riots

Hapoel Tel Aviv criticised the derby cancellation, accusing Israeli police of “preparing for a war, not a sporting event”, including during discussions in the lead-up to the highly-anticipated match.

“The shocking events outside the stadium and following the reckless and scandalous decision not to hold the match only demonstrate that the Israel Police has taken control of the sport,” Hapoel Tel Aviv said in a statement on X, external.

Maccabi Tel Aviv has not yet commented, except to confirm the match was cancelled.

The decision by Birmingham’s Safety Advisory Group (SAG) to ban Maccabi Tel Aviv fans from the Aston Villa match on 6 November has sparked widespread criticism.

The UK government has since said it is working to overturn the ban and exploring what additional resources might be required to ensure the fixture can be hosted safely.

Villa told their matchday stewards that they did not have to work at the game, saying they understood that some “may have concerns”.

On Thursday, West Midlands Police said it supported the ban and classified the fixture as “high risk” based on intelligence and previous incidents.

That included “violent clashes and hate-crime offences” between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv fans before a match in Amsterdam in November 2024, when more than 60 people were arrested.

There have been protests at various sporting events over the war in Gaza, including when Israel played Norway and Italy in recent football World Cup qualifiers.

Former First Lady Michelle Obama took to Twitter to say that she woke up Wednesday “elated” by the news that the Rev. Raphael Warnock had won his Senate race, but that her “heart had fallen harder and faster than I can remember” as violent supporters of President Trump stormed the Capitol.

“The day was a fulfillment of the wishes of an infantile and unpatriotic president who can’t handle the truth of his own failures,” she continued.

She called the mob as a “gang” and described how they waved the Confederate flag, “desecrated the center of American government” and then were mostly led out of the building freely.

“It all left me with so many questions — questions about the future, questions about security, extremism, propaganda, and more. But there’s one question I just can’t shake: What if these rioters had looked like the folks who go to Ebenezer Baptist Church every Sunday? What would have been different?”

She continued: “And for those who calls others unpatriotic for simply taking a knee in silent protest, for those who wonder why we need to be reminded that Black Lives Matter at all, yesterday made it painfully clear that certain Americans are, in fact, allowed to denigrate the flag and symbols of our nation. What do all those folks have to say now?”

The Foreign Office has issued updated travel advice for Indonesia after violent riots erupted across the country, leaving seven people dead and hundreds injured in the worst unrest the nation has seen for years

Brits planning a holiday to Bali have been issued an urgent safety warning as violent riots break out across Indonesia, resulting in seven fatalities and hundreds of injuries in the worst unrest the country has experienced in years.

The Foreign Office has updated its travel advice due to the increasing risk of civil disorder and terror attacks, following intense street fights between police and protesters throughout the vast archipelago.

The lethal chaos was sparked by public outrage over extravagant new parliamentary perks, leading to widespread demonstrations that have rapidly spread from the capital Jakarta to cities nationwide. This news comes as a report exposed the inside of the hellhole jail where British Angel Delight drug smugglers face terrifying ‘threats’.

Rampaging crowds have set regional parliament buildings ablaze, embarked on extensive looting sprees and engaged in fierce clashes with security forces as the political crisis intensifies.

The death toll continues to rise, with three individuals losing their lives in Makassar after irate protesters torched a parliament building, resulting in scenes of complete devastation, reports the Express.

The violence took a dramatic turn when 21 year old ride-hailing driver Affan Kurniawan was tragically killed by a police vehicle in Jakarta, sparking national outrage and igniting further waves of anti-government anger.

A student tragically lost his life during violent clashes in Yogyakarta, while a pensioner pedicab driver passed away after inhaling tear gas during confrontations in Solo, adding to the growing human toll of the political chaos.

Jakarta’s health office has confirmed a shocking 469 people have been injured since the violence erupted, with nearly 100 needing hospital treatment for their injuries.

President orders crackdown as terror threat looms

President Prabowo Subianto expressed his shock and disappointment over the killing of Kurniawan but has commanded police and military forces to take the “firmest possible action” against rioters as the situation spirals out of control.

“There are signs of unlawful acts, even leading to treason and terrorism,” he cautioned in a chilling statement that highlights the severity of the crisis engulfing the nation.

Rehayu Saraswati, a member of the ruling party, admitted the scale of the protests had taken the government by surprise.

