Latest news with #Attal
The Journal
4 days ago
- General
- The Journal
Man accused of stabbing on Eden Quay a 'serious risk to public safety', court hears
LAST UPDATE | 1 hr ago A 31-YEAR-OLD MAN accused of a severe knife 'slashing' attack in Dublin city centre on Monday, leaving an Algerian national in critical condition, 'poses a serious risk to public safety,' a court heard today. Adel Attal, also from Algeria but living in Ireland for two years and with an address on Henry Street, Mallow, Co Cork, was refused bail by Judge Michele Finan at Dublin District Court. He was charged with assault causing harm to the injured man at Rosie Hackett Bridge, Eden Quay, Dublin 1, and the production of a knife as a weapon during the incident on Monday afternoon. In evidence, Detective Garda Tom McEvoy of Store Street station said the accused gave no reply to the charges. The detective objected to bail, citing the seriousness of the case and his 'firm belief' that Mr Attal was a flight risk. The court heard that he has been living in State accommodation in Mallow. Detective Garda McEvoy told the court he thought the accused would evade justice if bail were granted as he had no ties to Ireland and previously resided in Algeria, England, Spain and France. The detective believed the accused had ties and could be 'harboured in these jurisdictions' if released on bail. Detective Garda McEvoy alleged that the injured man suffered serious slashing stab wounds to his stomach, back and legs. The court heard he had life-threatening injuries necessitating emergency surgery in hospital, where he was in critical condition. Advertisement Detective Garda McEvoy alleged that the incident happened at 4.40 pm when the victim and another male had an altercation on the bridge. Detective Garda McEvoy alleged that the accused was carrying a large knife and 'inflicted several slashing and stab motions' before the man fell to the ground. Witnesses called 999 and alerted gardai that the accused went to Wicklow Street, the contested bail hearing was told. The judge also heard gardai had harvested a large quantity of CCTV evidence clearly depicting the victim cut with the knife and the slashing. The court heard the weapon was thrown into the River Liffey, but a Garda sub-aqua unit located it on the river bed, and it will be sent for testing. 'Blood splatter' evidence was recovered from the accused and has been sent for forensic analysis. Mr Attal, who has yet to indicate a plea, did not address the court and listened to the proceedings with the aid of an Arabic interpreter. Questioned by defence solicitor Luke Staines, the detective accepted the accused could face two years on remand until his trial. He also agreed with Mr Staines that the injured man's condition had been changed to 'stable critical', and the solicitor posited that there was a chance he would survive. Mr Staines submitted that his client did not have a history of committing serious offences, as he pleaded with the judge to consider bail with strict conditions, including a cash lodgement and an independent surety. However, Judge Finan held that he was a flight risk, refused bail and remanded him in custody to appear at Cloverhill District Court on June 11. She agreed to direct him to receive a medical and psychiatric assessment in custody. Legal aid was granted. A second man was arrested today and held for questioning.
Local France
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Local France
French lawmakers want Dreyfus promoted 130 years after scandal
The parliamentarians, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal, said a law to that effect would be an act of reparation for Dreyfus, whose condemnation came against a backdrop of the late 19th century's rampant anti-Semitism in the French army and wider society. It would, said Attal, also send the signal that the fight against anti-Semitism continues today, more than a century after the Dreyfus affair divided French society and gave rise to writer Emile Zola's famous "J'accuse" pamphlet in favour of the disgraced captain. "The anti-Semitism that targeted Alfred Dreyfus is not in the distant past," Attal said in a draft law to be submitted to parliament. "Today's acts of hatred remind us that the fight is still ongoing." Advertisement Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France, was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to the German military attache. The accusation was based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German's waste paper basket in Paris. Dreyfus was put on trial, amid a virulent anti-Semitic press campaign. Despite a lack of evidence, he was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank. But Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, head of the intelligence services, reinvestigated the case in secret and discovered the handwriting on the incriminating message was that of another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. When Picquart presented the evidence to the general staff of the French army, he himself was driven out of the military and jailed for a year, while Esterhazy was acquitted. In June 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial. He was initially found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before being officially pardoned - though not cleared of the charges. Only in 1906, after many twists, did the high court of appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus. He was reinstated with the rank of major. He served during World War I and died in 1935, aged 76. Advertisement Attal said that without the years in exile and his public humiliation, Dreyfus "would have risen to the highest ranks naturally". No date has been set yet for a vote on the proposal. France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union. There has been a rise in reported attacks against members of France's Jewish community since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and the Israeli military responded with a devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip.
