After years of pressure on Durov, Russia suddenly rallies behind him

After years of pressure on Durov, Russia suddenly rallies behind him
Founder and CEO of Telegram Pavel Durov delivers a keynote speech during the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, February 23, 2016. (Reuters)
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Updated 29 August 2024
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After years of pressure on Durov, Russia suddenly rallies behind him

After years of pressure on Durov, Russia suddenly rallies behind him
  • Furor has provided Russia with an opportunity to pursue a favored line: that the West, while claiming to uphold values such as free speech, is driven by a vengeful desire to undermine Russia
  • First tech venture VKontakte (VK) permitted forums for opposition activists to organize protests against Putin, and Durov refused to comply with demands to shut down Alexei Navalny’s blog

LONDON: Days after gunmen killed 145 concert-goers at a venue near Moscow in March, as allegations emerged that the assailants had been recruited on Telegram, the Kremlin issued a stern warning to its founder.

“We would expect more attention from Pavel Durov, because this unique and phenomenal resource ... is increasingly becoming a tool in the hands of terrorists,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Five months later, as French prosecutors pursue an investigation into Telegram founder and boss Durov over the use of the messaging app for fraud, drug trafficking, money laundering and other forms of organized crime, Moscow has changed its public stance on the tech entrepreneur.

With some Russians now hailing Durov as a hero of free speech, Peskov said on Thursday that the case against him should “not turn into political persecution.”

Briefing reporters, he added: “We know that the president of France (Emmanuel Macron) has denied any connection with politics, but on the other hand, certain accusations are being made. We will see what happens next.”

Some Russian lawmakers have alleged, without providing evidence, that the case against Durov has been orchestrated by Washington. A source at the Paris prosecutor’s office said the probe had no connection to the United States and Macron had been given no prior warning of the arrest.

“Pavel Durov remains a hostage of the ‘dictatorship of democracy’ of the collective West,” Leonid Slutsky, the leader of a pro-Kremlin parliamentary party, wrote on Telegram.

The furor has provided Russia with an opportunity to pursue a favored line of attack: that the West, while claiming to uphold values such as free speech, is really driven by a vengeful desire to undermine Russia.

Ksenia Ermoshina, a researcher at Citizen Lab at the University of Toronto and the Center for Internet and Society at French institute CNRS, said Russia’s strong reaction also reflects security concerns because of the widespread use of Telegram in military communications.

“Telegram has become a tool for Russian defense to communicate internally,” she said.

“If Durov is accused by the French government and he is in the hands of French justice, they are afraid that he might give access to his servers and, because there is no internal encryption by default in Telegram, this will enable potential access to sensitive information from the Russian army.”

A lawyer for Durov said on Thursday it was “absurd” to suggest the head of a social network was responsible for any criminal acts committed on the platform. Telegram has said it abides by European Union laws.

Durov, 39, has not always been able to count on vocal defenders in Russia, where his troubled relationship with the authorities goes back more than a decade.

His first big tech venture — a Russian version of Facebook called VKontakte (VK) — permitted forums for opposition activists to organize protests against President Vladimir Putin, and Durov refused to comply with demands to shut down late opposition figure Alexei Navalny’s anti-corruption blog.

In 2013, Russia’s FSB security service requested the VK data of Ukrainians protesting against the pro-Russian president who was then in power in Kyiv.

“I refused to comply with these demands, because it would have meant a betrayal of our Ukrainian users,” Durov said in March 2022. “After that, I was fired from the company I founded and was forced to leave Russia.”

Durov launched Telegram, now used by almost 1 billion people, in 2013. Before long, Russia came after that platform, too.

The FSB said militants had used Telegram to carry out a suicide bombing on the St. Petersburg metro in 2017, and state communications regulator Roskomnadzor demanded that Durov “hand over the keys” to information on the app.

Durov said those demands violated Russians’ constitutional right to keep their correspondence secret.

For two years from May 2018, Roskomnadzor sought to block Telegram, efforts that were thwarted by rotating proxy servers, hiding traffic and other anti-censorship tools.

Since then, the platform has continued to grow in popularity, becoming an indispensable tool for everyone from dissidents to bloggers on the war in Ukraine.

On the streets of Moscow on Thursday, people interviewed by Reuters said they were following the case of Durov, who has French as well as Russian citizenship.

Irina, a middle-aged woman who declined to give her last name, alluded to the fact that the businessman had been invited in the past to dine with Macron.

“Of course, this is alarming, this is a very unpleasant thing,” she said of Durov’s arrest. “If this is such a set-up on the part of the head of France, Macron, then this is beyond the pale.”

Mark, a young man in a white hoodie, said the case was easily explained.

“This is politics. They’ve arrested a Russian billionaire in France. Why not? It’s beneficial for them, it’s a blow to Russia.”


