Ngomari Costine has a terrible reputation. The area, in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, is filled with delinquent youth popularly referred to as Marlians, named after a controversial Nigerian musician whose songs and style they imitate.
Groups of young people in flashy clothes and elaborate hairstyles gather in front of shops and on benches outside houses in the area. But it’s not their dressing that worries residents; it’s what lies beneath: gangs ready to turn violent at the slightest provocation.
The same issue plagues Gwange 2, another densely populated neighbourhood where hundreds of teenagers roam the streets at almost every hour. Their presence alone sends jolts of fear down the resident’s spine; their actions do far worse than that.
“Almost every day, there is a gang violence incident,” said Zanna Abba Kaka, the District Head of Ngomari Costine. “This made our community a highly unsafe place to live in.”
The aftermath of the heydays of Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria’s North East, particularly in Borno State, which is the epicentre of the violence, has left behind a generation of young people who have become psychologically accustomed to violence.
When the insurgency began to wane and relative peace returned, new forms of insecurity started to take root. The easy availability of light weapons, coupled with limited education and shrinking economic opportunities, pushed many young people into drugs, theft, political thuggery, and the violent street gangs that now dominate several neighbourhoods.
Much of this violence, according to Zanna, stems from political manipulation. “These thugs regard themselves as employees [of the politicians] and they do as they wish.”
The consequences are visible in everyday life. In Gwange 2, community leader Alkali Grema recalled one day at the front of his house when an 18-year-old boy attacked his peer with a knife and slashed his neck before others could intervene.
“It happened so fast,” he said. This was a reprisal attack and just one out of many. Unfortunately, the victim lost his life. Alkali said he had witnessed so many instances where the gangs wielded dangerous weapons; “shiny and can be as long as the length of an adult’s shin.”
‘Unity for Peace’
As such incidents became more frequent and brazen, the authorities began to act. Investigations traced the flow of these weapons to the city’s Gamboru Steel Market, prompting several crackdowns. But when blacksmiths were banned from producing them openly, many quietly moved their operations underground.
In 2019, a different approach emerged. The non-profit International Alert, known for its peacebuilding work, launched the Hadin Kai Domin Zaman Lafia (Unity for Peace) project with support from the US Embassy’s Trans-Sahara Counterterrorism Partnership programme. The initiative aimed to reorient the community through peacebuilding and vocational training.
At-risk youth were identified and trained in tailoring, painting, and embroidery. To foster a sense of belonging between the disarmed youth and other members of the community, International Alert engaged local entrepreneurs to facilitate the training.
The non-profit also organised dialogue sessions between community leaders and young people. Gradually, results began to show. The programme inspired community-driven initiatives like sanitation and improved school enrolment for vulnerable children.
“We were able to enrol more children in Gomari Costine Primary School than ever before,” Zanna said. “Sometimes the school accepts them without us paying for registration or other charges.”
A thug’s turnaround
Thirty-nine-year-old Sani Umar has spent most of his life in Gomari Costine. He grew up underprivileged, without formal education or marketable skills, and for 15 years was one of the most feared political thugs in the area. He led a group called “A dakatar da Mutane”, roughly translated as “People must be stopped”.
Sani was one of the 150 youths who participated in the Unity For Peace initiative. “During the programme, I learnt tailoring and ventured into the tailoring business, but it wasn’t moving well because people don’t really bother much about making clothes in this economy, so I switched to selling tea,” he told HumAngle.
Sani Umar at a shed outside the palace of the District Head of Gomari Costine. Photo: Ibrahim Hadiza Ngulde/HumAngle.
These days, you will find him at his tea joint as he tends to his customers and earns an honest living. Three years ago, at this time, he would likely be at their popular gang joint in the community, where many youths like him, who were jobless, would gather to chat, argue, and fight.
While narrating his life in the last decade, Sani looked sombre, with a demeanour that screams regret, especially as he shared a particular incident that threw him into fear and isolation in 2015.
“We attacked a neighbouring community, where unfortunately, my friend stabbed an opponent who was pronounced dead,” Sani paused. “I was shaken and I had to go into hiding to avoid arrest, and I couldn’t be seen in the community, at places where I normally stay for a long time. I was very much disturbed by that.”
The event haunted him for years, but it was not until 2019, after joining the reform programme, that he finally walked away from violence.
Women leading peace
International Alert is not alone in this effort. In Gwange 2, the Unified Members for Women Advancement (UMWA) implemented the Youth Peace Building Initiative with support from the European Union’s Managing Conflict in Nigeria (MCN) programme. The project targeted 20 gang leaders, training them to advocate for peace and reject violence.
According to Hassana Ibrahim Waziri, UMWA’s Executive Director, her team began by identifying at-risk youth and inviting gang leaders for open discussions. “We gradually introduced peace concepts before expanding to the wider community,” she said.
To win trust, they organised a mass circumcision ceremony for boys; a culturally symbolic act showing they had the community’s best interests at heart.
