Vendée Globe: un quator de choc régale les Sables-d’Olonne
Sam Goodchild, Justine Mettraux, Thomas Ruyant et Nicolas Lunven ont tous remonté samedi le chenal des Sables-d’Olonne devant des milliers de personnes enthousiastes, terminant en beauté un Vendée Globe éprouvant jusqu’au bout pour ce quatuor de choc.Le Britannique Goodchild (Vulnerable), grand animateur des premiers jours de la 10e course autour du monde sans escale et en solitaire, a franchi la ligne d’arrivée au large de la cité vendéenne à 15h03 (GMT+1), en 9e position.Tenace et bricoleur, le skipper a particulièrement souffert pour terminer son périple après la déchirure de sa grand-voile pendant la remontée de l’Atlantique, alors qu’il naviguait en 4e position.Il a pu entrer dans le chenal juste avant que la marée ne retarde son bain de foule d’une demi-journée et juste après la Suissesse Justine Mettraux, 8e, devenue samedi la navigatrice la plus rapide de l’histoire de la course.En franchissant la ligne aux alentours de 13h30 en 76 jours 1 heure et 36 minutes, la navigatrice Teamwork – Team Snef a pulvérisé le précédent record féminin détenu par la Française Clarisse Crémer (87 jours, 2 heures, 24 minutes en 2020/2021).Avec Paul Meilhat (Biotherm), Jérémie Beyou (Charal) et Nicolas Lunven (Holcim – PRB) – tous trois arrivés hier-, mais aussi Thomas Ruyant (Vulnerable) – arrivé samedi matin-, ils ont mené une régate intense, souvent bord-à -bord, pendant plus de deux mois.- “De la régate à tous les étages” -Annoncé comme l’un des grands favoris, Ruyant a longtemps été dans le groupe de poursuivants du trio de tête mené par Charlie Dalin (Macif), mais s’est finalement fait décrocher comme le reste de la flotte au milieu de l’océan Indien.Voie d’eau, problèmes électriques, voile en lambeaux, le marin a eu de nombreux soucis techniques sur son parcours pour son 3e Vendée Globe (abandon en 2016/2017, 6e en 2020/2021).Il s’est finalement classé 7e, juste derrière Lunven. “Le résultat sportif n’est pas celui que j’espérais en partant, je n’aurais pas signé pour une 7e place à la base, mais cela aurait été bête car c’était finalement une belle course avec de la régate à tous les étages”, a dit Ruyant sur le ponton.Toute la journée le quatuor a été accueilli par des milliers de personnes réunies le long des quais de la citée vendéenne, levant les bras et allumant de nombreuses fusées de détresse.”Finir, c’est déjà une victoire. Cela n’a pas été tout le temps facile. Vous retrouvez tous ça fait du bien après 75 jours tout seul en mer, je suis très très heureux”, a lancé Nicolas Lunven à la foule, très ému une fois revenu à terre.- Deux arrivées dimanche -Benjamin Dutreux (Guyot Environnement) et Clarisse Crémer (L’Occitane) devaient encore passer la ligne dimanche en fin de journée.Mais pour éviter une grosse tempête en train de se former dans le Golfe de Gascogne, Samantha Davies (Initiatives Coeur) et Boris Herrmann (Malizia) ont mis le frein à main et patientent actuellement à hauteur des Açores.”Je suis tellement déçue de ne pas arriver dimanche et de rallonger mon temps de course. Mais le sens marin est ma priorité, je dois prendre soin de mon bateau qui a fait quasiment un tour du monde”, a expliqué Davies vendredi.La 10e édition de la course autour du monde en solitaire, sans escale et sans assistance a été remportée par Charlie Dalin le 14 janvier, en 64 jours 19 heures 22 minutes 49 secondes, nouveau record à la clé.
