Greta Thunberg has pushed back on criticism that a Gaza-bound flotilla she is a part of is a publicity stunt, saying no one would imperil themselves purely for attention.
The Swedish activist is aboard one of 52 boats that form the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF), which is travelling toward Gaza with the aim of delivering humanitarian aid to Palestinians there.
Israeli authorities have ridiculed the GSF flotilla and similar seaborne attempts to reach the territory, calling the boat Thunberg travelled on in June a “selfie yacht”.
Asked about these criticisms of the flotilla by the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, the activist said: “I don’t think anyone would risk their life for a publicity stunt.”
Speaking while sailing off the Greek coast, she said the flotilla was not just a humanitarian mission but was also sending a message to people in Gaza that “when our governments fail to step up, the people will step up”.
International aid agencies have been attempting to get food and medicine into the Palestinian territory – but note Israel is restricting the flow of supplies. Israel claims it is attempting to stop those supplies falling into the hands of Hamas, and has approved a US-backed aid agency.
Last month, a UN-backed body confirmed that there was famine in Gaza and the UN’s humanitarian chief said it was the direct result of Israel’s “systematic obstruction” of aid entering the territory. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called this an “outright lie”.
Thunberg said the purpose of the flotilla was to “break Israel’s illegal and inhumane siege on Gaza by sea”. The Israeli military has long controlled the waters that border Gaza.
Earlier this month, the flotilla came under attack by drones which dropped unidentified objects onto boats outside the Tunisian port of Sidi Bou Said.
Addressing the incidents, Thunberg accused Israeli officials of making “baseless threats” that violate international law, and asked: “Why would they attack a peaceful humanitarian mission aiming to bring humanitarian aid to a starving population?”
Israel has not commented on the drone attack, but has previously said it would not let the flotilla reach its destination.
Thunberg and 11 other activists were detained by Israeli authorities in June after they intercepted another boat heading for Gaza with a token amount of aid in the Mediterranean.
She was held in Tel Aviv for a day before being deported to France.
Thunberg accused Israel of illegally kidnapping her and the other activists while they were in international waters. Israel said it had prevented a breach of the maritime blockade around Gaza.
ACTOR Tom Holland was rushed to hospital after a stunt on the set of the latest Spider-Man blockbuster went wrong.
It is believed he cracked his head in a fall and was treated for concussion.
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Tom Holland was rushed to hospital after a stunt on the set of Spider-Man went wrongCredit: Splash
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It is believed Tom cracked his head in a fall and was treated for concussionCredit: PA
A woman, thought to be a stunt double, was also taken to hospital in an ambulance.
Filming of £150million Spider-Man: Brand New Day was suspended at Leavesden Studios in Watford, Herts, on Friday and could be on hold for weeks.
British star Tom’s comedian dad Dominic, attending a charity dinner in Mayfair, confirmed his son would be away from filming “for a while”.
Tom, 29, was there too and even posed for pictures with co-star and fiancée Zendaya, 28.
However, he left early after feeling ill.
The fall could lead to an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive.
The film — Tom’s fourth standalone Spider-Man movie — is due out next July.
Leavesden Studios and Sony Pictures were contacted for comment.
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: “We were called at 10.30am on Friday to attend to a patient who had sustained an injury at Leavesden Studios in Watford.
“An ambulance was sent to the scene, and the patient was transported to hospital for further care.”
Popular fashion brand slammed after setting off massive fireworks display in Himalayas ad stunt
EFL fans have been left baffled over Portsmouth’s goalkeeper substitution.
Keeper Nicolas Schmid was forced off after suffering a first half injury.
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Portsmouth’s goalkeepers are the spitting image of one another
And he was replaced by deputy Ben Killip, with the pair sharing an embrace as they switched over.
It was an eye-cathcing sub as Schmid and Killip bore a striking similarity with one another.
They both have curly blond hair and beards, prompting confusion for viewers at home.
One reacted saying: “I swear Portsmouth just bought on a stunt double for their keeper. Absolute doppelganger.”
Another added: “Should have just swapped them at half time without anyone knowing.”
A third wrote: “Bit unfair cloning your starting GK, Pompey.”
And another commented: “Had me questioning my sanity.”
The incident took place during Portsmouth’s 0-0 draw with Southampton in the South Coast derby.
Shortly afterwards the match was interrupted by a pitch invader, who made it as far as the halfway line and appeared to gesture towards the away fans.
Saints also aimed a cheeky dig at their rivals by unveiling a provocative tifo before the match, showing James Beattie celebrating a goal against Pompey in 2003.
