Thursday, June 29, 2023

Can Canada make big tech pay for news?

GETTY IMAGES
By Natalie Sherman & Robin Levinson King
BBC News, New York and Toronto

Meta, owner of Facebook and Instagram, and Google say they will block local news from their platforms in Canada after the country became the latest jurisdiction to pass a law aimed at forcing tech giants to pay news providers for content. What happens now?

As president of La Presse, a leading French-language publication in Quebec, Pierre-Elliott Levasseur says he tried for years to negotiate payment agreements with tech giants, which he believed were sucking up data and ad dollars on the strength of news articles his 220-odd staff were supplying.

"For years and years they've flat-out refused," he told the BBC.

He had hoped a new law, known as the Online News Act, would change that - and lead to an influx of funds that could be invested in the business.

The law - which is aimed at Google and Meta - requires tech firms to negotiate payment agreements with news outlets. If the two sides cannot reach a deal, the country's broadcast regulator can force them into arbitration.

A independent parliamentary budget watchdog has estimated that measure could generate more than C$300m (£180m; $226m) in total annually - or funding for roughly 30% of a typical newsroom's operations.

But instead of a windfall, La Presse - and every other Canadian news organisation - is now facing a potential blackout, as the tech giants pledge to block links to news articles on their platform rather than comply.

Meta, which had opposed the proposal from the start, said it would start blocking news sites for Canadian users over the next few months.

Google has struck payment agreements with news providers in Europe, Australia and elsewhere and had appeared willing to negotiate.

But this week it called Canada's current law "unworkable" and said it would remove links to Canadian news from its search, news and discover products in the country once the act goes into effect in six months.

It says it currently has agreements with over 150 Canadian news organisations, and estimated its traffic helped news websites earn C$250m a year.

"We're willing to do more," the company said referring to payments. "We just can't do it in a way that breaks the way that the web and search engines are designed to work, and that creates untenable product and financial uncertainty."

Before the law was passed this month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had dismissed the threats from the tech firms to pull news.

LA PRESSE
La Presse's Pierre-Elliott Levasseur says news organisations don't want a handout.

"The fact that these internet giants would rather cut off Canadians' access to local news than pay their fair share is a real problem, and now they're resorting to bullying tactics to try and get their way. It's not going to work," he said earlier in June.

Tech industry organisations have compared the effort to a "shakedown", but Mr Levasseur says no one in media is looking for a handout.

"We're asking to have an opportunity to negotiate a fair commercial agreement," he says. "The only reason that they haven't done it is because they're monopolies."

How the dispute gets resolved could prove a pivotal moment in a wider fight, as countries around the world, including Indonesia, South Africa, India, the UK and the US consider similar measures.

The sums under discussion amount to a tiny drop in the bucket compared to the tens of billions of dollars made by the tech giants each year - but could prove a lifeline for journalism, says Courtney Radsch, director of the Center for Journalism and Liberty at the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly think-tank.

"There is an increasing consensus around the world that Google and Facebook ... should pay for the news that they use," she says. "People realise that there is a need to protect journalism as a fundamental pillar of democracy."

Canada modelled its rule on a measure that Australia passed in 2021. That law sparked similar objections, prompting Meta to impose a brief news blackout.

But after some changes to the bill the two companies ended up negotiating more than 30 deals with publishers worth more than $130m (A$200m), according to economist Rodney Sims, who led Australia's competition agency, which developed the law.

He says he expects the companies to behave similarly this time - even though at Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been pushing the platform away from news in favour of more personal content.

"Facebook just hates the whole thing," he conceded. But "you can't have effective search with no news and I think Facebook is going to find ... that it is very hard for them to give you your feed without any news," he says.

"It's what makes their service complete."

But others a warning that how the fight plays out in Canada could be different.

GETTY IMAGES
Mark Zuckerberg has said surveys of Facebook users show they want to see less news on the platform.

Phillip Crawley, chief executive of the Globe and Mail, which has licencing deals in place with Google, Meta, Apple and others, pointed to broader changes in search that are under way, such as the rise of chatbots like ChatGPT, which generate answers, not a list of links, in response to user questions.

With more countries considering such measures, the companies also have bigger incentive to fight, he says.

"The world is in a different place," says Mr Crawley, who spoke in support of the bill while raising concerns that certain powers granted Canada's broadcast regulator could threaten independence of the press.

"So I don't think the model in Australia is one that that we should be guided by too much. That was then. This is now."

Google and Meta say that Canada's law differs from Australia's in key ways. Notably, in Australia, companies could satisfy regulators without doing deals with everyone. In Canada, there's no such out. It also regulates more types of content.