Dans le sud du Liban, la ville de Naqoura dévastée après le retrait israélien
Entre les maisons dévastées et les vergers abandonnés, tout signe de vie a disparu de la ville de Naqoura, plongée dans le silence à l’approche de la date butoir pour le retrait de l’armée israélienne du sud du Liban.L’armée libanaise patrouille désormais dans les ruines de cette ville fantôme, frontalière d’Israël, que les forces israéliennes ont quittée le 6 janvier en laissant derrière elles d’immenses destructions.En vertu de l’accord qui a mis fin le 27 novembre à deux mois de guerre entre le Hezbollah et Israël, seuls l’armée libanaise et les Casques bleus de l’ONU peuvent être désormais déployés dans le sud du Liban, d’où l’armée israélienne doit avoir achevé son retrait au 26 janvier.Celle-ci a à présent évacué toute la région côtière du sud du Liban, mais occupe encore des zones plus à l’est.”Il nous faudra au moins trois ans pour reconstruire”: Abbas Awada, le maire de Naqoura, a pu venir mercredi découvrir l’étendue des destructions, alors que les habitants n’ont pas encore été autorisés à rentrer pour des raisons de sécurité.”Naqoura est une ville sinistrée (…) les conditions de vie les plus élémentaires n’y existent plus”, se désole-t-il, devant la mairie dévastée.”Lorsque l’armée y est entrée après le cessez-le-feu”, “35% de la localité était détruite, maintenant les destructions concernent 90%” de Naqoura, dit-il à l’AFP.Il affirme que l’armée israélienne a détruit les bâtiments “à la dynamite et au bulldozer”.Autour du quartier général de la Force intérimaire des Nations Unies au Liban (Finul), les maisons ont été épargnées. Mais à mesure qu’on avance dans la ville déserte, les maisons sont totalement dévastées, au milieu de plantations de bananes qui pourrissent et des vergers d’agrumes que personne n’a cueillis.Des soldats libanais patrouillent, entre les ruines de l’école et les maisons éventrées qui laissent apparaître une penderie ou une cuisine.Un mur encore debout porte une inscription en hébreu. Les soldats, qui se sont déployés à Naqoura dès le retrait israélien, découvrent un énorme obus qui n’a pas explosé.Une odeur putride flotte sur la ville, où les secouristes ont encore retiré mardi deux corps des décombres.- Drapeaux du Hezbollah -Les échanges de tirs entre le Hezbollah et Israël depuis le début du conflit à Gaza, en octobre 2023, ont tourné à une guerre ouverte de deux mois en septembre 2024.Sorti affaibli de la guerre, le Hezbollah pro-iranien doit retirer ses forces de la région.Mais malgré l’entrée en vigueur de la trêve, l’armée israélienne mène régulièrement des frappes, affirmant viser le Hezbollah, et les médias d’Etat libanais l’accusent de procéder à des dynamitages dans les villages encore occupés.Interrogé par le bureau de l’AFP à Jérusalem, un porte-parole de l’armée israélienne a affirmé qu’elle “demeure attachée” à la trêve et “continue d’opérer conformément aux accords conclus entre Israël et le Liban”.Sur la route menant à Naqoura, des drapeaux du Hezbollah flottent au vent, mais aucune présence de ses militants n’est visible.La Finul patrouille dans le secteur, et l’armée, postée au barrage qui contrôle l’accès à la localité, interdit aux voitures civiles d’y pénétrer, sauf de rares exceptions.- “Nous voulons une solution” -A 20 kilomètres plus au nord, Fatima Yazbeck attend impatiemment, dans un centre d’accueil de Tyr, de pouvoir rentrer chez elle.Elle a fui Naqoura il y a plus de 15 mois. “Depuis, je n’y suis plus revenue, je ne sais pas ce qui s’y est passé”, dit cette veuve de 61 ans, racontant combien elle a été attristée d’apprendre que sa maison avait été détruite.Comme elle, Ali Mehdi, un volontaire du centre d’accueil, dit que sa maison a été détruite.”Ma maison avait été juste endommagée au début (…) mais après la trêve, les Israéliens sont entrés à Naqoura et ont détruit les maisons, les vergers et les routes”, raconte cet homme de 45 ans.A ses côtés, Moustapha Al-Sayed, 54 ans, attend avec sa famille nombreuse depuis plus d’un an de pouvoir rentrer dans son village du sud, Beit Lif. Déjà en 2006, il avait été obligé de fuir lors de la précédente guerre entre le Hezbollah et Israël.”Est-ce qu’on doit emmener nos familles et fuir tous les 20 ans?”, s’insurge-t-il. “Nous voulons une solution définitive, nous voulons que les guerres se terminent”.
