalin-2-project-knocks-mitsui-mitsubishi-shares-2022-07-01
▻https://www.reuters.com/resizer/YqteyEQxRPpMTLo4Dx14MpVlxUg=/1200x0/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/PWSSON23QBO2LJD7WXCGHQYVYI.jpg
A general view of the liquefied natural gas plant operated by Sakhalin Energy at Prigorodnoye on the Pacific island of Sakhalin, Russia July 15, 2021.
REUTERS/Vladimir Soldatkin
President Vladimir Putin has raised the stakes in an economic war with the West and its allies with a decree that seizes full control of the Sakhalin-2 gas and oil project in Russia’s far east, a move that could force out Shell and Japanese investors.
The order, signed on Thursday, creates a new firm to take over all rights and obligations of Sakhalin Energy Investment Co, in which Shell and two Japanese trading companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi hold just under 50%. read more
The five-page decree, which follows Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, indicates the Kremlin will now decide whether the foreign partners can stay.
State-run Gazprom already has a 50% plus one share stake in Sakhalin-2, which accounts for about 4% of the world’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production.
The move threatens to unsettle an already tight LNG market, although Moscow said it saw no reason for Sakhalin-2 deliveries to stop. Japan imports 10% of its LNG each year from Russia, mainly under long-term contract from Sakhalin-2. The action also raises the risks facing Western companies still in Russia.
[…]
Shell, which has already written off the value of its Russian assets, made clear months ago it intended to quit Sakhalin-2 and has been in talks with potential buyers. It said on Friday it was assessing the Russian decree.
Sources have said Shell believed there was a risk Russia would nationalise foreign-held assets, while Putin has repeatedly said Moscow would retaliate against the United States and its allies for freezing Russian assets and other sanctions.
Sakhalin-2, in which Shell has a 27.5% minus one share stake, is one of the world’s largest LNG projects with output of 12 million tonnes. Its cargoes mainly head to Japan, South Korea, China, India and other Asian countries.
Italy’s drought-hit farmers face sea water threat
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/italys-drought-hit-farmers-face-sea-water-threat-2022-06-29
SCARDOVARI, Italy, June 29 (Reuters) - The worst drought in 70 years has meant salt water from the Adriatic sea is flowing back into the sluggish Po, Italy’s longest river, doing further damage to crops hit by an early summer heatwave.
Sécheresse : les gorges du Verdon sont à sec
▻https://www.francetvinfo.fr/meteo/secheresse/secheresse-les-gorges-duverdonsont-asec_5229073.html
En raison de la sécheresse qui frappe la France, les gorges du Verdon sont à sec. La baignade pourrait y être limitée cet été. Certaines activités comme le rafting sont déjà interdites.
A quoi sert l’odeur de la terre après la pluie ? Alice Lebreton
Directrice de recherche à l’Inrae, Institut de biologie de l’École normale supérieure
Dans sa « carte blanche », Alice Lebreton décrit comment la géosmine, molécule odorante émise par différents micro-organismes du sol, attire certains arthropodes, mais repousse les nématodes.
Une goutte, lourde et tiède, explose dans la poussière d’été. Bientôt un déluge s’abat sur le sol aride, qui reprend vie. Et vous, quand, émergeant de la torpeur caniculaire, vous emplissez vos poumons de cet air humide, sentez-vous l’odeur libérée par la terre sous l’averse ? Cette odeur, nommée pétrichor – un terme forgé en 1964 sur des racines grecques signifiant « sang des pierres » –, provient de la solubilisation par l’eau de pluie, puis de la diffusion sous forme d’aérosols de composés organiques auxquels notre odorat est particulièrement sensible. Le plus répandu et le plus puissant de ces composés, qui sont produits par différents micro-organismes du sol, est la géosmine.
Le grand nombre de micro-organismes capables de synthétiser cette molécule laisse penser qu’elle leur apporte un avantage sélectif notable. Les bactéries du genre Streptomyces entre autres, bien que très diverses, produisent toutes la géosmine. Des biologistes de plusieurs spécialités, collaborant de Suède, du Royaume-Uni, de Hongrie et d’Australie, se sont interrogés sur l’avantage que ces bactéries pourraient en retirer. Dans une étude publiée, en 2020, dans la revue Nature Microbiology, ils ont cherché à déterminer si certaines espèces d’arthropodes du sol étaient attirées par cette substance.