Southampton vs Portsmouth paused as pitch invader evades security before being dragged off by eight police and staff
The Trump administration argued in federal court Wednesday that any judicial intervention to curtail its deployment of military troops to Los Angeles would endanger federal immigration agents and undermine the president’s authority to keep American cities safe.
Attorneys for President Trump called California’s request Tuesday for a temporary restraining order barring those deployments a “crass political stunt endangering American lives” amid violent protests over immigration raids in the city.
If granted, they wrote, a restraining order would prevent Trump “from exercising his lawful statutory and constitutional power” as commander in chief to ensure federal facilities and personnel are protected and that the nation’s immigration laws are adequately enforced.
“There is no rioters’ veto to enforcement of federal law,” they wrote. “And the President has every right under the Constitution and by statute to call forth the National Guard and Marines to quell lawless violence directed against enforcement of federal law.”
Hindering the administration’s deployment of troops, the attorneys argued, “would be constitutionally anathema. And it would be dangerous.”
The administration was responding to California’s request Tuesday that U.S. District Judge Charles R. Breyer issue a restraining order blocking Trump’s and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s deployments of thousands of state National Guard troops and hundreds of Marines to L.A.
The troops were deployed without the request or approval of Gov. Gavin Newsom or city leaders, who have called their presence unnecessary, politically motivated and a move to increase tensions on the streets, rather than reduce them.
Trump and other administration officials have defended the deployments as necessary, and in their filing Wednesday, the president’s attorneys argued that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal agents had been targeted in violent attacks and that federal facilities had been damaged and defaced.
They also said that local police had acknowledged things had spun out of control and that their response had been inadequate to restore order.
Trump’s attorneys included with their opposition a written declaration from Ernesto Santacruz Jr., field office director for ICE’s enforcement and removal operations unit in Los Angeles. He described how federal agents faced violence from protesters during a raid in the Garment District, near a Home Depot store in Paramount, and at a secure ICE processing facility downtown.
Santacruz said federal immigration officials were also having their personal information spread by protesters online, and that efforts by the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol to restore order and address the threats on the street were inadequate.
“Even with the LAPD, LASD, and CHP all engaged in the ensuing law enforcement activities, I believe the safety of local federal facilities and safety of those conducting immigration enforcement operations in this area of responsibility requires additional manpower and resources,” Santacruz wrote.
The administration’s arguments, if adopted by the court, could have implications elsewhere. Similar demonstrations against immigration raids have erupted in San Francisco and Santa Ana and across the country, including in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York and Seattle. More protests were scheduled to coincide with a large military parade in Washington on Saturday.
Newsom and California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta first filed a lawsuit over the L.A. deployments Monday, arguing they are unconstitutional under the 10th Amendment — violating state sovereignty and clear federal law limiting the use of military forces for domestic policing, including the Posse Comitatus Act.
They said Tuesday that a restraining order was necessary on an emergency basis to prevent “imminent, irreparable harm” to the state, arguing that the Trump administration intended for the military troops to “accompany federal immigration enforcement officers on raids throughout Los Angeles.”
Bonta said Trump was using military personnel as “a political pawn” to “create a confrontational situation.” Newsom said the federal government was turning the military against American citizens in a way that “threatens the very core of our democracy.” Trump, he said, was “behaving like a tyrant, not a President.”
Constitutional scholars and members of Congress also have raised concerns about the executive branch deploying military assets to quell street protests, suggesting such tactics are most commonly used by authoritarian strongmen and dictators.
A coalition of 18 other state attorneys general issued a statement Wednesday backing Bonta and California’s lawsuit, saying Trump’s decision to deploy troops without the consent of California’s leaders was “unlawful, unconstitutional, and undemocratic.”
“The federal administration should be working with local leaders to keep everyone safe, not mobilizing the military against the American people,” said the statement, which was joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Vermont.
In their response to California’s restraining order request Wednesday, the president’s attorneys said the military forces in L.A. would not be directly engaged in policing, and that state officials had offered zero evidence to suggest otherwise.
“Neither the National Guard nor the Marines are engaged in law enforcement. Rather, they are protecting law enforcement, consistent with longstanding practice and the inherent protective power to provide for the safety of federal property and personnel,” Trump’s attorneys wrote.
A hearing on the state’s request for a restraining order is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday. The outcome could potentially affect how federal resources are deployed at future demonstrations in L.A. and beyond, including in coming days.
The administration has said immigration raids will continue in L.A. and nationwide. Trump has warned that any protesters who show up at the military parade in Washington will be “met with heavy force.”
