Latest news with #Pharos
News18
2 days ago
- Politics
- News18
French police launch probe after Israeli rabbi threatens Macron
Paris [France], August 9 (ANI): The Paris prosecutor's office on Friday opened an investigation following threatening remarks directed at French President Emmanuel Macron by Israeli rabbi David Daniel Cohen in an online video, France 24 rabbi's remarks were reportedly motivated by the French government's decision to formally recognise a Palestinian state, slated for Minister Bruno Retailleau condemned the statements on X, calling them 'totally unacceptable remarks" and noting that Cohen 'made several abhorrent threats, notably against the President of the Republic," according to France said he contacted the French government's online Pharos platform, which monitors dangerous and criminal content, and 'also reported these remarks to the justice system under Article 40 of the criminal procedure code," France 24 the YouTube video, Cohen warned, 'This French president, he needs to know – he better prepare his coffin. God will show him what it means to want to be so brazen and to want to make statements against God," as cited by France rabbi accused Macron of expressing 'profound anti-Semitism" and 'declaring war on God" by recognising a Palestinian condemning 'the abhorrent and intolerable remarks by Daniel David Cohen," France's Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia clarified on X that Cohen 'has never held any rabbinical position in France, was not trained by nor graduated from France's rabbinical school," France 24 controversy comes amid escalating diplomatic tensions between France and Algeria, as French President Emmanuel Macron has directed his government to tighten visa requirements for Algerian diplomats in response to disputes over the deportation of Algerian nationals, France 24 a letter addressed to Prime Minister Francois Bayrou, Macron said that France is facing 'growing difficulties" with Algeria in terms of migration and security, necessitating a firmer stance against the former French colony. France 24 reported that Macron's directive comes amid deepening friction between Paris and asked Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to formally notify Algeria of the suspension of a 2013 bilateral agreement, which exempted diplomatic and official passport holders from visa obligations. The move marks a significant step in revisiting long-standing diplomatic protocols between the two to France 24, Macron also instructed Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to coordinate with Schengen zone countries to help enforce the revised visa policy. Specifically, France has requested these countries to consult Paris before issuing short-stay visas to Algerian officials and those using passports covered under the 2013 agreement.'France must be strong and command respect. It can only receive this from its partners if it shows them the respect it demands from them. This basic rule also applies to Algeria," Macron said, as quoted in the between the two nations have intensified since France recognised Morocco's sovereignty over Western Sahara in July 2024, a decision that strained ties with Algeria, France 24 further deteriorated after Algerian authorities arrested Franco-Algerian author Boualem Sansal in November, and reached a tipping point in February when an Algerian national — whom France had tried unsuccessfully to deport — was arrested as the suspect in a deadly knife attack in Mulhouse. One person was killed and three others injured in the 24 highlighted that Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has been vocal about the need to overhaul France's visa and migration arrangements with Algeria. Retailleau has cited Algeria's persistent refusal to accept the return of its nationals ordered to leave France under the 'OQTF" (obligation to leave French territory) deportation regime as a key decision signals a tougher diplomatic line from France as it seeks to address long-standing concerns over repatriation, security cooperation, and reciprocal diplomatic conduct with Algeria. (ANI)
Business Insider
3 days ago
- Business
- Business Insider
Pharos Network Joins Morpho to Launch Native Lending Infrastructure for Real-World Assets
