• 3 companies to pay $615,000 in NY attorney general investigation over faked net neutrality comments
    https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/3-companies-pay-615-000-185001622.html
    https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_canadian_press_business_130/7f7e7eb66e6a5dd55e66e35421a8fefc

    Le noyau central des fake news ne provient pas des usagers, mais bien des tactiques commerciales, politiques et géopolitiques d’influence. Le renouveau du lobbying avant l’expression directe via les médias sociaux. A méditer.

    The Canadian Press
    Wed, May 10, 2023 at 8:50 p.m. GMT+2·2 min read

    ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Three companies accused of falsifying millions of public comments to support the contentious 2017 federal repeal of net neutrality rules have agreed to pay $615,000 in penalties to New York and other states, New York’s attorney general said Wednesday.

    The penalties come after an investigation by the New York state Office of the Attorney General found the fake comments used the identities of millions of consumers, including thousands of New Yorkers, without their knowledge.

    “No one should have their identity co-opted by manipulative companies and used to falsely promote a private agenda," said New York Attorney General Letitia James in an announcement Wednesday.

    Two of the California-based companies, LCX Digital Media and digital marketing company Lead ID, LLC., were hired by the broadband industry to enroll consumers in a campaign to support repeals to Obama-era net neutrality rules. Instead, they each independently fabricated responses for 1.5 million consumers. The third, marketing company Ifficient Inc., supplied more than 840,000 fake responses.

    All three companies provide digital lead-generation services, meaning they collect personal information from consumers and then sell it to third parties for leads to generate business.

    Messages left for the three companies were not immediately returned.

    The investigation also found the companies worked on other unrelated campaigns to influence public officials and regulatory agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency.

    This is the second series of agreements secured by James with companies that supplied fake comments to the Federal Communications Commission. The nation’s largest broadband companies had funded a campaign to generate more than 8.5 million of fake comments submitted to the FCC, with more than half a million fake letters sent to Congress, her office said.

    The FCC, a government agency, is supposed to use the comments it receives, from industry and public-industry groups and the public, to shape how it makes its rules.

    Net neutrality is the principle that internet providers treat all web traffic equally, without blocking, slowing down, or giving preference to any content. Regulations for net neutrality were designed to prevent internet service providers like Verizon, AT&T, Comcast and Charter from favoring some sites and apps over others.

    LCX and its principals will pay $400,000 to New York and $100,000 to the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. Lead ID, LLC., and its principal will pay $30,000 to New York. Colorado-based Ifficient Inc. will pay $63,750 to New York and $21,250 to Colorado.

    #Fake_news #Influence #Lobbying

  • Vos conseils boursiers quotidiens: où placer votre argent en cas d’Armageddon nucléaire…

    President Biden warns that the risk of nuclear ’Armageddon’ is at its highest point since the Cuban Missile Crisis — 3 top stocks to consider if tensions keep rising
    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/president-biden-warns-risk-nuclear-160000962.html
    https://media.zenfs.com/en/moneywise_327/603b8be8dccb4e3a2ca13cdac5ea8bac

    In other words, defense contractors can make money even when the economy slows down. With many experts forecasting a recession this year, that’s a good quality to have.

    Don’t forget, we live in a time of increasing geopolitical tensions. No one wants to see Armageddon, but if conflicts arise, you can bet that defense spending will likely increase.

  • Vass Bednar: Digital ads are a desperate gamble in a fantasy economy
    https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/vass-bednar-digital-ads-desperate-163558047.html
    https://media.zenfs.com/en/financial_post_articles_610/07c92d7b4ca7e6725f456de8b3c0c3a3

    Digital advertising brings in billions of dollars in revenue to Meta Platforms Inc.’s Facebook and Alphabet Inc.’s Google in Canada, with Amazon.com Inc. also emerging as a significant third player, according to recent research from Carleton University’s global media and internet concentration project. Advertising on Google’s search engine and YouTube brought in an estimated $6.2 billion, or $162 per Canadian, in 2021. Meta earned just under $4 billion last year across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, claiming one-third of Canada’s online advertising market, and derives almost all of its revenue from such ads globally. Amazon, a more recent entrant, made an estimated $1.2 billion in revenue from advertising, or almost 10 per cent of all online advertising in Canada. Together, these three tech conglomerates accounted for around 90 per cent of the online advertising market and more than two-thirds of all ad money in Canada.

