racism

Trump calls it a ‘disgrace’ that South Africa is hosting the G20, reiterates debunked claims of a ‘genocide’ against white farmers.

President Donald Trump has said no United States officials will attend this year’s Group of 20 (G20) summit in South Africa, citing the country’s treatment of white farmers.

Writing on his Truth Social platform on Friday, Trump said it was a “total disgrace that the G20 will be held in South Africa”.

“Afrikaners (People who are descended from Dutch settlers, and also French and German immigrants) are being killed and slaughtered, and their land and farms are being illegally confiscated,” Trump wrote, reiterating claims that have been rejected by authorities in South Africa.

“No US Government Official will attend as long as these Human Rights abuses continue. I look forward to hosting the 2026 G20 in Miami, Florida!” he added.

Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has repeatedly claimed that white South Africans are being persecuted in the Black-majority country, a claim rejected by South Africa’s government and top Afrikaner officials.

Trump had already said on Wednesday that he would not attend the summit – which will see the heads of states from the world’s leading and emerging economies gather in Johannesburg on November 22 and 23 – as he also called for South Africa to be thrown out of the G20.

US Vice President JD Vance had been expected to attend the meeting in place of the president. But a person familiar with Vance’s plans told The Associated Press news agency that he will no longer travel to South Africa.

Tensions first arose between the US and South Africa after President Cyril Ramaphosa introduced a new law in January seeking to address land ownership disparities, which have left three-quarters of privately owned land in the hands of the white minority more than three decades after the end of apartheid.

The new legislation makes it easier for the state to expropriate land, which Ramaphosa insists does not amount to confiscation, but creates a framework for fair redistribution by allowing authorities to take land without compensation in exceptional circumstances, such as when a site has been abandoned.

Shortly after the introduction of the Expropriation Act, Trump accused South Africa of “confiscating land, and treating certain classes of people VERY BADLY”.

“The United States won’t stand for it, we will act,” he said.

In May, Trump granted asylum to 59 white South Africans as part of a resettlement programme that Washington described as giving sanctuary after racial discrimination.

The same month, when Trump met with President Ramaphosa in the White House, he ambushed him with the claim that a “genocide” is taking place against white Afrikaners in his country.

Ramaphosa denied the allegations, telling Trump “if there was Afrikaner farmer genocide, I can bet you, these three gentlemen would not be here”, pointing to three white South African men present – professional golfers Ernie Els and Retief Goosen, and South Africa’s richest man, Johann Rupert.

South African historian Saul Dubow, professor of Commonwealth history at the University of Cambridge, previously told Al Jazeera that there is no merit to “Trump’s fantasy claims of white genocide”.

Dubow suggested that Trump may be more angry about South Africa’s genocide case filed against Israel in the International Court of Justice over its war on Gaza.

Nonetheless, the Trump administration has maintained its claim of widespread persecution. On October 30, the White House indicated that most new refugees admitted to the US will be white South Africans, as it slashed the number of people it will admit annually to just 7,500.

“The admissions numbers shall primarily be allocated among Afrikaners from South Africa pursuant to Executive Order 14204 and other victims of illegal or unjust discrimination in their respective homelands,” the White House said.

Discrimination against black people is “baked” into the leadership, culture and governance of the Metropolitan Police, an internal review has found.

The independently commissioned review, authored by Dr Shereen Daniels, surveyed 40 years of evidence of how racism had affected black communities, as well as black officers and staff.

Baroness Doreen Lawrence, mother of murdered black teenager Stephen Lawrence, said that while the report was welcome, it “contains nothing I did not already know”.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley described the report as “powerful”, adding that it “calls out that further systemic, structural, cultural change is needed”.

The review, commissioned from the consultancy HR Rewired, concluded that darker-skinned Met staff were “labelled confrontational” while lighter-skinned employees might receive quicker empathy and leniency.

Dr Shereen Daniels said that systemic racism was “not a matter of perception”, adding that “true accountability begins with specificity”.

“The same systems that sustain racial harm against black people also enable other forms of harm. Confronting this is not an act of exclusion but a necessary foundation for safety, fairness and justice for everyone,” Dr Daniels said.

Baroness Lawrence said that discrimination “must be acknowledged, accepted and confronted in the Met”, adding that racism was the reason why her son had been killed and why the police had “failed to find all of his killers”.

She added: “The police must stop telling us that change is coming whilst we continue to suffer. That change must take place now.”

Imran Khan KC said that the report’s conclusions were “little surprise”, adding that Sir Mark Rowley should resign if he did not “recognise, acknowledge and accept” its findings.

He added: “This Report lays out in shocking clarity that the time for talking is over, that promises to change can no longer be believed or relied on.”

The report is the latest to highlight racism within Britain’s biggest police force, after Louise Casey’s 2023 review – commissioned after the murder of Sarah Everard – concluded that the Met was institutionally racist, misogynistic and homophobic.

Reviews conducted decades ago have criticised discrimination within the Met – including the 1999 Macpherson report that called the force “institutionally racist” after the mishandling of Stephen Lawrence’s case.

Earlier this year, secret BBC filming found serving Met Police officers calling for immigrants to be shot and revelling in the use of force.

Several officers have since been sacked, after Sir Mark Rowley pledged to be “ruthless” in getting rid of officers who are unfit to serve.

Following the publication of the latest report, Sir Mark Rowley said: “London is a unique global city, and the Met will only truly deliver policing by consent when it is inclusive and anti-racist.”

POSING in the exclusive £300-a-night Soho Farmhouse wearing a pair of £100 wellington boots, Elle Swift proudly showed off her latest brand – a collection of oversized tracksuits.

But what should have been a defining moment swiftly turned sour and sparked a huge backlash. It’s the latest scandal to engulf the 29-year-old star after she was accused of racism, her American dream collapsed, and both her and husband Connor’s dads’ prison stints came back to haunt them. Here, we take a look at the struggles Elle and Connor have faced along the way.

Three years ago, popular TikTok influencer Elle was close to losing it all when a series of highly offensive racist tweets she had written as a teenager re-emerged online – she was dropped by her management, lost over 100k followers and was forced to publicly apologise.

Elle and Connor – who she married that same year in 2022 – made the decision to relocate to America for a fresh start, but after just 12 months the pair returned to the UK, with their future very much up in the air.

Eight months on, Elle was finally ready to reveal her rebrand. And last weekend, after much teasing, she finally unveiled Our Good Sunday, her new clothing line and latest bid to secure fame and fortune.

She was once very down to earth and while people get she wants to be aspirational, it is in fact just unaffordable.

Insider on her launch

But almost immediately, a notably slimmed-down Elle was hit with criticism, with an insider telling us: “The launch of Our Good Sunday wasn’t as good as they had been hoping at all.”

Fans questioned the extortionate price point and a rival social media couple teased their own very similar product.

While she has waxed lyrical about the high quality materials used to make the clothes, the price tag is nothing short of eyewatering. 

A plain hoodie will set you back £66, the sweatshirt is £60, a t-shirt £40 and a tote back £45.

The aesthetic Elle is aiming for is clear – the luxury location she shot the collection in and the expensive clothing she’s used to accessorise it are a clear sign. 

But the move has left her fans feeling angry and alienated – with one person commenting: “I was hoping the prices would be a bit more affordable, as a parent myself I can’t afford this luxury.”

Another added: “Most women/Mums won’t be able to afford this. Such a shame. I really think you should review the prices.”

The insider explained: “People are very confused about the whole launch and are struggling to understand why she would be charging so much for simple clothes. She was once very down to earth and while people get she wants to be aspirational, it is in fact just unaffordable and pricing out her core audience.”

Further questions were raised when she initially told her followers there was limited stock – but days later said they had ordered lots of stock to ensure fans would be able to get their hands on it. Her fans speculated that she had been hoping to sell out, so backtracked over how much stock she had.

A representive from Elle’s legal team told us: “We are informed by Elle Swift that she is proud to launch Good Sunday. The first limited edition collection is made in small batches from certified organic fabrics in Portugal, reflecting Good Sunday’s commitment to ethical production and sustainable practices. Each piece is designed to be special, and once sold out, it won’t be restocked.”

RIVAL CLOTHING LAUNCH

Negative comments appeared to have been deleted and a week on – plenty of stock is still available despite Elle and Connor relentlessly plugging the brand and hinting there will be more than just tracksuits. 

And in a twist that the couple weren’t expecting – social media’s most famous couple, Alfie Deyes and Zoe Sugg used this weekend to tease their new brand, which rather unfortunately is called Dear Sunday.

Our insider said: “Zoe knows Elle well and actually stood by her when a lot of people didn’t. There is no way she knew that Elle was doing something so similar but it’s all very bad timing. At the end of the day Zoe and Alfie still have the ultimate pulling power.”

Those who have followed Elle for a while will know it’s not the first time she’s launched a clothing brand.

The social media star, who went by the name Elle Darby before she tied the knot, was initially known for posting vlogs about her trips to the gym, plus the usual make up tutorials and get ready with me videos.

She launched Angelle clothing in 2019 – it featured a range of tracksuits and tote bags and was affectionately named after her followers, who she refers to as angels. It was a huge hit.

I didn’t speak to my dad for an entire year when he was in prison because he was too emotional to speak on the phone to his kids.

Elle on her dad

But in 2022, she announced that the brand was taking a break and she wasn’t sure what its future would hold.

Elle married Connor earlier that year after the birth of their son Romeo.

They went on to have son Saint in 2023 and in December 2024 they welcomed daughter Honey Jane.

RACISIM SCANDAL

The break from Angelle came shortly after her horrifying racist comments, which she wrote when she was 15, circulated online. She has since apologised.

In March of last year the couple decided to start afresh in America and set up home in Houston. It ended up being an incredibly expensive relocation and after having her third child, Elle and Connor decided to move back home.

Our insider said: “The whole America move ended up being a bit of a disaster really and Elle really didn’t want to admit defeat.

