Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:11AM GMT
The Libyan regime of Muammar Gaddafi has called on British Prime Minister David Cameron to step down, saying he has “lost all legitimacy.”
Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Khaled Kaaim said, "Cameron and his government must leave after the popular uprising against them and the violent repression of peaceful demonstrations by police.”
“Cameron and his government have lost all legitimacy. These demonstrations show that the British people reject this government which is trying to impose itself through force,” he added.
Kaaim asked the UN Security Council and the international community not to stay with their “arms crossed” in the face of the flagrant violation of the rights of the British people.
Cameron announced that a “fight back is under way” and that he would not let "phony concerns about human rights get in the way” of silencing the protesters.
He has ordered the British police to deploy 16,000 officers in London streets and authorized them to use rubber bullets and water cannon in order to regain the control of the crisis-hit cities across the country.
“Whatever resources the police need, they will get. Whatever tactics the police feel they need to employ, they will have legal backing to do so,” Cameron stated.
"We will do whatever is necessary to restore law and order on our streets. Every contingency is being looked at. Nothing is off the table," he also said.
Syria condemns British 'hypocrisy'
Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:59AM GMT
Syrian Ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja'afari has called on Britain to take care of its own political issues rather than interfering in Syria's internal affairs.
"On one hand, you hear British Prime Minister [David] Cameron describes and calls the rioters in London, Birmingham, and Bristol as gangs, but our own gangs in Syria he calls them peaceful demonstrators and unarmed civilians," he said in an exclusive interview with Press TV early Thursday.
He was referring to the latest unrest in different parts of England after a few hundred people gathered outside a police station in Tottenham on Saturday to protest against the fatal shooting of a black man, Mark Duggan, on Thursday.
"This is a hypocrite approach. This is not accurate and the Europeans should extinguish the fire on their own field rather than investigating fire elsewhere," Ja'afari said.
On the unrests in Syria, he noted that peaceful demonstrators in his country were not harmed and they will never be harmed by state forces.
The Syrian envoy also praised Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa, and Lebanon for focusing on the Syrian government's success in tackling the demonstrations.
Syria has been the scene of political unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of President Bashar al-Assad.
===========
07 Aug 2011 05:43
Source: Reuters // Reuters
* Fatal shooting by police precedes riot
* Bus, police cars, shops torched during violence
* Community leaders appeal for calm
By Michael Holden
LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Rioters throwing petrol bombs battled police in north London overnight, setting patrol cars, buildings and a double-decker bus on fire in some of the worst disorder seen in the British capital in recent years.
About 200 people rained missiles and bottles on riot officers near Tottenham police station after a protest at the fatal shooting of a man by armed officers earlier in the week turned violent.
Mounted police and riot officers on foot in turn charged the troublemakers, to push them back.
Eight officers were taken to hospital, one with head injuries, as rioters attacked buildings including banks, shops and a supermarket and torched three police cars in the main road near the local police base.
Television pictures showed a blazing bus surrounded by rioters and hooded youths pelting an abandoned police car with rocks and missiles.
While the bulk of the disturbance had been brought under control early on Sunday, pockets of trouble were still erupting nearby.
"These are very distressing scenes for Londoners in general and the local community in particular," said Commander Stephen Watson.
"It's important we emphasise that the safety of the public is of paramount importance to us. Our intention at this time is to bring things to as swift a conclusion as we can. Our absolute aim is to restore normality."
The trouble broke out on Saturday night following a peaceful demonstration over the shooting of 29-year-old Mark Duggan, who was killed after an exchange of gunfire with police on Thursday.
Duggan had been in a taxi when it was stopped by armed officers as part of a pre-planned operation. One policeman escaped unhurt after a bullet struck his radio. Duggan's death is being investigated by the independent police watchdog.
Although there have been riots in other European countries linked to austerity measures to tackle large national debts, police and local community leaders said the shooting was the cause of the riot.
"We already have one grieving family in our community and further violence will not heal that pain. True justice can only follow a thorough investigation of the facts," said local member of parliament David Lammy.
"The Tottenham community and Mark Duggan's family and friends need to understand what happened on Thursday evening when Mark lost his life. To understand those facts, we must have calm."
Watson said they had been aware of the increased tensions but added there had been no indication matters would deteriorate as they had.
"We did not have warnings that we were going to see the kind of disorder being witnessed tonight," he said.
"We are aware of raised tensions in the community, which are understandable following the tragic death of Mark Duggan."
NEAR SCENE OF NOTORIOUS RIOT
The area where the disorder occurred was very close to the scene of one of Britain's most notorious riots just over 25 years ago.
Police officer Keith Blakelock was hacked to death on a rundown housing estate in Tottenham during the rioting in October 1985 when around 500 mainly black youths rampaged through the streets, attacking police, looting and setting fires.
More recently, London saw riots at the end of last year when protests against government plans to raise tuition fees for university students turned violent with police and government buildings attacked.
During the most serious disturbances last December, rioters targeted the limousine belonging to heir-to-the-throne Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, kicking its doors, cracking a window and reportedly jabbing Camilla with a stick. (Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Michael Roddy)
===
Riot blaze: North London in flames as police cars, bus and shops burn over police shooting of 'gangster'
Twenty-six police officers hurt in clashes being treated in hospital
Scotland Yard still dealing with 'isolated pockets of crime' this morning
Mob of 500 people protest about death of father-of-four Mark Duggan who was shot by officers
100 riot police on the streets as Tottenham burns
Fears that violence was fanned by Twitter as picture of burning police car was re-tweeted more than 100 times
Shop looted and youths storm McDonald's and start cooking their own food
Mail on Sunday photographers beaten and mugged by masked thugs
By Ian Gallagher and Steve Farrell
Last updated at 10:44 AM on 7th August 2011
Comments (170)
Add to My Stories
Share
Twenty-six police officers were being treated in hospital today following riots which broke out two days after a man was shot dead by police.
Scotland Yard said at least one of the officers had suffered head injuries after protesters clashed with police in Tottenham, north London.
Scotland Yard said this morning: 'There remain isolated pockets of criminality in the Tottenham area involving a small number of people. Officers are currently taking steps to deal with these incidents.'
Out of control: Scores of police tackle rioters in Tottenham last night
Out of control: Scores of police tackle rioters in Tottenham last night
Out in force: Mounted police ride in front of a burning building in Tottenham
Out in force: Mounted police ride in front of a burning building in Tottenham
Inferno: Flames rages through a building in Tottenham, with fire crews prevented from tackling it in case they were attacked by rioters
Inferno: Flames rages through a building in Tottenham, with fire crews prevented from tackling it in case they were attacked by rioters
Blaze: Fire crews rush onto the scene as flames engulf a building
Blaze: Fire crews rush onto the scene as flames engulf a building
In a statement, Commander Watson described the scenes of violence as 'distressing' for Londoners and the local community, and stressed that the safe of the public was 'of paramount importance to us'.
More...
Pictured: The 'gangsta' gunman killed in shoot-out with police as officer is saved from bullet by radio
Tottenham anarchy: Grim echo of 1985 Broadwater farm riot
He added: 'We did not have warnings that we were going to see the kind of disorder being witnessed tonight.
'We are aware of raised tensions in the community, which are understandable following the tragic death of Mark Duggan.
London's burning: Building are alight after being torched by youths during an attempted arrest last night
London's burning: Building are alight after being torched by youths during an attempted arrest last night
The morning after: Bricks and debris from the previous night's riots litter High Road in Tottenham
The morning after: Bricks and debris from the previous night's riots litter High Road
Stripped bare: Rampaging looters stolen rows of TVs and other goods from Comet at Tottenham retail park
Stripped bare: Rampaging looters stolen rows of TVs and other goods from Comet at Tottenham retail park
Police arrest looters found inside JD Sports at Tottenham Retail Park
Police arrest looters found inside JD Sports at Tottenham Retail Park
'What we experienced earlier on yesterday evening was a peaceful protest outside Tottenham police station - there was no indication it would deteriorate in this way.
'For those who involved themselves in this level of violence, there is no excuse.'
Trouble flared after members of the community took to the streets last night to demand 'justice', after Mark Duggan, 29, was shot dead by police on Thursday.
The red double decker burns. The trouble started at around 5.30pm as the protest began
The red double decker burns. The trouble started at around 5.30pm as the protest began
Into the storm: A police officer in riot gear stands looking at a burning car on the night riots returned to north London following a fatal shooting
Into the storm: A police officer in riot gear stands looking at a burning car on the night riots returned to north London following a fatal shooting
Patrol cars, a shop and a double-decker bus were set ablaze and there were reports of looting amid scenes reminiscent of the violent unrest in the same area 26 years ago when PC Keith Blakelock was hacked to death.
More than 100 officers and specialist riot police faced crowds of more than 500 people protesting about the death of Mr Duggan, who lived on the estate and was described last week by police sources as a ‘gangster’.
Senior political figures were united in their condemnation of last night's unrest.
