Irish politician detained by Egyptian authorities for the second time

Irish parliamentarian Paul Murphy was detained in Cairo after attempting to retrieve his phone, which was confiscated during a march to the Rafah crossing into Gaza.
Murphy, along with other Irish citizens, was initially detained on Friday while participating in a demonstration to deliver aid to Gaza.
After being released from initial detention, Murphy went to a Cairo police station on the advice of the Irish embassy to retrieve his phone, but his passport was taken, and he was prevented from leaving.
Murphy's partner, Jess Spear, has urged Irish Deputy Premier Simon Harris to intervene and ensure the release of Murphy and other participants in the Global March to Gaza.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed they are providing consular assistance in this case, as the Global March to Gaza aims to deliver humanitarian aid and increase pressure to unblock vital supplies to the besieged region amid the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

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Sky News

an hour ago

• Sky News

Israel 'will not stop' attacks until Iran's nuclear threat is 'dismantled', says Israel's UN ambassador

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations has vowed "we will not stop" attacks on Iran until the "nuclear threat is dismantled" and "its war machine is disarmed". The two countries traded angry accusations at the United Nations Security Council, as its secretary-general Antonio Guterres warned that expansion of the Israel-Iran conflict could "ignite a fire no one can control". Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon vowed: "We will not stop. Not until Iran's nuclear threat is dismantled, not until its war machine is disarmed." 3:49 His Iranian counterpart Amir Saeid Iravani said Iran would continue to respond to Israeli airstrikes targeting nuclear sites that Israel sees as part of a weapons programme. Donald Trump is seeking advice about whether to support Israel's military involvement and is expected make a decision in the next two weeks. But he told reporters in New Jersey on Friday that his director of national intelligence (DNI), Tulsi Gabbard, was wrong in suggesting there is no evidence Iran is building a nuclear weapon. 0:27 Talks between Iranian and European ministers took place on Friday, but the US president was dismissive of the discussions. "Iran doesn't want to speak to Europe. They want to speak to us. Europe is not going to be able to help in this one". But he added that he might support a ceasefire between Iran and Israel "depending on the circumstances". Lammy on 'perilous moment' UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy warned "this is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don't see regional escalation of this conflict", after he and his German, French and EU counterparts met Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi in Geneva. He also referred to the role of the US in potential negotiations: "There is a... short window to find a diplomatic solution for the Iranians to... end their nuclear programme. "We're urging diplomacy. It's important they get back into serious talks with the United States." 1:04 Iran says attacks are 'grave war crimes' But the first face-to-face meeting between Western and Iranian officials since the start of the conflict, did not reveal any indication of an immediate breakthrough. Mr Araghchi described the talks as "a very serious but respectful discussion" but condemned what he called Israel's "atrocities", adding that "Iran will continue exercising its legitimate right of self-defence against the regime". "Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again... once aggression is stopped and the aggressor is held accountable for the crimes committed. In this regard, I made it clear that Iran's defence capabilities are not negotiable," he added. Earlier, he called Israel's attacks on nuclear facilities "grave war crimes". On Friday, the Foreign Office announced that UK staff had also been evacuated from Iran, with the embassy continuing to operate remotely. Meanwhile, the UK government has announced it will use charter flights to evacuate Britons stranded in Israel once the country's airspace reopens. Iran wants 'endless negotiations' Jason Brodsky, policy director at the US-based pressure group United Against Nuclear Iran, told Sky News the talks in Geneva would not satisfy the US president. He said: "It seems that the maximum that the Islamic Republic is prepared to give still does not meet the minimum that President Trump is able to accept. "I think the Islamic Republic wants to lure the United States back into an endless negotiating process. They think they can dominate this process and manipulate President Trump. "President Trump has made it very clear that a deadline means a deadline. And he has red lines as well. And his red lines is zero enrichment in Iran." 4:53 Protests over Israeli strikes On Friday, thousands of people protested in Iran's capital Tehran after a week of Israeli strikes which have killed at least 657 people and wounded 2,037 others, according to the Washington-based group Human Rights Activists. Israel's military says 25 fighter jets carried out airstrikes on Friday morning targeting "missile storage and launch infrastructure components" in western Iran. In the Israeli city of Haifa, at least 19 people were wounded by an Iranian missile barrage. UN issues nuclear warning Addressing an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warned against attacks on Iran's nuclear reactors. "A direct hit would result in a very high release of radioactivity," said Rafael Grossi, chief of the UN nuclear watchdog. Israel has not targeted Iran's nuclear reactors, instead focusing its strikes on the country's uranium enrichment sites. Iran has long insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful, although it enriches uranium up to 60%, well beyond the level required for an atomic power station and a step away from weapons-grade levels of 90%, according to the IAEA.