Google says it tried - with little effect - to raise its concerns about the bill with the government before it passed. Though the government came back to the bargaining table after the law passed, those "overtime" discussions were too late to fix the problems, a source at the company told the BBC.

Michael Geist, a Canadian tech legal scholar and noted critic of the bill, says the government has miscalculated given the shifts in Meta's business.

The company has said the proportion of adults using Facebook for news fell by about a third between 2016-2022, from 45% to 30%, and its surveys of users show they want to see less news on the platform.

"Why did the government not read the room?" Mr Geist said. "Facebook is not bluffing - they would like to get out of news."

Google has said it will continue to participate in the regulatory process, which could take months to resolve and leaves many newsrooms facing more turmoil.

At the Globe and Mail, which now gets two-thirds of its revenue from subscriptions, Google accounts for 30% of the traffic, Mr Crawley told parliament last month.

For Le Devoir, a major French-language publication, Google drives 40% of its traffic and nearly 30% comes from social media.

Meta has already moved to cancel the deals it has in place with publishers in Canada - which can be worth millions of dollars, according to reports - as well as a funding it had provided to a fellowship programme.

Mr Levasseur conceded that a blackout would have an impact at La Presse, which is profitable and funded largely by advertising and reader donations. But he said he believed the publication, which reaches roughly 1.4 million readers each day, would adjust, as it has to the other upheavals in the news business that tech giants have unleashed.

"When we put an end to the [print] paper, advertising revenue was decreasing. Now it's increasing," he says. "We were able to adjust then and I'm sure we'll be able to adjust in the future."

Google to remove news from search in Canada over new law

US tech giant says new Canadian law requiring online platforms to pay news publishers ‘remains unworkable’.
When the law takes effect, we unfortunately will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada,' Google says 
[File: Matt Rourke/AP Photo]

Published On 29 Jun 2023

Google has announced plans to remove Canadian news articles from its search engine and other products in Canada when a law requiring major online platforms to pay news publishers takes effect in the country.

In a statement on Thursday, Google said Canada’s Bill C-18 – the so-called Online News Act, which was passed last week – “remains unworkable”.

“We have now informed the Government that when the law takes effect, we unfortunately will have to remove links to Canadian news from our Search, News and Discover products in Canada,” the company said.

“We’re disappointed it has come to this. We don’t take this decision or its impacts lightly and believe it’s important to be transparent with Canadian publishers and our users as early as possible.”

The move could have a devastating effect on Canadian news outlets, many of which are already struggling financially and have faced several rounds of job cuts in recent years.

Meta Platforms Inc also said last week that it would end news access for Canadian users on its platforms, including Facebook and Instagram, over the new legislation.

“Today, we are confirming that news availability will be ended on Facebook and Instagram for all users in Canada prior to the Online News Act taking effect,” Meta said in a statement after the law was adopted on June 22.

The Canadian government has defended Bill C-18, which is expected to come into effect in six months, as part of its effort to ensure “fair revenue sharing between digital platforms and news outlets”.

The act outlines rules to force online platforms to negotiate commercial deals and pay news publishers for their content, a step similar to a groundbreaking law passed in Australia in 2021.

“Thanks to the Online News Act, newsrooms across the country will now be able to negotiate fairly for compensation when their work appears on the biggest digital platforms,” Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez said in a statement this month.

“It levels the playing field by putting the power of big tech in check and ensuring that even our smallest news business can benefit through this regime and receive fair compensation for their work.

But the US tech giants have said the proposals are unsustainable for their businesses.

Google has argued Canada’s law is broader than those in Australia and Europe, saying it puts a price on news story links displayed in search results and can apply to outlets that do not produce news.

On Wednesday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that conversations with Google over the new legislation were “ongoing”.

“It is important that we find a way to ensure that Canadians can continue to access content in all sorts of different ways – but that also we protect rigorous, independent journalism that has a foundational role in our democracies,” Trudeau said.

“We know democracy only works with a strong, independent, diverse media and we will continue standing up for that.”

According to Canadian government figures, overall revenues of Canadian broadcast television, radio, newspapers and magazines fell by nearly $4.5bn ($6 billion Canadian dollars) between 2008 and 2020.

Since 2008, at least 474 news outlets have closed in 335 communities across Canada.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA, REUTERS
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UPDATED
Mother of teen driver killed by French police officer alleges racial motivation in his death

Nahel M.’s mother Mounia says police officer ‘saw the face of an Arab’ and ‘wanted to take his life’


Gizem Taskin Nicollet |30.06.2023 -



PARIS

The mother of a 17-year-old delivery driver who was shot and killed by a police officer earlier this week during a traffic check in a Paris suburb said Thursday that she believes her son's death was driven by racial motives.

