Explained: What Is Lapu-Lapu, The Festival At Which Driver Ran Over 11
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A vehicle struck a crowd at Lapu-Lapu Day celebrations in Vancouver, killing and injuring many. The event honors Datu Lapu-Lapu's historic victory over Spanish forces in 1521. Authorities are investigating the incident, which has shocked the community.
Manila:
Thousands of Filipinos in Vancouver were celebrating Lapu-Lapu Day on Saturday, marking a defining moment in Philippine history, when tragedy struck - a vehicle drove into the crowd killing multiple people and injuring others.
The festival, celebrated especially in the central Philippines, honours Datu Lapu-Lapu, the Filipino chieftain who famously defeated Spanish forces led by Ferdinand Magellan in the Battle of Mactan in 1521 and became a national hero.
The centrepiece of the festivities in Vancouver is a multi-block street party in the Sunset neighbourhood featuring Filipino food and traditions, live performances and cultural displays. The party on Saturday was just starting to break up but many people were still in the streets when a dark SUV rammed into the crowd.
Police said they were investigating a mass casualty incident and had arrested a 30-year-old Vancouver man at the scene, but did not immediately give the number of fatalities or injured.
"We pray that our community remains strong and resilient imbued with the spirit of bayanihan (community spirit) during this difficult time," The Philippine consulate in Vancouver said in a statement.
The government of British Columbia officially recognised April 27 as Lapu-Lapu Day in 2023, acknowledging the cultural contributions of the Filipino-Canadian community, one of the largest immigrant groups in the province.
Lapu-Lapu's victory is celebrated in the Philippines as a symbol of nation's resistance to colonisation and the bravery of its early leaders. The city of Lapu-Lapu on Mactan Island in the central Philippines is named in honour of the chieftain and serves as living tribute to his legacy.
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Time of India
4 hours ago
- Time of India
Anti-immigrant rioting stretches into second night in Northern Ireland
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Remove Ads A second night of rioting struck the town of Ballymena in Northern Ireland on Tuesday, as anti-immigrant protests spread to several other areas and police warned of "hate-fueled acts."Homes, businesses and vehicles were again attacked in Ballymena, a town of about 31,000 people, where several properties were set on fire Monday night following a demonstration over the alleged sexual assault of a teenage outbreak of violence began after two 14-year-old boys appeared in a local court on Monday charged with attempted oral rape on Saturday night. The boys spoke through a Romanian translator, the BBC reported, and both denied the charges through their case triggered an outcry in the town, and tapped into a broader anti-immigrant movement that has resulted in several outbreaks of violence in recent years. Far-right groups and influencers on social media amplified news of the assault case and celebrated the ensuing Ireland has seen increased immigration in recent years, with the percentage of the population born outside of the United Kingdom rising from 6.5% in 2011 to 8.6% in 2021, according to the most recent census data. But the number of immigrants is still relatively low compared with many other countries in Europe, and emigration is high. Experts say that far-right activists have exploited a housing shortage and an ongoing cost of living crisis to incite violence against asylum-seekers and other Tuesday evening, police officers came under "sustained attack" with Molotov cocktails, bricks and fireworks, according to a statement from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, and 17 officers were injured.A heavily pregnant woman was evacuated from one of the houses set on fire, local politician Sian Mulholland told the BBC show "Good Morning Ulster," adding that the violence had been livestreamed on social media and that rioters had been directed on "how to get around the police barricades."On Wednesday morning, signs and flags had appeared on some homes in the area of Ballymena where the assault and riots took place, stating the nationality of those inside."British household," read one handwritten sign above a smashed window, while another home displayed a picture of the Philippine flag with the words: "Filipino lives here."Michelle O'Neill, the first minister of Northern Ireland, said in a statement Wednesday that the "racist and sectarian attacks on families" were "abhorrent and must stop immediately." She added: "No one, now or ever, should feel the need to place a sticker on their door to identify their ethnicity just to avoid being targeted."The police used a water cannon against crowds and fired plastic baton rounds in Ballymena, while unrest also took place in parts of Belfast and in the town of Carrickfergus. Earlier in the evening, protests had taken place in areas of Belfast, as well as in Lisburn, Coleraine and family of the victim of Saturday's sexual assault said they did not condone the violence and appealed for people to let "justice be served in the correct manner," through a statement released by Paul Frew, who represents the district covering Ballymena in the Northern Ireland in Parliament on Wednesday, Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Britain condemned the violence, saying it was vital that the police "are given the time they need to investigate the incidents concerned, rather than face mindless attacks as they seek to bring peace and order to keep people safe."Chief Constable Jon Boutcher, who leads the Police Service of Northern Ireland, said police were reviewing video footage and other evidence to identify rioters, and condemned what he called "hate-fueled acts and mob rule.""The mindless violence witnessed over the past two nights in Ballymena is deeply concerning and utterly unacceptable," he added. 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Whether these incidents are true or false doesn't really seem to matter online."Donnelly, who works for a Belfast-based technology research group, The Rabble Coop, said that police and government statistics showed that the "vast majority" of sex crimes in Northern Ireland were carried out by white men from the country, but that extremist messaging presenting migrants as a threat was "finding fertile ground."According to the most recent Northern Ireland census, 16% of Ballymena residents recorded a national identity outside British, Irish and Northern Irish groups in 2021, up from 10% at the previous census in largest nationality in the "other" group was Romanian in the most recent census, followed by Polish, Bulgarian and people were arrested on suspicion of rioting in Ballymena on Tuesday night, while another suspect was arrested on suspicion of disorder in police are also investigating a Molotov cocktail attack in the village of Cullybackey, around 3 miles away from Ballymena, shortly after midnight on Tuesday.A vehicle was set on fire and a nearby property, with a woman and two children inside, was damaged, in what investigators are treating as a racially motivated hate article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Economic Times
6 hours ago
- Economic Times
Why did Donald Trump deploy the National Guard to LA protest, but not on Jan 6? asks Nancy Pelosi
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Organisers say these are precursors to larger rallies planned for the Trump has called the protesters 'insurrectionists' and said he will 'liberate' LA — invoking language that could justify the use of the 1807 Insurrection Act, a controversial move not used since California sues the federal government and public anger grows, the next few days could be pivotal. A federal judge will hear the state's case this the streets, the fear remains. So do the questions: who is being protected — and who is being targeted?
