LONDON: From the Westminster and London Bridge terror attacks to acid-wielding gangs, the city’s usual summer cheer is tinged with fear. Londoners are under siege.
On a balmy Sunday morning in July, Hyde Park in the center of the UK capital is in bloom and bustling with tourists enjoying the sunshine.
But in the boroughs beyond is a city deeply divided — by money, politics and religion.
The diversity, tolerance and good humor that once defined the UK capital are being shouted down.
At Speakers’ Corner, where public speakers have gathered since 1872, the shouting is being done by rival preachers of Christian and Muslim faiths.
They trade insults for the entertainment of the crowd — like boxers trash-talking before a bout.
Among the audience is Londoner Mercyn Botayi, who sees fear and inequality in many aspects of his home city — from the social deprivation revealed by the Grenfell Tower fire to the backlash against Muslims in the wake of a string of terror attacks in the capital.
“Islamophobia has become really real,” said the 18-year-old student, who is not himself a Muslim. “There is a typification of Muslims and I don’t understand where it comes from. People see Muslims and they think terrorists.”
Police figures point to a rise in hate crimes as well as those specifically targeting Muslims this summer.
The Metropolitan Police has increased its number of specialist investigators dealing with hate crimes by 30 percent over the last two years, with 900 members of staff now dedicated to this type of offense.
The Mayor of London’s office last month released figures that showed a sharp increase in hate crimes and Islamaphobic incidents in the aftermath of the London Bridge terror attack on June 3. Racist incidents leapt by as much as 40 percent.
Some have contrasted how the media covered the London Bridge attack to coverage of other incidents, such as the van attack on Muslims near Finsbury Park Mosque in June.
“The Finsbury Park attack was (allegedly) done by a white guy but they didn’t call him a terrorist. Had he been an Asian he would have been called a terrorist,” said Botayi.
His friend Simeon Mitchell, an 18-year-old student, agrees that the media has played a part in stoking such divisions and helping to tribalize a city world-famous for its tolerance.
Some commentators trace London’s changing temperament to last summer when Britain voted narrowly to leave the EU.
The vitriolic political language unleashed by Brexit is not just finding its voice in the city’s underclass estates or atop the angry soap boxes of Speakers’ Corner, but also among the highest rungs of society — as the jailing of aristocrat Rhodri Philipps this month highlighted.
The polo-playing viscount received a 12-week sentence for a string of menacing social media posts. One of them offered £5,000 for someone to “accidentally” run over anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller.
“If this is what we should expect from immigrants send them back to their stinking jungles,” he wrote in a post that he later claimed was “just satire.”
Mike Ainsworth, a director at Stop Hate UK, sees a clear link between the rise of hate crimes and the EU membership referendum.
He said that while there was nothing intrinsic in Brexit that should have encouraged more hate crimes, the rhetoric used by politicians and reported by a media that deliberately sought comment from individuals known for their extreme views, produced the same practical result.
“The relationship between hate speech and hate crime is absolute,” he said.The efficiency of social media in framing the narrative after a terror incident means that political leaders need to be equally swift in delivering messages that do not stoke up the potential for further hate crimes.
“We also tend to interact with people on social media who agree with us,” said Ainsworth. “The perpetrators of hate crime often say they never heard of the counter narrative until they were arrested.”
Rising wealth disparity in the capital could also be fueling tension.
The gulf between the city’s rich and poor — so vividly revealed by the Grenfell Tower fire in June, in which at least 80 people perished — is getting wider.
Grenfell Tower, which was home to many immigrants working on or below the poverty line, is located in a borough where the average terraced house sells for almost £4.3 million ($5.6 million), according to the Rightmove property listings website.”If you look at Grenfell, you can see the division in society,” says Botayi. “In a middle-class area there would never be a tower block with that cladding.”
Squalor and splendor have long lived cheek by jowl in London, back to the best and worst of Dickensian times.
But a rampant housing boom that is only now cooling has extended and distended that inequality by sucking a disproportionately large proportion of many people’s wages into paying rent — while many others fortunate enough to own their homes have become paper millionaires.
In a city where the average price of a home is now more than £630,000, some 27 percent of Londoners live in poverty after housing costs are taken into account, according to the New Policy Institute.
Almost 700,000 jobs in London (18 percent) pay below the London living wage. This number has increased for five consecutive years, particularly among men working full-time.
And there are more people in poverty in private rented housing than there are in social rented or owner-occupied homes. A decade ago it was the least common tenure among those in poverty.
A report released by the Resolution Foundation think tank this month reveals sharply rising inequality in the capital, driven by housing costs.
It estimates that the number of children living in poverty has more than doubled in a decade.
The number of eviction notices in London is currently almost double the rest of the country.
Stop Hate UK’s Ainsworth sees a clear link between poverty and hate crimes — such as when unemployment is blamed on immigration.
“Making that link has had an impact on hate crime,” he said.
Violence, whether motivated by hate, crime or a combination of both, has dominated the media.
Some 27 young people have been stabbed to death in London since the start of the year with police registering more than 12,000 knife attacks between April last year and March 2017, the highest figure in five years.