Home Secretary Theresa May said: 'I condemn utterly the violence in Tottenham last night. Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated, and the Metropolitan Police have my full support in restoring order.
'I want to pay tribute to the officers who put themselves in harm's way.'
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: 'I'm appalled at the scenes of violence and destruction in Tottenham. The Acting Commissioner has assured me that the police are doing everything they can to resolve this situation. The events leading to these disturbances are rightly being investigated by the IPCC. Harming people and property will do nothing to facilitate the investigation, it will only make the situation worse.'
There was concern that the disturbances were fanned by Twitter, with some of those taking part posting inflammatory comments from the scene and calling for reinforcements.
One picture of a police car on fire in the area was re-tweeted more than 100 times on the social networking site within an hour.
A double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people
A double decker bus burns as riot police try to contain a large group of people
Twitter riot: A red London double decker bus burns as riot police try and bring rioting under control in Tottenham late last night
Police try and control a huge crowd of people as a shop burns. In the front of the picture a police car sits burnt out
Police try and control a huge crowd of people as a shop burns. In the front of the picture a police car sits burnt out
Mr Duggan was shot by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s CO19 unit on Thursday evening after the minicab he was travelling in was stopped. There was an apparent ‘exchange’ of fire and a bullet was found lodged in a police radio.
Mr Duggan died at the scene and an officer was injured, but left hospital after treatment.
The violence last night started soon after a crowd of about 120 had begun to gather at the High Road, near Tottenham Hotspur’s football ground, from about 5.30pm.
Their target was the police station which was being guarded late last night by lines of officers and police vans. As the disorder spread, and the numbers of demonstrators swelled, two police cars being used to block the road were set ablaze by masked youths.
London riots: The burnt out shell of a police car in north London as yobs go on the rampage in Haringey following the death of father-of-four mark Duggan
London riots: The burnt out shell of a police car in north London as yobs go on the rampage in Haringey following the death of father-of-four mark Duggan
Stand-off: Rioters wearing bandanas confront police officers. The trouble saw 26 policeman injured and taken to hospital
Stand-off: Rioters wearing bandanas confront police officers. The trouble saw 26 policeman injured and taken to hospital
Flames began to billow from a shop and then a double-decker bus was engulfed in flames and quickly reduced to a twisted shell. Witnesses also reported seeing a jewellery shop and a bookmakers being looted. Teenagers and younger children were seen carrying valuables through the shattered glass front of an electrical shop.
Windows were smashed at a Barclays Bank and pictures on Twitter appeared to show the building being looted. There were also reports that youths had stormed McDonald’s and had started frying their own burgers and chips.
Footage was posted on YouTube of local solicitor’s office Attridge on fire.
Resident David Akinsanya, 46, who was on the scene, said: ‘It’s really bad. There are two police cars on fire. I’m feeling unsafe. It looks like it’s going to get very tasty. I saw a guy getting attacked.’
A local woman, who declined to give her name, said: ‘There’s a theory going on that the man who was shot had dropped his gun, but they still shot him. I’m hearing that most of the shops in the High Road are being burgled and robbed.’
Hooded youths use aerosol cans to set fire to shelves of goods inside a retail store on Tottenham High Road after ransacking the premises
Hooded youths use aerosol cans to set fire to shelves of goods inside a retail store on Tottenham High Road after ransacking the premises
Tottenham riot: The riots saw violent clashes between police and youths with rocks and fireworks being hurled at officers
Battle: The riots saw violent clashes between police and youths with rocks and fireworks being hurled at officers
Several fire crews could only stand ready nearby as they were barred from the High Road where buildings and the bus were ablaze.
One fireman complained to The Mail on Sunday that earlier, three engines had been dispatched to the scene without being warned they were entering a riot zone. He said: ‘We were sent to a road accident but it was the police cars on fire.
‘We were then ordered to leave them burning and to drive off, probably for our own safety.
‘I cannot believe what we have just driven through. As we pulled out of the station, there was a car on fire on the High Road and there were people in the middle of the road – it was very scary. We didn’t give them a chance to try to stop us. I am still shaking.’
Victim: Mark Duggan, shot by police in Ferry Lane, Tottenham
Victim: Mark Duggan, shot by police in Ferry Lane, Tottenham
Meanwhile, two Mail on Sunday photographers were viciously beaten and robbed by masked youths armed with crowbars and other makeshift weapons and reporters on the scene were threatened by looters in balaclavas.
The photographers said there was ‘total lawlessness’ in the area with the contents of shops strewn across the streets and the police unable to gain access.
One said: ‘It is utter carnage out there. We have been beaten up quite badly and had about £8,000 of equipment stolen. We were quite discreet but as soon as we got a camera out we were set on by youths with masks who were armed with crowbars.’
In a separate incident, a Mail on Sunday reporter was chased down a side street and struck on the back of the head with a rock.
In a parallel with the 1985 riot, residents claimed the roots of last night’s violence lay in allegations of police harassment.
John Blake, who grew up with Mr Duggan on the Broadwater estate, claimed the dead man had been victimised by police in recent weeks.
He said: ‘I know the police were harassing him. The police were following him. If you’re from Broadwater Farm, police are on you every day, you’re not allowed to come off the estate. If you come off the estate they follow you.’
A family friend of Mr Duggan, who gave her name only as Nikki, 53, said the man’s friends and relatives had organised the protest because ‘something has to be done’ and the marchers wanted ‘justice for the family’.
Some of those involved lay in the road to make their point, she said.
‘They’re making their presence known because people are not happy,’ she added. ‘This guy was not violent. Yes, he was involved in things but he was not an aggressive person. He had never hurt anyone.’
As the rioting escalated, trouble-makers on Twitter seemed keen to orchestrate the violence, bringing scores more people into the area. One user calling himself ‘English Frank’ urged attacks on the police, saying: ‘Everyone up and roll to Tottenham f*** the 50 [police]. I hope 1 dead tonight.’
And in a clear incitement to looting, ‘Sonny Twag’ tweeted: ‘Want to roll Tottenham to loot. I do want a free TV. Who wudn’t.’
‘Mrs Lulu’ tweeted: ‘Brehs [men] asking who’s down to roll [go] Tottenham right now, to get justice. – RIP Mark x.’
A tweet apparently passed on by chart-topping rapper Chipmunk, who comes from Tottenham, paid tribute to the dead man: ‘R.I.P Mark Duggan a real straight up and down respected man. LOVE!!!!!!!!’
Joining in the Twitter frenzy, ‘Ashley AR’ tweeted: ‘I hear Tottenham’s going coco-bananas right now. Watch me roll.’
Officers from Trident, the police unit that deals with gun crime in the black community, had been attempting to arrest Mr Duggan when Thursday’s shooting took place.
‘Shots were fired and a 29-year-old man, who was a passenger in the cab, died at the scene,’ said a spokesman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is investigating. It is believed that two shots were fired by a firearms officer, equipped with a Heckler & Koch MP5 carbine.
Local MP David Lammy called for calm last night. On his website, he said: ‘We already have one grieving family in our community and further violence will not heal that pain.’
Last night, a Scotland Yard spokesman explained how the riot began.
‘Two police cars had parked up at Forster Road/High Road while their officers conducted traffic patrols on foot. At approximately 2020 hours a number of bottles were thrown at these two cars – one was set alight and the second was pushed into the middle of the High Road. It was subsequently set alight.’
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023254/Tottenham-riots-Double-decker-bus-set-ablaze-mob-violence-hits-London.html#ixzz1UKty5Yzc
====
Can GKP legally hold back RNS?@ CJ
Chicago Jack
4UP
Opti, I get upset when I see games played with investors money. If you know enough about issues pertaing to Kurdistan- individuals there, how the system operates- then you amy have a different opinion. I will say again, i dont doubt GKP OIP.
What i question is the motive and the shenanigans that always happen and how it effects ordinary peoples lifes.
You may get a surprise on world exchanges- not everyone is happy about company's trading on world exchanges and operating in Kurdistan and they are looking, due to the KRG's input on sensitive news.
GKP listed in London, registered in Bermuda- operates out of jurisdiction, and is at the mercy corrupt people who sanction news releases on sensitive news.
Some of what happend on thursday was illegal in my opinion- and issuing a RNS when UK markets were closed and US markets were open about share price movements- was distastful to say the least.
I wont harp on about it((Dwell on; talk or write about to a tedious and excessive extent. For example, She kept harping on the fact that she had no household help at all. This expression is a shortening of harp on the same string, meaning "to play the same note over and over." It was first recorded in 1518. ))- only to say to investors- there's more than GKP that you are invested in- there are those corrupt individuals in Kurdistan as well- and they certainly do have the means to do things and have done previously.
I am not saying they are sitting outside the headmasters office- waiting to release news. The headmasters office say it as it is Opti, corrupt office where puppets pull strings- dont hide behind things. I ceratinaly dont.
My last word on the issue of RNS approval.
