Mondial des clubs: à Miami, la fièvre Boca

“Dale Boca! Dale Bo!” (Allez Boca! Allez Bo!”) chanté en boucle, du jaune et du bleu à perte de vue, au Hard Rock Stadium comme sur les plages de North Beach où ils se rassemblent… l’internationale des supporters de Boca Juniors met la fièvre à Miami.”Boca c’est tout pour moi. Ca va au-delà de l’amour, du pays, de tout”, clame Ignacio Tedesco, 24 ans, venu de la province de Buenos Aires pour assister aux deux premiers matches de son équipe de coeur au Mondial des clubs.Depuis le début de la compétition, ceux qui électrisent l’ambiance mieux que personne dans les stades sont les fans sud-américains, ceux des équipes brésiliennes Flamengo, Botafogo, Palmeiras et Fluminense, mais aussi de l’autre formation argentine River Plate. Mais si un titre de champion du monde devait être décerné aux supporters, il le serait probablement aux survoltés de Boca.Comme lundi à la veille de l’entrée en lice du CABJ face à Benfica (2-2), un nouveau moment de communion s’est imposé au programme d’Ignacio ce jeudi après-midi avec un nouveau “banderazo”, un lever de drapeaux, organisé au North Shore Oceanside Park, dans la partie nord de Miami Beach.Et malgré la très forte chaleur (37 degrés), ils étaient plusieurs centaines de Bosteros (supporters de Boca) au rendez-vous annoncé sur les réseaux sociaux – et même par la presse argentine – avant de se retrouver au Hard Rock Stadium vendredi où ils ont été bien plus nombreux encore, plusieurs dizaines de milliers, pour encourager les leurs malgré la défaite (2-1) face au Bayern Munich.- Asados, cumbia et fumigènes -Certains sont venus de très loin, comme Emanuel Fernandez Galasso, 42 ans, fondateur du consulat de Boca Juniors à Malaga. Ses membres, une centaine, ont le statut de socios internationaux. Selon la Fédération argentine de foot, on en recense plus de 320.000 dans le monde. “Tous les Bosteros que vous rencontrez ne peuvent imaginer une vie sans Boca. J’ai besoin d’avoir des gens de Boca à mes côtés et c’est pour cela que ce projet a vu le jour en 2001. Et là où Boca va, nous allons: à Dubaï, en Argentine, à Miami… Boca est tout pour nous”, dit-il fièrement.Asados (barbecues de viandes), musique cumbia, bannières de peñas, drapeaux de Diego Maradona, fumigènes, chants collectifs, la fête bat son plein dans ce parc et sur la plage le long de l’océan Atlantique, devenus en quelques jours l’épicentre de la passion Boca. Et ici, pas de violence, loin des joutes parfois meurtrières entre barras bravas (groupes de supporters) en Amérique du Sud, sous les yeux mi-amusés mi-intrigués des habitants et des policiers.Passion, c’est le mot qui revient inlassablement dans la bouche des Bosteros.Pour Fernando Pascual, 23 ans, étudiant en psychologie vivant à General Pico, dans la province de Pampa, tout ceci s’explique naturellement. “Les passions vous aident à vous lever, elles vous aident dans vos pensées, elles vous aident dans votre philosophie de vie et c’est beau de partager une si grande passion avec tant de gens.”- “La moitié de mon coeur” -“En Argentine, nous sommes des gens très passionnés, de politique, de football, de tout. C’est pourquoi nous entrevoyons tout avec tant d’affect, avec tant de force et que nous nous impliquons tellement (…) Dans la société américaine on ne vit pas les choses avec autant de passion, parce qu’en fin de compte, cela ne vous fait pas gagner d’argent. Cela ne vous procure rien d’autre que la joie de savoir que votre club favori est en train de gagner”, développe-t-il.Gabriela González, 46 ans, a elle fait le voyage avec sa famille depuis la Californie. “Nous avons tout quitté: travail, petits-enfants, tout… pour soutenir Boca avec mon mari, mes enfants, mon père et ma mère. On n’a jamais perdu le contact avec le club, nous sommes des socios internationaux depuis 2001″, raconte celle qui réside aux Etats-Unis depuis cette date.”On fait la promotion de Boca auprès de nos amis américains et latino-américains. Les amis de mes amis sont déjà fans et vont voir les matches. On propage cette culture”, poursuit-elle. “Boca, c’est la moitié de mon cœur.”Pour Ignacio Tedesco, c’est tout aussi viscéral: “Je suis fan depuis que j’ai été dans le ventre de ma mère, qui m’a emmené à la Bombonera (le stade du club) quand elle était enceinte. Si Boca gagne, je suis heureux. Si Boca perd ou fait match nul, je suis triste. Si Boca a de bons résultats, je me sens rassasié. Dans le cas contraire, je me sens vide”.