Nahel M.’s mother, Mounia, said during an interview broadcast on the France 5 TV channel that the police officer "saw the face of an Arab, a little kid," and "wanted to take his life."

She said she did not want to blame the whole law enforcement institution but only the police officer who killed her son.

"I don't blame the police. I blame a person: the one who took my son's life," she said.

Nahel was shot dead by police on Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre after he broke traffic laws and failed to stop, according to prosecutors.

The prosecutors said Thursday that the officer who killed Nahel has been charged with voluntary homicide and placed in pre-trial detention.

Laurent-Franck Lienard, the lawyer for the police, told BFMTV that his client is “devastated” and asks for “forgiveness from the family.”

“He doesn't get up in the morning to kill people. He didn't want to kill," he added.

Thursday evening was marked by tensions and clashes in Ile-de-France as well as in Marseille, Lille and in several other cities across France. The Interior Ministry said on Twitter that 100 people were arrested during the protests.



Protesters tried to burn down the town hall in Clichy in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, according to video footage circulated on social media.

A curfew was imposed in Meudon for the night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m, said the mayor of the municipality, which is located 9.1 kilometers (5.6 miles) from the center of Paris.

Jean-Didier Berger, the mayor of Clamart commune, located 8.7 kilometers (5.4 miles) from the center of Paris, also decided to impose a curfew from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. until Monday.

Valerie Pecresse, president of the regional council of Île-de-France, also announced that bus and tram services in and around Paris were suspended after 9 p.m. on Thursday to protect employees and passengers.

Paris police have been authorized to use drones in the city and aslo in the departments of Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne from Thursday evening until Friday morning at 6 a.m.

A police officer was injured and taken to the hospital in Marseille, according to a police source, and five people were arrested in the city.

In Lile, police arrested six people. Protesters set a van on fire and also trash bins in Toulouse.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - Clashes erupt after tribute march for French teenager




Eyewitness

Tear gas and stun grenades won't stop riots and protests as long as fear persists in Paris after boy shot by police

Mounia, a woman whose only child Nahel was killed by a police officer on Tuesday, channelled her emotion into leading a peaceful protest on Thursday. But others on the march explained why they will continue to speak up, motivated by fear - even if they are met by a fierce crackdown.

Adam Parsons
Europe correspondent @adamparsons
Thursday 29 June 2023

Thousands of people crowded onto the streets of Nanterre, many holding banners or placards, demanding "justice for Nahel".

And in the midst of them, sitting confidently on the roof of a vehicle, was the focal point of the demonstration - the woman who has suffered unspeakable pain, and is now channelling her emotion.

Her name is Mounia, and it was her son Nahel - her only child - who was killed on Tuesday morning by a police officer.

You could excuse her for wanting to hide away from the world but instead, she took the lead role here, asking people to join a peaceful protest.

Her son's name was everywhere - on T-shirts, huge banners the width of the road, and chanted as the crowd slowly made its way to the prefecture building.

Nahel was remembered and, for most of the march's length, there was tension and anger but no violence.

Maybe that was because there was also no sign of a police uniform.


MORE ON FRANCE


France stops public transport and deploys 40,000 officers amid fears of third night of rioting


Why are people protesting in France - and why is there a history of rioting?


France riots: Police killing of 17-year-old boy in Nanterre is catalyst for wanton destruction

Related Topics:France

Talk to just about anyone here, and they'll tell you a story of how, and why, they dislike, mistrust or simply hate the police.

You hear accusations of brutality, heavy-handed arrests, intimidation and racism.

So while there may have been plain-clothed police officers among the crowd, there was no visible presence at all.

Which, after two nights of rioting, was striking.

Image:Mounia, the mother of Nahel

Protesters eventually met by tear gas and stun grenades

That changed when the march reached its destination near the prefecture building, effectively the administrative headquarters of the district.

It was a destination that not only represented authority but was also the very place where Nahel's life had come to an end - his car careered to a halt on the far side of the square in front of the prefecture, moments after he had been shot.

And there, protecting the prefecture, were the police.

Lines of vans, full of the CRS riot police who have long been a staple of violent confrontations across France.

And today followed what is now a familiar pattern - rocks and fireworks hurled from protesters; tear gas and stun grenades coming back from the police.

The truth, of course, is that a small minority of people are instigating the trouble and there are plenty across Nanterre and beyond who feel that sense of disenfranchisement from society but don't want to resort to violence.

Read more:
People attend a march in tribute to Nahel

'I am scared of the police'

But it's also true that among them sits a seam of sympathy - people who have seen their streets lit up with fires and conflict, and blame the police.

"I am scared of the police," one man told me. "If they can kill a 17-year-old then they can kill anyone."

There were two other people in the car along with Nahel.

