Benzema sues French minister over Muslim Brotherhood claims

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Written by northsouth

Category: Europe

Published: 01 March 2024

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PARIS - The French footballer Karim Benzema has filed a defamation lawsuit against the country’s interior minister after he claimed the Al-Ittihad player had “notorious” links with the Muslim Brotherhood.

In the 92-page complaint, filed on January 16, the former Ballon d’Or winner accuses Gérald Darmanin of exploiting him to score political points, noting that he “has never had the slightest link with the Muslim Brotherhood organisation, nor to [his] knowledge with anyone who claims to be a member of it.”

The hardline minister targeted the 36-year-old Franco-Algerian player on October 17, after Benzema expressed solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza online.

“Our prayers to the people of Gaza, victims once again of unjust bombardments that spare neither women nor children,” he wrote on X. Without offering any evidence, Darmanin told a French conservative broadcaster that “Benzema is notoriously linked with the Muslim Brotherhood; we all know it.”

Days later, after Benzema had denied the allegations and threatened legal reprisals, Darmanin fended off calls in an interview with BFMTV to provide proof. He instead cited the fact that the player had not tweeted in support of the Israelis killed in Hamas’s October 7 attacks or the French teacher stabbed to death by an Islamist former pupil in Arras, describing his interviewers as being naive.

Darmanin’s comments have been challenged not only for being factually inaccurate but also for their potential to harm the player’s reputation.

The Muslim Brotherhood is an “Islamist movement” that has been banned in Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and several other Middle Eastern countries. “I am aware of the extent to which, because of my notoriety, I am being used in political games, which are all the more scandalous given that the dramatic events since October 7 deserve something quite different from this type of statement,” said Benzema in the lawsuit.

Darmanin’s accusation prompted calls from Valérie Boyer, a senator and vice president of the conservative Les Républicains Party, to strip Benzema of his citizenship and his 2022 Ballon d’Or—the highest individual award a professional football player can receive.”

Benzema’s lawyer, Hugues Vigier, described the minister’s words as out of line. “It’s the exact opposite of what a man who calls himself a politician should be working towards,” he told the French broadcaster RTL. He added that Darmanin’s comments were “sowing division in France, with lots of people who don’t understand this kind of talk, some who exclude Karim Benzema, and some who feel excluded by what is being said about him.”

Assurances demanded after ‘concerning’ reports about Trident missile misfire

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Written by northsouth

Category: Europe

Published: 21 February 2024

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LONDON - The Opposition Labour party has called for assurances over the effectiveness of Britain’s nuclear deterrent after “concerning” reports about a Trident missile test failure.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed an “anomaly occurred” during a an exercise that took place on January 30 on board the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Vanguard.

Officials said they could not say any more because the incident relates to national security.

But they said there remained “absolute confidence” in Britain’s constant at-sea nuclear deterrent and that it continues to be “secure and effective”.

The Sun, which first reported the test failure, said the incident occurred during an exercise off the coast of Florida, United States, last month.

The newspaper reported that a dummy Trident 2 missile was propelled into the air by compressed gas in its launch tube, but that its so-called first stage boosters did not ignite.

An anonymous source quoted by The Sun said: “It left the submarine but it just went plop, right next to them.”

The MoD said the “anomaly” during the exercise was “event specific”.

It is said to be the second misfiring in a row, with a test launch of a Trident missile by the Royal Navy off the coast of the US in June 2016 also reported to have been a failure.

Shadow defence secretary John Healey said: “Reports of a Trident test failure are concerning.

“The Defence Secretary will want to reassure Parliament that this test has no impact on the effectiveness of the UK’s deterrent operations.”

A written ministerial statement on Britain’s nuclear deterrent is expected to be laid in the House of Commons by Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, according to Wednesday’s order paper.

Mr Shapps was on-board the 150 metre vessel at the time of the incident, a spokesman for the Defence Secretary confirmed.

First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Ben Key was also present at the time to mark what was the final exercise for Vanguard and its crew after undergoing a refit that took more than seven years, an MoD spokesman said.

The incident comes at a time of high global tension, with a war raging in the Middle East and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaching its two-year anniversary.