    The online advertising industry is clearly profitable for massive platforms. But we should not confuse its profitability with effectiveness. Platforms earn money when an ad is viewed or listened to by a captive consumer, but that digestion doesn’t guarantee a purchase will occur. Indeed, that elusive purchase is nothing more than a reverie, and we’re all crushing the Kool-Aid in believing it’s a sure thing.

    Other research demonstrates that micro-targeted digital ads simply don’t work. As former Google employee Tim Hwang said in his 2020 book Subprime Attention Crisis, ad tech could be the next internet bubble. Further, the returns on investment in digital marketing have been proven to be embarrassingly poor for the companies advertising. One study found that ad-tech middlemen are substantially enriched by the online advertising game, sucking up as much as 50 per cent of all online spending. Another study found that automated micro-targeting performed slightly worse than random guessing. Meanwhile, digital ads are often credited for purchases that would have been made anyway, making them “the most widely used shell game in business today,” writes Sinan Aral in The Hype Machine.

    Nonetheless, the ability to collect information about people as they prowl the internet predicates online giants’ ability to command advertising dollars for totally random results. That’s led to a company policy knife-fight between Apple Inc. and everyone else after the tech giant forced developers to obtain explicit consent from users. This has resulted in even less accurate micro-targeting — Facebook’s recent software update practically begs people to subject themselves to being tracked. Apple’s change means online advertising now generally costs more, translating into increased costs for small businesses hoping to reach new and relevant audiences online, on top of the digital fees extorted from developers on mobile application stores. All of this expenditure and effort hinges on the promise that advertising expenditure is richly rewarding, a necessary investment for e-commerce players.

    Maybe it is time we start seeing online ads for what they really are: a desperate gamble in a fantasy economy.

    #Tim_Hwang #Publicité

  • California voters approve ban on sale of flavored tobacco products
    https://news.yahoo.com/california-voters-approve-ban-sale-050622062.html?guccounter=1
    https://media.zenfs.com/en/la_times_articles_853/64203ec577fe52c426b0e2b9745e16f2

    California voters on Tuesday passed a ballot measure to uphold a 2020 law that banned the sale of most flavored tobacco products, giving anti-tobacco advocates an expected victory in a multiyear fight against the industry to mitigate a youth vaping crisis.

    Proposition 31 was placed on the ballot soon after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 793, the Legislature’s bipartisan effort to crack down on e-cigarettes and other products popular with kids. The law banned the sale of certain flavored tobacco products in stores and vending machines, including menthol cigarettes, but with exceptions for hookah, premium cigars and loose-leaf tobacco.

    The Associated Press called the race, though official results will take longer to finalize.

    “In California’s battle against Big Tobacco, voters have overwhelmingly decided to protect kids from being lured into a lifetime of addiction to nicotine,” Lindsey Freitas, regional advocacy director for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement.

    The implementation of SB 793 was delayed after a referendum by the tobacco industry qualified for the November 2022 ballot, giving voters the final say on its merit. A “yes” vote meant the law would go into effect, while a “no” vote would have blocked it.

    More than 100 local jurisdictions in California have passed some level of restrictions against the sale of flavored tobacco products. Lawmakers approved the statewide ban despite lobbying by the tobacco industry and other interest groups that claimed it would disproportionately affect certain communities more than others and incentivize a black market.

    Advocates for Proposition 31 argued the restrictions would deter tobacco use among kids by eliminating youth-friendly flavors such as bubblegum, cotton candy and cherry. A 2020 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention youth survey found that 20% of high school and 10% of middle school students reported current e-cigarette use.

    Those numbers concerned a coalition of doctors, dentists, nurses and public health professionals who campaigned in support of the initiative, along with Newsom, the California Democratic Party and the California Teachers Assn. The campaign to pass Proposition 31 had raised around $60 million, according to campaign finance records, thanks in large part to former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has for years fought against teen smoking and funneled millions into passing the ballot measure.

