Emmanuel Macron vows to ban social media for children after school stabbing
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French president Emmanuel Macron has vowed to ban social media for children under the age of 15 after a fatal school stabbing.
France, along with Greece, is leading the way in cracking down on social media platforms in Europe, passing a 2023 law requiring them to obtain parental consent for users under the age of 15.
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Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Paul Hosford: Accusing Thunberg of Instagram activism over Gaza is missing the point
Earlier this week, I had a feeling of dread that I would wake up to news of the death of Greta Thunberg, a feeling others have echoed. When I went to sleep on Sunday night, the British-flagged yacht Madleen was sailing headlong towards Gaza carrying just a drop of the flood of aid required to ease the humanitarian disaster in the enclave. Twelve people on a yacht carrying baby formula, food, and medical supplies, including the 22-year-old climate activist, and there was legitimate concern that the Israeli administration would show no restraint — as it did in May 2010 when nine floatilla passengers were killed during a raid on a group of ships aiming to bring aid to Gaza. In the end, Israeli forces boarded the yacht and made a show of how humane the whole thing was, perhaps aware that killing innocents would be treated differently if their number included a French MEP. The captured dozen was given sandwiches and forced to turn over their phones as the yacht was escorted to Ashdod port. From there, the Israeli government began its mocking of the group. It published a picture of Ms Thunberg on social media and, before initiating deportation proceedings, was slamming the operation as a PR stunt — calling it a 'selfie ship' full of 'celebrities'. 'This wasn't humanitarian aid. It's Instagram activism,' said Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer, who extolled the virtues of his government, saying that it had delivered over 1,200 truckloads of aid in the last two weeks. This is despite the latest assessment from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) which says that people in Gaza are starving and that this demands the urgent opening of all crossings and on impeded access for humanitarian organisations to deliver aid at scale, through multiple routes. There is no question that aid to Gaza is being choked off by the Israeli government and that what is getting through is just a drop in an ocean growing every single day. Ongoing incidents Meanwhile, hospitals in Gaza City said 25 people were killed overnight on Wednesday into Thursday, near a convoy transporting flour and at a food distribution site run by the US and Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), which has been criticised as the wrong vehicle to deliver aid. Staff of the GHF died in an ambush on Thursday after a bus transporting them was raked with gunfire, an attack the Israeli government has blamed on Hamas. While the Israeli government mocked those who put their hands up and volunteered for the aid mission, it was joined online by an unlikely ally — the 'reasonable' adult. In any news story or Instagram post, or whatever tweets are called these days, you will have found a cohort of people delighting in the failure of the Madleen to deliver baby formula to starving children. These people will call themselves reasonable, they will call themselves centrists, they will call themselves good, and at the same time they will delight in the failure of a small amount of medical supplies reaching what has been described as hell on earth because they don't like the 22-year-old autistic woman from the internet. They are Christians with the best intentions, calling for a stranger's head. Ms Thunberg has long attracted this kind of commentary, particularly angering men with her activism and general refusal to just be quiet. They will have the same reaction to Paul Murphy's arrest as part of a march to the Rafah Crossing. The rationale appears to be that they genuinely believe that this was a personal mission from the Swedish woman — little more than an image-raising exercise. To what end someone who has spent most of her life engaged in the kind of full-throated activism that comes at more personal cost than benefit would do this is never really explained, but these commenters are sure that she is some kind of 'silly little girl' or some variation thereof. It couldn't be that Ms Thunberg was simply doing what she believed was right and using her immense global platform to highlight the continued suffering of Gazans; there must be an ulterior motive, one for personal benefit. Protesters took part in a demonstration outside the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in Whitehall, London, calling for the UK government to protect the crew of Madleen, which carried Ms Thunberg and other activists. Picture: James Manning/PA Those comments betray much about those who make them, those who throw 'virtue signalling' or 'do-gooder' as slurs. They cannot imagine virtue, or good or empathy, that is genuinely selfless because they lack the capacity for all three. They cannot, at the same time, understand why the residents of Los Angeles would take to the streets as their friends and neighbours are extrajudicially arrested. They cheer online as rubber bullets, which killed 14 people during The Troubles, are fired indiscriminately into crowds or with terrifying accuracy at members of the media, or women walking home, because they do not see those people as on their side. These are the same people who will say they are afraid of Dublin's O'Connell St in the daytime, mocking those who stand up to oppression or genocide. PR exercise Of course the Madleen was a PR exercise. Of course it was a publicity stunt. Nobody on board