In the spotlight: the space conquest of billionaire Jeff Bezos, between dream and commercial appetite
Audio 05:39
After Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos, boss of Amazon, will be able to enjoy a space flight, July 20, 2021. © AP / Sean Murphy
By: Véronique Rigolet Follow
11 mins
Publicity
A new billionaire in space, 11 days after Richard Branson's flight, Jeff Bezos in turn charts his way to the stars aboard his own rocket.
With Jeff Bezos "
the sky is no longer the limit
", enthuses
Le Soir
for whom "
the stratospheric route of the founder of Amazon is not the ultimate spasm of a lunatic billionaire
", "
but the realization of a childhood dream
”, and the certainty that it is in space that humanity will seek new resources tomorrow,“
Jeff Bezos defends the idea of space colonies
”, explains the Belgian daily“
des colonies of a million inhabitants nestled under a huge glass dome where futuristic cities rub shoulders
”. It is this dream of "
transhumanism
" that he now offers to everyone, insists
Le Soir.
. It is about opening "
a road to space for future generations
", underlines for its part the
Wall Street Journal
, which explains that the company Blue Origin "
owes its name to the conviction that this blue planet is as the starting point of the future of humanity
”.
There you have it, a dream which is also a vast commercial affair "
if the flight on Tuesday is successful, Blue Origin plans 2 more by the end of the year and more than half a dozen a year. next
”, notes the
Washington Post,
which underlines that“
initially the places will be offered to the best bidders for tens of millions of dollars
”. This race between billionaires for the conquest of the space tourism market, leaves in any case certain dailies dubious, like the
Time
, for which "
if the necessary scientific missions are one thing, to transform the sky into an amusement park for mega-rich is another
".
And the Swiss daily to question the purpose of an eminently "
polluting
"
flight
, without "
real destination
", and especially "
in the midst of global warming
".
Pegasus spy case sparks outrage around the world
Global outcry, after the revelations on the use of Israeli spyware by authoritarian governments, but also by large democracies like in India, where the press is standing up to denounce "
the attack on democracy
", underlines the
Indian Express
which reports that the opposition Congress party accuses the Narendra Modi government "
of being the deployer and the executor of a spy racket
".
"
Rahul Gandhi the most important political rival of the Prime Minister has been targeted twice as a potential listening target
", underlines for its part the
Guardian
which gives the floor to the whistleblower Edward Snowden for whom "
this spyware must be worldwide sales banned
”. A ban also defended by many editorial
writers
including that of the
Tageszeitung
. Emotion also in Israel "
where the revelations of the NSO software place the country on the side of the wicked
", headlines the daily
Haaretz
which denounces "
the dark side of the Israeli industry
", which casts "
a shadow on all the citizens of the country"
.
The
Haaretz
which demands explanations from the Israeli government.
Towards the closure of Guantanamo?
"
Our goal is to close Guantanamo
", reaffirmed yesterday the spokesperson for the White House, reports the American press, after therefore the release, the first under the Biden administration, of a Moroccan detainee "
who should have been released since 2016
”, underlines for its part the
Guardian
which evokes a first possible step of Biden“
towards the closing of Guantanamo
”, or all the month“
efforts to reduce the number of prisoners there which still amount to 39 detainees
”.
A "
liberation process that got bogged down under Donald Trump
", underlines the
Washington Post,
which recalls that at its peak after the attacks of September 11, 2001 "
the prison contained 700 inmates accused of terrorism
" and that it "
became the global symbol of the excesses of the United States in its response to terrorist threats
”.
The Biden administration sets itself in any case "
no timetable or deadline
" for the closure of Guantanamo, the
Post
further underlines
.
Children among the 11,000 athletes at the Tokyo Olympics
Still almost children.
The
South China Morning Post
reports that the youngest Olympian will be Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza, just 12 years old, she was only 11 when she qualified, says the Chinese daily.
There is also the Briton Sky Brown 13, the youngest athlete in the United Kingdom, who will seek a medal in skateboarding, and then the Chinese diver Quan Hongchan, 14 - already 7 years of diving and competition.
Among the adults, they all have chances of medals.
The value does not wait for the number of years.
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