Le musée d’Orsay victime d’une fraude à la billetterie en ligne
Le musée d’Orsay à Paris a été victime vendredi “d’une fraude aux sites miroirs et à la vente de faux billets en ligne” qui l’a obligé à désactiver sa billetterie, a-t-il annoncé samedi à l’AFP.Les visiteurs qui voulaient acheter leurs billets pour ce musée parisien étaient renvoyés, sans qu’ils s’en rendent compte, sur de faux sites de vente de billets en ligne.La billetterie fonctionnait de nouveau samedi, a-t-il été  précisé.Le musée, alerté vendredi matin, a porté plainte et a dû suspendre quelques heures sa billetterie en ligne. La vente de billets sur place est restée disponible et le musée normalement ouvert.”Pour éviter cette fraude, l’établissement recommande à ses visiteurs de regarder attentivement qu’ils sont bien sur les URL suivantes : www.billetterie.musee-orsay.fr et www.musee-orsay.fr”.En début de semaine, le Parc Astérix avait déjà annoncé être victime d’une telle fraude.
Lebanon army accuses Israel of ‘procrastination’ in ceasefire withdrawal
The Lebanese army said on Saturday it was ready to deploy its forces in the country’s south, accusing Israel of “procrastination” in its withdrawal under a ceasefire, a day before the pullout deadline.Under the terms of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire that came into effect on November 27, the Lebanese army is to deploy alongside United Nations peacekeepers in the south as the Israeli army withdraws over a 60-day period that ends Sunday.Hezbollah is to pull back its forces north of the Litani River — about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border — and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.”There has been a delay at a number of stages as a result of the procrastination in the withdrawal from the Israeli enemy’s side,” the army said in a statement.It said it was “ready to continue its deployment as soon as the Israeli enemy withdraws”.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on Friday that the military’s withdrawal would continue beyond the Sunday deadline.”The withdrawal process is conditional upon the Lebanese army deploying in southern Lebanon and fully and effectively enforcing the agreement, with Hezbollah withdrawing beyond the Litani River,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office said.”Since the ceasefire agreement has not yet been fully enforced by the Lebanese state, the gradual withdrawal process will continue in full coordination with the United States.”Ceasefire mediators the United States and France have helped monitor its implementation.- ‘Be cautious’ -The accusation from the Lebanese army comes after UN chief Antonio Guterres called on January 17 for Israel to end its “occupation” of the south.In a telephone call with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Lebanon’s new President Joseph Aoun spoke of the “need to oblige Israel to respect the terms of the deal in order to maintain stability in the south,” his office said.Aoun said last week that Israel must “withdraw from occupied territories in the south within the deadline set by the agreement reached on November 27”.Lebanon’s army urged people to “be cautious in heading back to the southern border areas, due to the presence of mines and suspicious objects left behind” by Israeli forces.Lebanese state news agency NNA reported that some people displaced from border areas had received international calls, purportedly from an Israeli military spokesperson, warning them not to return home.It said several border villages had been sealed off by the Israeli army while troops carried out demolitions. It reported one resident wounded by Israeli fire.A Lebanese government source told AFP that “caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati contacted the new US administration, warned of the gravity of Israel’s attempt to circumvent the implementation of the ceasefire, and stressed the need to respect deadlines”.A Lebanese military source said Israeli forces had “completed their withdrawal from the western sector” of the south in early January, but “have not completed their withdrawal from the eastern sector as their withdrawal from the middle sector was delayed”.- ‘Flagrant violation’ -Hezbollah began exchanging low-intensity cross-border fire with the Israeli army the day after the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by its Palestinian ally Hamas which triggered the war in Gaza.Israel intensified its campaign against Hezbollah in September, launching a series of devastating blows against the group’s leadership that saw its longtime chief Hassan Nasrallah killed in an air strike in Beirut.Hezbollah warned on Thursday that “any violation of the 60-day deadline will be considered a flagrant violation of (the ceasefire) agreement, an infringement on Lebanese sovereignty and the occupation entering a new chapter”.It said the Lebanese state should use “all means necessary… to restore the land and wrest it from the clutches of the occupation”.A committee composed of Israeli, Lebanese, French and US delegates and a representative of UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL is tasked with ensuring any ceasefire violations are identified and dealt with.The UN peacekeeping force has reported Israeli violations of the terms of the ceasefire.Guterres said peacekeepers had also found more than 100 weapons caches belonging “to Hezbollah or other armed groups”.
