ROTHERHAM: UK leader Keir Starmer warned far-right protesters on Sunday they would “regret” participating in England’s worst rioting in 13 years, as disturbances linked to the murder of three children earlier this week flared across the country for a fifth day.
Masked anti-immigration demonstrators smashed several windows at a hotel that has been used to house asylum seekers in Rotherham, South Yorkshire
Unrest related to misinformation about the mass stabbing last Monday in the northwestern English seaside town of Southport has impacted multiple towns and cities, with anti-immigration demonstrators clashing with police.
The violence is posing an early major challenge for Starmer, who was elected only a month ago after leading Labour to a landslide win over the Conservatives.
“I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder. Whether directly or those whipping up this action online, and then running away themselves,” Starmer said in a TV address.
He added that there was “no justification” for what he called “far-right thuggery” and promised to bring the perpetrators “to justice.”
Footage aired on the BBC showed rioters forcing their way into a Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham. They also pushed a burning bin into the building. It was not clear whether asylum seekers were inside.
In the northeastern English city of Middlesbrough, hundreds of protesters squared up to riot police carrying shields. Some threw bricks, cans and pots at officers.
The fresh disturbances came after more than 90 people were arrested on Saturday following skirmishes at far-right rallies in Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool and Hull, as well as Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Rioters threw bricks, bottles and flares at police — injuring several officers — looted and burnt shops, while demonstrators shouted anti-Islamic slurs as they clashed with counter-protesters.
The violence is the worst England has seen since the summer of 2011, when widespread rioting took place following the police killing of a mixed-race man in north London.
“We’re now seeing it (trouble) flooding across major cities and towns,” said Tiffany Lynch of the Police Federation of England and Wales.
Riots first flared in Southport on Tuesday night following Monday’s frenzied knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in the northwest coastal city, before spreading up and down England.
They were fueled by false rumors on social media about the background of British-born 17-year-old suspect Axel Rudakubana, who is accused of killing a six, seven, and nine-year-old, and injuring another 10 people.
Police have blamed the violence on supporters and associated organizations of the English Defense League, an anti-Islam organization founded 15 years ago whose supporters have been linked to football hooliganism.
Agitators have targeted at least two mosques, and the UK interior ministry announced Sunday it was offering new emergency security to the Islamic places of worship.
The rallies have been advertised on far-right social media channels under the banner “Enough is enough.”
Participants have waved English and British flags while chanting slogans like “Stop the boats” — a reference to irregular migrants traveling to Britain from France.
Anti-fascist demonstrators have held counter-rallies in many cities, including Leeds where they shouted, “Nazi scum off our streets,” as the far-right protesters chanted, “You’re not English any more.”
Not all the gatherings have turned violent. A peaceful one in Aldershot, southern England, on Sunday saw participants hold placards that read “Stop the invasion” and “We’re not far right, we’re just right.”
“People are fed up with being told you should be ashamed if you’re white and working class but I’m proud white working class,” 41-year-old Karina, who did not give her surname, told AFP in Nottingham on Saturday.
Commentators have suggested that the demonstrators may feel emboldened by the political ascendancy of anti-immigration elements in British politics.
At last month’s election, the Reform UK party led by Brexit cheerleader Nigel Farage captured 14 percent of the vote — one of the largest vote shares for a far-right British party.
Carla Denyer, co-leader of the left-wing Green party, said the unrest should be “a wake-up call to all politicians who have actively promoted or given in” to anti-immigration rhetoric.
UK PM warns of consequences after far-right violence targets mosques, asylum-seeker hotel
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UK PM warns of consequences after far-right violence targets mosques, asylum-seeker hotel
- Far-right agitators have sought to take advantage of last week’s stabbing attack by tapping into concerns about the scale of immigration
- The violence began after false rumors spread online that the suspect in the dance class stabbing attack was a Muslim and an immigrant
UN rights chief voices ‘abhorrence’ of Afghanistan ‘vice’ law
Speaking before the United Nations Human Rights Council, Volker Turk made clear his “abhorrence of these latest measures.”
The Taliban government in Afghanistan — which took power in 2021 but is yet to be recognized by any other country — published a widely-criticized law in August further tightening restrictions on women’s lives.
While many of the measures have been informally enforced since the Taliban’s takeover in 2021, their formal codification sparked an outcry from the international community and rights groups.
The new “vice and virtue” law dictates that a woman’s voice should not be raised outside the home, and that women should not sing or read poetry aloud.
It requires them to cover their entire body and face if they need to leave their homes, which they should only do “out of necessity.”
These measures, Turk pointed out, come on top of previous measures that included “forbidding girls from attending secondary school and women from attending university; denying women’s rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, opinion, expression and freedom of movement; and severely curtailing women’s rights to seek employment.”
He emphasized that “women who have sought to protest such laws or express any different opinion or form of dissent have faced harsh punishments.”
“I shudder to think what is next for the women and girls of Afghanistan.”
His comments came after the UN Security Council last week called for the repeal of the new laws, warning they “undermine” efforts to reintegrate the country with the international community.
Turk meanwhile described the “repressive control over half the population in the country” as “unparallelled in today’s world.”