Pour ce faire, ils ont placé en plein champ des pièges adhésifs au centre desquels était cultivée ou non une bactérie productrice de géosmine. A la collecte, ils ont constaté que de petits arthropodes du sol, appelés « collemboles », étaient attirés par cette bactérie, alors que les insectes et araignées ne l’étaient pas. Dans les conditions plus contrôlées du laboratoire, ils ont ensuite offert aux collemboles le choix de s’orienter, à l’intérieur de tubes bifurquant « en Y », vers l’odeur libérée par des bactéries produisant ou non la géosmine et ne différant par aucun autre critère. Les collemboles ont choisi en majorité le côté où ils sentaient la géosmine, permettant de conclure que cette odeur est attirante pour eux.
Rôle des spores
Les chercheurs ont ensuite démontré que l’attraction était bénéfique aussi bien aux bactéries qu’aux collemboles. Ces derniers trouvent en Streptomyces une source de nourriture satisfaisante, qui complète leur régime habituellement composé de champignons. En contrepartie, ils fournissent aux bactéries un transport gratuit au travers des couches superficielles du sol, dans leur tube digestif ou sur leur dos. Pour se préparer aux conditions rudes de l’auto-stop, les Streptomyces ne synthétisent la géosmine qu’au moment où ils passent sous une forme dormante, temporairement inactive et très résistante : les spores. Ces spores survivent à la digestion de l’arthropode, qui les disperse ensuite lors de la défécation. Par ailleurs, la paroi des spores adhère à la cuticule des collemboles, alors que les bactéries actives y collent très peu.
Si ce duo semble à l’unisson, c’est loin d’être un cas général. Les travaux d’une équipe québécoise, publiés dans le numéro d’avril de la revue Applied and Environmental Microbiology, montrent qu’à l’inverse l’odeur de la géosmine est repoussante pour les nématodes (de petits vers du sol). Bien que le composé lui-même ne soit pas toxique, les micro-organismes producteurs de géosmine émettent aussi d’autres substances qui sont, elles, fatales aux nématodes. Les auteurs formulent l’hypothèse que la géosmine joue ici le même rôle d’avertissement contre les prédateurs que les couleurs vives arborées par certains animaux et champignons vénéneux.
Attractive pour les uns, répulsive pour les autres, l’odeur diffusée par la pluie orchestre ainsi la vie de l’écosystème du sol, guidant les interactions entre différents domaines du vivant lorsque la terre s’anime.
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2022/06/29/a-quoi-sert-l-odeur-de-la-terre-apres-la-pluie_6132602_1650684.html
La Russie coupe le gaz à l’Europe, ce qui renforce le choc d’inflation et fait peser un risque de rationnement, « au Kremlin, on doit bien rigoler » - Actualité des marchés
▻https://investir.lesechos.fr/marches/actualites/la-russie-coupe-le-gaz-a-l-europe-ce-qui-renforce-le-choc-d-inflat
En Allemagne, il a été calculé que, en cas de rationnement, le PIB baisserait entre 0,5 et 3 points par rapport au scénario de base sans rationnement. « Cette fourchette est si large qu’elle couvre des scénarios très différents, allant de la stagnation à une récession sévère », décrypte Bruno Cavalier. A écouter les milieux d’affaires allemands, qui annoncent un impact bien plus considérable, peut-être à deux chiffres, un rationnement conduira à coup sûr à une récession.
Russia gas halt could deal 12.7% hit to German H2 performance | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/russia-gas-halt-could-deal-127-hit-german-h2-performance-2022-06-28
Spain wants NATO to flag migration as ’hybrid threat’ in policy roadmap, says foreign minister
Spain, as host of an upcoming NATO summit, will push for the inclusion of “hybrid threats” such as irregular migration, food insecurity and terrorism in the alliance’s new policy roadmap, Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said in an interview.
The June 29-30 summit in Madrid will be one of the most important since NATO’s inception in 1949. It will draft the alliance’s “Strategic Concept” for the next decade, outlining its mission against the backdrop of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the admission of new members such as Finland and Sweden.
Spain is campaigning for NATO to pay more attention to non-military threats on its so-called southern flank, comprised of the Maghreb and Sahel countries under growing Russian influence, Albares told Reuters in the interview, even as it addresses the Ukraine conflict on its eastern border.
“We want an acknowledgement that there are also serious threats coming from the southern flank,” Spain’s chief diplomat said. “Terrorism, cybersecurity, the political use of energy resources and of irregular migration all impinge on our sovereignty,” he said.
NATO insiders have told Reuters in recent weeks that, with an active conflict on its eastern flank and regions such as the Baltic states pushing for more resources, any firm commitment to the southern flank was unlikely.