BBC News

2 hours ago

• BBC News

Israel-Iran conflict unleashes wave of AI disinformation

A wave of disinformation has been unleashed online since Israel began strikes on Iran last week, with dozens of posts reviewed by BBC Verify seeking to amplify the effectiveness of Tehran's analysis found a number of videos - created using artificial intelligence - boasting of Iran's military capabilities, alongside fake clips showing the aftermath of strikes on Israeli targets. The three most viewed fake videos BBC Verify found have collectively amassed over 100 million views across multiple accounts have also shared disinformation online, mainly by recirculating old clips of protests and gatherings in Iran, falsely claiming that they show mounting dissent against the government and support among Iranians for Israel's military launched strikes in Iran on 13 June, leading to several rounds of Iranian missile and drone attacks on Israel. One organisation that analyses open-source imagery described the volume of disinformation online as "astonishing" and accused some "engagement farmers" of seeking to profit from the conflict by sharing misleading content designed to attract attention online."We are seeing everything from unrelated footage from Pakistan, to recycled videos from the October 2024 strikes—some of which have amassed over 20 million views—as well as game clips and AI-generated content being passed off as real events," Geoconfirmed, the online verification group, wrote on accounts have become "super-spreaders" of disinformation, being rewarded with significant growth in their follower count. One pro-Iranian account with no obvious ties to authorities in Tehran - Daily Iran Military - has seen its followers on X grow from just over 700,000 on 13 June to 1.4m by 19 June, an 85% increase in under a is one many obscure accounts that have appeared in people's feeds recently. All have blue ticks, are prolific in messaging and have repeatedly posted disinformation. Because some use seemingly official names, some people have assumed they are authentic accounts, but it is unclear who is actually running the torrent of disinformation marked "the first time we've seen generative AI be used at scale during a conflict," Emmanuelle Saliba, Chief Investigative Officer with the analyst group Get Real, told BBC secretive nuclear site that only a US bomb could hitUS moves 30 jets as Iran attack speculation growsIs the UK about to get dragged into Iran-Israel conflict?Accounts reviewed by BBC Verify frequently shared AI-generated images that appear to be seeking to exaggerate the success of Iran's response to Israel's strikes. One image, which has 27m views, depicted dozens of missiles falling on the city of Tel video purported to show a missile strike on a building in the Israeli city late at night. Ms Saliba said the clips often depict night-time attacks, making them especially difficult to fakes have also focussed on claims of destruction of Israeli F-35 fighter jets, a state-of-the art US-made plane capable of striking ground and air targets. If the barrage of clips were real Iran would have destroyed 15% of Israel's fleet of the fighters, Lisa Kaplan, CEO of the Alethea analyst group, told BBC Verify. We have yet to authenticate any footage of F-35s being shot widely shared post claimed to show a jet damaged after being shot down in the Iranian desert. However, signs of AI manipulation were evident: civilians around the jet were the same size as nearby vehicles, and the sand showed no signs of impact. Another video with 21.1 million views on TikTok claimed to show an Israeli F-35 being shot down by air defences, but the footage actually came from a flight simulator video game. TikTok removed the footage after being approached by BBC Verify. Ms Kaplan said that some of the focus on F-35s was being driven by a network of accounts that Alethea has previously linked to Russian influence noted that Russian influence operations have recently shifted course from trying to undermine support for the war in Ukraine to sowing doubts about the capability of Western - especially American - weaponry."Russia doesn't really have a response to the F-35. So what it can it do? It can seek to undermine support for it within certain countries," Ms Kaplan is also being spread by well-known accounts that have previously weighed in on the Israel-Gaza war and other motivations vary, but experts said some may be attempting to monetise the conflict, with some major social media platforms offering pay-outs to accounts achieving large numbers of contrast, pro-Israeli posts have largely focussed on suggestions that the Iranian government is facing mounting dissent as the strikes continuerAmong them is a widely shared AI-generated video falsely purporting to show Iranians chant "we love Israel" on the streets of in recent days - and as speculation about US strikes on Iranian nuclear sites grows - some accounts have started to post AI-generated images of B-2 bombers over Tehran. The B-2 has attracted close attention since Israel's strikes on Iran started, because it is the only aircraft capable of effectively carrying out an attack on Iran's subterranean nuclear sources in Iran and Israel have shared some of the fake images. State media in Tehran has shared fake footage of strikes and an AI-generated image of a downed F-35 jet, while a post shared by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) received a community note on X for using old, unrelated footage of missile barrages.A lot of the Disinformation reviewed by BBC Verify has been shared on X, with users frequently turning to the platform's AI chatbot - Grok - to establish posts' veracity. However, in some cases Grok insisted that the AI videos were real. One such video showed an endless stream of trucks carrying ballistic missiles emerging from a mountainside complex. Tell-tale signs of AI content included rocks in the video moving of their own accord, Ms Saliba said. But in response to X users, Grok insisted repeatedly that the video was real and cited reports by media outlets including Newsweek and Reuters. "Check trusted news for clarity," the chatbot concluded in several messages.X did not respond to a request from BBC Verify for comment on the Chatbot's videos have also appeared on TikTok and Instagram. In a statement to BBC Verify, TikTok said it proactively enforces community guidelines "which prohibit inaccurate, misleading, or false content" and that it works with independent fact checkers to "verify misleading content". Instagram owner Meta did not respond to a request for comment. While the motivations of those creating online fakes vary, many are shared by ordinary social media Facciani, a researcher at the University of Notre Dame, suggested that disinformation can spread more quickly online when people are faced with binary choices, such as those raised by conflict and politics."That speaks to the broader social and psychological issue of people wanting to re-share things if it aligns with their political identity, and also just in general, more sensationalist emotional content will spread more quickly online." What do you want BBC Verify to investigate?

