Third night of anti-immigrant violence hits Northern Ireland town
Hundreds gathered on the streets of Ballymena in Northern Ireland Wednesday, facing police armed with riot shields and water cannon on the third night of anti-immigrant demonstrations.
The crowds eventually dispersed without a repeat of the chaotic scenes from the previous two nights, when houses and businesses were torched and 32 police officers were injured.
The protests erupted in the northern town after the arrest of two teenagers accused of attempting to rape a young girl. The pair appeared Monday in court, where they asked for a Romanian interpreter.
Police have not confirmed the ethnicity of the teenagers, who remain in custody, but areas attacked on Monday and Tuesday included neighbourhoods where Romanian migrants live.
Ministers from every party in the province's power-sharing executive strongly condemned "the racially motivated violence witnessed in recent days".
Residents had been "terrorised" and police injured, they said in Wednesday's joint statement, urging people to reject the "divisive" agenda being pushed by a "destructive" minority.
In response to what they termed "racist thuggery", police deployed riot officers with dogs and have asked forces in England and Wales for help quelling the unrest.
AFP journalists saw protestors throw fireworks, bricks and bottles, as well as toss two petrol bombs towards a line of armoured police cars. One road barrier was set alight, as crowds watched nearby.
On Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the unrest in Ballymena "mindless violence".
Around 20 miles (32 kilometres) southeast of the town, masked men set a leisure centre in Larne on fire, local media reported. The centre was temporarily sheltering people from Ballymena who had been evacuated.
People living in Ballymena described "terrifying" scenes in which attackers had targeted "foreigners" over the previous days.
Some people fixed signs to their houses indicating they were Filipino residents, or hung up British flags.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
MTV Lebanon
9 hours ago
- MTV Lebanon
UK parliament votes for assisted dying, paving way for historic law change
Britain's parliament voted on Friday in favour of a bill to legalise assisted dying, paving the way for the country's biggest social change in a generation. The legislation passed by a vote of 314-291, clearing its biggest parliamentary hurdle. The "Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)" law would give mentally competent, terminally ill adults in England and Wales with six months or less left to live the right to choose to end their lives with medical help. The bill now proceeds to Britain's upper chamber, the House of Lords, where it will undergo months of scrutiny. While there could be further amendments, the unelected Lords will be reluctant to block legislation that has been passed by elected members of the House of Commons. The vote puts Britain on course to follow Australia, Canada and other countries, as well as some U.S. states, in permitting assisted dying. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour government was neutral on the legislation, meaning politicians voted according to their conscience rather than along party lines. Starmer voted in favour. Supporters of the bill say it will provide dignity and compassion to people suffering, but opponents worry that vulnerable people could be coerced into ending their lives. Hundreds of people gathered outside parliament to hear news of the vote. When the result was read out, those in favour of the legislation hugged, clapped and cheered. They shouted 'victory', 'we won' and waved placards. Those opposed to it stood in silence. Emma Bray, who has motor neurone disease, said she hoped the result would help people in her condition. Bray, who is 42 and has two children, said she plans to starve herself to death next month to help relieve the pain after being told she only has six months to live. 'This result will mean that people will not have to go through the same suffering I have faced,' she told Reuters. Opinion polls show that a majority of Britons back assisted dying. Friday's vote followed hours of emotional debate and references to personal stories in the chamber and followed a vote in November that approved the legislation in principle. Opponents of the bill had argued that ill people may feel they should end their lives for fear of being a burden to their families and society. Some lawmakers withdrew their support after the initial vote last year, saying safeguards had been weakened. John Howard, a Catholic priest who led about a dozen people in prayer outside parliament while voting took place, said he worried that some people would be forced to end their lives early under pressure from family members. "I feel great sorrow and concern, particularly for the most vulnerable and disabled," he told Reuters. "This is a dark day for our country." Friday's vote took place 10 years after parliament last voted against allowing assisted dying. The 314-291 vote showed narrowing support from the 330-275 vote in favour in November. In the original plan, an assisted death would have required court approval. That has been replaced by a requirement for a judgement by a panel including a social worker, a senior legal figure and a psychiatrist, which is seen by some as a watering down. The Labour lawmaker who proposed the bill, Kim Leadbeater, said the legislation still offered some of the strongest protections in the world. "I am fully confident in the bill," she told the BBC after the vote. "The safeguards are extremely thorough, extremely robust, and I'm confident that this will help the people it needs to help." Opponents had doubts not just about the potential for coercion, but also about the impact of assisted dying on the finances and resources of the state-run National Health Service, how the law might change the relationship between doctors and their patients and whether it could mean that improvements to palliative care might now not be made. Care Not Killing, a group that opposes the law change, issued a statement calling the bill "deeply flawed and dangerous", saying that its safeguards had been weakened since November. "Members of Parliament had under 10 hours to consider over 130 amendments to the Bill, or less than 5 minutes per change. Does anyone think this is enough time to consider changes to a draft law that quite literally is a matter of life and death?" said the group's CEO, Gordon Macdonald. The law was proposed under a process led by an individual member of parliament rather than being government policy, which has limited the amount of parliamentary time allocated to it. Some lawmakers have said that such a major social change should have been allocated more parliamentary time for debate and involve a greater degree of ministerial involvement and accountability.