After weeks of training and sensitisation, the reformed youths were appointed as peace ambassadors. Among them was Hassan Kambar, also known as Go Slow. He used to be feared as the leader of one of the local gangs, “The Branch”. He joined the group as far back as 2000, working as a thug for one of the big political parties then.
“When UMWA came, they made us realise that if we keep living this way, what future will our younger ones have? That touched me deeply, and I decided to quit,” he said.
‘Unity for Peace’. Illustration: Akila Jibrin/HumAngle
Today, the 45-year-old serves as a chairperson in the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) and earns a living as a carpenter.
Their transformation has had ripple effects. Ahead of the 2023 elections, some former gang members carried placards urging voters to reject violence. Others formed night-watch committees to guard their communities.
Many now dream of joining the police, army, or civil defence, determined to serve the same society they once harmed.
Peacebuilding also took a local turn. In Maiduguri, respected elders known as Lawan traditionally mediate disputes under a symbolic shed outside their homes. This same model was adopted in Gwange 2 and Ngomari Costine, where elders and youth now meet regularly to discuss issues.
“At first, the community leaders were afraid. They did not want to be involved with these boys, but they are our kids, there’s nothing we can do,” Dr Hassana.
Alkali Grema sits under the symbolic mediation shed outside his palace, where he witnessed a teenager’s death during a gang clash years ago. Photo: Ibrahim Hadiza Ngulde/HumAngle.
She explained that UMWA’s approach focused on changing mindsets as much as behaviour, as this goes with educating them that violence doesn’t equal strength as perceived by the gangs, rather it is about the capacity to organise and live peacefully with people, to move forward and foster development.
“We target the mindset… even though we do not give skill acquisition training, some of them reach out to us for recommendations when they want to join forces to do better with their lives,” Dr Hassana said.
Measuring change and facing limits
Community leaders who spoke to HumAngle said gang violence has declined noticeably. “Around 2020 and 2021, we used to get such cases every day, not only in this area but in Maiduguri generally, but it has reduced,” said the District Head of Ngomari Costine.
Yet the progress is fragile.
Zanna, who mobilised the youth to participate in the Unity for Peace programme, noted that only about 150 participants joined — far too few for a city the size of Maiduguri. Many young people remain outside the reach of these projects.
The sustainability of the programme poses another obstacle. While the programmes briefly expanded to London Ciki, Polo, and nearby communities, other hotspots such as Dala and Kaleri continue to struggle with gang activity.
And there is no system in place to ensure that these skills are transferable to the teeming upcoming youth. As much as the beneficiaries may want to help their community, they can only engage one or two people whenever they get a job.
According to UMWA, its Youth Peace Building Initiative lasted just one year due to limited funding. “Ideally, such projects should run longer to make the changes stick,” Hassana explained.
Like most NGOs, both groups rely on donor grants. As funds shrink, their reach contracts, and the continuity of their work becomes uncertain.
A fragile peace
With non-governmental organisations stepping back, local authorities have become the last line of defence. Cases of conflict are now referred to the Lawan or CJTF chairmen, who attempt mediation before involving the police.
But sustaining peace comes at a personal cost. In Gwange, Lawan Grema said the absence of UMWA’s support has made his role harder. “Sometimes I remove money from my own pocket to settle small disputes,” he said. “People are no longer motivated to keep the peace.”
For these communities, the calm that has returned is hard-won but fragile. Without steady support, the cycle of neglect and violence that once defined them could easily begin again.
This story was produced under the HumAngle Foundation’s Advancing Peace and Security through Journalism project, supported by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED).
Mouin Rabbani from the Center For Conflict & Humanitarian Studies talks about the violence in Gaza since the ceasefire began and how he believes it’s being fuelled by Israel.
QUITO, Ecuador — The United States is designating two Ecuadorean gangs as foreign terrorist organizations, marking the Trump administration’s latest step to target criminal cartels in Latin America.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio made the announcement Thursday while in Ecuador as part of a trip to Latin America overshadowed by an American military strike against a similarly designated gang, Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua. That attack has raised concerns in the region about what may follow as President Trump’s government pledges to step up military activity to combat drug trafficking and illegal migration.
“This time, we’re not just going to hunt for drug dealers in the little fast boats and say, ‘Let’s try to arrest them,’” Rubio told reporters in Quito, Ecuador’s capital. “No, the president has said he wants to wage war on these groups because they’ve been waging war on us for 30 years and no one has responded.”
Two more gangs designed as terrorist groups
Los Lobos and Los Choneros are Ecuadorean gangs blamed for much of the violence that began during the COVID-19 pandemic. The terrorist designation, Rubio said, brings “all sorts of options” for Washington to work in conjunction with the government of Ecuador to crack down on these groups.