I will agree to dissagree opti,
Kind regards
CJ
===
Genel & T Hayward.
zengas
53UP
Surprised no one has commented on one stand out part of the post at 07:42 by Shorty re the Times and Tony Hayward.
"the former BP chief executive, is considering a $3 billion (£1.8 billion) bid for Genel Enerji, one of the region’s biggest operators, through his London-listed vehicle Vallares".
=================================
So a $3b figure has been mentioned and people should wake up imo to GKPs assets and value in the making instead of AAA or AA+, market grations etc! It's already been well documented here that even in far more severe turmoil, low oil prices etc, the high prices paid for what seemed very cheap assets only a few months earlier - Sibir/Addax as two examples cited recently.
So what does a $3 Billion takeover for Genel give the likes of Tony Hayward ?
Genel has -
44% of Taqtaq - (a 2 billion bl OIP field and approx 187 m bl reserves to Genel).
25% of Tawke - (recently upped to a 1.75 bl OIP field and approx 120 m bl reserves to Genel).
44% of Kewa Chirmila (not a licence but is a prospect on the Taq taq licence that failed to find anything at planned depth).
25% of Miran (a net 1.7tcf - 2.2 tcf gas/25 mmbls oil/condensate in place resources to Genel).
40% Dohuk (drilling at Summail prospect at present).
20% Chia Surkh (about 25 mmbls net in place resources to Genel).
40% Berbahr (awaiting drilling).
From above we can see that the reserves are about 300 mmbls + 300 mmboe resources with substantial upside if successful. I'd expect though that Genel is likely to gain a further 180 mmbls reserves at Taqtaq as Tawke recovery was just recently upgraded and i have included Tawke fully above - to give Genel about 480 mmbls reserves and 300 mmboe resources.
Genel also had the rights at 2009 to build a 60,000 bopd refinery which would cost them a further $510m. I don't know if they still have that right or if it was sold off.
Genel also have a substantial infrastructure payment mechanism linked to their blocks and to be paid.
Even if we allowed $1b towards the long term value of the refinery (total $1.510b and a bit on the high side imo) that would leave Genels licences/ 480 mmbo reserves/ + 300 mmboe gas/oil resources + exploration upside valued at $2b.
Using $2 billion on the above (excl the refinery) would equate to a GKP valuation of 154p - yet here we are at 104p.
GKPs Adnan Samarrai has said in an industry journal only recently that Shaikan is expected to have 5 billion bls of recoverable (circa 2.5 billion bls+ net to GKP).
If so, that would be about 5.5 times Genels reserves from Shaikan alone and pro-rata equal a value of about 850p for GKPs Shaikan. At this stage the discoveries at Sheik-Adi/Bijeel might be classed as resources similar to what Genel have.
Imo numbers by Dalesman and others of 800p and 1000p+ are not impossible when we see what Genel have and a $3b bid for them being mentioned. This should be seen as a decent yardstick to measure GKP.
I remain a committed holder for value to be outed in due course from what is potentially the only super-giant field found in the KRG region since Kirkuk.
Dyor as always !
===
Clashes erupt in London on third day of violence
08 Aug 2011 16:11
Source: reuters // Reuters
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Youths hurled missiles at police in east London on Monday as fears grew of a third night of violence in the British capital.
Protesters hurled rubbish bins and supermarket trolleys at officers and police with riot shields responded by charging them as they tried to seal off an area around Hackney Central station, live television showed.
Some rioters broke into shops, apparently to find objects to throw at police lines. The BBC said the incident broke out after police stopped and searched a man. (Reporting by Adrian Croft; Editing by Louise Ireland)
===
Cristina Odone
Cristina Odone is a journalist, novelist and broadcaster specialising in the relationship between society, families and faith. She is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies and is a former editor of the Catholic Herald and deputy editor of the New Statesman. She is married and lives in west London with her husband, two stepsons and a daughter. Her latest novel, The Good Divorce Guide, is published by Harper Collins.
London riots: the TV reports keep bleating the word 'community'. The trouble is, there's no such thing
By Cristina Odone Politics Last updated: August 8th, 2011
17 Comments Comment on this article
They didn't talk about "community" during the Brixton riots
They didn't talk about 'community' during the Brixton riots
I stayed up watching the news on the telly last night, then heard Today this morning to keep up with the news from Tottenham (and Enfield, Wood Green, Brixton, and even the West End). In her blog post on the riots, Katharine Birbalsingh makes the point that the word that was missing from this coverage was “black”. True. And the word that kept recurring was “community”.
An inarticulate woman on Today talked about how much Trident had helped the “black community”. (Trident, you may recall, was the scheme launched by the Met in 1995 to make black people feel the police were on their side – rather than picking on anyone from an ethnic minority.) On ITV last night, David Lammy, the MP for Tottenham, talked about the “community” being devastated by the looters and arsonists. The commentariat – well, at least, The Guardian – has taken up this theme, and mourns the “community” that – having lost a popular member, Mark Duggan – is up in arms.
But isn’t the point of the London riots precisely the opposite: there is no such thing as community. At least, not among the residents of Tottenham. The broadcasters and the talking heads may try to paint a politically correct portrait of a united community that has come upon hard times (all fault of the cuts of course) and is now rent apart by violence; but it’s unconvincing. The young hoodies rushing across our screens, plasma screens under their arm, shiny trainers dangling from their hands, have no sense of wronging a community, because they’ve never felt they belonged to one in the first place. The neighbours and shopkeepers being forced out of their homes by the fires don’t feel they have any more in common with the urban terrorists than the shocked TV audience does. The chorus of disapproval that has gone up among residents during the weekend of rioting has been loud and strong: these are criminals, not brothers. They may live nearby, but these thieves and scoundrels do not belong to the community.
Broadcasters and talking heads want a narrative that props up liberal myths. They want to talk of the spirit of community that has been broken by hard economic times. They want to shoe-horn the people of Tottenham into the heroic mould of London’s East Enders who stood shoulder to shoulder during the Blitz: this, they think, will prove to the public that we are right about the cruelty of the Coalition’s cuts. But listen to eyewitnesses in Tottenham and Enfield and they are telling a different story. It is one that stars criminals, not “community”.
====
New clashes break out in London
inShare28
Share this
Related News
Potent mix of cuts, unemployment could fuel more UK riots
11:50am EDT
Spending cuts, police lay behind UK riot, locals say
Sun, Aug 7 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Can non-violent struggle bring down Syria’s Assad?
Police and the 15-M movement
Related Topics
World »
Related Video
Video
Second night of London riots
8:35am EDT
Aftermath of riots in the UK
More riots in northern London
Londoners clean up after riot
Riots erupt after London protest
UK fights fires, controls riot damage
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
Main Image
By Stefano Ambrogi and Matt Falloon
LONDON | Mon Aug 8, 2011 1:48pm EDT
(Reuters) - Youths hurled missiles at police in northeast London on Monday as violence broke out in the British capital for a third night.
Protesters threw bottles, rubbish bins and supermarket trolleys at officers, and police with riot shields responded by charging them as they tried to seal off a busy area around Hackney Central station.
There were social media reports of disturbances in several other areas of London.
Crowds of people, many wearing hooded tops, broke into a truck and pulled out planks of wood for use as missiles, a Reuters reporter on the scene said.
Some of the youths broke shop windows, including that of a Ladbrokes betting shop.
The BBC said the clashes broke out after police stopped and searched a man.
London has been hit by two nights of violence which erupted on Saturday night in Tottenham, north London, after a protest over the fatal shooting of a man by armed police turned violent.
British government officials branded rioters who fought police, looted shops and set fire to buildings at the weekend as opportunistic criminals and said the violence, the worst in London for years, would not affect preparations for next summer's Olympic Games.
Home Secretary Theresa May, who cut short her holiday to take charge of the government response to the riots, said arrests had climbed to 215 and 27 people had been charged.
"Let's be absolutely clear, there is no excuse for violence, there is no excuse for looting, there is no excuse for thuggery," she said.
Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh said the force was putting more officers on the streets in Hackney and other areas on Monday night.
"What we can see is the Metropolitan Police is getting police officers there in numbers, when we have large numbers of criminals intent on that kind of violence," he told the BBC.
BARRICADES
A small group of people had barricaded themselves inside the 110-year-old Hackney Empire theater where past performers have included Charlie Chaplin and Stan Laurel.
"We are stuck inside," said one person, who did not give her name, in a telephone conversation with Reuters.
"We don't want to be near the windows. They seem to be targeting shops at the moment. It's very scary."
"We are in the back of the building, staying away from the front. We have barricaded the doors, and put chains on the doors."
Twitter users sent messages and pictures of a police buildup in the south London districts of Peckham and Lewisham, with Sky news reporting there had already been fresh confrontations between youths and the police.
The weekend of mayhem started in the multi-ethnic, lower-income neighborhood of Tottenham, only a few miles from the Olympic park that will welcome millions of visitors in less than a year.
