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ABC correspondent describes being tear-gassed during LA protests

ABC correspondent describes being tear-gassed during LA protests

North America correspondent Lauren Day describes what it was like to be tear-gassed during the LA protests.

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N.Ireland town hit by second night of unrest
N.Ireland town hit by second night of unrest

News.com.au

timean hour ago

  • News.com.au

N.Ireland town hit by second night of unrest

Violence flared for a second night Tuesday in a Northern Irish town after "racially motivated" attacks sparked by the arrest of two teenagers accused of attempting to rape a young girl. Hundreds of protestors, many of them masked, took to the streets of Ballymena, throwing petrol bombs, bottles and masonry as police responded with water cannon, an AFP journalist said. There was a heavy police presence in one area of the town, some 30 miles (48 kilometres) northwest of Belfast, as the protesters set fire to a car and barricades. Police also fired plastic baton rounds to disperse the crowds, an AFP journalist saw. Later as night fell, crowds began to disperse in Ballymena although smaller groups still milled around the town centre. And local media reported that protestors were also blocking roads in Belfast. The unrest first erupted Monday night after a vigil in a neighbourhood where an alleged serious sexual assault happened on Saturday. "This violence was clearly racially motivated and targeted at our minority ethnic community and police," Assistant Chief Constable Ryan Henderson said Tuesday. He told a press conference: "It was racist thuggery, pure and simply, and any attempt to justify it or explain it as something else is misplaced." Tensions in the town, which has a large migrant population, remained high throughout the day on Tuesday, as residents described the scenes as "terrifying" and told AFP those involved were targeting "foreigners". Two teenage boys, charged by police with the attempted rape of a teenage girl, had appeared in court Monday, where they asked for a Romanian interpreter, local media reports said. The trouble began when masked people "broke away from the vigil and began to build barricades, stockpiling missiles and attacking properties", police said. Houses and businesses were attacked, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said, adding it was investigating "hate attacks". Security forces also came under "sustained attack" with petrol bombs, fireworks and bricks thrown by rioters, injuring 15 officers including some who required hospital treatment, according to the force. One 29-year-old man was arrested and charged with riotous behaviour, disorderly behaviour, attempted criminal damage and resisting police. Four houses were damaged by fire, and windows and doors of homes and businesses smashed. Cornelia Albu, 52, a Romanian migrant and mother-of-two who lives opposite a house targeted in the attacks, said her family had 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 AFP. She said she would now have to move, but was worried she would not find another place to live because she was Romanian. - 'Scared as hell' - A 22-year-old woman who lives next door to a burnt-out house in the same Clonavon neighbourhood said the night had been "terrifying". "People were going after foreigners, whoever they were, or how innocent they were," the woman, who did not want to share her name for security reasons, told AFP. "But there were local people indoors down the street scared as hell." Northern Ireland saw racism-fuelled disorder in August after similar riots in English towns and cities triggered by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport, northwest England. According to Mark, 24, who did not share his last name, the alleged rape on the weekend was "just a spark". "The foreigners around here don't show respect to the locals, they come here, don't integrate," said Mark. Another man was halfway up a ladder, hanging a Union Jack flag in front of his house as a "precaution -- so people know it's not a foreigner living here". "Ballymena has a large migrant population, a lot of people actually work in the town and provide excellent work," Mayor Jackson Minford told AFP. "Last night unfortunately has probably scared a lot of people. We are actively working to identify those responsible and bring them to justice," said Henderson. A spokesman for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the "disorder" in Ballymena was "very concerning".

Macklemore's home reportedly robbed with his children inside
Macklemore's home reportedly robbed with his children inside

News.com.au

timean hour ago

  • News.com.au

Macklemore's home reportedly robbed with his children inside

Macklemore's Seattle home was reportedly robbed over the weekend while his three children were asleep in their rooms. The shocking home invasion incident unfolded shortly before 1am on Saturday, June 7, according to a police report shared with The Post by the Seattle Police Department. A woman, later identified as the homeowner's nanny, called the SPD at approximately 12:48am to report that two men had allegedly broken into the residence and sprayed her with bear mace. The address named in the police report matched the one listed in the voting record for Ben Haggerty, according to The Seattle Times, which is Macklemore's real name. It also left the name 'Davis' unredacted in one portion of the report, which matches the last name of Macklemore's wife, Tricia Davis. Macklemore and Davis, both 41, have three children: Sloane, 10, Colette, 7, and Hugo, 3. 'She [the nanny] escaped, but three children were still inside the house,' the police report read. '[The nanny] also added that the house belonged to a high-profile individual, [redacted], and that she believed the crime may have been politically motivated for some reason.' The Thrift Shop singer has been an outspoken supporter of Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict in Gaza. Last month, Macklemore shared a lengthy Instagram post in which he condemned the attacks on Gaza and the backlash that artists like himself were facing for 'standing up against a genocide.' He was also axed from a music festival back in September after he chanted 'f**k America' during the Palestine Will Live Forever charity music event in Seattle. Elsewhere in the report, the responding officer wrote that he found the nanny in 'obvious fear' at a neighbouring residence. She told the police that she was at the house and, after putting the three children to bed in their rooms on the second floor, witnessed two men entering a patio door near an office, according to the officer's notes. The nanny further alleged that the two men entered the home and sprayed her with bear spray, then yelled, 'Where are the jewels, b**ch?' She said she led them upstairs to the main bedroom, at which point the two suspects allegedly 'went through drawers, cabinets and raided the closet full of clothing, jewellery and shoes.' The SPD, in a separate release about the incident shared Saturday afternoon, said that the two men 'ransacked the residence, stealing thousands of dollars of items.' The nanny also claimed that she was thrown to the ground and physically assaulted by the suspects before managing to break free. '[The nanny] began to scream, so they got her up and pinned her against a wall, the shorter one holding her mouth shut,' the report stated. 'At this point, [the nanny] tried to kick the shorter one in the groin, but was unable to, so she bit onto his hand hard, causing him to let go.' '[She] then fled through the bathroom and out of the house,' it continued. '[She] knocked on numerous residences before someone opened the door and allowed her inside to call the police.' Cops later arrived and found the residence in 'obvious signs of disarray.' The responding officers were able to 'safely extract' the three children from the home, at which point they were handed off to family members who had arrived at the residence. 'The house was searched and checked clear of any suspects, with the three children safely extracted,' the report read. 'There were obvious signs of disarray in the portions of the house described by [redacted] to be involved and bear spray was still present in the air through portions of the house.' 'Various family members responded to the scene,' it continued. 'I escorted the family and [redacted] to the house after the scene was rendered safe and the house was searched. The family members took custody of the children for the evening and took them to a safe residence nearby.'

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