Daily Mail​

2 hours ago

• Daily Mail​

Israel's ambassador to the UK takes aim at Labour's half-hearted backing for her war-torn nation as it takes on Iran

In Israel, where warnings of attacks from enemy nations are rampant, being woken at 6am by a loud air raid alarm is all-too common. But when the same sound pierced the air two hours later, Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's first female ambassador to Britain, realised this warning was more serious than usual. The third time it rang out in central Israel, where she was staying with her in-laws, she turned to her husband as they hurried to the family bomb shelter and said: 'This is war.' Chillingly, she was right. It was the morning of October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists stormed through a security fence sealing Israel from Gaza and militants flew in firing guns from paragliders. That day – the worst intelligence failure in the country's history – was marked by carnage and barbarity on an unprecedented scale. In their murderous rampage, Hamas killed 1,189 people and wounded 7,500 - leaving many with life-changing injuries. The terrorists raped and sexually abused hundreds of women and young girls. To this day 53 hostages are still in captivity, and the ambassador fears only 20 may still be alive. Some of Tzipi Hotovely's loved ones were among the victims. 'We lost members of our extended family. We lost friends,' she says of that horrendous day. The war that began that morning is now reaching a new peak with Israel's relentless bombardment of Iran. She says that her parents, who remain in Israel, have been caught in the crossfires of Tehran's retaliatory strikes in the past week. Three or more times every night, they have been moving into the bomb shelter in the basement. Not long before we speak, a ballistic missile landed close to her parents' home. Despite the civilian death toll on both sides, the straight-talking ambassador is in no doubt about the justification of waging war on Iran. At 75 times the size of Israel, Iran has sponsored a proxy network of terror groups such as Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis in Yemen to fuel conflict against the Jewish state. 'We have given Iran 20 years to try to make diplomacy work but they are more interested in blowing up the negotiating table than sitting next to it,' she tells me. 'Iran is 1,500 kilometres (900 miles) from Israel but it has circled us with its proxies. We are vulnerable. We are a small country the same size as Wales. 'Iran was on the threshold of making nuclear weapons and we had to stop it. This is not just our war. Iran is Britain's enemy. It is America's war too.' The ambassador, who has been in Britain since 2020 when Boris Johnson was prime minister, lavishes praise on Britain's intelligence agencies MI5 and MI6 for their help: 'They are brilliant.' But, while she liked Johnson as PM, she struggles to conceal her disappointment – even anger – with Sir Keir Starmer and his bumbling Foreign Secretary David Lammy, whose gaffes have tried the patience of even the most loyal Labour MPs. As a diplomat, she chooses her words carefully. 'We have gaps with the British Government,' she tells me. Talk about an under-statement. It is more like yawning chasms in terms of support than gaps. Take the decision of the Starmer Government in September to restrict arms sales to Israel, which is the only democracy in the Middle East. 'It was political. In Jerusalem, people were astonished by the arms embargo. It is just so contradictory. When you are fighting the right war, you expect your allies to support you,' Hotovely tells me. Then there was the unexpected move by the Government last week to impose sanctions on two Israeli government ministers over their hardline stance on the Gaza war. The ambassador says: 'It was a very bad decision, morally wrong. You put sanctions on your enemy not your friend.' To underline this, she points to former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn who was denounced by the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in 2020 for presiding over 'a culture within the party which, at best, did not do enough to prevent anti-Semitism and, at worst, could be seen to accept it'. She adds: 'Jeremy Corbyn could have been prime minister of Britain. He was anti-Semitic. 