After being taken aback, the Elysee tries to show that the matter is under control. Two days after the revelations by the organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International with sixteen international media, including The world, of the presence of Emmanuel Macron’s phone among the potential targets of the Pegasus spyware, the Head of State tried to regain control, by convening, Thursday, July 22, an “exceptional” defense council dedicated to this case.
At the end of this meeting, the Elysee Palace announced that, out of prudence, “The president himself changed telephone and telephone number for certain exchanges”. “A certain number of security protocols have been readjusted, in particular around the President of the Republic”, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said, explaining that this meeting had “Allowed to have a stopover point” on ongoing investigations.
“Caution remains in order”
Because, if a phone of Mr. Macron was indeed among the potential targets of Pegasus, the top of the state is continuing its verification operations to determine whether this device has indeed been “Infected”. For the moment, “No certainty at this stage has emerged, so caution remains in order”, ensures the Elysee. Journalistic investigation “Does not say if any data has been ‘removed’ from it, and so this is what is being looked at”, Mr. Attal said. In the meantime, Mr. Macron “Is following this file as closely as possible and takes this matter very seriously”, emphasizes those around him.
The president “never communicated sensitive information on a potentially spyable phone”, assures Gabriel Attal, spokesman of the government
While Israeli spyware was allegedly used by Moroccan intelligence services to hack Mr. Macron’s phone, executive says it wants “Proceed in order”, before possibly publicly implicating Rabat. “We must already see if his phone has been infected, if there is indeed a link with Morocco, then know if we assume to make it a subject of diplomatic crisis with this country. We are not there yet ”, explains a close friend of the head of state World. For its part, Morocco has promised an investigation into the “unfounded accusations” according to which it used the software of the Israeli firm NSO Group for espionage purposes.
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After being taken aback, the Elysee tries to show that the matter is under control. Two days after the revelations by the organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International with sixteen international media, including The world, of the presence of Emmanuel Macron’s phone among the potential targets of the Pegasus spyware, the Head of State tried to regain control, by convening, Thursday, July 22, an “exceptional” defense council dedicated to this case.
At the end of this meeting, the Elysee Palace announced that, out of prudence, “The president himself changed telephone and telephone number for certain exchanges”. “A certain number of security protocols have been readjusted, in particular around the President of the Republic”, government spokesman Gabriel Attal said, explaining that this meeting had “Allowed to have a stopover point” on ongoing investigations.
“Caution remains in order”
Because, if a phone of Mr. Macron was indeed among the potential targets of Pegasus, the top of the state is continuing its verification operations to determine whether this device has indeed been “Infected”. For the moment, “No certainty at this stage has emerged, so caution remains in order”, ensures the Elysee. Journalistic investigation “Does not say if any data has been ‘removed’ from it, and so this is what is being looked at”, Mr. Attal said. In the meantime, Mr. Macron “Is following this file as closely as possible and takes this matter very seriously”, emphasizes those around him.
The president “never communicated sensitive information on a potentially spyable phone”, assures Gabriel Attal, spokesman of the government
While Israeli spyware was allegedly used by Moroccan intelligence services to hack Mr. Macron’s phone, executive says it wants “Proceed in order”, before possibly publicly implicating Rabat. “We must already see if his phone has been infected, if there is indeed a link with Morocco, then know if we assume to make it a subject of diplomatic crisis with this country. We are not there yet ”, explains a close friend of the head of state World. For its part, Morocco has promised an investigation into the “unfounded accusations” according to which it used the software of the Israeli firm NSO Group for espionage purposes.
You have 46.78% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
To stay up to date on African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
Five years ago, in Rio de Janeiro, eleven African countries (Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, Burundi, Niger, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco) left South America with medals. Kenya offered itself the biggest harvest with thirteen awards, six of which were gold.
This year in Tokyo, the continent’s main chances of winning medals lie in athletics, where Kenyans and Ethiopians are among the top specialists in the world, but also in boxing, martial arts and swimming. Here are some athletes that will have to be followed closely during this Olympic fortnight.
- Nigeria men’s basketball team
Nigeria took over from Angola at the top of the African men’s basketball hierarchy. The D’Tigers, who will participate in their third consecutive Olympics, clearly displayed their ambitions by beating the United States in a friendly match in Las Vegas (90-87) on July 10.
Placed in a difficult group, with Germany, Australia and Italy, the Nigerians, however, have some arguments to advance. The backbone of the selection is mostly made up of players playing in the American NBA, including Precious Achiuwa (Miami Heat), Josh Okogie (Minnesota Timberwolves) and the talented – but fragile because regularly injured – Jahlil Okafor (Detroit Pistons) or in the best European championships (Spain, Italy).
The team, a mixture of youth and experience, has been coached since February 2020 by the American Mike Brown (51), the former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With him, Nigeria has reached a milestone and the Tokyo scene could be the confirmation.
- Ons Jabeur (Tunisia, women’s tennis)
Eighth finalist at Roland Garros, then quarter-finalist at Wimbledon, but also winner of the Birmingham tournament – his first title on the WTA circuit – Ons Jabeur (26) is going through a prosperous period. The player from Tunisia, who now occupies the 23e world rank, represents a real hope for a medal for his country. In 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, she had failed to pass the first round.
Since then, Ons Jabeur has improved a lot in his game, but also mentally. The Tunisian repeats over and over again her intention to join the world top 10 by the end of the year. His latest results were obtained on Parisian clay and on English turf. The hard surface of the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo shouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle.
- Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya, athletics)
Of course, Eliud Kipchoge (36) is five years older than when he won the gold medal in the marathon in Rio in 2 h 8 min 44 s. But time does not seem to have (too) a hold on the performance of the athlete from Kenya, a specialist in long distance races.
The proof ? His victory, in April, at the Enschede marathon (Netherlands), where the 2016 Olympic champion silenced all skeptics with a time (2 h 4 min 30 s) better than that achieved in Brazil. His disappointing performance in October 2020 in London, where the Kenyan had only obtained a modest eighth place, seems to be a distant memory.
In Tokyo, he will be a candidate for his own succession. Eliud Kipchoge, who is a real star in his country, has never stopped forcing himself to intensive training – he runs an average of 250 kilometers per week – and leads an almost monastic life, made up of reading, sleeping and frugal and almost always identical meals. A recipe that has already proven itself.
- Lamya Matoub (Algeria, karate)
Eliminated during the karate qualifying tournament, a discipline that will make its appearance this year at the Olympics, she should not have been present in Tokyo. But Lamya Matoub (29) was drafted by invitation – because she is one of the three best African sportsmen of the year – and she represents one of the main chances of medals for Algeria.
Born in France, where she works as a school teacher, she finally decided to represent her country of origin, with some success so far. She was notably world champion in 2017 in Wroclaw (Poland), in the 68 kg category, and also won the gold medal at the 2015 African Games and the 2018 African Karate Championships.
Results that make her one of the main candidates for Olympic gold. A goal perfectly assumed by the athlete, who has repeatedly ensured that she was aiming for the top step of the podium.