"It was needless, opportunistic theft and violence, nothing more, nothing less. It is completely unacceptable," said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
London Mayor Boris Johnson, who was also reported to be cutting short his holiday, said he hoped the city would "have a fantastic Olympics no matter what happened last night."
Nine police were injured in what police called "copycat criminality" in several parts of London on Sunday night and early on Monday, although the damage was on a smaller scale than Saturday's rioting in Tottenham, in the north of the capital.
The riots come at a time of deepening gloom in Britain as the pain from economic stagnation is exacerbated by deep public spending cuts and tax rises aimed at eliminating a budget deficit that peaked at more than 10 percent of GDP.
The London police force has been criticized for its handling of recent large protests against the austerity measures, and its chief and the top counter-terrorism officer quit last month over revelations in the News Corp phone-hacking scandal.
While Britain's politicians were quick to blame petty criminals for the violence, neighborhood residents said anger at high unemployment and cuts in public services, coupled with resentment of the police, played a significant role.
"Tottenham is a deprived area. Unemployment is very, very high ... they are frustrated," said Uzodinma Wigwe, 49, who was made redundant from his job as a cleaner recently.
(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft, Mohammed Abbas and Avril Ormsby; Editing by Myra MacDonald)
====
Reuters
BofA leads banks back into mortgage abyss
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
By Antony Currie
NEW YORK, Aug 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Bank of America is leading U.S. banks back into the mortgage abyss. The nation's largest financial institution by assets shed over $15 billion of market value on Monday, after its shares fell as much as 21 percent, following the loss of Uncle Sam's AAA credit rating and a home-loan lawsuit filed by AIG. Other mortgage-heavy lenders got hit, too, but none as bad as BofA.
That's understandable since it now has fingers in nearly a fifth of the country's home-loan market. Another recession wouldn't just crimp earnings power. It could also lead to fresh losses on the $1 trillion of problem loans it either owns or services -- or both. Citigroup, which has $300 billion or so of troublesome mortgages on its books, saw its shares tumble as much as 16 percent on Monday. Mid-size lenders like SunTrust, Regions and Fifth Third weren't far behind.
Shareholders have more concerns about BofA, and consequently Chief Executive Brian Moynihan. The $10 billion AIG lawsuit alleging "massive fraud" on the part of BofA -- and acquisitions Countrywide and Merrill Lynch -- adds to worries that BofA's recent progress in putting its mortgage mess behind it is coming unstuck.(Freed from being stuck.)
There are growing doubts about whether bondholders will accept $8.5 billion to settle other outstanding home-loan claims. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has made clear he may block the deal. And BofA is getting more claims than expected from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, despite a comprehensive-looking settlement in January.
Granted, the bank is in better shape than when the last crisis hit. Its capital ratios are much higher. BofA also now holds some 37 percent of its $2 trillion balance sheet in cash or liquid securities, a third more than in 2007, according to Goldman Sachs -- meaning it could last almost two years before needing to raise any new debt.
But that's at best secondary to shareholders.(( Whammy: A supernatural spell for subduing an adversary; a hex: put the whammy on someone.
A serious or devastating setback: "The triple whammy: government cuts, declining corporate giving, and less favorable tax laws" (New York Times).
Read more: http://www.answers.com/topic/whammy#ixzz1UTWxVeXC
)) They're focused on the double whammy of a lack of earnings power any time soon and the return of the mortgage black hole. Investors now reckon BofA is worth up to $140 billion less than its breakup value. That's more than even the most pessimistic of estimates for home-loan losses. But it shows just how deep the housing hole is from which Moynihan needs to climb.
CONTEXT NEWS
-- AIG sued Bank of America on Aug. 8 for more than $10 billion, claiming it was the victim of massive fraud in buying $28 billion of mortgage-backed securities from the bank and two firms it acquired, Countrywide and Merrill Lynch.
-- Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Di Rita told Reuters: "AIG recklessly chased high yields and profits throughout the mortgage and structured finance markets. It is the very definition of an informed, seasoned investor, with losses solely attributable to its own excesses and errors. We reject its assertions and allegations."
-- BofA's shares fell as much as 21 percent by mid-afternoon on Aug. 8.
-- BofA Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has agreed to a live, public, 90-minute interview on Aug. 10 conducted by hedge fund manager Bruce Berkowitz of Fairholme Capital.
((antony.currie@thomsonreuters.com))
(Editing by Jeffrey Goldfarb and Martin Langfield)
Reuters
===========
By Jon Hemming and Stefano Ambrogi – 48 mins ago
LONDON (Reuters) – Riots spread to new areas of London on Monday while looting also erupted in the city of Birmingham as Britain's worst unrest in decades escalated in a third night of violence.
In Hackney, a multi-ethnic area in east London close to the site of next year's Olympic Games, hooded youths set fire to rubbish bins and pushed them down a street toward police, while hurling bottles and bricks.
Many laughed as they ran back when police charged them. Others shouted into their cellphones telling their friends to join in.
The disturbances started late on Saturday in London's northern Tottenham district when a peaceful protest over the police's shooting of a suspect turned violent.
On Monday, the violence had spread to the south of the city, including the areas of Peckham, Croydon and Lewisham.
Attackers also smashed shops and looted property in the central England city of Birmingham, police said, in the first sign of the riots spreading beyond the capital.
In Hackney, with the street thick with smoke, looters smashed their way into a local shop, stealing whisky and beer. One had even grabbed a packet of cornflakes. Another man ran away laughing while carrying four bottles of whisky.
"I am from South Africa and it reminds me of the riots there, except the police here are not so rough," said one middle-aged local resident, who declined to give his name.
"But the kids don't have any respect for the police or for property. It's sad for the people who live round here."
In Peckam, flames leapt into the air from a torched building, while rubble was strewn across the street. People walked in and out of shops looting.
Police had arrested 215 people, according to Home Secretary Theresa May, who cut short her holiday because of the riots.
"The violence we've seen, the looting we've seen, the thuggery we've seen, this is sheer criminality ... these people will be brought to justice, they will be made to face the consequences of their actions," she said.
"SENSELESS"
But despite a heavy police presence, they appeared unable to contain the violence as looters coordinated through mobile phones and Twitter to try to keep one step ahead of them.
In Hackney, youths in brown hoods posed for pictures in front of a burning car on a street corner. Others swarmed around a skip full of bricks and gathered them up.
"I don't know why they are doing this," said a middle-aged woman who lived nearby. "It's senseless ... they are just cacking on their own doorstep."
The BBC said the Hackney clashes broke out after police stopped and searched a man.
British government officials branded rioters as opportunistic criminals and said the violence would not affect preparations for next summer's Olympic Games.
Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh said the force was putting more officers on the streets in Hackney and other areas on Monday night.
"Let me make it clear that people who are using current events as an excuse or cover to break the law, steal, attack police officers and cause fear to Londoners will not be tolerated by the vast majority of Londoners and us," he said.
BARRICADES
A small group of people said they had barricaded themselves inside the 110-year-old Hackney Empire theater to escape the violence.
"We are stuck inside," said one person, who did not give her name, in a telephone conversation with Reuters.
"We don't want to be near the windows. They seem to be targeting shops at the moment. It's very scary."
"We are in the back of the building, staying away from the front. We have barricaded the doors and put chains on the doors."
Youths appeared to have used a free message service on Blackberry mobile phones to coordinate attacks on shops and police.
Research In Motion, the Canadian manufacturer of Blackberry smartphones, said it would work with British authorities, but gave no details on what information, if any, it would give the police.
"We feel for those impacted by this weekend's riots in London. We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can," RIM spokesman Patrick Spence said in a statement.
Some have branded the disturbances as a cry for help from impoverished areas reeling from the government's harsh austerity cuts(Severe and rigid economy: wartime austerity.) to tackle a big budget deficit, with youth services and other facilities cut back sharply.
"Tottenham is a deprived area. Unemployment is very, very high ... they are frustrated," said Uzodinma Wigwe, 49, who was made redundant from his job as a cleaner recently.
Officials said there was no excuse.
"It was needless, opportunistic theft and violence, nothing more, nothing less. It is completely unacceptable," said Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg.
(Additional reporting by Adrian Croft, Mohammed Abbas, Matt Falloon and Avril Ormsby; Writing by Myra MacDonald; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
===========
London on lockdown as police face gangs armed with petrol bombs and poles on third night of riots
Violence in Hackney, Peckham and Lewisham this evening
Shops closed early in Islington, Kilburn, and Stratford amid fears of more lawlessness
Barriers put up around Westfield Shopping Centre in case violence starts
Twitter users could be arrested for inciting violence, warns police chief
215 people arrested and 25 charged since Saturday night
Claims bullet found in police radio was issued by the force
Scotland Yard faces criticism over its readiness for the riots, despite repeated warnings
Teenagers told 'bring knives and hammers' to clashes in Enfield
By Rebecca Camber, Arthur Martin and David Wilkes
Last updated at 6:57 PM on 8th August 2011
Comments (822)
Add to My Stories
Share
Violence erupted in broad daylight this afternoon as rioters surrounded police vans, looted lorries and targeted shops in a series of attacks across London.