    The campaign against Proposition 31 raised millions of dollars with help from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Philip Morris USA. The California Republican Party also endorsed a “no” vote against the measure.

    Opponents said the ban would remove an effective tool used by smokers to quit traditional cigarettes, and that some communities were unfairly targeted by the law. Black smokers, for example, are more likely to use menthol cigarettes, largely because the tobacco industry “aggressively targets its marketing to certain populations,” according to the CDC.

    The “no” campaign also claimed that the new rules would incentivize a black market that would disregard strict federal regulations against underage smokers and flavored tobacco products, and would significantly cost the state. The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office estimated that Proposition 31 could reduce state tobacco tax revenues by up to $100 million annually.

    Still, Proposition 31 headed into election night with a clear advantage. A recent UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll co-sponsored by The Times found that likely voters favored the ballot measure 58% to 32%, with strong support from Democrats and unaffiliated voters, and modest approval among Republicans.

    Newsom also lent his support for the measure in the final days before the election.

    “A lot on the ballot. Not to be missed — a chance to stand up to nasty tobacco companies that are willing to put our kids’ health at risk to flush their bank accounts with cash,” Newsom wrote on Twitter on Nov. 4. “It’s sick. Vote YES ON PROP 31 to ensure the ban on flavored tobacco stays put. Save lives. Vote YES.”

    “This is a disappointment to the millions of adults over the age of 21 who are now prohibited from purchasing these products as well as other FDA-authorized harm-reduction alternatives,” the “no” on Proposition 31 campaign said in a statement.

    This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

    #Tabac #E-cigarettes #Addiction #Lobbying

  • Un porte-conteneurs s’échoue et bloque le canal de Suez - Nice-Matin
    https://www.nicematin.com/faits-divers/un-porte-conteneurs-sechoue-et-bloque-le-canal-de-suez-661220

    Un porte-conteneurs géant s’est échoué dans le canal de Suez après avoir été déporté par une rafale de vent, a annoncé mercredi la compagnie maritime qui l’opère, et le trafic maritime s’est arrêté sur l’une des routes commerciales les plus fréquentées du monde.

    • analyse de la situation de l’Ever Given

      https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1374470486801838086.html

      Je reprends ici mes différentes réponses à ce tweet :
      #1 - Causes :
      J’ai pas d’info, mais d’expérience, une erreur humaine est très peu probable (rien ne l’indique ici). L’environnement ne peut pas créer ça tout seul. Il ne reste qu’un problème mécanique.
      Ça impliquerait que le contrôle de la manœuvre du navire soit perdue : soit avarie de barre, soit perte totale de la propulsion, soit un moteur (principal ou prop d’étrave) qui s’emballe de façon incontrôlée - rare).
      #2 - Dégâts au navire
      Ces bateaux sont costauds, et le bulbe (à l’avant) peut être écrasé sans couler le bateau. Les berges du canal ne sont pas rocheuses, d’ailleurs. Donc la coque va sûrement « pas trop mal » dans le sens où le bateau n’est pas coulé sur place.

      Par contre il est bien monté sur la berge (cf l’assiette, visible à la ligne de flottaison). Donc il est possible que certains apparaux de coque à l’avant soient touchés (prises d’eaux, etc). Si la réfrigération est bouchée par exemple, c’est vite la galère pour les moteurs.
      Plus grave : à la poupe, si les hélices ou le gouvernail se sont trop rapprochés de la berge ou du fond, ça pue. Notamment si on voile une ligne d’arbre ou une mèche. Ça peut signifier un passage au bassin rapidement après déchargement.
      #3 - situation des autres navires
      Le canal est fait pour gérer des zones d’attentes aux deux extrémités et le long de ses berges internes. Les bateaux vont donc accoster ou mouiller (et l’autorité du canal va donc facturer un max). Rien de bien inquiétant techniquement.
      #4 - évolution probables
      Il faut éviter à tout pris le déchargement sur place. D’abord parce que l’idée d’alléger le bateau pourrait le faire chavirer, et que ce n’est pas nécessaire. Ensuite parce qu’il n’y a pas d’infrastructures pour le faire.
      Il faudrait commencer par couler du béton armé sur les berges, puis faire venir d’immenses grues, et 10000 camions pour décharger. Ou tout faire par l’eau. Rien de simple.
      Le mieux est donc de contrôler l’étanchéité de la coque (par plongeurs et/ou de l’intérieur), de dégager le bulbe (coucou le ptit tractopelle), puis de procéder au déséchouage.