'He had supported a terrorist organisation. But we never sanctioned him or the Labour Party. We respect the British people. We can criticise their leaders but we don't sanction them.' As for David Lammy, she is even more circumspect when I ask if she thinks he is remotely up to the job of being Britain's diplomat-in-chief on the world stage. Lammy was widely criticised after saying he accepted the International Criminal Court's decision to issue an arrest warrant for Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes. 'It was a miserable decision,' says Hotovely. 'The ICC is a biased political organisation, which is why US President Donald Trump has imposed sanctions on it. The British Government was used as a political tool by the court.' The ambassador is keenly aware that Labour's support from the Muslim community collapsed at the General Election in July last year. In the 21 seats where more than 30 per cent of the population is Muslim, Labour's share dropped from an average 65 per cent in 2019 to 36 per cent. Four Independent Muslim candidates won in previously safe Labour seats, and the situation in Gaza was a hot election issue. Hotovely, 46, is trenchant in her criticism. 'There is no doubt that the Muslim vote is a crucial part of Labour Party politics in Britain,' she declares. 'No one can deny it. It is clear to me. Many decisions about Israel are made [in Britain] according to domestic politics. It is a fact.' It was when she was just 26 that Hotovely first came to the attention of Netanyahu, who was then leader of the opposition. By this stage, she was a qualified lawyer who had done two years of national service and was working as a political commentator on TV. Netanyahu spotted her and, seeing her talent, made contact. 'I was called into his office. His first statement to me was, 'This is 1938. Iran is the equivalent to Nazi Germany'. That was his dramatic opening. It wasn't 'welcome to my office' or 'nice to see you'. That was 20 years ago. He was right then and he's right now.' Many now consider her to be Netanyahu's protege. Elected as an MP when she was 30, she is a small part of political history. 'Before I was in parliament, all the women MPs had grown-up children,' she says. 'I got married when I was an MP and had babies when I was an MP. I turned my parliamentary office into a nursery. 'I brought a nanny into the office. All my meetings were outside the office. Five times a day I returned to it to breastfeed my baby.' Her three daughters Maayan, 11, Eliraz, nine, and Noa, seven, love her being an ambassador. 'My youngest says, 'When I grow up, Mummy, I want to be the ambassador'. I never got that compliment when I was a politician.' In parliament she held eight ministerial posts – more than any other woman in Israeli politics with the exception of Golda Meir who was Israel's first and only woman prime minister from 1969 to 1974. Was Golda Meir her political hero? 'Absolutely not. It is Margaret Thatcher. She was a remarkable woman, a brave politician. Mrs Thatcher saved the British economy and her free-market thinking inspired Israel. 'In Britain I have seen that Winston Churchill is remembered everywhere. Quite right. But Mrs Thatcher is not – which means you need a place for people to learn about her.' In Israel, Hotovely was often demonised by her opponents for being hard-Right and a religious zealot. She is unmoved by the criticism. 'In politics if, like Mrs Thatcher, you make great changes you will never be loved. I am very opinionated. If you want to be loved, find another profession than politics.' It was Netanyahu who persuaded her to take up the ambassador role. She prepared for it by binge-watching the 1980s political satire Yes Minister, a favourite of Margaret Thatcher. The star of the TV series was the civil servant Sir Humphrey Appleby, played by the late Nigel Hawthorne. 'I loved Sir Humphrey and it gave me a great insight into the British civil service,' she says with a loud laugh. 'I have met some really interesting British diplomats.' When she arrived in Britain, she coined a nickname for her husband Or Alon, a lawyer she married in 2013 with a staggering 2,500 guests. 