- Chad le Clos (South Africa, swimming)
Once again, Chad le Clos will be one of the many swimmers to be expected in Tokyo. At 29, the athlete born in South Africa already has an Olympic record that says a lot about his status.
In 2012, in London, when he was only 20 years old, Chad le Clos had achieved a resounding performance by winning gold in the 200-meter freestyle, ahead of the American Michael Phelps. Four years later, he left Brazil with two silver medals (200 meters freestyle and 100 meters) around his neck.
Since then, the athlete has won several significant titles, including that of world champion in the 200 meters freestyle in 2017. By trying – why not – to approach, or even to break the Olympic record still held by Michael Phelps in 2008 in Beijing (1 min 42 s 96).
To stay up to date on African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
Five years ago, in Rio de Janeiro, eleven African countries (Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ethiopia, Côte d’Ivoire, Algeria, Burundi, Niger, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco) left South America with medals. Kenya offered itself the biggest harvest with thirteen awards, six of which were gold.
This year in Tokyo, the continent’s main chances of winning medals lie in athletics, where Kenyans and Ethiopians are among the top specialists in the world, but also in boxing, martial arts and swimming. Here are some athletes that will have to be followed closely during this Olympic fortnight.
- Nigeria men’s basketball team
Nigeria took over from Angola at the top of the African men’s basketball hierarchy. The D’Tigers, who will participate in their third consecutive Olympics, clearly displayed their ambitions by beating the United States in a friendly match in Las Vegas (90-87) on July 10.
Placed in a difficult group, with Germany, Australia and Italy, the Nigerians, however, have some arguments to advance. The backbone of the selection is mostly made up of players playing in the American NBA, including Precious Achiuwa (Miami Heat), Josh Okogie (Minnesota Timberwolves) and the talented – but fragile because regularly injured – Jahlil Okafor (Detroit Pistons) or in the best European championships (Spain, Italy).
The team, a mixture of youth and experience, has been coached since February 2020 by the American Mike Brown (51), the former coach of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cleveland Cavaliers. With him, Nigeria has reached a milestone and the Tokyo scene could be the confirmation.
- Ons Jabeur (Tunisia, women’s tennis)
Eighth finalist at Roland Garros, then quarter-finalist at Wimbledon, but also winner of the Birmingham tournament – his first title on the WTA circuit – Ons Jabeur (26) is going through a prosperous period. The player from Tunisia, who now occupies the 23e world rank, represents a real hope for a medal for his country. In 2016, in Rio de Janeiro, she had failed to pass the first round.
Since then, Ons Jabeur has improved a lot in his game, but also mentally. The Tunisian repeats over and over again her intention to join the world top 10 by the end of the year. His latest results were obtained on Parisian clay and on English turf. The hard surface of the Ariake Coliseum in Tokyo shouldn’t be an insurmountable obstacle.
- Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya, athletics)
Of course, Eliud Kipchoge (36) is five years older than when he won the gold medal in the marathon in Rio in 2 h 8 min 44 s. But time does not seem to have (too) a hold on the performance of the athlete from Kenya, a specialist in long distance races.
The proof ? His victory, in April, at the Enschede marathon (Netherlands), where the 2016 Olympic champion silenced all skeptics with a time (2 h 4 min 30 s) better than that achieved in Brazil. His disappointing performance in October 2020 in London, where the Kenyan had only obtained a modest eighth place, seems to be a distant memory.
In Tokyo, he will be a candidate for his own succession. Eliud Kipchoge, who is a real star in his country, has never stopped forcing himself to intensive training – he runs an average of 250 kilometers per week – and leads an almost monastic life, made up of reading, sleeping and frugal and almost always identical meals. A recipe that has already proven itself.
- Lamya Matoub (Algeria, karate)
Eliminated during the karate qualifying tournament, a discipline that will make its appearance this year at the Olympics, she should not have been present in Tokyo. But Lamya Matoub (29) was drafted by invitation – because she is one of the three best African sportsmen of the year – and she represents one of the main chances of medals for Algeria.
Born in France, where she works as a school teacher, she finally decided to represent her country of origin, with some success so far. She was notably world champion in 2017 in Wroclaw (Poland), in the 68 kg category, and also won the gold medal at the 2015 African Games and the 2018 African Karate Championships.
Results that make her one of the main candidates for Olympic gold. A goal perfectly assumed by the athlete, who has repeatedly ensured that she was aiming for the top step of the podium.
- Chad le Clos (South Africa, swimming)
Once again, Chad le Clos will be one of the many swimmers to be expected in Tokyo. At 29, the athlete born in South Africa already has an Olympic record that says a lot about his status.
In 2012, in London, when he was only 20 years old, Chad le Clos had achieved a resounding performance by winning gold in the 200-meter freestyle, ahead of the American Michael Phelps. Four years later, he left Brazil with two silver medals (200 meters freestyle and 100 meters) around his neck.
Since then, the athlete has won several significant titles, including that of world champion in the 200 meters freestyle in 2017. By trying – why not – to approach, or even to break the Olympic record still held by Michael Phelps in 2008 in Beijing (1 min 42 s 96).
Ask “Kiki” Caron for her memories of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and the silver medalist, French star at the time, will tell you a little about swimming, and a lot about Japan. “I almost caused a diplomatic incident! “, remembers Christine by her first name, then 16 years old. In question, an intrusion into the lodge of a “To be untouchable”, there: Emperor Hirohito, at the National Olympic Stadium, during the athletics events.
“I wanted to see Bob Hayes’ 100 meters [champion olympique et ancien recordman du monde de la discipline] and I was afraid of missing it, so I ran to get into a lodge. “ Without knowing who it belonged to. “There was security already, of course, but maybe not as much as it is now. Guards eventually took me out. “
Two decades after the Second World War, the atmosphere in the Olympic Village is “The party permanently” and a form of recklessness, assures Jacqueline Gaugey-Brisepierre, 75 years old. The Frenchwoman then took part in artistic gymnastics competitions. For the opening of its first Summer Games, Japan wanted “An astonishing and grandiose ceremony”. The gymnast still has in mind, ” like it was yesterday “, this Olympic flame. To wear it, a young man born on August 6, 1945, the day of the bombing of Hiroshima by the American air force. In the air, “Five air force planes traced the five Olympic rings”.
“Equipment that did not exist in France”
For the first time, the Games, in which officially no professional athlete participates, have the right to be broadcast on mondovision television. ” Every day, remembers Kiki Caron, 73 years old today. A postal bag of letters was waiting for me at the entrance to the Olympic Village. ” The high school student is enjoying life and the twist in the Olympic Village. “There was a sort of nightclub. A very good-natured atmosphere. When I finished my tests, I was allowed to go. “ Between athletes, discussions are often held in English. “We understood each other. “
The French delegation has several points of reference, such as the presence on site of journalist Georges de Caunes, famous voice of the ORTF, responsible for publishing for the occasion a mini-newspaper for the Blues. And that “Of French cooks [leur] making food “, also recalls the former judoka Jacques Le Berre, 83 years old. At the time, the French teams were still largely male; 120 men, 22 women. All countries combined, there are barely 13% of women among all participants.
