• President Biden: What America Will and Will Not Do in Ukraine | May 31, 2022
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/31/opinion/biden-ukraine-strategy.html

    As the war goes on, I want to be clear about the aims of the United States in these efforts.

    America’s goal is straightforward: We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous #Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.

    As President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has said, ultimately this war “will only definitively end through diplomacy.” Every negotiation reflects the facts on the ground. We have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition so it can fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table.

    [...] My principle throughout this crisis has been “Nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine.” I will not pressure the Ukrainian government — in private or public — to make any territorial concessions. It would be wrong and contrary to well-settled principles to do so.

    Ukraine’s talks with Russia are not stalled because Ukraine has turned its back on diplomacy. They are stalled because Russia continues to wage a war to take control of as much of Ukraine as it can. The United States will continue to work to strengthen Ukraine and support its efforts to achieve a negotiated end to the conflict.

    • When the secretaries of Defense and State said publicly the U.S. wants Ukraine to win and weaken Russia, #Biden said tone it down
      https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/national-security/secretaries-defense-state-said-publicly-us-wanted-ukraine-win-biden-sa-rcna

      the president expressed concern that the comments could set unrealistic expectations and increase the risk of the U.S. getting into a direct conflict with Russia. He told them to tone it down, said the officials.

      [...] U.S. officials are increasingly concerned that the trajectory of the war in Ukraine is untenable and are quietly discussing whether President Volodymyr Zelenskyy should temper his hard-line public position that no territory will ever be ceded to Russia as part of an agreement to end the war, according to seven current U.S. officials, former U.S. officials and European officials.

      Some officials want Zelenskyy to “dial it back a little bit,” as one of them put it, when it comes to telegraphing his red lines on ending the war. But the issue is fraught given that Biden is adamant about the U.S. not pressuring the Ukrainians to take steps one way or another. His administration’s position has been that any decision about how and on what terms to end the war is for Ukraine to decide.

  • A Face Search Engine Anyone Can Use Is Alarmingly Accurate - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/26/technology/pimeyes-facial-recognition-search.html

    The New York Times used PimEyes on the faces of a dozen Times journalists, with their consent, to test its powers.

    #PimEyes found photos of every person, some that the journalists had never seen before, even when they were wearing sunglasses or a mask, or their face was turned away from the camera, in the image used to conduct the search.

    #vie_privée

  • Thread by DataDrivenMD sur les progrès de la lutte contre le #covid19  : l’aération (pas chez nous) et les vaccins nasaux (abandonné précocement par Pasteur il y a un an).
    https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1528825593009041408.html

    It’s been a while since I’ve read a COVID19 preprint worth highlighting. I found one today that is fascinating

    The study compares Delta vs. Omicron in terms of symptoms + rapid test results. Data was collected at a walk-up community testing site in San Francisco

    Strap in. 1/n
    They collected data from a HUGE study population— 63,277 persons over the course of 1 year (Jan 2021 to Jan 2022)

    The other neat thing is that the testing site used the same eligibility criteria throughout and the same rapid test the entire time. 2/n Image
    Another neat thing: the community testing site was located in a part of San Francisco that is predominantly Hispanic.

    Yet another neat thing: they collected vaccination status.

    Here’s a link to the study for anyone who wants to follow along. 3/n
    COVID-19 symptoms and duration of direct antigen test positivity at a community testing and surveillance site, January 2021-2022
    Importance: Characterizing clinical symptoms and evolution of community- based SARS Co-V-2 infections can inform health practitioners and public health officials in a rapidly changing landscape of pop…
    https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.05.19.22274968v1.full.pdf+html
    They found that symptomatic COVID-19 cases due to Omicron tended to experience cough (67%) and/or a sore throat (43%) and/or congestion (39%).