“It cost them a lot to move out there but also life there was very pricey and at the end of the day they were homesick. It’s also a lot harder to be a stand out social media creator in a country with many established names.”

Since coming back to the UK, Elle has been inundated with comments about how ‘glowing’ she is and how happy she looks.

Fans also questioned how trim Ellie has been looking just months after giving birth, with one person commenting: “Girl we need a weight loss journey.”

Another added: “I can not get over your hair and your body transformation, mum goals and motivation.”

AMERICAN DREAM AND PRISON DADS

The move to America was tinged with sadness – her mum Deborah had passed away in 2020 and her dad – Giles – is prohibited from visiting the States, so it meant she would be completely isolated from her family. 

Elle’s love of America actually started when her dad – a multimillionaire banker – was convicted of fraud and extradited to the US,  in the wake of one of the biggest scandals in business history.

The family spent nearly two years in and out of court in the US and Elle has admitted she loved that time, saying her dad made it a ‘positive’ experience. 

Giles, along with Gary Mulgrew and David Bermingham, was one of the NatWest Three – a trio of British bankers convicted of fraud and sentenced to 37 months in separate American jails in 2002.

Elle – who is one of five girls – was 10 when her dad went to prison for two years but has insisted it didn’t affect her. 

The brave influencer explained: “I think surrounding issues caused a lot more impact on my childhood than him actually being a prison.

“I missed him, I didn’t speak to my dad for an entire year because he was too emotional to speak on the phone to his kids.”

Interestingly, Connor’s dad was also in prison – and was absent from the first two years of his life, even missing his birth. 

The insider said: “The fact that both Connor and Elle’s dads have been in prison was a bonding experience for them. It does however haunt them both and no matter how hard they try to portray a picture perfect image, it does hang over them.”

In 2020, Elle suffered more heartache when her mum Deborah passed away on Mother’s Day after battling a brain tumour for five years.

The moment changed her life forever and while she spoke about gratitude a fair bit before, it took on a whole different meaning to her.

As she remembered her mum this year, she told her followers: “Five years ago this week my entire life changed forever. I said goodbye to my mum and had a humbling life lesson that the things we ‘think’ matter.. just don’t. Here’s your reminder that if you’re lucky enough to have love, you have it all.”

Elle might have had a few hiccups along the way – and her latest launch might not have had the impact she hoped, but she’s determined to succeed. And despite everything, it looks like this time she might just.

The Sun has contacted Elle for comment.

South Asians have played a prominent role in President Trump’s universe, especially in his second term.

Second Lady Usha Vance is the daughter of Indian immigrants who came to California to study and never went back. Harmeet Dhillon, born in India and a devout Sikh, is currently his U.S. assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division. And the head of the FBI, Kash Patel, is (like potential New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani,) of Indian descent by way of Uganda.

Some Republicans have taken pride in this kind of diversity, citing it for the gains Trump made in 2024 with Black and Latino voters.

But these days, the MAGA big tent seems to be collapsing fast.

Last week, MAGA had a total anti-Indian meltdown on social media, revealing a deep, ugly racism toward South Asians.

It comes amid the first real rebellion about rampant and increasingly open antisemitism within the MAGAverse, creating a massive rift between traditional conservatives and a younger, rabidly anti-Jewish contingent called groypers whose leader, Nick Fuentes, recently posted that he is “team Hitler.”

Turns out, when you cultivate a political movement based on hate, at some point the hate is uncontrollable. In fact, that hate needs to be fed to maintain power — even if it means feasting on its own.

This monster of white-might ugliness is going to dominate policy and politics for the next election, and these now-public fights within the Republican party represent a new dynamic that will either force it to do some sort of soul searching, or purge it of anything but white Christian nationalism. My bet is on the latter. But if conservatives ever truly believed in their inclusive talk, then it’s time for Republicans to stand up and demand the big Trump tent they were hailing just a few months ago.

Ultra-conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who opposes much of Fuentes’ worldview, summed up this Republican split succinctly.

Fuentes’ followers “are white supremacists, hate women, Jews, Hindus, many types of Christians, brown people of a wide variety of backgrounds, Blacks, America’s foreign policy and America’s constitution,” Shapiro explained. “They admire Hitler and Stalin and that splinter faction is now being facilitated and normalized within the mainstream Republican Party.”

MAGA’s anti-Indian sentiment had an explosive moment a few days ago when a South Asian woman asked Vice President JD Vance a series of questions during a Turning Point USA event in Mississippi. The young immigrant wanted to know how Vance could preach for the removal of nearly 18 million immigrants? And how could he claim that the United States was a Christian nation, rather than one that valued pluralism?

“How can you stop us and tell us we don’t belong here anymore?” the woman asked. “Why do I have to be a Christian?”

Vance’s answer went viral, in part because he claimed his wife, although from a Hindu family, was “agnostic or atheist,” and that he hoped she would convert to Christianity.

“Do I hope eventually that she is somehow moved by the same thing that I was moved in by church? Yeah, I honestly do wish that,” he said.

Vance later tried to do some damage control on social media, calling Usha Vance a “blessing” and promising to continue to “support her and talk to her about faith and life and everything else, because she’s my wife.”

But many South Asians felt Vance was dissing his wife’s heritage and attempting to downplay her non-whiteness. They vented on social media, and got a lot of MAGA feelings back.

“How can you pretend to be a white nativist politician who will ‘bring america back to it’s golden age’ … when your wife is an indian immigrant?” wrote one poster.

Dhillon received similar feedback recently for urging calm and fairness after a Sikh truck driver allegedly caused a fatal crash.

“[N]o ma’am, it is CRYSTAL CLEAR that sihks and hindus need to get the hell out of my country,” one reply stated. “You and your kind are no longer welcome here. Go the [expletive] home.”

Patel too, got it, after posting a message on Diwali, a religious holiday that celebrates the victory of light over darkness. He was dubbed a demon worshipper, a favorite anti-Indian trope.

Perhaps you’re thinking, “Duh, of course MAGA is racist.” But here’s the thing. The military has been scrubbed of many Black officers. The federal workforce, long a bastion for middle-class people of color, has been decimated. Minority cabinet members or top officials are few. Aside from another South Asian, Tulsi Gabbard, there’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Labor Secretary Lori Chavez‑DeRemer and HUD head Scott Turner.

South Asians are largely the last visible sign of pluralism in Republican power, an erstwhile proof that the charges of racism from the left are unfair. But now, like Latinos, they are increasingly targets of the base.

At the same time anti-Indian hate was surfacing last week, a whole load of MAGA antisemitism hit the fan. It started when Tucker Carlson, who in his post-network life has re-created himself as a hugely popular podcaster with more than 16 million followers on X, invited Fuentes on his show.

In addition to calling for the death of American Jews, Fuentes has also said women want him to rape them and should be burned alive, Black people belong in prison and LGBTQ+ people are an abomination.

Anyone who is not his kind of Christian “must be absolutely annihilated when we take power,” he said.

Turns out far-right Charlie Kirk was a bulwark against this straight-up American Nazi. Kirk’s popularity kept Fuentes — who often trolled Kirk — from achieving dominance as the spirit guide of young MAGA. Now, with Kirk slain, nothing appears to be stopping Fuentes from taking up that mantle.

After the Fuentes interview, sane conservatives (there are some left) were apoplectic that Carlson would support someone who so openly admits to being anti-Israel and seemingly pro-Nazi. They demanded the Heritage Foundation, historical backbone of the conservative movement, creators of Project 2025 and close allies of Tucker, do something. The head of Heritage, Kevin Roberts, offered what many considered a sorry-not-sorry. He condemned Fuentes, saying he was “fomenting Jew hatred, and his incitements are not only immoral and un-Christian, they risk violence.”

But also counseled that Fuentes shouldn’t be banished from the party.

“Join us — not to cancel — but to guide, challenge, and strengthen the conversation,” Roberts said.

Are Nazis really all bad? Discuss!

The response from ethical conservatives — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — has been that you don’t politely hear Nazis out, and if the Republican Party can’t clearly say that Nazis aren’t welcome, it’s got a problem.

Yes, the Republican Party has a problem.

The right rode to power by attacking what it denigrates at “wokeism” on the left. MAGA declared that to confront fascism or racism or misogyny — to tell its purveyors to sit down and shut up — was wrong. That “canceling,” or banishment from common discourse for spewing hate, was somehow an infringement on 1st Amendment rights or even terrorism.

They screamed loud and clear that speaking out against intolerance was the worst, most unacceptable form of intolerance itself — and would not be tolerated.

You know who heard them loud and clear? Fuentes. He has checkmated establishment Republicans with their own cowardice and hypocrisy.

So now his young Christian white supremacists are empowered, and intent on taking over as the leaders of the party. Fuentes is saying what old guard Republicans don’t want to hear, but secretly fear: He already is dangerously close to being the mainstream; just read the comments.

Roberts, the Heritage president, said it himself: “Diversity will never be our strength. Unity is our strength, and a lack of unity is a sign of weakness.”

Trying to shut Fuentes up or kick him out will likely anger that vocal and powerful part of the base that enjoys the freedom to be openly hateful, and really wouldn’t mind a male-dominated white Christian autocracy.

The far right has free-speeched their way into fascism, and Fuentes is loving every minute of it.

So now this remaining vestige of traditional conservatives — including senators such as Ted Cruz and Mitch McConnell — is faced with a painful reckoning. Many mainstream Republicans for years ignored the racism and antisemitism creeping into the party. They can’t anymore. It has grown into a beast ready to consume its maker.

Will they let this takeover happen, call for conversation over condemnation to the glee of Fuentes and his followers?

Or will they find the courage to be not just true Republicans, but true Americans, and declare non-negotiable for their party that most basic of American ideals: We do not tolerate hate?

As the Netherlands gears up for a snap parliamentary election on October 29, less than halfway through parliament’s usual four-year term following the collapse of the ruling coalition, the likelihood of another win for the country’s far-right Party for Freedom (PVV) is mounting.