You have 38.53% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Ask “Kiki” Caron for her memories of the 1964 Olympic Games in Tokyo, and the silver medalist, French star at the time, will tell you a little about swimming, and a lot about Japan. “I almost caused a diplomatic incident! “, remembers Christine by her first name, then 16 years old. In question, an intrusion into the lodge of a “To be untouchable”, there: Emperor Hirohito, at the National Olympic Stadium, during the athletics events.
“I wanted to see Bob Hayes’ 100 meters [champion olympique et ancien recordman du monde de la discipline] and I was afraid of missing it, so I ran to get into a lodge. “ Without knowing who it belonged to. “There was security already, of course, but maybe not as much as it is now. Guards eventually took me out. “
Two decades after the Second World War, the atmosphere in the Olympic Village is “The party permanently” and a form of recklessness, assures Jacqueline Gaugey-Brisepierre, 75 years old. The Frenchwoman then took part in artistic gymnastics competitions. For the opening of its first Summer Games, Japan wanted “An astonishing and grandiose ceremony”. The gymnast still has in mind, ” like it was yesterday “, this Olympic flame. To wear it, a young man born on August 6, 1945, the day of the bombing of Hiroshima by the American air force. In the air, “Five air force planes traced the five Olympic rings”.
“Equipment that did not exist in France”
For the first time, the Games, in which officially no professional athlete participates, have the right to be broadcast on mondovision television. ” Every day, remembers Kiki Caron, 73 years old today. A postal bag of letters was waiting for me at the entrance to the Olympic Village. ” The high school student is enjoying life and the twist in the Olympic Village. “There was a sort of nightclub. A very good-natured atmosphere. When I finished my tests, I was allowed to go. “ Between athletes, discussions are often held in English. “We understood each other. “
The French delegation has several points of reference, such as the presence on site of journalist Georges de Caunes, famous voice of the ORTF, responsible for publishing for the occasion a mini-newspaper for the Blues. And that “Of French cooks [leur] making food “, also recalls the former judoka Jacques Le Berre, 83 years old. At the time, the French teams were still largely male; 120 men, 22 women. All countries combined, there are barely 13% of women among all participants.
You have 38.53% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
To stay up to date with African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
In the basements of the Al-Wahda cinema (“unity” in Arabic), Tallal Afifi unrolls film strips covered with dust. In the half-light, he stumbles over old account books and shattered boxes of tickets. Outside, the big screen is stained with gray stains, a few rusty chairs still stand on the stands, converted in places into warehouses of bananas and corn cobs for neighboring grocery stores. For the founder of the Sudan Film Factory, an association that tries to revive film culture in Sudan, the ruins of Al-Wahda are the allegory of an industry “Buried alive”.
Inaugurated in 1974, this open-air theater in the Kober district, in the north of Khartoum, screened Sudanese, Chinese, Korean and Egyptian films. During this golden age, the 16 cinemas in the capital could accommodate more than 40,000 spectators per evening. “Even football didn’t attract so many people. Cinema was part of everyday life, mixing social classes. People met here, argued, flirted, talked about business, before and after the session ”, says the former film critic, a glimmer of nostalgia in his eyes.
“The cinema was considered a threat”
At the time of independence in 1956, Sudan was one of the pioneers of cinema in Africa. Avant-garde Gadallah Gubara made the first African color film in 1955, The Song of Khartoum, a prelude to many Sudanese feature films screened in the following years in the sixty cinemas of the unified Sudan, before the industry fell into disrepair.
Already, under the dictatorship of Gaafar Nimeiry (1969-1985), film productions were tightly controlled by the authorities. “The censors were scrupulous, in the name of preserving community sensitivities”, recalls Tallal Afifi. But the worst was to come. After a brief democratic episode, the military-Islamist coup of 1989, which marked the advent of the reign of Omar Al-Bashir and the National Congress Party, has definitely brought down the curtain on the Sudanese film scene.
“Like all artistic events, the cinema was considered a threat. Bringing the masses together outside of political meetings was not to the taste of the authorities ”, explains the founder of the Sudan Film Factory. The establishment of a night curfew from 1989 to 1995 signed the death sentence for open-air theaters, which closed one after the other. Distributors and producers ended up completely deserting the country from 1997 when, another coup de grace, American and European economic sanctions were imposed on the Islamist regime for its policy deemed complacent with regard to terrorism.
“Sudan has lived thirty years of isolation”, asserts Suleiman Ibrahim, a 65-year-old filmmaker trained in Moscow in the 1970s. Most of the directors of his generation went into exile. For those who, like him, have stayed, “The pressure of the regime on our shoulders was enormous, we were constantly in the sights of the security services”, he recalls.
For two years, the renewal
Suleiman Ibrahim’s mustache and his facetious demeanor are not unknown to European moviegoers. With three others “Comrades in misfortune”, they tried to rehabilitate the old cinema in the Thawra district, in the north of Khartoum, without ever obtaining the necessary authorizations. Their futile struggle was immortalized in the film Talking about Trees, directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari, who won the award for best documentary at the Berlin film festival in 2019. As a symbol, it is a film about cinema that has revived the machine.
Great paradox of this stammering awakening, Sudanese films applauded by foreign critics are not shown in Sudan
For two years, a renewal has been at work. Some movies like Khartoum Offside by Marwa Zein, or more recently You will die at 20, by Amjad Abu Alala, have toured international festivals, winning numerous awards. ” These films once again put the country in the spotlight, arousing the curiosity of audiences abroad ”, welcomes Tallal Afifi who participated in the production of Amjad Abu Alala’s film.
For a whole generation of young filmmakers who have cut their teeth more or less clandestinely over the past ten years, the popular uprising that began in December 2018 – leading to the fall of the Al-Bashir regime a few months later – opened a new space of freedoms. «
It was a happy coincidence. It was not the actual revolution that encouraged film production. Most of the directors had already started shooting with the means at hand since the Internet boom. But current events have made it possible to take a new look at these films, giving them depth ”, says Tallal Afifi.
Great paradox of this stammering awakening, Sudanese films applauded by foreign critics are not shown in Sudan. For Tallal Afifi, this is one of the major challenges to be taken up. At 43, this passionate dream of arousing a new popular craze for the seventh art. Invited to the “Filmfest” in Munich in 2008, he was inspired by the Iraqi documentary Life after the Fall by Kasim Abid who won the first prize. “I recognized the Sudan there, with its dictatorship, its two rivers, its religions which kill each other. I said to myself that if this director could shoot with a handheld camera and win a prize, we too had our chance », He explains.
Returning to Khartoum after a brief year of exile in Cairo, he set up the Sudan Film Factory in 2009, with the support of the Goethe Institute. His association, which organizes an independent film festival, has already provided training to more than 300 students in various film professions. This July day, in the premises of the association, located in a villa in a wealthy district of the capital, a hundred people came to attend the screening of two Sudanese films. Sitting in the middle of the garden on rows of plastic chairs, spectators wear the mask. Another hard blow, the Covid-19 epidemic has slowed the pace of projections.