    They also found that fewer persons reported fever and/or loss of smell/taste as compared to the Delta wave.
    Another fascinating finding: fevers and body aches were less common among persons that had received boosters compared to those who received 0, 1, or 2 doses. 5/n Image
    OK, here’s one of the most interesting findings, that I haven’t seen reported anywhere else: the rate of “congestion” was highest among boosted persons. Yes, higher

    Now, that may seem bad and counter-intuitive but it’s great and makes perfect sense. Allow me to explain...
    6/n Image
    2 years in, we now know that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 invades our body by latching onto proteins on the surface of the cells that line our respiratory tract— these are known as ACE2 receptors and they’re found in our nose, all they way down into our lungs Image
    The key piece to note is that ACE2 receptors are not present in equal amounts throughout our respiratory tract— there are more of these proteins in our nose than our lungs

    There’s another thing to consider to understand how boosted persons might end up w/ more congestion

    8/n Image
    The other piece of the puzzle is Omicron’s much, much higher transmissibility. That’s due, in part, to Omicron’s ability to partially evade immunity from vaccination and/or prior infection. 9/n

    source: assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/upl… Image
    So, what seems to be going on, is that the immune system of persons who were boosted were able to respond more quickly to the first sign of an Omicron infection— in the nose. The congestion is the body’s way of slowing down the infection— it’s flooding the virus in sludge 10/n
    If that fails, the virus migrates down to your throat where it causes a sore throat, a cough, or croup in the case of young children.

    If that fails, then it makes it further, into the lungs, where it triggers a different kind of “congestion” that causes collateral damage 11/n
    Somewhere between a sore throat and a pneumonia, the body responds by raising your body temperature— a fever. And by mobilizing other parts of your immune system, a process that causes lymph nodes to swell...the swelling stretches surrounding tissue— those are body aches. 12/n Image
    So, putting it all together: although Omicron is able to partially evade our vaccines, the immune system of persons who were boosted responded earlier and more robustly. Sparing millions of persons from developing worse symptoms.
    13/n
    Another way to say it: many people had at least a little immunity after Delta. This explains, in part, why many (not all!) Omicron cases have been “mild” thus far. And, why boosted persons experienced even milder symptoms, like congestion. 14/n

    covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tra… Image
    COVID Data Tracker
    CDC’s home for COVID-19 data. Visualizations, graphs, and data in one easy-to-use website.
    https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#covidnet-hospitalizations-vaccination
    👀 Here’s the data that, IMO, really drives home the point that our vaccines helped to make Omicron “mild”— check out that massive jump in the % of persons that were boosted between the Delta vs. Omicron surges

    3% boosted during Delta ➡️ 25% boosted during Omicron 🔥🔥🔥

    15/n Image
    Here’s why I’m really excited by this study: it makes perfect sense in the context of the next big breakthrough. @VirusesImmunity is working on a nasal vaccine that could actually end this pandemic— by stopping the virus as soon as it enters the nose

    16/n
    Opinion | The Answer to Stopping the Coronavirus May Be Up Your Nose
    Why nasal vaccines for Covid could be so effective.
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/16/opinion/covid-nasal-vaccine.html
    Another reason why I’m really excited: it underscores the fact that we have very powerful tools to bring the pandemic to a crawl right now— high-quality masks, ventilation, and air filtration.

    These, in combination with our vaccines, can extend the time between surges. 17/n
    This study also underscores why it is necessary to keep boosting using our current vaccines + masking up, while simultaneously developing the next generation of vaccines. These charts show that it takes up to 2 weeks to fully clear an Omicron infection

    18/n ImageImage
    And it doesn’t matter how you define it. It can take up to 2 weeks for a rapid test to go back to negative (-) and/or symptoms to resolve.

    The kicker: while boosters keep symptoms mild (great), they neither shorten the duration of symptoms nor test positivity (not great)

    19/n Image
    Anywho, there’s a lot more in this study that I’d like to discuss but this thread is long enough and I’ve other work to do right now. The upshot is: get boosted + mask up and there’s a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel— nasal vaccines.

    20/20

  • Over 75 Percent of Long Covid Patients Were Not Hospitalized for Initial Illness, Study Finds - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/18/health/long-covid-hospitalization.html?smid=url-share

    Long Covid, a complex constellation of lingering or new post-infection symptoms that can last for months or longer, has become one of the most daunting legacies of the pandemic. Estimates of how many people may ultimately be affected have ranged from 10 percent to 30 percent of infected adults; a recent report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office said that between 7.7 million and 23 million people in the United States could have developed long Covid. But much remains unclear about the prevalence, causes, treatment and consequences of the condition.

    The new study adds to a growing body of evidence that, while patients who have been hospitalized are at greater risk for long Covid, people with mild or moderate initial coronavirus infections — who make up the vast majority of coronavirus patients — can still experience debilitating post-Covid symptoms including breathing problems, extreme fatigue and cognitive and memory issues.