Macron urges new era of Anglo-French unity in address to UK parliament

Macron urges new era of Anglo-French unity in address to UK parliament
Updated 08 July 2025
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Macron urges new era of Anglo-French unity in address to UK parliament

Macron urges new era of Anglo-French unity in address to UK parliament
  • The french president visit to the UK is the first by an EU head of state since Brexit in 2020
  • He insisted European countries will ‘never abandon Ukraine’ in its war with Russia while demanding an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza

WINDSOR: President Emmanuel Macron argued Tuesday that France and Britain must work together to defend the post-World War II “international order,” as he addressed parliament on the first day of his UK state visit.

The first such visit by an EU head of state since Brexit, Macron said in a wide-ranging speech that the two countries must renew their century-old alliance to face down an array of threats.

“As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, deeply committed to multilateralism, the United Kingdom and France must once again show the world that our alliance can make all the difference,” he told British lawmakers, speaking in English.

“Clearly, we have to work together... to protect the international order as we fought (for) it after the Second World War,” Macron added.

Touching on various thorny issues, from global conflicts to irregular cross-Channel migration, he insisted European countries will “never abandon Ukraine” in its war with Russia while demanding an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza.

Hours earlier, the French president and his wife Brigitte had received a warm, pomp-filled welcome from King Charles III and Queen Camilla in Windsor as the three-day visit got underway.

They had been greeted off the presidential plane at an air base northwest of London by heir-to-the-throne Prince William and his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales.

After a 41-gun salute sounded from Windsor’s Home Park and a royal carriage procession through the town, which was decked out in French Tricolores and British Union flags, the group entered its castle for lunch.

First visit since 2008

The first state visit by an EU head of state since the UK’s acrimonious 2020 departure from the European Union, it is also the first by a French president since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008.

Touching on Brexit in his speech in parliament, which follows in the footsteps of predecessors Charles de Gaulle and Francois Mitterrand, Macron said it was “deeply regrettable” but the result of its 2016 referendum was respected.

Macron will hold several meetings with UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer starting Wednesday.

After taking power in 2024, the British leader has been making good on his pledge to reset relations with European capitals following years of Brexit-fueled tensions.

Their discussions are expected to focus on aid to war-torn Ukraine and bolstering defense spending, as well as joint efforts to stop migrants from crossing the Channel in small boats — a potent political issue in Britain.

Starmer is under intense pressure to curb the cross-Channel arrivals, as Euroskeptic Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party uses the issue to fuel its rise.

London has for years pressed Paris to do more to halt the boats leaving from northern French beaches, welcoming footage last Friday showing French police stopping one such boat from departing.

In his parliamentary address Macron called it “a burden for our two countries,” stressing the need for better “cooperation” to “fix” it.

Later Tuesday, Britain’s Francophile king, who is believed to enjoy a warm rapport with Macron, will host a lavish banquet in his honor in the vast medieval St. George’s Hall.

Charles is set to laud the vital partnership between France and the UK amid a “multitude of complex threats.”

“As friends and as allies, we face them together,” he will say, according to Buckingham Palace.

Trade and business ties

The visit also aims to boost trade and business ties, with Paris and London announcing Tuesday that French energy giant EDF will have a 12.5-stake in new British nuclear power plant Sizewell C.

There is also a cultural dimension, with another announcement that France will loan the 11th century Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum for 10 months from September 2026.

The loan of the embroidery depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England will be made in exchange for ancient “treasures” mainly from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site, one of England’s most important archaeological sites.

Wednesday will see Macron have lunch with Starmer ahead of the two leaders on Thursday co-hosting the 37th Franco-British Summit, where they are set to discuss opportunities to strengthen defense ties.

Britain and France are spearheading talks among a 30-nation coalition on how to support a possible ceasefire in Ukraine, including potentially deploying peacekeeping forces.

The two leaders will dial in to a meeting of the coalition on Thursday “to discuss stepping up support for Ukraine and further increasing pressure on Russia,” Starmer’s office confirmed on Monday.

They will speak to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, according to the French presidency.


Organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai open World Fair US

Organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai open World Fair US
Updated 08 July 2025
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Organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai open World Fair US

Organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai open World Fair US
  • The weeks-long event in Chicago will be the first in a nationwide series
  • ‘Every pavilion tells a story, and every guest becomes part of it,’ organizer tells Arab News

CHICAGO: The organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai launched a three-week World Fair US in Chicago this week, saying it offers the same high-level experience of culture, food, entertainment and traditions from around the world.

Omar Al-Taha, CEO of ElectroMed Group — which supervised the construction of Expo 2020 Dubai — told Arab News that the fair in Chicago will be the first in a series of events planned for cities across the US.