“It’s resourcefulness”
At the end of the screening, Ibrahim Muhammad, one of the directors, performs the show, narrating the film’s background and answering the spectators’ questions. “In Sudan, you have to produce your films on your own. There is no institution capable of financing them. It’s resourcefulness, we train friends in sound recording », says the filmmaker, who started filming six years ago and has now created a small independent production company.
“Interest in Sudanese cinema is growing, but this needs to be translated into investments. We need money to develop local production companies, but especially infrastructure. We are sorely lacking professional studios ”, he concludes.
Due to a lack of resources, this new Sudanese scene makes more of short films or documentaries. International sanctions, about to be lifted, still make it difficult to purchase spare parts or software updates. Some make the trip by plane to Dubai or Saudi Arabia, their hard drives in their pockets.
Since the fall of Al-Bashir, Ibrahim Muhammad has become optimistic. “We have lived thirty years of emptiness; thirty years of destruction of art; thirty years of brainwashing. The cinema is now seen as haram, inappropriate, useless. We, the directors, play an important role in unraveling everything that the old regime put in place. We can change the looks ”, he hopes, before adding that the revolution “Is still incomplete”.
This young director had his equipment confiscated while he was covering the peaceful sit-in which was installed in front of the army headquarters in April 2019. He deplores the presence of many generals of the previous regime in the instances of transition. “For months, everyone improvised as a director. Art was everywhere. We have so many hidden stories to reveal, to put into pictures ”, he dreams. For this new generation of lovers of the seventh art, Sudanese cinema has started up again and nothing will be able to stop it.
African cinemas
The World Africa and his correspondents went to meet African cinemas. Those of a lost golden age as in Ivory Coast or Algeria where, a few decades ago, we thronged in the dark rooms to discover the latest action films or rediscover the classics of national creation.
“Cinemas did not survive the switch from analog to digital” of the early 2000s, regrets the Ivorian film critic Yacouba Sangaré. There as elsewhere, the seventh art had to take side roads to continue to reach its audience. Video stores – from VHS tapes to DVDs – have nurtured a generation of moviegoers.
Some today are trying to revive mythical venues and their demanding programming, as in Morocco or Burkina Faso. Others see in the series a new mode of fertile creation. From fans of the Tangier film library to the conservative cinema of Kannywood, in northern Nigeria, they make African cinema today.
To stay up to date with African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
In the basements of the Al-Wahda cinema (“unity” in Arabic), Tallal Afifi unrolls film strips covered with dust. In the half-light, he stumbles over old account books and shattered boxes of tickets. Outside, the big screen is stained with gray stains, a few rusty chairs still stand on the stands, converted in places into warehouses of bananas and corn cobs for neighboring grocery stores. For the founder of the Sudan Film Factory, an association that tries to revive film culture in Sudan, the ruins of Al-Wahda are the allegory of an industry “Buried alive”.
Inaugurated in 1974, this open-air theater in the Kober district, in the north of Khartoum, screened Sudanese, Chinese, Korean and Egyptian films. During this golden age, the 16 cinemas in the capital could accommodate more than 40,000 spectators per evening. “Even football didn’t attract so many people. Cinema was part of everyday life, mixing social classes. People met here, argued, flirted, talked about business, before and after the session ”, says the former film critic, a glimmer of nostalgia in his eyes.
“The cinema was considered a threat”
At the time of independence in 1956, Sudan was one of the pioneers of cinema in Africa. Avant-garde Gadallah Gubara made the first African color film in 1955, The Song of Khartoum, a prelude to many Sudanese feature films screened in the following years in the sixty cinemas of the unified Sudan, before the industry fell into disrepair.
Already, under the dictatorship of Gaafar Nimeiry (1969-1985), film productions were tightly controlled by the authorities. “The censors were scrupulous, in the name of preserving community sensitivities”, recalls Tallal Afifi. But the worst was to come. After a brief democratic episode, the military-Islamist coup of 1989, which marked the advent of the reign of Omar Al-Bashir and the National Congress Party, has definitely brought down the curtain on the Sudanese film scene.
“Like all artistic events, the cinema was considered a threat. Bringing the masses together outside of political meetings was not to the taste of the authorities ”, explains the founder of the Sudan Film Factory. The establishment of a night curfew from 1989 to 1995 signed the death sentence for open-air theaters, which closed one after the other. Distributors and producers ended up completely deserting the country from 1997 when, another coup de grace, American and European economic sanctions were imposed on the Islamist regime for its policy deemed complacent with regard to terrorism.
“Sudan has lived thirty years of isolation”, asserts Suleiman Ibrahim, a 65-year-old filmmaker trained in Moscow in the 1970s. Most of the directors of his generation went into exile. For those who, like him, have stayed, “The pressure of the regime on our shoulders was enormous, we were constantly in the sights of the security services”, he recalls.
For two years, the renewal
Suleiman Ibrahim’s mustache and his facetious demeanor are not unknown to European moviegoers. With three others “Comrades in misfortune”, they tried to rehabilitate the old cinema in the Thawra district, in the north of Khartoum, without ever obtaining the necessary authorizations. Their futile struggle was immortalized in the film Talking about Trees, directed by Suhaib Gasmelbari, who won the award for best documentary at the Berlin film festival in 2019. As a symbol, it is a film about cinema that has revived the machine.
Great paradox of this stammering awakening, Sudanese films applauded by foreign critics are not shown in Sudan
For two years, a renewal has been at work. Some movies like Khartoum Offside by Marwa Zein, or more recently You will die at 20, by Amjad Abu Alala, have toured international festivals, winning numerous awards. ” These films once again put the country in the spotlight, arousing the curiosity of audiences abroad ”, welcomes Tallal Afifi who participated in the production of Amjad Abu Alala’s film.
For a whole generation of young filmmakers who have cut their teeth more or less clandestinely over the past ten years, the popular uprising that began in December 2018 – leading to the fall of the Al-Bashir regime a few months later – opened a new space of freedoms. «
It was a happy coincidence. It was not the actual revolution that encouraged film production. Most of the directors had already started shooting with the means at hand since the Internet boom. But current events have made it possible to take a new look at these films, giving them depth ”, says Tallal Afifi.
Great paradox of this stammering awakening, Sudanese films applauded by foreign critics are not shown in Sudan. For Tallal Afifi, this is one of the major challenges to be taken up. At 43, this passionate dream of arousing a new popular craze for the seventh art. Invited to the “Filmfest” in Munich in 2008, he was inspired by the Iraqi documentary Life after the Fall by Kasim Abid who won the first prize. “I recognized the Sudan there, with its dictatorship, its two rivers, its religions which kill each other. I said to myself that if this director could shoot with a handheld camera and win a prize, we too had our chance », He explains.
Returning to Khartoum after a brief year of exile in Cairo, he set up the Sudan Film Factory in 2009, with the support of the Goethe Institute. His association, which organizes an independent film festival, has already provided training to more than 300 students in various film professions. This July day, in the premises of the association, located in a villa in a wealthy district of the capital, a hundred people came to attend the screening of two Sudanese films. Sitting in the middle of the garden on rows of plastic chairs, spectators wear the mask. Another hard blow, the Covid-19 epidemic has slowed the pace of projections.