  • We’re not all Ukrainians now
    https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine-russia-war-nato-eu-us-alliance-solidarity
    L’article pointe l’écart entre la retenue relative des dirigeants occidentaux, qui ne donnent pas tout ce qu’elle veut à l’#Ukraine, et leurs discours, dans lesquels ils prétendent s’aligner sans réserve sur les objectifs ukrainiens et présentent la situation comme une guerre entre monde libre et autocratie. Cet écart est dangereux, selon les auteurs, pour plusieurs raisons.

    For one, it attracts domestic calls for escalation, including demands for maximal war aims, from the restoration of Crimea to direct military intervention.

    Secondly, the White House’s rhetoric also undermines its own refusal to comply with Ukraine’s demands for high-risk assistance in the form of no-fly zones, the complete economic shutdown of Russia or actual troop deployments, undercutting its own restraint.

    [...] Crucially, this rhetoric-policy gap could also raise excessive Ukrainian expectations of support. But those insisting the West should give Ukraine whatever it wants ignore that what Ukraine wants partly depends on what the West will give them — or at least what it says it will. And claims of fully aligned interests may fuel Ukrainian dreams of total victory that are probably untenable and only conducive to prolonging war.

    [...] The problem here isn’t helping Ukraine, it’s pretending the help is unconditional.

    [...] The idea that nations can heavily contribute to a war effort without any say in its execution is offensive. Those arming Ukraine may not be risking enough to suit Ukraine, but they aren’t risking nothing — the danger of Russian retaliation remains. And sanctions entail economic pain for those sanctioning as well as the sanctioned.

    • The War in Ukraine Is Getting Complicated, and America Isn’t Ready | THE EDITORIAL BOARD
      https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/19/opinion/america-ukraine-war-support.html

      But as the war continues, Mr. Biden should also make clear to President Volodymyr Zelensky and his people that there is a limit to how far the United States and NATO will go to confront Russia, and limits to the arms, money and political support they can muster. It is imperative that the Ukrainian government’s decisions be based on a realistic assessment of its means and how much more destruction Ukraine can sustain.

      Confronting this reality may be painful, but it is not appeasement. This is what governments are duty bound to do, not chase after an illusory “win.” Russia will be feeling the pain of isolation and debilitating economic sanctions for years to come, and Mr. Putin will go down in history as a butcher. The challenge now is to shake off the euphoria, stop the taunting and focus on defining and completing the mission.

    • Ukraine’s Way Out
      https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/05/ukraine-war-russia-putin-end/629890

      But Kyiv’s right to fight for complete territorial sovereignty does not make doing so strategically wise. Nor should Ukraine’s remarkable success in repelling Russia’s initial advance be cause for overconfidence about the next phases of the conflict. Indeed, strategic pragmatism warrants a frank conversation between NATO and Ukraine about curbing Kyiv’s ambitions and settling for an outcome that falls short of “victory.”

    • What is America’s end-game for the war in Ukraine?
      https://www.ft.com/content/315346dc-e1bd-485c-865b-979297f3fcf5

      Increasingly diplomats and analysts are debating how far Ukraine will go as the war drags on. America’s promises to leave the final borders up to Ukraine have left some allies uneasy, analysts said.

      Stefanini, Italy’s former ambassador to Nato, expresses concern at the lack of clarity over the eventual objectives. “Does it mean getting back to the pre-February 24 situation? Does it mean rolling back the territorial gains that Russia made in 2014? Does it mean regime change in Moscow?” he asks. “Nothing of that is clear.”

      Charap, of the Rand Institute, said the US and Ukraine’s interests are aligned on the war’s outcome, but that could change in the months ahead.

      “If they decide victory looks like something the US finds to be hugely escalatory, our interests may diverge. But we’re not there yet,” he said.

  • Opinion | Crashing Crypto: Is This Time Different? - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/17/opinion/crypto-crash-bitcoin.html

    By now, we’ve all heard of them, but what exactly are cryptocurrencies? Many people — including, I fear, many people who have invested in them — probably still don’t fully understand them. Saying that they’re digital assets doesn’t really get at it. My bank account, which I mainly reach online, is also a digital asset, for all practical purposes.

