Man jailed for 9 years for setting fire to asylum seekers’ hotel in UK anti-Muslim riots

Man jailed for 9 years for setting fire to asylum seekers’ hotel in UK anti-Muslim riots
People hold anti-racist placards as they take part in a "Stop the Far-right" demonstration on a National Day of Protest, outside of the headquarters of the Reform UK political party, in London (AFP)
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Updated 06 September 2024
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Man jailed for 9 years for setting fire to asylum seekers’ hotel in UK anti-Muslim riots

Man jailed for 9 years for setting fire to asylum seekers’ hotel in UK anti-Muslim riots
  • The hotel was targeted by around 400 people during days of rioting involving violence, arson and looting as well as racist attacks
  • Thomas Birley, 27, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life

LONDON: A British man was on Friday jailed for nine years for arson at a hotel housing asylum seekers during anti-Muslim riots, by far the longest sentence imposed over recent widespread violent disorder.
Thomas Birley, 27, pleaded guilty to arson with intent to endanger life after he stoked a fire in a bin by an entranceway to a hotel near Rotherham in northern England on Aug. 4.
Prosecutor Alisha Kaye said Birley added wood to an already-flaming industrial bin, which had been placed in front of a fire door of the hotel while staff and guests sheltered inside.
Birley, who had also pleaded guilty to violent disorder and possessing an offensive weapon, was sentenced at Sheffield Crown Court by Judge Jeremy Richardson, who said Birley’s actions were “suffused with racism from beginning to end.”
The hotel was targeted by around 400 people during days of rioting involving violence, arson and looting as well as racist attacks, which followed the killings of three young girls in the northern English town of Southport on July 29.
The attack was initially blamed on an Islamist migrant, false claims based on online misinformation. An 18-year-old, Axel Rudakubana who was born in Cardiff, has been charged.
A protest in Southport the day after the killings turned violent and riots spread across the country in unrest not seen in Britain since 2011, when the fatal shooting of a Black man by police triggered several days of street violence.
Police and prosecutors have responded rapidly, with roughly 1,300 people having been arrested and around 200 people jailed – one for as long as six years’ imprisonment for violent disorder.
Others have been charged for inciting racial or religious hatred online.


Floods in Bangladesh leave five dead, thousands stranded

Floods in Bangladesh leave five dead, thousands stranded
Updated 17 sec ago
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Floods in Bangladesh leave five dead, thousands stranded

Floods in Bangladesh leave five dead, thousands stranded

DHAKA: At least five people have died and more than 100,000 remain stranded as devastating floods, triggered by heavy rains and upstream torrents, continue to ravage northern Bangladesh, officials said on Sunday.
In Sherpur, one of the hardest-hit northern districts, the water levels of major rivers have surged, submerging new areas and displacing thousands of families.
Local authorities fear widespread damage to agriculture, with crops and farmlands, particularly rice fields, facing potential devastation. Many homes and roads are under several feet of water, cutting off villages and leaving residents in desperate need of rescue.
“I have never seen such flooding in my life,” said Abu Taher, a resident of the district.
Army personnel, using boats and helicopters, have joined rescue efforts, delivering emergency supplies and evacuating those trapped by the floods.
Bridges have collapsed, and roads have been submerged, making it difficult for local authorities to reach affected areas.
“Our priority is to evacuate people to safe shelters and provide them with essential supplies,” said Sherpur district administrator Torofdar Mahmudur Rahman.
He said another decomposed body, suspected to have floated from India, had been found.
The low-lying nation of 170 million has experienced multiple floods this year, underscoring its vulnerability to climate change. A 2015 World Bank Institute analysis estimated that 3.5 million people in Bangladesh are at risk of annual river flooding, a risk scientists say is worsening due to global climate change.
As water levels continue to rise, concerns grow about the long-term impact on the region’s agriculture, particularly rice crops. If the floodwaters do not recede soon, the economic toll on farmers could be severe.
Adding to the worries, the weather office has predicted more rain in the coming days, raising fears of further inundation.
The floods in August in eastern Bangladesh, which left more than 70 dead, caused damage estimated at $1.20 billion, according to a study by the Center for Policy Dialogue, a leading think-tank.
The United Nations and its partners have launched a $134 million humanitarian appeal to provide urgent relief and support to communities affected by ongoing floods and cyclones in Bangladesh.