'I'd call him Mr Ambassador. Every time we went to a royal event, or an official reception, people would come up to him and say: 'Mr Ambassador'. They never thought it could be me.' She has met the King and says her proudest moment was presenting her credentials as the new ambassador to the late Queen. 'I am so proud and so happy I talked to her, even though it was on Zoom because of lockdown. She said to me, 'You have too many elections in your country'.' Indeed, when Netanyahu was elected again in October 2022, it was the fifth election in Israel in four years. While Hotovely loves Britain – the Scottish Highlands and Cornwall are her favourite places – she says she will not miss 'all those dark nights in your winter'. But she enjoys the dry British sense of humour and says 'the Jewish school my children go to is wonderful. The discipline. The manners'. Yet to this day she is shocked by the anti-Semitism she has experienced in Britain. She believes it is rampant in many universities. When she addressed the London School of Economics in 2021, she needed an armed escort off the premises. 'I did not think in post-war Europe I would experience these levels of hate. I am very involved with the Jewish community here and they no longer feel safe. They don't think they can wear symbols of their Jewishness on their clothes.' By tradition, many Jewish families place a mezuzah, a small symbol of their Jewish faith, on their front door frame. 'But since October 7 most now have brought those symbols into the house, which is very sad.' Since the war with Gaza, she has become one of the most closely guarded women in Britain. 'I cannot even go to the synagogue because of the security so I pray at home. The security guys are all British. They have been wonderful to me and my family.' Every Saturday there is a huge march, involving thousands of pro-Palestine protesters, into central London. There has been repeated criticism of the police for standing by and ignoring anti-Semitic chants and even banners proclaiming support for Hamas. 'There is something badly wrong if a major part of the Jewish community feels they are excluded by the marches from going into central London. I have good relationships with successive home secretaries who say fighting anti-Semitism is an important part of their work. 'But when those marches, with their anti-Jewish slogans go past Big Ben, they are seen by Jewish people on TV all around the world. It sends out a terrible message.' The ambassador has an interesting suggestion. 'Words matter. I think the phrase anti-Semitism is now anachronistic. It does not come across as what it really is – Jewish hatred or racism against Jews. Perhaps we should change the description to reflect that. Education is a key factor.' In the ambassador's view, this education could start with the BBC, which still refuses to call Hamas a terrorist organisation. The corporation maintains that would mean it was taking a side. 'Hamas is an internationally recognised terrorist organisation,' she counters. 'Look what they did on October 7. Hideous terrorist brutality. I don't understand the BBC's position which I think damages its reputation worldwide. 'Hamas use children as human shields. They looted the food aid that we provided. They don't care about their own people but the BBC will not criticise them.' In the current febrile atmosphere, with President Trump upping the anti-Iran rhetoric, it is significant that Starmer has been more circumspect. Is he unwilling to upset the Muslim community or the vocal anti-Israel lobby in his own party? 'The ambassador returns to diplomatic-speak. 'Britain is an important ally. We have shared valuable intelligence with your MI5 and MI6.' No word, however, on Starmer. Later this year, she will go back to Israel because it is the end of her five-year posting. She is widely expected to return to parliament at the election expected next year. She is a serious contender to replace Netanyahu, 75, who has now served as PM for 17 years. 'I think I am tough but I am very human and I have cried so much since the war started. I cry over the devastating loss of life,' she tells me. 'But I am proud of my country. I will be proud to serve my country in whatever way I can. I have been proud to serve as ambassador to your great country.'