Nelson Mandela’s grandson has slammed US President Donald Trump’s “deal of the century,” calling it a way to “fortify apartheid Israel” during a speech in London on Saturday. 

Zwelivelile Mandela, whose grandfather led South Africa out of apartheid, also told an audience at Europe’s largest Palestine event, Palestine Expo, that the boycott movement against the Israeli occupation “is the most painful thorn in the side of apartheid Israel”.

Israel and many of its allies have vehemently opposed the Boycott Divestment Sanctions movement (BDS), including by passing legislation against it, and the event’s support for a boycott fuelled calls by some pro-Israel groups for it to be cancelled. 

Recalling the words of his grandfather during a visit to Gaza in 1995 in which he declared “that our struggle is yet incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people,” Mandela said the struggles in South Africa and Palestine were linked, and referred to the boycott of the apartheid state that brought pressure against the government there. 

“They [Israel] cannot stomach its worldwide popular appeal and success and will do all in their power and might to obstruct, hinder or stand in the way of any forum that advances the principles that BDS stands for,” said Mandela, who is an MP in the ruling African National Congress. 

“Apartheid South Africa and its imperialist allies too underestimated the power of the people but today we stand before you free from centuries of colonisation and free from decades of apartheid brutality and discrimination.”

‘Hoax of the Century’ 

Mandela derided Trump’s plan for Israel-Palestine, calling it the “Hoax of the Century” and accused the US of being a biased partner to negotiations. 

“Since coming to power he [Trump] has cut development aid to Palestinian refugees and literally severed the pipeline that provides hope and much needed medical care for children, some as young as one or two year old,” he said.  

“He has defied international law and disregarded the global outcry against his announcement of moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem.”

The two-day Palestine Expo involved panels on discussing life under occupation as well as Palestinian food and cultural shows. 

There were also virtual reality tours of Jerusalem’s al-Aqsa mosque and exhibits on the struggles of providing healthcare under Gaza’s blockade.

Israeli opposition

But the event faced opposition from a group called UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) , who tried to pressure the hosting venue, Olympia London, into cancelling the event on the basis that organisers support the BDS movement. 

When it refused to do so, UKLFI said it had written to Olympia’s three German co-owner companies to raise its concerns.

It also said it had cited a motion passed in the German parliament in May which condemned the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement as antisemitic.

But Friends of al-Aqsa (FOA), which organised the event, said in a statement sent to Middle East Eye that it had not been contacted by any “institutes, authorities or companies” regarding the event. Nor had UKLFI contacted it directly, it said.

The post Nelson Mandela’s grandson says Trump wants to ‘fortify apartheid Israel’ appeared first on CiiRadio.

The grieving family of a murdered Muslim teenager has said they feel let down by police and prosecutors due to the failure to secure a conviction eight years after they lost their son.

AbdulKarim Boudiaf, an aspiring lawyer from Tottenham, was 18 when he was fatally shot in the neck while walking with friends in north London in 2009. A man stood trial for his death, but no one has ever been convicted.

The family, with the backing of their local MP David Lammy, are now calling on police to reactivate the investigation.

They said that the initial police inquiry felt “cursory” and left them feeling discriminated against because of their race and class background.

Mr Lammy, the Labour MP for Tottenham, raised concerns in the House of Commons earlier this week. He said that the family’s race and ethnicity could have played a factor in their ability to get justice for Mr Boudiaf, adding that it had “echoes” of the Stephen Lawrence case.

He also called on ministers to review the law around the double jeopardy law, urging that the legislation is “fundamentally flawed” and could be preventing miscarriages of justice from being overturned.

Double jeopardy legislation previously protected anyone acquitted of an offence from retrial, but changes to the law in 2005 meant a suspect can be tried again for the same offence if there is “new, compelling, reliable and substantial evidence”.

But Mr Lammy claimed that while the rule is good in principle, it is restrictive in practice, as it means cases can remain open but dormant for years because further evidence hasn’t been presented to police – which has occurred in the case of Mr Boudaif’s murder.

Karim, as the murdered 18-year-old was known to his family, was a talented and outgoing young man with aspirations of attending Northampton University to read Law.

Speaking to The Independent, Mr Boudiaf’s sister Yasmine Boudiaf said the family’s dealings with the police and the outcome of the trial revealed that they system is “not made” to help the needs of minority ethnic groups in low income areas.

The 28-year-old, who was studying at university at the time of her brother’s murder, said her mother, Ouahiba, became quickly aware during the investigation and trial that her son’s murder would get more attention and media coverage if they were a white family in a more wealthy area.

“My mother went into the investigation already lacking confidence in the system, and she came out of it with confirmation that the system is against her,” she said. “The police and others dealing with her were mainly white men and one white woman.

“She quickly became aware that if a white British son was murdered it would get coverage, but in our neighbourhood it would only be covered by local news. It became clear that the system is not made to help the needs of minority ethnic people especially in low income areas.

“We’d all been aware of the perception of particularly young men from minority ethnic backgrounds from socially deprived areas. They’re so vilified in lots of different ways. My brother didn’t have a criminal record, he just presented as your typical youth.”

Ouahiba Boudiaf, Mr Boudiaf’s mother, who was too emotional to speak on the phone, provided a statement saying her family was “tortured every day”. She questioned whether things would be different if she were a white woman who was educated and wealthy.