An outright win is next to impossible. The Netherlands has always had a coalition government formed by a minimum of two parties due to its proportional representation electoral system, under which seats in parliament are awarded to parties in proportion to the number of votes they win.

The PVV, headed by Geert Wilders, also won the most votes in the last election in November 2023. It then partnered with three other far-right parties – the Farmer-Citizen Movement (BBB), New Social Contract (NSC), and the People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) – to form a coalition government.

But in June, PVV made a dramatic exit from the coalition government over a disagreement on immigration policy. PVV had wanted to introduce a stricter asylum policy that included closing borders to new asylum seekers and deporting dual nationals convicted of crimes, but the other parties demanded further discussions.

In a dramatic move, Wilders took to X to announce that the failure by other parties to agree to PVV’s plans meant it would leave the coalition.

Coalition partners slammed this decision and accused Wilders of being driven by self-interest. VVD leader Dilan Yesilgoz said at the time that Wilders “chooses his own ego and his own interests. I am astonished. He throws away the chance for a right-wing policy”.

Following the pull-out, Prime Minister Dick Schoof – an independent – announced that he would resign and a snap election would be held this month.

Then, in August, the NSC’s Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp also resigned after he failed to secure support for new sanctions against Israel over its war in Gaza and the humanitarian situation in Gaza City. In solidarity with Veldkamp, other NSC party members left the coalition, leaving only two parties remaining.

Now, with an election imminent, opinion polls suggest the PVV will secure the most seats in the 150-seat parliament. While a winner needs 76 seats to form a government, no single party ever makes it to that figure, which has led to a history of coalitions.

According to a poll by the Dutch news outlet, EenVandaag, on October 14, the PVV is projected to secure 31 seats. The centre-left Green-Labour alliance (GroenLinks-PvdA) is polling at 25 seats, and the centre-right Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) is polling at 23.

PVV’s former coalition partner, the centre-right VVD, could take 14 seats and the BBB, four. So far, the NSC is not projected to secure any seats at all.

Immigration fears

At the end of September, EenVandaag polled 27,191 people and found that the main sticking point between voters – and, hence, between the leaders, PVV and GroenLinks-PvdA – is immigration. Half of all voters said it was the key issue on which they would be voting this year. Housing was the second-most important issue at 46 percent, and “Dutch identity” came third at 37 percent.

While the PVV is firmly anti-immigration and wants to impose a much stricter border policy and asylum laws, GroenLinks-PvdA would prefer to allow a net migration figure of 40,000 and 60,000 migrants per year.

Tempers are running high over this issue. Last month at The Hague, a right-wing activist known as “Els Rechts” organised an anti-migration protest that attracted 1,500 attendees. According to reports, protesters threw stones and bottles at the police, set a police car alight and smashed windows of the left-wing Democrats 66 (D66) party offices.

While left-wingers argue that the immigration issue has been wildly hyped up by the far right, they are losing control of the narrative.

Esme Smithson Swain, a member of MiGreat, a Dutch non-governmental campaign group that calls for freedom of movement and equal treatment for migrants in the Netherlands, told Al Jazeera that the far right in the Netherlands and in the United Kingdom, more widely, had “constructed a narrative that there is a migration crisis”.

“They’ve managed to construct this idea of a crisis, and that distracts our attention away from populism, away from arms trades, away from social services and the welfare state being sold off.”

Whatever its merits, the right-wing message that immigration is at the root of many social ills seems to be taking hold. The far-left, pro-immigration BIJ1 party, which rejects this message, is not projected to win any seats at all in this election.

Immigration “is a key term especially for right-wing political parties to win the election”, Noura Oul Fakir, a candidate for the BIJ1 party, told Al Jazeera. “We don’t focus on it because we look at everything that’s been going on from a systemic point of view, that every form of oppression is interlinked … This fight for equality and justice, it’s about more than just immigration, but it’s also interlinked with other issues that we see nowadays.”

People ‘more emboldened to express racist views’

By January 1, 2024, the Netherlands was hosting 2.9 million migrants (16.2 percent of the population), compared to the average across European Union member states of 9.9 percent (44.7 million people in total).

Similarly, Germany hosts 16.9 million migrants (20.2 percent of the population); France, 9.3 million (13.6 percent of the population); Spain, 8.8 million (18.2 percent of the population); and Italy, 6.7 million (11.3 percent of the population), according to figures from the EU.

Mark van Ostaijen, an associate professor in public administration and sociology at Erasmus University Rotterdam, explained that immigration has become a mainstream talking point in “housing, care, educational and cultural policy domains”.

For instance, the Netherlands is currently short of 434,000 homes, including for 353,000 asylum seekers and 81,000 Dutch first-time buyers, according to figures commissioned by the Ministry of Housing and Spatial Planning (VRO).

Immigration has, therefore, been blamed for what is seen as a housing crisis.

According to Statistics Netherlands (CBS), 316,000 migrants arrived in the country in 2024, 19,000 fewer than in 2023. But CBS also found that population growth is still mainly down to net migration, with the largest number of migrants coming from Ukraine and Syria.

“I think this is indeed something that will continue the electoral legitimacy of far-right parties, or right-wing parties, even more, given the fact that the Netherlands was already quite leaning towards the conservative angle,” van Ostaijen told Al Jazeera.

“This will be a topic that will haunt our politics and our democratic decision-making and discourse for quite a while,” he said.

Anecdotal evidence bears this out. Fakir has noticed a change in the experiences of immigrant residents she and her colleagues have spoken to in the country following the growth of the PVV.

“In their personal life [they have seen] a noticeable shift where people feel more free or emboldened to express racist views, both online and in real life. Others are telling them those classic things of ‘go back to your own country, or you’re not Dutch’,” she said.

For Nassreddin Taibi, a recent graduate who works as a political analyst and plans to vote for GroenLinks-PvdA, the anti-immigration protests at the Hague “further cemented polarisation among Dutch voters” and have caused centrist parties to fall into line with the right-wing narrative.

“These protests have influenced the discourse in the sense that centrist parties now say that cutting immigration is necessary to win back trust of voters in politics,” he said.

Nearly half of voters still undecided

While the far-right PVV is projected to win the most seats in this election, it will still face an uphill journey to form a government, as other parties such as the centre-right People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) have ruled out joining a coalition government.

Furthermore, the PVV’s leader, Wilders, has not escaped controversy with his Islamophobic comments and anti-migration stance despite the rise in anti-immigration sentiment across the country as a whole.

Notable incidents over the years include Wilders’ likening of Islam to Nazism in 2007 and his reference to the Muslim holy book, the Quran, as “fascist” in a letter to a Dutch news outlet. His letter and comments led to Wilders being prosecuted for inciting hatred and discrimination, which he denied. In 2011, he was acquitted by a judge who ruled that his comments had fallen within the scope of free speech.

More recently, in August this year, Wilders posted an image on X that depicted a smiling, blonde and blue-eyed woman, representing the PVV; and a wrinkled, angry-looking elderly woman wearing a headscarf, representing the PvdA. It was accompanied by the words: “The choice is yours on 29/10.”

Aan U de keuze op 29/10 pic.twitter.com/royhcInDlm

— Geert Wilders (@geertwilderspvv) August 4, 2025

Fake news and misinformation have also driven the rise in far-right narratives, analysts say.

The Facebook page ‘Wij doen GEEN aangifte tegen Geert Wilders’ (We are NOT filing charges against Geert Wilders), which claims to be a PVV supporters’ page boasting 129,000 followers, said it does not intend to be “discriminatory, hateful, or incite violence”, but has nevertheless posted AI-generated images of this nature.

In one such image, which received 1,700 likes, a white family is seemingly being harassed by men of colour.

In another, a white woman is seen in a supermarket paying for groceries while surrounded by Muslim women wearing hijabs and niqabs, with the caption: “No mass immigration, no Islamisation, no backwardness of the Dutch.” The post received 885 likes.

While the outgoing home affairs minister, Judith Uitermark, has said the government is examining new ways to combat fake news, she added that the Netherlands is somewhat protected from the rise of extremism by its proportional representation system, under which no one party ever wins a majority.

Still, the Dutch Data Protection Authority has warned voters not to use AI chatbots to help them decide who to vote for.

And a large number are still deciding. EenVandaag found that some 48 percent of voters are still undecided about which candidate they will choose. If the GroenLinks-PvdA can disengage from right-wing talking points and, instead, focus on its own policies more, it may perform better than expected, analysts say.

This will be no easy task, however.

“We find ourselves doing this also as a civil society organisation, as campaigners, trying to fight off the narrative and fight off the kind of populist ideals of the far right faster than we can push for our own agenda as well. And I think a lot of the time that leaves left-wing parties in the Netherlands seeming a bit hollow,” Swain said.

Still, she says that she is holding out hope for this election, despite what feels like a “vast and growing far-right bulk of the population”.

“I think it’s very easy to kind of feel that division between ‘us and them’. Us campaigning on the left and this growing mass of the far right,” Swain said.

“We need to tackle fighting the influence of lobbying and of fake news in our political structures. And I think that becoming more united as a population would naturally fall from that.”

Tel Aviv football team says it is working to ‘stamp out racism’ among its fan base.

Israeli football team Maccabi Tel Aviv has said it will turn down any tickets offered to its fans for a match in the United Kingdom, even if an earlier decision by local officials to bar the team’s followers from attending is reversed.

Maccabi Tel Aviv said on Monday that “hard lessons learned” meant it had decided to decline any offer of tickets for the Europa League game against Aston Villa.

“The wellbeing and safety of our fans is paramount,” the team said in a statement posted online. “Our decision should be understood in that context.”

The club also said it had been working to “stamp out racism” within the “more extreme elements” of its fan base.

“Our first-team squad consists of Muslims, Christian and Jewish players and our fan base also crosses the ethnic and religious divide,” it said.

The team’s decision came a day after Israeli police cancelled a match between Maccabi and its rival Tel Aviv team Hapoel before kickoff over what they described as “public disorder and violent riots”.

