NANTERRE, France: French President Emmanuel Macron is urging parents to keep teenagers at home to quell rioting spreading across France and says social media are fueling copycat violence.
After a second crisis meeting with senior ministers, Macron said Friday that social media are playing a “considerable role” in the spreading unrest triggered by the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old.
He said he wants social media such as Snapchat and TikTok to remove sensitive content and said that violence is being organized online. Of young rioters, he said: “We sometimes have the feeling that some of them are living in the streets the video games that have intoxicated them.”
Protesters erected barricades, lit fires and shot fireworks at police, who responded with tear gas and water cannons in French streets overnight as tensions grew over the deadly police shooting of a 17-year-old that has shocked the nation. More than 875 people were arrested and at least 200 police officers injured as the government struggled to restore order on a third night of unrest.
Armored police vehicles rammed through the charred remains of cars that had been flipped and set ablaze in the northwestern Paris suburb of Nanterre, where a police officer shot the teen identified only by his first name, Nahel. A relative of the teen said his family is of Algerian descent. Nahel will be buried Saturday, according to Nanterre Mayor Patrick Jarry, who said the country needs to “push for changes” in disadvantaged neighborhoods.
“There’s a feeling of injustice in many residents’ minds, whether it’s about school achievement, getting a job, access to culture, housing and other life issues … I believe we are in that moment when we need to face the urgency (of the situation),” he said.
The unrest extended as far as Belgium’s capital, Brussels, where about a dozen people were detained during scuffles related to the shooting in France and several fires were brought under control.
In several Paris neighborhoods, groups of people hurled firecrackers at security forces. The police station in the city’s 12th district was attacked, while some shops were looted along Rivoli street, near the Louvre museum, and at the Forum des Halles, the largest shopping mall in central Paris.
In the Mediterranean port city of Marseille, police sought to disperse violent groups in the city center, regional authorities said.
Similar incidents broke out in dozens of towns and cities across France.
Some 40,000 police officers were deployed to quell the protests. National police said a total of 875 people were detained overnight, including 408 in the Paris region alone.
Around 200 police officers were injured, according to a national police spokesperson. No information was available about injuries among the rest of the population.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Friday denounced what he called a night of “rare violence.” His office described the arrests as a sharp increase on previous operations as part of an overall government effort to be “extremely firm” with rioters.
The French government has stopped short of declaring a state of emergency — a measure taken to quell weeks of rioting around France that followed the accidental death of two boys fleeing police in 2005. Yet Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne suggested Friday the option is being considered.
President Emmanuel Macron left early from an EU summit in Brussels, where France plays a major role in European policymaking, to return to Paris and hold an emergency security meeting Friday.
The German government on Friday said it’s monitoring the unrest in France “with some concern” but that it was up to French authorities and the public there to tackle the issue.
The police officer accused of pulling the trigger Tuesday was handed a preliminary charge of voluntary homicide after prosecutor Pascal Prache said his initial investigation led him to conclude “the conditions for the legal use of the weapon were not met.” Preliminary charges mean investigating magistrates strongly suspect wrongdoing but need to investigate more before sending a case to trial.
The shooting, captured on video, shocked France and stirred up long-simmering tensions between police and young people in housing projects and other disadvantaged neighborhoods.
The detained police officer’s lawyer, speaking on French TV channel BFMTV, said the officer was sorry and “devastated.” The officer did what he thought was necessary in the moment, attorney Laurent-Franck Lienard told the news outlet.
“He doesn’t get up in the morning to kill people,” Lienard said of the officer, whose name has not been released under French practice in criminal cases. “He really didn’t want to kill.”
Prache, the Nanterre prosecutor, said officers tried to stop Nahel because he looked so young and was driving a Mercedes with Polish license plates in a bus lane. He allegedly ran a red light to avoid being stopped and then got stuck in traffic.
The officer who fired the shot said he feared he and his colleague or someone else could be hit by the car as Nahel attempted to flee, according to Prache.
Nahel’s mother, identified as Mounia M., told France 5 television that she is angry at the officer who killed her only child, but not at the police in general. “He saw a little, Arab-looking kid, he wanted to take his life,” she said, adding that justice should be “very firm.”
“A police officer cannot take his gun and fire at our children, take our children’s lives,” she said.
Nahel’s grandmother, who was not identified by name, told Algerian television Ennahar TV that her family has roots in Algeria.
Algeria’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement Thursday that grief is widely shared in the North African country.
Anti-racism activists renewed complaints about police behavior.
“We have to go beyond saying that things need to calm down,” said Dominique Sopo, head of the campaign group SOS Racisme. “The issue here is how do we make it so that we have a police force that when they see Blacks and Arabs, don’t tend to shout at them, use racist terms against them and in some cases, shoot them in the head.”
Race was a taboo topic for decades in France, which is officially committed to a doctrine of colorblind universalism. But some increasingly vocal groups argue that this consensus conceals widespread discrimination and racism.
