London attack: Tech firms fight back in extremism row

Technology companies have defended their handling of extremist content following the London terror attack.
Prime Minister Theresa May called for areas of the internet to be closed because tech giants had provided a "safe space" for terrorist ideology.
But Google said it had already spent hundreds of millions of pounds on tackling the problem.
Facebook and Twitter said they were working hard to rid their networks of terrorist activity and support.
Google, which owns Youtube, along with Facebook, which owns WhatsApp, and Twitter were among the tech companies already facing pressure to tackle extremist content.
That pressure intensified following Saturday night's attack, which killed seven people and injured 48. The so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Speaking outside Downing Street on Sunday, Mrs May said: "We cannot allow this ideology the safe space it needs to breed.
"Yet that is precisely what the internet, and the big companies... provide."
Culture Secretary Karen Bradley said tech companies needed to tackle extremist content, in a similar way to how they had removed indecent images of children.
"We know it can be done and we know the internet companies want to do it," she told the BBC on Monday.

No place on our platform'

Google said it had invested heavily to fight abuse on its platforms and was already working on an "international forum to accelerate and strengthen our existing work in this area".
The firm added that it shared "the government's commitment to ensuring terrorists do not have a voice online".
Facebook said: "Using a combination of technology and human review, we work aggressively to remove terrorist content from our platform as soon as we become aware of it - and if we become aware of an emergency involving imminent harm to someone's safety, we notify law enforcement."
Meanwhile, Twitter said "terrorist content has no place on" its platform.
Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on Sunday that tech firms needed to take down extremist content and limit the amount of end-to-end encryption that terrorists can use.
End-to-end encryption renders messages unreadable if they are intercepted, for example by criminals or law enforcement.

Analysis - Dave Lee, BBC North America technology reporter

Silicon Valley is both on the offensive and defensive.
Defensive in that they are protecting their reputations as companies that put in a lot of work to stamp out extremist content online, but offensive in making it clear they do not feel "kneejerk" regulation is the way to solve the issue.
The tech industry is mostly in agreement on this. They believe that end-to-end encryption, while perhaps frustrating to police, is a technology that means everyone's communications are far more secure.
The logic put forward by experts is that if there's a way to break into a terrorist's smartphone without his permission - then there's a way to break into your smartphone too.
On Monday, Apple will be holding its annual developers' conference in San Jose. I'm not expecting chief executive Tim Cook to talk about the issue - he won't want to willingly draw his company into the debate - but you can fully expect Apple to put its weight behind any movement that seeks to increase security.
And the company will speak out, as it often has, against any attempts from authorities to compel tech firms to give them a so-called "back door" into their systems.

'Intellectually lazy'

The Open Rights Group, which campaigns for privacy and free speech online, warned that politicians risked pushing terrorists' "vile networks" into the "darker corners of the web" by more regulation.
The way that supporters of jihadist groups use social media has changed "despite what the prime minister says", according to Dr Shiraz Maher of the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) at King's College London.
They have "moved to more clandestine methods", with encrypted messaging app Telegram the primary platform, Dr Maher told the BBC.
Professor Peter Neumann, another director at the ICSR, wrote on Twitter: "Blaming social media platforms is politically convenient but intellectually lazy."

'Tool for extremists'

However, Dr Julia Rushchenko, a London-based research fellow at the Henry Jackson Centre for Radicalisation and Terrorism, told the BBC that more could be done by tech giants to root out such content.
She felt that the companies erred on the side of privacy, not security. "We all know that social media companies have been a very helpful tool for hate preachers and for extremists," Dr Rushchenko said.
Investors suggested that tech firms would be more willing to take further action against extremist content if shareholders and advertisers pressured them to do so.
Jessica Ground, a UK fund manager at Schroders, told the BBC: "It's going to be an interesting debate how you put the pressure points. It could be the money rather than the governments."
Simon Howard, chief executive of UKSIF - the UK Sustainable Investment and Finance Association, said: "We'll need all the technology companies to do a bit more and we'll have to decide what the UK legal framework in which they do that is." 