The move by Israeli authorities to cancel the game stood in contrast with criticism by British and Israeli leaders of Birmingham City’s decision to ban Maccabi fans from the November 6 match at Villa Park in Birmingham, central England.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the ban by the city’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) “the wrong decision”, while Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs Gideon Saar called for the “shameful” and “coward decision” to be reversed.

The UK government said on Friday that it was working to override local authorities to allow Israeli fans to be present.

But after Israeli police shut down the match between Tel Aviv teams on Sunday, some UK politicians questioned whether the government should intervene in Birmingham.

“To Keir Starmer and others who tried to make this about religion! Here’s more evidence. Even under the world’s spotlight, these fans chose violence, injuring police officers,” independent MP Ayoub Khan wrote in a post on X.

Richard Burgon, a Labour MP, broke with his government, saying the developments vindicated the decision to ban away fans from attending the game.

“This news exposes how absurd that campaign has been,” he said on X. “The people of Birmingham have a right to be kept safe.”

West Midlands Police said last week that they had classified the match as high risk based on “current intelligence and previous incidents, including violent clashes and hate crime offences that occurred during the 2024 UEFA Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv in Amsterdam”.

“Based on our professional judgement, we believe this measure will help mitigate risks to public safety,” the police force said.

Last year’s clashes in Amsterdam between pro-Palestinian supporters and fans of Maccabi Tel Aviv led to dozens of arrests.

The clashes followed incidents of Israeli fans rampaging through the Dutch capital, assaulting residents, destroying symbols of Palestinian solidarity and chanting racist and genocidal slogans against Palestinians and Arabs.

The clashes also featured reported incidents of anti-Semitism, including a private messaging chat calling for a “Jew hunt”.

Legal experts have also voiced concerns about Israeli teams participating in international sporting matches, citing a report by United Nations investigators that affirmed that Israel is carrying out a genocide against Palestinians.

Earlier this month, more than 30 legal experts wrote to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, saying that banning Israel from competitions was “imperative”.

“UEFA must not be complicit in sports-washing such flagrant breaches of international law, including but not limited to the act of genocide,” the experts wrote.

Burrell told BBC Sport he also faced prejudice within the England set-up, during a Test career that saw him win 15 caps after his debut in February 2014.

“I’ve had several traumatic experiences within England camp,” he said.

“Some discrimination and some just old-school mentality that’s really unacceptable.”

Racism had become normalised in dressing rooms, in Burrell’s experience.

“It’s something that has been dressed up as banter and that’s been the problem that I’ve personally suffered and seen,” said Burrell, who is of Jamaican descent.

“Over a period of time you just learn to believe that it’s the norm and that is fine and that it’s not malicious, but that’s nonsense.”

Burrell says he was eventually spurred to speak out after a team-mate at Newcastle referred to him as a “slave” and told him to put sun cream on his wrists and ankles “where your shackles were”.

The RFU said Burrell’s revelations had led to “a deeper look at the culture within the elite game and to the implementation of an action plan for the professional game”.

“The RFU has placed significant focus on inclusion and diversity in rugby union and a great deal of work undertaken both before and since Luther Burrell came forward and shared his experiences of racism and classism,” it added.

“We are continuing work with clubs and stakeholders in the professional game to strive for a culture of inclusivity but acknowledge this takes time and is an ongoing process.”

Every Prem and PWR club now has face-to-face education on building inclusive cultures, with its success monitored via individual reports and surveys.

All England players, including age-grade squads, are trained in being “active bystanders” to intervene and protect others from harmful behaviour.

“You should be so proud of what you have done,” Burrell’s mother Joyce told him as part of the BBC iPlayer documentary Luther Burrell – Rugby, Racism and Redemption.

“I know it has had this effect on you and finished your career, but in our eyes, you have done so well. We are so proud of you and to have you as a son.”

Burrell’s father Geoff died shortly after the filming of the documentary, and his sister died earlier this year.

Police in the United Kingdom are investigating a suspected arson attack on a mosque in southern England as a “hate crime” as a spate of violent crime against religious sites is reported.

Officers were called to the site of an arson attack on Phyllis Avenue in Peacehaven, East Sussex, just before 10pm (22:00 GMT) on Saturday, local police said.

The fire damaged the front entrance of the mosque and a car, they said, adding that no one was injured. Images and footage shared online show a burned-out car at the entrance of the mosque.

Sussex Police also shared images of two masked men dressed in dark clothing, and appealed for help from the public to identify them.

According to a report on CNN, which quoted a volunteer mosque manager, two people were inside the building when two people in balaclavas tried to force the mosque door open and poured petrol onto the steps, setting the building alight.

A spokesperson for the mosque said in a statement that the community was “deeply saddened” by the “shocking” attack. “While the incident has caused damage to our building and vehicles, we are profoundly grateful that no-one was injured.”

“This hateful act does not represent our community or our town. Peacehaven has always been a place of kindness, respect, and mutual support, and we will continue to embody those values,” the statement continued.

“We ask everyone to reject division and respond to hate with unity and compassion,” it added.

Detective Superintendent Karrie Bohanna said the attack had caused concerns within the Muslim community. “There is already an increased police presence at the scene, and there are also additional patrols taking place to provide reassurance at other places of worship across the county,” Bohanna said.

“Sussex Police takes a zero-tolerance approach to hate crime, and there is no place for hate across the county.”

Possible act of ‘terrorism’

Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party, said the police must establish the motives of the attack and whether it constitutes “an act of terrorism”.

“People were inside the mosque when it was firebombed and people in this community will be feeling frightened and targeted for their faith,” Ali said.

Chris Ward, the Labour MP for Brighton Kemptown and Peacehaven, said he was “appalled” by the “disgusting” attack.

“That there were no injuries is purely by chance,” he said. “This violence and hatred has no place in our peaceful, tolerant local community. We will root it out, and we stand in solidarity with all affected.”

The attack comes after a ramming and stabbing at a synagogue in northern Manchester on Thursday. It killed two people and seriously injured three.

The Muslim Council of Britain condemned Saturday’s attack, saying it was “profoundly shocked and alarmed by the Islamophobic arson attack” and urged authorities to “provide robust protection for all places of worship”.

The mosque attack “follows a disturbing pattern of violence and intimidation”, it added. “Just last week, an Imam was stabbed in Hounslow, while mosques across the country have faced bomb threats and coordinated hate campaigns,” the council added in its statement.

Separately, the East London Mosque said on X that “our communities must remain united – Muslims, Jews, Christians, people of all faiths and none – in standing together against extremism, intolerance and violence.”

The Board of Deputies of British Jews also condemned the mosque attack, saying on X that “every faith community has the right to worship free from fear. Our country is better than this.”

The attacks on religious sites come as the atmosphere in the UK remains tense after months of protests against asylum seekers and a social media campaign called #OperationRaisetheColours.

In recent weeks, those heeding the call have pinned the flag of England bearing St George’s Cross and Union Jacks to motorway bridges, lampposts, roundabouts and some shops across the UK. Red crosses have been spray-painted on the white stripes of zebra crossings.

While some supporters frame the project as patriotic, it has been tied to racist incidents including the appearance of racist graffiti.

A court in Manchester in the United Kingdom has sentenced seven men to prison terms ranging from 12 to 35 years for the systematic sexual abuse of two teenage girls in Rochdale, in the north of England, between 2001 and 2006.

Mohammed Zahid, a 65-year-old market trader and the group’s ringleader, received the longest sentence on Wednesday after being convicted of multiple counts of rape and other sexual offences against both victims.

Six other men, aged between 39 and 67, were also convicted following a four-month trial that concluded in June.

They formed part of what would later be referred to as “grooming gangs” by UK media and be used in toxic public discourse by the far right as a means to demonise British Asians and Muslims.

The girls, who did not know each other, were both 13 years old when the abuse began.

Prosecutors presented evidence that the victims, both from troubled family backgrounds, were initially offered gifts, money, and places to stay. The abuse escalated as they were taken to various locations across the town, where they were given alcohol and drugs before being sexually assaulted by the members of the group.

Both victims provided impact statements during the three-day sentencing hearing. One described how the abuse had affected every aspect of her life, from her physical and mental health to her ability to form relationships. The other said that, at the time, she believed all men would expect sex from her and urged other victims to come forward regardless of how much time had passed.

The case represents part of ongoing legal proceedings addressing historical child sexual exploitation in Rochdale, which first came to public attention in the early 2010s. Local authorities and the Greater Manchester Police (GMP) have acknowledged failures in their duty to protect the victims.

Stephen Watson, the chief constable of GMP, issued an apology in April 2022, admitting that the force had been “borderline incompetent” in the way it managed the issue. The force, along with other local institutions, had failed to act despite warnings, according to a 2022 government-commissioned report, which led to an impression that the local council and police were downplaying “the ethnic dimensions of child sexual exploitation”.

Estimates from a 2014 report suggested the number of victims who may have been exploited by men primarily of Pakistani heritage in such cases is at least 1,400.

However, the vast majority of sexual cases in the UK continue to be perpetrated by white men.

The issue was raised again in the UK earlier this year when US tech billionaire Elon Musk began using his X account to accuse Prime Minister Keir Starmer of being complicit due to his role as head of the Crown Prosecution Service at the time. The government rejected the allegations.

Other figures later seized on the issue, explicitly linking the perpetrators’ ethnicity to their crimes and blaming a culture of permissiveness towards minorities for blocking investigations, despite evidence to the contrary.

Far-right agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known widely as Tommy Robinson, frequently campaigned on the issue, blaming the UK’s Muslim community and accusing the government of a cover-up, and got Musk’s backing due to his belief that Robinson, who has been repeatedly convicted of other crimes, was blowing the whistle on the issue.

Musk called for a new national inquiry into the rape gangs, as did some politicians. Starmer initially said an inquiry had taken place and the recommendations needed to be implemented, but later changed his position and backed the calls.