One of them has been detained; the other escaped and was not caught.

But his friends are in touch with him.

People at the march

One told us that the youngster painted a very different picture of what happened - telling a story of the police screaming at them and hitting Nahel with the butt of a pistol.

He apparently claims that the car moved forward because Nahel's foot slipped off the brake pedal.

We can't substantiate these claims but we do know that the prosecutor has charged the police officer, who hasn't been named, with voluntary homicide.

There is little sign that the promptness of that charge has quelled the anger.

But what those rumours - whether true or not - have done is increase the sense, among some people in some places in this country, that the police didn't tell the whole story; that they remain a problem, rather than a solution.

And as long as enough people believe that, then this disorder may rumble on.


Prison Attacked With Fireworks as Chaos Erupts in France

BY FATMA KHALED ON 6/29/23 NEWSWEEK

France Faces George Floyd Moment as Police Shooting Sparks Mass Protest


Protesters demonstrating the police killing of a 17-year-old threw fireworks at a prison in Fresnes, south of Paris, amid ongoing civil unrest in France.

About 20 young men attacked the prison's entrance with fireworks and projectiles on Thursday, AFP reported. Videos shared online showed chaos as shops and cars were set ablaze in some areas, according to BBC News. Other videos showed an alarm sounding during the prison attack. Many protesters also threw fireworks into police stations.

Suburbs of Paris saw multiple clashes, but the most extreme confrontations took place in the western suburb of Nanterre, where the teen was fatally shot. Le Monde reported that local authorities had to partially withdraw.

The teen, named only as Nahel M., was shot Tuesday morning as he seemed to refuse to comply with a traffic stop. Initial police reports said he attempted to plow into officers. AFP said video showed that the teen was shot in the chest at point-blank range.

CRS riot police face protesters, with the Grande Arche de la Defense in the background, at the end of a commemoration march for a teen driver shot dead by police, in the Parisian suburb of Nanterre on June 29, 2023. Violent protests broke out in France in the early hours of the day as anger grew over the killing with security forces arresting 150 people in the chaos that saw balaclava-clad protesters burning cars and setting off fireworks.
ZAKARIA ABDELKAFI/AFP/GETTY

French prosecutors said the officer, who is under formal investigation for voluntary homicide, had no right to open fire.

The teen's death sparked mass protest across the country, where at least 180 people were arrested on the second night of unrest.

Violence also erupted in the Pablo Picasso district, where young protesters took to the streets, with one person yelling "death to cops!" as a number of cars and garbage bins were set on fire, according to the BBC.

The southwestern city of Toulouse and cities in the north also saw unrest, and disturbances were reported in Amiens, Dijon, Saint-Etienne and outside of Lyon in the southeast.

READ MORE


President Emmanuel Macron said setting fire to town halls, schools and police stations was "unjustifiable." He called in an emergency Cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss the unrest.

Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said that France had witnessed "a night of unbearable violence," according to the BBC, and added that "the state must be firm in its response." Darmanin said 40,000 police officers would be deployed across the country to control the situation and prevent violence from escalating.

The death of the teen, who is of Algerian descent, was the third fatal shooting during traffic stops in France in 2023 after a record 13 in 2022, according to local reports. There were three such killings in 2021 and two in 2020, according to Reuters. The news agency reported that most of those killed by police in traffic stops since 2017 were Black or of Arab origin.

The mass anger stemming from Nahel's death is reminiscent of Black Lives Matter protests that erupted in the U.S. after George Floyd, who was Black, was killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020. Officer Derek Chauvin suffocated Floyd by kneeling on his neck. Protests broke out across the country with demonstrators demanding justice for Floyd.

Newsweek reached out to France's presidential website for comment.

Protests spread in France over police killing of 17-year-old

France’s Macron calls crisis meeting after second night of rioting


A firefighter stands in front of a burning vehicle during clashes between protesters and police, after the death of Nahel, a 17-year-old teenager killed by a French police officer during a traffic stop, in Nanterre, Paris suburb, France, June 28, 2023. (Reuters)


Reuters
Published: 29 June ,2023

President Emmanuel Macron convened a crisis meeting with senior ministers on Thursday after riots spread across France overnight over the deadly police shooting of a teenager of North African descent during a traffic stop.

Police made 150 arrests nationwide during a second night of unrest, Interior Min-ister Gerald Darmanin said, as public anger spilled out onto the streets, notably in the ethnically diverse suburbs of France’s big cities.

The epicenter of the unrest was in Nanterre, a working-class town on the western outskirts of Paris where the shooting of the 17-year-old boy identified as Nahel took place.

“The last few hours have been marked by scenes of violence against police sta-tions but also schools and town halls, and thus institutions of the Republic and these scenes are wholly unjustifiable,” Macron said as he opened the emergency meeting.