Lending and borrowing on Pharos will soon be powered by Morpho, the most trusted lending network with $9B+ in total deposits. Pharos Network, a leading Layer 1 blockchain focused on RWAfi, is joining efforts with Morpho, the most trusted lending network with $9B+ in total deposits. The collaboration will bring a native version of Morpho's lending infrastructure to the Pharos mainnet. This alliance marks a foundational step toward building institutional-grade lending rails within the on-chain real-world asset (RWA) ecosystem. Morpho's deployment on Pharos will bring capital-efficient lending with isolated risks to RWA vaults, unlocking flexible credit markets for asset originators and liquidity providers. The integration anchors Morpho as the official lending infrastructure provider for Pharos and strengthens the broader RWAfi strategy alongside players like Ant Digital, R25, and Gauntlet. The collaboration provides both DeFi-native and institutional participants with transparent, modular tools for lending and credit risk modeling. 'For us, working together with Morpho is about building trust and composability at the core of RWAfi,' said Wish Wu, CTO and Co-Founder at Pharos. 'By integrating Morpho's lending infrastructure directly into our mainnet, we're laying the foundation for a more transparent and capital-efficient on-chain credit ecosystem. It enables us to support complex, institution-grade lending strategies while preserving the modularity and openness that define DeFi.' 'Deploying natively on Pharos allows us to keep extending Morpho's most trusted lending infrastructure to the real-world asset space following initial success like private credit and tokenized stocks,' said Kirk Hutchison, New Chains Growth at Morpho. 'Pharos' vision for RWAfi aligns with our commitment to transparent and scalable credit systems. Together, we are creating a powerful infrastructure for structured lending products, better risk pricing, and more accessible yield opportunities across both institutional and retail markets.' Morpho's protocol will power Pharos' upcoming vault launches and capital deployment frameworks. The first deployments will focus on institutional vault designs, enhanced by Pharos' presence across credit modeling, liquidity routing, and custody. The native integration was designed to support composability with Pharos' existing infrastructure and to enable robust experimentation around RWA yield structures, onboarding strategies, and capital matching algorithms. Pharos Network is designed to unify Web2 and Web3 assets and liquidity. Founded by the former leadership of AntChain, led by Alex Zhang (ex-CTO of Ant's blockchain group, ex-CEO of ZAN), the team includes pioneers from Ant Financial, Microsoft Research, and Stanford, with deep backgrounds in blockchain infra, formal verification, and ZK systems. The team built the infrastructure for Alipay and Asia's largest BaaS platform. Morpho is the most trusted onchain lending network with $9B+ in deposits. Businesses can connect to Morpho's open infrastructure to power any lending or borrowing use case at scale, including embedded crypto-backed loans and custom yield solutions. Contact CMO
Canada News.Net
05-07-2025
- Canada News.Net
Should Frances incel threat be treated like terrorism
An 18-year-old Frenchman was detained and charged on July 1 with being part of a terrorist criminal enterprise. Amid reports of an increase in masculinism a belief in the supremacy of men and advocacy of outmoded gender roles among young men, it is the first time that French anti-terror authorities have launched an investigation into someone for activities linked to the "involuntary celibate (incel) movement. France'scounter-terrorismauthority has launched its first investigation into the threat posed by the toxic misogyny of masculinist,incelculture. An 18-year-old identified as Timothy G. was charged and placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday for being part of a terrorist criminal conspiracy and making threats. He had two knives in his possession when he was arrested on June 28 in the Saint-tienne region by the French domestic intelligence service, the DGSI, near the secondary school he attended. He had no police record and was enrolled in preparatory classes prior to attending university. Timothy G's lawyer, Maria Snitsar, said her client was a young person in distress who has difficulty communicating with young people of his age [and] who is not at ease with himself. She also said his detention was likely related to his activity online. I have the impression that being on social networks played a part in his being placed under investigation. Snitsar says understanding her clients personality would be a key part of the inquiry. Determining the legal categorisation of the charges will be possible only once the investigation has progressed further, she added. Not much precedent Very little information has been made public since Timothy G.'s first appearance before a custodial judge. However, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office confirmed that an investigation had been opened into the young man, who "claims to be a member of the incel movement". Incels feel they have been rejected by women and have adopted aggressively misogynist views in response. According to a source close to the investigation, this is the first time an individual claiming to belong to this movement has been referred to the