Scores of police raced to Hackney as a mob of hooded youths began hurling missiles at the officers. There was also sporadic violence in nearby Dalston where shops and businesses were attacked and youths clashed with police and set fire to cars outside Lewisham Town Hall.
In Peckham Rye shops have been attacked, including Clarks and Primark, and buses are not currently running through Peckham and Lewisham. There are reports of disturbances in East Ham too.
Other areas of London were braced for violence with workers barricading their shops in Stratford and Islington and barriers were erected outside Westfield Shopping Centre. Kilburn High Street has also been closed off and police are currently on the streets in Harlesden.
On Twitter, users posted that the violence was rapidly brimming out of control with one person tweeting he had seen 'at least 30 riot vans and three helicopters' in Hackney. Youths were seen setting fire to cars, rubbish bins, and were also spotted setting off fireworks in the direction of police.
A burning car in Hackney this afternoon. Violence has also begun in Peckham, south London with shops being attacked and a bus has been set on fire
A burning car in Hackney this afternoon. Violence has also begun in Peckham, south London with shops being attacked and a bus has also been set on fire
Youths on the streets of Hackney this afternoon set fire to bins, pictured, as well as cars, and were seen throwing stones, bricks and glass at police
Youths on the streets of Hackney this afternoon set fire to bins, pictured, as well as cars, and were seen throwing stones, bricks and glass at police
A car is set on fire in Hackney. Home Secretary Theresa May said there had been 215 arrests since the violance began on Saturday and 25 people charged
A car is set on fire in Hackney. Home Secretary Theresa May said there had been 215 arrests since the violance began on Saturday and 25 people charged
Chaos: Rioters surround police vans in Mare Street, Hackney, this afternoon as violence erupts again throughout the capital
Chaos: Rioters surround police vans in Mare Street, Hackney, this afternoon as violence erupts again throughout the capital
v
Anarchy: Police under a bridge in Hackney clash with rioters this afternoon as violence spreads across the capital
Twitter users describe the riots
Twitter users describe the riots
Chaos: Twitter users describe seeing youths loot a lorry and the sports shop JD sports, while another woman tells how rioters are attacking police cars
Commenters said the thugs had lootedLadbrokes and JD Sports shop and other eye-witnesses suggested that the police were trying to prevent rioters from trashing Hackney’s Town Hall. Meanwhile, a man was seen on a tube train dressed in black and carrying a copper rod as he headed into the riots.
More...
PAUL BRACCHI: Violence, drugs, a fatal stabbing and a most unlikely martyr
Bullet fired at officer 'belonged to police', fuelling fury about shooting of father-of-four
MELANIE PHILLIPS: Our police are not trusted any more. So why SHOULDN'T Dave ask America's top cop to run the Met?
I'd love to run the Met, says the 'super-cop' who cleaned up New York
HARRY PHIBBS: The revolution will not be televised, but it will be Tweeted
An eyewitness said: ‘One man on the tube was dressed all in black – he even had gloves on – and he had a big copper rod tucked inside his jumper. At Bethnal Green it dropped onto the floor and lots of people looked quite alarmed and got off at the stop.’
Josefinehedlund tweeted: ‘Kids smashing up police cars outside Tesco in Hackney Central Getting closer to my neighbour, scary.’
Another user, Matthew Paul Balman tweeted: 'Just seen some live pics of London and the riots, wtf is going on. Thugs throwing chairs and facing off with the police.'
Twitter user antoinette213 wrote: 'This is a madness. I'm seeing these youths live just opening up some truck and emptying it.'
Many warned their friends and family to stay inside and pleaded with people not to incite violence on the website.
Much of the violence seems to be centred around Mare Street, a main road that runs near London Fields.
Detaining suspects: Police in Tottenham try to contain people found inside a vandalised store in Tottenham Retail Park. Violence and looting spread across London, from Tottenham in the north to Brixton in the south
Detaining suspects: Police in Tottenham try to contain people found inside a vandalised store in Tottenham Retail Park. Violence and looting spread across London, from Tottenham in the north to Brixton in the south
User Vicky Simister described how youths were arming themselves: 'big truck being unloaded by hoodies on Mare St - taking wood sticks out and throwing at police.'
In Stratford, workers were told to barricade their shops and offices and go home early as the Met feared the most violent confrontations yet in the wake of the shooting of suspected gangster Mark Duggan.
Twitter was ablaze with rallying calls for further looting and clashes with police, following two nights in which businesses were destroyed by rampaging gangs of masked youths.
As hundreds of extra officers were drafted into the capital, shops closed their doors early and staff were sent home amid fears of further damage.
Stratford Shopping Centre in east London was closed after police warned managers that the area could turn into a potential flashpoint.
Centre manager Andrew Norton said: 'People's safety is absolutely paramount, which is why we've closed early. The whole situation's really quite bizarre.'
Nearby, the Stratford Picture house cinema told audiences to go home and closed its doors hours early.
The sprawling Westfield shopping centre in west London also added to the list of businesses fearing attacks tonight and built barriers around its entrance.
This afternoon, police said 215 people had been arrested since the violence began in Tottenham on Saturday night, and 25 people charged.
Haringey Council also said the damage to roads and pavements in Tottenham on Saturday night was in the region of £227,000.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Tottenham MP David Lammy (left) meet local residents and business people including jeweller Steve Moore (far right) who lost his shop after rioting broke out in Tottenham on Saturday
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Tottenham MP David Lammy (left) meet local residents and business people including jeweller Steve Moore (far right) who lost his shop after rioting broke out in Tottenham on Saturday
Out of control: Suspected looters are seen carrying shoe boxes from the JD Sports Store at the Tottenham Hale Retail Park. Police have admitted they were too stretched to stop the theft
Out of the box: With the shoes now out in the open, and other items casually slung over their arms, the suspected looters don't appear to be in any hurry outside the store
Crash and carry: Footage shows suspected looters carrying goods from the JD Sports store at Tottenham Hale Retail Park. Police admitted they were too stretched to prevent widespread theft from vandalised shops
More than 100 arrests: Police detain two women outside a damaged Currys store in Brixton. Widespread rioting and looting took place across many parts of London
More than 100 arrests: Police detain two women outside a damaged Currys store in Brixton. Widespread rioting and looting took place across many parts of London
This afternoon Chief Superintendent Nick Ephgrave, Lambeth Police borough commander, confirmed that three non-fatal stabbings took place in the borough during yesterday's riots.
He said he had visited an injured police office in hospital and added that 'his face was covered in stitches'.
A Scotland Yard homicide team has been brought in to investigate the riots, according to Mr Ephgrave, speaking at a meeting with Lambeth Council and community leaders at Lambeth Town Hall.
said the extra resources and the 'full use of all their technology' would allow police to catch those responsible for the violence and looting last night.
He said the police have 'more than 30 prisoners' following the disturbances.
A Section 60 order is in place in the area today, allowing police to stop anyone they suspect may commit violent acts.
Mr Ephgrave said much of the violence was 'pre-planned' using 'PIN-protected messaging serviced' such as Blackberry messenger that are 'difficult to access' by police.
He said police are also looking at Facebook and Twitter for evidence of any criminal planning.
Council leader Steve Reed and many community leaders present at the meeting expressed concerns over police resources.
Lee Jasper, chair of Brixton Splash, a community event which took place yesterday, said he knew police had extra resources in the area and that either 'they weren't enough or they weren't deployed properly'.
He said he was at the Currys store where looting took place for an hour from 10.45pm last night before police arrived.
Mr Ephgrave said the outbreaks of rioting across London meant a lot of the reserves at his disposal were deployed to other areas at the time.
The alert came as plans for the Notting Hill Carnival were thrown into jeopardy amid fears that the festival could be a focal point to violence,
The carnival, which attracts up to two million people each year, could see the kind of violent clashes with police that erupted in Tottenham on Saturday evening.
There are concerns that the West Indian event over the August bank holiday could even be cancelled in an attempt to prevent more riots.
Police leaders have been meeting community leaders in a desperate bid to calm tensions over the clashes which were sparked by the shooting of 'gangster' Mark Duggan last week.
The developments came as Home Secretary Theresa May cut short her summer holiday to fly home and deal with the crisis.
Protection: A guard dog keeps watch inside a shop damaged during the disturbances in Enfield
Protection: A guard dog keeps watch inside a shop damaged during the disturbances in Enfield
Aftermath: A fire crew puts out a burning car in Enfield. Emergency services were stretched as violence, looting and arson attacks sprang up around London
Aftermath: A fire crew puts out a burning car in Enfield. Emergency services were stretched as violence, looting and arson attacks sprang up around London
Scotland Yard has also promised more officers on the streets of London tonight as the Met prepares for a third night of violence.