Freed Israeli hostages reach hospital on military helicopter: AFP
Four Israeli women soldiers freed from captivity in Gaza reached Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, central Israel, on Saturday accompanied by their parents aboard a military helicopter, AFP journalists reported.The Israeli health ministry later confirmed that they had arrived at the hospital. It said staff there were ready to “provide comprehensive medical care, including psychological support” for the women who had spent 477 days in captivity. The Israeli military said earlier in a statement that “Daniella Gilboa, Liri Albag, Naama Levy and Karina Ariev, together with their parents, just boarded an Israeli air force helicopter to make their way to the hospital, where they will be reunited with the rest of their families and receive medical treatment”.The four women were handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross in Gaza City on Saturday morning, before being passed to the Israeli military who transported them out of the Palestinian territory. They were then reunited with their parents at a military base on the border with Gaza before boarding the helicopter. Footage released by the military showed the families overcome with joy at being back together.Albag and her parents were seen screaming with happiness and laughing while her father lifted her off the ground in a bear hug. Speaking directly to the camera she said: “I love you, all the citizens of the State of Israel, who supported our families and embraced them, and all the (Israeli) soldiers who did everything for us. Thank you very much, I love you all,” before making a heart symbol with her hands. All four of the families were seen sharing tender moments together, crying, hugging and kissing.Outside the hospital in Petah Tikva, around 10 kilometres (seven miles) east of Tel Aviv, crowds waving Israeli flags gathered to greet the arriving helicopters.As they had done six days before during the first hostage release of this ceasefire, officials deployed a covered walkway to preserve the privacy of the hostages. Earlier in the day, the hostages were paraded on a stage in central Gaza City by Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross.
Israelis rejoice at emotional release of second group of hostages
A loud cheer swept through the crowd gathered at a Tel Aviv plaza known as Hostage Square, as giant screens livestreamed the long-awaited release of four Israeli hostages on Saturday, the latest to be freed under a Gaza ceasefire deal.Hundreds had arrived in the square in early morning in anticipation of the four women soldiers’ release. Many wore yellow T-shirts with the words “You are not alone” printed in Hebrew.Many Israelis began to breathe a sigh of relief as the ceasefire and hostage release deal, which also sees Palestinian prisoners freed, got underway last Sunday after a 15-month ordeal.”I’m super excited, waves of excitement and happiness,” said Shlomi Ben Yakar, 54. “We didn’t believe in the past it felt like a dream, and now it’s a good dream that is coming true.”All eyes had been fixed anxiously on the screen for hours, awaiting the arrival of an International Committee of the Red Cross convoy at a square in the centre of Gaza City.As soon as the four women’s silhouettes appeared on the screen, cries of joy erupted, with many embracing one another tearfully in celebration.Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa, Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City, flanked by masked and armed militants.”The feeling is great, excitement, tears and joy, it’s all at once,” said Sima Ben Naim, a 70-year-old from Tel Aviv. “It’s not only happiness, we also have tears, and I hope all (the hostages) will return.”- ‘Bring them home’ -One woman cried and laughed holding up a picture of Levy, under whose name appeared the number 19, struck through and corrected with the number 20, indicating the age she turned while in captivity.There were more scenes of jubilation when Israeli military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari announced on live television that the four women had arrived in Israel, after 477 days in war-ravaged Gaza.Hana Mamalia, a 71-year-old from Ramat Hasharon, told AFP: “I almost fainted, my husband had to hold me, I have no voice, it’s good, I hope all will return home in peace. Amen!”Militants seized 251 hostages during Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack which triggered the war. Of those, 87 remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.The first, six-week phase of the ceasefire that came into effect on Sunday should see the staggered release of 33 Israeli hostages in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.”Bring them home now!” shouted a group of women in the crowd in Tel Aviv, echoing the slogan of the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group.Many fear for the fate of the remaining hostages as far-right members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s ruling coalition oppose the ceasefire.