Deadly use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States, although 13 people who didn’t comply with traffic stops were fatally shot by French police last year. This year, another three people, including Nahel, have died under similar circumstances. The deaths have prompted demands for more accountability in France, which also saw protests against racial injustice after George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.
The protests in France’s suburbs echoed 2005, when the deaths of 15-year-old Bouna Traoré and 17-year-old Zyed Benna led to three weeks of riots, exposing anger and resentment in neglected housing projects. The boys were electrocuted after hiding from police in a power substation in Clichy-sous-Bois.
In Geneva, the UN human rights office said it was concerned by the teen’s killing and the subsequent violence and urged that allegations of disproportionate use of force by authorities in quelling the unrest be swiftly investigated.
“This is a moment for the country to seriously address the deep issues of racism and racial discrimination in law enforcement,” spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told reporters.
Shamdasani said the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed concern in December about “the frequent use of identity checks, discriminatory stops, the application of criminal fixed fines imposed by the police or law enforcement agencies, that they said disproportionately targets members of certain minority groups.”
French president urges parents to keep teens at home to quell rioting spreading across France
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French president urges parents to keep teens at home to quell rioting spreading across France
- The fiery protests that continued early Friday morning were the third consecutive night of protests
- The teen who is only being identified by his first name, Nahel, was shot and killed by police in the Paris suburb of Nanterre on Wednesday
Russia’s Medvedev warns West over discussing nuclear weapons for Ukraine
The New York Times reported last week that some unidentified Western officials had suggested that US President Joe Biden could give Ukraine nuclear weapons, though there were fears such a step would have serious implications.
“American politicians and journalists are seriously discussing the consequences of the transfer of nuclear weapons to Kyiv,” Medvedev, who served as Russia’s president from 2008 to 2012, said on Telegram.
Medvedev said that even the threat of such a transfer of nuclear weapons could be considered as preparation for a nuclear war against Russia.
“The actual transfer of such weapons can be equated to the fait accompli of an attack on our country,” under Russia’s newly updated nuclear doctrine, he said.
China sends naval, air forces to shadow US plane over Taiwan Strait
- The US Navy’s 7th fleet said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft had flown through the strait
BEIJING: China’s military said on Tuesday it deployed naval and air forces to monitor and warn a US Navy patrol aircraft that flew through the sensitive Taiwan Strait, denouncing the United States for trying to “mislead” the international community.
Around once a month, US military ships or aircraft pass through or above the waterway that separates democratically governed Taiwan from China — missions that always anger Beijing.
China claims sovereignty over Taiwan and says it has jurisdiction over the strait. Taiwan and the United States dispute that, saying the strait is an international waterway.
The US Navy’s 7th fleet said a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft had flown through the strait “in international airspace,” adding that the flight demonstrated the United States’ commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations,” it said in a statement.
China’s military criticized the flight as “public hype,” adding that it monitored the US aircraft throughout its transit and “effectively” responded to the situation.
“The relevant remarks by the US distort legal principles, confuse public opinion and mislead international perceptions,” the military’s Eastern Theatre Command said in a statement.
“We urge the US side to stop distorting and hyping up and jointly safeguard regional peace and stability.”
In April, China’s military said it sent fighter jets to monitor and warn a US Navy Poseidon in the Taiwan Strait, a mission that took place just hours after a call between the Chinese and US defense chiefs. (Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; Additional reporting and writing by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
Ukraine says Russia launched ‘record’ 188 drones overnight
KYIV: Russia staged a record number of drone attacks overnight over Ukraine, damaging buildings and “critical infrastructure” in several regions, the air force said Tuesday.
“During the night attack, the enemy launched a record number of Shahed strike unmanned aerial vehicles and unidentified drones,” the air force said, referring to Iranian-designed drones and putting the figure at 188.
President of Chile denies sexual harassment complaint
- Chilean President Gabriel Boric denies claims he sexually harassed a woman over a decade ago
Santiago: Chilean President Gabriel Boric was accused in a criminal complaint of sexually harassing a woman over a decade ago, an allegation he “categorically” denies, a lawyer said Monday.
“The president ... rejects and categorically denies the complaint,” attorney Jonatan Valenzuela said in a statement, referring to an alleged event in 2013.
The complaint was filed on September 6 in the local prosecutor’s office of Magallanes, in the far south of Chile where Boric is from.
Cristian Crisosto, who heads the Magallanes prosecutor’s office, confirmed “there is a criminal case related to the facts listed,” adding that there was a special team at the agency investigating the complaint.
According to Valenzuela, the complaint was filed by a woman who at the time sent Boric 25 emails that were “unsolicited and non-consensual,” including one with explicit images.
More than 10 years later, the woman “filed a complaint without any basis whatsoever against now-president Gabriel Boric.”
Boric, now 38, was 27 at the time and had just completed his law degree.
“My client never had an emotional relationship or friendship with her and they have not communicated since July 2014,” Valenzuela added.