In a bid to quell the unrest, police have warned that Twitter users could face arrest for inciting violence.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh confirmed officers were looking at the website as part of investigations into widespread looting and rioting.
Clashes between masked rioters and police, vandalism and looting continued into the early hours of this morning as questions were raised about the shooting of suspected gangster Mark Duggan on Thursday.
TODAY'S POLL
Should David Cameron cut short his holiday to deal with the riots and economy?
No
Yes
David Cameron
All polls
In Enfield, North London, a mob of 200 anarchists last night smashed their way into shops and lobbed concrete slabs at police cars following Saturday’s riot in nearby Tottenham.
A jewellery store, a McDonald's and a Tesco were set upon in Enfield, while in Brixton, South London, hundreds of teenagers looted a Foot Locker store before setting it on fire, requiring six engines to battle the blaze at 1.30am.
Police reported that more than 100 arrests took place across the capital overnight.
Commander Christine Jones, said: 'Officers responding to sporadic disorder in a number of boroughs made more than 100 arrests throughout last night and early this morning.
'This is in addition to the 61 arrests made on Saturday night and Sunday morning.'
Three London fire engines also came under attack during the second night of rioting in London. One engine from Brixton station being targeted while actually fighting a blaze started by looters raiding the Foot Locker store.
Two others from West Norwood and Edmonton were on their way to blazes when they were set upon. Windows were smashed as mobs of looters hurled bricks and other missiles at the engines.
She said there had been 16 charges in relation to offences including burglary, knives, theft and violent disorder.
Seventeen people have been bailed and one has been cautioned. One person was sectioned under the Mental Health Act, 11 are awaiting CPS advice and 15 are ongoing inquiries, she added.
She went on: 'Officers are shocked at the outrageous level of violence directed against them. At least nine officers were injured overnight in addition to the 26 injured on Saturday night.
Details of the riots across London
'We will not tolerate this disgraceful violence. The investigation continues to bring these criminals to justice.'
And, in an interview on Radio 4 today, deputy assistant commissioner Kavanagh said: 'I can be very assured that there will be even more officers out there, even more committed and braver than they have been so far, to make sure London stays as safe as possible.'
He added that there were three times as many officers on duty on Sunday as there were on Saturday, and he promised that even more would be deployed tonight - brought in from forces outside the Met.
Claudia Webbe, who helped set up the Operation Trident's black-on black gun crime unit, told BBC’s Today Programme that she condemned the criminals seeking to exploit the death ‘for their own personal gain’ as ‘clearly wrong’. However she sought to differentiate between the looters and those furious with police over Mr Duggan’s killing.
Returning: Home Secretary Theresa May, left, has cut short her holiday to deal with the crisis but David Cameron has remained abroad
Returning: Home Secretary Theresa May, left, has cut short her holiday to deal with the crisis but David Cameron has remained abroad
She said: ‘There was an element of people who were intent on criminality, violence and looting. There were also however an element of people that were seeking to, in the attacks on police, there were some who were playing out tensions that had arisen before, such as their feelings on stop and search.
‘It appeared to me that those who were attacking the police directly, those who were not carrying out the criminal and violent attacks and the looting, there were clearly those who were attacking the police directly, and anything they regarded as an ''institution'', who were venting out, I believe, issues to do with inequality, decades of unemployment, poverty, stop and search being over-policed, and they were venting that.'
A teenager today told how she received a BlackBerry message telling her to bring knives and hammers to riot in Enfield.
The 17-year-old girl, known only as Alice, said: 'It was all planned. On BlackBerry Messenger there was a broadcast to everyone, which goes to everyone on someone's contact list, saying: ''Everyone in Edmonton, Wood Green, Enfield, everyone in North London, link up at Enfield Town station at 4.00 sharp. Just bring knives, trollies, hammers, the works. Re-broadcast this''.'
Last night there were also reports of disturbances Walthamstow and Islington in North London, and sporadic clashes with police in Elephant and Castle in South London and Shepherd's Bush in the west.
Three police officers were hospitalised after they were struck by a fast-moving vehicle while trying to make arrests after looting in Chingford Mount, Waltham Forest.
And in a dramatic development, the killing of father-of-four Mark Duggan, who was shot dead on Thursday by armed officers, came under fresh scrutiny.
There were claims that a bullet found lodged in a police radio was a force-issue bullet, meaning Mr Duggan had not fired on officers as police suggested.
Downing Street called the rioting ‘utterly unacceptable’, while Home Secretary Theresa May said: ‘Such disregard for public safety and property will not be tolerated’;
Mayor of London Boris Johnson said he was ‘appalled at the scenes of violence and destruction’, but refused calls to return from holiday;
Mr Duggan’s family condemned the violence but insisted he was not armed;
It emerged that the police commander in charge of Tottenham jetted off on holiday hours before the riot despite warnings there could be a backlash.
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard came under criticism after it admitted that it had not anticipated the violence, despite community warnings of a backlash over the shooting of Duggan.
And the government was under fire for not having a senior minister in London to visibly take charge of the situation. So far Lynne Featherstone, a junior Home Office minister, has been the highest-ranking government spokeswoman to appear on Television over the riots.
Home Secretary Theresa May, who has been speaking to Met chiefs and who has made a number of press-release statements, is reportedly flying back to the UK from holidays to meet police chiefs face-to-face.
Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, is back from holiday today and is the most senior minister in London.
In other developments in the wake of some of the worst riots in Britain for years:
The riots started on Saturday night in an area of North London with a particularly resonant history of violence. In 1985 Broadwater Farm estate, where Mr Duggan hailed from, was the scene of devastating riots when a police officer was hacked to death.
No entry: Police cordon off an area in Enfield on Sunday night as they try to contain the civil unrest and protect shops, homes and civilians
No entry: Police cordon off an area in Enfield on Sunday night as they try to contain the civil unrest and protect shops, homes and civilians
Destroyed: These two cars, both belonging to the police, sit in the middle of Tottenham High Road after the rioters set them alight
Destroyed: These two cars, both belonging to the police, sit in the middle of Tottenham High Road after the rioters set them alight
Investigation: Two officers examine the shell of one car as a group of passengers on a bus view the scene
Investigation: Two officers examine the shell of one car as a group of passengers on a bus view the scene
Shops under attack: A member of staff surveys the scene of a break-in at a Sainsburys supermarket in Enfield, on Sunday night
Shops under attack: A member of staff surveys the scene of a break-in at a Sainsburys supermarket in Enfield, on Sunday night
Over the weekend, the streets of Tottenham were once again ablaze as crowds of 500 marauding yobs set fire to police cars, a double decker bus and buildings and shops.
Twenty-six police officers were injured and eight were taken to hospital in the clashes after petrol bombs, bricks and bottles were hurled at them. One suffered serious head injuries when he was hit in the face with a brick. Another was speared with a scaffold pole in the stomach, causing serious internal injuries.
Under cover of darkness, masked thugs looted trolley loads of luxury goods including plasma TVs and stereo systems. Teenagers and adults turned up in cars and filled their boots with stolen items from a retail park, unimpeded by police.
Children as young as seven took part in the violence according to witness David Akinsanya, 46, who told The Sun: 'I saw kids as young as seven or eight running up the street with their faces covered.'
Last night 55 people had been arrested for offences including violent disorder, burglary and theft. The riots erupted hours after a protest vigil demanding ‘justice’ over the shooting of 29-year-old Duggan by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s elite firearms squad.
Crowd: Large groups of youths gathered throughout Enfield town centre, with G. Mantella, a family owned jewellers broken in to and looted
Crowd: Large groups of youths gathered throughout Enfield town centre, with G. Mantella, a family owned jewellers broken in to and looted
A group of youths congregate outside the HMV store on Enfield High Street
This police car was attacked by rioters in Enfield
New outbreak: Youths congregated on Enfield High Street yesterday afternoon, attacking the HMV store, while also using concrete blocks to damage this police car
Waiting game: A team of riot officers were engaged in a stand-off with the youths on a street in Enfield town centre
Waiting game: A team of riot officers were engaged in a stand-off with the youths on a street in Enfield town centre
The shooting provoked fury as internet rumours spread suggesting the father-of-four had been executed after he put his gun on the ground.
Met Commander Adrian Hanstock said: ‘Last night’s disorder and violence in Tottenham was completely unacceptable.
‘There was no indication that the protest would deteriorate into the levels of criminal and violent disorder that we saw.
‘We believe that certain elements, who were not involved with the vigil, took the opportunity to commit disorder and physically attack police officers, verbally abuse fire brigade personnel and destroy vehicles and buildings.’
He said that the officers concentrated on stopping violence which took precedence over looting.
Local MP David Lammy said the community ‘had the heart ripped out of it’ by ‘mindless, mindless people’.
The outbreak of violence has raised fears about whether the Metropolitan Police would have adequate resources to cope during the Olympics if there were a similar attack during the 2012 Games.