Starmer told the BBC that another transparent inquiry would help improve public confidence in authorities. “That, to me, is a practical, common-sense way of doing politics,” he said.

A preliminary report released in June by Baroness Louise Casey said data on the issue was poor and in many cases non-existent, which made determining whether any ethnic group was overrepresented very difficult.

“If you look at the data on child exploitation, suspects and offenders, it is disproportionately Asian heritage,” Casey said. “If you look at the data for child abuse, it is not disproportionate, and it is white men.”

Following Casey’s report, then-Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the government had accepted the report’s recommendations, including the strengthening of rape law and protection for children.

Speaking in the House of Commons in June, Cooper added: “While much more robust national data is needed, we cannot and must not shy away from these findings, because, as Baroness Casey says, ignoring the issues, not examining and exposing them to the light, allows the criminality and depravity of a minority of men to be used to marginalise whole communities.”

FBI Director Kash Patel announces break with anti-Semitism watchdog amid outrage over description of Charlie Kirk.

The top law enforcement agency in the United States has cut ties with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), accusing the Jewish advocacy organisation and anti-Semitism watchdog of spying on conservatives.

FBI Director Kash Patel made the announcement on Wednesday after prominent conservative influencers, including Elon Musk, pounced on the ADL’s inclusion of the murdered right-wing activist Charlie Kirk in its “Glossary of Extremism and Hate”.

In a brief statement, Patel singled out the ADL’s associations with former FBI Director James Comey, a strident critic of President Donald Trump who was indicted last week on charges of obstruction and lying to the US Congress.

Patel said Comey had written “love letters” to the ADL and embedded agents within the group, which he accused of running “disgraceful ops spying on Americans”.

“This FBI won’t partner with political fronts masquerading as watchdogs,” Patel said in a social media post.

Patel did not elaborate on, or provide evidence for, his claims.

In a 2014 speech to the ADL’s National Leadership Summit, Comey said the FBI had made the advocacy group’s Law Enforcement and Society training mandatory for personnel and partnered with it to draft a “Hate Crimes Training Manual”.

Comey called the ADL’s experience in investigating hate crimes “essential” and its training “eye-opening and insightful”.

“If this sounds a bit like a love letter to the ADL, it is, and rightly so,” he said.

While Patel did not mention Kirk in his statement, his announcement came just a day after the ADL removed more than 1,000 entries about alleged extremism from its website amid right-wing outrage over references to the late activist.

The ADL said it made the decision as many of the terms were outdated and a number of entries had been “intentionally misrepresented and misused”.

In a since-deleted entry on Kirk and his youth organisation Turning Point USA (TPUSA), the ADL said Kirk promoted “Christian nationalism” and “numerous conspiracy theories about election fraud and Covid-19 and has demonised the transgender community”.

The entry also said TPUSA attracted racists, that its representatives had made “bigoted remarks” about minority groups and the LGBTQ community, and that white nationalists had attended its events, “even though the group says it rejects white supremacist ideology”.

Kirk himself strongly criticised the ADL while he was alive, once describing it as a “hate group that dons a religious mask to justify stoking hatred of the left’s enemies”.

In a statement responding to Patel’s remarks on Wednesday, the ADL said it had “deep respect” for the FBI and all law enforcement officers who work to protect Americans regardless of their ancestry, religion, ethnicity, faith and political affiliation.

“In light of an unprecedented surge of antisemitism, we remain more committed than ever to our core purpose to protect the Jewish people,” it said.

Seemingly every time President Trump speaks about race or what it means to be an American, he sparks outrage.

His purposeful use of divisive and inflammatory language to energize his political base isn’t new in American politics, though. It’s part of a legacy of racism going back to the country’s founding, when the authors of the Constitution gave slaveholders immense political power while allowing them to treat enslaved Africans as less than human.

“It taps into this racial resentment toward Black people that is deep-seated,” said Pearl Dowe, a professor of political science and African American studies at Emory University in Atlanta. “Politicians use it because it works.”

Trump’s tactics served him well in 2016, but they feel out of step in an election year that has seen a dramatic shift in the public’s attitudes about race.

In the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd and protests against police brutality that have spread to all 50 states, Americans of various backgrounds, including many white people who live in conservative strongholds, seem eager to make amends for the bigotry and injustice the country has inflicted on Black people.

In a Civiqs poll conducted in early July, 53% of registered voters said they supported Black Lives Matter, up from 38% who said they supported the movement in the summer of 2017, after the violent white supremacist rallies in Charlottesville, Va.

Russell Riley, a historian at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, said that since the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and ’70s, Americans have come to expect something different from what Trump has offered so far — at the very least, a show of common cause with those demonstrating for racial progress.

“When Lyndon Johnson — a Texan — went before Congress and said, ‘We shall overcome,’ that changed the job description of every president since,” said Riley, who co-chairs the Miller Center Presidential Oral History Program at UVA. “Even with Nixon and Reagan, who trafficked in the seamier side of politics, there was some acknowledgement of the need for racial equality.”

Trump’s combativeness comes off as extreme and retrograde by comparison — whether he’s portraying Black Lives Matter activists as hellbent on “ending America,” summoning federal agents to face off with protesters or retweeting a video showing one of his supporters shouting “white power.”

And yet he rejects any notion that he’s fanning old racial hatred.

To understand this disconnect, Trump’s critics should know that he and many other Americans hold a competing view of the country, said Spencer Critchley, former communications consultant for Barack Obama.

They simply don’t see America as inherently unfair and racist, Critchley said. They believe the U.S. possesses a distinct identity and noble traditions that must be fiercely defended, not challenged.

An image of George Floyd was projected onto the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Va., during protests against police violence and racism.

(Steve Helber / Associated Press)

Given that outlook, no one should be surprised that Trump — who launched his 2016 campaign by disparaging Mexicans as rapists and murders, called NFL players who kneeled during the national anthem “sons of bitches” and refers to COVID-19 as the “Kung Flu” — resorts to the same formula of crude references and bigoted slights that helped previous presidential candidates curry favor with white voters, Critchley said.

“There’s this overlap between ethnic nationalism and racism,” said Critchley, author of the new book “Patriot of Two Nations: Why Trump Was Inevitable and What Happens Next.” “It’s built into the foundation of the country, but he does have an instinctual sense of how to exploit it.”

What Trump fails to take seriously enough, Critchley said, is that successive generations of Americans have been denied the privileges and opportunities that make the country special. They love the country too, but they’ve been tormented by it instead of embraced.

In the 1960s, TV viewers watched in horror as footage showed violence against Black demonstrators: the late Georgia Rep. John Lewis and other activists in the South being beaten and attacked with water canons, police clashing with Black people during uprisings in Detroit and Newark and Watts.

They saw the hurt and anguish in the eyes of Black Americans who poured into the streets after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Even though Black Americans won the basic right to vote, to sit at lunch counters next to white patrons and send their children to integrated schools, racism lived on.

Alabama’s George Wallace ran for president in 1968 as a backlash against the civil rights movement, five years after declaring “segregation today, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

Richard Nixon ran that same year by appealing to the “silent majority” of conservative whites who felt threatened by social change and promised to respond to civil unrest with “law and order.”

In his July 3 speech at Mt. Rushmore, President Trump called Black Lives Matter protesters agitators who want to “end America” and vowed to protect monuments honoring what he described as the nation’s heritage, though some have been derided as emblems of white supremacy.

(Alex Brandon / Associated Press)

A generation later, Ronald Reagan chose the Neshoba County Fair outside Philadelphia, Miss., to launch his 1980 general election campaign and tout “states’ rights,” a phrase that was popular with opponents of federal civil rights legislation. The county was the site of the 1964 murders of three voting-rights activists by white supremacists.

Reagan’s successor, George H.W. Bush, refused to apologize for an attack ad featuring a convicted felon named Willie Horton that critics said stereotyped Black men as dangerous.

Trump’s campaign encompasses all those approaches: He demonizes entire ethnic groups as not fully American, lashes out at protesters and insinuates that white people, not people of color, are the ones most in need of protection.

In recent days, Trump has tried to stoke the fears of suburban white women, telling viewers of a town hall targeting Wisconsin voters that Democrats are planning to “eliminate single-family zoning, bringing who knows into your suburbs, so your communities will be unsafe and your housing values will go down.”

Black Americans are on average three times more likely than whites to be killed by police, according to a Harvard study released in June that analyzed 5,494 police-related deaths between 2013 and 2017. But in a recent CBS News interview, Trump responded to a question about why Black people continue to be killed by the police by distorting the truth: “So are white people,” he said. “More white people.”

He also said that those who fly the Confederate flag, a symbol of hate for many Black people, are celebrating their heritage and practicing their 1st Amendment right to free speech.

“When Donald Trump talks about ‘heritage,’ he means who has the heritage to be an American citizen,” Dowe said.

“He’s deliberately pandered to the idea that America is a nation rooted in white culture and power,” she said. “Others that reside here just reside; they are not due the full rights of citizenship. If others — people of color — stake their rights to citizenship and equality, then the way of life that white people are comfortable with will be no more.”

Democrats have also fostered discord and condoned racial bigotry. Riley noted that Andrew Jackson approved the use of mob violence against Southerners who subscribed to abolitionist literature, citing his belief that anti-slavery activists were trying to incite enslaved Africans to rise up.

For decades, the party tolerated leaders among their ranks who openly advocated for white supremacy and racial segregation.

Woodrow Wilson, who once wrote that Black people were “an ignorant and inferior race,” permitted a screening of “The Birth of a Nation” at the White House, even though it presents Ku Klux Klansmen as heroes.

In more recent years, both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden have faced accusations of racism over their support of criminal justice reforms in the 1990s that have contributed to mass incarceration of Americans of color.

A Trump rally in 2016. The president often uses such racially charged expressions to appeal to his majority-white base and to draw a distinction between his vision of America and that of the Democrats.

(Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times)

Trump, however, is on another level with his defense of Confederate symbols and his casting of protesters as traitors, historians say.

