UK sees worst riots in 13 years fueled by false rumours; Over 100 arrested
London: England is experiencing its most significant riots in 13 years, sparked by widespread disturbances linked to child murders and anti-immigration protests. The unrest was reportedly ignited by false rumours circulating online that the suspect in a recent mass stabbing was a Muslim and an immigrant. This misinformation fueled anger among far-right supporters, who clashed with anti-racism protesters over the weekend.
The violence erupted following a knife attack at a Taylor Swift-themed dance party in Southport, near Liverpool, where three young girls were fatally stabbed. In response, anti-immigration demonstrators took to the streets, targeting asylum-seeker accommodations. On August 3, a mob attempted to break into a Holiday Inn Express hotel in Nottingham, where asylum seekers were housed.
The rioting has spread across multiple towns and cities, including Liverpool, Manchester, Bristol, Blackpool, Hull, and Belfast. In Rotherham, South Yorkshire, masked demonstrators smashed windows at a hotel used to shelter asylum seekers. The clashes have involved rioters throwing bricks, bottles, and flares at police, resulting in injuries to several officers and damage to shops.
The Police Federation of England and Wales described the unrest as the worst since the 2011 riots, following the police shooting of a mixed-race man in north London. Tiffany Lynch from the Federation stated, "We're now seeing it [trouble] flooding across major cities and towns." In response, the government has mobilized thousands of extra police officers, asserting that law enforcement has "all the resources they need" to address the disorder.
The violence has been exacerbated by disinformation, particularly false claims about 17-year-old suspect Axel Rudakubana, who has been charged with three counts of murder and ten counts of attempted murder. Judge Andrew Menary authorized the identification of Rudakubana, born in Wales to Rwandan parents, to counteract the spread of false information.
National Police Chiefs’ Council's BJ Harrington confirmed the arrest of 147 individuals linked to the violence, with numbers expected to rise. The authorities attribute the escalation to disinformation and have urged the public to verify information before acting.
The protests, often organized online by far-right groups, have adopted slogans like "Enough is enough" and "Stop the boats," reflecting broader anti-immigration sentiments. While some demonstrations have remained peaceful, others have descended into violence, targeting mosques and leading to increased security at Islamic centers.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned the unrest as "far-right thuggery" and highlighted that Muslim communities were being targeted. Starmer, recently elected after a decisive Labour victory, announced measures to enhance intelligence sharing, deploy facial-recognition technology, and impose criminal behaviour orders to prevent troublemakers from traveling.
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Duleep Trophy: Pacers shine as India B beat India A by 76 runs
Bengaluru, Sep 8: KL Rahul's gumption, which helped him pile a patient fifty, found no resonance among his colleagues as India B pacers led by Yash Dayal pushed India A to a 76-run defeat on the fourth and final day of their Duleep Trophy match here on Sunday.
Chasing 275, India A were bundled out for 198 in their second innings as left-arm seamer Dayal (3/50), with able support from his colleagues Mukesh Kumar (2/50) and Navdeep Saini (2/41), led the India B attack.
Rahul top-scored for 'A' with a 51.
In the first session of the day, India B made 184 all out in their second essay to muster a handy overall lead of 274.
The India A chase began on a shaky note as Mayank Agarwal departed in the second over itself, wafting Dayal away from his body to Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made a wonderful diving catch at second slip.
That brought Riyan Parag to the middle and the right-hander followed the path set on Saturday by Rishabh Pant and Sarfaraz Khan.
Parag took on the bowlers and pacer Mukesh bore the brunt of his aggression, getting smoked for two sixes and the second maximum touched the roof of the Chinnaswamy Stadium over the mid-wicket region.
Parag added 48 runs for the second with a rather subdued Shubman Gill, who was dropped by Nitish Reddy at slips off Mukesh on 16, and 31 came off the former's bat in just 18 balls.
But the approach was tough to sustain considering the kind of assistance the bowlers were getting here, and soon his massive hoick off Dayal took an edge off Parag's bat en route to stumper Rishabh Pant.
Gill (21) departed soon, falling to Saini for the second time in the match and on this occasion, he edged the pacer to Pant.
Dhruv Jurel poked Dayal well outside off-stump to Yashasvi Jaiswal at gully, as India batters perished to a combination of bowlers' persistence on that channel and their own carelessness.
They took the lunch at a queasy 76 for four that soon transpired into 99 for six after the dismissal of Shivam Dube and Tanush Kotian, an hour into the lunch.
However, Rahul batted out 180 minutes 121 balls and milked 42 runs for the seventh wicket with Kuldeep Yadav to delay the inevitable.
The standout shot in an otherwise dour innings was a whistling on drive off Mukesh that fetched him a boundary.
But Mukesh had his revenge soon when Rahul feathered a cut off him to Pant, who completed five catches in this innings, soon after reaching his fifty with a single off Saini.
It effectively signalled the end of the road of for India A, though Akash Deep (43, 42b, 3x4, 4x6) gave a few moments of fun with a cavalier innings.
But beyond the entertainment value, it always was a case of when more than if.
Earlier, resuming from their overnight score of 150 for six India B could only 34 runs more to the total before getting bundled out.
Pacer Akash, whom Sarfaraz Khan carted around for five fours in a row the previous day, found his mojo to add the scalps of Washington Sundar and Saini to complete a five-wicket haul (5/56).
The spell will keep his name floating among the contenders when the selectors sit together soon to pick up squad for two-match Test series against Bangladesh.