VP Vance says US troops still ‘necessary’ in Los Angeles

US Vice President JD Vance said on Friday that the thousands of troops deployed to Los Angeles this month were still needed despite a week of relative calm in the protest-hit city.President Donald Trump has sent roughly 4,000 National Guard members and 700 Marines, purportedly to protect federal property and personnel, after demonstrations over immigration raids.”Unfortunately, the soldiers and Marines are still very much a necessary part of what’s going on here because they’re worried that it’s going to flare back up,” Vance told reporters in Los Angeles.He was speaking the day after an appeals court ruled that Trump could continue to control the California National Guard, which would normally fall under Governor Gavin Newsom’s authority.California officials have heavily criticized Trump over his use of the military, saying it escalated protests that local law enforcement could have handled.The demonstrations were largely peaceful and mostly contained to a small part of Los Angeles, the second-largest US city, although there were instances of violence and vandalism. “If you let violent rioters burn Great American Cities to the ground, then, of course, we’re going to send federal law enforcement in to protect the people the president was elected to protect,” Vance said, adding that Trump would deploy them again if needed.The Republican further accused Newsom — a possible contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2028 — and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass of encouraging protesters.Newsom and Bass have both condemned rioting and violence towards law enforcement while accusing the Trump administration of manufacturing a crisis in the city.Bass hit back at Vance during a news conference on Friday, accusing him of openly lying and saying that local law enforcement agencies handled crowd control. “How dare you say that city officials encourage violence. We kept the peace. You know that the federal officials that were here protected a federal building — they were not involved in crowd control,” she said. Bass said that even when there was vandalism, at its height “you are talking about a couple of hundred people who are not necessarily associated with any of the peaceful protests.” “Los Angeles is a city that is 500 square miles and any of the disruption that took place took place at about 2 square miles in our city,” she said, accusing Vance of adding to “provocation” and sowing “division.”- ‘Jose Padilla’ -Many in Los Angeles are angry about immigration raids carried out as part of Trump’s ambition to deport vast numbers of undocumented migrants around the country.Outrage at the use of masked, armed immigration agents also sparked protests in other cities, including San Francisco, New York, Chicago and San Antonio, Texas.Tensions spiked when California Senator Alex Padilla, a Democrat, was handcuffed and forcibly removed last week when attempting to ask Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem questions during her news conference. Vance misnamed the senator when referring to the incident, saying: “I was hoping Jose Padilla would be here to ask a question but unfortunately I guess he decided not to show up because there wasn’t a theater.”Bass reacted to the comment with outrage.”How dare you disrespect him and call him Jose. But I guess he just looked like anybody to you,” she said. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer had said Padilla’s treatment “reeks of totalitarianism,” while the White House claimed — despite video evidence to the contrary — that Padilla had “lunged toward Secretary Noem.”