      Ce qui sera sûrement choisi, c’est une manœuvre ou l’on remorquera par le cul du navire, en tirant dessus avec un gros remorqueur, pendant que deux remorqueurs (minimum) seront en pousseurs sur l’avant de chaque bord, et un dernier en remorque inverse côté cul, pour freiner.

      Une fois déséchoué, j’imagine que le navire sera remorqué (avec ou sans aide de sa propre propulsion) vers l’extrémité du canal (Port Saïd).
      Là, des réparations et vérifications seront entreprises. Si besoin, des containers seront déchargés (si besoin d’une immobilisation longue)

      C’est sûrement le moment où la Suez Canal Authority procèdera à une très généreuse facturation (déjà qu’en temps normal, ça douille …). Le Canal est l’une des principales ressources du pays (surtout en ces temps de disette touristique).

      #5 - Plus grave ?
      Oui, toujours possible, même si rien ne l’indique encore. C’est déjà assez grave (et rare), mais ne sera pas un phénomène majeur pour le commerce mondial.
      Si le canal devait être bloqué plus d’une semaine par exemple, chacun d’entre nous devrait ressentir rapidement notre dépendance au canal (pétrole du Golfe et produits chinois en tout genre : tout passe par là !).
      Voilà. N’hésitez pas si vous avez d’autres questions !
      Ah et si vous voulez de l’accident plus grave, et plus débile (= impardonnable erreur humaine selon moi), n’hésitez pas à retrouver mon thread sur le Helge Ingstad ici :

    • À noter, en milieu d’après-midi, Le Monde (et d’autres médias) présentaient l’affaire comme étant en voie de règlement. On en trouve la trace dans la formulation initiale de l’adresse de l’article… (Le canal de Suez bloqué [plusieurs heures] à cause d’un cargo échoué en travers)
      et dans la formulation hybride du chapeau (_s’était retrouvé
      , plus que parfait)

      Le canal de Suez bloqué à cause d’un cargo échoué en travers
      https://www.lemonde.fr/economie/article/2021/03/24/le-canal-de-suez-bloque-plusieurs-heures-a-cause-d-un-cargo-echoue-en-traver

      Le porte-conteneurs «  Ever Given  » s’était retrouvé en travers du canal reliant la mer Rouge à la Méditerranée, bloquant toute circulation. Le retour à la normale n’était pas acquis en milieu de journée.

      L’article expliquait que le navire avait été amarré parallèlement à la berge.

    • Suez Canal Block: How to Dislodge a 200,000 Ton Ship From a Canal Wall - Bloomberg
      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-03-24/how-to-dislodge-a-200-000-ton-ship-from-a-canal-wall

      When you can’t shift a ship that’s stuck fast into the wall of a canal that’s vital to world trade, there’s only one thing to do: call the salvage guys.

      The Ever Given container ship — a 200,000-ton behemoth — has been blocking what is arguably the world’s most important waterway, the Suez Canal, since Tuesday morning.

      The struggle to dislodge it is now turning the world’s attention to the work of SMIT Salvage, a legendary Dutch firm whose employees parachute themselves from one ship wreckage to the next, saving vessels often during violent storms. The company is synonymous with some of the most daring naval salvages, including lifting a sunken Russian nuclear submarine in 2001, and removing fuel from inside the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground in Italy in 2012.

      SMIT, a unit of Royal Boskalis Westminster NV, is one of the companies appointed by Ever Given’s owner to help move the vessel. The first job will be to work out exactly how entrenched in the wall the ship is, said Boskalis spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer.


      A digger clears the area around the bow of the stuck Ever Given container vessel in the Suez Canal on March 25.
      Source: Suez Canal Authority

      It will be critical to inspect the vessel and how deeply it is lodged in the embankment,” Schuttevaer said. “The question is how solidly she has been grounded.