She confessed to the BBC: “I don’t think any of us saw this coming. It happened very, very quickly within a matter of days.”

But she dismissed accusations that the government had been deaf to public concerns, adding: “We understand that the situation is difficult, and that the economy has been quite, I would say, challenging for some people.

“The recently announced cuts to the parliamentary budget and allowances are a way to show that we are listening.”

Molotov cocktails and snipers as military deployed

The violence has escalated to worrying levels, with protestors lobbing Molotov cocktails and firecrackers at police lines in Bandung, while thousands more have taken to the streets across Sumatra, Java, Borneo and Sulawesi.

Troops have been dispatched across Jakarta in scenes eerily similar to military rule, with snipers stationed in key strategic areas, checkpoints set up throughout the city, and schools forced to shut due to safety concerns.

The United Nations has called on Indonesia to probe allegations of “disproportionate force” used by police against demonstrators, underlining global concern over the spiralling crisis.

Protestors dismiss government concessions

Despite government efforts to defuse the situation, protest leaders have rejected the concessions – including scrapping the controversial allowance and banning overseas trips for MPs – as pitifully insufficient.

Muzammil Ihsan, leader of the country’s largest student group, delivered a resolute message: “The government must resolve deep-rooted problems.

“The anger on the streets is not without cause.”

Political pundits have cautioned that the unrest presents the first significant challenge for Subianto’s presidency and could seriously rattle investor confidence, with Indonesia’s stock index already plunging more than three percent on Monday as markets responded to the turmoil.

Foreign Office issues urgent travel warning

The UK Foreign Office is now urging British holidaymakers to avoid protests and large gatherings, emphasising that peaceful demonstrations can quickly turn violent.

In its updated travel advice, the FCDO warned: “Terrorists are likely to try to carry out attacks in Indonesia. Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places visited by foreign nationals.

“Potential targets can include beach resorts, hotels, bars and restaurants, markets and shopping malls, tourist attractions, places of worship, foreign embassies, polling stations, ferry terminals and airports.”

Travellers are being advised to remain extra alert during national holidays, religious festivals and elections, when the terror threat becomes particularly acute.

Bali’s hidden perils revealed

Apart from the ongoing political turmoil, Bali presents considerable dangers that many British tourists don’t realise until it’s far too late.

Authorities have spotlighted worrying accounts of sexual attacks, drink tampering cases, methanol poisoning from fake alcohol, and violent bag-snatching in bustling tourist areas.

Holiday-makers are being urged to monitor drinks being made at all times, steer clear of potentially fatal homemade alcohol, and only buy drinks from properly authorised establishments to prevent poisoning.

The FCDO has also raised concerns about the ongoing risk of opportunistic theft and elaborate cons designed to exploit unwary tourists. British holidaymakers should pack only vital belongings, safeguard passports and bank cards constantly, and stick to licensed taxi firms like Bluebird, Silverbird or Express – whilst thoroughly verifying drivers correspond with app reservations.

Authorities issued a blunt warning that no overseas journey is entirely without danger, stating: “Read all advice carefully and ensure you have comprehensive travel insurance.”

MASKED yobs hurled petrol bombs and fireworks at cops for a fifth night in Northern Ireland, in what has been dubbed a “week of shame” for the region.

Cops battled another night of violence as thugs continued to cause widespread devastation after the chaos began on Monday.

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The unrest began on Monday in Ballymena over the alleged sexual assault of a girl in the town and the subsequent arrest of two 14-year-old boys.

But the focus of the violence and unrest has since shifted to Portadown.

One officer was directly in the impact of a petrol bomb that landed behind a line of police vehicles during a sustained standoff with those participating in the unrest yesterday.

Fireworks, masonry, and bottles were among other items thrown at riot police deployed in the town.

Shortly before midnight, the PSNI used a water cannon on the crowd in an effort to disperse those gathered on West Street into other areas.

The force used the water cannon again at around 12.30am on Saturday.

Elsewhere on Friday, there were reports of disruption and damage to public property as riot police responded to another protest in the Tullyally area of Londonderry.

It came after a senior officer said there would be a “scaled-up” policing presence across Northern Ireland in anticipation of further disorder over the weekend.

Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said the mobilisation, which would include officers sent over from Scotland, was “to reassure our communities and protect our streets”.