    What’s distinctive about cryptocurrencies is how ownership is established. I own the money in my bank account because the law says I do, and the bank enforces that legal claim by requiring, one way or another, that I prove that I am, in fact, me. Ownership of a crypto asset is established through what’s known as the blockchain, an encrypted (hence the name) digital record of all previous transfers of ownership that supposedly obviates the need for an external party, such as a bank, to validate a claim.

    In the past, cryptocurrencies kept going up by attracting an ever-growing range of investors. Crypto was once held by a small clique that often had the feel of a cult, motivated in part by a combination of libertarian ideology and fascination with the clever use of technology. Over time, rising crypto prices drew in large numbers of additional investors and some big Wall Street money.
    Editors’ Picks
    All Those Celebrities Pushing Crypto Are Not So Vocal Now
    Rescuing the Cuisine of Besieged Mariupol, Recipe by Family Recipe
    Leave the Sweatshirt at Home. Dining Dress Codes Are Back.

    And in the past year or so, crypto marketing has gone really mainstream, with endorsements from celebrities — including Matt Damon, Kim Kardashian and Mike Tyson — not to mention political figures like Mayor Eric Adams of New York and the (unsuccessful) Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel, who declared his intention to make Ohio “pro-God, pro-family, pro-Bitcoin.” Given all this, it’s hard to see who else there might be to recruit into crypto investing.

    One disturbing aspect of this marketing push, by the way, is that those who bought cryptocurrencies relatively recently — and have therefore lost a lot of money in the crypto crash — probably consist disproportionately of the kind of people most likely to be influenced by celebrity endorsements. That is, they are probably poorer and less sophisticated than the average investor and badly positioned to handle the losses they’ve taken over the past few months.

    As it is, cryptocurrencies play almost no role in economic transactions other than speculation in crypto markets themselves. And if your answer is “give it time,” you should bear in mind that Bitcoin has been around since 2009, which makes it ancient by tech standards; Apple introduced the iPad in 2010. If crypto was going to replace conventional money as a medium of exchange — a means of payment — surely we should have seen some signs of that happening by now. Just try paying for your groceries or other everyday goods using Bitcoin. It’s nearly impossible.

    And then there’s El Salvador, which tried to force the process by making Bitcoin legal tender and heavily promoting and subsidizing its use, in an attempt to make it a true medium of exchange. All indications are that the experiment has been an abject failure.

    #Cryptomonnaires #Monnaie_numérique #Paul_Krugman

  • Shireen Abu Akleh was executed to send a message to Palestinians
    Jonathan Cook | 12 May 2022 21:12 UTC | Middle East Eye
    https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/shireen-abu-akleh-was-executed-send-message-palestinians

    (...) But in fact, even in Hook’s case, the UN investigation was quietly shelved. Accusing Israel of executing a UN official would have forced the international body into a dangerous confrontation both with Israel and with the United States. Hook’s killing was hushed up, and no one was brought to book.

    Nothing better can be expected for Abu Akleh. There will be noises about an investigation. Israel will blame the Palestinian Authority for not cooperating, as it is already doing. Washington will express tepid concern but do nothing. Behind the scenes, the US will help Israel block any meaningful investigation.

    For the US and Europe, routine statements of “sadness” and calls for investigation are not intended to ensure light is shed on what happened. That could only embarrass a strategic ally needed to project western power into the oil-rich Middle East.

    No, these half-hearted declarations from western capitals are meant to defuse and confuse. They are intended to take the wind out any backlash; indicate western impartiality, and save the blushes of complicit Arab regimes; suggest there is a legal process that Israel adheres to; and subvert efforts by Palestinians and the human rights community to refer these war crimes to international bodies, such as the Hague court.

    The truth is that a decades-long occupation can only survive through wanton - sometimes random, sometimes carefully calibrated - acts of terror to keep the subject population fearful and subdued. When the occupation is sponsored by the main global superpower, there is absolute impunity for those who oversee that reign of terror.

    Abu Akleh is the latest victim. But these executions will continue so long as Israel and its soldiers are shielded from accountability.