Sources also said the issue of migration was too divisive to gain consensus at the summit, even if Spain has the backing in its campaign from other southern European nations such as Portugal and Italy.
DETERRENT EFFECT
Albares said the mere inclusion of such hybrid threats in NATO’s strategy, as well as the reference to the southern flank as a region to monitor, would be enough to generate the “deterrent” effect that Spain seeks to protect its borders.
“Nothing new needs to be done, it must just be borne in mind that a number of threats may emanate from the southern flank that at some point may require a NATO defensive reaction in exactly the same way as we are seeing on the eastern flank.”
He said while a direct military threat from the south should be met with a NATO military response, “non-conventional” resources such as technology could be used to counter threats like cyberattacks and the weaponisation of irregular migration.
“Let there be no doubt in anyone’s mind that such hybrid threats cannot be used to challenge our territorial integrity and sovereignty,” he said.
Spain is also highlighting growing Russian influence in the Sahel region of West Africa. Russian private military contractor the Wagner Group is working with the Malian military to counter Islamic insurgency in the area, while former colonial power France pulled out troops. read more
The European Union has imposed sanctions Wagner, which it says works on the Kremlin’s behalf. Moscow denies ties but it says it is providing “military assistance” through state channels. read more
“Russia’s presence [in Mali] does not help in any way, it does not help in any way to advance democracy, to stabilise,” Albares said.
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/spain-wants-nato-flag-migration-hybrid-threat-policy-roadmap-says-foreign-2
#menace #menace_hybride #migrations #asile #réfugiés #OTAN #NATO #Espagne #stratégie #concept_stratégique #souveraineté #southern_flank #flanc_sud #dissuasion #technologie
Powers need to study all oil options, including Iran, Venezuela - France
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/france-wants-iran-venezuela-return-oil-markets-2022-06-27
“So there is a knot that needs to be untied if applicable... to get Iranian oil back on the market,” the [French] official told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity. “We have Venezuelan oil that also needs to come back to the market.”
A second official said all options need to be explored given the stakes, including those involving #Iran and #Venezuela.
Iran and Venezuela Could Help Biden’s Gas Crisis If He Lifts U.S. Sanctions
▻https://www.newsweek.com/iran-venezuela-could-help-bidens-gas-crisis-if-he-lifts-us-sanctions-17198
while engaging with the two designated adversaries would likely stir a degree of criticism from hawkish factions at home looking to portray the president as soft on U.S. foes, the rising cost of gas now fluctuating around the unprecedented $5 mark threatened to exact an even higher toll on Biden as his Democratic Party prepared for a contentious midterm election season.
Will the Kaliningrad Crisis Lead to War?
▻https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/06/24/kaliningrad-russia-lithuania-crisis-lead-to-war
I have to wonder if the Lithuanians consulted with their allies in Western Europe or with the United States before they made this choice? This seems like a potential case of alliance entrapment to me. That’s when one alliance member—typically the smaller, weaker party—succeeds in pulling their alliance partner into a fight that isn’t in that partner’s interest.
There’s been a lively scholarly debate on the question of entrapment and whether it happens frequently, but this seems like an excellent real-world example of a state (Lithuania) that appears to be more risk-tolerant and willing to see conflict than some of its allies (i.e., France, Germany, or the United States).
European officials scramble to douse Kaliningrad tensions
▻https://www.politico.eu/article/europe-official-scramble-de-escalate-tension-kaliningrad-russia-lithuania
Two officials told POLITICO the new guidance makes clear that Lithuanian customs authorities have to check the goods to avoid sanctions evasion, but can allow onward transport of metals if they are destined for Russia’s internal market — meaning Kaliningrad.
European officials are in talks about exempting the [Kaliningrad] territory from sanctions, which have hit industrial goods such as steel so far, paving the way for a deal in early July if EU member Lithuania drops its reservations, said the people, who declined to be named because the discussions are private.
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/exclusive-kaliningrad-row-eu-nears-compromise-deal-defuse-standoff-with-rus
Singapore’s dengue ’emergency’ is a climate change omen for the world - CNN
▻https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/06/asia/health-dengue-singapore-emergency-climate-heat-intl-hnk/index.html
As climate change worsens and the planet heats up, mosquito-borne diseases like Zika, chikungunya and dengue will likely continue to spread and have an ever greater impact on human health and well being.