“I often question what I could have done differently, as a mother, but sometimes we cannot keep our loved ones from harm,” she said. “I also question what the police and crown prosecution service could have done differently to bring my son’s killer to justice.”

“Why was there a lack of forensic evidence? Why weren’t the witnesses believed? What if I were a white woman, who was educated and wealthy?”

She added: “I am grateful that I have been listened to and taken seriously by David Lammy. He is so far the only person in authority who is at least trying. My son is gone, and that is a pain I can’t describe. To not get justice on top of that is unbearable.”

Speaking in the House of Commons earlier this week, Mr Lammy said: “The Boudiafs are a proud loving family of Algerian descent, who have close ties to the Algerian community within my constituency and across London.

“It is a cause of real concern that any family would feel that their race and ethnicity could influence and play a factor in whether the person responsible for a murder is brought to justice. Unfortunately, this is very much the situation the Boudiaf family are faced with.

“To the family the Police efforts felt cursory. I understand it is still an open case but there is no active investigation being undertaken. For there to be an active investigation, the Homicide and Serious Crime Command would need to review the case. I am calling for a review and an active investigation as we approach the 10th anniversary of Karim’s death.”

Source – Independent

The post Family of murdered Muslim teenager suffer racial discrimination as police fail to convict anyone for almost a decade appeared first on CiiRadio.

London brought in a new levy on the oldest and most polluting cars entering the city center from Monday, almost doubling how much motorists have to pay in the latest blow to diesel.

Drivers are already charged 11.50 pounds ($15) to enter the financial district and parts of west London under a congestion charge. But those driving petrol and diesel vehicles typically registered before 2006 will need to pay an additional 10 pounds.

Since the 2015 Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) emissions cheating scandal, a number of major cities including Madrid, Paris and Athens have announced plans particularly focused on cutting diesel emissions including bans, fines and restrictions.

The new charge could further encourage motorists to switch to greener models in one of Europe’s biggest cities as Mayor Sadiq Khan hopes the new levy to reduce toxicity, known as the T-Charge, will help save thousands of lives each year.

“The air is bad, but it’s also a killer,” he told Reuters. “There are children in London whose lungs are underdeveloped. There are adults who suffer a whole host of conditions caused by the poor quality air from asthma to dementia to suffering strokes.”

The tax will apply to up to 34,000 vehicles every month, according to Khan’s office, a small proportion of the 535,000 vehicles which come into the area. But it sets the tone for future policies including an ultra low emission zone due by the end of 2020.

Although the T-Charge will also affect older petrol cars, diesel has been particularly maligned over the last few years, with sales down 14 percent this year in Europe’s second-biggest car market as petrol demand continues to rise.

“There’s a budget coming up and the government’s got to step up and announce the diesel scrappage scheme to help families and businesses,” said Khan, a politician from Britain’s main opposition Labour Party.

Britain’s Conservative government said this year that sales of new diesel and petrol cars would be banned from 2040 but has stopped short of an immediate program to incentivize drivers to trade in their old models.

Whether 40,000 Uber [UBER.UL] drivers, one in three of all private hire vehicles working in the British capital, continue to operate will also have a major impact on London’s streets in the years ahead.

The city’s transport regulator shocked the Silicon Valley taxi app last month by stripping it of its license. But the company can continue to operate until an appeals process is exhausted, which could take several years.

After discussions between Uber’s global Chief Executive Dara Khosrowshahi and Transport for London (TfL) Commissioner Mike Brown this month, Khan said further talks could take place.

“If it’s possible for the global CEO to continue discussions with the TfL commissioner of course that’s a sensible course of action,” he told Reuters.

“Whenever you can avoid litigation, you should avoid litigation but I appreciate Uber are appealing the TfL decision. We’ll have to wait and see how that pans out.”

Source – Reuters

The post London introduces vehicle pollution tax appeared first on CiiRadio.

The chairman of Saudi Arabia’s General Entertainment Authority (GEA) said in April that he sees cinemas returning to the Kingdom.

On Thursday, September 28, 2017, the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel has tweeted (at 9.19pm): “Cinemas are coming to Saudi Arabia. Ready?”

The reported reopening of movie screens in Saudi Arabia is seen as part of reforms sweeping across the Kingdom since King Salman Bin Abdul Aziz came to power — and comes hot on the heels of a landmark Royal decree allowing women to drive.

The kingdom had some cinemas in the 1970s but the clerical establishment persuaded the authorities to close them, reflecting rising Islamist influence throughout the Arab region at the time.

Reforms
The government has promised a shake-up of the cultural scene with a set of “Vision 2030” reforms announced by Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz last year, aimed at creating jobs and opening up Saudis’ cloistered lifestyles.

The changes are also intended to capture up to a quarter of the $20 billion currently spent overseas by Saudis, who are accustomed to travelling abroad to see shows and visit amusement parks in nearby tourist hub Dubai or further afield.

‘99% like London and New York’
Al Khatib says his goal was to create entertainment that “will be like 99 per cent of what is going on in London and New York,” although he noted that after decades of cultural conservatism such change could not be rapid.

“I believe we are winning the argument,” he said.

A few Saudis were liberal, a few conservative, but “the majority are moderate.”

“They travel, they go to cinemas, they go to concerts. I am counting on the middle segment, which is about 80 per cent of the population,” he said.