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London attack: Spanish 'skateboard hero' Echeverría missing

A Madrid man is missing in London after he used his skateboard against one of the jihadists, who was stabbing a woman, Spanish media report.
Ignacio Echeverría, 39, saw the attack unfolding at London Bridge on Saturday night, and rushed to help the woman.
Friends with him at the time told his family what had happened.
Reports say Mr Echeverría is not listed among the dead. His sister has gone to London hospitals, but there is no news of him being among the injured.
In a message on Facebook his father Joaquín Echeverría urged members of the public to help find his son, posting details of Ignacio.
At least one other Spaniard is in a London hospital, lightly injured after the terror attack at London Bridge.
Reports say Ignacio Echeverría came upon the scene at London Bridge while cycling back from a park with two friends, with whom he had been skateboarding.
In a Facebook post, his father said "They saw him lying on the floor on the sidewalk after defending someone with his skateboard".
Apparently Ignacio did not have ID on him at the time. The Spanish embassy and HSBC Bank, his employer in London, are helping to search for him.
 

On Saturday night three men rammed their van into pedestrians on London Bridge, then went on a stabbing rampage at nearby bars and restaurants, before police shot them dead.
They killed seven and wounded dozens more, of whom 21 are now critically ill in hospital.
The attack has been claimed by so-called Islamic State. At least one of the killers had shouted "this is for Allah!" during the attack, witnesses said.

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    Qatar row: Six countries cut links with Doha

      Qatar row: Six countries cut links with Doha

    Six Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt have cut diplomatic ties with Qatar, accusing it of destabilising the region.
    They say Qatar backs militant groups including so-called Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaeda, which Qatar denies.
    The Saudi state news agency SPA said Riyadh had closed its borders, severing land, sea and air contact with the tiny peninsula of oil-rich Qatar.
    Qatar called the decision "unjustified" and with "no basis in fact".
    The unprecedented move is seen as a major split between powerful Gulf countries, who are also close US allies.
    It comes amid heightened tensions between Gulf countries and their near-neighbour, Iran. The Saudi statement accused Qatar of collaborating with "Iranian-backed terrorist groups" in its restive Eastern region of Qatif and in Bahrain.

    What has happened?

    The diplomatic withdrawal was put into motion by Bahrain then Saudi Arabia early on Monday. The United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Yemen and Libya followed suit.
    SPA cited officials as saying the decision was taken to "protect its national security from the dangers of terrorism and extremism".
    Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain have given all Qatari visitors and residents two weeks to leave their territory.
    So far, there has been no sign of reciprocal moves by Qatar.
    In the latest developments:
    • The UAE has given Qatari diplomats 48 hours to leave the country
    • Airlines from many of the affected countries, including Etihad Airways and Emirates, said they are to cancel flights to and from the Qatari capital Doha
    • The Gulf allies said they had closed their airspace to Qatar Airways, which has suspended all its flights to Saudi Arabia
    • Bahrain's state news agency said it was cutting its ties because Qatar was "shaking the security and stability of Bahrain and meddling in its affairs"
    • The Saudi-led Arab coalition fighting Yemen's Houthi rebels also expelled Qatar from its alliance because of its "practices that strengthen terrorism" and its support of extremist groups.

    Why has this happened?

     

    While the severing of ties was sudden, it has not come out of the blue, as tensions have been building for years, and particularly in recent weeks.
    Two weeks ago, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE blocked Qatari news sites, including Al Jazeera. Comments purportedly by Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani criticising Saudi Arabia had appeared on Qatari state media.
    The government in Doha dismissed the comments as fake, attributing the report to a "shameful cybercrime".
    Back in 2014, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE withdrew their ambassadors from Qatar for several months in protest over alleged interference in their affairs.
    More broadly, two key factors drove Monday's decision: Qatar's ties to Islamist groups, and the role of Iran, Saudi Arabia's regional rival.
    While Qatar has joined the US coalition against IS, the Qatari government has repeatedly denied accusations from Iraq's Shia leaders that it provided financial support to IS.
    Wealthy individuals in the emirate are believed to have made donations and the government has given money and weapons to hardline Islamist groups in Syria. Qatar is also accused of having links to a group formerly known as the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda affiliate.
    The SPA statement accused Qatar of backing these groups, as well as the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood - banned in Gulf countries as a terrorist organisation - and that it "promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly".
    Saudi Arabia itself is a key backer of Islamist rebels, including hardline jihadist groups, in Syria.