LBCI
13 hours ago
- LBCI
Series of blasts echo across Tehran
A series of blasts was heard in Tehran on Friday, an AFP journalist reported, as the war between Israel and Iran entered its second week. The 8:45 p.m. (1715 GMT) blasts came a few minutes after Iran's Fars news agency reported that air defenses had been activated in the heart of the capital. AFP
Ya Libnan
14 hours ago
- Ya Libnan
Israelis to be ready for a ‘prolonged campaign' in Iran, military chiefs warn
Israel's military chief on Friday said Israelis 'must be ready for a prolonged campaign' in Iran as the deadly conflict between the two countries entered its second week. As Iran's foreign minister met with European counterparts, he said Iran would not resume nuclear negotiations with the US until Israel stopped its attacks on the Islamic Republic. Iran said Friday it would not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until Israel halts its attacks, as Israel 's military chief warned the week-old war will be 'prolonged'. A series of blasts were heard in Tehran on Friday as Iran's Fars news agency said air defences had been activated, as Israel kept up its bombardment and Iran launched missiles at its arch enemy. 'We must be ready for a prolonged campaign,' Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir told Israelis in a video statement, eight days after his country launched a massive wave of strikes it said were aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons – an ambition Tehran has denied. 'The campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead,' he said. MIDDLE EAST Israel's military chief on Friday said Israelis 'must be ready for a prolonged campaign' in Iran as the deadly conflict between the two countries entered its second week. As Iran's foreign minister met with European counterparts, he said Iran would not resume nuclear negotiations with the US until Israel stopped its attacks on the Islamic Republic. Issued on: 20/06/2025 – 11:25Modified: 20/06/2025 – 21:14 5 min Reading time By: FRANCE 24 / FRANCE 24 Iran said Friday it would not resume nuclear negotiations with the United States until Israel halts its attacks, as Israel 's military chief warned the week-old war will be 'prolonged'. A series of blasts were heard in Tehran on Friday as Iran's Fars news agency said air defences had been activated, as Israel kept up its bombardment and Iran launched missiles at its arch enemy. 'We must be ready for a prolonged campaign,' Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir told Israelis in a video statement, eight days after his country launched a massive wave of strikes it said were aimed at stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons – an ambition Tehran has denied. 'The campaign is not over. Although we have made significant achievements, difficult days still lie ahead,' he said. Israeli forces cordon off an area in the coastal city of Haifa after Iranian missile fire. © Fadel Senna, AFP As US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of entering the war As US President Donald Trump mulls the prospect of entering the war between the two foes, top diplomats from Britain, France and Germany met with their Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Geneva. Referring to nuclear negotiations with Washington that had been derailed by the war, Araghchi said after the meeting that 'Iran is ready to consider diplomacy once again and once the aggression is stopped'. Tehran did 'support the continuation of discussion with' the European countries and was willing 'to meet again in the near future', Araghchi told reporters. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said 'we invited the Iranian minister to consider negotiations with all sides, including the United States, without awaiting the cessation of strikes, which we also hope for'. Barrot said there 'can be no definitive solution through military means to the Iran nuclear problem' and warned that it was 'dangerous to want to impose a regime change' in Iran, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not rule out killing supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei On the streets of Tehran, many shops were closed and normally busting markets largely abandoned on Friday, an AFP journalist reported. 'I'm not afraid of the war, I stay open but business is really bad,' said a vendor at the Tajrish market who declined to give his name for security reasons. Nearby, police set up a checkpoint while workers repaired a road damaged in a recent Israeli strike. Since Israel launched its offensive on June 13, targeting nuclear and military sites but also hitting residential areas, Iran has responded with barrages which Israeli authorities say have killed at least 25 people. A hospital in the Israeli port of Haifa reported 19 injured, including one person in serious condition, after the latest Iranian salvo. Iran said on Sunday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 224 people, including military commanders, nuclear scientists and civilians. It has not updated the toll since. A US-based NGO, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, provided a toll on Friday based on sources and media reports, saying at least 657 people have been killed in Iran, including 263 civilians. Israel's military said it struck missile launchers in southwestern Iran after overnight air raids on dozens of targets including a nuclear research centre In Israel, sirens sounded in the afternoon after missiles were launched from Iran for the second time on Friday. Iran's Revolutionary Guards said they had targeted military sites and air force bases. Trump said on Thursday he will decide 'within the next two weeks' whether to involve the United States in the fighting. A US Navy official said Friday that an aircraft carrier will be moved closer to the Middle East next week, making it the third in or near the region. 'This is a perilous moment, and it is hugely important that we don't see regional escalation of this conflict,' said Britain's Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who earlier stated 'Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon'. Western governments suspect Iran of seeking a nuclear weapons capability. 'So, saying how long it would take for them, it would be pure speculation because we do not know whether there was somebody … secretly pursuing these activities,' the agency's chief Rafael Grossi told CNN. 'We haven't seen that and we have to say it.' In an interview with German publication Bild, Israel's top diplomat Gideon Saar said he did not 'particularly' believe in diplomacy with Iran. 'All diplomatic efforts so far have failed,' said Saar, whose country had supported Trump's 2018 decision to abandon a previous nuclear agreement between Iran and world powers. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned the escalating confrontation is quickly reaching 'the point of no return', saying 'this madness must end as soon as possible'. Iranians rally in support of their leaders, in Tehran. © AFP UN chief Antonio Guterres meanwhile pleaded with all sides to 'give peace a chance'. Any US involvement in Israel's campaign would be expected to involve the bombing of an underground uranium enrichment facility in Fordo, using powerful bunker-busting bombs that no other country possesses. Switzerland announced it was temporarily closing its embassy in Tehran, adding that it would continue to fulfil its role representing US interests in Iran. (FRANCE 24 with AFP) .