      The answer to that question will dictate what comes next. The salvors could have to find a way to lighten the vessel’s enormous weight so that it can be pulled to a less obstructive position. At the moment, it’s blocking the path of more than 100 vessels.

      The canal handles something like 10% of seaborne trade, spanning everything from finished goods to oil, gas, and dry-bulk commodities. And those cargoes aren’t flowing while the Ever Given is stuck.

      The process of making the ship lighter means removing things like the ballast water, which helps keep ships steady when they’re at sea. Fuel will probably have to be unloaded too, Schuttavaer said.


      The stuck Ever Given container ship in the Suez Canal on March 25.
      Source: Suez Canal Authority

      In a worst-case scenario, it could be that some of the carrier’s containers — usually filled with everything from furniture to televisions — may have to be taken off. How long that process lasts would depend on how much equipment is around to do the heavy lifting. It can often involve flying in helicopters to remove the crates one by one.

      SMIT was due to fly an 8-person team in at dawn Thursday local time to board and inspect the vessel and the grounding. A big part of the initial underwater assessment is how much the banks slope at that point in the canal. Japan’s Nippon Salvage Co. has also been hired to assist in the re-floating, according to a person familiar with the matter.

      Such teams are usually led by a salvage master, often a former captain or someone with knowledge of the industry, but can also include divers, welders and crane operators, according to Joseph Farrell III, director of business development at Resolve Marine, another company that offers salvage services. He declined to comment specifically on the Ever Given.

      Stern Test
      Pictures now seen across the globe of the vessel spread fully across the canal, point to the first major hurdle. It ran aground both at the front and at the back, almost perpendicular to the canal walls. That’s leaving very little room to simply tow it away from either end, SMIT says.

      For now, the focus is on dredging around the vessel. The canal authority has dispatched two of its dredgers, the Mashor and the 10th of Ramadan, to remove sand from underwater before rescuers attempt to pull it. From the shore, excavators are also working around the vessel. Western shipping experts who analysed photos of the Ever Given calculated that her protruding bulb was as much as 5 meters buried into the canal wall.


      The container vessel MV Ever Given blocks the Suez Canal on March 24.
      Source: Planet Labs Inc. via AP Photo

      Not everything in the grounding has been bad news. One thing that’s likely to make the process easier is that the ship has gotten itself stuck in sand, rather than rock. More malleable material around the Ever Given should make for a slightly smoother escape.

      There are already tug boats around the ship working to help with its removal, but with such a giant vessel, bigger ones with more horsepower are usually needed. Crews are hoping that periods of higher tide over the next few days will be conducive to helping free the Ever Given.

      Until then, the world’s commodity and maritime markets — and the world trade they serve — will be left hanging, waiting on the professionals to help shift a 200,000-ton ship.

      There’s only a few companies in the world that do what we do,” said Farrell. “It’s a challenge, the container ships are always the biggest jobs.

    • Suez Canal could be blocked for weeks by ’beached whale’ ship | Reuters
      https://www.reuters.com/article/egypt-suezcanal-ship-int-idUSKBN2BH0BP

      A huge container ship blocking the Suez Canal like a “beached whale” may take weeks to free, the salvage company said, as officials stopped all ships entering the channel on Thursday in a new setback for global trade.

      The 400 metre Ever Given, almost as long as the Empire State Building is high, is blocking transit in both directions through one of the world’s busiest shipping channels for oil and refined fuels, grain and other trade linking Asia and Europe.

      Late on Thursday, dredgers were still working to remove thousands of tonnes of sand from around the ship’s bow.

      The Suez Canal Authority (SCA) said earlier that nine tugs were working to move the vessel, which got stuck diagonally across the single-lane southern stretch of the canal on Tuesday morning amid high winds and a dust storm.

      We can’t exclude it might take weeks, depending on the situation,” Peter Berdowski, CEO of Dutch company Boskalis, one of two rescue teams trying to free the ship, told the Dutch television programme “Nieuwsuur”.

      A total of 206 large container ships, tankers carrying oil and gas, and bulk vessels hauling grain have backed up at either end of the canal, according to tracking data, creating one of the worst shipping jams seen for years.

