France arrests teen for plotting attacks on women in landmark 'incel' case

The press is full of reactions to the verdict in the Sean "Diddy" Combs trial. A judge acquitted rap mogul Combs, aka Diddy, of the most serious sex trafficking and racketeering charges. But he was found guilty on prostitution-related charges, the Daily Mirror says on its front page. The verdict is largely seen as a mixed result, but one in which Combs comes out on top. Even though he is being kept in custody while awaiting sentencing, he now faces years in prison, but not life behind bars. Lawyers are calling for a 20-year sentence, as the Daily Star notes on its front page. The Wall Street Journal credits Diddy's lawyer for helping his case. Marc Agnifilo steered a team of nine lawyers. He took on a risky strategy: acknowledging Combs' history of abuse while arguing that it didn’t constitute a criminal enterprise. Agnifilo’s "affable affect" helped him build a rapport with the jury of four women and eight men while they grappled with the facts of some of Diddy's "stomach-turning" acts.  

In the opinion pages, The New York Times looks at the "nine lives" of Diddy. It says that with this trial, he escapes the fate of other disgraced celebrities, such as Harvey Weinstein and R. Kelly, who were held accountable for their actions in the #MeToo era. 

The website Vox, meanwhile, looks at what this verdict means for the #MeToo movement. Cassie Ventura, Diddy's ex-partner who led the charges against him, filed under the New York Adult Survivors Act. This law was passed in response to the #MeToo movement and allowed sexual violence survivors to file civil lawsuits against their attackers for one year between November 2022-23 even if the statute of limitations had lapsed. But this period also coincided with a backlash against the movement and the feeling by some that it had gone too far. For Vox, this verdict represents the fraught place of the movement in America’s public consciousness today. 

Here in France, Le Monde is reporting on the arrest of a man on terrorism charges relating to the incel movement. It's the first such case in France. The young man, "Timothy G", is just 18 years old. He was arrested last Friday by national security forces near a public high school where he was attending pre-graduate classes. He had been under surveillance for some months and is suspected of seeking to kill women. He claimed to be part of the incel movement and posted incel videos on TikTok. The "involuntary celibate" movement is of composed of men who harbour anger and resentment towards women they believe are denying them sexual relationships. The case resembles the fictional TV series "Adolescence", which made waves this year for its exploration of toxic masculinity in adolescent boys. 

Elsewhere, The New York Times reports that the Dalai Lama will turn 90 this Sunday. At a conference of monks held yesterday in Dharamsala in India, there was lots of chatter about how he will pick a successor. The current Dalai Lama fled China in 1959 after the army invaded Tibet and has lived in India even since, where he raises awareness of the plight of Tibetans. At one time, he even considered ending the institution to prevent giving China a target. But on Wednesday, he reverted to tradition, saying the institution will continue and as usual, through the process of a reincarnation successor. Choosing a successor is inherently political. China maintains only it can choose the successor, despite atheism being imposed in politics. Xinhua, the state-run news agency in China, issued an editorial yesterday – a reminder that the reincarnation of living buddhas is not just an internal religious matter but one of national sovereignty and governmental authority. 

Finally, with the Tour de France beginning this Saturday, Le Figaro Sport notes that the cyclists will take off from the northern city of Lille. This year’s race will see them ride 3,320km: exclusively in France, for the first time in five years. The Tour de France organisers have reinvented the last stage of the race, to the displeasure of some riders. On July 27, riders will climb the Butte Montmartre three times before heading down to the Champs-Elysées. It's an unprecedented climb in the history of the Tour – the 21st stage is usually reserved for sprinters. Good luck to the riders, they will need it! 

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