“It’s resourcefulness”
At the end of the screening, Ibrahim Muhammad, one of the directors, performs the show, narrating the film’s background and answering the spectators’ questions. “In Sudan, you have to produce your films on your own. There is no institution capable of financing them. It’s resourcefulness, we train friends in sound recording », says the filmmaker, who started filming six years ago and has now created a small independent production company.
“Interest in Sudanese cinema is growing, but this needs to be translated into investments. We need money to develop local production companies, but especially infrastructure. We are sorely lacking professional studios ”, he concludes.
Due to a lack of resources, this new Sudanese scene makes more of short films or documentaries. International sanctions, about to be lifted, still make it difficult to purchase spare parts or software updates. Some make the trip by plane to Dubai or Saudi Arabia, their hard drives in their pockets.
Since the fall of Al-Bashir, Ibrahim Muhammad has become optimistic. “We have lived thirty years of emptiness; thirty years of destruction of art; thirty years of brainwashing. The cinema is now seen as haram, inappropriate, useless. We, the directors, play an important role in unraveling everything that the old regime put in place. We can change the looks ”, he hopes, before adding that the revolution “Is still incomplete”.
This young director had his equipment confiscated while he was covering the peaceful sit-in which was installed in front of the army headquarters in April 2019. He deplores the presence of many generals of the previous regime in the instances of transition. “For months, everyone improvised as a director. Art was everywhere. We have so many hidden stories to reveal, to put into pictures ”, he dreams. For this new generation of lovers of the seventh art, Sudanese cinema has started up again and nothing will be able to stop it.
African cinemas
The World Africa and his correspondents went to meet African cinemas. Those of a lost golden age as in Ivory Coast or Algeria where, a few decades ago, we thronged in the dark rooms to discover the latest action films or rediscover the classics of national creation.
“Cinemas did not survive the switch from analog to digital” of the early 2000s, regrets the Ivorian film critic Yacouba Sangaré. There as elsewhere, the seventh art had to take side roads to continue to reach its audience. Video stores – from VHS tapes to DVDs – have nurtured a generation of moviegoers.
Some today are trying to revive mythical venues and their demanding programming, as in Morocco or Burkina Faso. Others see in the series a new mode of fertile creation. From fans of the Tangier film library to the conservative cinema of Kannywood, in northern Nigeria, they make African cinema today.
Asked to the Japanese Parliament a few weeks ago on the reason for maintaining the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games despite the risks associated with the Covid-19 health crisis, Yoshihide Suga launched into a vibrant account of the joy that ‘he had felt a teenager during the 1964 Games. Eluding the question, the Prime Minister played on the image of these Olympics which remain for the Japanese a pivotal moment in their history: their country, defeated and humiliated at the end of the World War II, raised its head and recovered its honor by renewing its “Global simultaneity”, in the words of the philosopher Kojin Karatani.
It was tempting for the leaders of the beginning of the XXIe century of seeking to resuscitate this almost unanimous euphoria to celebrate the « Japan is back » launched in 2013 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, proclaiming the end of a long period of stagnation in the Archipelago. Tokyo applied for the 2016 Olympics in 2009, but they went to Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Abe returned to the charge a few months after the triple disaster of March 2011 (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant). This time it was a question of turning the page on these disasters. Tokyo won the Games but the Covid-19 epidemic was to shatter the ideal scenario imagined to give way to the fear of a new wave of contamination thanks to the event. The magic of the Games no longer worked.
The Olympic Games, during which internationalism and chauvinism are disputed, were the high mass where for more than a century the special relationship with the West of the first Asian country to be modernized has been played out. A complex relationship, in which conflicting feelings of threat and admiration, inferiority and pride become entangled.
Two editions of the Olympic Games punctuated this path: Berlin in 1936 and Tokyo in 1964. In Berlin, the Japanese felt they had taken a step forward in their quest for equality with the West. The prowess of a country emerging from feudalism – which had risked being dismembered like China and had become in half a century a state which the imperialist powers had to take into account – certainly had something to satisfy the Japanese national pride. But this newcomer lacked one last gesture to be equal to them: the rejection in 1919 of his proposal to include the equality of races in the charter of the League of Nations, which the victors of the Great War (of which Japan was a part) were being drafted, had been felt like a snub.
You have 68.85% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
Asked to the Japanese Parliament a few weeks ago on the reason for maintaining the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games despite the risks associated with the Covid-19 health crisis, Yoshihide Suga launched into a vibrant account of the joy that ‘he had felt a teenager during the 1964 Games. Eluding the question, the Prime Minister played on the image of these Olympics which remain for the Japanese a pivotal moment in their history: their country, defeated and humiliated at the end of the World War II, raised its head and recovered its honor by renewing its “Global simultaneity”, in the words of the philosopher Kojin Karatani.
It was tempting for the leaders of the beginning of the XXIe century of seeking to resuscitate this almost unanimous euphoria to celebrate the « Japan is back » launched in 2013 by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, proclaiming the end of a long period of stagnation in the Archipelago. Tokyo applied for the 2016 Olympics in 2009, but they went to Rio de Janeiro. Mr. Abe returned to the charge a few months after the triple disaster of March 2011 (earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant). This time it was a question of turning the page on these disasters. Tokyo won the Games but the Covid-19 epidemic was to shatter the ideal scenario imagined to give way to the fear of a new wave of contamination thanks to the event. The magic of the Games no longer worked.
The Olympic Games, during which internationalism and chauvinism are disputed, were the high mass where for more than a century the special relationship with the West of the first Asian country to be modernized has been played out. A complex relationship, in which conflicting feelings of threat and admiration, inferiority and pride become entangled.
Two editions of the Olympic Games punctuated this path: Berlin in 1936 and Tokyo in 1964. In Berlin, the Japanese felt they had taken a step forward in their quest for equality with the West. The prowess of a country emerging from feudalism – which had risked being dismembered like China and had become in half a century a state which the imperialist powers had to take into account – certainly had something to satisfy the Japanese national pride. But this newcomer lacked one last gesture to be equal to them: the rejection in 1919 of his proposal to include the equality of races in the charter of the League of Nations, which the victors of the Great War (of which Japan was a part) were being drafted, had been felt like a snub.
You have 68.85% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
To stay up to date with African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
The riots and looting that bloodied South Africa have left 276 dead, the government announced on Wednesday (July 21), revising upwards a previous death toll of 215.
“Since the unrest broke out, 234 related deaths have been recorded in Kwazulu-Natal [est] nowadays “Presidential Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in a statement, reporting 42 deaths in Gauteng province, which includes the country’s two main cities, Johannesburg and Pretoria, the capital.
The police opened 168 murder investigations. Some of the deaths are due to jostling, falling objects and building fires.
“Mop-up operations”
The unrest erupted in Kwazulu-Natal on July 9, initially taking the form of riots following the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of justice. They then spread, against a background of endemic unemployment and new restrictions against the Covid-19, reaching Johannesburg, to calm down at the beginning of the week.