Water levels plummet at drought-hit Iraqi reservoir

Water levels at Iraq’s vast Dukan Dam reservoir have plummeted as a result of dwindling rains and further damming upstream, hitting millions of inhabitants already impacted by drought with stricter water rationing.Amid these conditions, visible cracks have emerged in the retreating shoreline of the artificial lake, which lies in northern Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region and was created in the 1950s.Dukan Lake has been left three quarters empty, with its director Kochar Jamal Tawfeeq explaining its reserves currently stand at around 1.6 billion cubic metres of water out of a possible seven billion. That is “about 24 percent” of its capacity, the official said, adding that the level of water in the lake had not been so low in roughly 20 years. Satellite imagery analysed by AFP shows the lake’s surface area shrank by 56 percent between the end of May 2019, the last year it was completely full, and the beginning of June 2025.Tawfeeq blamed climate change and a “shortage of rainfall” explaining that the timing of the rains had also become irregular.Over the winter season, Tawfeeq said the Dukan region received 220 millimetres (8.7 inches) of rain, compared to a typical 600 millimetres.- ‘Harvest failed’ -Upstream damming of the Little Zab River, which flows through Iran and feeds Dukan, was a secondary cause of the falling water levels, Tawfeeq explained. Also buffeted by drought, Iran has built dozens of structures on the river to increase its own water reserves. Baghdad has criticised these kinds of dams, built both by Iran and neighbouring Turkey, accusing them of significantly restricting water flow into Iraq via the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.Iraq, and its 46 million inhabitants, have been intensely impacted by the effects of climate change, experiencing rising temperatures, year-on-year droughts and rampant desertification.At the end of May, the country’s total water reserves were at their lowest level in 80 years.On the slopes above Dukan lies the village of Sarsian, where Hussein Khader Sheikhah, 57, was planting a summer crop on a hectare of land.The farmer said he hoped a short-term summer crop of the kind typically planted in the area for an autumn harvest — cucumbers, melons, chickpeas, sunflower seeds and beans — would help him offset some of the losses over the winter caused by drought.In winter, in another area near the village, he planted 13 hectares mainly of wheat.”The harvest failed because of the lack of rain,” he explained, adding that he lost an equivalent of almost $5,700 to the poor yield.”I can’t make up for the loss of 13 hectares with just one hectare near the river,” he added.- ‘Stricter rationing’ – The water shortage at Dukan has affected around four million people downstream in the neighbouring Sulaimaniyah and Kirkuk governorates, including their access to drinking water.For more than a month, water treatment plants in Kirkuk have been trying to mitigate a sudden, 40 percent drop in the supplies reaching them, according to local water resource official Zaki Karim.In a country ravaged by decades of conflict, with crumbling infrastructure and floundering public policies, residents already receive water intermittently.The latest shortages are forcing even “stricter rationing” and more infrequent water distributions, Karim said.In addition to going door-to-door to raise awareness about water waste, the authorities were also cracking down on illegal access to the water networkIn the province of roughly two million inhabitants, the aim is to minimise the impact on the provincial capital of Kirkuk.”If some treatment plants experience supply difficulties, we will ensure that there are no total interruptions, so everyone can receive their share,” Karim said.burx-str-tgg/feb/csp/tc/jsa

Israel says delayed Iran’s presumed nuclear programme by two years

Israel claimed on Saturday it has already set back Iran’s presumed nuclear programme by at least two years, a day after US President Donald Trump warned that Tehran has a “maximum” of two weeks to avoid possible American air strikes.Trump has been mulling whether to involve the United States in Israel’s bombing campaign, indicating in his latest comments that he could take a decision before the two week deadline he set this week.Israel said Saturday its air force had launched fresh air strikes against missile storage and launch sites in central Iran, as it kept up a wave of attacks it says are aimed at preventing its rival from developing nuclear weapons — an ambition Tehran has denied.”According to the assessment we hear, we already delayed for at least two or three years the possibility for them to have a nuclear bomb,” Israel’s foreign minister Gideon Saar said in an interview published Saturday.Saar said Israel’s week-long onslaught would continue. “We will do everything that we can do there in order to remove this threat,” he told German newspaper Bild.Top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva on Friday and urged him to resume talks with the United States that had been derailed by Israel’s attacks.French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said “we invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for.”But Araghchi told NBC News after the meeting that “we’re not prepared to negotiate with them (the United States) anymore, as long as the aggression continues.” Trump was dismissive of European diplomacy efforts, telling reporters, “Iran doesn’t want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this.”Trump also said he’s unlikely to ask Israel to stop its attacks to get Iran back to the table.”If somebody’s winning, it’s a little bit harder to do,” he said. Any US involvement would likely feature powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses to destroy an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo.On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally busting markets largely abandoned on Friday.- 450 missiles – A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, said on Friday based on its sources and media reports that at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians.Iran has not updated its tolls since Sunday, when it said that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians.Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people.A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 wounded, including one person in a serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo.Israel’s National Public Diplomacy Directorate said more than 450 missiles have been fired at the country so far, along with about 400 drones.Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases.- ‘Madness’ -Western powers have repeatedly expressed concerns about the rapid expansion of Iran’s nuclear programme, questioning in particular the country’s accelerated uranium enrichment. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran is the only country without nuclear weapons to enrich uranium to 60 percent.However, it added that there was no evidence it had all the components to make a functioning nuclear warhead.The agency’s chief Rafael Grossi told CNN it was “pure speculation” to say how long it would take Iran to develop weapons.Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy said the conflict was at a “perilous moment” and it was “hugely important that we don’t see regional escalation”.Araghchi arrived in Istanbul on Saturday according to the Tasnim news agency, for a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to discuss the Iran-Israel conflict.Switzerland announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran.burs-ser/ami/kir/gv/acb/tc/mtp