That includes the ability to conduct targeted killings as well as take action against the properties and banking accounts in the U.S. of the group’s members and those with ties to the criminal organizations, Rubio said. He said the label also would help with intelligence sharing.
Los Choneros, Los Lobos and other similar groups are involved in contract killings, extortion operations and the movement and sale of drugs. Authorities have blamed them for the increased violence in the country as they fight over drug-trafficking routes to the Pacific and control of territory, including within prisons, where hundreds of inmates have been killed since 2021.
U.S. strike in the Caribbean takes center stage
The strike in the southern Caribbean has commanded attention on Rubio’s trip, which included a stop in Mexico on Wednesday.
U.S. officials say that the vessel’s cargo was intended for the U.S. and that the strike killed 11 people, but they have yet to explain how the military determined that those aboard were Tren de Aragua members.
Rubio said U.S. actions targeting cartels were being directed more toward Venezuela, and not Mexico.
“There’s no need to do that in many cases with friendly governments, because the friendly governments are going to help us,” Rubio told reporters. “They may do it themselves, and we’ll help them do it.”
A day earlier, Rubio justified the strike by saying that the boat posed an “immediate threat” to the U.S. and that Trump opted to “blow it up” rather than follow what had been standard procedure: to stop and board, arrest the crew and seize any contraband.
The strike drew a mixed reaction from leaders around Latin America, where the U.S. history of military intervention and gunboat diplomacy is still fresh. Many, such as officials in Mexico, were careful to not outright condemn the attack. They stressed the importance of protecting national sovereignty and warned that expanded U.S. military involvement might backfire.
Ecuador has struggled with drug trafficking
Ecuador has its own issues with narcotics trafficking.
President Daniel Noboa thanked Rubio for the U.S. efforts to “actually eliminate any terrorist threat.” Before their meeting, Rubio said on social media that the U.S. and Ecuador are “aligned as key partners on ending illegal immigration and combatting transnational crime and terrorism.”
The latest United Nations World Drug Report says various countries in South America, including Colombia, Ecuador and Peru, reported larger cocaine seizures in 2022 than in 2021. The report does not give Venezuela the outsize role that the White House has in recent months.
“I don’t care what the U.N. says. I don’t care,” Rubio said.
Violence has skyrocketed in Ecuador since the pandemic. Drug traffickers expanded operations and took advantage of the nation’s banana industry. Ecuador is the world’s largest exporter of the fruit, and traffickers find shipping containers filled with it to be the perfect vehicle to smuggle their contraband.
Cartels from Mexico, Colombia and the Balkans have settled in Ecuador because it uses the U.S. dollar and has weak laws and institutions, along with a network of long-established gangs, including Los Choneros and Los Lobos, that are eager for work.
Ecuador gained prominence in the global cocaine trade after political changes in Colombia last decade. Coca bush fields in Colombia have been moving closer to Ecuador’s border due to the breakup of criminal groups after the 2016 demobilization of the rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC.
Ecuador in July extradited to the U.S. the leader of Los Choneros, José Adolfo Macías Villamar. He escaped from an Ecuadorean prison last year and was recaptured in June, two months after being indicted in New York on charges he imported thousands of pounds of cocaine into the U.S.
Lee, Cano and Martin write for the Associated Press. Lee and Cano reported from Mexico City. AP writer Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.
KEYLESS cars are becoming increasingly vulnerable to theft as criminals turn to sophisticated tools like Game Boy-style emulators, experts warn.
Alarmingly, most mechanics now consider traditional car alarms ineffective as deterrents.
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Keyless cars are being targeted by thieves – as smarter security solutions are needed
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Game Boy style gadgets are being used to steal vehicles in secondsCredit: Getty
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Experts have revealed their top tips to keep your car safe from sophisticated thievesCredit: SWNS
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Despite advances in vehicle security tech, steering wheel locks are still recommendedCredit: Getty
The Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) says vehicle theft in the UK has surged by 75% over the past decade, with 130,000 cars stolen annually.
This trend has sparked calls for smarter, tech-based solutions to deter car thieves.
According to Fix My Car, car owners should adopt multiple layered security strategies and modern tools to help protect their motors – including engine immobilisers and GPS trackers.
Indeed, only 5% of mechanics trust traditional car alarms as effective deterrents, although everyday precautions, such as keeping keys hidden, parking in well-lit areas and checking on vehicles regularly remain essential habits.
Matt Wrankmore, Head of Garage Network at FixMyCar, said: “Car theft is no longer just about smashing windows or hot-wiring ignitions.
“Criminals are more cyber-savvy than ever, so drivers need to respond with a balanced approach using both smart technology and visible deterrents.”
And he added: “There are definite benefits to using traditional deterrents in your car, and many manufacturers still recommend steering wheel locks despite advances in vehicle security tech.
“I believe drivers returning to these methods are on the right track but we need to use all the tools available.
“That means combining mechanical immobilisers and telematics trackers with visual deterrents like steering wheel locks and alarm stickers.