anti-terrorism prosecutors officefor related activities. Since the creation of the special anti-terror prosecutor's officein 2019, magistrates have mainly focused on the jihadist threat or potential attacksfromfar-right groups. Watch moreFrance arrests teen for plotting attacks on women in landmark 'incel' case There isn't much case law on this type of issue, notesSnitsar. But in recent years, the incel branch of the masculinist movement has stepped up its hateful rhetoric, sometimes leading to acts of violence. In May 2024, a 26-year-old man was arrested nearBordeauxafter a member of the public alerted authorities to his toxic online posts via theinterior ministrys Pharos web portal, a system designed to curb illicit or harmful online content. He had posted a videopraising incel Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old perpetrator of a 2014 mass killing in Isla Vista,California, in which seven people died, including Rodger. Because the terrorist intentions of the young Frenchman from Bordeaux were not established, the anti-terrorism prosecutors officedid not deal with the case. Dehumanisation of women Originating in North America in the 1990s, masculinist ideology has taken off, in part thanks to theinternet. FrancesHigh Council for Equality between Women and Men(HCE) noted in its most recent report in January that "sexist and masculinist discourse has gained in visibility". Read moreFrench man linked to incel movement detained over suspected plan to attack women "Women are more feminist and men more masculinist, especially young people," notes the councils director, Brangre Couillard. According to a 2024HCE survey, 52 percent of men between 25 and 34 felt that "men are being picked on". Among the various branches of masculinism popular on online forums, the "incels" are the most violent. A few hours before going on his killing spree, Rodgerposted a long manifesto, justifying his actions by his hatred of women who had rejected him. I do not know why you girls arent attracted to me, he wroteBut I will punish you all for it. Mlissa Blais, professor of sociology at the Universit du Qubec in Outaouais (UQO) and a specialist in antifeminist movements, says there is something particularly violent about the movements seen today. "In incel communities, there's something going on that's conducive to mass murder. Women are dehumanised, labelled as femoids seen as creatures to be fought. Dehumanisation is an important part of mass murder," Blais says. Canadahas been one of the epicentres of masculinism since a 1989massacreatMontreal's cole Polytechnique that targeted women. "There were two charges of terrorismbrought inconnection with masculinist attacks in Canada in 2023, says Blais. One of the two men involved was a minor who had attempted to murder women in a massage parlour in 2020 in a case also inspired by the incel movement. In that case, an Ontario judge explained during the hearing that the suspect's behaviour did, indeed,meet the criteria to beconsideredterrorismunder the Canadian Criminal Code. An evolving threat that is difficult to track Many countries are now weighing what incel activity meets the criteria to be legally categorised as terrorism. After a mass shooting in Plymouth in August 2021,UKcounter-terrorism police initially felt the attack hadnot been motivated by "incel" propaganda. They backtracked in light of videos found on the suspects computer. "The question is whether or not the authorities wish to treat the incel phenomenon as a terrorist risk," notes the UK's independent terrorism laws auditor, Jonathan Hall. Hall says thedefinition of terrorism in the UKis broad enough to prosecute incel violence under its statutes. The incel threat is difficult for the police to track. Although all are young men, they do not function as an established group or have a hierarchy, unlike a structured terrorist also come from a wide variety of social backgrounds. However, a 2021 report by the Paris public prosecutor's officecited by Mediapartnoted the ideological proximity between the radicalfar rightand masculinist groups. In its 2020 report on the terrorist threat, the European police agencyEuropol categorisedincels as a subset of far-right terrorism. But Eviane Leidig, a researcher at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, an independent think tank, says this classification does not provide an effective understanding of the threat. Movements such as male supremacism and incels can and should be considered as a distinct threat category, and not simply as a gateway to other ideologies, she says. The investigation into Timothy G. could provide the first clues as to how the French justice system willcome to grips with the masculinist threat as well as the role ofsocial networksin recruitment. This article has been translated from theoriginal in Frenchby David Howley.