En mer de Chine, Japon, Etats-Unis et Philippines simulent des scénarios de crise

Un homme qui tombe à la mer, deux bateaux qui entrent en collision: pendant cinq jours, Japon, Etats-Unis et Philippines ont simulé des situations de crise lors d’exercices maritimes dans les eaux disputées de la mer de Chine.Il s’agit de la deuxième coopération de ce type entre les trois pays, après un premier exercice maritime organisé aux Philippines en 2023.Ces exercices, qui se sont achevés vendredi, se sont déroulés au large de la côte sud-ouest du Japon, près de la ville de Kagoshima. Ils surviennent après une mise en garde des trois pays sur les activités chinoises en mer de Chine méridionale.Pékin revendique la quasi-totalité de cette mer, malgré une décision de justice internationale de 2016 statuant que ses revendications n’ont aucun fondement juridique.Cette mer est ainsi le théâtre depuis des années d’affrontements entre la Chine et les Philippine. Des face-à-face réguliers ont également lieu entre patrouilleurs chinois et japonais autour d’îles disputées en mer de Chine orientale.Dans ce contexte tendu, des dizaines de personnes ont pris part cette semaine aux exercices conjoints Japon-Etats-Unis-Philippines. Au dernier jour, les trois pays alliés ont chacun mobilisé un navire de leur garde-côtière: le patrouilleur BRP Teresa Magbanua pour les Philippines, la vedette USCGS Stratton pour les Etats-Unis et le patrouilleur Asanagi pour le Japon.- Opérations de sauvetage -Ces cinq jours d’exercice se sont conclus vendredi par la simulation d’une chute d’un homme en mer.Une fois le mannequin dans l’eau, repérable à son gilet de sauvetage rouge vif, un drone américain a décollé du Stratton avant de survoler la zone.Une petite embarcation philippine a alors été déployée depuis le Teresa Magbuna, filant à toute vitesse en direction du mannequin pour le repêcher avant les garde-côtes.D’autres scénarios simulant des opérations de sauvetage ont été imaginés lors de ces exercices: le sauvetage d’un homme en mer par un hélicoptère japonais, la collision entre deux bateaux ou encore l’incendie d’un navire, que trois bateaux des garde-côtes japonais ont éteint à l’aide de canons à eau.- “Confiance” -Ces manœuvres, selon des responsables, ne visent officiellement aucun pays en particulier, mais la rhétorique employée reprend celle de Washington et de ses alliés pour évoquer implicitement la Chine.Pour Naofumi Tsumura, chef des garde-côtes japonais, elles ont permis aux trois pays de “renforcer la compréhension et la confiance mutuelles”.”Plus que tout, nous avons renforcé la coordination et la coopération entre nous”, estime-t-il.L’an dernier, Tokyo, Manille et Washington avaient publié une déclaration conjointe au ton ferme à l’égard de Pékin. “Nous exprimons nos vives préoccupations concernant le comportement dangereux et agressif de la République Populaire de Chine en mer de Chine méridionale”, indiquait alors le texte.La semaine dernière, Tokyo et Pékin se sont mutuellement critiqués à la suite de rapprochements jugés dangereux entre des avions militaires au-dessus du Pacifique.Vendredi, Manille a accusé Pékin d’avoir tiré au canon à eau sur deux de ses bateaux qui tentaient de ravitailler des pêcheurs philippins près du récif contesté de Scarborough Shoal, situé à 240 km à l’ouest des côtes philippines et à 900 km au sud-est de l’île chinoise de Hainan.