The parade is for the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Army, according to the administration, but critics have derided it as an authoritarian show of strongman power by Trump — whose birthday is also Saturday.
Greta Thunberg has arrived on dry landCredit: IsraelMFA
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Greta Thunberg posted on social media that she had been kidnapped by the Israeli militaryCredit: Instagram
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A photo posted on Telegram purportedly showing activists with their hands up on board the MadleenCredit: Freedom Flotilla Coalition
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed on X: “The ‘Selfie Yacht’ docked at Ashdod Port a short while ago.
“The passengers are currently undergoing medical examinations to ensure they are in good health.”
But lawyer Nariman Shehade Zoabi said they haven’t been able to contact the activists yet.
She told Expressen: “We demand information about the whereabouts of our clients and the right to meet them.”
Lawyer Zoabi added that Greta and the others would be taken to a “Givon prison” near the town Ramle where “illegal immigrants are detained” and there is a “court that can quickly decide on deportation”.
She is waiting in Ashdod with five others, and explained that the process of deportation could be fast.
Zoabi said: “Israel has no interest in detaining them and they themselves do not want to stay in the country.”
Israel accused the group who were aboard the boat of supporting Hamas terrorists who detonated Middle East mayhem by massacring 1,200 and kidnapping 251 hostages.
And all of those detained will be made to watch a screening of video footage showing innocents including children being slaughter by Hamas savages during the attacks.
The “selfie yacht” operated by the pro-Palestinian Freedom Flotilla Coalition was said to be “safely making its way to the shores of Israel”, Israel’s Foreign Minsitry said.
Israel issues warning to Greta’s ‘Freedom Flotilla’ as eco-pest SAILS to Gaza
All passengers were safe and unharmed and activists handed sandwiches and water before the vessel docked at the southern Israeli port of Ashdod.
The boat was carrying a “tiny amount of aid” on board – which will be sent to Gaza.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said that he has instructed the Israeli Defence Forces to screen footage of the 7 October attacks as soon as they arrive.
The disturbing footage – titled “Bearing Witness” – shows innocent people being massacred and mutilated.
And all the footage was taken from the Hamas terrorists’ bodycams as they filmed their massacre.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) said early on Monday that Israeli forces had boarded the charity vessel.
Shortly before the FFC statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry posted a video on X showing the Israeli Navy communicating with the Madleen over a loudspeaker, urging it to change course.
“The maritime zone off the coast of Gaza is closed to naval traffic as part of a legal naval blockade,” a soldier said.
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Greta Thunberg is offered a sandwich by an Israeli soldier
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The Madleen began its journey to deliver aid to Gaza last Sunday but could be facing Israeli fury upon its arrival
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Thunberg sits aboard the aid ship Madleen, which left the Italian port of Catania on June 1 to travel to GazaCredit: Reuters
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Gaza has been hammered by the IDF as it aims to wipe out HamasCredit: Getty
“If you wish to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, you are able to do so through the (Israeli) port of Ashdod.”
The campaigners had said they are hoping to “break the siege” and raise “international awareness” of the humanitarian crisis on the Gaza Strip.
But Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant issued a warning as the vessel entered the final stretch of its journey, saying: “You should turn back – because you will not reach Gaza.”
Thunberg, 22, has posted on social media with a Palestine flag and wearing a keffiyeh scarf while on the journey.
Travelling alongside her is Rima Hassan, a French member of the European parliament of Palestinian descent.
She has previously been barred from entering Israel due to her outspoken criticism of the country’s policies towards Palestinians.
Organisers claim the voyage is “a non-violent, direct action to challenge Israel’s illegal siege” – and is carrying essential supplies to a population at risk of famine.
Israel imposed a near-total blockade on Gaza in late 2023, following Hamas’s horror massacre on southern Israel on October 7.
Though some limited aid has been allowed in since last month, aid agencies claim it is nowhere near enough.
Ahead of the journey, Thunberg said through tears: “We are doing this because, no matter what odds we are against, we have to keep trying.
“Because the moment we stop trying is when we lose our humanity.”
CONTROVERSIAL CREW
The flotilla’s latest voyage follows a failed attempt in May, when another of its vessels was struck by two drones in international waters off Malta.
The group accused Israel of being behind the attack.
Despite the risks, activists aboard the Madleen have said they plan to enter Gaza’s territorial waters as early as Sunday.
The vessel’s controversial crew includes figures who have openly supported terrorist organizations and have made inflammatory public statements.
Brazilian activist Thiago Avila attended the funeral of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling the terrorist a “beloved” leader and a “martyr”.