The important question now, experts say, is whether politicians and policy-makers — the ones who will need to make the changes to slow climate change and prepare for its consequences — will see the impact of mosquito-borne diseases on human health and act.
alternative : plutôt que d’agir sur le changement climatique, beaucoup trop cher, autant éradiquer les moustiques à coup de chem-trails au DDT, ou plus moderne, polluer leur reproduction afin de les remplacer par une version génétiquement modifiée qui ne peut pas propager les maladies en question :-)
la startoup-nachioune-biotech va kifer un max, non ?
et dans l’article de CNN, comme de par hasard, on trouve :
▻https://www.reuters.com/article/us-singapore-environment-dengue/singapore-battles-record-dengue-outbreak-with-more-mosquitoes-idUSKBN25O03A
Russia hikes oil exports from major Eastern port to help offset EU ban | Reuters
augmentation des exports de pétrole au départ du terminal de Koz’mino, dans la baie de Nakhodka, 50 km à l’Est de Vladivostok
▻https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/exclusive-russia-hikes-oil-exports-major-eastern-port-help-offset-eu-ban-20
▻https://www.reuters.com/resizer/FDODKHCXh2PqFsQt8nsJL2bOeBg=/1200x628/smart/filters:quality(80)/cloudfront-us-east-2.images.arcpublishing.com/reuters/DW2N5475PVJ47LBIH3IR477XSU.jpg
A general view of an oil terminal of the Transneft – Kozmino Port near the far eastern town of Nakhodka, Russia November 15, 2017.
REUTERS/Yuri Maltsev
Russia is ramping up oil exports from its major eastern port of #Kozmino by about a fifth, aiming to meet surging demand from Asian buyers and offset the impact of European Union sanctions, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Moscow has said it hopes to reroute energy exports from the West to Asia, but doing so via long tanker voyages from European sea ports is expensive and complicated by Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, such as on shipping.
Russia’s pipeline monopoly Transneft has already increased the amount of crude pumped to Kozmino on its main Asian oil route, the East Siberia Pacific Ocean (ESPO) pipeline, by 70,000 barrels per day (bpd) by using chemical additives to speed up oil flows, the sources said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Transneft did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
Moscow also plans to send an extra 80,000 bpd of so-called ESPO Blend crude to Kozmino via rail from Meget, a route previously used to supply Kozmino and domestic refineries when the ESPO pipeline was being built, the sources said.
The additional supplies will allow Kozmino to increase overall loadings to some 900,000 bpd in the months ahead, from an average of around 750,000 bpd so far this year, they added. In 2021, Kozmino loaded about 720,000 bpd (35.1 million tonnes).
U.S. to let Eni, Repsol ship Venezuela oil to Europe for debt | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/exclusive-us-let-eni-repsol-ship-venezuela-oil-europe-debt-sources-2022-06-
Italian oil company Eni SpA and Spain’s Repsol SA could begin shipping Venezuelan oil to Europe as soon as next month to make up for Russian crude, five people familiar with the matter said, resuming oil-for-debt swaps halted two years ago when Washington stepped up sanctions on Venezuela.
The volume of oil Eni and Repsol are expected to receive is not large, one of the people said, and any impact on global oil prices will be modest. But Washington’s greenlight to resume Venezuela’s long-frozen oil flows to Europe could provide a symbolic boost for Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
The U.S. State Department gave the nod to the two companies to resume shipments in a letter, the people said. U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration hopes the Venezuelan crude can help Europe cut dependence on Russia and re-direct some of Venezuela’s cargoes from China. Coaxing Maduro into restarting political talks with Venezuela’s opposition is another aim, two of the people told Reuters.
The two European energy companies, which have joint ventures with Venezuelan state-run oil company PDVSA, can count the crude cargoes toward unpaid debts and late dividends, the people said.
A key condition, one of the people said, was that the oil received “has to go to Europe. It cannot be resold elsewhere.”
Washington believes PDVSA will not benefit financially from these cash-free transactions, unlike Venezuela’s current oil sales to China, that person said. China has not signed onto Western sanctions on Russia, and has continued to buy Russian oil and gas despite U.S. appeals.
The authorizations came last month, but details and resale restrictions have not been reported previously.
Eni declined comment, citing a policy of not commenting “on issues of potential commercial sensitivity.” Repsol did not reply to requests for comment.
OTHERS EXCLUDED
Washington has not made similar allowances for U.S. oil major Chevron Corp, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd and France’s Maurel & Prom SA, which also lobbied the U.S. State Department and U.S. Treasury Department to take oil in return for billions of dollars in accumulated debts from Venezuela.
All five oil companies halted swapping oil for debt in mid-2020 in the midst of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign that cut Venezuela’s oil exports but failed to oust Maduro.
PDVSA has not scheduled Eni and Repsol to take any cargoes this month, according to a June 3 preliminary PDVSA loading program seen by Reuters.