Canada Standard
05-07-2025
- Canada Standard
Should Frances incel threat be treated like terrorism
An 18-year-old Frenchman was detained and charged on July 1 with being part of a terrorist criminal enterprise. Amid reports of an increase in masculinism a belief in the supremacy of men and advocacy of outmoded gender roles among young men, it is the first time that French anti-terror authorities have launched an investigation into someone for activities linked to the "involuntary celibate (incel) movement. France'scounter-terrorismauthority has launched its first investigation into the threat posed by the toxic misogyny of masculinist,incelculture. An 18-year-old identified as Timothy G. was charged and placed in pre-trial detention on Tuesday for being part of a terrorist criminal conspiracy and making threats. He had two knives in his possession when he was arrested on June 28 in the Saint-tienne region by the French domestic intelligence service, the DGSI, near the secondary school he attended. He had no police record and was enrolled in preparatory classes prior to attending university. Timothy G's lawyer, Maria Snitsar, said her client was a young person in distress who has difficulty communicating with young people of his age [and] who is not at ease with himself. She also said his detention was likely related to his activity online. I have the impression that being on social networks played a part in his being placed under investigation. Snitsar says understanding her clients personality would be a key part of the inquiry. Determining the legal categorisation of the charges will be possible only once the investigation has progressed further, she added. Not much precedent Very little information has been made public since Timothy G.'s first appearance before a custodial judge. However, the National Anti-Terrorism Prosecutor's Office confirmed that an investigation had been opened into the young man, who "claims to be a member of the incel movement". Incels feel they have been rejected by women and have adopted aggressively misogynist views in response. According to a source close to the investigation, this is the first time an individual claiming to belong to this movement has been referred to the anti-terrorism prosecutors officefor related activities. Since the creation of the special anti-terror prosecutor's officein 2019, magistrates have mainly focused on the jihadist threat or potential attacksfromfar-right groups. Watch moreFrance arrests teen for plotting attacks on women in landmark 'incel' case There isn't much case law on this type of issue, notesSnitsar. But in recent years, the incel branch of the masculinist movement has stepped up its hateful rhetoric, sometimes leading to acts of violence. In May 2024, a 26-year-old man was arrested nearBordeauxafter a member of the public alerted authorities to his toxic online posts via theinterior ministrys Pharos web portal, a system designed to curb illicit or harmful online content. He had posted a videopraising incel Elliot Rodger, the 22-year-old perpetrator of a 2014 mass killing in Isla Vista,California, in which seven people died, including Rodger. Because the terrorist intentions of the young Frenchman from Bordeaux were not established, the anti-terrorism prosecutors officedid not deal with the case. Dehumanisation of women Originating in North America in the 1990s, masculinist ideology has taken off, in part thanks to theinternet. FrancesHigh Council for Equality between Women and Men(HCE) noted in its most recent report in January that "sexist and masculinist discourse has gained in visibility". Read moreFrench man linked to incel movement detained over suspected plan to attack women "Women are more feminist and men more masculinist, especially young people," notes the councils director, Brangre Couillard. According to a 2024HCE survey, 52 percent of men between 25 and 34 felt that "men are being picked on". Among the various branches of masculinism popular on online forums, the "incels" are the most violent. A few hours before going on his killing spree, Rodgerposted a long manifesto, justifying his actions by his hatred of women who had rejected him. I do not know why you girls arent attracted to me, he wroteBut I will punish you all for it. Mlissa Blais, professor of sociology at the Universit du Qubec in Outaouais (UQO) and a specialist in antifeminist movements, says there is something particularly violent about the movements seen today. "In incel communities, there's something going on that's conducive to mass murder. Women are dehumanised, labelled as femoids seen as creatures to be fought. Dehumanisation is an important part of mass murder," Blais says. Canadahas been one of the epicentres of masculinism since a 1989massacreatMontreal's cole Polytechnique that targeted women. "There were two charges of terrorismbrought inconnection with masculinist attacks in Canada in 2023, says Blais. One of the two men involved was a minor who had attempted to murder women in a massage parlour in 2020 in a case also inspired by the incel movement. In that case, an Ontario judge