      The blockage comes on top of the disruption to world trade already caused in the past year by COVID-19, with trade volumes hit by high rates of ship cancellations, shortages of containers and slower handling speeds at ports.

      The world’s number one line A.P. Moller Maersk said it was considering diverting vessels around Africa’s Cape of Good Hope, adding five to six days to the journey between Asia and Europe. It said time-sensitive cargo could be sent on trains and airplanes, although no decisions had yet been made.

      “ENORMOUS WEIGHT”
      The SCA, which had allowed some vessels to enter the canal in the hope the blockage could be cleared, said it had temporarily suspended all traffic on Thursday. Maersk said in a customer advisory it had seven vessels affected.

      Berdowski said the ship’s bow and stern had been lifted up against either side of the canal.

      Explainer: How a giant container ship is blocking the Suez Canal
      It is like an enormous beached whale. It’s an enormous weight on the sand. We might have to work with a combination of reducing the weight by removing containers, oil and water from the ship, tug boats and dredging of sand.

      Dredging work to remove 15,000-20,000 cubic metres of sand surrounding the bow continued after dark on Thursday, in coordination with the team from Boskalis subsidiary Smit Salvage, the SCA said.

      The dredging work, which began on Wednesday evening and has involved two dredgers, aims to return the ship to a draft of 12-16 metres at which it could be refloated, the authority said.

      (Graphic: Suez blockade - )

      Japanese shipowner Shoei Kisen apologised for the incident and said work on freeing the ship, which was heading to Europe from China, “has been extremely difficult” and it was not clear when the vessel would float again.

      Another official with knowledge of the operation said that was likely to take days. “If you end up in the scenario that you have to remove cargo then you are looking at a time consuming exercise,” he said, declining to be named.

      A higher tide due on Sunday may help the rescue efforts.

      However, the Egyptian meteorological authority is also warning of a “disruption of marine navigation” due to an expected sea storm on Saturday and Sunday, with winds forecast to reach up to 80 kph (50 mph) and waves up to 6 metres high along the Red Sea and the Gulf of Suez.

      Roughly 30% of the world’s shipping container volume transits through the 193 km (120 mile) Suez Canal daily, and about 12% of total global trade of all goods.

      Slideshow ( 5 images )

      Every port in Western Europe is going to feel this,” Leon Willems, a spokesman for Rotterdam Port, Europe’s largest, said. “We hope for both companies and consumers that it will be resolved soon.

      CONTAINER CRUNCH
      Consultancy Wood Mackenzie said the biggest impact was on container shipping, but there were also a total of 16 laden crude and product oil tankers due to sail through the canal and now delayed.

      The tankers were carrying 870,000 tonnes of crude and 670,000 tonnes of clean oil products such as gasoline, naphtha and diesel, it said.

      Russia and Saudi Arabia are the top two exporters of oil through the canal, while India and China are the main importers, oil analytics firm Vortexa said. Consultancy Kpler said the canal accounted for only 4.4% of total oil flows but a prolonged disruption would complicate flows of Russian and Caspian oil to Asia and oil from the Middle East into Europe.

      The impact on oil prices has been limited so far as the destination of most oil tankers is Europe, where demand is currently weaker due to a new round of lockdowns. [O/R]

      The deputy managing director of Germany’s BDI industry association, Holger Loesch, expressed concern, saying earlier shipping holdups were already affecting output, especially in industries depending on raw materials or construction supplies.

      About 16% of Germany’s chemicals imports arrive by ship via the Suez canal and the chief economist for the association of German chemicals and pharmaceuticals producers VCI, Henrik Meincke, said they would be affected with every day of blockage.

      The owner and insurers face claims totalling millions of dollars even if the ship is refloated quickly, industry sources said on Wednesday. Shoei Kisen said the hull insurer of the group is MS&AD Insurance Group while the liability insurer is UK P&I Club.