The “Stability” returned to the two affected provinces, assured the minister, specifying that the police were carrying out “Sweeping operations to prevent any opportunistic action”. Six people, including a former public radio presenter, were arrested and prosecuted for inciting violence. Thousands more have been arrested for looting.
Economically, the government estimates that the violence will cost the economy 50 billion rand, or $ 3.4 billion, with the two affected regions accounting for half of the national GDP (gross domestic product).
To stay up to date with African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
The riots and looting that bloodied South Africa have left 276 dead, the government announced on Wednesday (July 21), revising upwards a previous death toll of 215.
“Since the unrest broke out, 234 related deaths have been recorded in Kwazulu-Natal [est] nowadays “Presidential Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said in a statement, reporting 42 deaths in Gauteng province, which includes the country’s two main cities, Johannesburg and Pretoria, the capital.
The police opened 168 murder investigations. Some of the deaths are due to jostling, falling objects and building fires.
“Mop-up operations”
The unrest erupted in Kwazulu-Natal on July 9, initially taking the form of riots following the incarceration of former President Jacob Zuma for contempt of justice. They then spread, against a background of endemic unemployment and new restrictions against the Covid-19, reaching Johannesburg, to calm down at the beginning of the week.
The “Stability” returned to the two affected provinces, assured the minister, specifying that the police were carrying out “Sweeping operations to prevent any opportunistic action”. Six people, including a former public radio presenter, were arrested and prosecuted for inciting violence. Thousands more have been arrested for looting.
Economically, the government estimates that the violence will cost the economy 50 billion rand, or $ 3.4 billion, with the two affected regions accounting for half of the national GDP (gross domestic product).
The Madagascan prosecutor’s office announced that it had foiled an assassination attempt on the President of the Republic of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, and arrested several people “Foreign and Malagasy”. Among these arrested people are two French, according to diplomatic sources.
“Several foreign and Malagasy nationals were arrested Tuesday as part of an investigation for endangering state security”, declared Wednesday evening to the press the Attorney General, Berthine Razafiarivony, who did not give further details, for the time being, concerning the motivations.
“According to the material evidence in our possession, these individuals have devised a plan to eliminate and neutralize various Malagasy personalities including the head of state, said the prosecutor. At this stage of the investigation, which continues, the general prosecutor’s office ensures that all light will be shed on this case. “
The Malagasy Taratra agency, under the supervision of the Ministry of Communication, informed that the two French arrested, Philippe F. and Paul R., would be retired former officers.
During the celebration of Madagascar’s independence day on June 26, the gendarmerie had already announced that it had foiled an assassination attempt on the Secretary of State in charge of the gendarmerie, the president’s right-hand man, General Richard Ravalomanana .
One of the poorest countries in the world, Madagascar has experienced many serious political crises for twenty years. The big island has been virtually locked down since the Covid-19 pandemic, and famine is raging in a region in the south of the country.
The Madagascan prosecutor’s office announced that it had foiled an assassination attempt on the President of the Republic of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, and arrested several people “Foreign and Malagasy”. Among these arrested people are two French, according to diplomatic sources.
“Several foreign and Malagasy nationals were arrested Tuesday as part of an investigation for endangering state security”, declared Wednesday evening to the press the Attorney General, Berthine Razafiarivony, who did not give further details, for the time being, concerning the motivations.
“According to the material evidence in our possession, these individuals have devised a plan to eliminate and neutralize various Malagasy personalities including the head of state, said the prosecutor. At this stage of the investigation, which continues, the general prosecutor’s office ensures that all light will be shed on this case. “
The Malagasy Taratra agency, under the supervision of the Ministry of Communication, informed that the two French arrested, Philippe F. and Paul R., would be retired former officers.
During the celebration of Madagascar’s independence day on June 26, the gendarmerie had already announced that it had foiled an assassination attempt on the Secretary of State in charge of the gendarmerie, the president’s right-hand man, General Richard Ravalomanana .
One of the poorest countries in the world, Madagascar has experienced many serious political crises for twenty years. The big island has been virtually locked down since the Covid-19 pandemic, and famine is raging in a region in the south of the country.
To stay up to date with African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
Tribune. During the summit on the financing of African economies held in Paris on May 18, for the first time, heads of state and heads of international organizations made support for the African economy a top priority. African entrepreneurship as an engine for stronger and more inclusive growth.
Actors on the ground in Africa, as company founder and investor respectively, we are delighted with this recognition at the highest level. In order for these declarations to lead to concrete support for young African companies, we propose that the alliance for entrepreneurship in Africa, announced at the end of the summit, be supplemented by the establishment of a fund to finance priming.
Indeed, any entrepreneurial project is initiated by a form of financing that the entrepreneur brings together quickly to bring his business to life. It is generally his own money, that of his relatives or, in mature economies, that which comes from actors dedicated to these very early phases of the life of the company (business angels, incubator grants, etc.).
Because of the maturity stage of African economies, these seed resources are lacking, which explains the stagnation of many viable projects that could have given rise to prosperous businesses that create lasting jobs. This is why we are calling for the creation of a fund to support very young companies which have started to prove themselves and to demonstrate their potential, even if they are still very risky.
Public utility
It is difficult to overstate the multiple benefits of the African entrepreneurial revolution. For twenty years, a whole generation of start-ups, VSEs and SMEs has emerged which have demonstrated their public utility. A large number of these companies, because they meet the essential needs of their customers (food, accommodation, treatment, training, etc.), contribute to the resolution of social or societal issues.
Whether it is agrifood units structuring supply chains with farmers and running small factories to bring processed local products to urban customers (yoghurts, bread, rice, fruit juices, etc.), private clinics , companies offering access to electricity in rural areas, construction companies or private schools, these companies, while pursuing their commercial objectives, create jobs, opportunities for their suppliers and a supply of reliable local products.
In addition, entrepreneurs play an essential role in the great African transformation underway, this long cycle of economic progress, sometimes chaotic, and demographic transition, often atypical, which gives rise to the emergence of a working middle class. The African entrepreneurial revolution is a long-term phenomenon, on which heads of state are right to bet.
Of course, African and international public actors did not wait for this summit to implement measures to support African entrepreneurship, on essential levels: vocational training policy, investment in infrastructure, facilitation and digitization of procedures. administrative …
A unique opportunity
But much remains to be done, including the fight against fiscal arbitrariness and against late payments … from the administrations themselves. For the past ten years, the public authorities have also provided support for private initiatives to finance African SMEs.
The alliance for entrepreneurship in Africa represents a unique opportunity to go further, particularly in terms of business financing, a brake constantly cited by entrepreneurs. In particular, the seed financing fund that we are calling for would be inspired by the successful experience of a few actors in the field and would set itself the objective of financing, in five years, 500 companies in at least 20 African countries. (including fragile countries that are often neglected, especially in the Sahel), for amounts per company of between 20,000 and 100,000 euros.
This fund would target both technological start-ups and more “traditional” companies in the upstream phase (agrifood processing, services to individuals and companies, transport, training, medical practices, light manufacturing, pharmacy, etc. .).