explained during the hearing that the suspect's behaviour did, indeed,meet the criteria to beconsideredterrorismunder the Canadian Criminal Code. An evolving threat that is difficult to track Many countries are now weighing what incel activity meets the criteria to be legally categorised as terrorism. After a mass shooting in Plymouth in August 2021,UKcounter-terrorism police initially felt the attack hadnot been motivated by "incel" propaganda. They backtracked in light of videos found on the suspects computer. "The question is whether or not the authorities wish to treat the incel phenomenon as a terrorist risk," notes the UK's independent terrorism laws auditor, Jonathan Hall. Hall says thedefinition of terrorism in the UKis broad enough to prosecute incel violence under its statutes. The incel threat is difficult for the police to track. Although all are young men, they do not function as an established group or have a hierarchy, unlike a structured terrorist also come from a wide variety of social backgrounds. However, a 2021 report by the Paris public prosecutor's officecited by Mediapartnoted the ideological proximity between the radicalfar rightand masculinist groups. In its 2020 report on the terrorist threat, the European police agencyEuropol categorisedincels as a subset of far-right terrorism. But Eviane Leidig, a researcher at the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism, an independent think tank, says this classification does not provide an effective understanding of the threat. Movements such as male supremacism and incels can and should be considered as a distinct threat category, and not simply as a gateway to other ideologies, she says. The investigation into Timothy G. could provide the first clues as to how the French justice system willcome to grips with the masculinist threat as well as the role ofsocial networksin recruitment. This article has been translated from theoriginal in Frenchby David Howley. Originally published on France24
Spectator
15-06-2025
- Politics
- Spectator
Dominic Cummings has run out of answers
On Wednesday, The Spectator dispatched me to Dominic Cummings's Pharos lecture in Oxford. Packed into the Sheldonian theatre were an interesting crowd. I spotted several X anons, my A-Level politics teacher and Brass Eye creator Chris Morris. For many in the audience, this was a rare opportunity to see their hero; for one or two hecklers, it was a unique chance to harrumph at the villain of Brexit, lockdown, and Barnard Castle. You can read a transcript of it here. I'm a Cummings fan. Having first discovered him via our political editor's books, I began reading his blog as a teen. I worked through the reading lists, defended his eye test in my student magazine, and heralded him as the future of the right in an article only last year. Throughout my career, he has been a unique guiding light. Which is why, I'm sorry to report, Wednesday was a disappointment. With the speech being entitled 'What is to be done?' – a nod to the originator by Britain's premier Leninist – one was expecting a call to arms. We sat in the audience sat ready to be given our marching orders. But this was no declaration of revolution. Instead, for those of us habituated into shelling out £10 a month for his Substack, it was dispiritingly familiar. This was Dom's Greatest Hits – David Bowie at Glastonbury, but with more references to the European Court of Human Rights. For 'Starman', take a condemnation of deranged MPs addicted on the old media. For 'Ashes to Ashes', try Whitehall ignoring Cummings over the pandemic and Ukraine. For 'Rebel Rebel', take parallels with post-Napoleonic Europe and the idiocy of a permanent civil service. But unlike with Bowie, one was hoping to hear a few new tunes between the earlier works. There were the usual spicy turns of phrase. The Home Office was said to be waging a 'constant jihad' against talented would-be migrants; Whitehall was condemned for hushing up 'the industrialised mass rape of white English children by Pakistani and Somali gangs over decades' while importing 'people from the exact same tribal areas responsible'. Speak for England, Dom. But as eye-catching as this was – and several other attendees texted me cheering him on – it wasn't new to any habitual X user. We have always known the rape gangs were there; we have always known the state was covering it up; we are now braced for the inevitable whitewash when Keir Starmer's inquiry reports in 2037. Even his concluding recommendations – replacement of senior officials, closing the Cabinet Office and Treasury, reforming procurement, more focus on science and technology, decentralisation, and a wider reading of nineteenth-century Russian literature – were well-trodden. The talk could have been packaged as A Very Short Introduction to Dominic Cummings in the style of the handy, generalist tomes one can pick up at Blackwell's across the street. Yet my trip to Oxford was far from fruitless, and not only because I revisited a couple of my favourite student hostelries. A Q and A with Steven Edginton followed. The US Video Editor of