The same us-versus-them mentality and ethnic nationalism were at play when he questioned whether the Hawaii-born Obama, the country’s first black president, was a U.S. citizen.

Riley believes Trump’s insistence on reigniting familiar culture wars to woo voters reveals he has a “tin ear” when it comes to sensing what the country needs at a time of profound distress.

Americans face crisis and uncertainty at every turn — not just the police killings of Blacks and Latinos but the government’s fumbled response to a pandemic that has taken the lives of more than 147,000 Americans and caused swaths of the country to halt their reopening plans, prolonging the worst jobs slump since the Great Depression.

“Maybe he’s going to be headstrong and hidebound, and do whatever he’s going to do,” Riley said, “but he’s failed to understand what can happen when he does these antagonistic things.”

With Trump prodding an already jittery nation with a daily barrage of falsehoods and racist provocations, the country appears to be lurching toward a level of chaos that he won’t be able to manipulate.

Dowe borrowed an expression that her 87-year-old mother, Barbara Ford, relies on for high-anxiety times like these: “Something’s got to give.”

“At some point,” Dowe said, “things that are negative and evil must give way to the truth and what is right.”

Demonstrators offer counterbalance to royal grandeur and flattery of US president at Windsor Castle.

Demonstrators have taken to the streets of London and Windsor to protest Donald Trump’s unprecedented second state visit to the United Kingdom, which human rights groups have condemned over US support for “the continuing genocide of the Palestinian people”.

Hundreds of protesters gathered at Portland Place in central London, near the BBC’s Broadcasting House, carrying banners reading “No to racism, no to Trump,” alongside smaller versions of the “Trump baby blimp” that became an icon of mass demonstrations against his first state visit in 2019. The protesters were also marching towards Whitehall and Parliament Square.

Other anti-Trump protests were also reported on Wednesday around Windsor Castle, located 40 kilometres (25 miles) west of central London.

Meanwhile, the UK government has rolled out the royal red carpet for the US president, holding meetings with US business executives and staging ceremonies designed to win favour from Trump on trade matters.

According to Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic, official events were deliberately kept away from central London demonstrations “to spare Donald Trump the embarrassment of encountering a protest”.

Stop the War, one of the main organisers, said on X: “Genocide deniers not welcome! All out against Trump’s state visit! Demand US and UK stop arming the Israeli genocidal state!”

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign also encouraged Brits to speak up. “Trump’s deportations confirm he is a racist authoritarian at home and a warmongerer abroad. These are not things we should be honouring. Join us to demand our government cancel this visit.”

Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands, reporting from the protests, described them as “the counterpoint to all that flattery and pomp and grandeur that’s going on in Windsor at the moment”.

“There are no royal carriages here. There are no military parades. This is a very different England. This is the England of the left. It’s the England of Trades Unions. It’s the England of environmental groups and the Palestine solidarity campaign. And they say that Donald Trump is not welcome in this country.”

Challands said demonstrators accused the British government of honouring “a man who they say has basically been destroying human rights in the United States, destroying human rights around the world, denying climate change and enabling a genocide in Gaza”.

“They also point to him as basically the spiritual figurehead of a global far-right movement that is authoritarian and rolling back democracy,” he noted.

Despite efforts to cocoon Trump from demonstrations, hundreds of protesters from the Stop Trump Coalition gathered outside Windsor Castle. Thames Valley Police said four people were arrested on suspicion of malicious communications after they projected images of Trump and child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein onto the 1,000-year-old fortress.

Officers also spoke with the driver of a van carrying an advert that showed Trump alongside Epstein, who died by suicide in a New York jail in 2019. “No arrests were made, and no vehicles were seized,” police said of that encounter.

Trump’s visit comes as UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces political difficulties at home after he recently dismissed the UK’s ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson, following a backlash over the diplomat’s connection to Epstein.

Trump’s friendship with Epstein has also exposed him to damaging headlines in recent weeks.

Convicted ex-leader rushed to a hospital in Brasilia after falling ill at his residence, his son says.

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced to prison last week for plotting a coup, has been rushed to hospital after falling ill while under house arrest, his son said.

The emergency visit on Tuesday is the 70-year-old former army captain’s second hospital visit since his conviction.

Bolsonaro has had recurring intestinal issues since he was stabbed while campaigning in 2018, including at least six related surgeries, including a 12-hour-long procedure in April. He won the election that year, and governed from 2019 to 2023.

“Bolsonaro felt unwell a short while ago, with a severe bout of hiccups, vomiting, and low blood pressure,” his son, Flavio, wrote on X.

“He was taken to DF Star [Hospital] accompanied by correctional police officers who guard his home in Brasília, as it was an emergency,” he wrote.

Bolsonaro visited the same hospital on Sunday, and had eight skin lesions removed and sent for biopsies.

A panel of Supreme Court justices on Thursday found the former leader guilty of plotting a coup after he lost the 2022 election to current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

They sentenced him to 27 years and three months in prison.

The sentence, however, does not immediately send him to jail. The court panel has up to 60 days to publish the ruling after the decision, and once it does, Bolsonaro’s lawyers have five days to file motions for clarification.

Bolsonaro has denied wrongdoing and said he is the victim of political persecution. United States President Donald Trump has also called the trial a “witch-hunt”, and imposed tariffs of 50 percent on Brazilian goods, citing the case against Bolsonaro, among other issues.

The former Brazilian leader has been under house arrest since August for allegedly courting pressure on the courts from Trump. He had already been wearing an ankle monitor.

Separately on Tuesday, a federal court ordered Bolsonaro to pay 1 million reais ($188,865) in damages for collective moral harm stemming from racist comments he made while in office.

The inquiry originated from Bolsonaro’s statements to a Black supporter who approached him in May 2021 and asked to take a picture.

The former president joked, saying he was seeing a cockroach in the man’s hair. He also compared the man’s hairstyle with a “cockroach breeding ground”, implying the hair was unclean.

There was no immediate comment from his legal team after the latest court order.

His defence had previously told media outlets that the former leader’s remarks were intended as jokes rather than racist statements, denying any intent to cause offence.

Public opinion in Brazil, meanwhile, is split on Bolsonaro’s prison sentence on coup charges, and the far-right politician’s allies have laid out several plans to overturn or reduce the jail term.

In the Congress, they have rallied behind an amnesty bill, building on the campaign to free hundreds of his supporters who stormed and vandalised government buildings in January 2023.

Sao Paulo Governor Tarcisio de Freitas, a leading Bolsonaro ally, has also promised repeatedly to pardon the former leader if he were to become president in next year’s election. A court has barred Bolsonaro from running for office until 2030, though the former president insisted earlier this year that he would compete in the 2026 presidential election.

For his part, Lula, the incumbent president, has hailed the sentencing of Bolsonaro as a “historic decision” that followed months of investigations that uncovered plans to assassinate him, the vice president and a Supreme Court justice.

Bolsonaro’s conviction, he also said, “safeguards” Brazil’s institutions and the democratic rule of law.

Antifascist campaign group Hope Not Hate condemns speeches at Saturday’s rally in London as ‘extremely disturbing’.

Britain will “never surrender” to far-right protesters who use the national flag as cover for violence and intimidation, United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer says after violent scenes at one of the country’s largest far-right demonstrations in decades.

More than 110,000 people marched through central London on Saturday in a protest against immigration led by far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon. Some attending the Unite the Kingdom rally clashed with police. Twenty-six officers were injured, and at least 24 people were arrested, according to the Metropolitan Police.

In his first public comments since the rally, Starmer said on Sunday that peaceful protest was a fundamental value in Britain, but he condemned assaults on police officers and intimidation against marginalised communities.

“People have a right to peaceful protest. It is core to our country’s values,” he said. “But we will not stand for assaults on police officers doing their job or for people feeling intimidated on our streets because of their background or the colour of their skin.”

He added: “Britain is a nation proudly built on tolerance, diversity and respect. Our flag represents our diverse country, and we will never surrender it to those that use it as a symbol of violence, fear and division.”

Islam is the ‘real enemy’

Saturday’s protest was marked by nationalist symbols, scuffles and inflammatory speeches. Footage showed police on horseback pelted with bottles while baton charges were used to push back Robinson supporters and allow about 5,000 counterdemonstrators to leave the Whitehall area of central London safely.

A stage was erected for speeches from a lineup of far-right figures. Leading the charge was Robinson, who told the crowd: “It’s not just Britain that is being invaded. It’s not just Britain that is being raped.”

“Every single Western nation faces the same problem: An orchestrated, organised invasion and replacement of European citizens is happening,” he added.

International speakers included French politician Eric Zemmour, who echoed the views put forward by Robinson. “We are both subject to the same process of the great replacement of our European peoples by peoples coming from the south and of Muslim culture,” he said, citing the great replacement conspiracy theory that white Europeans are being deliberately replaced by people from other ethnicities.

“You and we are being colonised by our former colonies,” Zemmour added.

Similarly, Belgian far-right politician Filip Dewinter declared: “It has to be clear that Islam is our real enemy. We have to get rid of Islam. Islam does not belong in Europe, and Islam does not belong in the UK.”

Other speakers included Danish People’s Party leader Morten Messerschmidt, German Alternative for Germany MP Petr Bystron and Polish politician Dominik Tarczynski.

Tesla CEO and X Chairman Elon Musk also made an appearance by videolink, telling protesters the UK needed an “urgent change in government” and warning them to “fight back” or “die”.

Police, government and antifascist groups condemn violence

The rally came amid a wave of far-right violence in recent months, including arson attacks on hotels housing asylum seekers.

Experts said these incidents, fuelled by conspiracy theories, xenophobia and online disinformation, have intensified concerns over the rise of far-right movements across Britain and Europe, which often spill over into rioting and violence.

Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Matt Twist said the violence directed at officers was “wholly unacceptable”. He added: “There is no doubt that many came to exercise their lawful right to protest, but there were many who came intent on violence.”

British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also condemned the violence, warning that anyone taking part in criminal acts would “face the full force of the law”.