The fatal shooting has fed into longstanding complaints of police violence from within the low-income, racially mixed suburbs that ring major cities in France.

A video shared on social media, verified by Reuters, shows two police officers beside a car, a Mercedes AMG, with one shooting at the teenage driver at close range as he pulls away.

He died shortly afterwards from his wounds, the local prosecutor said.

The interior ministry had said Wednesday on that 2,000 police had been mobi-lized in the Paris region. Shortly before midnight on Nanterre’s Avenue Pablo Pi-casso, a trail of overturned vehicles burned as fireworks fizzed at police lines.

Police also clashed with protesters in the northern city of Lille and in Toulouse in the southwest, and there was unrest in Amiens, Dijon as well as in numerous dis-tricts throughout the greater Paris region, the authorities said.

A police officer is being investigated for voluntary homicide for shooting the youth. Prosecutors say the boy failed to comply with an order to stop his car.

Rights groups allege systemic racism inside law enforcement agencies in France, a charge Macron has previously denied.

Protests spread in France over police killing of 17-year-old

The victim, identified as Nahel M, 17, was shot at point-blank range by police during a traffic check in a Paris suburb.



Published On 29 Jun 2023

Unrest continued in France for a second night as security forces deployed in their thousands to quell protests over the fatal shooting of a 17-year-old boy by police, which French President Emmanuel Macron described as “inexcusable” while pleading for calm as justice took its course.

Approximately 2,000 riot police were called up in suburbs around Paris on Wednesday night following the fatal, point-blank range shooting on Tuesday morning of the teenager during a traffic check in the Paris suburb of Nanterre.

Protesters set fire to rubbish bins and fireworks were set off in Nanterre on Wednesday night, as well as in other communes of the Hauts-de-Seine region to the west of Paris, and in the eastern city of Dijon. In the Essonne region to the south of the capital, a group of people set a bus on fire after having all the passengers get off, police said.

In the southern city of Toulouse, several cars were torched and responding police and firefighters were pelted with projectiles as thick black smoke billowed high into the sky, a police source said.

About 16 people were arrested across the country, police said shortly after midnight on Wednesday.

Anger over the killing spawned unrest in multiple towns around Paris on Tuesday night. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 31 people were arrested, 24 police officers injured and 40 cars burned overnight on Tuesday and into the early hours of Wednesday.

“A teenager was killed. That is inexplicable and unforgivable,” Macron said during an official visit to Marseille in southern France. “Nothing can justify the death of a young person,” he said.

French celebrities including star footballer Kylian Mbappe expressed outrage and grief at the death of the teenager, while the government issued rare criticism of the security forces in a bid to cool tempers.

“I am hurting for my France,” tweeted Mbappe, captain of the French men’s national football team and star player at Paris Saint-Germain.

The victim, identified as Nahel M from Nanterre, was pulled over by two police officers for breaking traffic rules while driving a yellow Mercedes on Tuesday morning.

Police initially reported that an officer had shot at the teenager because he was driving his car at him but this version of events was contradicted by a video circulating on social media. That footage shows the two police officers standing by the side of the stationary car, with one pointing a weapon at the driver.


A voice is heard saying: “You are going to get a bullet in the head.” The police officer then appears to fire as the car abruptly drives off.

The 38-year-old policeman filmed firing the lethal shot was taken into custody afterwards and is under investigation for voluntary manslaughter.

The incident has reignited debate in France about police tactics amid longstanding criticism from rights groups about the treatment of people in low-income suburbs, particularly ethnic minorities.
Locals look at the façade of a burned-out annexe of the town hall in the Le Val Fouree neighbourhood in Mantes-la-Jolie, west of Paris, France, on June 28, 2023, a day after the killing of a 17-year-old in Nanterre by a police officer [Alain Jocard/AFP]

Last year, 13 people were killed in France after refusing to stop for police traffic checks. The killings follow a law change in 2017 that gave greater powers to officers to use their weapons and which is now under scrutiny.

Among France’s left-wing politicians, Greens party leader Marine Tondelier said: “What I see on this video is the execution by police of a 17-year-old kid, in France, in 2023, in broad daylight.”

But many right-wing politicians were quick to defend the reputation of the police force, with far-right leader Marine Le Pen saying the officer in question was entitled to the “presumption of innocence”.

All French governments are haunted by the prospect of a repeat of the 2005 riots sparked by the death of two black boys during a police chase. Those protests resulted in about 10,000 cars being burned and 6,000 people arrested.


Nahel’s mother posted a video on TikTok calling for a tribute march on Thursday for her son, her only child.