    • Canal de Suez : le navire débloqué ce samedi soir ? - Monde - Le Télégramme
      https://www.letelegramme.fr/monde/canal-de-suez-le-navire-debloque-ce-samedi-soir-27-03-2021-12726032.php


      Le porte-conteneurs est bloqué depuis mardi dans le canal de Suez.
      Photo EPA

      Le navire qui empêche la navigation sur le canal de Suez depuis mardi pourrait être débloqué ce samedi soir, a déclaré son propriétaire.

      Yukito Higaki, le propriétaire du porte-conteneurs qui obstrue depuis mardi le canal de Suez, a dit avoir bon espoir que le navire soit débloqué dès ce samedi soir, alors que des jours voire des semaines étaient précédemment évoqués. « Nous sommes en train d’éliminer les sédiments, avec des outils de dragage supplémentaires », a déclaré vendredi Higaki, le président de la compagnie japonaise Shoei Kisen. Il a dit espérer un déblocage du Ever Given pour « demain (samedi) soir », c’est-à-dire dans la nuit de samedi à dimanche au Japon. « Le navire ne prend pas l’eau. Il n’y a aucun problème avec ses gouvernails et ses hélices. Une fois qu’il aura été renfloué, il devrait pouvoir fonctionner », a ajouté le dirigeant.

      10 % du commerce maritime international
      La société mandatée pour le « sauvetage » de l’Ever Given s’était auparavant montrée plus prudente, évoquant « des jours voire des semaines » pour assurer le déblocage du navire et la reprise du trafic sur le canal qui voit passer 10 % du commerce maritime international, selon des experts.

      Depuis mercredi, l’Autorité égyptienne du canal de Suez (SCA) tente de dégager ce navire de plus de 220 000 tonnes et d’une longueur équivalente à quatre terrains de football, coincé dans le sud du canal, à quelques kilomètres de la ville de Suez. Une opération menée vendredi par la SCA avec l’aide de remorqueurs « n’a pas réussi », a indiqué la Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement (BSM), compagnie basée à Singapour qui assure la gestion technique du navire. « Deux remorqueurs (égyptiens) supplémentaires de 220 à 240 tonnes » doivent arriver d’ici dimanche pour une nouvelle tentative, selon cette société.

    • Mega-ship in Suez Canal moved ’80%’ in right direction
      https://news.yahoo.com/ever-given-ship-suez-canal-051538431.html

      The Ever Given was turned away from the bank of Suez Canal on Monday, raising hopes it could be soon be refloated

      la poupe a pu être dégagée, semble-t-il.
      il va falloir hâler fort en arrière pour dégager la proue (et le bulbe, bien planté…)

    • MV Ever Given Partially Refloated in Suez; Ship Still Blocking Canal – gCaptain
      https://gcaptain.com/mv-ever-given-partially-refloated-in-suez-ship-still-blocking-canal


      Screen shot shows the position of the MV Ever Given following reports that the ship had been refloated. Taken Mar 23, 04:17 UTC.
      Credit: VesselFinder.com

      The giant container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been at least partially refloated, the first step toward getting one of the world’s most important trade arteries moving again.

      The Ever Given was successfully refloated at about 4:30 a.m. local time in Egypt and the vessel is currently being secured, maritime services provider Inchcape Shipping Services said in an email. It followed a new attempt to dislodge the ship involving 10 tug boats, according to the Suez Canal Authority.

      There was no immediate clarity on the crucial question of when traffic in the canal will restart. The ship has a damaged hull and it’s not clear how soon it will be able to clear the way for other vessels to pass.

  • Ankara salue l’"impartialité" de Rome en Libye
    https://fr.news.yahoo.com/ankara-salue-l-impartialit%C3%A9-rome-144404253.html

    La Turquie a annoncé vendredi qu’elle continuerait de coopérer avec l’Italie pour parvenir à une paix durable et un processus politique fructueux en Libye, saluant l’"impartialité" de Rome dans ce dossier « contrairement à d’autres pays européens ».

    « Ensemble avec l’Italie, nous allons poursuivre nos efforts pour une paix durable et un processus politique fructueux en Libye », a déclaré le chef de la diplomatie turque Mevlut Cavusoglu lors d’une conférence de presse à Ankara aux côtés de son homologue italien Luigi Di Maio.