“And let’s not forget the cheapest and most overlooked measure of common sense.
Channel 4 Dispatches discovers organised criminal gangs at the heart of car thefts
“Keeping your keys hidden, parking in well-lit areas with CCTV, and checking on your car regularly are all simple habits that still go a long way.”
The rise in car thefts has also exposed vulnerabilities in high-end vehicles, such as Hyundai’s electric Ioniq 5.
A furious driver, Adam Metselaar, threatened to sue the firm last year after his £47,000 keyless car was stolen in just 31 seconds using a gadget disguised as a Nintendo Game Boy.
Despite keeping his car keys in a protective box to prevent cloning, the thieves bypassed the system using a hi-tech “emulator” hidden inside the casing of the gaming device.
The grey Ioniq 5 was traced four miles away using an Apple AirTag, but it had sustained £10,000 worth of damage.
Hyundai admitted that similar thefts have affected at least 26 cars in London, as per September last year.
They later updated their Bluelink software to introduce additional anti-theft features.
As summer holidays prompt many motorists to leave their cars unattended, FixMyCar is encouraging drivers to take proactive measures to protect their vehicles.
A combination of modern tracking devices, visible deterrents and simple precautions can go a long way in safeguarding cars from increasingly sophisticated thieves.
Five effective ways to protect your vehicle from theft
Use engine immobilisers and GPS trackers
These tech-based solutions are highly recommended by mechanics. Engine immobilisers prevent the car from starting without the correct key, while GPS trackers help locate the vehicle quickly if stolen.
Install visible deterrents
Devices like steering wheel locks, wheel clamps and alarm stickers act as visual signals to deter thieves, making your car a less appealing target.
Adopt everyday precautions
Simple habits such as keeping your keys hidden, parking in well-lit areas with CCTV and ensuring your car is locked at all times are effective and inexpensive ways to reduce theft risk.
Secure keyless fobs
Store keyless fobs in Faraday pouches or protective boxes to prevent criminals from cloning the signal. Regularly check for software updates for your car’s keyless system to enhance security.
Blend traditional and modern security measures
Combining old-school deterrents like steering locks with advanced technology, such as telematics trackers, provides a multi-layered defence against increasingly sophisticated theft tactics.
In an exclusive chinwag with Reach Screen Time, Lucian Msamati, known for his roles in Gangs of London and Game of Thrones, spilled the beans about the twist-filled series and his experience working alongside the Gentleman Jack star.
Msamati, 49, shared: “I think there was great spark. Suranne and I just got on like a house on fire and we sort of became work husband and wife, which is really at the centre of both of their jobs.
“They’re both hard-headed, they’re both very good at what they do and they both care.”
He hinted: “I think the scenes, without giving too much away, there are later scenes to come which were tough in good way. But that’s the juice that we’re after.”
Lucian Msamati and Suranne Jones have a tense dynamic in Netflix’s Hostage(Image: GETTY)
Hostage is a five-part Netflix series and marks Coronation Street and Vigil actress Jones’ first venture with the streaming behemoth.
The star collaborated closely with creator and Oscar-nominated writer Matt Charman, who penned the script for Hollywood film Bridge of Spies, on the story. She also wore the hat of a producer on the TV series.
Msamati portrays prime ministerial aide Kofi Adomako, who is tasked with advising Jones’ British premier Abigail Dalton after her husband is kidnapped and her resignation is demanded as the ransom for his release.
The distinguished British-Tanzanian actor revealed he was attracted to the project by Charman, and disclosed how the playwright rang him about the role which was penned specifically with the star in mind.
Lucian Msamati and Suranne Jones star in Netflix’s Hostage(Image: NETFLIX)
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Looking back on his preparation for the character of Adomako, the actor explained: “I think I’ve had the benefit of playing lots of conciliatory types, lots of right-hand, king of the hand type characters. This is watching people who are immediately behind the throne.
“There were some really interesting books, the calculation that has to happen. A person whose job it is to anticipate, the person whose job it is to go, ‘What are the possible outcomes here? Can I get ahead of this?’ Just being, you know, ultimately loyal, ultimately responsible.”
Lucian Msamati serves as a prime ministerial advisor in Netflix’s Hostage(Image: GETTY)
He continued: “And he sort of, for myself, this guys’s been there, he’s done that, several governments, he knows his stuff. We don’t know his political allegiance but we know he’s first duty is to the office of the prime minister.”
Msamati is currently occupied with numerous other ventures and according to IMDb, he will be featuring in the mini-series Run Away.
The star also revealed: “There are a few interesting theatrical projects bubbling and brewing and there may or may not be another well-known television series that may or may not be coming out later this year that I may or may not be a part of. You’ll just have to wait and see.”
The interview coincides with Sky’s confirmation of a fourth season for Gangs of London. However, considering the recent plot developments, it seems improbable that Msamati will make a comeback.