    Qatar - Key facts

    2.7m
    population
    • 2m of whom are men
    • 11,437 sq km in size (4,416 sq miles)
    • 79 years life expectancy (men)
    • 78 years for women
    Source: UN, World Bank, MDPS
    Reuters
    While on a visit to Riyadh two weeks ago, US President Donald Trump urged Muslim countries to take the lead in combating radicalisation, and blamed Iran for instability in the Middle East.
    "It seems that the Saudis and Emiratis feel emboldened by the alignment of their regional interests - toward Iran and Islamism - with the Trump administration," Gulf analyst Kristian Ulrichsen told Reuters news agency.
    "[They] have decided to deal with Qatar's alternative approach on the assumption that they will have the [Trump] administration's backing."
    Saudi Arabia, too, has been accused of funding IS, either directly or by failing to prevent private donors from sending money to the group - allegations it denies.
    In recent days, British Prime Minister Theresa May has also come under pressure from election rivals to publish a report thought to focus on the funding of UK extremist groups by Saudi Arabia.

    What has been the reaction?

    Qatar, which is due to host the football World Cup in 2022, was critical of the decision. The foreign ministry said the decisions would "not affect the normal lives of citizens and residents".
    US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking in Sydney, urged the countries to resolve their differences through dialogue.
    Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi said there was a need for "transparent dialogue and diplomacy", adding: "No country in the region will benefit from the heightened tension."
    Qatar's stock market closed down 7.27%.


    One of the likely knock-on effects is on food stability: about 40% of Qatar's food is believed to come by lorry from Saudi Arabia.
    The Doha News newspaper reported that people had rushed to supermarkets to stock up on food and water.

    Why this decision, and why now? - Alan Johnston, BBC Middle East analyst

    There have long been tensions not far beneath the surface. Qatar has often seemed out of step with its neighbours.
    It has tended, for example, to side with Islamist forces in the Middle East - like the Muslim Brotherhood, which is reviled by the Saudis and the current Egyptian leadership.
    Past efforts by the neighbours to pull the Qataris into line have had limited impact. But now Doha has suddenly come under much greater and more co-ordinated pressure.
    The neighbours have been given new confidence by President Trump's approach to the Middle East. The Saudis and the Emiratis feel they have his support, and that now is the time to solidify the Gulf camp's approach to the challenges they see around them.
    They believe this is the moment to make clear to the Qataris that their divergent views will no longer be tolerated.
    And right now this small country's rulers will probably be feeling very lonely indeed.

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    Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May clash over security

    Jeremy Corbyn has said Theresa May should pay a price in Thursday's general election for ignoring "repeated warnings" not to cut police numbers.
    The Labour leader said Mrs May had "presided" over a 19,000 fall in numbers as home secretary and he agreed with those calling on her to resign in the wake of the London Bridge attacks.
    But the PM said she had protected counter-terror police numbers.
    And she accused the Labour leader of opposing shoot-to-kill powers.
    With less than 72 hours to go before Thursday's election, party leaders have returned to the campaign trail after electioneering was briefly suspended because of the London Bridge attack, in which seven people died.
    Following a meeting of senior ministers and security chiefs at the emergency Cobra committee, Mrs May said Saturday's atrocity was an attack on "the free world" and said she was best equipped to deal with the "evolving" threat facing the UK.
    In a speech in London, she vowed to tackle the "whole spectrum" of extremism as security took centre stage in the election.


    Action was needed in communities and online to ensure "bigotry and hatred" did not turn to violence, the PM said. Defending her record on police funding, she said longer custodial sentences for terror offences should be considered.
    She defended her record on security over the past seven years in the face of criticism that she had presided, as home secretary, over a fall of more than 19,000 in police numbers between 2010 and 2016 and accused officers of "crying wolf" over their capabilities.
    She said she had protected counter-terror police budgets as home secretary and was now "providing funding for an uplift in the number of armed officers" as well as was protecting funding for the police as a whole.
    Saying leadership was "absolutely vital" for keeping the UK safe, she said Mr Corbyn had "boasted" of opposing every single piece of counter-terrorism legislation and had voiced his opposition to shoot-to-kill powers, saying the response of the police to Saturday's attack showed how vital these were.

