Published on:
On the front page of the press this Wednesday, November 15, many revelations. Those from the investigative site Disclose, which claims that the French police are illegally using Israeli facial recognition software. Those of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists on how Cyprus served as a safe haven for Russia. And Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Switzerland under the radar of the French press.
+ : Get the France 24 Press Review every morning on your device iPhone Or on any other mobile. And also always on your PC by becoming a fan Facebook…
On the front page of the press, these investigative sites are exposed Published. An investigative site claims that French police are illegally using Israeli facial recognition software.
According to internal Interior Ministry documents obtained by the NGO, the police have been using the Israeli company Briefcam’s systems since 2015 in a highly secretive manner. The software in question – video surveillance software that uses artificial intelligence to analyze images and detect situations considered “abnormal”, for example, allows you to track a person on a network of cameras based only on the color of their sweater or track a vehicle using its license plate. Hours of videos that can be analyzed in minutes. According to him, the system is therefore very effective, but illegal Published, which claims that the “massive” implementation of this system took place outside the legal framework established by both European regulations and French law. The investigative site reports that the French government finally passed a law last May to allow large-scale experimentation with the software, particularly for the Paris Olympics, but that lawmakers then banned the use of facial recognition due to privacy concerns. Functionality, however, which certain Briefcam software allows to activate “with a few clicks”, and which the services of the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, “know well” Published.
More revelations with the “Cyprus Confidential” investigation into how Cyprus, this small Mediterranean island member of the European Union, served as a safe for Russia. This investigation International Consortium of Investigative Journalistsin cooperation with the investigative unit Radio Francein particular, it reports “the mass presence of Russian oligarchs on the island, who transferred their wealth there” – even after the start of the war in Ukraine. Among them is Alexei Mordashov, one of the richest industrialists in Russia, who is said to have transferred almost $1.5 billion just after the war began, even though his name had just been added to the list of Russians under European sanctions. This is claimed by a Belgian newspaper Eveningwhich was also involved in this investigation, yesterday Cyprus responded to these revelations through its President Nikos Christodoulides, who promises to investigate these alleged violations of sanctions against Moscow.
Russia has found several ways to circumvent these sanctions. The European Commission today presents its twelfth set of sanctions, Le Figaro specifies that it will focus on diamonds, even though the Europeans have already divided their imports by six since the start of the war in Ukraine. According to the newspaper, the first 11 sets of sanctions would deprive Moscow of a total revenue of almost 400 billion euros. But the Europeans are still trying to improve their effectiveness and prevent parades by Russia and its allies, including Armenia, the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and even Serbia. Among other things, they serve as intermediaries for the re-export to Moscow of products “as mundane as washing machines, calculators or printers”, which are then used to supply the Russian army with electronic components for its drones. or its radars in Ukraine. This “D system” is not the only one that concerns: The Washington Post reveals that Russian oil, theoretically embargoed, can still enter the Pentagon’s supply chain. This fuel, after several changes of ownership and passing through Turkey, would be used in a Greek refinery supplying the US military.
Russia, where Vladimir Putin pardoned a former police officer convicted of murdering journalist Anna Politkovskaya. Guardian recalls that a journalist was murdered in Moscow on October 7, 2006, the same day as the Russian president’s birthday, for denouncing the abuses of the Russian army in Chechnya. The newspaper reports that this pardon was granted in exchange for the mobilization in Ukraine of this former prisoner, who was supposed to serve his sentence until 2030.
A final word on Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Switzerland. A rare trip for the French president. “Jupiter visits Bern”, writes a Swiss daily this morning Weather, where Chappatte’s drawing satirizes the supposed arrogance of Emmanuel Macron in particular and the French in general: “God, it’s all horizontal!” exclaims the president. Le Temps notes that “Emmanuel Macron’s state visit to Switzerland is not exciting the Parisian crowds, while the Francophone press” has “been buzzing about it for weeks”. Newspapers evoke “blatant asymmetry”, while the French press is passionate about “presidential trips to Qatar, the provinces or even Kazakhstan”. The newspaper explains this unequal treatment by saying that “French debate adores what trembles and what shines: flamboyant Belgians or polemical emirs”, which are considered far more interesting than “consensual Swiss mountains and lakes that make so few waves”. But Weather he doesn’t see it as “necessarily serious: “The French are more interested in Belgium or Qatar, which is great for them. Investors and economic circles know where things are going. And Switzerland continues to do relatively well, including cross-border trade. Without going so far as to say “live happily, live secretly”, we can confirm that the essentials are safe.
Find the Press Review every morning on France 24 (Monday to Friday, 7.20am and 9.20am Paris time). Also watch Revue des Hebdos every weekend in multicast.