Lebanon warns against any Israeli ’aggression’ in disputed waters | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/lebanon-warns-against-any-israeli-aggression-disputed-waters-2022-06-05
Lebanon warned Israel on Sunday against any “aggressive action” in disputed waters where both states hope to develop offshore energy, after a ship arrived off the coast to produce gas for Israel.
President Michel Aoun said any activity in the disputed area would amount to an act of aggression and a provocation, after the arrival of the vessel operated by London-based Energean.
Israel says the field in question is within its exclusive economic zone, not in disputed waters.
But in a statement, the Lebanese presidency said Aoun discussed with caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati the vessel’s entry “into the disputed maritime area with Israel, and asked the Army Command to provide him with accurate and official data to build upon the matter”.
Aoun said negotiations to delineate the southern maritime border continued and “any action or activity in the disputed area represents a provocation and an aggressive action”.
There was no immediate response from Israel to Aoun’s statement. Israeli Energy Minister Karine Elharrar welcomed the vessel’s arrival and said she hoped it would be brought online quickly.
“We will continue to work to diversify the energy market and maintain stability and reliability,” she said.
"EXTREMELY DANGEROUS"
Energean said its floating production storage and offloading vessel arrived on Sunday at the Karish field, about 80 km (50 miles) west of the city of Haifa, in Israel’s exclusive economic zone. The company said it planned to bring it online in the third quarter.
Mikati said Israel was “encroaching on Lebanon’s maritime wealth, and imposing a fait accompli in a disputed area”, calling this “extremely dangerous”.
The United States began mediating indirect talks between the sides in 2000 to settle a long-running dispute that has obstructed energy exploration in the eastern Mediterranean.
Lebanon is home to the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which has fought numerous wars with Israel.
Hezbollah has previously warned Israel against drilling in the disputed area until the issue is resolved, and said the group would take action if it did so.
Lebanon says its border cuts into the sea at an angle farther south and Israel’s claim runs farther north, creating a triangle of disputed waters.
Last year, Beirut expanded its claim by around 1,400 square km (540 square miles), enlarging the area disputed with Israel.
Lebanon has yet to respond to an undisclosed proposal a U.S. envoy made early this year to revive the stalled talks.
Senior Lebanese security official Major General Abbas Ibrahim said in an interview published last week following his trip to Washington that Beirut’s response would open the door for a return to those talks and that the United States was keen to “turn the page” on an issue that could blow up.
Israel Moves Production Vessel to #Karish Gas Field, Angering Lebanon - Bloomberg
▻https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-06-06/israel-moves-gas-vessel-to-karish-field-in-move-angering-lebanon
• Israeli government says FPSO arrived at Karish field on Sunday
• Public broadcaster says Israel preparing for Hezbollah attacks
Israel has moved a production vessel to a natural gas field that’s partly claimed by Lebanon, as the Israeli government looks to boost supplies of the fuel to Europe.
The ship — known as a floating production, storage and offloading vessel — arrived at the Karish offshore field on Sunday and should start operating by September, the Israeli energy ministry said in a statement.
The gas flows will “significantly strengthen Israel’s supply surplus and energy security,” said Energy Minister Karine Elharrar. The field “positions Israel as a natural gas power, and will make it possible to increase natural gas exports” to Egypt and other countries in the region.
Lebanon criticized the move, though Israel says the FPSO is outside of a disputed border area. Lebanese President Michel Aoun said in a tweet on Sunday that negotiations to demarcate the maritime boundary are ongoing and that “any activity in the disputed area” would be a “hostile act.”
Hezbollah Threat
Israel’s navy is preparing for possible attacks on the vessel from Hezbollah, Israeli public broadcaster Kan News reported. Hezbollah, a Lebanese political party and militant group, is classified as a terrorist organization by the US. The area will be secured by missile-defense systems, ships and submarines, according to Kan News.
Israel and Lebanon have held a series of US-brokered talks in recent years to try and resolve the dispute. The negotiations are complicated by the fact Lebanon doesn’t officially recognize Israel.
London-listed Energean Plc, set to operate Karish, has said gas should start flowing by the third quarter. The field will complement Israeli production from the nearby deposits of Leviathan and Tamar.
Israel is negotiating a three-way agreement with the European Union and Egypt to boost gas exports to Europe in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The plan is for Israel to increase supplies to Egypt through existing pipelines, and for the gas to then be shipped in liquefied form to Europe.