    #Shireen_Abu_Akleh

    • https://twitter.com/LocalFocus1/status/1525072190927998976

      Video: Dozens of ISF beating elements seen beating several Palestinians carrying the body of Shireen Abu Aqla; ISF elements kidnapped the body and are currently heading toward Jaffa Gate

      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525072028730023936/pu/vid/426x240/eOZ7ZxlAic1wQvyL.mp4?tag=12

      https://twitter.com/LocalFocus1/status/1525076269729296384
      Une autre vidéo montre des FSI qui ont pris d’assaut l’hôpital Saint-Joseph en frappant un groupe de Palestiniens portant le corps de la journaliste Shireen Abu Aqla, abattue par les FSI lors d’une opération des FSI à Jénine il y a trois jours.
      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525076150065717249/pu/vid/640x352/Lh2C23nVVJD4D5EO.mp4?tag=12

      https://twitter.com/LocalFocus1/status/1525077361762476033
      Vidéo : Dehors l’église à la porte de Jaffa ; maintenant
      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525077250571386886/pu/vid/352x640/6-pzUZFsWJNOx-W-.mp4?tag=12

      https://twitter.com/AJEnglish/status/1525072444385636352
      57 min
      ⭕ LIVE : les forces d’occupation israéliennes frappent la foule portant le cercueil de la journaliste d’Al Jazeera tuée Shireen Abu Akleh ⤵️.
      Al Jazeera English
      @AJEnglish
      « L’armée israélienne demande aux gens s’ils sont chrétiens ou musulmans. Si vous êtes musulman, vous n’avez pas été autorisé à entrer ». - @ajimran

      Les forces d’occupation israéliennes attaquent les Palestiniens pendant les funérailles de la journaliste d’Al Jazeera tuée, Shireen Abu Akleh.
      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525071651464957952/pu/vid/1280x720/Ay2FNG6pmExl62PS.mp4?tag=12


      https://twitter.com/PierreABISAAB/status/1525376182283288577
      autre angle de vue avec le son des grenades asourdissantes :
      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525427771996098560/pu/vid/1280x720/bgW7-ekSDG3LX8_X.mp4?tag=12

      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525151065582276610/pu/vid/778x360/g2pWKImgQjiX0lCY.mp4?tag=12

      https://twitter.com/i/status/1525121116339060737
      Des images montrant un autre angle de vue des forces israéliennes agressant des personnes en deuil, faisant presque tomber le cercueil de la journaliste Shireen Abu Akleh, avant son service funèbre dans la vieille ville de Jérusalem.
      https://video.twimg.com/amplify_video/1525120792492654593/vid/720x1280/ivrVjhKrHaKwVafm.mp4?tag=14

      https://twitter.com/HadiNasrallah/status/1525158893667635200
      https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1525114145087045637/pu/vid/720x1280/52b8XE5kTVlSCpKq.mp4?tag=12

    • Israeli Police Attack Funeral of Slain Palestinian Journalist
      By Patrick Kingsley and Raja Abdulrahim
      May 13, 2022, 9:31 a.m. ET - The New York Times
      https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/13/world/middleeast/israel-funeral-shireen-abu-akleh.html

      JERUSALEM — Israeli police officers on Friday assaulted mourners at the funeral procession of a prominent Palestinian journalist killed this week in the occupied West Bank, forcing pallbearers to nearly drop the coffin.

      Video showed police officers in Jerusalem beating and kicking a mourner beside the coffin containing the body of the journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh, forcing him to the ground and the pallbearers backward. Many around them waved Palestinian flags.

      In a statement, the Israeli police said they had been “forced to act” during the funeral because “rioters began throwing stones toward the policemen” and some mourners had been chanting “nationalist incitement.”

      Ms. Abu Akleh, a prominent Palestinian American journalist, was shot dead on Wednesday morning in the occupied West Bank during an Israeli raid on the city of Jenin. Witnesses said she was killed by an Israeli soldier.

      The Israeli Army said on Friday that while it was possible that Ms. Abu Akleh was mistakenly killed by Israeli fire, its initial investigation suggested that she might also have been hit by a Palestinian gunman.

    • Le temps des funérailles de Shireen Abu Akleh, Jérusalem s’affirme palestinienne
      Par Louis Imbert(Jérusalem, correspondant)
      Publié samedi 14 mai 2022 à 03h33, mis à jour à 08h18
      https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2022/05/14/le-temps-des-funerailles-de-shirin-abou-akleh-jerusalem-s-affirme-palestinie

      Ce jour de funérailles nationales palestiniennes commence sous les coups de matraque. Peu avant 14 heures, vendredi 13 mai, la police israélienne fait irruption dans la cour de l’hôpital Saint-Joseph, à Jérusalem-Est, d’où le corps de la journaliste Shireen Abu Akleh doit rejoindre la Vieille Ville. Des milliers de Palestiniens attendent de rendre un dernier hommage à cette femme, convaincus qu’elle a été tuée par un tir de l’armée israélienne, durant un raid à Jénine (nord de la Cisjordanie), le 11 mai.

