FIFA President Gianni Infantino condemns ‘unacceptable' racism after incidents at German Cup games
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Arab News
42 minutes ago
- Arab News
UK set for more legal challenges over migrant hotels
EPPING: Britain's government was considering Wednesday whether to appeal a court ruling blocking the housing of asylum seekers in a flashpoint hotel, as it scrambled to come up with contingency plans for the migrants. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour administration braced itself for further legal challenges from local authorities following Tuesday's judge-issued junction that has dealt it a major political and logistical headache. Anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage indicated that councils run by his hard-right Reform UK party, leading in national polls, would pursue similar claims as he called for protests outside migrant hotels. Security minister Dan Jarvis said the government was weighing challenging high court judge Stephen Eyre's granting of a temporary injunction to stop migrants from staying at the Bell Hotel in Epping, northeast of London. The local authority sought the ruling following several weeks of protests outside the hotel, some of which have turned violent. The demonstrations erupted after a resident was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl. 'We're looking very closely at it,' Jarvis told Sky News of a possible appeal. The interior ministry had tried to have the case dismissed, warning it would 'substantially impact' its ability to provide accommodation for tens of thousands of asylum seekers across Britain. 'We're looking at a range of different contingency options,' Jarvis told Times Radio, adding: 'We'll look closely at what we're able to do.' Several Reform-led councils, including in Staffordshire and Northamptonshire in the Midlands area of England, announced on Wednesday that they were exploring their options following the court ruling. Protests, some of them violent, broke out in Epping in mid-July after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 41, was charged. He denies the allegation and is due to stand trial later this year. Hundreds of people have since taken part in demonstrations and counter-demonstrations outside the Bell Hotel. Further anti-immigration demonstrations also spread to London and around England. Several men appeared in court on Monday charged with violent disorder over the Bell Hotel protests. Epping Forest District Council argued the hotel had become a risk to public safety and that it had breached planning laws as it was no longer operating as a hotel in the traditional sense. The judge gave authorities until September 12 to remove the migrants. Writing in the right-wing Daily Telegraph newspaper, Farage said the 'good people of Epping must inspire similar protests around Britain.' He said peaceful demonstrations can 'put pressure on local councils to go to court to try and get the illegal immigrants out.' In Epping, an attractive market town connected to London by the underground, residents appeared to broadly welcome the imminent removal of the asylum seekers. 'It has made people feel unsettled, especially with schools being down there,' 52-year-old Mark Humphries, who works in retail, told AFP on the high street. Carol Jones, 64, said she was relieved at the decision but wondered whether it would ever be implemented. 'They shouldn't have been there in the first place, but where are they going to go?' the retiree told AFP. Labour has pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers before the next election, likely in 2029, in a bid to save billions of pounds. The latest government data showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of March, down 15 percent from the end of December. Numbers hit a peak at the end of September 2023 when there were 56,042 asylum seekers in hotels, and the center-right Conservatives were in power. Starmer is facing huge political pressure domestically for failing to stop irregular migrants crossing the Channel to England on small boats. More than 50,000 people have made the dangerous crossing from northern France since Starmer became UK leader last July. Under a 1999 law, the interior ministry 'is required to provide accommodation and subsistence support to all destitute asylum seekers whilst their asylum claims are being decided.' Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, urged the government to 'partner with local councils to provide safe, cost-effective accommodation within communities' rather than use hotels. 'Ultimately, the only way to end hotel use for good is to resolve asylum applications quickly and accurately so people can either rebuild their lives here or return home with dignity,' he said Tuesday.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Germany charges Russian suspect over Daesh ties, planned move to Pakistan for training
BERLIN: German prosecutors announced terrorism charges Wednesday against a man who they say may have planned to attack the Israeli Embassy in Berlin and intended to join the Daesh group in Pakistan. The suspect, a Russian national identified only as Akhmad E. in line with German privacy rules, was arrested on Feb. 20 at the capital's airport as he prepared to board a flight. He has now been indicted on charges of supporting a foreign terrorist organization, attempted membership in such a group, and preparing a serious act of violence. Federal prosecutors said in a statement that the suspect initially planned to carry out an attack in Germany, possibly on the Israeli Embassy. He allegedly found instructions for making explosives on the Internet but was unable to pursue the plan because he couldn't get a hold of the necessary components. At the same time, the suspect was allegedly translating propaganda into Russian and Chechen for Daesh. Prosecutors said he intended to join the group in Pakistan and get military training, and that he financed the trip by taking out two contracts for expensive smartphones, which he then sold. He allegedly sent a video declaring loyalty to the group to a suspected Daesh member outside of Germany shortly before his departure. The indictment was filed earlier this month to a court in Berlin, which will now have to decide whether to send the case to trial.
Arab News
3 hours ago
- Arab News
Former US embassy guard in Norway on trial for spying for Russia, Iran
OSLO: A Norwegian who worked as a security guard for the US embassy in Oslo went on trial Wednesday, accused of sharing information with Russian and Iranian intelligence, media reported. The man, who is in his late 20s, is accused of having supplied information on embassy activities between March 2024 and November 20, the date of his arrest, according to the charge sheet. In return, he was paid in euros and bitcoin. He is accused of having supplied either the Russians or the Iranians — or both — with the contact details of diplomats, embassy staff and their families. He is also accused of having supplied the diplomatic license-plate numbers of vehicles used by the embassy. The charge sheet also alleges he handed over floor plans of the embassy, security routines and a list of couriers Norway's intelligence service used. On the first day of his trial, prosecutors presented evidence in the form of an email to the Russian embassy where the man wrote that he had 'information that could be useful to you,' public broadcaster NRK reported. The trial is scheduled to take eight days. 'He acknowledges the facts of the case but denies criminal liability. He is sorry for what he has done, but he is not a spy,' Inger Zadig, the defendant's lawyer, told news agency NTB. If convicted of the charges, he could spend up to 21 years in jail, the prosecution service told AFP in July. Norway's intelligence service has regularly accused Russia, Iran and China as being the greatest threats to the country so far as spying is concerned. A member of NATO, Norway shares a land border with Russia in the Arctic.
