Two Israelis questioned after attending Belgium's Tomorrowland festival
Prosecutors said no further details would be released about the case at this stage. The Hind Rajab Foundation called the arrest of the Israelis a "significant step forward".They are not thought to have been prevented from leaving Belgium.The BBC contacted the Israeli embassy in Brussels, which declined to comment other than to confirm that the two men had been released.Before detaining the pair, prosecutors said they had decided they could investigate the allegations under Belgium's universal jurisdiction law, which allows local courts to hear cases involving alleged crimes committed outside Belgium.The law was updated last year to enable Belgian police to gather evidence of violations.The European Jewish Association said in a statement that it was "deeply concerned" by the conduct of the Belgian authorities towards the two Israelis. "These soldiers were carrying out their lawful duties in defense of their country, duties comparable to those of any soldier serving in a democratic nation," the EJA said.The Hind Rajab Foundation is chaired by Dyab Abou Jahjah, a controversial Belgian-Lebanese activist who has admitted joining Lebanese group Hezbollah when he was young. Hezbollah's military wing is proscribed as a terrorist group in the EU.This year's Tomorrowland festival went ahead last week even though a fire destroyed the main stage 48 hours before the event was due to start.Tens of thousands flocked to the festival in Boom, near Antwerp, to hear acts including David Guetta and Lost Frequencies.
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The Guardian
4 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Two-fifths of mobile phones stolen in Europe are taken in UK, data reveals
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Daily Mail
34 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Sudden spike in searches for VPNs as porn users look to get around new ID checks
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Experts had previously warned that the technology could be used by users trying to bypass the system. Marcus Johnstone, a criminal defence solicitor, told The Independent that such measures won't prevent access to fringe forums or the dark web, where much online exploitation occurs. He said: 'It will also do nothing to restrict access to [fringe] forums, where much online exploitation takes place, or to the dark web, which remains easily available to those with the motivation to look.' Under the new rules any sites fail to do the checks, Ofcom can impose fines and in very serious cases apply for a court order to prevent the site or app from being available. 'We will be actively checking compliance from 25 July and, should it be necessary, we expect to launch any investigations into individual services next week,' Ofcom said. Why is the porn crackdown happening? According to Oliver Griffiths, Ofcom's group director of online safety, making life safer online 'is one of the defining challenges of our era'. 'Society has long protected youngsters from products that aren't suitable for them, from alcohol to smoking or gambling,' he said. 'But for too long children have been only a click away from harmful pornography online. 'Now, change is happening. These age checks will bring pornography into line with how we treat adult services in the real world, without compromising access and privacy for over-18s.' How do the age checks work? Ofcom has listed seven methods that porn providers could use. Ultimately, which one they opt for is their decision, not Ofcom's, but their chosen method must be 'highly effective' at correctly determining if a user is under 18. Ofcom's seven suggested strategies are photo-ID matching, facial age estimation, mobile-network operator (MNO) age checks, credit card checks, email-based age estimation, digital identity services and open banking. Open banking works by accessing the information a bank has on record regarding a user's age, while photo-ID matching involves uploading a verified photo-ID document, like a PDF of a passport of driving licence. Facial age estimate works by analysing the features of a user's face from a photo to work their age, while MNO age checks involve mobile-network operators applying age-restriction filters themselves. Because you must be 18 to get a credit card in the UK, credit card checks are also listed as 'highly effective', as are email-based age estimations, which estimate your age based on other services where you've provided your email address. 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The idea of implementing age checks on pornography websites, and fining those sites that don't comply, has existed for several years now. Back in 2016, the UK government launched a public consultation over plans to implement age checks on pornography sites. It was then included in the Digital Economy Act 2017 – but the provision was delayed and eventually abandoned in October 2019. Government said at the time age checks would be delivered through its 'proposed online harms regulatory regime' – in other words, the Online Safety Bill. One criticism of age-checking technology for porn is regarding concerns about handing sensitive identification information – namely age or date of birth – to third parties. 'Everyone realised right from the start – 2016 – that users were not going to want to share their name, let alone a copy of their passport or driving licence, with a porn site,' said Iain Corby, director of Age Verification Providers Association. 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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
‘Killer' accused of murdering beauty queen ‘fled to UK on small boat' as heartbroken dad fears he'll never get justice
A MAN accused of murdering his beauty queen wife fled to the UK on a small boat, it is claimed. Ibrahim Ghazal, from Lebanon, is alleged to have suffocated Zeina Kanjo to death in Beirut before moving around Europe for years. 3 3 The 36-year-old - who is subject to an Interpol red notice - eventually travelled to Britain from France this year along with thousands of other migrants. Ghazal was jailed last week jailed for nine months for attempting to arrive without valid entry clearance after being arrested by Border Force. Government officials are facing a possible crisis ahead of his sentence expiring. Ms Kanjo's dad Mohammed fears his daughter will never get justice if the alleged killer returns to Lebanon and is hopeful the British legal system can step up. There are fears Ghazal could do the same to remain in Britain. Ms Kanjo, 33, was murdered in January 2021, having apparently got married just four months earlier. Her death sparked a national debate in Lebanon about domestic abuse. Ms Kanjo had filed domestic violence and fraud cases against her new husband and was trying to divorce him when she was killed, according to reports. She had represented her country at a beauty contest in Egypt the previous year. Ghazal allegedly fled to Turkey hours after his wife's death. Lebanese channel Al Jadeed broadcast an audio recording in which he allegedly admitted to the murder. Speaking to Ms Kanjo's sister, the person says: "I didn't want to, I didn't want her to die, when she was screaming, I just put my hand on her mouth." Ghazal is understood to have travelled through Greece, the Netherlands and Luxembourg. He was arrested in December 2022 in Stokholm under Interpol's red notice. However, Swedish laws prevented him from being extradited back home where he said he faced execution, and when he was detained again in Germany, the same thing happened, according to Ms Kanjo's lawyer Ashraf Al-Moussawi. Mr Al-Moussawi has pointed out Lebanon has not carried out an execution since 1994 and so this should not have been used as a defence. He added the alleged killer then "wandered Europe until his recent arrest in England". The lawyer has urged the British government to find a way to send Ghazal back to his homeland to face justice. Ms Kanjo's dad Mohammed claims his daughter's husband had sneaked back into Lebanon to attend his cousin's wedding a year after his wife's death. "After all this time, I'm left wondering if justice will ever be served," he told the Mail. "It's like something is missing from your body, something that is not replaceable. "I honestly hope he's not handed over to Lebanese authorities only to be imprisoned and then released again." He added perhaps the UK legal system can "find a way to properly punish him". Ghazal was detained by Border Force and jailed at Gloucester Crown Court last Wednesday after admitting to entering the country unlawfully. A Government spokesman said: "The Home Office never comments on whether extradition requests have or have not been received, and it is also our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases. "However, we will always do everything in our power to remove serious foreign criminals from the UK so they are not left free on our streets after completing their sentence."