      Les policiers chargent ceux qui se sont rassemblés dans la cour de l’hôpital. Ils poussent contre un mur les hommes qui s’étaient saisis du cercueil et qui avançaient vers les grilles, vers la rue. Ils s’acharnent sur deux des porteurs. L’un d’eux reçoit au moins dix coups de matraque dans les côtes et sur l’épaule, un coup de pied aux fesses, et finit par s’écrouler. Le cercueil bascule à 45 degrés, en direct devant les caméras, mais ne tombe pas.

      « Les policiers voulaient empêcher qu’ils l’emmènent en procession à travers le quartier de Cheikh Jarrah. Ils ont frappé sans distinction hommes, femmes âgées et enfants. Ils ont tiré des grenades assourdissantes à l’entrée du bâtiment, y sont entrés et ont terrifié des patients », raconte le directeur de l’établissement, Jamil Koussa. Quatorze personnes ont été blessées, dont trois touchées à la tête par des balles de métal cerclées de caoutchouc. Toutes sont rentrées chez elles en fin de journée.

      Un officier israélien avait mis en garde au préalable M. Koussa, le représentant de l’Union européenne et le consul de France – héritage de l’époque ottomane, Paris demeure le protecteur symbolique de l’hôpital Saint-Joseph. Il ne voulait pas voir de drapeaux palestiniens, ni entendre des chants nationalistes. « Mais personne ne peut contrôler cela ! Ce n’est pas dans nos mains ni dans celles de la famille », soupire le directeur. La veille, la police avait fait la même demande aux proches de Shireen Abu Akleh, selon le député arabe israélien Ahmad Tibi. L’après-midi de sa mort, déjà, des policiers avaient tenté de faire retirer un drapeau de leur maison à Jérusalem, où ils recevaient des condoléances.

      « Provocations nationalistes »

      La police affirme avoir réagi vendredi à des chants qu’elle qualifie de « provocations nationalistes ». Elle dit avoir reçu des pierres. Elle diffuse des vidéos, où l’on voit des hommes jeter des objets qui ressemblent à des bouteilles d’eau, peu avant son assaut, ainsi que d’autres images de cailloux sur le sol, sans contexte. A Washington, la Maison Blanche s’est dite « profondément troublée ». Puis, Jen Psaki, la porte-parole dont c’était le dernier briefing, a poursuivi : « Nous déplorons l’intrusion dans ce qui aurait dû être une procession dans le calme. »

      Depuis une décennie, la police de Jérusalem s’emploie avec une vigueur renouvelée à faire disparaître les drapeaux palestiniens de la ville. Quand bien même le droit israélien n’interdit pas de lever cet emblème, ni de chanter. Cette obsession a atteint un sommet ces trois derniers jours, mais en pure perte. L’ampleur nationale de l’enterrement de Mme Abu Akleh est indéniable.

      Des Palestiniens s’étaient rassemblés sur les trottoirs de Cisjordanie, pour voir passer l’ambulance qui transportait son corps à Jénine et à Naplouse, où il a été autopsié mercredi, puis à Ramallah jeudi. Ils avaient pénétré, intrigués, le bunker qu’est devenu le palais présidentiel, où Mahmoud Abbas, âgé de 87 ans, s’isole en fin de règne, auprès du mausolée de Yasser Arafat. Après une cérémonie d’hommage, dans la cour, un petit groupe a lancé des slogans, critiquant la coopération sécuritaire qu’entretient l’Autorité palestinienne avec Israël.

      M. Abbas a réaffirmé qu’il tenait Israël pour « pleinement responsable » de la mort de Mme Abu Akleh, à l’unisson de son employeur, la chaîne panarabe Al-Jazira, et de plusieurs confrères qui ont été témoins de sa mort à Jénine.

      L’Autorité palestinienne ne transmettra pas les résultats de l’enquête médico-légale aux autorités israéliennes « parce que nous ne leur faisons pas confiance », a précisé M. Abbas. Il
      les réserve à la Cour pénale internationale, qui a ouvert en 2021 une enquête sur les crimes perpétrés dans les territoires depuis 2018.