Conservatives, he added, could simply opt to stay at home if they did not care for the events.

Source – Gulf news

The post Cinemas coming to Saudi Arabia appeared first on CiiRadio.

London’s Metropolitan Police and ambulance services are confirming they are at the scene of “an incident” at the Parsons Green Underground station in the southwest of the capital.

London Transport says services have been cut along the line amid reports on social media of the station’s evacuation.

A blast at the station on Friday left some passengers with facial burns at the station, London’s Metro newspaper reported on its website.

A woman at the underground train station told Reuters news agency that she was injured in a stampede.

Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego, reporting from London, said reports suggest several people were injured but it was “unclear whether it had to do with the stampede or incident”.

“It’s a rush hour in London and the stations are filled to the brim with people so it seems like it was a chaotic scene,” she said.

“There seems to be some kind of crude device in a plastic bag that exploded but emergency services are still evaluating.”

Flames engulfed one carriage and raced along a train on a west London route to Parsons Green, forcing passengers to trample others as they rushed for an exit, an eyewitness told Reuters.

The man said people were trampled on when they fled the train after hearing a whoosh and seeing flames race towards them.

He said he did not hear a bang after police rushed to an incident at the station at Parsons Green.

“I just heard a kind of whoosh. I looked up and saw the whole carriage engulfed in flames making its way towards me,” he told Reuters news agency, adding that the train was packed with people.

Source – Al Jazeera

The post Blast at Parsons Green station causes panic, leaves many injured appeared first on CiiRadio.

Cyclists in Madinah are a rare sight. It is even rarer to see eight of them arriving from the UK after a five-week journey in the saddle to take part in the Hajj pilgrimage.

The “Hajj Riders” started from the East London Mosque in the British capital and cycled across France, Germany, Austria, Lichtenstein, Switzerland, Italy, Greece, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.

They reached Jeddah on Friday and rested for a day before making their way to Madinah, where they were greeted with songs and dancing, and showered with flower petals and Zamzam water.

“We’ve been through rain, sunshine, sandstorms and through the Swiss Alps,” said Taher Akhtar, from Maidenhead in Berkshire, who was overwhelmed with emotion and shed a few tears as he stepped off his bicycle in Madinah.

“We’ve been up at 10,000 ft elevation and suffered frozen fingers and noses, but because Allah is with us, He made it easy. We are all blessed.”

Another of the cyclists, Saifullah Nasser, an imam from Northampton, said: “People from Russia and China have cycled to Hajj in the past. We are all cycling enthusiasts, but none of us are professional athletes. Going for Hajj is not difficult. I have done it before but felt that in order to appreciate the highs you have to experience the lows, and there were a few, but by the grace of Allah we have made it safely.”

The cyclists left Jeddah by car at 9 a.m. on Saturday and arrived 45 km outside Madinah, where they were joined by members of two Saudi cycling clubs, who rode with the pilgrims along the Hijra Highway.

“The highway you will be riding on was built along the same route that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) took when he traveled from Makkah to Madinah,” an official from the Ministry of Culture and Information explained before the team set off on their bicycles.

The ride took about two hours, with a police escort and support vehicles, and many spectators gathered by the side of the road to take photos and cheer the cyclists on.

There were so many people watching that the cyclists had to dismount about 500 meters from the Prophet’s Mosque, and continue on foot.

They bowed their heads in prayer and silently walked into the Prophet’s Mosque to give thanks for the completion of their journey, which aims to raise funds to support charity organizations in Syria.

The cyclists will rest in Madinah and begin preparations to complete the Hajj, which begins at the end of this month.

Source – Saudi Gazette

The post ‘Hajj Riders’ reach Madinah after five weeks in the saddle appeared first on CiiRadio.

A man has been sentenced for threatening to blow up an Islamic bookshop in London and “kill all the Muslims”.

David Moffatt, 39, pleaded guilty to religiously aggravated intentional harassment, alarm and distress at Willesden Magistrates’ Court.

Police said they were called to the shop, in Cricklewood, on 23 May by staff who said a man had “threatened to blow the bookshop up and ‘kill the Muslims’.”

The suspect left the shop after making the threats but witnesses described him wearing a high-visibility jacket and trousers.

Moffatt, of Ivy Road, Cricklewood, was identified as the suspect after he made an unrelated call to the police later the same day alleging that he had been threatened by someone else.

“Officers then noticed that Moffatt was wearing the same attire as the suspect from the Cricklewood Broadway incident earlier that day,” a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.

Enquiries and a review of CCTV footage in the area placed Moffatt at the bookshop and he was arrested at 11.30pm.

When officers confronted him over the allegations, he replied: “I’m not anti-Muslim, I’m Catholic.”

Moffatt was sentenced to a community order requiring him to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay £620 in costs and a victim surcharge of £85 at Willesden Magistrates’ Court on 28 July.

Detective Inspector Madeline Ryder said: “Hate crime is unacceptable and Brent’s Community Safety Unit is committed to tackling hate crime in all its forms, supporting victims and their families and bringing perpetrators like Moffatt to justice.”

A spokesperson for Scotland Yard said it was working to combat the “hidden nature” of hate crime, which remains largely unreported, and vowed to fully investigate all allegations while supporting victims and their families.