The British government has announced a national inquiry into organised child sexual abuse following the release of a damning report by Baroness Louise Casey that criticised decades of institutional failure to protect children from so-called “grooming gangs”.
It marks a remarkable U-turn by the Labour Party government of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which had resisted months of calls for an inquiry, stating that it was focusing on recommendations already made in an earlier seven-year probe.
But what exactly is the Casey Report, and what drove Labour’s abrupt change of course?
What is the Casey Report?
Commissioned earlier this year by Starmer, the Casey Report is a review of how United Kingdom institutions have tackled child sexual exploitation.
The review focused on “grooming gangs” – groups of men who targeted vulnerable girls for sexual abuse, often over extended periods of time.
What does the report say?
The report identified an institutional failure to protect children and teenage girls from rape, exploitation and serious violence.
Among its recommendations, the Casey Report suggested a change in the law so adults in England and Wales face mandatory rape charges if they intentionally penetrate a child under age 16.
In her report, Casey concluded that too many grooming cases have been dropped or downgraded from rape to lesser charges because a 13- to 15-year-old is perceived to have been “in love with” or have “consented to” sex with the perpetrator.
Her review also highlighted reluctance by the authorities to “examine the ethnicity of the offenders”, saying it was not racist to do so.
In the local data that the audit examined from three police forces, they identified clear evidence of “over-representation among suspects of Asian and Pakistani-heritage men”.
However, the review also criticised the ongoing failure to collect ethnicity at a national level, with it not recorded for two-thirds of perpetrators, making it impossible “to provide any accurate assessment from the nationally collected data”.
Britain’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper answers questions on the Casey Report in the House of Commons in London on June 16, 2025 [Handout UK Parliament via AFP]
Were the recommendations accepted?
Yes.
The UK’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed the government would accept all 12 recommendations in the Casey Report.
This means the police will launch a new national criminal operation targeting grooming gangs, overseen by the National Crime Agency (NCA).
This operation would be overseen by an independent commission with powers to compel witnesses to provide evidence.
It would also go ahead with a national inquiry, with Starmer stating that he had read “every single word” of the report and would accept Casey’s recommendation for an investigation.
What led to Labour’s U-turn?
Richard Scorer, the head of Abuse Law and Public Inquiries at Slater and Gordon, a law firm, told Al Jazeera that the sheer size of the scandal and the fact that it had affected thousands of children made it “inevitable” that there would need to be a public inquiry about it at some point.
US billionaire Elon Musk’s online references to the grooming scandal that emerged a decade ago in several towns and cities in northern England had also pushed the “issue up the political agenda”, he said.
In June 2022, an independent review found that the police and local council had failed to prevent sexual exploitation of young girls by gangs in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester in England.
Two years later, political leaders in Oldham Council called for the government to investigate further, but then-Home Office Minister Jess Phillips rejected the council’s request, saying it should lead an investigation itself.
In January this year, Musk threw his weight behind far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who goes by the name Tommy Robinson and had been outspoken on the issue.
He called for Robinson, a controversial political figure, then serving an 18-month jail term for contempt of court, to be freed, writing on his own social media platform X, “Why is Tommy Robinson in a solitary confinement prison for telling the truth?”
Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, arrives at Westminster Magistrates’ Court in central London on April 22, 2024 [Adrian Dennis/AFP]
Musk also accused Starmer of failing to prosecute child rapists when he was director of public prosecutions between 2008 and 2013.
He also took aim at Minister for Safeguarding Jess Phillips, calling her “a rape genocide apologist”.
Starmer responded at the time, without mentioning Musk by name. “Those that are spreading lies and misinformation as far and as wide as possible are not interested in victims, they are interested in themselves,” the PM said.
Will this report bring about change?
Experts say it’s certainly a positive step.
William Tantam, a senior lecturer in anthropology at the University of Bristol, who has worked on a previous independent inquiry into child sexual abuse, said that from a researcher’s perspective, the main positive was that there would be more consistency and clarity in data.
He said that another positive is that inquiry panel will have the authority to compel agencies to participate.
Scorer noted that bringing in the NCA to investigate cases that haven’t progressed in the past is also a very welcome outcome of the report.
He said in the UK, different police forces have not always succeeded in coordinating their efforts to tackle grooming gangs, so a more centralised overview from the NCA might secure “a better coordination of police activity”.
Cooper told Parliament on Monday that more than 800 cases have now been identified for formal review, and she expects that figure to rise above 1,000 in the coming weeks.
But Scorer warned that the government would need to assign an additional budget for the implementation of the changes recommended by Casey.
“If you are asking the NCA to reopen and investigate, potentially up to 1000 cases, that’s going to require a huge amount of resources,” he said. “Who’s going to pay for that? That’s one of the questions that the government is going to need to answer.”
Interest in the issue was pushed by far-right groups and Elon Musk and branded by critics as a racist dog whistle.