Starmer’s remarks followed calls from the antifascist group Hope Not Hate and several MPs urging the government to act against the surge in far-right mobilisation. Hope Not Hate described the protest as “extremely disturbing”.

“While the turnout was significantly smaller than the millions claimed by Lennon and his supporters, it appears to be the largest far-right demonstration ever seen in Britain,” the group said.

“For anyone worried about the rise of far-right activism and the normalisation of viciously anti-migrant, anti-Muslim sentiment, it could be a sign of dark times to come,” it added.

The Italian journalist who — for some reason — excluded Ayo Edebiri in a question about Hollywood and the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements has spoken out about the now-viral interview.

Federica Polidoro posted a statement Monday on Instagram defending her work, saying that she has been subject to “violent language, personal attacks, and cyberbullying” following the “question that, for some reason, was not well received by some members of the public.”

“Rather than focusing on the thoughtful responses of Ayo Edebiri, Julia Roberts, and Andrew Garfield, the discussion continues solely on how I should have phrased the question,” Polidoro wrote.

The exchange in question occurred at a press event with Edebiri, Roberts and Garfield at the Venice Film Festival, where their film “After the Hunt,” directed by Luca Guadagnino, made its world premiere. In a video that has been shared widely, Polidoro is heard asking Roberts and Garfield what they thought was “lost during the politically correct era” and what people can expect from Hollywood now that “the #MeToo movement and Black Lives Matters are done.”

After Roberts asks the journalist to clarify who the question is directed to, Polidoro reiterates that her question is for Roberts and Garfield. As the actors share a look, Edebiri raises her hand to respond instead.

“I know that that’s not for me and I don’t know if it’s purposeful that it’s not for me — but I am curious — but I don’t think it’s done,” the star of “The Bear” says. “I don’t think it’s done at all.”

“I think maybe hashtags might not be used as much,” she continues, “but I do think that there’s work being done by activists, by people, every day, that’s beautiful, important work that’s not finished. That’s really, really, really active for a reason. Because this world is really charged. And that work isn’t finished at all. Maybe there’s not mainstream coverage in the way that there might have been, daily headlines in the way that it might have been, eight or so years ago, but I don’t think it means that the work is done. That’s what I would say.”

“The movements are still absolutely alive,” Garfield says in agreement. “Just maybe not as labeled or covered or magnified as much in this present moment.”

In her statement, Polidoro pushed back against accusations of racism, saying she has “interviewed people of every background and ethnicity” over the course of her 20-year career.

“My own family is multi-ethnic, matriarchal, and feminist, with a significant history of immigration,” wrote Polidoro, who in her Instagram bio mentions being a Golden Globes voter and awards season analyst. “In my view, the real racists are those who see racism everywhere and seek to muzzle journalism, limiting freedom of analysis, critical thinking, and the plurality of perspectives.”

Polidoro’s statement also said, “Censoring or delegitimizing questions considered ‘uncomfortable’ does not fall within the practice of democracy. … Journalism’s role is to ask questions, even on delicate topics, with respect and responsibility.”

Melbourne, Australia – A far-right “anti-immigration” march escalated into a violent attack on a sacred Indigenous site in Melbourne last weekend, raising serious questions about police conduct and institutional responses to neo-Nazi groups in Australia.

The march on Sunday, which saw members of the self-described neo-Nazi National Socialist Network (NSN) lead chants of “Australia for the white man”, culminated in a group of 50 men storming Camp Sovereignty – the site of a historic Aboriginal burial ground in the city.

The attack left four people injured, with two hospitalised for severe head wounds.

The “March for Australia” protest against mass immigration came just one week after more than 350,000 people marched across Australia in solidarity with Palestinians amid Israel’s war on Gaza.

Far-right and neo-Nazi connections were evident in the organisation of the march.

According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), prominent far-right figure Hugo Lennon, an associate of the neo-Nazi NSN, was listed as an original organiser before being quietly removed from the event’s Facebook page days prior.

In a statement released a day before the march, Thomas Sewell, leader of the NSN, declared, “March for Australia is about stopping immigration. No illegal actions or gestures will be performed by our members on the day.”

For some, the ensuing violence at Camp Sovereignty made clear the event’s underlying intentions.

“The rally was never about immigration but an excuse to parade white supremacist ideas in Australia,” said Ilo Diaz from the Centre Against Racial Profiling.

‘We knew they were coming back’: The assault on Camp Sovereignty

The Camp Sovereignty protest site occupies the “Kings Domain” parkland area in central Melbourne.

The camp is considered a sovereign embassy of Australia’s First Nation people and a sacred space dedicated to honouring Indigenous ancestors and healing generational trauma within the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, particularly the Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation.

Established in 2006 by elders Robbie and Marg Thorpe, Camp Sovereignty marks the site of an Indigenous ceremonial place and burial ground, and has come to symbolise ongoing Indigenous resistance in Australia, advocating for an end to genocide and recognition of Indigenous sovereignty and land rights.

Nathalie Farah, who said she was kicked in the stomach during the attack on the camp, said the threat from the far right was evident hours before the violence took place.

“Earlier that morning, Tom [Sewell] and a couple of his mates walked through Camp Sovereignty,” Farah told Al Jazeera.

“They wanted to walk through the sacred fire. We knew that they were going to come back. The police knew they were coming back,” Farah said.

At approximately 5pm local time, a large group, led by Sewell, armed with poles and pipes, charged the camp.

Video footage shared on social media showed the attackers, most dressed entirely in black, charging towards the camp and assaulting anyone in their path as they tore down First Nation flags and inflicted damage to the site.

The Black Peoples Union, an Indigenous political organisation, said the attackers chanted “white power” and racial slurs while stamping on the camp’s sacred fire – which is kept burning to honour the Indigenous ancestors buried at the site – and trampling on the Aboriginal flag.

Video clips of the attack showed the men and younger youths specifically targeting women at the camp.

“I had what looked like a 15-year-old boy rip my hair, throw me to the ground and smash into my face with his fists. He did it with a smile on his face,” a 30-year-old teacher said in a witness statement to the Black Peoples Union.

Naarm Frontline Medics, a volunteer medical group, alleged police arrived at the camp only after the attackers fled, and claimed officers “came with pepper spray drawn on the victims of the assault, not the attackers”.

The medics also accused officers of having “actively obstructed the victims ‘ access to emergency medical care”.

Victoria Police confirmed they made no arrests at the site.

A ‘globally networked’ threat

Researchers note the attack on Camp Sovereignty was not an isolated incident but part of a growing, internationally connected, far-right threat.

The White Rose Society, which monitors far-right extremism, told Al Jazeera the neo-Nazi NSN group is “heavily networked with the international far right” through groups such as Terrorgram and 764/COM, with leaders “playing a prominent role in the international active club network”.

“Australian fascists and neo-Nazis have extensive reach on social media to an international audience, contributing to neo-Nazi news sites that promote anti-Semitic content,” the group said.

The NSN did not respond to Al Jazeera’s requests for comment.

The group’s Telegram channel displays multiple videos showing members training in combat techniques and chanting “white men fight back”, content that is also promoted across their TikTok accounts and official website.

The camp attack has highlighted concerns among some regarding the selective condemnation of far-right violence from official institutions in Australia.

Australia’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, Jillian Segal, who was appointed to lead efforts against anti-Semitic actions in Australia, has yet to issue a statement addressing the neo-Nazi violence.

Segal also declined to address the role of neo-Nazis in the “March for Australia” protest, telling reporters at a conference: “I don’t want to comment on any particular incidents as I think this goes beyond any particular incident.”

In July, Segal said she had no involvement in a major donation by a company co-directed by her husband to Advance Australia – a conservative lobby group that rails against immigration, pro-Palestinian protests, and the Labor government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe, a Djab Wurrung, Gunnai and Gunditjmara woman, condemned what she called institutional hypocrisy in dealing with the far-right in Australia.

“Why are the authorities allowing this to happen? Why is the prime minister allowing this to happen?” Senator Thorpe said.

Thorpe has demanded a full investigation into the attack on Camp Sovereignty and has directly linked the slow police response to systemic racism in Australian society.

“We see how the Victorian Police treat Aboriginal people every day on the streets. There needs to be a full investigation on the infiltration of the neo-Nazi movement into not only the Victorian police force, but every so-called police force in this country,” Thorpe said.

“I’m sure there’s a lot more members of the NSN that wear badges amongst the police force,” she added.

The March for Australia rally proceeded with a significant police presence last weekend. Videos and witness accounts show police officers walking alongside the demonstrators.

When counter-protesters attempted to block NSN members from joining the main rally, video footage shared by the NSN and anti-fascist organisers showed police using pepper spray, but only on counter-protesters.

Political commentator Tom Tanuki said this selectivity fitted a pattern of police conduct that “invariably” sides with the far right.

“I wasn’t surprised to see them, as depicted in my video, defending NSN’s entry into the rally and pepper-spraying people out of the way,” Tanuki said.

A statement released before the march by Victoria Police declared, “Anyone thinking of coming into the city to cause trouble, display hateful behaviour, breach the peace or confront others will be met with a strong police response.”

A measure of accountability

More than 48 hours after the attack on Camp Sovereignty, NSN leader Sewell was arrested and charged. On Friday, he was denied bail by a court in Melbourne. Five other NSN members were arrested and released on bail.

Despite the arrests, authorities have not classified the attack on Camp Sovereignty as a racially motivated hate crime, which has prompted condemnation from Aboriginal leaders.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Senator Thorpe stated unequivocally: “Camp Sovereignty is our place of worship. For the authorities, even the federal parliament and the prime minister, not to see this as a hate crime, to refuse to name it and treat it as one, shows we have a serious problem in this country.

“It’s racism in itself not to call it what it is,” Thorpe said.

Thorpe connected the violence to Australia’s colonial legacy.

“The war has not ended for our people,” she added.