The force is appealing for anyone suffering or witnessing any form of any hate crime to report it immediately by calling 999 or 101, visiting a police station, using the MOPAC Hate Crime app or through groups like Tell MAMA for Islamophobic incidents and the Community Security Trust (CST) for anti-Semitic incidents.

Source – Independent

The post Man threatens to blow up Islamic bookshop and ‘kill the Muslims’ in London appeared first on CiiRadio.

London witnesses up to three acid attacks every week, LBC has found, saying the Metropolitan Police recorded up to 83 incidents just this year.

The report from the London based radio station comes after aspiring model and business student Resham Khan was attacked last month while sitting in her car with her cousin Jameel Muhktar.

The incident, which happened on the day Khan turned 21, saw the two attacked with sulphuric acid while stuck in traffic.

The Metropolitan Police is investigating the attack as a hate crime, and has just released new pictures of suspected attacker John Tomlin, 24.

Three days after the attack, Khan, who is set to receive £30,000 (US$38,500) in donations after a fundraising campaign was launched for her following the horrifying attack, said on Twitter: “I’m devastated. I keep wondering if my life will ever be the same.”

Another acid attack victim is now calling for the law to treat acid attacks as it does knife attacks.

Imran Khan had acid squirted on his face as he was delivering pizza in Dagenham, east London, last November.
He told LBC that the law fails to do enough to punish those responsible.

“I actually ID-ed the guy and he got arrested. But the police took no further action as there was ‘insufficient evidence’,” he told LBC.

“I’ve seen him today. When I went to go to the shops, he was hanging around in the same place. He grins at me. He’s literally got away with it.

“If someone wants to stab you, they’ve got to come close to you,” he added.
“But with acid, they could be standing 2 meters away and just squash the bottle. “It will do the same amount of damage.”

Up to 300,000 people have signed a petition to make it unlawful to buy acid without a license.

Sarmad Ismail, who started the petition, outlined how easy it is to buy acid online and said: “You put sulphuric acid into Google and the results that come up are ‘Concentrated acid neutraliser’, ‘2.5l or Sulphuric acid 96%’, which is £11.95 and will be delivered to your door.

“And what comes to your door can completely destroy a life.

“There should be checks in place, especially on these websites. There should be licencing.”

He agreed with Khan’s claim that acid attacks are just as bad as knife attacks, telling LBC reporter Rachael Venables: “It’s just as bad as carrying a knife around because if you spray that substance on someone’s face, it will cause lasting damage for years to come.”

Scores of protesters gathered in east London on Thursday to protest over the recent string of acid attacks in the capital, as well as the growing Islamophobia.

Hate crimes in London have increased fivefold following the terrorist attack on London Bridge and Borough Market, according to figures released by the city’s mayor, Sadiq Khan.

Source – RT news

The post Acid attacks against Muslims on the increase in London appeared first on CiiRadio.

A spate of acid attacks has left some Muslim residents of east London afraid to leave their homes.Fears have been heightened after 21-year-old aspiring model Resham Khan and her cousin Jameel Muhktar, 37, suffered horrific injuries when an attacker squirted acid through their car window in Newham, east London, on 21 June.

Police initially said they had no evidence the attack was racially or religiously motivated.

They reclassified it as a hate crime, however, after Mr Muhktar insisted Islamophobia was involved, and after posts expressing sympathy for the far-right were allegedly found on the Facebook page of John Tomlin, 24, who is being sought for questioning in relation to the incident.

As news of the attack spread, social media users began to report other acid attacks, with some speculating that Muslims or people of Asian appearance were being targeted.

The incidents included a man of Asian origin having a noxious substance squirted at him while driving in Commercial Road, Tower Hamlets, on Thursday, with the attackers stealing his car as soon as he got out to seek help.

There were also social media reports of two attacks in East Ham on Friday – one involving a woman being partially burned on her doorstep by someone pretending to be a delivery man, and the other of a woman being targeted by moped-driving acid attackers in the Plashet Grove area.

Fears about what was happening led to east London residents calling an emergency meeting on Sunday evening that was attended by Tower Hamlets mayor John Biggs.

He listened as the resident chairing the meeting said: “These attacks are happening on our doorsteps. Our women, our men, our youngsters are feeling unsafe. They are scared to come out of their homes.”

The fears were echoed by a local imam, who stressed that some acid attacks were robberies, not hate crimes, but admitted: “Even my own wife was saying to me yesterday that she didn’t want to leave the house because she might face an acid attack.”

On social media, meanwhile, the warnings have included: “Please be careful, especially if you’re brown. These attacks seem to be targeting south Asians or ‘Muslim looking people’.”

At this stage, however, the only acid attack being officially treated as a hate crime by police is the one on Ms Khan and Mr Muhktar.

Many of the other incidents seem to bear the hallmarks of particularly vicious robberies, rather than hate crimes.
In one incident, in Limehouse, east London, the victim was white, and the social media user who tweeted a video of him being hosed down with water by paramedics confirmed it had been a “mugging”.

It was not immediately clear whether all the incidents detailed on social media have been reported to police, but Scotland Yard told The Independent that the attack on the man who had his car stolen on Commercial Road was being treated as a robbery.

A spokesman added that it was not being linked to the attack on Ms Khan and Mr Muhktar, which took place in the neighbouring borough of Newham.