Last night Scotland Yard had to call in reinforcements from Thames Valley, Essex, Surrey, City of London and Kent police after 200 thugs smashed their way into shops in Enfield, north London.
Police said three officers were injured in a separate incident at Brixton, south London.
Throughout last night and the early hours of this morning emergency services were dealing with disturbances across London as fresh bouts of rioting and looting broke out.
Police officers were being deployed to respond to 'copycat criminal activity' across the capital, with disturbances erupting in several boroughs in north,
police chief who jetted off to the sun
south and east London, including reports of trouble in Brixton, Enfield, Walthamstow and Islington.
Three officers were taken to hospital after being hit by a fast-moving vehicle at 12.45am, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said.
The officers had been in the process of making arrests in Chingford Mount, Waltham Forest, after a shop was looted by youths.
'Two officers are believed to have superficial injuries and the other has an injury to his knee,' the spokesman said.
What happened here? A young boy seems lost in thought as he reacts to the burnt out metal of a car
What happened here? A young boy seems lost in thought as he reacts to the burnt out metal of a car
Shot dead: Mark Duggan was killed by armed police last Thursday - but there are suggestion he did not open fire
Shot dead: Mark Duggan was killed by armed police last Thursday - but there are suggestion he did not open fire
Meanwhile, a fight broke out when rival gangs attended King's College Hospital after two victims of minor stabbings were admitted, police said. The hospital has brought in extra security for the rest of the night and officers remain on scene dealing with the initial stabbings, the spokesman added.
Six fire engines were dispatched to deal with a blaze at a Foot Locker shop in Brixton, south London, and witnesses saw riot police clash with looters at a Currys store nearby. Police say the looting across London was carried out by 'small and mobile' groups.
As violence spread, around 50 youths gathered in Oxford Circus, central London, and caused damage to property.
Elsewhere, more than 30 youths, many in masks, vandalised and looted shops in Walthamstow Central, including BHS.
'Officers attended the area and the situation is currently under control. Groups of youths are continuing to target shops in Waltham Forest and officers are on scene,' a police spokesman said.
The windscreen of a police vehicle was smashed after groups caused a disturbance in Islington, and goods were stolen from a Tesco store in Ponders End.
The spokesman added: 'As a result of quick and decisive action by police numerous arrests have been made at various locations.'
One witness Lewis Whyld, a photographer for the Press Association, described the scenes at a Currys store in Brixton: 'A couple of 100 youths were rioting and looting. Riot police went in to get them out and there was a big fight in the street.
'Youths were throwing rocks and bottles and there was a bin on fire. They used a fire extinguisher to push the police back so they could get back into Currys and continue taking things out.'
He said there did not seem to be enough police on the scene to deal with the group and that many of the looters were wearing hoods and had scarves covering their faces.
Damping down: Firemen yesterday continued to douse the buildings set alight during riots
Damping down: Firemen yesterday continued to douse the buildings set alight during riots
Wrecked: Two police cars used as a road block were set alight during the troubles in Tottenham
Wrecked: Two police cars used as a road block were set alight during the troubles
Debris: Bricks from the previous night's riots litter Tottenham High Road
Debris: Bricks from the previous night's riots litter Tottenham High Road
Union Point: The Tottenham landmark that survived the Blitz... reduced to a smouldering shell in one night by the rioters
Tottenham Riots Flames.jpg
Allied Carpets
Night and day: The Carpet Right store in Tottenham High Road burns out of control during the riot and, the following day, is a burned-out wreck
The Carpet Right building is a landmark in Tottenham, one of the more historic and recognisable blocks in the area.
The building's official name is Union Point and it stands on a prominent corner site on Tottenham High Street, just a stone's throw away from White Hart Lane - the home ground of football team Tottenham Hotspur.
Built in 1930 by the London Co-operative Society (LCS), the Art Deco style of Union Point is said to typify the Co-operative Movement between the two world wars.
The grand three-storey building was embellished with LCS motifs along each wall, and above the entrance the words 'LCS 1930' were carved in two-foot-high lettering in stone.
The building was an LCS department store serving Tottenham before it was bought by Allied Carpets.
With the Co-op store closing years ago, the upper floors of the building were sold by Allied Carpets to the Metropolitan Housing Trust, which converted them into 26 one-bedroom and two-bedroom flats.
The properties were put on sale to local people as part of a shared ownership housing scheme, with priority given to Haringey Council tenants.
Inside the property there were two stairways to access the flats and there was also a communal roof terrace for residents' use.
The store section of the building was later taken over by Carpet Right three years ago when Allied Carpets moved to a nearby retail park in Bowes Park - also affected by the riots.
Sheila Park, from Historic Tottenham, told MailOnline: ‘I’m really upset by what’s happened. The Co-op building was an interesting old building and can never be replaced. I was involved in agreeing to convert the upper floors into flats and now every person living there has lost their home.’
She added: ‘The building opposite at 639 Tottenham High Street was also set fire. It is 100 years old and was the old Gas Light and Coke Company. It really is dreadful.’
Tory peer Lord Harris of Peckham, who founded the Carpet Right chain in 1988, said he was shocked and angered that the building had been targeted.
He told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: 'I know they had protests against the police, and I can understand that. What I can't understand is... they smashed up the buildings and took stock out of the shops. That's not protesting, that's thieving.'
He spoke of his sorrow for the innocent victims, some of whom lived above the Carpet Right showroom, left homeless by the weekend's violence and pledged to help them. He said: 'My real sympathies are with all those people in the flats above me who are working class - and I don't mean that rudely - that have got nothing. They have only got the clothes they are in. I want to try to help them... give them money, or help them with clothes. I feel very, very sorry for them.'
Former glory: The Union Point building in a photo from February this year. A former Co-op store, the Art Deco building had been renovated as a retail store and apartments
Former glory: The Union Point building in a photo from February this year. A former Co-op store, the Art Deco building had been renovated as a retail store and apartments
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023554/LONDON-RIOTS-Third-night-violence-police-consider-banning-Notting-Hill-carnival.html#ixzz1UTdq2FzP
====================
All planned?
abu azaan
hedgies bringing market down to close day before fed to meet - I read an article last week sayijng the market needs to fall another 10-15% before it'll make the fed act and everyone know this. hedgies will be prob pick up bargains tomorrow and then go long.
no way will they let the US go into recession again.
fear currently rules the markets but underneath it seems like this is all planned
===
Re: More worried about London...
dannoC
13UP
What is wrong with the good honest hardworking people is that these days the police can't win, everyone has a voice and not just the people who desrve good service.
If the police go in and crack heads, they are brutal and the chattering classes vilify them, and talk about our civilised society, being brutalised by their heavy handed policing.
In some of our in cities, there is very little civilisation left!
You would be as safe on the streets of Baghdad as you would in some areas.
The reason for this is the police are not able to POLICE any more. They are having to watch their P's and Q's and cow tow to all and sundry.
The budgets are drying up all over the place, attitudes need to change. I'm sure most coppers would welcome a change to something akin to the old days. That won't happen any time soon, but for me it will have to come as our society is changing, values mean nothing, we all need to wake up and smell the coffee.
Force needs to be met with force, but don't hang your copers out to dry when they use it.
That's my point of view.
G.L.A.
Danno
===
More worried about London / Birmingham.....
Victor384
10UP
Having recently retired after 36 years at the 'sharp end' - this 'anarchy' must be stamped out as soon as possible - with whatever means is required.
This 'anarchy' ( the only word for it ! ) is spreading like a cancer and it needs to be nipped in the bud with a very sharp pair of pincers !
A grasping tool having a pair of jaws and handles pivoted together to work in opposition.
I sympathise with a lot of the messages posted tonight - but the fact is - the only time the general public realise how important the Police ( i.e. Law and Order ) are - is when law and order breaks down on this scale.
With no 'civil order' - we have no civilisation.
This is not a time to be 'nice' - the rioters / looters must be ruthlessly dealt with. The ' Riot Act ' should be re-instigated and the FULL force of the law should be brought to bear on them.
If you don't like the heat - get out of the damn kitchen !
Victor384.
====
: More worried about London...
joe987
13UP
It's nothing to do with race. Duggan was black, and brandished a firearm. Now this may get criticism but if you do that in the street you will be challenged by an SFO, and if you make any threatening moves you will be shot. And trust me, the cop won't shoot unless it's necessary. You will never see a UK SFO fire at a moving vehicle like you would in USA.
Now you have all races running around the street stealing and destroying buildings. Don't go down the race route. It's just a load of pathetic opportunistic C***s.
====
renardargente View Profile | Add to favourites | Ignore
Date posted today 22:05
Subject Re: More worried about London... View parent message
Votes for this Posting Voted UP 8 times.