      L’armée israélienne, pour sa part, envisage que la journaliste ait été tuée par des tirs de Palestiniens. Mais elle a avancé vendredi la possibilité qu’un soldat ait fait feu sur elle depuis un véhicule situé à quelque 200 mètres de distance, alors qu’il visait à la lunette un tireur palestinien.

      Une messe « confuse, tendue »

      Après la cérémonie à la Mouqata’a, jeudi, des centaines de Palestiniens ont encore accompagné le cercueil jusqu’au point de contrôle de Qalandia, barrière de la Ville sainte. Sur Al-Jazira, le chef de bureau de Mme Abu Akleh, qui suivait l’ambulance, a raconté que des soldats israéliens l’y ont arrêté, ont fouillé sa voiture et confisqué le keffieh taché de sang de sa défunte consœur. Des Palestiniens de Jérusalem, brandissant encore des drapeaux, les attendaient de l’autre côté.

      Vendredi, une ambulance a fini par porter la dépouille jusqu’à la cathédrale grecque melkite catholique, près de la porte de Jaffa.

      Dans cette ruelle de la Vieille Ville, un chant est lancé en
      l’honneur de Mohammed Deif (dit « l’invité »), le chef militaire du mouvement islamiste Hamas dans la bande de Gaza. Il ne recueille que peu d’écho parmi les chrétiens. La messe est
      « confuse, tendue, parce que tout le monde veut être près de Shireen », note à la sortie l’évêque officiant, Yasser Ayyash, étole de fil d’or en main. Il n’avait pas vu sa ville se rassembler ainsi autour d’un mort depuis les funérailles de Fayçal Husseini, le représentant de l’Organisation de libération de la Palestine à Jérusalem, en 2001.

      Sous les fenêtres de l’hôtel de Pétra, dont une association de colons israéliens s’est arrogé le contrôle en mars, après dix-huit ans de bataille judiciaire, la porte de Jaffa est pleine à craquer. Des scouts catholiques – shorts kaki, bérets rouges en travers du crâne, tuyaux de cornemuse aux lèvres – descendent la rue du Patriarcat, en avant du cercueil qui flotte au-dessus des têtes. Ils battent un tambour grave, puis entraînent la foule sur un vieil air nationaliste – « J’écris le nom de mon pays sur le soleil. » D’autres suivront, alors qu’un cortège impressionnant s’étire vers le sud, le long du mur de la Vieille Ville, au-dessus de la vallée de la Géhenne. Des policiers voltigeurs y plongent, pour saisir un drapeau au vol. Mais ils ne peuvent accéder à ceux qui couvrent et entourent le cercueil.

      Cette procession est un rappel au réel. Israël a beau considérer Jérusalem comme sa capitale « réunifiée », depuis qu’il a conquis sa part orientale en 1967, la population palestinienne ne cesse de croître. La Ville sainte est aujourd’hui arabe à 40 % (25 % en 1967), la Vieille Ville à 90 %. Il est toujours difficile de prédire ce qui peut mettre cette cité en branle, ce qui peut la
      rassembler en dehors de la « défense » des lieux saints musulmans d’Al-Aqsa. Mais ce vendredi, elle se presse autour de la dépouille d’une femme de 51 ans, chrétienne, qui n’a joué
      aucun rôle politique ou militaire. Depuis deux décennies, elle tenait la chronique des petits et grandes misères de l’occupation des territoires, en direct dans les salons et les chambres à
      coucher.

      Après 16 heures, le cercueil de Shireen Abu Akleh rejoint la tombe de ses parents sur le mont Sion. Cette colline située hors les murs, au sud, a donné son nom au sionisme, mais elle
      demeure pour l’essentiel un cimetière chrétien. Des gardiens font poliment descendre de jeunes gens des toits des caveaux familiaux, où ils tentent de trouver un angle de vue. Les
      cloches de toutes les églises de la Vieille Ville résonnent de concert. Elles couvrent le vrombissement d’un hélicoptère israélien, qui demeure en vol stationnaire, pas bien haut à la
      verticale des tombes.