“It is a fundamental rupture of the social contract. It is outrageous and amounts to systematic gender persecution,” he told the council.
“It will also jeopardize the country’s future by massively stifling its development,” he warned.
“This is propelling Afghanistan further down a path of isolation, pain and hardship.”
India, UAE enter into new agreements under comprehensive trade deal
- Modi, Sheikh Khaled agree to broaden CEPA to new, emerging areas
- Abu Dhabi crown prince will attend a business forum in Mumbai on Tuesday
NEW DELHI: India and the UAE signed new agreements and discussed ways to develop new areas of cooperation on Monday, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Khaled bin Mohamed in New Delhi.
Sheikh Khaled was on his first official visit to India, leading a delegation of ministers and business leaders.
“The two leaders discussed the multifaceted India-UAE relations and avenues to broaden the comprehensive strategic partnership to new and emerging areas,” Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, said in a statement.
India and the UAE signed the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement in 2022, which has become a template for similar trade pacts the UAE has since signed with other nations.
The pact reduced tariffs on about 80 percent of all goods and provided zero-duty access to 90 percent of Indian exports and has since significantly advanced bilateral exchanges.
As part of Sheikh Khaled’s visit, the two countries signed a number of agreements within their CEPA, including a memorandum of understanding in nuclear energy cooperation.
The Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. also agreed to a 15-year deal to supply Indian Oil, while UAE investment and holding company ADQ entered a preliminary agreement to develop a major food and agriculture park with the Gujarat government.
“These agreements and partnerships encompass a range of priority areas of mutual interest in both the public and private sectors, ensuring the continued achievement of comprehensive economic cooperation aspirations between the two friendly nations,” the Emirates News Agency reported.
On Tuesday, Sheikh Khaled will lead his delegation to attend an India-UAE business forum in Mumbai, which will be focused on exploring potential cooperation in emerging fields, including biotechnology, artificial intelligence and agricultural technology.
Bangladesh to seek extradition of ousted leader from India
- Weeks of student-led demonstrations in Bangladesh escalated into mass protests last month, with Hasina quitting and fleeing to India on August 5
- Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of her political opponents
DHAKA: Bangladesh’s war crimes tribunal is to seek the extradition of ousted leader Sheikh Hasina from neighboring India, its chief prosecutor has said, accusing her of carrying out “massacres.”
Weeks of student-led demonstrations in Bangladesh escalated into mass protests last month, with Hasina quitting as prime minister and fleeing by helicopter to old ally India on August 5, ending her iron-fisted 15-year rule.
“As the main perpetrator has fled the country, we will start the legal procedure to bring her back,” Mohammad Tajul Islam, chief prosecutor of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), told reporters on Sunday.
The ICT was set up by Hasina in 2010 to probe atrocities during the 1971 independence war from Pakistan.
Hasina’s government was accused of widespread human rights abuses, including the mass detention and extrajudicial killing of her political opponents.
“Bangladesh has a criminal extradition treaty with India which was signed in 2013, while Sheikh Hasina’s government was in power,” Islam added.
“As she has been made the main accused of the massacres in Bangladesh, we will try to legally bring her back to Bangladesh to face trial.”
Hasina, 76, has not been seen in public since fleeing Bangladesh, and her last official whereabouts is a military air base near India’s capital New Delhi. Her presence in India has infuriated Bangladesh.
Dhaka has revoked her diplomatic passport, and the countries have a bilateral extradition treaty which would permit her return to face criminal trial.
A clause in the treaty, however, says extradition might be refused if the offense is of a “political character.”
Interim leader Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who took over after the uprising, last week said Hasina should “keep quiet” while exiled in India until she is brought home for trial.
“If India wants to keep her until the time Bangladesh wants her back, the condition would be that she has to keep quiet,” Yunus, 84, told the Press Trust of India news agency.
His government has been under public pressure to demand her extradition and trial over the hundreds of demonstrators killed during the weeks of unrest that ultimately toppled her.
More than 600 people were killed in the weeks leading up to Hasina’s ouster, according to a preliminary United Nations report, suggesting the toll was “likely an underestimate.”
Bangladesh last month opened an investigation led by a retired high court judge into hundreds of enforced disappearances by security forces during Hasina’s rule.
Jewish peer in UK’s House of Lords backs Starmer’s decision to partially suspend arms sales to Israel
- UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced last Monday that Britain would suspend 30 of its 350 arms export licenses with Israel
LONDON: A Jewish member of the UK’s House of Lords has backed Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s decision to partially suspend Britain’s arms deal with Israel, it was reported on Monday.
Alexander Charles Carlile, known as Baron Carlile of Berriew, wrote in The Independent newspaper that the prime minister’s decision last week showed “courage and conviction” despite the backlash it has received since.
Carlile condemned those who criticized the decision, including chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and slammed the previous Conservative government for its handling of the issue following legal advice it received about the potential for the weapons being used to break international law.
UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy announced last Monday that Britain would suspend 30 of its 350 arms export licenses with Israel due to a risk that such equipment could be used to commit serious violations of international humanitarian law amid its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Carlile, who sits on a cross-party committee for Israel, claimed that the previous Foreign Secretary David Cameron received the same legal advice as that which prompted the Starmer government to partially suspend sales, but that he chose not to act upon it.