As Energean FPSO reaches Israel, Lebanon warns against any activity in disputed waters - Offshore Energy
▻https://www.offshore-energy.biz/as-energean-fpso-reaches-israel-lebanon-warns-against-any-activity-
Last month, Energean signed a new Gas Sales and Purchase Agreement (GSPA) for up to 0.8 bcm/yr. Under the agreement, Energean will supply gas to the East Hagit Power Plant Limited Partnership, a partnership between the Edeltech Group and Shikun & Binui Energy. The GSPA is for a term of approximately 15 years, for a total contract quantity of up to 12 bcm.
“Energean Power” FPSO Successfully Passes Through the Suez Canal – Egypt Oil & Gas
▻https://egyptoil-gas.com/news/energean-power-fpso-successfully-passes-through-the-suez-canal
The Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) “Energean Power” has successfully passed through Suez Canal within the Southern convoy which is the first crossing of its kind in the history of the canal, the Cabinet said.
The crossing was done by towing the unit with four locomotives affiliated with the Suez Canal Authority. This is the first trip for the FPSO affiliated with Energean after its launch in Singapore heading to the Mediterranean.
en 2018, la zone revendiquée par le Liban n’incluait pas Karish
►https://seenthis.net/messages/665104
Tim Sweeney sur Twitter :
▻https://twitter.com/TimSweeneyEpic/status/1526979415095361536
The metaverse is often associated with speculative newness, but the core experiences engaging 100M’s of active users today are about games with music experiences and movie crossovers. Sony’s business is tantalizingly central to it all.
Sony readies for metaverse revolution with cross-platform push | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/technology/sony-readies-metaverse-revolution-with-cross-platform-push-2022-05-18
“The metaverse is at the same time a social space and live network space where games, music, movies and anime intersect,” Chief Executive Kenichiro Yoshida said at a strategy briefing on Wednesday, pointing to the use of free-to-play battle royale title Fortnite from Epic Games as an online social space.
#jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #sony #epic_games #tim_sweeney #kenichiro_yoshida #musique #transmédia #console_playstation_5 #v-bucks #monnaie #bungie #jeu_vidéo_spider-man_miles_morales
In first since Ukraine invasion, Pentagon chief speaks with Russian counterpart
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/us-defense-chief-urged-immediate-ukraine-ceasefire-call-with-russian-counte
A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the call, which was requested by Austin, lasted about an hour but did not solve any specific issues or lead to direct changes in what the Russians are doing in #Ukraine.
The official described the tone of the call as “professional.”
Russia’s TASS news agency quoted the Russian defence ministry as saying that the call happened “at the initiative of the American side”.
“Topical issues of international security were discussed, including the situation in Ukraine,” TASS said, quoting the ministry.
The United States and Russia have established a hotline since the invasion - which Moscow calls a “special military operation” - to prevent miscalculation and any widening of the conflict.
Denmark in talks with #Rwanda on transfer of asylum-seekers
Denmark is in talks with Rwanda about setting up a new procedure for transferring asylum seekers to the East African nation, mirroring a similar move by Britain announced last week.
A deal with Rwanda would make Denmark the first European Union member to effectively bypass the bloc’s fragmented migration and asylum system.
“Our dialogue with the Rwandan government includes a mechanism for the transfer of asylum seekers,” Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye told Reuters on Wednesday.
The deal would aim to “ensure a more dignified approach than the criminal network of human traffickers that characterises migration across the Mediterranean today,” he added.
Denmark, which has introduced increasingly harsh immigration policies in the last decade, passed a law last year that allows refugees arriving on Danish soil to be moved to asylum centres in a partner country. read more: ▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/denmark-agrees-law-deport-asylum-seekers-outside-europe-2021-06-03
The move drew criticism from human rights advocates, the United Nations and the European Commission but Denmark failed to find a partner country at that time.
Last week, Britain announced it planned to relocate asylum seekers to Rwanda in a move aimed at smashing people-smuggling networks and stemming the flow of migrants. read more: ▻https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uks-johnson-seeks-put-fine-behind-him-with-immigration-plan-2022-04-13
Over the last year, Denmark has approached countries both in and outside the European Union about a potential asylum deal, including Tunisia and Ethiopia. Denmark also signed a diplomatic agreement with Rwanda last year on asylum and political matters.
The EU Commission has said relocating refugees outside Europe is “not possible” under current EU rules but Denmark is exempt from some EU rules, including asylum standards, due to an opt-out.
EU countries have previously discussed setting up external centres to receive refugees in 2016-18 after a spike in Mediterranean arrivals, but legal, humanitarian, political, safety and financial concerns eclipsed the proposals back then.