He said the opening on Monday, at the SeatGeek Stadium and Fairgrounds in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Illinois, was “well attended,” and the fair will continue until July 28.

“We’re featuring six pavilions representing the cultures, food and entertainment from countries in … Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America,” he added.

“The vendors have been selected for their authenticity, quality, and their passion for sharing their culture through cuisine.”

Al-Taha said he used the same criteria in Bridgeview as for Expo 2020 Dubai, adding: “World Fair US is about more than just a celebration — it’s about connections and experience. We wanted to create a space where people of every background can come together, learn from each other, and just enjoy the beauty of being human.

“In the Middle East pavilion, for example, participants will be able to not only enjoy Arab food and entertainment, but also products and crafts presented by dozens of vendors.”

SeatGeek Stadium, which can accommodate 28,000 visitors, hosts professional sports competitions, concert performances and fairs.

“We believe we can use this event to create an even larger ongoing event. We want to do this in different states around the country,” Al-Taha said.

“Chicago was our first choice … because it’s the land of many cultures. We didn’t need to bring vendors from outside ... Chicago has so many cultures and great diversity. This is the right place to start this.”

The World Fair US food court features local chefs and small businesses offering traditional dishes from across the globe, Al-Taha said.

“Every pavilion tells a story, and every guest becomes part of it. Whether you’re eating something new for the first time, dancing to a rhythm you’ve never heard, or just watching your kids’ eyes light up — we built this for you,” he added.

There is a fireworks display every Friday and Saturday night.


ICC seeks arrest of Taliban leaders over persecution of women

The ICC on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
The ICC on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
Updated 08 July 2025
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ICC seeks arrest of Taliban leaders over persecution of women

The ICC on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity.
  • Taliban had “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, ICC judges said

THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court on Tuesday issued arrest warrants for two senior Taliban leaders, accusing them of crimes against humanity for persecuting women and girls.

Judges said there were “reasonable grounds” to suspect Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada and chief justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani of committing gender-based persecution.

“While the Taliban have imposed certain rules and prohibitions on the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women by reason of their gender, depriving them of fundamental rights and freedoms,” the court said in a statement.

The Taliban had “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy and family life and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion, ICC judges said.

“In addition, other persons were targeted because certain expressions of sexuality and/or gender identity were regarded as inconsistent with the Taliban’s policy on gender.”

The court said the alleged crimes had been committed between August 15, 2021, when the Taliban seized power, and continued until at least January 20, 2025.

The ICC, based in The Hague, was set up to rule on the world’s worst crimes, such as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

It has no police force of its own and relies on member states to carry out its arrest warrants — with mixed results.

In theory, this means anyone subject to an ICC arrest warrant cannot travel to a member state for fear of being detained.

After sweeping back to power in August 2021, the Taliban authorities pledged a softer rule than their first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

But they quickly imposed restrictions on women and girls that the United Nations has labelled “gender apartheid.”

Edicts handed down by Akhundzada, who rules by decree from the movement’s birthplace in southern Kandahar, have squeezed women and girls from public life.

The Taliban government barred girls from secondary school and women from university in the first 18 months after they ousted the US-backed government, making Afghanistan the only country in the world to impose such bans.

Authorities imposed restrictions on women working for non-governmental groups and other employment, with thousands of women losing government jobs — or being paid to stay home.

Beauty salons have been closed and women blocked from visiting public parks, gyms and baths as well as traveling long distances without a male chaperone.

A “vice and virtue” law announced last summer ordered women not to sing or recite poetry in public and for their voices and bodies to be “concealed” outside the home.

When requesting the arrest warrants in January, chief prosecutor Karim Khan said Afghan women and girls were facing “an unprecedented, unconscionable and ongoing persecution by the Taliban.”

“Our action signals that the status quo for women and girls in Afghanistan is not acceptable,” he added.

Khan warned at the time he would soon be seeking additional warrants for other Taliban officials.


Muslims overlooked with faith ‘ignored’ in UK care system, warns new report

Muslims overlooked with faith ‘ignored’ in UK care system, warns new report
Updated 08 July 2025
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Muslims overlooked with faith ‘ignored’ in UK care system, warns new report

Muslims overlooked with faith ‘ignored’ in UK care system, warns new report
  • Think tank Equi calls for child welfare reform to recognize faith identity and unlock support from British Muslim communities

LONDON: A new report from leading think tank Equi is warning that a crucial factor in the conversation around child welfare in the UK is being systematically overlooked: the role of faith.

The UK’s care system is facing a deepening crisis, with over 107,000 children currently in care and the number of available foster carers and adopters falling sharply.

In a landmark publication titled “Faith, Family and the Care System: A Missed Connection?”, Equi has argued that while ethnicity and culture are often factored into decisions about care placements, faith continues to be neglected, with damaging consequences for children’s emotional stability and sense of identity.