The British government has announced it will hold a national inquiry into organised child sexual abuse after months of resisting the call from opposition groups.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Saturday that he had read “every single word” of an independent report into the sexual assault scandal, also known as the “grooming gangs” case, by Baroness Louise Casey and would accept her recommendation for the investigation.
“That is the right thing to do on the basis of what she [Casey] has put in her audit. I asked her to do that job to double check on this; she has done that job for me and having read her report … I shall now implement her recommendations.” Starmer told reporters travelling with him during a visit to Canada.
Earlier this year, the government dismissed calls for a public inquiry, stating that it was focusing on recommendations already made in a seven-year national inquiry by Professor Alexis Jay.
In 2022, Jay found that there had been institutional failings across the country, affecting tens of thousands of victims in England and Wales.
But the opposition Conservative Party leader, Kemi Badenoch, said Starmer only backs the report because “a report told him to”.
But increased interest into the “grooming gangs” case, as the British press termed it, was pushed by far-right groups, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, and further stoked by tech billionaire and Tesla owner Elon Musk, after the perpetrators of one of the most high-profile cases in the country were men of Pakistani heritage.
Their push was branded by critics as a racist dog whistle. The vast majority of “grooming gang” offences, however, are carried out by white men, the UK’s National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) said earlier this year.
Musk used his X platform to criticise the British prime minister over not backing a national inquiry after the local authority in Oldham, a town in northern England, found that girls under the age of 18 were sexually exploited by groups of men in the 2000s and 2010s.
Musk also alleged that Starmer did not bring the perpetrators to justice when he was the country’s chief prosecutor between 2008 and 2013, a charge that Starmer had denied repeatedly.
Due to the similarity of the Oldham case to others in several towns, including mainly white girls being abused by men largely from a Pakistani background, the issue has been linked to immigration.
For months, Israel and its defenders have insisted that Hamas is stealing humanitarian aid. They used that claim to justify the starvation of two million people in Gaza – to bomb bakeries, block food convoys and shoot desperate Palestinians waiting in bread lines. We were told this was a war on Hamas and ordinary Palestinians were just caught in the middle.
Now we know the truth: Israel has been arming and protecting criminal gangs in Gaza that engage in stealing humanitarian aid and terrorising civilians. One group led by Yasser Abu Shabab, which is reportedly linked to extremist networks and has engaged in a variety of criminal activities, is directly receiving weapons from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government.
And Netanyahu is proudly admitting to it. “What’s wrong with that?” he said when confronted. “It saves the lives of [Israeli] soldiers.”
What’s wrong? Everything.
This isn’t just a tactical decision – it’s an admission of true intent. Israel never wanted to protect Palestinian civilians. It wants to break them. Starve them. Turn them against each other. Then blame them for the resulting chaos and suffering.
This strategy isn’t new. It’s colonialism 101: create anarchy, and then use it as proof that the colonised cannot govern themselves. In Gaza, Israel isn’t just trying to defeat Hamas. It’s trying to destroy any future in which Palestinians might govern their own society.
For months, Western media repeated the unverified claim that Hamas was stealing aid. No evidence was shown. The United Nations repeatedly said there was no proof. But it didn’t matter. The story served its purpose – it justified the blockade. It made starvation look like a security tactic. It made collective punishment look like policy.
Now the truth is out. The gangs terrorising aid routes were the ones Israel supported. The myth has collapsed. And yet where is the outrage?
Where are the stern statements from the governments of the United States and United Kingdom – the same ones who claimed to care about humanitarian delivery? Instead, we are getting silence. Or worse – a shrug.
Netanyahu’s open admission isn’t just arrogance. It’s confidence. He knows he can say the quiet part out loud. He knows Israel can violate international law, arm criminal gangs, bomb schools, starve civilians – and still be welcomed on the world stage. Still receive weapons. Still be praised as an “ally”.
This is what total impunity looks like.
And this is the cost of believing Israel’s PR machine – of letting it pose as a reluctant occupier, a humane military, a victim of circumstance. In truth, it’s a regime that doesn’t just tolerate war crimes – it engineers them, funds them and then uses them as propaganda.
It’s not just a war on Palestinian bodies, homes or even survival. It’s a war on the Palestinian dream – the dream of ever having a state, of building a future with dignity and self-determination.
For decades, Israel has systematically worked to prevent any form of cohesive Palestinian leadership. In the 1980s, it quietly encouraged the rise of Hamas as a religious and social counterweight to the secular Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). The idea was simple: divide Palestinian politics, weaken the national movement and fragment any push for statehood.
Israeli officials believed that supporting Islamist organisations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza would create internal conflict among Palestinians – and it did. Tensions between Islamist and secular groups grew and resulted in clashes on university campuses and in the political arena.
Israel’s policy wasn’t driven by a misunderstanding. It was strategic. It knew that empowering rivals to the PLO would fracture Palestinian unity. The goal wasn’t peace – it was paralysis.