UK PM Starmer’s chief of staff steps down, takes new role

Sue Gray will take up a new post as Starmer’s envoy for the regions and nations, the prime minister’s office said. (File/AFP)
Sue Gray will take up a new post as Starmer’s envoy for the regions and nations, the prime minister’s office said. (File/AFP)
Updated 31 min 36 sec ago
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UK PM Starmer’s chief of staff steps down, takes new role

Sue Gray will take up a new post as Starmer’s envoy for the regions and nations, the prime minister’s office said. (File/AFP)
  • Gray will be replaced by Morgan McSweeney who previously was chief adviser to the prime minister
  • She will take up a new post as Starmer’s envoy for the regions and nations

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s chief of staff Sue Gray has resigned just over three months after the Labour Party won a parliamentary election, after rumors about in-fighting in Starmer’s team.
“In recent weeks it has become clear to me that intense commentary around my position risked becoming a distraction to the government’s vital work of change,” Gray said in a statement.
Gray will take up a new post as Starmer’s envoy for the regions and nations, the prime minister’s office said.
Gray will be replaced by Morgan McSweeney who previously was chief adviser to the prime minister, it said.


Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12

Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12
Updated 27 min 48 sec ago
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Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12

Rwanda will deploy Marburg vaccine under trial as death toll rises to 12
  • The Rwandan government said there were 46 confirmed cases, with 29 of them in isolation. Health authorities have identified at least 400 people who came into contact with confirmed cases of the virus

KIGALI: Rwandan health authorities will begin a vaccine study against the Marburg hemorrhagic fever, officials said Sunday, as the East African country tries to stop the spread of an outbreak that has killed 12 people.
Rwanda, which received 700 doses of a vaccine under trial from the U.S.-based Sabin Vaccine Institute on Saturday, will target health workers and emergency responders as well as individuals who have been in contact with confirmed cases, according to the Health Ministry.
Health Minister Sabin Nsanzimana told reporters Sunday that the Rwanda Biomedical Centre had reviewed the vaccine shipment.
There is no authorized vaccine or treatment for Marburg.
Like Ebola, the Marburg virus is believed to originate in fruit bats and spreads between people through close contact with the bodily fluids of infected individuals or with surfaces, such as contaminated bed sheets. Without treatment, Marburg can be fatal in up to 88% of people who fall ill with the disease.
In a statement, Sabin Vaccine Institute said it had “entered into a clinical trial agreement with the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, the trial sponsor, to provide investigational doses" for the study.
The Rwandan government said there were 46 confirmed cases, with 29 of them in isolation. Health authorities have identified at least 400 people who came into contact with confirmed cases of the virus.
Rwanda declared an outbreak of Marburg on Sept. 27 and reported six deaths a day later. Authorities said at the time that the first cases had been found among patients in health facilities. There is still no confirmation of the source of the outbreak.
Symptoms include fever, muscle pains, diarrhea, vomiting and, in some cases, death through extreme blood loss.
In Rwanda, most of the sick are health workers in six out of the country's 30 districts. Some patients live in districts bordering Congo, Burundi, Uganda and Tanzania, according to the World Health Organization.
Rwandans have been urged to avoid physical contact to help curb the spread. Strict measures include the suspension of school and hospital visits as well as a restriction on the number of those who can attend funerals for Marburg victims. Home vigils aren’t allowed in the event a death is linked to Marburg.
The U.S. Embassy in Kigali has urged its staff to work remotely and avoid visiting offices.
Marburg outbreaks and individual cases have in the past been recorded in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola, Congo, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda and Ghana, according to WHO.
The virus was first identified in 1967, after it caused simultaneous outbreaks of disease in laboratories in Marburg, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia. Seven people died after being exposed to the virus while conducting research on monkeys.