It would also affect many talented women entrepreneurs, as it is true that, unfortunately, they are seldom found in the small circle of large companies. Funding could take the form of honor loans.
Business leaders would be selected and supported by specialized teams independent of public administrations, ill-equipped to interact with very small structures. Over a three-year horizon, we can expect that half of the companies supported will have reached an initial maturity, which can then be part of a long-term development trajectory, and use other financing and development tools. support such as the SME funds already mentioned.
The economic upheavals linked to the pandemic invite us to reinvent our development support strategies. On paper, political and economic leaders have taken the measure of the urgency to support entrepreneurs. Solutions are known, all that remains is to bring them to life, on a large scale.
Bagore Bathily is founder and CEO of Laiterie du berger (Senegalese SME in the fresh dairy products sector) and president of Enablis Senegal (network of entrepreneurs).
Jérémy Hajdenberg is DGA of Investisseurs et Partenaires (a company specializing in the financing and support of African entrepreneurs) and author, with Jean-Michel Severino, ofEntrepreneurial Africa (ed. Odile Jacob, 2016).
To stay up to date with African news, subscribe to the “Monde Afrique” newsletter from this link. Every Saturday at 6 am, find a week of current events and debates treated by the editorial staff of “Monde Afrique”.
Tribune. During the summit on the financing of African economies held in Paris on May 18, for the first time, heads of state and heads of international organizations made support for the African economy a top priority. African entrepreneurship as an engine for stronger and more inclusive growth.
Actors on the ground in Africa, as company founder and investor respectively, we are delighted with this recognition at the highest level. In order for these declarations to lead to concrete support for young African companies, we propose that the alliance for entrepreneurship in Africa, announced at the end of the summit, be supplemented by the establishment of a fund to finance priming.
Indeed, any entrepreneurial project is initiated by a form of financing that the entrepreneur brings together quickly to bring his business to life. It is generally his own money, that of his relatives or, in mature economies, that which comes from actors dedicated to these very early phases of the life of the company (business angels, incubator grants, etc.).
Because of the maturity stage of African economies, these seed resources are lacking, which explains the stagnation of many viable projects that could have given rise to prosperous businesses that create lasting jobs. This is why we are calling for the creation of a fund to support very young companies which have started to prove themselves and to demonstrate their potential, even if they are still very risky.
Public utility
It is difficult to overstate the multiple benefits of the African entrepreneurial revolution. For twenty years, a whole generation of start-ups, VSEs and SMEs has emerged which have demonstrated their public utility. A large number of these companies, because they meet the essential needs of their customers (food, accommodation, treatment, training, etc.), contribute to the resolution of social or societal issues.
Whether it is agrifood units structuring supply chains with farmers and running small factories to bring processed local products to urban customers (yoghurts, bread, rice, fruit juices, etc.), private clinics , companies offering access to electricity in rural areas, construction companies or private schools, these companies, while pursuing their commercial objectives, create jobs, opportunities for their suppliers and a supply of reliable local products.
In addition, entrepreneurs play an essential role in the great African transformation underway, this long cycle of economic progress, sometimes chaotic, and demographic transition, often atypical, which gives rise to the emergence of a working middle class. The African entrepreneurial revolution is a long-term phenomenon, on which heads of state are right to bet.
Of course, African and international public actors did not wait for this summit to implement measures to support African entrepreneurship, on essential levels: vocational training policy, investment in infrastructure, facilitation and digitization of procedures. administrative …
A unique opportunity
But much remains to be done, including the fight against fiscal arbitrariness and against late payments … from the administrations themselves. For the past ten years, the public authorities have also provided support for private initiatives to finance African SMEs.
The alliance for entrepreneurship in Africa represents a unique opportunity to go further, particularly in terms of business financing, a brake constantly cited by entrepreneurs. In particular, the seed financing fund that we are calling for would be inspired by the successful experience of a few actors in the field and would set itself the objective of financing, in five years, 500 companies in at least 20 African countries. (including fragile countries that are often neglected, especially in the Sahel), for amounts per company of between 20,000 and 100,000 euros.
This fund would target both technological start-ups and more “traditional” companies in the upstream phase (agrifood processing, services to individuals and companies, transport, training, medical practices, light manufacturing, pharmacy, etc. .).
It would also affect many talented women entrepreneurs, as it is true that, unfortunately, they are seldom found in the small circle of large companies. Funding could take the form of honor loans.
Business leaders would be selected and supported by specialized teams independent of public administrations, ill-equipped to interact with very small structures. Over a three-year horizon, we can expect that half of the companies supported will have reached an initial maturity, which can then be part of a long-term development trajectory, and use other financing and development tools. support such as the SME funds already mentioned.
The economic upheavals linked to the pandemic invite us to reinvent our development support strategies. On paper, political and economic leaders have taken the measure of the urgency to support entrepreneurs. Solutions are known, all that remains is to bring them to life, on a large scale.
Bagore Bathily is founder and CEO of Laiterie du berger (Senegalese SME in the fresh dairy products sector) and president of Enablis Senegal (network of entrepreneurs).
Jérémy Hajdenberg is DGA of Investisseurs et Partenaires (a company specializing in the financing and support of African entrepreneurs) and author, with Jean-Michel Severino, ofEntrepreneurial Africa (ed. Odile Jacob, 2016).
InvestigationThe company behind the spyware Pegasus and the Israeli government are working hand in hand to forge new alliances and serve their interests on the international stage.
Browsing the list of targets for Pegasus surveillance software, a service provided by the Israeli company NSO Group to a dozen states in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia, is to follow a story of Israeli diplomacy. These data, vast but still partial, shared by the organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International with seventeen media, including The world, have accompanied the all-out expansion of Israeli “soft power” for a decade. They constitute a dark side, discreet but assumed.
Founded in 2009, when former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came back to power (2009-2021), NSO benefited from Israel’s expansion of diplomatic relations. One moment is emblematic: July 2017. Mr. Netanyahu welcomes Narendra Modi to Tel Aviv. This is the first time that a head of the Indian government has visited the country in twenty-five years of diplomatic relations. Mr. Modi is a choice catch in Mr. Netanyahu’s effort to diversify Israel’s alliances.
Powerful, ultranationalist, authoritarian and populist, the Indian signifies the opening to Israel of a booming market, and does not seek to dwell on the occupation of the Palestinian territories or on the question of human rights. man. Shortly after the two men posed for photographers with their feet in the water in the Mediterranean, India tested Pegasus spyware for the first time. Since then, it has continued to use it, less against potential terrorists than against opponents, journalists and human rights defenders.
The service provided by NSO weighs little against the traditional arms contracts that Israel and India negotiate in 2017, covering missiles and air defense systems, and valued at 1.7 billion euros. But Mr. Netanyahu says so, he who sought in 2009 to promote research and teaching in cybersecurity, and to better integrate it into the defense organs: “Cyber is a serious threat and a very lucrative business. “
Globally, “Of the 5 to 7 billion euros that the military exports of Israeli companies represent annually [comme IAI, Elbit et Rafael], cyber occupies only a modest portion: barely 3% to 4% “, says Eitay Mack, lawyer and expert on Israeli arms exports, who is campaigning for more transparency in this area.