That same strategy continues today – not just in Gaza but in the occupied West Bank too. The Israeli government is actively dismantling the Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) ability to function. It withholds tax revenues that make up the majority of the PA’s budget, bringing it to the brink of collapse.
It protects settler militias attacking Palestinian villages. It conducts daily military raids in PA-administered cities, humiliating its forces and making them look powerless. It blocks international diplomatic efforts by the PA while mocking its legitimacy.
And this policy doesn’t stop at the boundaries of the occupied territory. Inside Israel, Palestinian citizens face a similar tactic: intentional neglect, impoverishment and engineered chaos. Crime is left to spiral out of control in their communities while infrastructure and services are underfunded. Their economic potential is stifled – not by accident, but by design. It’s a quiet war on Palestinian identity itself: a strategy of erasure that aims to turn Palestinians into a silent, faceless minority stripped of rights, recognition and nationhood.
By engineering instability and then pointing to that instability as proof of failure, Israel writes the script and blames us for living it.
This is not just military policy – it’s narrative warfare. It’s about ensuring that the Palestinian people are forever seen not as a nation striving for freedom but as a threat to be contained.
Israel thrives on chaos because chaos discredits Palestinian agency. It allows Israel to say, “Look, they can’t govern themselves. They only understand violence. They need us.”
It’s not just brutal. It’s deeply calculated.
But Gaza and the West Bank are not a failed state. They are places that have been systematically denied the chance to become one.
Gaza is my home. It’s where I grew up. It’s where my family still clings to life. They deserve better – better than a colonial regime that bombs them, starves them and funds the very people stealing their food.
The world must stop treating Gaza and the West Bank as testing grounds for military doctrine, propaganda and geopolitical indifference. The people of Palestine are not a failed experiment. They are a besieged people, relentlessly denied sovereignty. And still, they try – to feed their children, bury their dead and remain human in the face of dehumanisation.
If Netanyahu’s government can admit to arming criminal gangs and still face no consequences, then the problem is not just Israel. It is us – the so-called international community that rewards cruelty and punishes survival.
What’s needed – urgently – are concrete actions to protect Palestinian lives and safeguard the right to Palestinian statehood before it is erased entirely. Threats to recognise a Palestinian state just won’t do.
If the world continues to look away, it’s not only Palestine that will be destroyed – it’s the very credibility of international law, human rights and every moral principle we claim to stand for.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
The right-wing Noboa had defeated left-wing candidate Luisa Gonzalez amid allegations of electoral fraud.
Daniel Noboa, Ecuador’s youngest-ever president and heir to a prominent banana-exporting fortune, has been sworn in for his first full term in office, pledging to intensify his government’s battle against powerful drug gangs while reviving the struggling economy.
In a ceremony at the National Assembly in Quito on Saturday, the right-wing president was sworn in by Assembly President Niels Olsen Peet, who draped the presidential sash across his shoulders before the two raised clasped hands in a symbolic gesture of unity.
Noboa, 37, won the election in April’s, securing a new term after completing the final 18 months of his predecessor’s tenure, defeating left-wing candidate, Luisa Gonzalez, despite her allegations of electoral fraud.
Speaking to lawmakers, Noboa pledged to make a sharp reduction in violent crime a cornerstone of his administration.
“The progressive reduction of homicides will be a non-negotiable goal,” Noboa declared. “We will maintain our fight against drug trafficking, seize illegal weapons, ammunition, and explosives, and exercise greater control at the country’s ports.”
Ecuador, once considered one of the more stable countries in the region, has in recent years faced a sharp rise in violence, with drug cartels, including the powerful from Mexico, exploiting porous borders and weak institutions to expand their influence.
Noboa has responded with militarised crackdowns, deploying the armed forces onto the streets and tightening security at key infrastructure hubs.
The president’s security strategy has drawn comparisons to El Salvador’s controversial anti-gang measures, which have been praised by some for reducing crime but condemned by rights groups over mass detentions and alleged abuses.
Noboa has cited El Salvador, as well as the United States and Israel, as strategic partners in Ecuador’s security overhaul.
His administration has also hired Erik Prince, founder of private military contractor Blackwater, to advise Ecuadorian security forces, a move that has raised alarm among opposition politicians and human rights advocates, who warn of creeping militarisation and lack of oversight.
While Noboa has claimed a 15 percent drop in violent deaths during 2024, government figures show a 58 percent increase in killings during the first four months of 2025 compared with the same period last year, with 3,094 recorded deaths.
THE distraught father of drugs charge teenager Bella Culley has vowed to stand by his daughter – amid new fears Far East drugs gangs are targeting British backpackers.
Bella, 18, is on remand in a grim jail following her arrest in Georgia’s Tbilisi airport with a suitcase of cannabis after going missing 4,000 miles away in Thailand.