    'Carry on'

    But Mr Corbyn suggested the government's decision to cut police numbers by 19,000 between 2010 and 2016 was now coming back to haunt Mrs May.
    Asked whether he agreed with a call by some, including former Downing Street adviser Steve Hilton, for Mrs May to quit, he said he did, but added that the "best way" for the issue to be dealt with was by voters on Thursday.
    In the first of a whirlwind series of campaign events planned for the next 72 hours Mr Corbyn said of the terrorists: "We are not going to allow them to dictate how we live or how we go about enjoying themselves. We carry on and our democracy will prevail."
    Analysis - BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg
    Voters choose their political parties for all sorts of different reasons. But as this strange election hurtles towards its close, the demand of who can keep the country safe is firmly on the table.
    For Theresa May that doesn't just mean questions over how she would counter extremism if she stays in power. She faces criticism too over the Tories' record on squeezing money for the police.
    Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has repeated his promise to reverse the cuts and slammed the Tories, warning the government could not "protect the public on the cheap".
    He also tried to counter perceptions that he is soft on security, including his earlier stance on shoot-to-kill, which he questioned days after the Paris attack at the Bataclan. He said, if he were prime minister he would take "whatever action is necessary and effective" to protect the public.
    After a brief pause, the election campaign is well and truly back, even if with a more subdued tone, and with security as its primary subject.
    Read more from Laura
    Lib Dem leader Tim Farron has accused the Conservatives of making the "wrong choices" over police budgets, "posturing" over internet surveillance powers and not putting enough pressure on allies in the Middle East to turn the screw on extremist groups.
    "Fewer police on the beat means fewer conversations, less information being passed on and less knowledge about who's who and who needs to be kept under surveillance," he wrote in an article for the Guardian.
    He added: "Theresa May talks of the need to have some difficult and sometimes embarrassing conversations. That should include exposing and rooting out the source of funding terror, even if it means difficult and embarrassing conversations with those like Saudia Arabia that the government claims are our allies."
    He warned about the UK seeking to "control" the internet in a manner associated with regimes like North Korea. "If we turn the internet into a tool for censorship and surveillance, the terrorists will have won. We won't make ourselves safer by making ourselves less free." 


    On Sunday the PM called for new measures to tackle extremism - including online - saying in a speech outside No 10 that "enough is enough".
    Culture Secretary Karen Bradley told the BBC that the fight against online radicalisation meant getting "access to information as required" from tech firms.
    Pressed on whether this meant penetrating encrypted messaging services, she said the tech industry had done the "right thing" in the past in terms of removing indecent images from their platforms and now ministers wanted the "same response" over extremist material.
    "We know it can be done and the internet companies want to do it," she told BBC Radio 4's Today.
    Appearing on a Question Time general election special on Sunday night, UKIP leader Paul Nuttall called for 20,000 more police officers on UK streets, and for a review of funding of mosques in Britain while Green Party co-leader Jonathan Bartley said the Prevent counter-radicalisation strategy should be scrapped.
    SNP leader and Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has said it makes sense to review counter-terror arrangements following the latest attacks but that no community should be made a scapegoat for the actions of a "mindless minorit
     
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         One Love Manchester: Joy shines               through pain at benefit concert


    The benefit concert held in the wake of the Manchester attack turned into a night of unity, healing and joy for 50,000 music fans.
    The all-star show was held to remember the victims of the suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May.
    Despite the circumstances, a celebratory atmosphere prevailed as Grande herself returned to the stage.
    She told the crowd: "I want to thank you for coming together and being so loving and strong and unified."
    She added: "I love you guys so much, and I think that the kind of love and unity that you're displaying is the medicine that the world really needs right now."
    Visibly moved at times, the 23-year-old US singer performed with Miley Cyrus and the Black Eyed Peas, while other highlights were provided by Katy Perry, Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Liam Gallagher and Justin Bieber.