Sending asylum seekers abroad for processing is “both irresponsible and lacking in solidarity”, the Danish Refugee Council, an NGO, said in a statement.
Denmark has not yet struck a deal with Rwanda, Tesfaye said, but immigration speakers in parliament had been summoned to a meeting on the matter on Thursday next week. The government needs parliamentary backing for a potential deal with Rwanda.
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/denmark-talks-with-rwanda-transfer-asylum-seekers-2022-04-20
#asile #migrations #réfugiés #offshore_asylum_processing #Danemark
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ajouté à la métaliste sur les différentes tentatives de différentes pays européens d’#externalisation de la #procédure_d'asile dans des #pays_tiers :
►https://seenthis.net/messages/900122
Pfizer says COVID treatment #Paxlovid fails to prevent infection of household members | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/pfizer-says-covid-treatment-paxlovid-fails-prevent-infection-household-memb
Le paxlovid est inefficace dans la prévention de l’infection par le #SARS-CoV-2 chez les personnes vivant avec une personne infectée par ce virus.
The trial enrolled 3,000 adults who were household contacts exposed to an individual who was experiencing symptoms and had recently tested positive for #COVID-19. They were either given Paxlovid for five or 10 days or a placebo.
EU sees way to pay for Russian gas without breaching sanctions | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/eu-says-gas-payments-may-be-possible-under-russian-roubles-proposal-without
EU companies may be able to work around Russia’s demand to receive gas payments in roubles without breaching sanctions if they pay in euros or dollars which are then converted into the Russian currency, the European Commission said on Friday.
[…]
In March [Moscow] issued a decree proposing that energy buyers open accounts at Gazprombank to make payments in euros or dollars, which would then be converted to roubles.
[…]
The EU’s sanctions regime does not prohibit companies from opening accounts with Gazprombank, or engaging with the bank to attempt to seek a solution, the document said.
Poutine ne veut plus de dollars et d’euros pour le gaz russe livré à l’UE
▻https://www.connaissancedesenergies.org/afp/poutine-ne-veut-plus-de-dollars-et-deuros-pour-le-gaz-russe
Vladimir Poutine a annoncé mercredi que la Russie n’acceptera plus de paiements en dollars ou en euros pour les livraisons de gaz à l’UE, donnant une semaine aux autorités russes pour élaborer le nouveau système en roubles.
« J’ai pris la décision de mettre en oeuvre un ensemble de mesures pour passer au paiement en roubles de notre gaz livré aux pays hostiles, et de renoncer dans tous les règlements aux devises qui ont été compromises », a dit le président russe lors d’une réunion gouvernementale, expliquant qu’il s’agissait d’une réaction au gel des actifs de la Russie en Occident à cause de son offensive en Ukraine.
M. Poutine a demandé à la banque centrale et au gouvernement d’établir « dans un délai d’une semaine » le nouveau système qui doit être « clair, transparent » et implique « l’acquisition de roubles sur le marché » russe des changes.
Cette annonce a eu un effet immédiat sur la devise russe, qui s’est renforcée face à l’euro et au dollar, alors qu’elle s’était écroulée dès le 24 février et l’entrée des forces russes en Ukraine.
Notez que la défaite quotidienne des russes est entrée dans une nouvelle étape ce jour, puisque c’est Biden et le Pentagone qui l’annoncent.
Je ne dis pas que l’armée russe va conquérir l’Ukraine. Mais je crains que comme je l’indique depuis plusieurs semaines, cela se termine en nouvel Afghanistan, avec une guerre qui va devenir de plus en plus sale, et un pays qui va se retrouver effectivement réduit à l’état de champ de ruines.
Andrew S. Weiss :
▻https://twitter.com/andrewsweiss/status/1506622495977259016
THREAD: Things are not going well for Putin in Ukraine war. But slew of news today should remind everyone that Putin definitely knows how to build and exploit leverage. 1/x
Take Putin’s unexpected announcement that EU countries will now have to pay for natural gas shipments in rubles, not euros. That move, plus a Russian-directed shutdown of the Caspian Pipeline (1 mln/bpd), are pushing oil prices back to the $120 level today. 2/x
Germany’s Olaf Scholz announced in a speech today that Europe should not impose sanctions on Russian oil/gas, raising the spectre of massive job losses and a Europe-wide recession.