GB News has made a name for himself by asking prominent figures on the right questions the left-leaning media never would. I particularly enjoyed his exchange with Liz Truss, exposing the ex-PM as the clueless, over-promoted and self-obsessed charlatan she is. His approach to Cummings was no different. At times in his speech, the former Number 10 adviser had almost seemed to have forgotten he had been in government: more 'here is what I would do' than 'here is what I should have done'. Edginton pinned him down on his own record, especially on the central and most spectacular failure of the last Conservative government: immigration. Cummings was quick to distance himself from the Boriswave. He was out of government by the time numbers exploded, he argued. Instead, a combination of Boris Johnson's desire to make up with the Financial Times and powerful bureaucratic forces – the Treasury's addiction to human quantitative easing in particular – meant a new immigration system designed to prioritise high-skilled workers was hijacked to take numbers three times higher than the levels that when Britain voted to Leave. Combined with the ECHR preventing the Royal Navy from stopping the 'stupid boats', this meant a total betrayal of the promises Johnson made in 2019. Edginton also asked for Cumming's views on how mass deporations and other remigration policies – citing the US and Sweden as examples – would be with voters. Having tied both Nigel Farage and Richard Tice in knots over this, it was refreshing to hear Cummings explain or why Reform UK are squeamish. Farage formed his views 'in the 1990s and 2000s', and it is 'very hard for [him] to adjust to a world where the conventional ideas of that time are broken down'. Farage and Tice are in their 60s. They are surrounded by a distinctly unimpressive coterie of hangers-on, media personalities and court eunuchs. Are they serious about confronting the institutional resistance and media uproar a sensible centrist approach to immigration would require, or will they fail just as the Tories and Labour have done? The latter, on the available evidence. Will he embrace the vibe shift, or only gesture towards it? They are yesterday's men. Yet seeing Cummings in conversation with Edginton, I couldn't help but get the sense I was watching a new right confronting the old. Edginton ended by asking his interviewee if, after the failure after failure of government after government do what they promised, whether democracy was overrated. Cummings replied by suggesting his hope was to 'find a way of reviving the regime' rather than seeing it 'replaced'. But what does that look like? Another attempted takeover of the Tories? The much-heralded but little-seen Start-Up party? Or a new mass movement, like the 'Looking for Growth' group from academic Lawrence Newport that Cummings has promoted? I've met with Newport and agree with much of his analysis. But Britain's future will not be saved by a few over-eager young men scrubbing the Bakerloo. Who are the coming generation? They have grown up absorbing the analysis of Cummings. They are conscious of living in a Britain blighted by his failure to deliver the reforms of which he has spoken for so long. They live in the Britain of Scuzz Nation, of Yookay Aesthetics, of Nick 30 Ans. Their hope is exhausted. They have enormous respect for Cummings and Vote Leave. But they will not compromise with a regime that they despise. Cummings may still struggle to use the language of mass deportations; to tomorrow's right, they are but a necessary first step. Cummings is still a prophet. Most Brits say the country is in decline, feel poor, hate politicians, and have little hope for the future. For those of us familiar with Cummings, this is all unsurprising. We are a country falling ever further into stagnation and inter-ethnic violence, labouring under a performatively useless political class. A crisis point is being reached. Welcome to Weimar Britain, where politics doesn't work, everyone is getting poorer, and the streets are filled with violence. Can the country be turned around by reviving the existing regime? Or is a different form of government required? And if Cummings was – and is – the man to turn Britain around, why did he allow himself to be outwitted by a patron of the Conservative Animal Welfare Foundation? Why did he topple Johnson without a clear plan to replace him? Will he embrace the vibe shift, or only gesture towards it? He is a Lee Kuan Yew afficionado. Does he still have that iron in him? He has spoken about stepping back. That would be a waste. Robert Jenrick is only a phone call away. Commentators as disparate as friend-of-The–Spectator Curtis Yarvin, Tory MP Neil O'Brien, and my former colleague Henry Hill have all spoken of the need for an Anglo Meiji Restoration – a hard reset of our governing institutions, political class, and economic geography. It is a project requiring the sort of dedicated revolutionary vanguard that I hoped Cummings would call for on Wednesday. His talk was a missed opportunity. The burning questions of our movement remain to be answered.