Hamas, Israel in new hostage-prisoner swap under Gaza truce
Palestinian militants and Israel carried out a hostage-prisoner swap on Saturday under a Gaza ceasefire deal, but a last-minute dispute blocked the expected return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to devastated northern Gaza.As part of the exchange, the second since the truce took effect last Sunday, four freed Israeli women hostages, all soldiers, arrived home in Israel after more than 15 months of captivity in Gaza.In exchange, Israel’s prison service confirmed that 200 prisoners, whom it called “terrorists”, were freed.The Israeli captives, Karina Ariev, Daniella Gilboa and Naama Levy, all aged 20, and Liri Albag, 19, waved, smiled, and gave thumbs up as they were paraded on a stage in Gaza City.Masked and armed militants flanked them during a slick ceremony watched by hundreds of residents.In Tel Aviv, where a crowd gathered to watch their release on a large TV screen at a plaza known as Hostage Square, there were tears of joy, applause and a loud cheer as Israeli flags waved.After their handover to the Red Cross, Israel’s military said the women were transferred back into Israel and “reunited with their parents”.They were later taken by military helicopter to the Rabin Medical Centre, where they would receive “comprehensive medical care, including psychological support”, according to Israel’s health ministry.Buses carrying the released Palestinians left Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank and Ktziot prison in the Negev desert.As dozens of the former prisoners reached the West Bank city of Ramallah, crowds of Palestinians erupted in joy, raising many of them onto their shoulders, an AFP journalist said.The Palestinian Prisoners Club advocacy group said among those to be released was Mohammed al-Tous, 69, who has spent the longest continuous period in Israeli detention.- Aid surge-Bassem Naim, of the Hamas political bureau, had told AFP on Friday that Palestinians displaced by the war to southern Gaza should have been able to begin returning to the north following Saturday’s releases.But Israel on Saturday said it would block such returns until civilian woman hostage Arbel Yehud is released.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said she “was supposed to be released today” but a Hamas source told AFP Yehud will be “released as part of the third swap set for next Saturday”.On social media platform X, the military’s Arabic-language spokesman, Avichay Adraee, reiterated that Gazans were not allowed to approach the Netzarim corridor through which they have to pass to reach their homes in the north.The truce has brought a surge of food, fuel, medical and other aid into rubble-strewn Gaza, but Israel’s UN ambassador on Friday confirmed that the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, Gaza’s main aid agency, must end all operations in Israel by Thursday.The hostage-prisoner exchange is part of a fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that took effect last Sunday, and which is intended to pave the way to a permanent end to the war.Mediators Qatar and the United States announced the agreement days ahead of US President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Trump has since claimed credit for securing the deal after months of fruitless negotiations.The ceasefire agreement should be implemented in three phases, but the last two stages have not yet been finalised.- Deported -During the first, 42-day phase, 33 hostages Israel believes are still alive should be freed in staggered releases in exchange for around 1,900 Palestinians held in Israeli jails.Three women hostages returned home on the first day of the truce in exchange for 90 Palestinians.Among the overall group of Palestinians to be freed, more than 230 are serving life sentences for deadly attacks on Israelis and will be permanently expelled, according to a list made public by Israeli authorities.State-linked Egyptian media on Saturday said 70 freed Palestinian prisoners “deported” by Israel had arrived in Egypt by bus. They were to transit and go on to third countries.The deal’s second phase is to see negotiations for a more permanent end to the war, but analysts have warned it risks collapsing because of the deal’s multi-phase nature and deep distrust between Israel and Hamas.During their October 7, 2023 attack that began the war, Hamas militants took 251 hostages, 87 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military has confirmed are dead.The attack resulted in the deaths of 1,210 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 47,283 people in Gaza, a majority civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry, figures which the UN considers reliable.- ‘Situation remains dire’ -Almost the entire Gaza population of 2.4 million has been displaced by the war”Probably between 65 percent to 70 percent of buildings in Gaza have either been entirely destroyed or damaged,” Achim Steiner, the head of the UN Development Programme, told AFP in Davos, Switzerland.Hundreds of truckloads of aid have entered Gaza daily since the ceasefire began, but the UN says “the humanitarian situation remains dire”.The UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, will be effectively barred from operating as of Thursday.In a letter addressed to United Nations chief Antonio Guterres, Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon confirmed: “UNRWA is required to cease its operations in Jerusalem, and evacuate all premises in which it operates in the city, no later than 30 January 2025.”UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned on Friday that preventing the agency from operating “might sabotage the Gaza ceasefire, failing once again hopes of people who have gone through unspeakable suffering.” burs-jd/ser/it/jsa