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/europe-cannot-end-russia-energy-dependence-overnight-scholz-2022-03-23
3/x
Just as Biden lands in Europe, Moscow is trying to damage some of the much-touted Western unity over how to punish the Kremlin under pressure. It’s probably a manageable challenge for US and Germany policymakers but hardly desirable under the circumstances. 4/x
The bigger question for Biden, Scholz, et al is how to manage this crisis over the long-term and to deal with the limitations of the West’s toolkit. What if Putin refuses to slow down his devastating attacks on major cities across Ukraine and kills huge number of civilians? 5/x
Yet Western leaders are being stampeded by public anger. Every single day they are being forced to “do something” to hurt Putin. Their main response is to impose sweeping sanctions on Russia. The White House and the EU will highlight that during Biden’s trip. 6/x
But money is always fungible (esp if you’re in the oil/gas business!), and there is a big timing mismatch between the imposition of sanctions and the impact on the Kremlin. How long will it take to starve the Russian war machine? 7/x
In short, the West is entering a pain contest with Vladimir Putin. Can Joe Biden tolerate an uninterrupted spike in energy prices and the pass-through to inflation from other disruptions in global commodities markets and supply chains? 8/x
The moral imperative to support Ukraine in their defense against a Russian invasion is 100% unquestionable. Yet Ukraine’s remarkable s/t successes on the battlefield may not immediately impact Kremlin decisionmaking about how much punishment Russia is willing to absorb. 9/x
Does Putin get accurate information from his generals? Does he even trust it? Impossible to say. But what we know for sure is that Putin has routinely used escalation in such situations to upend his opponents’ best-laid plans. No reason to doubt that that’s changed. END
Italian study shows #ventilation can cut school #COVID cases by 82% | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/italian-study-shows-ventilation-can-cut-school-covid-cases-by-82-2022-03-22
Anna Davidson | OzSAGE | #CovidisAirborne sur Twitter : “Not sure what your school or childcare can do to make indoor air safer? Here is our easy to understand graphic. RealOzSAGE Full paper can be found here: ▻https://ozsage.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Children-and-schools1.pdf” / Twitter
▻https://twitter.com/PMGPSC/status/1444982942422339584
Viviane Armand sur Twitter :
« Importante étude de plus de 10 000 salles de classe.
Résultat = la réduction de la concentration de particules d’#aérosols respiratoires chargées de virus dans l’air de la salle de classe réduit la dose d’inhalation de ces particules et réduit l’infection. » / Twitter
▻https://twitter.com/afao94/status/1506380745408983043
WHO says global rise in COVID cases is ’tip of the iceberg’ | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/who-says-global-rise-covid-cases-is-tip-iceberg-2022-03-16
“These increase are occurring despite reductions in testing in some countries, which means the cases we’re seeing are just the tip of the iceberg,” WHO’s head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters.
Au Canada par exemple…
Peter Cowan sur Twitter : “NL is restricting who is able to get a PCR test for COVID If you have symptoms you’ll only get a COVID test if you’re: - Over 60 - Child <2 - Indigenous - Front line healthcare worker - Pregnant - Work in seniors home or shelter - Immunocompromised #covid19nfld” / Twitter
▻https://twitter.com/PeterCBC/status/1504534809217060868
… et ailleurs
Dr. Deepti Gurdasani sur Twitter : “This is happening in many countries now - and it’s seriously concerning. UK headed this way too. And Ireland has already restricted testing.” / Twitter
▻https://twitter.com/dgurdasani1/status/1504730998495404041
British-Iranian aid worker handed over to British team in Tehran
March 16, 2022 | Reuters
▻https://www.reuters.com/world/british-iranian-aid-worker-handed-over-british-team-tehran-2022-03-16
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DUBAI, March 16 (Reuters) - British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been handed over to a British team at Iran’s Imam Khomeini Airport and is leaving Iran after London paid its $530 million debt to Tehran, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday.
Earlier on Wednesday, her lawyer Hojjat Kermani told Reuters that aid worker Zaghari-Ratcliffe and another British-Iranian dual national Anousheh Ashouri were heading to Tehran airport to leave Iran.
“She (Zaghari-Ratcliffe) was handed over to the British team after being transferred to the International Imam Khomeini Airport this morning,” the semi-official Fars news agency reported.
Iranian media did not say whether Ashouri had also been handed over to the British team.
Fars news agency said “The British government paid its $530 million debt to Tehran before her release”.
While the British and Iranian governments have said there is no connection between the debt and the case of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, Iranian state media in 2021 reported unidentified Iranian officials saying she would be freed once the debt was paid.
Iran’s clerical rulers say Britain owes the money that Iran’s Shah paid up front for 1,750 Chieftain tanks and other vehicles, almost none of which were eventually delivered after the Islamic Revolution of 1979 toppled the U.S.-backed leader.