    • Tollé international après la charge de la police israélienne aux funérailles de Shireen Abu Akleh
      France 24 Publié le : 14/05/2022
      https://www.france24.com/fr/moyen-orient/20220514-la-journaliste-shireen-abu-akleh-inhum%C3%A9e-%C3%A0-j%C3%A9rusal

      La communauté internationale a dénoncé l’intervention violente de la police israélienne, vendredi, aux funérailles, à Jérusalem, de la journaliste Shireen Abu Akleh. De son côté, le Conseil de sécurité de l’ONU a « fermement condamné » le meurtre de la reporter et réclamé « une enquête immédiate, approfondie, transparente et impartiale » sur cette affaire. La police israélienne a, de son côté, annoncé l’ouverture d’une enquête.

      La police israélienne a annoncé samedi 14 mai l’ouverture d’une enquête après le tollé international provoqué par l’intervention de ses membres lors des funérailles de la journaliste palestinienne Shireen Abu Akleh, dont le cercueil a failli tomber après les coups de matraque contre les porteurs. (...)

  • Biden Could Make the World Safer, but He’s Too Afraid of the Politics
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/opinion/iran-deal-irgc-biden.html

    Since taking office, Mr. Biden has pledged to re-enter the #Iran nuclear deal that Barack Obama signed and Donald Trump junked. That’s vital, since Tehran, freed from the deal’s constraints, has been racing toward the ability to build a nuclear bomb. Now, according to numerous press reports, the United States and Iran have largely agreed on how to revive the agreement.

    But there’s one major obstacle left: The Trump administration’s designation of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps — a branch of the Iranian military charged with defending Iran’s theocratic political system — as a foreign terrorist organization. Tehran wants the designation lifted. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in late April that the United States wouldn’t do that, at least not without unspecified conditions that Tehran appears disinclined to meet. He also warned the senators that failing to reach a deal that arrests Iran’s nuclear progress would have grave consequences. The Islamic republic, he estimated, is only a “matter of weeks” from being able to construct a nuclear weapon.

    Given all of that, something else Mr. Blinken said is even more shocking. He said the terrorist designation doesn’t matter. “As a practical matter,” he explained, “the designation does not really gain you much because there are myriad other sanctions on the I.R.G.C.” By its own admission, the Biden administration is risking the Iran nuclear deal for nothing.

    [...] This timidity has become a pattern for the Biden administration. On foreign policy, it often retreats from the policies it believes are best in the face of political opposition.

  • A Note About Today’s Wordle Game - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/09/crosswords/a-note-about-todays-wordle-game.html

    At New York Times Games, we take our role seriously as a place to entertain and escape, and we want Wordle to remain distinct from the news.

    Today’s New York Times Wordle Answer is Fetus
    https://gizmodo.com/new-york-times-apologizes-after-wordle-of-the-day-is-fe-1848898991

    Emotions are running high around the word “fetus” after last week’s news about the possible end to Roe V. Wade and women’s right to safe abortion.

    F-E-T-U-S is also a five-letter word, so some people were more than a little surprised when it ended up as one of the answers to Monday’s Wordle.

    NYT’s Wordle swap part of an ongoing gaming debate
    https://www.axios.com/2022/05/09/wordle-new-york-times-political-games

    The New York Times’ decision to change Monday’s Wordle answer is part of a long-running debate about how politically charged games should be.

    #jeu_vidéo #jeux_vidéo #jeu_vidéo_wordle #the_new_york_times #the_new_york_times_games #actualité #politique #mots_croisés #débat #polémique #fœtus #vocabulaire #justice #législation #états-unis #everdeen_mason #naomi_clark #jeu_vidéo_far_cry_6 #jeu_vidéo_call_of_duty #ian_bogost #roe_v_wade

  • U.S. Intelligence Is Helping Ukraine Kill Russian Generals, Officials Say
    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/04/us/politics/russia-generals-killed-ukraine.html

    The United States has provided intelligence about Russian units that has allowed Ukrainians to target and kill many of the Russian generals who have died in action in the #Ukraine war, according to senior American officials.

    Ukrainian officials said they have killed approximately 12 generals on the front lines, a number that has astonished military analysts.

    [...] “Clearly, we want the Russians to know on some level that we are helping the Ukrainians to this extent, and we will continue to do so,” said Evelyn Farkas, the former top Defense Department official for Russia and Ukraine in the Obama administration. “We will give them everything they need to win, and we’re not afraid of Vladimir Putin’s reaction to that. We won’t be self-deterred."