Acid attacks have also surged with 454 incidents recorded in London last year, compared to 261 in 2015. That number rose again earlier this month when five acid attacks took place within 90 minutes by young assailants on mopeds.
Such moped gang attacks were part of the biggest increase in police-recorded crimes across England and Wales in 10 years in the year to March 2017, according to official statistics.
At Speakers’ Corner the preachers are still shouting. There are no counter narratives here — or at least none that can be easily heard.
But as if to show that London’s spirit of tolerance has not been fully browbeaten into submission by fear and loathing, a lady emerges from the crowd dressed in a little mermaid outfit to tell everyone they need to start listening more.
“Every day go on to social media and find one thing you really disagree with,” she said. “Instead of trolling the person with whose opinion you so vehemently disagree, try to understand them.”
For a moment at least, the applause drowns out the shouting.
London’s long summer of hate: UK capital becoming divided along fault lines of religion, race, money and politics
London’s long summer of hate: UK capital becoming divided along fault lines of religion, race, money and politics
First flight with Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam lands in Tel Aviv
- The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv had passengers evacuated from Amsterdam
TEL AVIV: The first flight carrying Israelis evacuated from Amsterdam after violent clashes following a football match there landed on Friday at Ben Gurion International Airport, the Israel Airports Authority said.
“The plane that arrived in Tel Aviv now has passengers evacuated from Amsterdam,” Liza Dvir, spokeswoman for the airport authority told AFP.
India’s Modi rejects calls to restore Kashmir’s partial autonomy
- Modi revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh
- Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade this year, newly-elected lawmakers passed resolution this week seeking restoration
NEW DELHI: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi strongly backed his government’s contentious 2019 decision to revoke the partial autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir, days after the territory’s newly elected lawmakers sought its restoration.
“Only the constitution of Babasaheb Ambedkar will operate in Kashmir... No power in the world can restore Article 370 (partial autonomy) in Kashmir,” Modi said, referring to one of the founding fathers of the Indian constitution.
Modi was speaking at a state election rally in the western state of Maharashtra, where Ambedkar was from.
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked partial autonomy in 2019 and split the state into the two federally administered territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh — a move that was opposed by many political groups in the Himalayan region.
Jammu and Kashmir held its first local election in a decade in September and October and the newly-elected lawmakers passed a resolution this week seeking the restoration.
Jammu and Kashmir’s ruling National Conference party had promised in its election manifesto that it would restore the partial autonomy, although the power to do so lies with Modi’s federal government.
Jammu and Kashmir’s new lawmakers can legislate on local issues like other Indian states, except matters regarding public order and policing. They will also need the approval of the federally-appointed administrator on all policy decisions that have financial implications.
Under the system of partial autonomy, Kashmir had its own constitution and the freedom to make laws on all issues except foreign affairs, defense and communications.
The troubled region, where separatist militants have fought security forces since 1989, is India’s only Muslim-majority territory.
It has been at the center of a territorial dispute with Pakistan since the neighbors gained independence from British colonial rule in 1947.
Kashmir is claimed in full but ruled in part by both India and Pakistan, which have fought two of their three wars over the region.
Kyiv says Russia has returned bodies of 563 soldiers
- The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation
- The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen
KYIV: Ukraine said on Friday it had received the bodies of 563 soldiers from Russian authorities, mainly troops that had died in combat in the eastern Donetsk region.
The exchange of prisoners and bodies of killed military personnel remains one of the few areas of cooperation between Moscow and Kyiv since Russia invaded in 2022.
“The bodies of 563 fallen Ukrainian defenders were returned to Ukraine,” the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War said in a statement on social media.
The announcement represents one of the largest repatriations of killed Ukrainian servicemen since the beginning of the war.
The statement said that 320 of the remains were returned from the Donetsk region and that 89 of the soldiers had been killed near Bakhmut, a town captured by Russia in May last year after a costly battle.
Another 154 of the bodies were returned from morgues inside Russia, the statement added.
Neither Russia nor Ukraine publicly disclose how many military personnel have been killed fighting.
Russia sentences soldiers who massacred Ukraine family to life in prison
- The court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred“
- The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine
MOSCOW: A Russian court sentenced two soldiers to life in prison for the massacre of a family of nine people in their home in occupied Ukraine, state media reported on Friday.
Russian prosecutors said in October 2023, the two Russian soldiers, Anton Sopov and Stanislav Rau, entered the home of the Kapkanets family in the city of Volnovakha with guns equipped with silencers.
They then shot all nine family members who lived there, including two children aged five and nine.
The southern district military court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced the two men to life in prison for mass murder “motivated by political, ideological, racial, national or religious hatred,” the state-run TASS news agency reported, citing an unnamed law enforcement source.
The incident triggered uproar in Ukraine.
Kyiv alleged at the time that the Russian soldiers had murdered the family in their sleep after they refused to move out of their home to allow Russian soldiers to live there.
“The occupiers killed the Kapkanets family, who were celebrating a birthday and refused to give up their home,” Ukraine’s human rights ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said a day after the murder.