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Thunberg with part of the crew of the ship headed to the StripCredit: Getty
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Thiago Ávila (L) hailed the former leader of terrorist group Hezbollah
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Yasemin Acar is among the extremist crew
Avila said he was “very honoured” and “very happy” to attend, and described the funeral as something that “amazed him”.
He wrote that Nasrallah was an “important figure” who “inspired people all over the world”.
Also on board was Yasemin Acar from Berlin, who reportedly danced as Iranian rockets rained down on Israel and once told a white woman at a protest: “You’re a white person, you shouldn’t tell us what to do.”
French journalist Omar Faiad, of Al-Jazeera, sparked outrage for comparing the IDF to Nazis.
On X, he wrote: “The Israeli army resembles the Nazi army,” and claimed: “Israel is committing a new Holocaust in Gaza.”
Rima Hassan, meanwhile, previously tweeted: “Kfir, Ariel, and Shiri Bibas were killed by an Israeli attack,” despite Hamas being responsible for their abduction and deaths.
She was also seen at a protest where demonstrators chanted: “We die for jihad.”
And it included included a London-based Palestinian named in Parliament in 2023 as being a London-based Hamas operative.
Zaher Birawi was at the launch of the Madleen and live streamed from the dock in Greece and is chair of the International Committee to Break the siege of Gaza.
Birawi, 62, has been photographed with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and runs UK-registered charity, Education Aid for Palestinians, which has raised more than £3 million since 2017.
Irish Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham was also on the boat.
BONNIE Blue has been slammed for “promoting rape culture” and labelled “vile” after revealing her sickest ever sex stunt.
The adult ‘star’ has already hit headlines with previous desperate stunts including apparently breaking the world record by sleeping with 1,057 men in just 12 hours.
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Bonnie Blue has been accused of “promoting rape culture” with her next, sickest ever, stuntCredit: Instagram
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She’s planning to be naked, tied up in a glass box for the “petting zoo”, where people are allowed to do anything they want to herCredit: Instagram/@bonnie_blue_xox
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She told podcaster Kat Baker that the box will be in a house in London, despite the fact she’d like it on the back of a lorry if it wasn’t “illegal”Credit: instagram/thekatbakershow
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Kat appeared to be lost for words when Bonnie explained the depraved planCredit: instagram/thekatbakershow
She then challenged Spring Break ‘barely legal’ college boys to see who could give her the best orgasm – with a pledge to pay for the tuition of the ‘winner’.
But now Bonnie has announced her most depraved stunt to date, immediately sparking disgust from people online.
She revealed her next challenge during an interview on Kat Baker’s podcast – leaving the interviewer lost for words as she did so.
“What challenges do you have next?” Kat asked Bonnie during their conversation on The Kat Baker Show.
Read more about Bonnie Blue
With Bonnie replying that she’s called it “Bonnie Blue’s petting zoo”, and said it will be taking place on June 15.
Explaining the sickening idea, she said that she’s going to be naked and tied up in a glass box, which would be “open for the public” to do basically whatever they want to her.
When Kat asked “where” the box was going to be, Bonnie continued that she’ll be in “the centre of London” but “in a house”.
“Oh ok, because I was thinking like David Blaine,” Kat said, referring to the U.S. illusionist’s stunt in 2003, when he was confined in a transparent glass box, suspended 30ft over the River Thames, for 44 days.
While Bonnie said that she’d love to be in the box on the back of a lorry, with the abhorrent sex acts performed on her as she travelled through London, she mused that it was “probably illegal”.
Making the planned event even more repulsive, Bonnie told Kat that she wanted to beat her own record by “doing 2,000”.
Bonnie Blue ‘KICKED OUT of City Ground after flouting ban as adult star gets into Chelsea away end vs Nottingham Forest’
Unsurprisingly, the comments on the Instagram video of Kat and Bonnie’s conversation took aim at the abominable plan – and even questioned the 26-year-old’s mental state to have come up with such a vulgar concept.
While another insisted she was “promoting rape culture” – which Fabulous Digital writer and rape survivor Kate Kulniece agreed with, as she said Bonnie’s latest stunt ends up “pushing victims like myself deeper into the abyss of trauma”.
“Her twisted antics are damaging impressionable young teenage boys – half of whom have been exposed to pornography by the age of 13.
“These very same boys will grow up thinking this is normal, this is what women want – and what we’re here for.”
In the comments on the Instagram post, one person insisted Bonnie has “no soul”
Sometimes I wonder if Satan is actually Bonnie in disguise
Instagram commenter
“She has no soul,” one wrote, while someone else called Bonnie an “attention craving sicko”, and another said she’s the “most disgusting in the world … by far”.