In another attack cited on social media, outside Whipps Cross Hospital in Leytonstone on 8 June, the victim, junior doctor Syed Nadeem, 44, said four masked men on mopeds had rushed towards him shouting: “Give me your money or I’ll cut your throat.” Mr Nadeem was sprayed in the face with acid and suffered burns to his face and arms.

Mr Nadeem did reveal that NHS staff had been sent a warning on WhatsApp after A&E doctors treated three other victims for acid burns in the space of an hour. He said: “We got a text message saying people had been knocking on car windows and when you open it, they throw acid in.”

The methods outlined in the warning and in the robbery of Mr Nadeem seem similar to those used in the attack on the woman driver near Plashet Grove in East Ham.

This was described as an attack by “four men on mopeds”. The intended victim escaped unharmed because her car doors were locked and her windows were up.

The incidents in Newham and Tower Hamlets also come after the two boroughs were said to be among the areas of London where acid attacks are most common.

In March, a Freedom of Information request to the Metropolitan Police suggested Newham was the London borough with the most recorded acid attacks, with 398 incidents between 2011 and 2016.

Tower Hamlets had the third highest number of acid attacks, with 84 incidents recorded between 2011 and 2016.

The figures also showed a sharp rise in acid attacks across London as a whole, with 431 incidents in the capital in 2016, compared to 261 in 2015.

Worldwide, about 80 per cent of acid attacks are by men on women, often in revenge for spurned sexual advances or marriage proposals.

But in the UK, acid attack charities believe that a high percentage of attacks are male-on-male, with gang members increasingly using acid as an easily-obtained weapon.

The attack on Ms Khan and Mr Muhktar has led to a more than 255,000 people signing a petition calling for tighter restrictions on the sale of corrosive acid.

Stand Up To Racism is also organising a vigil in solidarity with the two cousins, to be held at Stratford Station in east London on Wednesday evening.

Source – Independent

The post After acid attack, Muslim residents of east London now afraid to leave their homes appeared first on CiiRadio.

An unprovoked acid attack on two Muslim cousins in east London is now being treated by police as a hate crime.

Jameel Muhktar and Resham Khan were attacked while sitting in a car at traffic lights in Beckton on the morning of 21 June while out celebrating Khan’s 21st birthday.

Both suffered severe burns to the face and body and Muhktar was initially placed in an induced coma. The Metropolitan police named the suspected attacker as John Tomlin, 24, but initially ruled out a religious or racial motive for the crime. However, the Met said on Friday night that new evidence had come to light, prompting them to investigate the assault as a hate crime.

Acting DS Neil Matthews said police were treating the incident “very seriously”, adding: “This investigation continues to move at great pace and my team continues to act on a number of leads to find Tomlin. I would also appeal directly to Tomlin to make contact with police and hand himself in and would urge anyone who knows of his whereabouts to contact police.”

Both victims have been left with life-changing injuries. Speaking before police launched their hate crime investigation, Mukhtar said he and his cousin had been targeted because of their religion. “It’s definitely a hate crime,” he told Channel 4 News. “I believe it’s something to do with Islamophobia. Maybe he’s got it in for Muslims because of the things that have been going on lately.

“I don’t know if people are trying to retaliate. We’re innocent people. We didn’t deserve that. I’ve never seen this guy in my life. I don’t have any problems with anybody. My cousin is 21. She’s a business student. Why would anyone do that to us?”

Mukhtar, 37, said that if the roles had been reversed and an Asian man had attacked an English couple with acid, “the whole country knows it would be classed as a terror attack”. He described the constant pain he was experiencing as like “somebody’s ironing me 24/7” and said he was an emotional wreck.

Mukhtar said that when a man knocked on the car window, at around 9.15am on 21 June, and sprayed the substance, he thought it was a practical joke. But he then noticed that his cousin was burning, and started to feel his clothes and trainers melting on to his body.

In terror, he tried to drive off, but, temporarily blinded and in pain, he crashed. Screaming, the pair stripped off and pleaded with local residents for water before being driven to a local hospital.

“When I went to the hospital, they had to jet-wash me with water to get the acid off,” said Mukhtar. “It was excruciating pain. I was screaming like a baby. I’m petrified. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m going to be scarred for life. I’m emotionally wrecked. I’m in continuous pain.”

Khan, who is from Manchester, said she had had skin grafts and was wondering whether her life would ever be the same. The 21-year-old had come to London to visit a spa and go for a meal to celebrate her birthday, having just returned from a student exchange year in Cyprus. She has criticised the emergency services’ response, claiming that the ambulance took too long to arrive and police waited days after the attack before taking a statement from her.

Police in Manchester and London have registered surges in anti-Muslim hate crime in the aftermaths of the Manchester Arena bombing and the London Bridge attack, which were both perpetrated by jihadi terrorists. Last week, a van ploughed into Muslims outside the Muslim Welfare House in north London. Darren Osborne, 47, is accused of murdering Makram Ali, 51, and attempting to murder several others.

A crowdfunding page for Khan had raised more than £40,000 by Friday afternoon, a third more than the £30,000 target. The page was set up by Daniel Mann, a university friend who said the incident had forced Khan and Mukhtar to “put their lives on hold”.

“Resham was due to start her new job on 2 July, which she can no longer do,” Mann wrote on the crowdfunding page. “Also she was called in for a job interview which she can no longer attend. Their life is currently on hold, but we want them to see that this is temporary and things will get back to normal.”