    « Nous sommes conscients du rôle essentiel que joue l’Italie dans ce dossier et nous la remercions pour cela », a-t-il ajouté. Les Italiens ont eu « une attitude impartiale. L’Italie n’a pas soutenu le putschiste Haftar, contrairement à certains autres pays de l’UE, l’Italie a fait des efforts sincères pour le cessez-le-feu et le processus politique. »

    Le chef de la diplomatie turque n’a pas précisé le nom des pays de l’Union européenne auxquels il faisait allusion mais ses propos surviennent après des crispations diplomatiques entre la France, accusée de soutenir le maréchal Haftar - ce que Paris dément-, et la Turquie.

    Cette dernière intervient militairement en Libye en soutien au gouvernement d’entente nationale (GEN), reconnu par la communauté internationale, face à l’offensive du maréchal Haftar, l’homme fort de l’Est libyen.

    Ce soutien turc, qui s’ajoute à l’appui de Moscou à Khalifa Haftar, fait grincer des dents et suscite l’inquiétude de l’Onu et des pays engagés ces dernières années dans la médiation visant à sortir le pays du chaos et à aboutir à un cessez-le-feu durable entre les deux camps rivaux.

    Mercredi, un responsable du ministère français des Affaires étrangères a estimé que l’Otan ne pouvait pas s’en tenir à une « politique de l’autruche » face aux agissements de la Turquie notamment en Libye.

    • Embargo sur les armes contre la Libye : la Turquie remet en cause l’impartialité de la mission européenne
      https://www.france24.com/fr/20200619-libye-embargo-armes-turquie-critique-mission-europeennne-irini

      La Turquie a estimé vendredi que la mission européenne Irini sur le contrôle de l’embargo sur les armes à destination de la Libye était « partiale » en favorisant l’homme fort de l’Est, le général Khalifa Haftar.

      Le chef de la diplomatie turque a critiqué, vendredi 19 juin, la mission européenne Irini chargée de contrôler l’embargo sur les armes contre la Libye, après l’ouverture d’une enquête de l’Otan à la suite d’un incident dénoncé par la France et impliquant des navires turcs.

      Lors d’une conférence de presse à Ankara avec son homologue italien Luigi Di Maio, le ministre turc, Mevlut Cavusoglu, a estimé que l’opération Irini était « partiale », et « n’a pas tenu compte des demandes et des préoccupations du GNA », le gouvernement de Tripoli soutenu par Ankara.

      Il a reproché à cette mission de chercher à empêcher les livraisons d’armes par voie maritime destinées au GNA tout en passant sous silence celles fournies à l’homme fort de l’Est, Khalifa Haftar par ses alliés par voies aérienne et terrestre.

      « Est-ce qu’elle dit quoi que ce soit au sujet des avions (russes) qui arrivent en Libye en provenance de la Syrie ? S’intéresse-t-elle aux armes fournies pour Abou Dhabi ? A-t-elle dressé des rapports sur les fournitures d’armes à Haftar par la France ? », s’est interrogé le ministre. « La mission Irini n’est pas objective et ne contribue pas à un règlement du problème libyen ou au respect de l’embargo », a-t-il ajouté.

      « Nous croyons que cette mission pourra contribuer, même si ce n’est pas la panacée, mais elle peut contribuer à ralentir l’entrée (des armes) et au respect de l’embargo des Nations unies », a pour sa par déclaré Luigi Di Maio.

      Un comportement jugé « extrêmement agressif »
      La France a dénoncé cette semaine le comportement « extrêmement agressif » de la Turquie, membre de l’Otan, contre une frégate française engagée dans la mission Irini en Méditerranée lors d’une tentative de contrôle d’un cargo suspecté de transporter des armes vers la Libye. L’Otan a annoncé jeudi l’ouverture d’une enquête sur cet incident.

      Le soutien armé d’Ankara au GNA, avec notamment le déploiement de conseillers militaires et de drones, a permis à celui-ci d’inverser le rapport de force et de multiplier les succès militaires ces dernières semaines contre les forces du maréchal Haftar.

      Quant à l’Italie, elle se considère comme un acteur important face à la situation en Libye en raison de ses liens historiques avec ce pays en tant qu’ancienne puissance coloniale.