Russian forces seized the city of Volnovakha in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region at the start of their full-scale military offensive.
It was virtually destroyed by Russian artillery strikes.
Russian soldiers have been accused of multiple instances of killing civilians in Ukrainian towns and cities they have occupied since February 2022.
Moscow has always denied targeting civilians and tried to claim reports of atrocities at places like Bucha were fake, despite widespread evidence from multiple independent sources.
The arrest and sentencing in this case is a rare example of Russia admitting to a crime committed by its troops in Ukraine.
State media did not say what prosecutors determined the reason for the attack was.
TASS suggested it could have been a “domestic dispute,” while both the independent Radio Free Europe and Kommersant business outlets said it could have been linked to a dispute over obtaining vodka.
The trial was held in secret.
The independent Radio Free Europe outlet reported the Rau, 28, and Sopov, 21 were mercenaries for the Wagner paramilitary before joining Russia’s official army.
They had both received state awards a few months before the mass murder, it said.
Saudi influencer shines spotlight on resilience, hard work of Filipino expats
- Riyadh-based health worker Ahmed Alruwaili has 1.7 million followers on Facebook
- He shot to social media fame thanking Filipino frontliners during COVID-19 pandemic
MANILA: Dressed in a white thobe, a traditional headdress, and a blue jersey of the Philippine national basketball team, Saudi influencer Ahmed Alruwaili appears in a viral video, distributing small gifts and snacks to Filipinos in Riyadh as a way to thank them for their hard work.
In another clip, he visits an elementary school for Filipino children, sharing jokes and laughter with them. In yet another, he hands out portable electric fans to Filipino expats braving the scorching heat of the Saudi capital.
These videos are just a few among the hundreds of Alruwaili posts, in which he uses his social media platform to celebrate over 1 million Filipino expats living and working in Saudi Arabia. Through his content, he highlights their resilience, traditions, and sense of humor, reaching 1.7 million Facebook followers.
It all began about six years ago when he joined a group of Filipino baristas playing street basketball in the mornings. Initially reluctant, they soon welcomed him into their circle. After each game, they would share their breakfasts with him before heading off to work.
“They used to bring pancit in the morning, at 5 a.m. Pancit and pan de sal, Alicafe,” Alruwaili recalled, referring to traditional Filipino noodles, bread rolls, and the popular instant coffee.
“I know it’s really weird, but that’s how it all started. It’s all with basketball. And till today, I still play with the same people. I did not change, I’m still visiting them. I’m the one now to bring them the food.”
Over time, he developed a basic understanding of Filipino culture and Tagalog — a language he had slowly become familiar with also through his work in a healthcare facility, where he had met many Filipino colleagues.
During basketball games, his friends would often record videos of him, which quickly garnered considerable attention and views. Encouraged by this, Alruwaili began sharing content regularly. While his posts were initially comedic, everything changed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, as he witnessed the dedication and sacrifice of Filipino nurses working on the frontlines of the healthcare crisis.
Feeling the need to express recognition and gratitude, Alruwaili shifted the focus of his content. This became a turning point — one that would shape the direction of his online presence and influence in the years to come.
“It was purely comedy until the COVID time,” he said. “Working in a healthcare facility, I see the hard-working OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) here in Saudi. So, I thought I’d use it to give appreciation. Once I did that … it became different. All the things happened after that. This is how we started.”
In a video posted in March 2020, Alruwaili is seen buying flowers and food and distributing them to Filipino nurses at various locations in Riyadh.
“The reason why I made this is just to remind you about all the hard work that the nurses are doing all over the world, especially the OFW nurses against this coronavirus,” he says in the clip.
“We all need to pray and appreciate all the nurses for their hard work. The nurses now are the true heroes.”
The video received 3.5 million views. Another video, in which Alruwaili brings pillows, blankets, and food to pandemic-stranded Filipino workers waiting for their flights, has now reached 6 million views — and continues to grow.
Known as The Saudipinoy after the name of his Facebook account — with the word “Pinoy” meaning “Filipino” in Tagalog — the Saudi influencer has already visited the Philippines eight times since he started vlogging.
One of his most popular clips — which has 8 million views — was filmed on Siargao Island. It shows him conducting a social experiment, pretending that his motorcycle has run out of gas. The video captures how Filipinos would immediately offer help to a stranger in need.
Despite his social media fame, Alruwaili’s life remains centered around his full-time job in healthcare. Working as a medical professional, he devotes just one day a week to creating content.
“One day, I am just asleep … then the other day I will do the vlog, then I will prepare to go back to work. So, my life is really busy, I am really working hard to keep up with the vlog,” he said.
“(But) I am extremely happy with the impact (of what) I am doing.”
His social media work is appreciated not only by Filipinos, many of whom recognize him on the streets of Riyadh and approach him to thank him and hug him, but also by fellow Saudis.
“I want Saudis to notice the hard work of OFWs, and I want OFWs to know that Saudi people are nice,” he said.
“I am proud to be Saudi and representing Saudis. And, thank God, even big people here in Saudi … they said: ‘Keep going, you are representing the Saudi people and we are proud of you.’”