Police have warned the public not to approach Tomlin, who is about 6ft tall and known to frequent the Canning Town area of east London.

In a Facebook post on Friday, aspiring model Khan said she did not want the attack to “fuel a division among people”. “At a time when all I am being sent is positivity and love, please don’t let this man anger you or categorise others,” she wrote. “Regardless of whatever was going on in his head during his cruel and vicious attack, I really don’t want this to help fuel a division among people.

“From a large majority, there will always be a sick and twisted minority. Stop tearing each other down, stop arguing religion and politics. Make peace with each other and the world. Letting this man or the events of the past fill you up with hate will only darken the soul.”

Source – The Guardian

The post Acid attack on two Muslim cousins in London being treated as hate crime appeared first on CiiRadio.

Multiple fatalities have been confirmed after a massive fire broke out in a 27-floor block of flats in west London with witnesses claiming residents are trapped inside.

The London Fire Brigade said 40 fire engines and 200 firefighters were battling the blaze which had engulfed all floors from the second to the top of the Grenfell Tower in the north Kensington area in the early hours of Wednesday.

“Unfortunately, there have been a number of fatalities,” Danny Cotton, Commissioner at London Fire Bridage, said. “I can’t confirm the figure due to the size and complexity of the building.

“It’s a major fire that has affected every floor from the second floor upwards.”

More than 50 people were taken to hospital, according to London Ambulance Service.

Flames ravaged the tower, lighting up the pre-dawn west London skyline and sending up a thick plume of black smoke. Plumes of black and grey smoke billowed into the air over London hours after the blaze was sparked.

Large pieces of debris could be seen falling from the building.

“A number of people are being treated for a range of injuries,” police said.

It has emerged that residents of Grenfell Tower voiced concerns about the building’s fire safety last year.

“It is a truly terrifying thought but the Grenfell Action Group firmly believe that only a catastrophic event will expose the ineptitude and incompetence of our landlord, the KCTMO, and bring an end to the dangerous living conditions and neglect of health and safety legislation that they inflict upon their tenants and leaseholders,” members of the Grenfell Action Group said in a blog dated November 2016.

The group has since posted a new entry on its blog, saying “all our warnings fell on deaf ears”.

“We predicted that a catastrophe like this was inevitable and just a matter of time.”

It is our conviction that a serious fire in a tower block or similar high density residential property is the most likely reason that those who wield power at the KCTMO will be found out and brought to justice.”

‘People have been burned’
Witnesses said they heard screaming from the upper floors as the flames rose in the night.

“They were trapped. They couldn’t come downstairs, especially from the top floor … People have been burned,” a witness identified as Daniel told BBC Radio London.

“I have seen it with my own eyes. And I have seen people jump.”

Hanan Wahabi, 39, told AFP news agency she escaped with her husband and son, 16, and eight-year-old daughter but feared for her brother and his family who live on the 21st floor.

“Last time I saw him they were waving out the window, his wife and children,” she said.

“I’ve not heard from them since, the phone is not going through, the landline isn’t going through.”

Al Jazeera’s Laurence Lee, reporting from London, said “there were serious and long-standing complaints by the residents”.

“This is being described as a potentially catastrophic event,” he said.

Witnesses at the scene confirmed hearing people screaming for help from inside the building and also tying towels and bed sheets to try and escape from the windows before being advised against doing that by the police.

“The entire building is on fire, the flames are going from the ground to the roof,” Jeff Howard, a witness, told Al Jazeera.

“The flames are now making their way around the building, almost to the point where they are coming together. I heard helicopters over my building around 1:45am and there was a bit of screaming outside.”

Police said in a statement they were called at 1:16am (0016 GMT) “to reports of a large fire at a block of flats in the Lancaster West Estate”.

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said a “major incident” had been declared.

Al Jazeera’s Mina Harballo, reporting from London, said the main worry for the fire fighters was the people still inside the building,”The lifts stop working when there’s a fire so there might be some people, including the elderly still stuck inside the building,” she said.

“Police have evacuated houses around the building and we’ve heard from fire fighters.”

Source – Al Jazeera

The post Huge fire engulfs tower block in west London, Multiple fatalities reported appeared first on CiiRadio.

‘Anonymous teen’ says ‘we may be Muslim but we don’t want to hurt you’, in a devastating letter two weeks on from the attack.

A POIGNANT letter has allegedly been left on a London bus by someone claiming to be a 14-year-old Muslim schoolgirl in the wake of the Westminster terror attack.

The letter sees the author describe how she feels “almost guilty” following the nightmare attack, which she says was discussed at her school the following day.

Writing in the heartbreaking letter – which has not yet been verified – the author claims to have been asked where they were in the aftermath of the terror attack on March 22.

The letter was reportedly found on a London bus almost two weeks after the attack at Westminster Bridge.
It reads: “Dear stranger, please read my letter. From – a Muslim

“I am a Londoner aged 14 years old I also happen to be a Black Muslim.”

The author adds: “The next day I woke up early and as I was watching the news it dawned on me that I would go to school and people would expect answers.

“I went into form and as we spoke about the current affairs I felt all eyes on me.

“I felt flushed and hot suddenly – almost guilty?

“What do I have to be guilty for?