expected the aid they were carrying to fix everything. In fact, I'm sure the whole exercise finished the way most on board would have imagined. They are not ignorant to the reality of what Israel will and will not allow reach Gaza. However, great injustices require action, and if that means making social media users look at a group of people on a quixotic boat journey, then so be it. This is not about your personal feelings towards the messenger and, if your first reaction was to look at method rather than message, then that is on you. In Gaza over the last few days, the internet has collapsed, the OCHA said on Thursday, due to damage to the last fibre cable route serving central and southern Gaza — likely caused during heavy military activity. They warn that this is not a routine outage, but a total failure of Gaza's digital infrastructure. Lifelines to emergency services, humanitarian coordination, and critical information for civilians have all been cut. There is a full Internet blackout, and mobile networks are barely functioning. So if any Gazans had had worries about the online discourse surrounding attempts to bring them aid — in between trying to stay alive, of course — they would not have had the capacity by week's end to check in on the comments section. The reaction to a group of people — including a very high-profile young woman, yes — trying to do the right thing speaks volumes for where social media has driven us: To a place where a sentence can contain the words 'I'm not happy that aid was blocked from reaching Gaza' and be followed by a 'but'. Perhaps not every thought needs to be shared, not every issue opined upon. Maybe, just maybe, it is time to read and listen and understand more than we post, and talk and think. It is a time to act and support the bravery of those who act in ways we cannot ourselves. Anything else will lead to what folk singer Tyler Childers calls 'the start of a long, violent history, of tucking our tails as we try to abide'. Read More Three Irish people detained in Cairo ahead of protest walk to Gaza border
The Irish Sun
16 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
French cops with riot shields FINALLY launch bid to stop overloaded migrant boat… only to retreat & watch it sail away
HEAVY handed French police finally went into the sea to try to stop migrants getting onto a dinghy - but the small boats were still left dangerously overcrowded after the officers retreated. Riot officers dramatically threatened migrants with batons and pepper sprayed them in waist-high water during shocking scenes at Gravelines beach - near Dunkirk - in the early hours of this morning . 12 French Police finally entered the water to deter the migrants Credit: Getty 12 Dramatic scenes showed French cops using tear gas and batons to disperse the groups Credit: Getty 12 It is believed to be one of the first times French police have ever gone into the water Credit: Getty Harrowing babies' cries and screams rang out from the water as their parents carrying them refused to leave. Smugglers were caught off-guard when the French authorities, who have famously kept to dry land, started wading into the cold water. But 15 minutes later, riot cops were called back out of the water and watched on as the same group of migrants boarded the waiting dinghy. The Sun watched as Smugglers and migrants initially tried to fight back against the police , shouting at them, pushing them and splashing water at them. Read more News Then they tried moving along the coast, rather than towards land, to escape the cops and wait for the small boat, and the group slowly dispersed into smaller groups with cops pursuing them. Families began shouting at each other to come back when some moved towards the shore. The dinghy had arrived already with some migrants on, confirming theories that smugglers are now Tear gas grenades were thrown on land as the second group ran around, with smoke completely covering the miles-long beach in scenes comparable to a war zone. Most read in The Sun This is believed to be one of the first times French police have ever gone into the water. They have repeatedly refused to get their feet wet, claiming it is dangerous and legally complex. New maritime rules allowing cops to intervene at sea have not come into force yet. It has created accusations of officers just wanting to "put on a show" after being exposed in the press, while continuing to fail to stop any dinghies. French cops shrug as they stand & watch migrant family almost drown in bid to board small boat The first group entered Gravelines beach from the sand dunes at around 4.50am. They walked with pace along the beach before eventually running towards the sea with a very large number of young children and babies. People smugglers were yelling at them, directing them what to do and where to go while no police were on the beach. Parents adjusted their childrens' life jackets as the group of around 50 migrants stood at the edge of the sea. One dad's one-year-old son was crying as he asked for help adjusting the baby's ill-fitting life jacket, which heartbreakingly appeared to be choking him. The dad said he was terrified for his baby ahead of the journey, but insisted they were fleeing war and needed to go to Britain. 