Drawing on polling conducted in partnership with Savanta, as well as interviews and case studies from across the UK, the report set out the urgent need for faith-literate reform of the child welfare system.

“Faith isn’t just a personal belief for many children, it’s a source of identity, resilience and stability. Our care system needs to reflect that,” said Prof. Javed Khan, one of the leading voices behind the report.

The research highlighted the experiences of British Muslim communities, showing that faith can play a powerful role in supporting vulnerable children, both by helping to prevent family breakdown and by fostering strong networks of informal and kinship-based care.

Despite making up 10 percent of under-18s in England, Muslim children account for less than 5 percent of those in care. It is a disparity Equi said reflected both strong community-based care and the challenges Muslim families face in engaging with the formal care system.

According to the findings, British Muslims are 66 percent more likely than the general public to provide informal care or financial support to children at risk of entering care.

Over 5,500 Muslim heritage children are currently in formal kinship care arrangements, with thousands more supported informally, a contribution estimated to save the state more than £220 million ($298 million) each year.

This strong culture of kinship care, rooted in Islamic teachings around the responsibility to care for orphaned children (“yateem”), is seen by the report authors as an underappreciated asset within the national care framework.

However, Equi said British Muslims who want to contribute more formally to the care system face significant barriers.

While members of the community are 63 percent more likely than the general population to consider fostering or adoption, nearly 60 percent report fears of discrimination.

Many point to cultural misunderstandings, bias in assessment processes and a lack of faith-sensitive placements as major deterrents.

Faith is also closely tied to children’s sense of self and well-being, the report argues.

More than 70 percent of British Muslims — and 40 percent of the wider public — said faith played a key role in shaping their identity during childhood.

Yet current government policy fails to take religious background into account during care placements, following the removal of faith matching guidance in 2014.

Equi links this omission to increased identity conflict, emotional distress and instability in care arrangements.

Young people from faith backgrounds leaving care are also highlighted as being especially vulnerable to isolation. The report calls for faith-based mentoring schemes and transitional housing to support care leavers as they navigate adulthood and reconnect with their communities.

In response to the findings, Equi called on the government to embed faith literacy throughout the care system.

Among its recommendations are recording children’s faith heritage in care records, incorporating religious identity into placement decisions, offering culturally sensitive therapeutic care, and working in partnership with faith-based charities to recruit and support carers.

The report also urges local authorities to expand fostering capacity, particularly for sibling groups and multigenerational households, and to ensure clear legal and financial guidance is provided to kinship carers.

“This report isn’t just about British Muslims, it’s about the 40 percent of children for whom faith is part of who they are,” said Khan.

“It’s not about bringing faith into policymaking in an ideological sense. But, rather, it’s a wake-up call that ignoring faith ignores people’s lived realities. It harms vulnerable children’s sense of belonging and increases instability in care placements. The system must become more inclusive, fair and ultimately more effective.”

With rising pressure on the UK’s care system and a shrinking pool of carers, Equi’s report presented a timely and compelling case for unlocking underused community resources and building a more resilient, culturally competent and cost-effective model of care, it said.


Israel eyes deeper economic ties with India, finalizing investment protection deal

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich walks to visit the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich walks to visit the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City.
Updated 08 July 2025
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Israel eyes deeper economic ties with India, finalizing investment protection deal

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich walks to visit the Damascus Gate to Jerusalem’s Old City.
  • India has become in recent years one of Israel’s most important trade partners globally, volume of trade and investments between two countries expected to increase

JERUSALEM: Israel and India are finalizing an investment protection agreement and expect to sign it in the coming months, Israel’s Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and the ministry’s chief economist Shmuel Abramzon discussed the issue, which it did not elaborate on, and other economic matters with Indian Ambassador to Israel J.P. Singh.

“Deepening economic ties with India is one of the goals I have set,” Smotrich said after the meeting in Jerusalem, calling India a “true friend of Israel.” An investment protection agreement is a treaty in which countries aim to reduce the perceived risk of investing in each other, such as by offering protections against unfair treatment or removing restrictions on transferring capital and profits.

India, the ministry noted, has become in recent years one of Israel’s most important trade partners globally and especially in Asia, and the volume of trade and investments between the two countries is expected to increase sharply in the coming years in light of their strengthening diplomatic and security relations.

Bilateral trade between India and Israel in 2024 came to almost $4 billion.

“In recent years, we have witnessed a strengthening of economic ties between us, including in the fields of defense exports and infrastructure,” Smotrich said.

“The potential for further strengthening our economic cooperation is immense. It can leverage our shared technological capabilities, India’s demographic scale, and the geo-strategic position of both countries.”