“I couldn’t determine if I was being paranoid or eyes were darting to the corner of the room to where I was sitting.

“I walked into my first lesson and a girl had asked me where I was the night before, I laughed it off because I knew she was joking and that’s what humans do when they don’t know what to say.”

The author went on to say she has to “think twice” when walking through Westminster every Saturday – over fears she could be attacked because of her hijab.

It adds: “We may be Muslim but we don’t want to hurt you. We aren’t terrorists.

“Every Saturday I pass through Westminster and I had to think twice about it this time.

“I was scared that maybe I would be assaulted because of the many labels that come with wearing a hijab.”
Social media users have taken to Reddit to praise the author of the letter.

One said: “This is heartbreaking.

“I’ve been moved by this and I hope it’ll have an effect on the public to stop treating Muslims (or anyone else regardless of race, religion, gender, etc) differently.

“There’s no reason to blame somebody else, or even treat them differently, for an action that they don’t have any control over, at all, regardless of circumstance.”

Another wrote: “Shame you have to learn to deal with it. Stay strong.”

One user who described herself as Muslim weighed in: “Not surprised.

“Visibly Muslim young woman myself.”

“It’s been the same s*** since 2001 with September 11.

“I hope she just learns to deal with it like I have.”

Echoing the sentiment, another said: “Muslim here in the same situation.

“Unfortunately it just takes one or two idiots to really wake you up and see how evil the world can be.

“We must learn lessons from our religion and realise that by definition as Muslims we will always be struggling in this life one way or another.

“Be strong!”

Source – The sun.co.uk

The post ‘DEAR LONDON, THIS IS MY HOME’ Heartbreaking letter ‘left on London bus by teen Muslim schoolgirl’ appeared first on CiiRadio.

The Department of International Relations and Co-operation says that as far as it can ascertain, no South Africans were injured during Wednesday’s attack in the British capital, when a man rammed his car into pedestrians outside Parliament before fatally stabbing a police officer.

“The South African embassy in London is monitoring the situation and will report back to us as soon as there is any new information about whether South Africans were involved,” the department’s Nelson Kgwete told Netwerk24 on Wednesday night.

Five people, including the suspected attacker, died in the attack at Parliament which British Prime Minister Theresa May described as a “sick and depraved terrorist attack”.

Charlotte van Fowler, a South African who has been living in London since 2002, said when she received a message on her phone about the unfolding incident, she immediately thought of the attack on the French magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015, in which 12 people died.

Van Fowler is a manager at a cleaning company in Trafalgar Square, which is about 1km from where the attack took place.

She said she locked the store and informed staff after she’d received the message. They were shocked, she said.
“It could have been worse,” she said. “We have a lot to be grateful for.”

However, she was “shocked” that the attack had been possible, given the strong police presence in the area.
She added that she’d attended several courses on what to do in the event of a terrorist attack.

Source – news 24

The post No South Africans injured in London attack appeared first on CiiRadio.

The march was organised as a follow-up to the protest for the massacred civilians of Aleppo in December.

Hundreds of people marched across London yesterday in solidarity with the Syrian people and their struggle against long-time ruler Bashar Al-Assad.

The protests, which began at lunchtime, passed through the busy shopping district of Oxford Street, on to Regent Street, passed Piccadilly until it ended outside 10 Downing Street, the official home of the prime minister. It was organised by the Solidarity for Syrians programme.

One of the organisers, Khaled Al Maj, said: “The protests are our time to send our message, we will carry on even if it is 20 years on from the beginning of the revolution, I will not stop until Assad has gone down.”

George Morris joined the protest to remember and to “commemorate six years of one of the worst conflicts of our lifetime”.

Young Syrians took part hoping for a solution, feeling angry and frustrated at a world that seems to have turned a blind eye to their hopes of a free and democratic solution.

Syrian Roz said: “I know coming to this protest today isn’t going to change anything because if something was going to change and if someone was actually interested in helping the Syrian people politically it would have happened by now.”

“We are demanding our rights and freedom and democracy, we all stand as one against this injustice and this is why we are here today with people and especially the youth who are demanding freedom,” Tunisian Saoussen said.

Fighting for justice
Amnesty International volunteers Carl and Catriona spoke of the international community’s duty to put “pressure towards getting justice for Syrians and ensuring Assad and other groups do not get away with the violations they have committed over the last six years.”

The continuous pursuit of democracy in the Arab world is set to be a challenging endeavour demonstrator Salem believes. “Democracy in a region like the Middle East takes a long time and we cannot expect it to happen immediately. However, our demands remain the same: No to Daesh. No to Assad and his dictatorial regime and finally No to anyone who endangers the right for Syrians to gain their own choice of democracy.”

Louis Wickett-Padgham said: “We are first humans and so we must condemn this 21st-century genocide on innocent people.”

Source – MEMO

The post London comes out against war in Syria appeared first on CiiRadio.

Taxis that hover over water could be the future of transport in congested cities with waterways such as London.

French pioneer Alain Thebault and his Swedish business partner, Anders Bringdal, have asked the mayor of London for permission to test the pod-shaped river taxis on the Thames later this year.

Thebault, a yachtsman and inventor, designed the SeaBubble to skirt above the water noiselessly and with zero impact on the environment.