Nahel M’s lawyer, Yassine Bouzrou, said he would also file an additional complaint for false testimony over the allegation that Nahel had tried to run over the police officer.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES



French police, protesters clash after Macron calls police fatal shooting of teen 'inexcusable'


By Euronews with AP • Updated: 29/06/2023

Police clashed with protesters overnight just hours after French President Emmanuel Macron called the shooting death of a 17-year-old delivery driver by police “inexcusable” and pleaded for calm while justice takes its course.

It was the second night of violence in the Paris suburb of Nanterre even as the government heightened the police presence in Paris and other big cities Wednesday after the killing triggered a night of scattered violence.

Fires could be seen burning at some intersections in the suburb and protesters shot fireworks at police, video from the suburb showed.
Unrest in Paris after 17-year-old boy shot dead by police

The death of 17-year-old Nael during a traffic check Tuesday in the Paris suburb of Nanterre elicited nationwide concern and widespread messages of indignation and condolences. French soccer star Kylian Mbappe tweeted: “I hurt for my France”. Nael's surname has not been released by authorities or by his family.

Nael's mother called for a silent march Thursday in his honour on the square where he was killed, while French activists renewed calls to tackle what they see as systemic police abuse. Government officials condemned the killing and sought to distance themselves from the police officer's actions.

“Nothing justifies the death of a young person,” Macron told reporters in Marseille, calling what happened “inexplicable and inexcusable.”

In this grab taken from video provided by @Ohana_FNG, two police officers question a driver, one pointing a gun towards the window of a yellow car, in Nanterre, France.AP/AP

Videos of the incident shared online show two police officers leaning into the driver-side window of a yellow car before the vehicle pulls away as one officer fires into the window. The car is later seen crashed into a post nearby.

The victim, who was driving the car, was wounded by a gunshot and died at the scene, the prosecutor’s office said in a statement. A passenger in the car was briefly detained and released, and police are searching for another passenger who fled.

Anger over the killing spawned unrest in multiple towns around Paris. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 31 people were arrested, 24 police officers injured and 40 cars burned in overnight unrest.

The police officer suspected of firing on Nael remains in custody and faces potential manslaughter charges, according to the Nanterre prosecutor's office.

The Nanterre neighbourhood where Nael lived remained on edge Wednesday, with police on guard around the regional administration and burned car wreckage and overturned garbage bins still visible in some areas. Bouquets of orange and yellow roses were tied to the post where the car crashed after the shooting, on Nanterre's Nelson Mandela Square.

Flowers are attached to a pole where a young man was killed by a police officers, Wednesday, June 28, 2023 in Nanterre, outside Paris.Lewis Joly/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Speaking to Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said, “the shocking images broadcast yesterday show an intervention that clearly appears as not complying with the rules of engagement of our police forces.”

Deadly use of firearms is less common in France than in the United States. Tuesday’s death unleashed anger in Nanterre and other towns, including around housing projects where many residents struggle with poverty and discrimination and feel police abuse is under-punished.

Several people have died or sustained injuries at the hands of French police in recent years, prompting demands for more accountability. France also saw protests against racial profiling and other injustice in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by police in Minnesota.

Macron called for calm and for respect for Nael's loved ones. Asked about police abuses, he said justice should be allowed to run its course.

Police forces clash with youths in Nanterre, outside Paris, Thursday, June 29, 2023.Christophe Ena/Copyright 2023 The AP. All rights reserved.

Interior Minister Darmanin said 1,200 police were deployed overnight and 2,000 would be out in force Wednesday in the Paris region and around other big cities to “maintain order.”

A lawyer for Nael's family, Yassine Bouzrou, told The Associated Press they want the police officer pursued for murder instead of manslaughter, and want the investigation handed to a different region because they fear Nanterre investigators won't be impartial.

The lawyers rejected a reported statement by the police officers that they believed their lives were in danger because the driver had threatened to run them over.

Mbappe, who grew up in the Paris suburb of Bondy, was among those who were shocked by what happened.

“I hurt for my France. Unacceptable situation. All my thoughts go to the family and loved ones of Nael, this little angel gone much too soon,” he tweeted.


France protesters shoot fireworks at police 

as 150 arrested


Unrest reported in Paris, Toulouse and other major cities after boy shot by officers

Fires burn in the street in Nanterre. AFP
The National
Jun 28, 2023

At least 150 people have been arrested across France as protests intensify over the death of a teenager shot dead by police on Tuesday.

The boy, named only as Nahel M, 17, was shot at point-blank range after refusing a traffic stop in Nanterre, a northern suburb of Paris.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said 150 people had been arrested across the country, with protests reported as far south as Toulouse.

The death of Nahel, reportedly of Algerian origin, has reignited public anger over police behaviour, particularly towards France's large ethnic minority population.

