Relations between Paris and Moscow have hit an all-time low, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, following France's arrest of Telegram boss Pavel Durov over the weekend at an airport near Paris.
Mr Durov is set to remain in police custody until Wednesday as the French judiciary investigates an alleged failure to curb criminal activities on the app.
The Paris prosecutor's office launched a probe on July 8 on the basis of 12 alleged offences that include organised fraud, complicity in enabling illegal transactions on an online platform, complicity in disseminating underage pornographic material and a refusal to communicate documents requested by the judiciary.
Mr Durov's custody was extended on Sunday and could last for up to 96 hours, which is longer than the usual 24 hours, because the alleged offences are linked to organised crime.
Some of the offences are punishable by more than five years' imprisonment. The investigation is being led by France's Centre for the Fight Against Cyber Crime and the National Anti-Fraud Office.
It is up to the Paris prosecutor to decide whether Mr Durov should be released or presented in front of a judge when his custody ends.
The investigation was opened against a “person unnamed” to give investigating judges more freedom in their probe.
However, it has triggered sharp criticism from the Kremlin, which said on Tuesday that the very serious French accusations against Mr Durov would be viewed as an attempt to restrict freedom of communication unless backed up by serious evidence.
Mr Durov, 39, holds Russian, French and Emirati citizenship. The UAE on Tuesday submitted a request to the French government to provide Mr Durov with all the necessary consular services in an urgent manner, state news agency Wam reported.
Dubai-based Telegram, which has more than 900 million users, has rejected the claims against Mr Durov, saying it was “absurd to claim that a platform or its owner are responsible for abuse of that platform”.
Mr Durov had been listed on France wanted persons' list, which was to be activated only if he set foot on French territory, according to radio station France Info.
He is widely viewed as a libertarian and opposed to government intervention, drawing comparisons to US technology billionaire Elon Musk.
Tool for extremists
The circumstances under which Mr Durov became a French citizen are unclear. Daily newspaper Le Monde reported last year that he had not fulfilled the necessary condition of residing in France for at least five years but may have obtained citizenship through a rare procedure reserved for “distinguished foreigners” that is administered by the Foreign Ministry on a case-by-case basis.
Mr Durov has also openly criticised the French government, saying after the deadly 2015 ISIS attacks against Paris that France was “as responsible” as the extremists for the mass killings.
The attackers used Telegram to communicate while they plotted the assaults in which 130 people died.
The use of Telegram by extremists has caused outrage in Europe, with recent examples this weekend including ISIS sympathisers celebrating the Solingen terror attack in Germany that left three people dead.
Some channels spread footage from the aftermath of the stabbings and commended an attack in Europe, with one claiming Germany should be a target because it “is considered the second largest supporter of the Jews after the US”.
In another incident, a Telegram channel with about 15,000 subscribers praised an anti-Semitic post on X, which received four million views days before a synagogue in France was attacked.
“He is not accused of engaging in paedo-criminal or violent activities himself, but of failing to respond to judicial requests from countries requesting investigations,” Nicolas Arpagian, cyber security strategy vice-president at consultancy HeadMind Partners, told France Info earlier this week.
“He is also accused of failing in moderation, in suspending content, closing accounts or co-operating in providing information to the judicial services. A number of authorities consider that his inertia amounts to complicity.”
Mr Durov has been in the crosshairs of Russia, which blocked access to Telegram for two years in 2018 after he refused to co-operate with the judiciary.
But relations with Russian authorities have since improved and they have rallied to his defence since his arrest at the weekend.
French President Emmanuel Macron has pushed back against Moscow's accusations that Paris wants to curb free speech, describing the claims as “false information”.
“France is more than anything attached to freedom of expression and communication, to innovation and to the spirit of enterprise. It will remain so,” wrote Mr Macron on X.
“In a state governed by the rule of law, on social networks as in real life, freedoms are exercised within a framework established by law to protect citizens and respect their fundamental rights. It is up to the justice system, in complete independence, to ensure that the law is respected.”
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Zayed Sustainability Prize
The bio
Favourite book: Peter Rabbit. I used to read it to my three children and still read it myself. If I am feeling down it brings back good memories.
Best thing about your job: Getting to help people. My mum always told me never to pass up an opportunity to do a good deed.
Best part of life in the UAE: The weather. The constant sunshine is amazing and there is always something to do, you have so many options when it comes to how to spend your day.
Favourite holiday destination: Malaysia. I went there for my honeymoon and ended up volunteering to teach local children for a few hours each day. It is such a special place and I plan to retire there one day.
TEAMS
EUROPE:
Justin Rose, Francesco Molinari, Tyrrell Hatton, Tommy Fleetwood, Jon Rahm, Rory McIlroy, Alex Noren, Thorbjorn Olesen, Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson
USA:
Brooks Koepka, Justin Thomas, Dustin Johnson, Patrick Reed, Bubba Watson, Jordan Spieth, Rickie Fowler, Webb Simpson, Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, Bryson DeChambeau ( 1 TBC)
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
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Breast cancer in men: the facts
1) Breast cancer is men is rare but can develop rapidly. It usually occurs in those over the ages of 60, but can occasionally affect younger men.
2) Symptoms can include a lump, discharge, swollen glands or a rash.
3) People with a history of cancer in the family can be more susceptible.
4) Treatments include surgery and chemotherapy but early diagnosis is the key.
5) Anyone concerned is urged to contact their doctor
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
EPL's youngest
- Ethan Nwaneri (Arsenal)
15 years, 181 days old
- Max Dowman (Arsenal)
15 years, 235 days old
- Jeremy Monga (Leicester)
15 years, 271 days old
- Harvey Elliott (Fulham)
16 years, 30 days old
- Matthew Briggs (Fulham)
16 years, 68 days old
Expert advice
“Join in with a group like Cycle Safe Dubai or TrainYAS, where you’ll meet like-minded people and always have support on hand.”
Stewart Howison, co-founder of Cycle Safe Dubai and owner of Revolution Cycles
“When you sweat a lot, you lose a lot of salt and other electrolytes from your body. If your electrolytes drop enough, you will be at risk of cramping. To prevent salt deficiency, simply add an electrolyte mix to your water.”
Cornelia Gloor, head of RAK Hospital’s Rehabilitation and Physiotherapy Centre
“Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can ride as fast or as far during the summer as you do in cooler weather. The heat will make you expend more energy to maintain a speed that might normally be comfortable, so pace yourself when riding during the hotter parts of the day.”
Chandrashekar Nandi, physiotherapist at Burjeel Hospital in Dubai
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
- Abdullah Ishnaneh, Partner, BSA Law
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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