You have 70.11% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
InvestigationThe company behind the spyware Pegasus and the Israeli government are working hand in hand to forge new alliances and serve their interests on the international stage.
Browsing the list of targets for Pegasus surveillance software, a service provided by the Israeli company NSO Group to a dozen states in the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia, is to follow a story of Israeli diplomacy. These data, vast but still partial, shared by the organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International with seventeen media, including The world, have accompanied the all-out expansion of Israeli “soft power” for a decade. They constitute a dark side, discreet but assumed.
Founded in 2009, when former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came back to power (2009-2021), NSO benefited from Israel’s expansion of diplomatic relations. One moment is emblematic: July 2017. Mr. Netanyahu welcomes Narendra Modi to Tel Aviv. This is the first time that a head of the Indian government has visited the country in twenty-five years of diplomatic relations. Mr. Modi is a choice catch in Mr. Netanyahu’s effort to diversify Israel’s alliances.
Powerful, ultranationalist, authoritarian and populist, the Indian signifies the opening to Israel of a booming market, and does not seek to dwell on the occupation of the Palestinian territories or on the question of human rights. man. Shortly after the two men posed for photographers with their feet in the water in the Mediterranean, India tested Pegasus spyware for the first time. Since then, it has continued to use it, less against potential terrorists than against opponents, journalists and human rights defenders.
The service provided by NSO weighs little against the traditional arms contracts that Israel and India negotiate in 2017, covering missiles and air defense systems, and valued at 1.7 billion euros. But Mr. Netanyahu says so, he who sought in 2009 to promote research and teaching in cybersecurity, and to better integrate it into the defense organs: “Cyber is a serious threat and a very lucrative business. “
Globally, “Of the 5 to 7 billion euros that the military exports of Israeli companies represent annually [comme IAI, Elbit et Rafael], cyber occupies only a modest portion: barely 3% to 4% “, says Eitay Mack, lawyer and expert on Israeli arms exports, who is campaigning for more transparency in this area.
You have 70.11% of this article left to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
InvestigationNew Delhi has targeted the phones of several relatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile in northern India through NSO Group spyware, amid mounting tensions with China.
Much to the despair of intelligence agencies, the Dalai Lama has still not given in to the temptation to buy a smartphone. Which makes the 86-year-old man particularly difficult to spy on. But those close to him, including his emissary in New Delhi Tempa Tsering, his private secretary Tenzin Taklha or his advisers Tenzin Taklha and Chhimey Rigzen can be watched very closely. In all, nearly twenty Tibetan activists, politicians and religious in exile appear in the list of numbers selected by an Indian security service, user of the Pegasus spyware, for potential piracy. They are part of a database of 50,000 issues, consulted by the organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International before being shared with seventeen media, including The world, united within the “Pegasus Project”.
According to our investigation, certain relatives of the Dalai Lama were first selected for possible surveillance from the end of November 2017, when former US President Barack Obama, who had just arrived from China, meets the Tibetan spiritual leader in New Delhi. Lobsang Sangay appeared on the list later, in mid-2018, when he was president of the Tibetan administration in exile and increased trips to India and abroad. Two other candidates for this post are also included, including Penpa Tsering, finally elected in May 2021.
Without being able to examine their phones, it is not possible to say whether they were indeed infected by this spyware, one of the most sophisticated on the planet, capable of sucking all the contents of a phone. – e-mails, secure messaging, photos, address books, diary… and to recover geolocation data without anything indicating that the device has been hacked. This selection suggests, however, that the cordial understanding between New Delhi and the Tibetan community, which has taken refuge on Indian soil for over sixty years, is imbued with mistrust.
Dharamsala, nid d’espions
It reveals, as never before, the suspicion of the Indian state vis-à-vis the Tibetan community, suspected of being infiltrated by Chinese spies, as well as its strategic importance at a time when the tension between the two countries the most populous in Asia continues to climb.
New Delhi believes it has reason to be wary. As recently as August 2020, a Chinese national suspected of being a spy paying Buddhist monks for information about the Dalai Lama’s bodyguard was arrested in India. The first breach in the relationship between India and the Tibetan community opened in 2011, when the XVIIe karmapa, the third highest dignitary in the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, had been suspected by New Delhi of being a Chinese spy. A suspicion that was officially lifted a year later, the dignitary having been cleared by Indian justice, but that did not remove all doubts. The karmapa obtained a passport from Dominica in 2018 and regularly experiences difficulties in obtaining Indian visas.
You have 53.58% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.
InvestigationNew Delhi has targeted the phones of several relatives of the Tibetan spiritual leader in exile in northern India through NSO Group spyware, amid mounting tensions with China.
Much to the despair of intelligence agencies, the Dalai Lama has still not given in to the temptation to buy a smartphone. Which makes the 86-year-old man particularly difficult to spy on. But those close to him, including his emissary in New Delhi Tempa Tsering, his private secretary Tenzin Taklha or his advisers Tenzin Taklha and Chhimey Rigzen can be watched very closely. In all, nearly twenty Tibetan activists, politicians and religious in exile appear in the list of numbers selected by an Indian security service, user of the Pegasus spyware, for potential piracy. They are part of a database of 50,000 issues, consulted by the organization Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International before being shared with seventeen media, including The world, united within the “Pegasus Project”.
According to our investigation, certain relatives of the Dalai Lama were first selected for possible surveillance from the end of November 2017, when former US President Barack Obama, who had just arrived from China, meets the Tibetan spiritual leader in New Delhi. Lobsang Sangay appeared on the list later, in mid-2018, when he was president of the Tibetan administration in exile and increased trips to India and abroad. Two other candidates for this post are also included, including Penpa Tsering, finally elected in May 2021.
Without being able to examine their phones, it is not possible to say whether they were indeed infected by this spyware, one of the most sophisticated on the planet, capable of sucking all the contents of a phone. – e-mails, secure messaging, photos, address books, diary… and to recover geolocation data without anything indicating that the device has been hacked. This selection suggests, however, that the cordial understanding between New Delhi and the Tibetan community, which has taken refuge on Indian soil for over sixty years, is imbued with mistrust.
Dharamsala, nid d’espions
It reveals, as never before, the suspicion of the Indian state vis-à-vis the Tibetan community, suspected of being infiltrated by Chinese spies, as well as its strategic importance at a time when the tension between the two countries the most populous in Asia continues to climb.
New Delhi believes it has reason to be wary. As recently as August 2020, a Chinese national suspected of being a spy paying Buddhist monks for information about the Dalai Lama’s bodyguard was arrested in India. The first breach in the relationship between India and the Tibetan community opened in 2011, when the XVIIe karmapa, the third highest dignitary in the schools of Tibetan Buddhism, had been suspected by New Delhi of being a Chinese spy. A suspicion that was officially lifted a year later, the dignitary having been cleared by Indian justice, but that did not remove all doubts. The karmapa obtained a passport from Dominica in 2018 and regularly experiences difficulties in obtaining Indian visas.
You have 53.58% of this article to read. The rest is for subscribers only.