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has already backed a trial of five SeaBubble taxis on the Seine this summer, in what some predict could herald in a new era for urban transport.

Hidalgo, a supporter of the eco-friendly alternative to taxis, said the test-period represented a big step forward.
“SeaBubble is going to be the future taxi service on the Seine,” she added.

The designers hope the battery powered, bubble-shaped pods will one day become fully autonomous. At the moment, French law requires ships operating on the Seine to have a captain.

The futuristic ‘flying’ taxis are designed to hover 2 feet (60cm) above the water, which reduces the amount of drag by up to 40 percent compared to normal boats and enables the pod to reach speeds of 18 mph (30 km/h).

SeaBubbles are based on an experimental sailing vessel, also designed by Thebault, called the Hydroptere, which uses air to generate lift.

Because the pods generate no waves, they are able to operate in no-wake zones.

Journeys are expected to cost less than £10 ($10) and each taxi has a range of 50 to 60 miles (80 – 100 km).

Thebault is quoted in the Daily Mail as saying: “Once we have gone beyond the prototype and have fully developed the SeaBubble, we might, after Paris, begin with London or Geneva.”

He added that officials in London had been in touch about hosting tests of the new technology.

Speaking to French news website The Local, Thebault said: “The idea actually came from my daughters after I sailed from LA to Hawaii recently.

“They told me to invent a zero-emission cab because they were sick of seeing the pollution in Paris, London, and in the US.

“Next spring we will hold a public demonstration on the Seine in front of the National Assembly (Parliament) in Paris with five SeaBubbles.”

Source – rt news

The post ‘Flying water taxis’ to cut London congestion appeared first on CiiRadio.

A knifeman reportedly stabbed a passenger on a train at Forest Hill station before chasing people outside shouting “I want to kill a Muslim”.

The attacker allegedly shouted: “Who is a Muslim? I want to kill a Muslim.”

A 38-year-old man from London has been arrested on suspicion of GBH following the “serious incident”, British Transport Police confirmed.

They said they were treating the incident as a “serious hate crime” but said there was “no suggestion of wider terrorist aspect”.

An eyewitness told The Daily Mirror: “The man came running out of the station with a knife and everybody started running and screaming.

“He was shouting ‘Whoever is Muslim, I will kill you”. He was looking for anybody that was Muslim.

“Everybody was running and screaming. He was walking up and down the street for about 15 minutes.
“The looks on some peoples faces, they looked terrified and very scared.”

Other eyewitnesses said the man was shouting “death to Muslims” and “go back to Syria”.

Miguel Oliveira told the Press Association he was met with a “wave of people” when he arrived at the station.
“The first few were shouting ‘he’s got a knife, he’s got a knife’ and then all of a sudden the next ones said ‘Oh he’s been stabbed call the police’,” he said.

He added that some members of the crowd were shouting: “He wants to kill Muslims”.

Shellby Curry was with her one-year old child when she saw a man “waving what looked to be a knife in his hand” near the station and screaming words like “Muslims f***ing hate them, kill them all”.

She described the attacker as a black man with short hair, who she thought appeared to be in his late 30s or early 40s.

The man also threatened a woman wearing a hijab before the stabbing, LBC News reports.

One man, who is in his forties, was treated by ambulance staff at the scene and then taken to hospital, British Transport Police confirmed.

A BTP spokeswoman said: “We are currently at Forest Hill railway station, after being called to a serious assault at 1.18pm.

“One person has been arrested following the incident and is currently in police custody.

“One man was treated by ambulance staff at the scene and is currently en route to hospital.

“We are still investigating the circumstances of this incident but at this time, we are not treating it as terrorism-related.”

Source – Independent.co.uk

The post Forest Hill stabbing: Attacker shouted ‘I want to kill a Muslim’ while chasing passengers appeared first on CiiRadio.

Medical student Naveed Khan has been named in the Evening Standard’s ‘Progress 1000’, a list of London’s most influential people of 2016.

Featured in the ‘Equality Champions’ category, Naveed was chosen for his dedication to creating a more equal society, a commitment that has been reflected in his work as head of the homelessness arm of the Acts of Random Kindness project (ARK), a campaign spearheaded by KCL Islamic society (KCL ISOC).

The ARK project has undertaken a variety of ventures to help with homelessness, including organising dinners for the homeless, distributing rucksacks, and collecting sanitary products. As well as this, the project has seen campaigns such as ‘Bake for Your Neighbour’, ‘ARK Sweet Relief’ in exam periods, and also the ‘#LittleARKs’ campaign where slips of paper were handed out on campus promoting acts of random kindness.

Having lead the team in 2014-16, Naveed is now chairing a committee of other London Islamic Societies who do similar work and are working on collaborations as well as his work with KCL ISOC, Naveed is National Director of Charity Week UK, which raised around £700,000 last year.

This role includes oversight of six different regional teams across the country and all of the money raised by the teams funds projects that their volunteers choose, focusing on sustainable development aid to benefit orphans and needy children.

Naveed said “As a student, the last thing I wanted to do was graduate with just a degree. This work has allowed me to give purpose to my life. All I have done is try to be a good Muslim, and it’s great to be recognised on such a prestigious list for doing so! I just hope that this motivates others to keep doing good work and making a difference”

Source – Ilmfeed

The post Muslim Student named one of London’s Most Influential People appeared first on CiiRadio.