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Bella’s dad Niel, who flew to Tbilisi last week, told The Sun he ‘will be here for as long as it takes’Credit: Paul Edwards
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Bella revealed in court that she was ‘in love’ with a mystery man and that she is pregnantCredit: Facebook
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Niel and Bella’s aunt Kerry Culley pictured after their meeting with Bella’s lawyer La ToduaCredit: Paul Edwards
Bella’s flight took off from the same Bangkok airport within hours of another pretty British trafficking suspect arrested with £1.2 million of a cannabis-related drug in Sri Lanka.
Former air stewardess Charlotte May Lee, 21, was in a gruesome Sri Lankan jail cell last night awaiting a court appearance.
Their arrests have sparked fears that Thai gangs may be hoodwinking vulnerable British backpackers into ferrying their drugs after a crackdown on postal trafficking.
Bella was facing at least nine months on remand in a grim Soviet-era jail alongside hardened criminals.
She had joked online of “Bonnie and Clyde” hijinks while showing off cash wads in the Far East and was pictured smoking a spliff.
Bella’s family from Billingham, County Durham are convinced she was preyed upon after flying to the Far East to party with a mystery man feared to have hooked her up with drugs runners.
Her dad Niel – a Vietnam-based oil rig electrician – flew to Tbilisi last week desperate for answers after tearful Bella told a court that she was pregnant.
But he has yet to meet his daughter within the drab confines of No5 Women’s Penitentiary on the outskirts of the Georgian capital and remains baffled by her plight.
Asked about his plans after arriving in Tbilisi, Mr Culley, 49, told The Sun today: “I can’t say anything but I will be here for as long as it takes.
“I obviously have no experience in dealing with situations like this and it’s very difficult.”
Pregnant ‘smuggler’ Bella Culley faces raising her child in grim ex-Soviet prison
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Bella from Billingham, County Durham, was seen in court in Tbilisi after being detained on suspicion of carrying 14kg of cannabisCredit: East2West
Appearing shaky as he puffed on a cigarette, the anxious dad at one point appeared ready to make a statement when asked how his daughter was bearing up in prison.
But he broke off to confer with Bella’s aunt Kerrie Culley – who is supporting him in Georgia – and returned shaking his head.
He added: “I’m being advised by the British Embassy and can’t comment at the moment.
“But that may change in the future depending on what happens.”
Fears are growing that a Thai drugs gang is preying on British backpackers this summer as Charlotte became the second Brit flying out of Bangkok to be arrested within days.
She was detained at Colombo airport in Sri Lanka on Monday – the day after Bella’s arrest – where police say she had a huge stash of kush – a synthetic strain of cannabis.
Charlotte from Chipstead, Surrey was last night locked in a cell with 20 other prisoners with barely room to lie down as she awaited a court hearing.
Bella took off first from Bangkok on a 20-hour flight via Sharjah in the UAE to Georgia while Charlotte left later on a three-hour direct flight to Sri Lanka.
Both girls departed from the Thai capital during the Royal Ploughing Ceremony weekend – one of the busiest festivals of the year when airports are crammed with tourists.
It is believed to have provided a prime opportunity for traffickers to operate mules – particularly attractive young Britons who arouse less suspicion.
The two arrests follow a huge crackdown on smugglers sending cannabis to the UK by post.
A joint operation by both countries has seen a 90 per cent in reduction in the drug being mailed to Britain since last year.
It suggests Thai gangs may now be reverting to using drug mules to ship their products instead – and targeting British backpackers.
Thailand decriminalised cannabis in 2022 which sparked a massive rise in the narcotic being posted to Britain.
The law change allowed traffickers to hoodwink trippers into believing transporting it was legal.
Thai checks of mail being shipped stopped 1.5 tonnes in the first quarter of this year – a 90 percent drop in the illicit cargo – in a drive which frustrated the gangs.
Some 800 people including 50 British nationals have been arrested in Thailand for attempted smuggling since July 2024 with over nine tonnes of cannabis seized.
Retired Georgian police chief General Jemal Janashia voiced concerns that backpackers were being targeted yesterday.
He said: “The fact that two young British women have taken off with large quantities of drugs from the same airport will interest investigators.
“They will be concerned about the possibility of a link and that Thai gangs may be attempting to recruit vulnerable British travellers.
“After the crackdown on postal drug deliveries, the Thai cartel are seeking new routes and Georgia does look like an attractive middle transit point.
“It’s relatively close, and easy to reach Europe and is visa free to European travellers.”
He added: “I feel sorry for this woman because she was clearly used and manipulated. She’s 18, she’s a foreigner, pregnant.
“All of this indicates that she was chosen deliberately, chosen carefully, she was studied.
“Whoever chose her, they knew what they were doing.”
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A female prison near Tbilsi, Georgia where suspected Brit drug mule Bella Culley is being heldCredit: .
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The exterior of Tbilisi Prison No.5, which is Georgia’s only female prisonCredit: Not known, clear with picture desk