READ MORE
France fears fresh riots after teenage driver shot dead by traffic police

Police said he was shot in the chest after attempting to drive at an officer, a claim contradicted by footage released of the incident.

In the video, a voice is heard to say: “You are going to get a bullet in the head” before a police officer fires at Nahel, who tried to drive away from the scene.

Mr Darmanin said Wednesday marked “an unbearable night of violence against symbols of the republic”.

“Town halls, schools, and police stations set on fire or attacked – 150 arrests … shame on those who did not call for calm,” he tweeted.

Footage on social media showed protesters firing a volley of fireworks at riot police on Wednesday night.




In the central city of Lyon, 35 people have been rehomed after their apartments were destroyed by a fire started by fireworks, the fire service told AFP.
'Very tense' in Nanterre

In Nanterre, youths set up a barricade and at least a dozen vehicles were set on fire as police responded with tear gas.

“Justice for Nahel” and “Police kill” were scrawled on the walls of nearby buildings.


“It's very tense,” a mediator told Le Monde newspaper. “We're trying to act as a buffer but we know its going to be very complicated.”

Protests were also reported in other towns and cities, including in Lille and Rennes – where around 300 people gathered in memory of Nahel.

In the Essonne region south of the capital, a group set a bus on fire after forcing all the passengers off, police said, while in Clamart a tram was set on fire.


Firefighters extinguish burning vehicles during the clashes. Reuters

In the working class 18th and 19th districts of north-eastern Paris, police fired flashballs to disperse protesters burning rubbish, but instead of leaving, the crowd responded by throwing bottles, AFP reported.

“We are sick of being treated like this. This is for Nahel, we are Nahel,” said two young men calling themselves “avengers” as they wheeled rubbish bins from a nearby estate to add to a burning barricade.

One said his family had lived in France for three generations but “they are never going to accept us”.

On Wednesday morning, the Nanterre local council called for an end to the “destructive spiral”, while the government issued rare criticism of the security forces.

“A teenager was killed. That is inexplicable and unforgivable,” President Emmanuel Macron said during an official visit to Marseille in the south.

Updated: June 28, 2023, 11:38 PM







 

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TEXAS
Gatherings combining Pride and Juneteenth give Black LGBTQ+ people a refuge where they can celebrate

By JAMIE STENGLE 
Associated Press
JUNE 29, 2023 

DALLAS — From speaking at a health equity forum to striking a pose to the beats of a DJ set at a party on a pedestrian bridge, Naomi Green spent one weekend this month jumping from one event in Dallas to another that celebrated Juneteenth and Pride together.

''Sometimes I think the Black community forgets that LGBTQ people are still Black as well,'' Green said. ''And so we have the opportunity to really celebrate both of those at the same time because just because we're LGBTQ doesn't remove our Blackness. We're both.''

As the lives of LGBTQ+ people are celebrated in June during Pride month, groups have found ways to merge those festivities with America's newest federal holiday, Juneteenth, which marks the day in 1865 — over two years after the Emancipation Proclamation — that enslaved people in Galveston, Texas, were told they'd been freed. Such gatherings help highlight the struggles against discrimination Black and LGBTQ+ people have faced while celebrating those whose lives are a convergence of both identities in an inclusive atmosphere.

Organizers say it's especially vital to have such events amid a political climate that's been increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ people. Transgender people have been particularly targeted with a growing number of laws and policies including restrictions on gender-affirming care, public bathroom use and participation in sports.

''It's really important for us to have places where people look like us or people that are … allies of us to all come together and enjoy each other,'' said Ahmad Goree, chief operating officer of Dallas Southern Pride, which hosts an annual Juneteenth Unity Weekend Celebration that brought thousands to the city this year.

Silver Tran attended the Unity Weekend festival and pool party with her wife, brother-in-law and best friend. She said they swam, ate barbecue and caught up with each other.

''You feel more comfortable being there because you are around other members of the LGBTQ community, so you don't feel awkward or anything,'' said Tran, who has attended the event for the last couple of years. ''Everyone is just there to have a good time. No one is there to really judge you."

Green, a transgender woman, said she appreciates that Dallas Southern Pride has been inclusive of the transgender community, which has seen several members killed in attacks in the city in recent years. Green said she believes education and visibility will help increase acceptance.

''We pay taxes, we work jobs, we have families, we have people who love us," said Green, a marketing manager for a global firm. "We contribute to society, just like everyone else does.''

Trevon Mayers, senior director of advocacy and community engagement at New York City's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, said adding a Juneteenth celebration to the center's Pride month festivities allows one to consider what freedom looks like ''for the intersections of our community.''