    It wasn't just the fans who got into the spirit of the show. Police officers danced, medics sang along and one lively steward encouraged the crowd to clap and dance.
    Grande made appearances throughout the show. She sang My Everything with students from Parr's Wood High school in Manchester, comforting 12-year-old soloist Natasha Seth when she was overcome with emotion.
    She also told the crowd how she changed the set list at the last minute after meeting the mother of Olivia Campbell-Hardy, 15, who was among the 22 people who died in the attack.
    Grande said: "She told me Olivia would have wanted to hear the hits. We had a totally different show planned and we had a rehearsal yesterday and we changed everything."
    Justin BieberImage copyrightDAVE HOGAN FOR ONE LOVE MANCHESTER
    Image captionJustin Bieber asked everyone to raise their hands in honour of the victims
    One Love ManchesterImage copyrightWPA POOL/GETTY IMAGES
    Image captionThe concert was beamed and streamed around the world
    She also performed Oasis' Don't Look Back In Anger with Coldplay's Chris Martin before Martin accompanied former Oasis singer Liam Gallagher on Live Forever.
    Speaking in his home city, Gallagher dedicated the song to "the beautiful people who were killed and injured" in the attack.
    At the end of the show, Grande was joined on stage by the night's other stars to perform the song One Last Time before finishing with a poignant solo rendition of Over the Rainbow.
    Grande wore a One Love Manchester sweatshirt - and many of the fans wore shirts bearing similar messages, or face paint saying "I heart MCR", or #WeStandTogether stickers.
    Organisers said the night had raised £2m for victims and families through text and online donations, taking the We Love Manchester Emergency Fund's total to more than £10m.
    On Saturday, Grande announced she is re-releasing her song One Last Time, with proceeds going towards the campaign.

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          Canada's mowing man and tornado                             photo goes viral


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            London attack: 12 arrested in                       Barking after van and knife attack 

    Twelve people have been arrested after the London terror attack which left seven people dead and 48 injured.
    The arrests in Barking, east London, followed a raid at a flat belonging to one of the three attackers.
    A van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at 21:58 BST on Saturday. Three men then got out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market.
    The attackers were shot dead by eight officers who fired 50 bullets. A member of the public was accidentally shot.
    Of the 12 people who were arrested, seven are women. A 55-year-old man was later released without charge.
    Meanwhile, Canadian national Chrissy Archibald has been named by Canadian broadcaster CTVas the first victim of the attack.
    A statement from her family said she "believed strongly that every person was to be valued and respected".
    It said she had worked in a homeless shelter until she moved to Europe to be with her fiance.

    'Range of injuries'

    The so-called Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
    Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said the police had reacted knowing the attackers "had to be stopped immediately".
    "The situation these officers were confronted with was critical, a matter of life and death - three armed men wearing what appeared to be suicide belts," he said.
    The vests were later found to be hoaxes.
    Mr Rowley said 36 people were in hospital with a "range of injuries" and 21 were in a critical condition.
    Malik Ramadhan, a doctor at the Royal London Hospital, said his team had treated one man who had been shot in the head and was expected to make a full recovery.
    Both London Bridge rail and Tube stations are due to reopen on Monday from 05:00 BST but the rail station will be exit only, Network Rail said.
    The mother of 23-year-old Daniel O'Neill, who is recovering in hospital after being stabbed, told the BBC he had a seven-inch scar from the knife attack.
    "He had just stepped outside the bar for a second and a man ran up to him and said 'this is for my family, this is for Islam' and stuck a knife in him," Elisabeth O'Neill said.
    "I'm still in shock. I can't quite believe it's happened."
    Sunday Express journalist and martial arts expert, Geoff Ho, who was injured, said that he helped defend a bouncer from the attackers outside the Southwark Tavern as it "isn't happening on my watch", his newspaper reported.
    Controlled explosions were carried out at the flat in Barking during the raids on Sunday morning.
    According to neighbours, the dead attacker lived there for about three years and was married with two children.
    One man, who did not want to be named, told the BBC's Asian Network that one of the attackers had become more extreme over the past two years.
    "We spoke about a particular attack that happened and like most radicals he had a justification for anything - everything and anything.
    "And that day I realised that I need to contact the authorities," he said.
    He said no action was taken.
    "I did my bit... but the authorities didn't do their bit," he said.
    It is the third terror attack in the UK in three months, following the car and knife attack in Westminster in March, in which five people were killed, and the Manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in which 22 people were killed.
    Most political parties have suspended national general election campaigning, but the prime minister said full campaigning would resume on Monday.
    The general election will go ahead as planned on Thursday.
    Condemning the attack, Theresa May said it was "time to say enough is enough".
    Eyewitnesses described a van travelling at high speed along London Bridge, hitting pedestrians, before crashing close to the Barrowboy and Banker pub.
    The white Renault van used was recently hired by one of the attackers, Mr Rowley said.
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    Apple to scan iPhones for child sex abuse images

      Apple has announced details of a system to find child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on customers' devices. Before an image is stored on...