“The legal advice relied upon by Sir Keir Starmer and David Lammy has long been known to senior UK Ministers. Lord Cameron as foreign secretary is said by officials to have known about the advice since February,” he wrote.
“Sitting on clear legal advice for more than a very short time cannot be justified. Starmer has shown courage and a conviction that the right thing must be done — however difficult it is,” he added.
This was denied by a source close to Cameron, who said that in making several decisions on the issue, “on each occasion maintaining existing licenses was consistent with legal advice.”
Carlile also outlined how allies of the UK had taken steps to limit or cease arms sales to Israel based on that same legal advice, and that those who criticized last week’s decision were guilty of “ignorance” on the matter.
“Surprisingly, the critics have demonstrated astonishing ignorance of the position taken on the same Israel armaments issue by valued international allies — or, possibly, found it inconvenient to reference international decisions,” he wrote.
“Italy decided in January 2024 to enter into no new contracts to send armaments to Israel. The Dutch courts have declared illegal all direct exports of military materiel to Israel. The Belgian authorities have restricted such exports, and have called for an EU-wide ban.
“In March, Canada halted future arms sales to Israel. Exactly the same conclusions on the law have been reached in those countries.
“It is crucial that the Rule of Law — which prevents the abuse of state power and applies to all — is not shouted down in an unruly way by people who are acting on prejudice, dressed up as principle.
“It is insidious that democracy, brought about by parliamentarians doing exactly what legal advice dictates, should be hijacked by populist sloganeering — especially when that comes from former Prime Ministers like Boris Johnson, who should know better,” he added.
Carlile was also highly critical of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he accused, alongside leaders of Hamas, of undermining the peace process in Gaza.
“This issue has highlighted a broader problem for those of us in public life who do not respect Netanyahu. He bears a long and, in parts, unattractive political history,” Carlile wrote.
“His stubborn resistance in recent months to sound advice given by IDF commanders, by the families of hostages who remain unaccounted for, and by senior international figures including the president and vice-president of the USA, to many of us signifies a person no longer fit for high office.
“Netanyahu and Hamas leaders alike have repeatedly undermined attempts at mediation determinedly and diligently pursued by Qatar, whose Emir and Prime Minister merit international praise.”
Kono says it might be time for Japan to recognize Palestine
TOKYO: Japan’s popular Digital Minister Kono Taro, who is bidding to become Prime Minister, says it might be time for Japan to consider recognizing Palestine.
“Japan has been supporting the two-state solution for many, many years,” he told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan on Monday. “Maybe it’s time for us to consider recognizing Palestine as a state to make the point. Yes, we do have a good relationship with Israel, but we need to solve this humanitarian issue to make lasting peace in the region. What’s going on now is way too much.”
“I think Japan needs to do whatever it takes to support the people of Gaza and the West Bank. I would like to ask Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu how he plans to end the war. I don’t know how it’s going to end, but with 2 million people suffering that much, he could end the war. As soon as the fighting ends, we need to step up our support for the Gazan people and try to help them rebuild things.”
On the other hand, Kono is looking at allowing the export of weapons from Japan to bring in funds to pay for the increase in Japan’s defense spending. The topic has been controversial as some Japanese companies are collaborating with Israeli weapons companies and have been accused of being complicit in the genocide in Gaza.
Kono, 61, is vying to be elected as the President of the ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, which will also make him Prime Minister, as current Prime Minister Kishida Fumio is stepping down.
Kono said when he was Foreign Minister, he felt Japan should intensify its relations with Middle Eastern countries as the region greatly affects life in Japan. Kono also believes Japan needs to move away from fossil fuels and wants the country to become self-sufficient in energy – through renewable energy – by 2050. However, he says, the demand for electricity is increasing and even restarting Japan’s nuclear plants may not be enough to satisfy that demand.
“I think the first thing we need to do is we definitely need to move away from fossil fuels,” he stated. “That’s something we really need to do, and we need to really increase our renewable energy.”
On the diplomatic front, Kono toes the party line and believes in the alliance with the United States. However, he worries that politics there is going to be “more and more volatile” and the Americans might look more inward and become isolationist.
“Our priority is making good relations with the United States, whoever wins in November, and we need to maintain a dialogue with China,” said Kono, who criticized China for incursions around the disputed Senkaku Islands and for detaining Japanese citizens.
He sees greater cooperation with “like-minded countries” as necessary to restrict China’s expansionist policies and maintain a free and open Indo-Pacific.
“We need to have some allies to keep the stability and the peace in everyone’s region,” he said. “I think we need to say that we will be responsible, we will share the burden of keeping peace and stability on this planet, and Japan needs to do whatever’s required.”
“I think US-Japan security relationship is still the most fundamental base for our security and our defense, but we really need to create some kind of collective forum to keep the stability and peace in Asia. Looking at the global situation, China, Russia, those dictatorships are now trying to change the status quo with force, and we shouldn’t allow that.”
* This article originally appeared on Arab News Japan, click here to read it.