“We have over 600 Aboriginal deaths in custody with no one held accountable. 24,000 of our children have been taken from their mothers’ arms. They’re locking up our babies from age 10; 93 percent of the child prison population are our children. The genocide continues.”

Despite the attack, Camp Sovereignty remains, and a nationwide day of action has been called by Aboriginal resistance organisation The Blak Caucus on September 13, to show solidarity with the camp.

Head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association says plan similar to having ‘a cardiologist do a hip replacement’.

Hundreds of military and civilian lawyers working for the United States Department of Defense (DOD) will serve as immigration judges temporarily, officials have said, in the latest move by President Donald Trump’s administration to involve the military in US domestic affairs.

“These DOD attorneys will augment existing resources to help further combat a backlog of cases by presiding over immigration hearings,” Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said in a statement on Tuesday.

Military lawyers are not trained to serve as immigration judges, and one US official told the Reuters news agency that even with additional training, it would be difficult for military lawyers to act as judges.

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has approved sending up to 600 military lawyers to the Justice Department as part of the plan, according to a memo reviewed by The Associated Press news agency.

The military will begin sending groups of 150 lawyers “as soon as practicable”, according to the memo, with the lawyers expected to serve as immigration judges for 179 days initially, Reuters reported.

The head of the American Immigration Lawyers Association described the plan as similar to having “a cardiologist do a hip replacement”.

“Expecting fair decisions from judges unfamiliar with the law is absurd. This reckless move guts due process and further undermines the integrity of our immigration court system,” said Ben Johnson, the organisation ‘s executive director.

In his 2024 book The War on Warriors, Defense Secretary Hegseth was highly critical of military lawyers, saying that most “spend more time prosecuting our troops than putting away bad guys”.

The move to deploy the military lawyers comes as the Trump administration turns to military support for its crackdown on undocumented immigration, including the growing role of troops patrolling the US-Mexico border, National Guard members being sent into US cities to support immigration enforcement efforts, detaining people at military bases in advance of deportation, and using military aircraft to carry out deportations.

On Tuesday, a court ruled that the Trump administration had “wilfully” violated federal law by sending National Guard troops to Los Angeles in early June.

Names marked with an asterisk have been changed to protect identities.

When Akmal’s* mosque was vandalised last week in Basildon, a town in the English county of Essex, he felt shaken.

“I was so hurt,” said the 33-year-old electrical engineer, who requested Al Jazeera use a pseudonym. “It was so close to home. My local masjid [mosque]. It felt like a real kick in the teeth.”

The South Essex Islamic Centre in Basildon was defaced shortly before midnight on Thursday. Red crosses were daubed across its walls alongside the words “Christ is King” and “This is England”.

The timing, the night before Friday prayers, appeared to many as calculated – an attempt to intimidate a flurry of worshippers in the southeastern English county.

“My wife and baby are growing up here,” Akmal told Al Jazeera. “I want to move out of the area. I just cannot stay here.”

Community leaders condemned the attack.

Gavin Callaghan, the leader of Basildon Council, described it as “pathetic criminal cowardice”.

“Don’t dress it up. Don’t excuse it. It’s scum behaviour, and it shames our town … The cowards who did this will be caught,” he said. “To do this right before Friday prayers is no coincidence. That’s targeted. That’s intimidation. And it’s criminal.”

Wajid Akhter, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, said, “The St George flag is a symbol of England we should all be proud of. For it to be used in this way, [which] echoes how Nazis targeted Jewish homes, is a disgrace to our flag and our nation. Silence has allowed hate to grow.”

Essex police are investigating the incident.

Council staff and volunteers worked in the early hours of the morning to remove the graffiti before worshippers arrived, but a sense of fear is still lingering.

“I was shocked,” said Sajid Fani, 43, who lives in the area. “I didn’t expect something like that to happen here.”

Local bishops decried the misuse of Christian imagery in the attack. They issued a joint statement calling the vandalism “scandalous and profoundly misguided”, saying that invoking Christianity to justify racism is “theologically false and morally dangerous”.

Racism amid flag-raising campaign

The vandalism took place amid a tense atmosphere in the United Kingdom, amid protests against asylum seekers and a social media campaign dubbed #OperationRaisetheColours.

In recent weeks, those heeding the call have pinned the flag of England bearing Saint George’s Cross and Union Jacks to motorway bridges, lampposts, roundabouts and some shops across the UK. Red crosses have been spray-painted on the white stripes of zebra crossings.

According to the anti-far-right HOPE not hate group, the campaign is led by Andrew Currien, a former member of the Islamophobic English Defence League and now a security figure for the political party Britain First, also an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant group.

While some supporters frame the project as patriotic, it has been tied to racist incidents.

Racist graffiti has appeared in several other locations. Some 300 miles (about 500km) north of Basildon, for example, xenophobic slurs have been sprayed on buildings in County Durham and Houghton-le-Spring in northern England.

Some have blamed the media’s focus on the issue of asylum.

In recent months, British television networks and newspapers have dedicated significant coverage to asylum seekers, as some social media sites allow hateful content to proliferate.

Shabna Begum, head of Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, said the spate of vandalism is part of a “frightening intensification of Islamophobia” driven by political and media narratives scapegoating Muslim communities.

“The violence being played out on our streets and the vandalism of mosques is the product of a political and media soundtrack that has relentlessly demonised Muslim communities,” she said. “Whether it is policy or narratives, we have been fed a monotonous diet that tells us that our economic problems are caused by Muslims, migrants and people seeking asylum.”

She warned that history shows governments that fail to confront economic grievances while scapegoating minorities ultimately collapse.

“The question is how much will this betrayal cost for the Muslim communities that are served as political fodder,” she said.

Fani in Basildon said, “It’s the fear factor. They [media channels] put terror in the hearts of people when it comes to Muslims. I want to show people we are just like them. We’re just human.”

Days before the mosque was vandalised, a roundabout opposite was painted with a red cross.

“I wasn’t offended by England flags being flown,” said Fani. “But this is different. It crossed a line.”

In the wake of the vandalism, mosque leaders encouraged worshippers to attend Friday prayers in greater numbers as a show of resilience.

Fani said the turnout was larger than usual: “Alhumdulillah [Thank God], it resulted in more people coming to the mosque, so the outcome was positive.”

‘A line between being patriotic and being outright racist’

Maryam*, a Muslim woman who lives in Basildon, lamented the “attack on the Muslim community” as she emphasised that it reflects a dark climate.

“There’s a line between being patriotic and being outright racist or Islamophobic – and some people here are crossing that line.”

In her view, a wave of protests against housing asylum seekers at hotels earlier this summer has coincided with Islamophobic abuse – particularly in Epping, a nearby town where The Bell Hotel has been the focus of violent agitation.

Police data is yet to confirm a link or rise in racist attacks, but locally reported incidents tell a troubling story.

Last week, a man in Basildon was arrested after a hijab-wearing woman and her child were allegedly racially abused, while vandals sprayed St George’s crosses on nearby homes.

At the end of July, residents reported glass projectiles being hurled from the upper floors of a building near Basildon station, apparently targeting Muslim women and families of colour.

Beyond the headline incidents, Maryam reeled off a list of other recent examples of racism she has witnessed – a woman of East African origin called a racial slur, a driver mocking a Muslim woman in hijab as a “post box”.

“Unfortunately, I’ve [also] been subjected to a lot of Islamophobia in Basildon – often in front of my child,” she added. “It has affected my mental health … it’s created a lot of trauma and barriers to simply living a normal life.”

While the mosque attack prompted swift attention from councillors and police, isolated incidents against individuals often go unreported.

“If the police engaged with the community better, explained what hate crimes are, how they’re reported, how investigations work, it would remove barriers to reporting,” said Maryam.

Jelena Ostapenko has apologised for some of the words she used in a tense altercation with American Taylor Townsend at the US Open, which led to a backlash, with the Latvian stating that English was not her native language.

The controversy ignited after Townsend, who is Black, beat 2017 French Open champion Ostapenko 7-5, 6-1 in a tough second-round battle on Wednesday before being dragged into a verbal duel by her opponent following their handshake.

Townsend revealed part of the exchange in her on-court interview, saying Ostapenko accused her of having “no class” and “no education”, adding in a news conference that the Latvian would have to answer if there were “racial undertones” to the row.

Ostapenko said on Instagram that her anger stemmed from Townsend’s refusal to apologise for benefitting from a net cord – when the American’s shot clipped the net and stayed in play – and accused her of being disrespectful.

Most players tend to hold up their racket in apology after winning such a point, following age-old traditions in the sport.

The altercation prompted four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka to wade into the debate, with the Japanese player saying that using the words that Ostapenko did were the worst things to utter to criticise a Black player.

“I wanted to apologise for some of the things I said during my second-round singles match,” Ostapenko said on Saturday.

“English is not my native language, so when I said education, I was speaking only about what I believe as tennis etiquette, but I understand how the words I used could have offended many people beyond the tennis court.

“I appreciate the support as I continue to learn and grow as a person and a player.”

Townsend said later it was nice that Ostapenko apologised.

“That’s fine. That’s cool,” she added. “At the end of the day, I think that it’s a lesson for her … you can’t push your expectations on other people. That’s what happened.

“She expected me to react a certain way, and I didn’t, and it infuriated her, which led her to say things that are hurtful, belligerent, offensive, not only to me but to the sport and a whole culture of people I try to represent the best I can.”

American Coco Gauff said Townsend, who will take on Barbora Krejcikova in the fourth round, was one of the nicest people she knew.

Townsend said a lot of people were finding out about her following the incident.

“There’s a lot of familiar faces here, but there are a lot of people who maybe didn’t have any idea who I was,” she said.

“People being able to see me now, but then being able to go back and go into my history and follow my journey and figure out how has she gotten here, I think that’s super cool.”

US ambassador Tom Barrack has infuriated people in Lebanon and beyond, after he told reporters there not to be ‘animalistic’ during a press conference. Soraya Lennie looks at what’s behind the uproar – and how it involves the idea of Orientalism.