TNE 111 French Diversity Riots

The US Supreme Court ends affirmative action while over in France migrant communities have brought diversity to the country's culture of riots. See what else is changing (for better or worse) at beginning of the New Financial Year on Tim's News Explosion.

France’s latest round of riots was triggered by a police officer killing 17-year-old French-Alegerian teenager Nahel Merzouk who tried to flee a traffic stop on 27 June. The officer who fired the shot has been charged with voluntary homicide by a person in authority. Nahel’s judicial file included 15 recorded incidents but according to his mother Mounia, he was a good boy who dindu nuffin.

Innocent victims of the rioters included an 80-year-old priest who was robbed and beaten unconscious. The home of Paris Mayor Vincent Jeanbrun was ram-raided with his wife and child injured. A holocaust memorial was desecrated.

These are the biggest race riots in France since 2005 triggered by the electrocution of two youths fleeing police which lasted 3 weeks. Over the past decade, hundreds of French citizens have lost their lives in Islamic terrorist attacks. French President Emmanuel Macron blamed social media and video games for the rioting. Paris is hosting the Olympics next year. The BBC published a list of fake images circulating on social media purporting to be from the riots.

Paris Saint-Germain Football Manager Christophe Galtier will stand trial for racism accused of saying at his previous club Nice that there were too many Black and Muslim players. If found guilty he could be jailed for 5 years.

Police in Sweden facilitated a Koran burning which has triggered protests and condemnation in Islamic nations.

The US Supreme Court issued three big landmark decisions before its summer recess. Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard ruled affirmative action in university admissions processes was unconstitutional. 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis ruled that anti-discrimination laws could not force a Christian website designer to create a website advertising a same-sex wedding. This followed Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission in 2018 which similarly ruled a baker could not be forced to bake a same-sex wedding. Biden v. Nebraska struck down Biden’s Executive Order forgiving student loan debt. All decisions were 6-3 with the 3 Justices Donald Trump appointed all part of the majority court opinion.

The Ron DeSantis War Room Twitter account released an attack ad on Trump accusing him of being too pro-LGBT. The Log Cabin Republicans labelled the ad homophobic. Trump has pledged to outlaw child genital mutilation in all 50 states.

Nigel Farage and Laurence Fox have had their bank accounts closed for wrongthink. King Charles and London Mayor Sadiq Khan pressed a new 2030 climate doomsday button to stop the planet from warming by 1.5C

Greta Thunberg met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to discuss the ecological damage of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The Federal Opposition is lobbying the Albanese Government to spend the now $19 billion AUD surplus on aid to Ukraine.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) begins today. The NSW ICAC accused former Premier Gladys Berejiklian of serious corrupt conduct for overseeing grants in the electorate of her former boyfriend Daryl McGuire but ICAC isn’t recommending she face criminal charges. Down in Victoria corruption is legal with Dan Andrews appointing his former Deputy James Merlino to the Suburban Rail Loop Authority. The Victoria Day Awards which is not related to the Australia Day Awards but is a private organisation, gave its Victorian of the Year Award to outgoing Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton.

The Yes 23 campaign for the Constitutional Aboriginal Voice held rallies with their activists in major cities around Australia. Indigenous Labor Senator Pat Dodson claimed that if Australia votes no to the voice then we won’t be able to criticize China’s human rights violations. It is NAIDOC week another Indigenous cultural promotion week.