“Her value as a woman is so low that she is offering her entire body for free,” someone else sighed.
“And we’re ok glorifying prostitution on media platforms for kids to see….? I genuinely think the future’s done,” someone else wrote.
“Sometimes I wonder if Satan is actually Bonnie in disguise,” another slammed.
Why Bonnie Blue MUST be banned from social media
By Kate Kulniece, Fabulous Digital writer and rape survivor
When it comes to sex, I like to consider myself open-minded – and non-judgemental.
But the vile, attention-seeking OnlyFans porn star Bonnie Blue makes me sick to my stomach.
When the 26-year-old first hit the headlines with her gruesome stunts in March 2024, I’ll admit – I didn’t pay much attention to her.
But as the challenges became more perverted and she eventually bedded over 1,000 men in just 12 hours, I became not just disappointed – but angry.
Her most recent – and most disgusting – stunt to date, of being tied up in a glass box for men to fulfil their sick desires, is wrong and worrying on so many levels.
The number of rapes being reported to police are at a record high, with a shocking 1 in 4 women, 1 in 6 children and 1 in 18 men falling victim to this horrific crime.
It’s an alarming rise and many believe, as I do, that the sexual assaults are fuelled by access to toxic online culture – with Bonnie seemingly leading the way with her vile sex marathon stunts.
As a young woman who is a survivor of two rapes – aged just 13 and 23 – and who has been sexually harassed on countless occasions, I feel sick and enraged.
In a society where sexual abuse, violence against women and misogyny have become a widespread pandemic, we should ban people like Bonnie from social media.
Her foul and obscene challenges, which are becoming worse every time, are a slap in the face to millions of rape survivors like myself.
Not only are her videos a constant reminder of the trauma and pain that was forced upon us, but she also teaches perverts that women are a piece of meat – and nothing else.
Despite repeatedly insisting she empowers women, Bonnie promotes a culture in which women are passed around by men like toys.
She also plays into the narrative that our husbands, fathers and sons can’t control their sexual urges – or shouldn’t have to.
As a vocal multi millionaire, Bonnie may think this is all harmless fun, paying her many assistants to keep her out of real harm’s way.
But in reality, the sex-insatiable Bonnie is promoting dangerous rape culture and pushing victims like myself deeper into the abyss of trauma.
Her twisted antics, and those of rival Lily Phillips and Aussie OF star Annie Knight, are damaging impressionable young teenage boys – half of whom have been exposed to pornography by the age of 13.
These very same boys will grow up thinking this is normal, this is what women want – and what we’re here for.
There are countless things I look forward to, but the day the sick content creator finally gets banned from platforms cannot come soon enough.
However, someone else questioned why Bonnie was even being allowed to speak.
“Why the f**k is she being given platforms like podcasts and broadcasts to act like she is some kind of trailblazer or icon?” they raged.
“She is sitting there saying her next challenge is to be tied up in public so people can touch her and another woman is sitting across from her acting like that is something worth clapping for.
“That alone is disgusting and degrading…
“This is dragging us backwards.
“And any woman who claps for this kind of behaviour has failed as a woman.”
“Never been so revolted in my life,” another agreed.
Even more shockingly, there were also some comments from monstrous people saying they were keen to get inside the box with Bonnie.
“I’ll be in the box,” one boasted.
“See you there,” another added.
As a third questioned: “Are girls welcome to join in too?”
Domestic abuse – how to get help
DOMESTIC abuse can affect anyone – including men – and does not always involve physical violence.
Here are some signs that you could be in an abusive relationship:
Emotional abuse – Including being belittled, blamed for the abuse – gaslighting – being isolated from family and friends, having no control over your finances, what you where and who you speak to
Threats and intimidation – Some partners might threaten to kill or hurt you, destroy your belongings, stalk or harass you
Physical abuse – This can range from slapping or hitting to being shoved over, choked or bitten.
Sexual abuse – Being touched in a way you do not want to be touched, hurt during sex, pressured into sex or forced to have sex when you do not consent.
If any of the above apply to you or a friend, you can call these numbers:
Remember, you are not alone.
1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience domestic abuse over the course of their lifetime.
Every 30 seconds the police receive a call for help relating to domestic abuse.
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Bonnie has previously caused massive controversy with sick stunts such as sleeping with 1,057 men in 12 hoursCredit: TikTok/@schoolies1
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But she’s hoping to beat that record by having sex with 2,000 people during the “petting zoo” stuntCredit: TikTok/@bonnie_blue_xoxo