Violence originally erupted on Monday, stemming from an initially peaceful gathering to support a girl and her family after an alleged sexual assault.

Two 14-year-old boys appeared in court charged with attempted rape on Monday.

A third man, 28, was also arrested over the alleged sexual assault.

The boys confirmed their names – which cannot be reported – and their ages through a Romanian interpreter at Coleraine Magistrates’ Court.

But within hours of their court appearance, disorder broke out in Co Antrim.

Families in the town of Ballymena have been forced to flee their homes as the riots continue.

Crowds set fire to piles of furniture in the middle of the streets, homes were set alight, and multiple cars went up in flames.

Harrowing photos from the last two nights show the charred remains of residents’ property.

Footage showed masked and hooded rioters lobbing petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks at cops trying to calm the unrest on Tuesday.

Officers fired baton rounds and water cannon in a desperate bid to keep the mobs at bay.

Anti-immigration protests have escalated into clashes with police in several towns in Northern Ireland this week, marking a new wave of unrest to hit the United Kingdom.

Disorder in towns across the region continued for a fourth night on Thursday. In Portadown, County Armagh, a crowd used bricks and masonry from a derelict building to throw at police.

About 40 officers have been injured, and 15 arrests have been made.

Protests began in Ballymena, a town of about 31,000 people located 40km (25 miles) northwest of the city of Belfast, on Monday when two Romanian 14-year-old boys were arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a teenage girl.

The most intense violence took place on Tuesday in Ballymena, when hundreds of masked rioters attacked police and set buildings and cars on fire. A smaller crowd threw rocks, fireworks and petrol bombs at police on Wednesday, as police officers responded with water cannon.

Masked rioters also set fire to a leisure centre in Larne, about 30km (19 miles) away from Ballymena, on the coast, where some immigrant families had been given shelter following the unrest in Ballymena.

Violence also spilled over to the cities of Belfast, Coleraine, Newtownabbey, Carrickfergus, Antrim and Lisburn.

What happened in Ballymena?

Riots in Ballymena erupted after the Romanian teenagers appeared in Coleraine Magistrates’ Court on Monday on sexual assault charges, which they denied. A Facebook post advertised a “peaceful protest to show our anger at what cannot and will not be tolerated in this town”.

The planned gathering began in Ballymena at 7:30pm (18:30 GMT). A crowd assembled at Clonavon Terrace in the town, where the alleged assault had taken place, and police officers presided over a largely peaceful demonstration.

Police said several masked individuals later broke away from the group and began erecting barricades and attacking private properties housing immigrants. They also attacked police officers with smoke bombs, fireworks, bottles and bricks, leading to clashes which have continued for several days since.

Some residents placed UK flags or signs in their windows reading “British household” and “locals live here” in a bid to avoid being targeted.

Sky News reported seeing ethnic minority residents of the town “packing up suitcases and leaving their homes”.

One mother of two, Mika Kolev, told the BBC her home had been damaged by rioters on Tuesday night. She said she intended to leave her home with her family and is considering moving back to Bulgaria.

“This is my house, I pay rent,” she said. “I feel like this is my country, this is my city. My daughter was born here. It’s very scary.”

Who are the rioters?

The identity of the hundreds of people – many masked and hooded – who attacked immigrant households and businesses was not immediately clear.

In the past, this sort of violence has usually taken place in towns like Ballymena, which are a stronghold of UK unionism. However, there were media reports that Catholics had also joined the protests this time.

Northern Ireland endured decades of conflict between unionists – largely Protestants who want it to remain within the UK – and nationalists – primarily Catholics who wanted to reunite with the rest of Ireland.

Paramilitary groups played a significant role in the sectarian conflict known as the Troubles, which lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998, when the Good Friday Agreement established a power-sharing arrangement.

The agreement, however, has faced opposition from some unionist groups, and some grievances remain unresolved.

“Some working-class unionist areas feel as if they’ve lost out during the peace process,” sociologist John Nagle, who lectures at Queen’s University in Belfast, told Al Jazeera. “I think the sort of grievances about the peace process are being grafted onto the wider concerns about immigration.”

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said at this stage there was no evidence of unionist paramilitary involvement in the recent violence in the town. However, a report published last month by the independent human rights group Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ) points to a connection.