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First Post
8 hours ago
- First Post
Homes torched, stones pelted: How anti-immigrant violence has gripped North Ireland town
Anti-immigrant violence flared up for the second day on Tuesday in North Ireland town of Ballymena, leaving 17 officers injured and several houses and vehicles charred. Five people were arrested on suspicion of 'riotous behaviour'. The violence erupted after a peaceful march to show support for the family of the victim of an alleged sexual assault on the weekend read more police use a water cannon near Clonavon Terrace, Ballymena, as people take part in a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the Co Antrim town. Ballymena, Tuesday June 10, 2025. AP Police in Northern Ireland say 17 officers were injured during a second night of anti-immigrant violence in the town of Ballymena, where rioters threw bricks, bottles, petrol bombs and fireworks and set several vehicles and houses on fire. Police used water cannon and fired rubber bullets to disperse a crowd of several hundred people. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said Wednesday that the violence died down by about 1 am (0000GMT). Five people were arrested on suspicion of 'riotous behaviour.' STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD What sparked the violence? Violence erupted Monday after a peaceful march to show support for the family of the victim of an alleged sexual assault on the weekend. Two 14-year-old boys have been charged. The suspects have not been identified because of their age. They were supported in court by a Romanian interpreter. After the march, a crowd of mostly young people set several houses on fire and pelted police with projectiles. The Police Service of Northern Ireland said 15 officers were injured that night. Police officers using a water cannon near Clonavon Terrace, in Ballymena, Northern Ireland, as people protest over an alleged sexual assault in the Co Antrim town, Tuesday, June 10, 2025. AP There were similar scenes after dark on Tuesday, as well as small pockets of disorder in several other Northern Ireland towns. Police said agitators on social media were helping fuel what Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson called 'racist thuggery.' What is the background? Some politicians said immigration had strained the town of about 30,000, some 25 miles (40 km) northwest of Belfast, long known as a bastion of hardline pro-British Loyalism. Jim Allister, leader of the conservative party Traditional Unionist Voice, said 'unchecked migration, which is beyond what the town can cope with, is a source of past and future tensions.' Some Romanians in Ballymena told Britain's PA news agency they had lived in the town for years and were shocked by the violence. A man cycles past a burnt-out overturned car on the street following a second night of violence during a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the Co Antrim town, in Ballymena. AP Several houses in the Clonavon Terrace area that was the focus of the violence put up signs identifying their residents as British or Filipino in an apparent attempt to avoid being targeted. Henderson said there was no evidence that Loyalist paramilitaries, who still hold sway over Protestant communities, were behind the disorder. Has this happened before? Northern Ireland has a long history of street disorder stretching back to tensions between the British unionist and Irish nationalist communities. Though three decades of violence known as 'the Troubles' largely ended after a 1998 peace accord, tensions remain between those — largely Protestants — who see themselves as British and Irish nationalists, who are mostly Catholic. In Belfast, 'peace walls' still separate working-class Protestant and Catholic areas. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD A man cycles past a burnt-out overturned car on the street following a second night of violence during a protest over an alleged sexual assault in the Co Antrim town, in Ballymena. AP Street rioters sporadically clash with police, and recently, immigrants have become a target. Anti-immigrant violence erupted in Northern Ireland as well as England last year after three girls were stabbed to death at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class in the northwest England town of Southport. Authorities said online misinformation wrongly identifying the UK-born teenage attacker as a migrant played a part. What will happen next? Police condemned the latest violence and said they would call in officers from England and Wales to bolster their response if needed. All the parties in Northern Ireland's power-sharing government issued a joint statement appealing for calm and urging people to reject 'the divisive agenda being pursued by a minority of destructive, bad faith actors.' On the alleged sexual assault, the statement added that 'it is paramount that the justice process is now allowed to take its course so that this heinous crime can be robustly investigated.' 'Those weaponising the situation in order to sow racial tensions do not care about seeing justice and have nothing to offer their communities but division and disorder.' With input from AP STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