Philippines to send halal trade mission to Saudi Arabia this month

Philippines to send halal trade mission to Saudi Arabia this month
Updated 06 October 2024
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Philippines to send halal trade mission to Saudi Arabia this month

Philippines to send halal trade mission to Saudi Arabia this month
  • Philippine businesses participate at 2024 halal expo in Riyadh
  • Halal trade delegation also includes tourism, agriculture officials

MANILA: The Philippines is preparing to send a halal trade mission to Saudi Arabia later this month as the Southeast Asian nation seeks to deepen trade relations with the Kingdom.

Organized by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, the activities will cover Riyadh and Jeddah from Oct. 27 to Nov. 5.

Philippine officials have been working to expand their domestic halal industry, while also seeking to boost trade relations with Saudi Arabia.

“This Philippine halal mission to Saudi Arabia aims to effectively promote the burgeoning Philippine halal trade industry and further strengthen trade relations between the Philippines and Saudi Arabia,” Rommel Romato, charge d’affaires of the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, told Arab News on Sunday.

“The Philippine delegation is composed of government agencies and private sector entities or representatives who will take part in the Saudi International Halal Expo 2024 in Riyadh.”

The mission will also include tourism and agriculture officials, as well as members of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos, the body governing Muslim affairs in the Southeast Asian nation, Romato added.

The predominantly Catholic Philippines — where Muslims constitute about 10 percent of the nearly 120 million population — has plans to double the number of its halal-certified products and services, raise 230 billion pesos ($4 billion) in investments and generate around 120,000 jobs by 2028 by tapping into the global halal market, which is estimated to be worth more than $7 trillion.

Earlier this year, the DTI sent a business-matching mission to Saudi Arabia, comprising food, beverage and personal care exporters.

Manila recorded a rise in Philippine-Saudi trade volume from 2022 to 2023, following President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s visit to Riyadh last October, during which a $4.26 billion investment agreement was signed with Saudi business leaders.


Teenager 'stabbed 50 times', burned alive in Marseille: prosecutors

Teenager 'stabbed 50 times', burned alive in Marseille: prosecutors
Updated 06 October 2024
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Teenager 'stabbed 50 times', burned alive in Marseille: prosecutors

Teenager 'stabbed 50 times', burned alive in Marseille: prosecutors
MARSEILLE: A 15-year-old boy was "stabbed 50 times" and burned alive this week in the southern French city of Marseille in an apparent case of drug-related violence, prosecutors said on Sunday.
Speaking to reporters, Marseille prosecutor Nicolas Bessone said the teenager was murdered on Wednesday, describing the case as one of "unprecedented savagery."
Marseille, France's second-largest city but also one of its poorest, is plagued by drug-related violence.
Bessone said that victims and perpetrators of such violence were getting increasingly younger.
The city has in recent years witnessed a turf war for control of the highly profitable drug market between various clans including DZ Mafia.
The teenager had been hired by a 23-year-old prisoner to intimidate a competitor by setting fire to his door, the prosecutor said, adding he had been promised 2,000 euros.
The teenager had however been spotted by members of a rival gang who repeatedly stabbed him then set him on fire, he added.
The same prisoner then recruited a 14-year-old minor to carry out a revenge attack and kill a member of the Blacks gang, promising to pay him 50,000 euros.
The 14-year-old hired a 36-year-old driver who angered the minor and ended up being killed.
The two latest cases mean that the number of drug-related killings in Marseille has risen to 17 since the start of the year.
By comparison, a total of 49 people were killed in drug related violence in Marseille in 2023.
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