The study, titled Mapping Far Right Activity Online in Northern Ireland, analysed seven incidents of anti-immigrant protests that have taken place in Northern Ireland since 2023.

Daniel Holder, the organisation’s director, said the latest unrest followed a “fairly familiar pattern”.

“What we noticed … is that they’re all being called and taking place in areas where there is significant loyalist activity,” and are featuring a “degree of paramilitary control”, he told Al Jazeera.

Holder also said such riots have mostly taken place during the summer, coinciding with the loyalist marching season, a tradition among Protestant and Loyalist communities that runs from Easter Monday to September.

He struck a note of caution over accounts suggesting the involvement of Catholic nationalists in the unionist stronghold of Ballymena and said the notion of a broader “coming together” of the two historic rivals was unlikely.

What are the main issues driving the unrest?

Immigration appears to be the main concern for protesters. Since 2015, more than 1,800 Syrian refugees have been settled in Northern Ireland via the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme, which was renamed the Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme (NIRRS) in 2020.

General immigration has been on the rise as well.

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) assembly member Paul Frew told the BBC that tensions over this have been rising for some time in Ballymena and people were “frightened about illegal immigration”.

Anger about austerity policies – and the retraction of welfare programmes – since the global financial crisis of 2008 has compounded concerns about immigration.

Grievances over poor housing conditions and housing shortages, in particular, have been used to scapegoat migrants and to favour a narrative of “mass uncontrolled migration that simply is not factually true”, Holder said.

The CAJ report, he said, found no clear correlation between the areas where violence has flared up in Northern Ireland since 2023 and poverty rates or high immigration rates.

“When you look at the pattern of where attacks are taking place, they’re not in the most deprived areas,” Holder said. “What this points to is that attacks involve particular far-right elements, including some elements of loyalist paramilitary organisations, rather than this being tied to either migration levels or deprivation.”

Does Northern Ireland have high rates of immigration?

Official figures from the Northern Ireland Assembly show that it is the least diverse part of the UK, with 3.4 percent of the population identifying as part of a minority ethnic group, compared with 18.3 percent in England and Wales and 12.9 percent in Scotland.

According to the most recent census data in 2021, immigration to Northern Ireland is relatively low, but it is rising. The percentage of the population born outside of the UK rose from 6.5 percent in 2011 to 8.6 percent in 2021.

How have Northern Irish leaders responded to the violence?

Some ministers have been accused of fanning the flames of unrest.

Several ministers condemned the violence in strong terms. First Minister Michelle O’Neill said the “racist and sectarian attacks on families” were “abhorrent and must stop immediately”.

Finance Minister John O’Dowd described the attackers as “racist thugs”, while Justice Minister Naomi Long said the violence was “completely unjustified and unjustifiable”. Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who leads the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said, “Hate-fuelled acts and mob rule do nothing but tear at the fabric of our society.”

On Thursday, Communities Minister Gordon Lyons rejected calls for him to resign over a social media post in which he revealed the location of the leisure centre in Larne that was later attacked.

Tyler Hoey, a Democratic Unionist Party councillor and local representative, condemned the violence but also accused the UK government of taking “busloads” of unvetted migrants to the area.

Sociologist John Nagle, who lectures at Queen’s University in Belfast, told Al Jazeera that several unionist politicians condemned the riots while repeating the unfounded claim that Ballymena had become “a dumping ground” for migrants.

“Although the government has quickly come out to denounce the protests, to some extent that has been caveated by some politicians who are trying to use this as a way to highlight their opposition towards migration and refugees,” Nagle said.

Are most people in Northern Ireland concerned about rising immigration?

Sociologist Ruth McAreavey, who lectures at Newcastle University, said general surveys show that Northern Ireland has become more welcoming towards migrants over time and less likely to want to see reduced levels of immigration.

The Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey found that 94 percent of respondents in 2024 said they would be willing to accept a person from a minority ethnic group in their area, compared with only 53 percent who said they would feel comfortable in 2005.

However, McAreavey said fast-paced demographic changes have taken place within a “socially conservative place” as it navigates global economic upheavals, including the decline of its predominantly industrial economy, most notably in the shipbuilding and textile sectors.

“There is a level of discontent that people are taking to the streets,” McAreavey said, adding that this was compounded by austerity measures that rolled back the welfare state.