Yahoo
06-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
French lawmakers want Dreyfus promoted 130 years after scandal
A group of French members of parliament said Tuesday they wanted Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French army captain wrongly convicted for treason in 1894, to be awarded the rank of brigadier general. The parliamentarians, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal, said a law to that effect would be an act of reparation for Dreyfus, whose condemnation came against a backdrop of the late 19th century's rampant anti-Semitism in the French army and wider society. It would, said Attal, also send the signal that the fight against anti-Semitism continues today, more than a century after the Dreyfus affair divided French society and gave rise to writer Emile Zola's famous "J'accuse" pamphlet in favour of the disgraced captain. "The anti-Semitism that targeted Alfred Dreyfus is not in the distant past," Attal said in a draft law to be submitted to parliament. "Today's acts of hatred remind us that the fight is still ongoing." Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France, was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to the German military attache. The accusation was based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German's waste paper basket in Paris. Dreyfus was put on trial, amid a virulent anti-Semitic press campaign. Despite a lack of evidence, he was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank. But Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, head of the intelligence services, reinvestigated the case in secret and discovered the handwriting on the incriminating message was that of another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. When Picquart presented the evidence to the general staff of the French army, he himself was driven out of the military and jailed for a year, while Esterhazy was acquitted. In June 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial. He was initially found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before being officially pardoned -- though not cleared of the charges. Only in 1906, after many twists, did the high court of appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus. He was reinstated with the rank of major. He served during World War I and died in 1935, aged 76. Attal said that without the years in exile and his public humiliation, Dreyfus "would have risen to the highest ranks naturally". No date has been set yet for a vote on the proposal. France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union. There has been a rise in reported attacks against members of France's Jewish community since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and the Israeli military responded with a devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip. mdb/jh/ah/jhb
France 24
06-05-2025
- Politics
- France 24
French lawmakers want Dreyfus promoted 130 years after scandal
The parliamentarians, led by former prime minister Gabriel Attal, said a law to that effect would be an act of reparation for Dreyfus, whose condemnation came against a backdrop of the late 19th century's rampant anti-Semitism in the French army and wider society. It would, said Attal, also send the signal that the fight against anti-Semitism continues today, more than a century after the Dreyfus affair divided French society and gave rise to writer Emile Zola's famous "J'accuse" pamphlet in favour of the disgraced captain. "The anti-Semitism that targeted Alfred Dreyfus is not in the distant past," Attal said in a draft law to be submitted to parliament. "Today's acts of hatred remind us that the fight is still ongoing." Dreyfus, a 36-year-old army captain from the Alsace region of eastern France, was accused in October 1894 of passing secret information on new artillery equipment to the German military attache. The accusation was based on a comparison of handwriting on a document found in the German's waste paper basket in Paris. Dreyfus was put on trial, amid a virulent anti-Semitic press campaign. Despite a lack of evidence, he was convicted of treason, sentenced to life imprisonment in the infamous Devil's Island penal colony in French Guiana and publicly stripped of his rank. But Lieutenant Colonel Georges Picquart, head of the intelligence services, reinvestigated the case in secret and discovered the handwriting on the incriminating message was that of another officer, Ferdinand Walsin Esterhazy. When Picquart presented the evidence to the general staff of the French army, he himself was driven out of the military and jailed for a year, while Esterhazy was acquitted. In June 1899, Dreyfus was brought back to France for a second trial. He was initially found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, before being officially pardoned -- though not cleared of the charges. Only in 1906, after many twists, did the high court of appeal overturn the original verdict, exonerating Dreyfus. He was reinstated with the rank of major. He served during World War I and died in 1935, aged 76. Attal said that without the years in exile and his public humiliation, Dreyfus "would have risen to the highest ranks naturally". No date has been set yet for a vote on the proposal. France is home to the largest Jewish population outside Israel and the United States, as well as the largest Muslim community in the European Union. There has been a rise in reported attacks against members of France's Jewish community since Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023 and the Israeli military responded with a devastating military offensive on the Gaza Strip. © 2025 AFP
Local France
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Local France
France's ex-PM calls ‘state of emergency' over children's screen use
The call – from former prime minister and current centrist party leader Gabriel Attal and child psychologist Marcel Rufo – came after French medical experts advised that children under the age of six should not be exposed to screens, including TV, in an open letter to the government . The current recommendation in France is that children under the age of three should not be exposed to screens, and only 'occasional use' between the ages of three and six in the presence of an adult. Meanwhile, children in nearly 200 collèges have been involved in a pilot ban on mobile phones, in which the devices – which should be turned off, anyway – are handed in at the start of the school day and returned at the end of it. Advertisement This ban is set to be rolled out nationwide at the start of the new school year in September. READ ALSO 'Digital pause': France pilots school mobile phone ban The use of "a mobile phone or any other electronic communications terminal equipment" has been banned in nurseries, ecoles primaires (primary schools) and collèges in France since 2018. The experts' open letter and Attal and Rufo's joint declaration, published in Le Figaro, goes further and demands restrictions on screen use outside school hours, and in the home. 'If we do nothing, screens and their content will slowly kill our youth and, ultimately, our entire society,' warn Attal and Rufo, exactly a year after a report produced by experts commissioned by President Emmanuel Macron expressed concern about the consequences of overexposure to screens on children's health and development. The commission also recommended a ban on screen use for children under three and said that mobile phones for children aged from 11 should not have internet access. Attal and Rufo, however, propose creating an 'assessment interview' for screen addiction for children aged 11 as they head into their collège years – and again at age 15, for students going to lycée after completing their brevet exams. They also suggested that age limits on social media sites, similar to those imposed on adult content, could be introduced to prohibit access to social networks by those under 15, while a 'digital curfew' should prevent access to networks between 10pm and 8am for anyone aged between 15 and 18. READ ALSO EXPLAINED: How to get a mobile phone contract in France They added that social network sites should 'go black-and-white' after 30 minutes of use, to reduce their attractiveness, and that access should be restricted to one hour for anyone under the age of 18. Advertisement 'Even China does it with TikTok,' Attal and Rufo argued, 'for once, let's take inspiration from what this country is doing!' And they also suggested that apps and platforms should come with a readily available 'addict-score' rating, inspired by on the Nutri-Score model – and propose that two percent of revenue generated by platforms' activity in France go to funding mental health research and care. A commission of inquiry into the psychological effects of social media site TikTok on minors has been launched in the Assembly.