12 Officers clashed with migrants as they refused to leave the boats Credit: Getty 12 Dozens of migrants had piled onto the small boats this morning Credit: Chris Eades 12 Children could be heard screaming during the shocking scenes on the French coast Credit: Chris Eades 12 Riot police marched into the water and aggressively banged their riot shields Credit: Getty 12 Police used tear gas to try and stop migrants boarding the small boats Credit: Getty People smugglers were shouting at the group and aggressively threw sand at the onlooking media. They stayed at the edge of the water until around 5.15am, when around 40 police officers finally emerged from the sand dunes and began marching the three quarters of a mile towards the sea. The migrants were then instructed by smugglers to enter the cold water, which they believed would give them protection against the officers who famously have never been in the sea. At least six riot officers marched into the sea towards the group of migrants and aggressively banged their riot shield with batons as they shouted at the group to go back. It led to a stand-off, with the group refusing to budge. One officer then lunged towards the group and pushed them with his shield, causing them to almost fall. The officers then continued to push them as screams were heard from the group, and they then used pepper spray against them. Parents, carrying their children on their shoulders or in their arms, were among those remaining firm in the water. Other sporadic moments of jostling and pushing between police and migrants continued during the 15 minute standoff. But the police were then called back as tear gas grenades were thrown on the sand as a second group appeared on the beach. It meant the migrants a dinghy could approach the group that the cops had failed to remove from the sea. The Sun then watched as they struggled to get on the already-overcrowded dinghy. Children were hoisted up as adults struggled in the sea. Meanwhile on the beach, hundreds more migrants were running around in a cat and mouse game with the police as they also tried to get to a second boat that was further down the coast. Officers threw a line of tear gas grenades to try to stop them from getting near to the sea. But migrants still managed to get to that boat. Smugglers appear to always bring more migrants than can fit on the boat, to make sure they are as full as possible. It meant there was a large group that were left on the beach after the boats had gone. But this was because there was no more room on the boats, not because the police had stopped them. It comes after The Sun watched on Wednesday morning as police stood idly by on land while migrants almost drowned trying to get onto a boat. But around two hours later today, some miles east in Dunkirk, another group of migrants boarded a small boat as officers continued to look on from the shore. 12 Smugglers started fighting back when officers waded into the sea Credit: Getty 12 New maritime rules allowing cops to intervene at sea have not come into force yet Credit: Chris Eades 12 Children were hoisted up as adults struggled in the sea Credit: Getty 12 It has sparked accusations of officers wanting to "put on a show" for the media Credit: Chris Eades
Irish Times
a day ago
- Irish Times
US warns nations against attending UN conference on two-state solution
US president Donald Trump 's administration has discouraged governments from attending a United Nations conference next week on the implementation of a two-state solution to the Palestine - Israel conflict. The conference will take place in New York and will be hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. It will discuss ways of establishing a two-state solution – which would create a Palestinian state in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem alongside Israel. On Tuesday, Washington sent a cable warning countries that unilaterally recognising a Palestinian state and taking 'anti-Israel actions' – such as sanctions and boycotts – would be seen as acting against United States interests and could yield diplomatic consequences. The message also said the conference undermined Washington's efforts with Egypt and Qatar to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and free Israeli captives held hostage by Hamas, according to Reuters news agency. READ MORE Washington has supported a two-state solution for decades, but on Tuesday its ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, said it is no longer a US goal. While the original intention of the conference was to encourage unified multi-state recognition of a Palestinian state, the Guardian has quoted French officials as saying this would be the goal of a step-by-step process to halt the Gaza war, end Hamas rule in Gaza, release Israeli hostages, secure Palestinian Authority reform and launch economic reconstruction of Gaza. French president Emmanuel Macron's regional adviser, Anne-Claire Legendre, said the conference 'must mark a transformative milestone for the effective implementation of the two-state solution. We must move from words to deeds; we must move from the end of the war in Gaza to the end of the conflict.' Mr Macron has confirmed his attendance at the New York meeting while Saudi crown prince Mohammed Bin Salman has ordered aides to prepare for his participation if a plan is to be adopted. Other world leaders who will be in Canada for a G7 summit could also attend the UN conference. Israel has sharply criticised the conference and lobbied France against recognition of a Palestinian state, claiming it would 'reward' Hamas for the 2023 attack on Israel in which it killed 1,200 people and abducted about 250 hostages. The attack triggered the Gaza war, in which about 55,000 Palestinians have been killed. [ Israeli strikes kill at least 60 in Gaza, many at aid site, say health officials Opens in new window ] Of 27 European Union member states, 11 recognise Palestine, including Ireland. Israeli and international rights organisations have accused Israel of trying to thwart a two-state solution by illegally establishing 160 settlements which house 700,000 Israelis in the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem. Israel recently announced construction of a further 22 settlements, prompting Israeli independent rights group Peace Now to say this was 'the most extensive move of its kind' in three decades. It warned that the move would 'dramatically reshape the West Bank and entrench the occupation even further'. – Additional reporting: Reuters