“The lack of those resources does not help for the incorporation of different social groups into society and to help achieve social cohesion,” she said. “People feel they’re not in control and things are happening to them, as opposed to a more natural, organic change.”

June 11 (UPI) — The Police Service of Northern Ireland announced Wednesday that things are currently quiet in a County Antrim town after violent attacks on police over a two-night stretch left 17 officers injured.

“Calm has been restored in Ballymena following serious disorder in the Clonavon Terrace, North Road and Bridge Street areas last night,” said officials in one of a series of press releases that has documented recent unrest in that community in Northern Ireland. Five people have since been arrested “on suspicion of riotous behavior” with a sixth taken into custody “on suspicion of disorderly behavior.”

Police report that stone and gas bombs were hurled at officers and their vehicles over several hours of riots that also saw residences and businesses attacked. The police also announced there was “public disorder in Ballymena” Monday evening.

Officials also confirmed that rubber bullets and a water cannon were used to try and quell the crowds involved in what Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson described in a Sunday release as a “racially motivated disorder in Ballymena” that followed a protest.

The rioting, which has also been reported in Belfast among other communities in Northern Ireland, has been widely described in the media as related to “anti-immigration protests.”

The uproar allegedly followed the arrest of a 28-year-old man on Monday in connection to the Saturday sexual assault of a teenage girl in Ballymena. That arrest was the third connected to the incident, as police previously announced Sunday that two teenage boys were charged with attempted rape in connection to the assault.

First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill posted to X Wednesday that “Those responsible for this violence bring nothing to our communities but hatred, fear, and division.”

Rioters said to target ‘foreigners’ in Northern Ireland town following alleged sexual assault of local teenage girl.

Hundreds of masked rioters have attacked police and set homes and cars on fire in Northern Ireland’s Ballymena in the second night of disorder described as “racially motivated” by police following a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the town.

Police said they were dealing with “serious disorder” on Tuesday night in the town, located about 45km (30 miles) from the capital Belfast, and urged people to avoid the area.

Officers in riot gear and driving armoured vehicles responded with water cannon and firing plastic baton rounds after being attacked with Molotov cocktails, steel scaffolding poles and rocks that rioters gathered by knocking down nearby walls, the Reuters news agency reports.

One house was burned out and rioters attempted to set a second home alight, according to reports, while several cars were set on fire.

The Belfast Telegraph newspaper said that some residents in Ballymena have started to mark their front doors to indicate their nationality to avoid attack, while Irish media outlets report that a call has gone out for protests to be held in other towns and cities in Northern Ireland, currently part of the United Kingdom.

During earlier violence on Monday, four houses were damaged by fire and windows and doors were smashed in other homes and businesses, in what police said they are investigating as racially-motivated hate attacks.

“The terrible scenes of civil disorder we have witnessed in Ballymena again this evening have no place in Northern Ireland,” the UK’s Northern Ireland minister, Hilary Been, said in a post on social media.

“There is absolutely no justification for attacks on PSNI [Police Service of Northern Ireland] officers or for vandalism directed at people’s homes or property,” he said.

Unrest first erupted on Monday night after a vigil in a neighbourhood of Ballymena where an alleged sexual assault occurred on Saturday. The trouble began when people in masks “broke away from the vigil and began to build barricades, stockpiling missiles and attacking properties”, police said.

Two teenage boys, charged by police with the attempted rape of a teenage girl, had appeared in court earlier in the day, where they had asked for a Romanian interpreter, local media reports said.

Tensions in the town, which has a large migrant population, remained high throughout Tuesday, with residents describing the scenes as “terrifying” and telling reporters that those involved were targeting “foreigners”.

“This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police,” Northern Ireland Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland said it was investigating “hate attacks” on homes and businesses and that 15 officers were injured in the rioting on Monday, including some who required hospital treatment.

Cornelia Albu, 52, a Romanian migrant and mother-of-two who lives opposite a house targeted in the attacks, said her family has been “very scared”.

“Last night, it was crazy, because too many people came here and tried to put the house on fire,” Albu, who works in a factory, told the AFP news agency.

She said she would now have to move, but was worried she would not find another place to live because she was Romanian.

Two were killed, nearly 200 injured and more than 500 arrested after riots erupted in Paris following Paris Saint-Germain’s first-ever Champions League win. Footage shows police firing tear gas on crowds as looting, fires and clashes engulfed the Champs-Élysées.