A spokeswoman for the MoD said: “HMS Vanguard and her crew have been proven fully capable of operating the UK’s continuous at-sea deterrent, passing all tests during a recent demonstration and shakedown operation (DASO) — a routine test to confirm that the submarine can return to service following deep maintenance work.

“The test has reaffirmed the effectiveness of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, in which we have absolute confidence.

“During the test an anomaly occurred.

“As a matter of national security, we cannot provide further information on this, however we are confident that the anomaly was event specific, and therefore there are no implications for the reliability of the wider Trident missile systems and stockpile.

“The UK’s nuclear deterrent remains safe, secure and effective.”

HMS Vanguard is one of four of the so-called Vanguard-class nuclear submarines that first went on patrol in 1994, with one of the vessels continually at sea.

They carry the American-built Trident 2 D5 nuclear missiles, the mainstay of Britain’s strategic nuclear deterrent.

A Trident missile can be fired at targets up to 4,000 miles away and at its fastest can travel at more than 13,000 miles an hour, according to the Royal Navy.

They are 13 metres long, weigh 130,000lb (58,500kg) and are ejected from the submarine by high-pressured gas before they fire as they reach the surface of the water.

Each Vanguard-class submarine can hold up to 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles, but will only carry up to eight Trident rockets and up to 40 nuclear warheads.

The V-class is due to be replaced by the bigger Dreadnought-class submarines in the 2030s.

Between £31 billion and £41 billion has been set aside for the wider programme of replacing the Vanguard-class submarines, according to figures from the House of Commons Library.

Over 200,000 pro-Palestine marchers walk through London to Israel embassy

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Written by northsouth

Category: Europe

Published: 17 February 2024

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LONDON - Between 200,000 and 250,000 people were expected at the demonstration, according to a spokesman for the Palestine Solidarity Campaign.

Protesters met at the south of Park Lane, holding banners calling for a “ceasefire now” and chanting “free, free Palestine”, before leaving for designated place near the Israeli embassy where speeches would be made.

Among the speakers was former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot, who both called for “justice” for the Palestinian people.

The Islington North MP also told the crowd he will be voting in support of a ceasefire motion being held by Westminster next week, due to be tabled by the Scottish National Party.

Before the march began at 1.30pm, the Metropolitan Police announced on X, formerly Twitter, that officers had arrested one person on suspicion of support for a proscribed organisation in relation to a placard.

About two hours later they tweeted: “Officers have made nine further arrests during an incident at Hyde Park Corner.

“A man was seen in the crowd with an antisemitic placard. He has been arrested for inciting racial hatred.

“When officers went in to arrest him they were assaulted, resulting in six arrests for assaulting an emergency worker.

“Two other people were arrested for refusing to remove face coverings when required to do so by officers under Section 60AA of the Public Order Act.”

At around 4pm, the Met announced one further arrest “for an antisemitic placard”, bringing the total number of arrests so far to 11.

The force explained that the Section 60AA order requires anyone wearing a face covering “for the purpose of concealing their identity” to remove it when asked to do so.

It is in force until 8pm in a designated area.

As a result of the incident at Hyde Park Corner, a Section 60 order is now in force in the same area until the same time, providing officers with additional search powers “to prevent further violence”, the Met added.

A Section 35 dispersal order is also now in place until 11pm, meaning anyone refusing a direction to leave the area can be arrested.

Mr Corbyn took to the stage amid raucous applause, telling the crowd: “We’ve got to carry on. This is the 14th national demonstration and there’s going to be as many more as it takes until there is a ceasefire, until there is justice for the Palestinian people.”

He added: “We’re witnessing something globally horrific in real time on our televisions.

“And so on Wednesday, when the UK Parliament has a motion before it tabled by the Scottish National Party, I am signing in support of that motion.

“And I want every one of you here demand, demand of your MP, your elected representative, be there, vote for a ceasefire.

Mr Zomlot told the crowd: “You see what is happening, you are horrified at what is happening, you are shocked to your core at the inaction of your government.

“Hang on to your anger, hang on to your enragement, hang on to your horror and use it, use it in the pursuit of justice.”

At least 28,663 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its military operation in the strip in October in response to the October 7 attacks, where militants killed some 1,200 people and took another 250 hostage.

Israel is being urged not to send ground forces into Rafah on the Egyptian border, where many of the strip’s citizens are now living after areas closer to their homes became engulfed by fighting.