''We often talk about the LGBTQ community not being a monolith, and that is also extended to the Black community,'' Mayers said. ''There are so many nuances and intricacies of what those community members look like and the diversity that exists within that space.''

Diante Webb said he was happily surprised to see so many people he knew at the center's celebration, called Center the Culture: A Queer Juneteenth Block Party. ''I was there with a friend and found out I was amongst a lot of friends,'' he said.

''I think it's so important to have spaces where queer people of color can gather," said Webb, an executive assistant at an environmental organization. ''There's not often a lot in even larger cities like New York.''

A screening of ''Black Panther'' at Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver on Juneteenth was part of a lineup of Pride events put on by Black Pride Colorado, a program of Youth Seen, which helps Black LGBTQI people access mental health and wellness services.

The screening, which had an opening that included a drag performance, was the group's first time doing a Juneteenth event, said tara jae, Youth Seen's founder and executive director. Such events provide a place to ''have fellowship and just really be seen,'' said jae, who uses the pronoun they.

They said queer people often don't feel welcomed at mainstream events. Even at the group's Pride events, they said, attendees seemed to be ''on alert'' with heightened anxiety.

Dallas Southern Pride got its start in 1997 after LGBTQ+ community members didn't feel like there was a place for them in the celebrations surrounding the annual football matchup in Dallas of two historically Black universities — Louisiana's Grambling State and Texas' Prairie View A&M.

''Back then, there were just no safe places for these community members to go and have a good time," Goree said. ''They didn't feel comfortable going into the majority communities.''

Goree said parties started being organized for LGBTQ+ people during that weekend. In 2016, they incorporated Juneteenth into the celebration.

Dallas Southern Pride's events over Juneteenth weekend included everything from presentations from health experts to dancing late into the night. Booths set up at an evening pool party included a place for people to register to vote and where those taking HIV tests could get free concert tickets.

Outside of Austin on Lake Travis, dozens gathered this month for the Queer Black Women Alliance's boat party for Juneteenth. Arijah Rashid, the alliance's founder and president, said they grilled, chatted, danced and swam over the course of the evening.

''It's nice to be able to find community and know that ... you have a safe space to just be,'' Rashid said.
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US Ends Critical Investigation in Louisiana’s Cancer Alley

A Setback for Hopes to End a Longstanding Human Rights Crisis

Antonia Juhasz
Senior Researcher, Environment and Human Rights
@AntoniaJuhasz

Fossil fuel and petrochemical plants line the area known as 'Cancer Alley," near Baton Rouge, Louisiana  © 2013 Giles Clarke/Getty Images

On Tuesday, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) abruptly closed a critical environmental justice investigation into whether the state of Louisiana had failed to protect predominantly Black communities living within the area known as “Cancer Alley.”

More than 200 industrial plants – primarily fossil fuel and petrochemical operations – line the 85-mile (135 km) stretch along the Mississippi River. Toxic air pollution has resulted in among the highest cancer risk in the nation and documented elevated cancer rates, among other ailments, with harm disproportionately concentrated within Black communities.

“We’re dying from inhaling the industries’ pollution,” Sharon Lavigne, President and Founder of Rise St. James, told Human Rights Watch in March. “I feel like it’s a death sentence. Like we are getting cremated, but not getting burnt.”

In April 2022, the EPA opened an investigation into complaints alleging Louisiana state agencies had violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by discriminating on the basis of race, including air pollution control programs “subjecting Black residents to ongoing disproportionate and adverse health and environmental impacts” related to petrochemical operations in Cancer Alley.

In an October 2022 letter to the heads of Louisiana’s Departments of Environmental Quality, Dr. Chuck Carr Brown, and Health, Dr. Courtney N. Phillips, the EPA said its initial investigation raised “significant evidence suggesting that the Departments’ actions or inactions have resulted and continue to result in disparate adverse impacts on Black residents of St. John the Baptist Parish, St. James Parish, and the Industrial Corridor.”

Secretaries Brown and Phillips have since resigned. In May, Louisiana filed a federal lawsuit challenging the EPA investigations.

But now the EPA has abruptly closed its investigation without making findings, providing relief for the communities, or compelling Louisiana to make any commitments of its own. The EPA says it “actively engaged in regular informal negotiations for several months” with the state agencies, yet no agreement was signed. The agency also highlighted other actions it has taken and will take in Louisiana to address toxic pollution.

Citing an “environmental and public health emergency” and living in “some of the most polluted, toxic, and lethal census tracts in the country,” local residents are trying to halt any new fossil fuel or petrochemical operations from entering St. James.

In a statement this week, Sharon Lavigne said, “We are disappointed in the EPA.... We were hopeful because we thought we were going to win this.”
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