The accusation against Boric comes as his administration is dealing with a separate scandal over sexual abuse after former crime czar and ex-deputy interior minister Manuel Monsalve was arrested this month on suspicion of raping his subordinate.
Boric, who is ineligible to run for reelection after his four-year presidential term ends in 2026, has special immunity and must first be subject to an impeachment trial by the justice department to be formally investigated.
South Korea holds memorial for forced laborers in Japan after boycotting Japanese event
- South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that it had decided not to attend the Japan-organized memorial largely because the contents of the government speech
- Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Monday that Japan held the ceremony in line with its pledge at the UNESCO World Heritage committee meeting
SADO, Japan: South Korea commemorated wartime Korean forced laborers at Japan’s Sado gold mines in a ceremony Monday, a day after boycotting a similar event organized by Japan, as tensions over historical atrocities continue to strain relations between the two sides.
Monday’s ceremony at a former dormitory near the mines on Sado Island, which date to the 16th century and were listed this year as a UNESCO World Heritage site, was organized by South Korea’s Foreign Ministry and attended by nine family members of Korean wartime laborers, the country’s ambassador to Japan and other officials.
Japan on Sunday held a memorial service for all workers at the Sado mines, including Koreans. It thanked them for their contributions at the mines but did not acknowledge their forced labor or issue an apology.
At the Korean-sponsored memorial on Monday, participants in dark suits observed a moment of silence and offered white chrysanthemums in honor of the South Korean laborers, along with offerings such as dried fish, sliced apple and pears.
In a short speech, South Korea’s Ambassador to Japan Park Choel-hee offered his condolences to the forced laborers and their families, expressing hopes that the memorial would bring comfort to families. He said South Korea and Japan should both make efforts to ensure that the painful wartime history is remembered.
“We will never forget the tears and sacrifices of the Korean workers behind the history of the Sado mines,” Park said.
“I sincerely hope that today will be a day of remembrance for all the Korean workers who suffered indescribable pain under harsh conditions, and that this memorial service will bring comfort to the souls of the deceased Korean workers and their bereaved families,” Park added.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters Monday that Japan held the ceremony in line with its pledge at the UNESCO World Heritage committee meeting after thoroughly communicating with South Korea. “It is disappointing that South Korea did not participate,” Hayashi said.
About 1,500 Koreans were forced to labor under abusive and brutal conditions at the mines during World War II, historians say.
Sunday’s ceremony, which was supposed to further mend wounds, renewed tensions between the two sides. South Korea announced Saturday its decision to not attend the Japanese-organized ceremony, citing unspecified disagreements with Tokyo over the event.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that it had decided not to attend the Japan-organized memorial largely because the contents of the government speech at the event were expected to fall short of the agreement between the two sides over the Sado mines’ World Heritage site listing.
Holding a separate memorial ceremony was an expression of “our government’s firm resolve not to make a compromise with Japan on history issues,” it said.
There was speculation that South Korea boycotted the event over the Japanese government’s representative, whom a since-withdrawn report had linked to Tokyo’s controversial Yasukuni Shrine.
Japanese lawmaker and former entertainer Akiko Ikuina is controversial among Japan’s neighbors in part because of a Kyodo News report — later withdrawn as erroneous — that she visited the shrine, which commemorates 2.5 million war dead including war criminals, after she was elected. China and Korea view Yasukuni as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.
Ikuina has denied visiting Yasukuni since her term began, and Kyodo News on Monday published an apology saying it had erroneously reported Ikuina was among some 20 lawmakers who visited Yasukuni on Aug. 15, 2022, a report widely quoted by Japanese and South Korean media and noted by the South Korean Foreign Ministry.
Hayashi on Tuesday criticized Kyodo over the erroneous story and for causing confusion over the Sado ceremony, adding that the government plans to seek further explanation from Kyodo. He said “there was no problem” with the government’s decision to send Ikuina, who is tasked with culture and public affairs.
Hayashi, noting the importance of cooperation between the two countries in the current security environment, said, “Though there are difficult problems between Japan and South Korea, we plan to continue our close communication.”
The Sado mines were registered as a UNESCO cultural heritage site in July after Japan agreed to include an exhibit on the conditions of Korean forced laborers and to hold a memorial service annually, after repeated protests from the South Korean government.
Signs, including one at the site where South Koreans held their ceremony, have been erected indicating former sites of Korean laborers’ dormitories. A city-operated museum in the area also added a section about Korean laborers, but a private museum attached to the main UNESCO site doesn’t mention them at all.
The site of South Korea’s memorial was the former Fourth Souai Dormitory, one of four dorms for Korean laborers without families. A newly erected sign there reads, “Workers from the Korean Peninsula lived here during the wartime.”
On Saturday, the families visited a former housing site where Korean laborers lived. They also briefly saw the city-run museum and an exhibit on the Korean laborers as they listened to explanations through a translator.