Message
AE; The 'rioters'.... Hmmmm. These guys had grievances;
Free schooling
Free medical care that is amongst the best in the World
Free speech
Individual rights set down in statute and carefully guarded by an independent media and judiciary
Free legal advice if they cannot afford it
Well fed
A roof over their heads guaranteed by Law
Reasonable public services
Have all the amenities of an advanced technological society
Guarded by a web of laws and a police force that is subject to public scrutiny
Live in London - where I imagine if you are willing to work hard you will have many chances of advancement
Who do you think is paying these @sshole's mobile phone bills and other costs? Not them... else they would be out working on a Monday afternoon. This unfortunate Duggan character - the focal point of this cascade of criminality? He was carrying a firearm ( allegedly ). If he was that is a serious criminal offence and ( to me at least ) demonstration of malicious intent. Perhaps we shouldn't buy in to this media-amplified soap opera that this was a 'nice family guy'. I'll suspend judgement until I hear the evidence - unlike the 'rioters'.
====
Reuters
London riots strike another blow to confidence
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)
By Chris Hughes
LONDON, Aug 8 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Rolling news channels in the UK have live coverage of spontaneous riots and looting in the capital. The screen divides to show pictures of fires in Croydon, a sprawling London suburb, and the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange. South London doesn't usually share media space with the financial markets. But the juxtaposition is justified: images of such events on the streets of multiple districts of Europe's financial capital can only harm already fragile confidence. Not surprisingly, Prime Minister David Cameron is cutting short his holiday.
The trouble began on Saturday after an initially non-violent protest following a fatal shooting by police during an arrest. It has since spread to other areas where shopping streets have become battlegrounds marked by widespread looting and burning cars and buildings. Urban Britain feels vulnerable. The emergency services are being put under strain; the disorder, and the fires, are not proving easy to contain.
Many causes have been cited -- anti-police feeling, social division exacerbated by fiscal austerity and boredom among school children on their holidays. Rioters are widely reported to be using the BlackBerry messaging service to identify areas to target. The device synonymous with the expansion of the financial sector during the boom is now an instrument of social unrest in a city whose prosperity still rests largely on financial services.
It is not the first outbreak of violence in London since the coalition government embarked on its spending cuts. Students protesting against university fees clashed with police earlier this year -- but those were largely middle class protests that the government could easily ignore. The latest outbreak is more spontaneous, and therefore more dangerous.
There will be direct, but temporary, economic costs as shops close, people stay in their homes and tourists head elsewhere. In the longer term, the affected areas will only find it harder to attract investment to break out of deprivation. There will also be a blow to Britain's confidence. The images are being broadcast around the world. For London -- and for the financial markets -- it couldn't come at a worse moment.
((chris.hughes@thomsonreuters.com))
(Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and Martin Langfield)
====
BREAKINGVIEWS-London's safe-haven status faces another threat
09 Aug 2011 10:07
Source: reuters // Reuters
(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)
By Chris Hughes
LONDON, Aug 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - London's international reputation has suffered another blow. Images of fire and looting across the capital, beamed around the world, raise questions about the government's ability to keep the city safe. Combined with the aftermath of the financial crisis, it's another factor that could make London less attractive for mobile workers and investors.
The UK capital has a peculiar safe haven status -- for those who have a choice. Peculiar, because there are many factors that count against it. Heathrow may not be as bad as it was, but it still causes frustration for international travellers. Londoners generally have to allow an hour to get from A to B in the city. Property prices are sky high. Personal taxation has also become less competitive.
In spite of this, London has remained desirable as a place to live, work and invest. Super-prime residential property in the city has become a financial asset in its own right -- a relatively safe store of value for the wealthy of the Middle East, Russia and Asia.
Widespread disorder in the UK may prompt calls for the government to soften its austerity programme. But that would be the wrong policy response. The reality is that the UK simply has no choice but to stay the course -- it can't afford to do anything that might threaten its triple-A credit rating and its ability to borrow cheaply in the markets. But after restoring order, one priority should be repairing the image of London internationally.
Of course, no one needs to organise a charity collection for the international elite, whose life prospects are at the polar opposite end of the spectrum to those of the rioters. Indeed, their visible wealth and prosperity is a provocation to a youth that feels excluded from even remotely similar opportunities. That is a challenge for longer-term social and economic policy.
But London would regret it if talented individuals are deterred from moving to the city. There will be those who are this week weighing up a job offers based in London and other financial centres. The scenes on the television may be the marginal deciding factor in their choice. Boris Johnson, London's mayor, is at last returning from holiday. He has a city to defend.
CONTEXT NEWS
-- UK Prime Minister David Cameron flew back to Britain from holiday in Italy and was due to hold crisis talks on Aug. 9 after three nights of riots, looting and arson in many parts of London that has spread to other cities.
-- The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, was due to return to the capital from holiday having previously rejected calls to do so.
-- Reuters story: British riots spread on third night of violence
RELATED COLUMN
London's burning
-- For previous columns by the author, Reuters customers can click on
(Editing by Peter Thal Larsen and David Evans)
=====
http://expertwitnessissues.blogspot.com/
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
Bombers rain firestorm on London!
No folks, this isn’t the Blitz, the Luftwaffe, bless them, missed this completely when they had a crack at it. No, this life-threatening inferno in north London was self-inflicted!
As my readers will know, the Elephant Hunter likes to take a “sideways” perspective when looking at current news – and this post is no different – but that doesn’t mean I'm not apoplectic (Extremely angry; furious)about what’s happening, and very sympathetic to the folks who have lost their homes and businesses during this latest brainless conflagration.
The Elephant Hunter received an email last night, from a concerned reader in Florida USA, worried for my safety, having seen the dreadful images of rioting in London. I told him, a little tongue-in-cheek, not to worry, as rioting is as much a national sport over here, as the Super-bowl is to him in the US!
But that wasn’t an entirely flippant claim;( Marked by disrespectful levity or casualness; pert.
Archaic. Talkative; voluble.) the English (and there were quite a few present in Tottenham) really have been rioting for many hundreds of years. So where's the elephant, you ask?
Well, a very early punch-up with the authorities occurred in 1517. Then, unlike today, many Londoners resented foreigners. Especially wealthy foreign merchants and bankers... (Now where have I heard that one before?).
A fortnight before the riot, a Dr. Bell gave a xenophobic speech(A person unduly fearful or contemptuous of that which is foreign, especially of strangers or foreign peoples.) calling on "Englishmen to cherish and defend themselves, and to hurt and grieve aliens for the common weal".
But in those days rioters didn’t have such an easy ride as the guys in Tottenham! The local inhabitants threw stones, bricks, bats (no, not cricket bats - it wasn’t that kind of sport!) and boiling water at them. Indeed, thirteen of the rioters were convicted of treason and executed.
Now, you may not have agreed with their grievance, but at least they had one! It seems that the idiots rioting in London have only two aims: anarchy, and a new flat-screen television! But in 1517 “social network sites” and mobile phones were, like Che Guevara bedroom-posters (a prerequisite for any aspiring anarchist) were not yet invented!
Okay, so unlike the 1517 rioters, these idiots can muster in the blink of an eye. But beyond that, have London’s rioters changed over 500 years?
The Cato Journal (http://www.cato.org/home.html) publishes an article on understanding rioting:
The author states that although the conventional “racism-poverty-lack-of-opportunity” explanation has become a little “dog-eared” over the years, these are indeed predisposing conditions; one seldom sees riots break out at a convention of orthodontists.
Well that’s true; I only know one orthodontic surgeon, and whether he’s racist or not, I just couldn’t imagine him hurling bricks and Molotov cocktails at the police in his £800 suit!
So nothing has changed in 500 years then? Except for the fact that we sit there and take it, while in 1517 our brothers’ hurled stones, bricks and hot water at them, and hanged the stragglers!
So where's the elephant, you ask? Well, we've tried psychoanalysis, prison, hanging and state-benefits, on them; so maybe anarchy would not be such a bad thing, if the victims could get to bounce a few cricket bats, bricks and flat-screen TVs off the rioters’ heads? It’s a thought - something rioters, I admit, are not renowned for, but what do YOU think?
"It's a sad thing not to have friends, but it is even sadder not to have enemies." Che Guevara.
==
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
trust Tuesday, August 9, 2011 9:05:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
reuters Tuesday, August 9, 2011 9:03:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
timesofindia Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:59:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
indiatimes Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:29:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
npr Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:21:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
trust Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:02:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
reuters Tuesday, August 9, 2011 6:02:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
haaretz Tuesday, August 9, 2011 5:00:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron warned: "You will feel the full force of the law. And if you are old enough to commit these crimes, you are old enough to face the punishments"
montrealgazette Tuesday, August 9, 2011 4:27:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated,"
abs-cbnnews Tuesday, August 9, 2011 4:07:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
abs-cbnnews Tuesday, August 9, 2011 4:07:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: “There’s already 450 people arrested (in London),”
euronews-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 3:51:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
AP Tuesday, August 9, 2011 3:46:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
newschannel5 Tuesday, August 9, 2011 3:24:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
AP Tuesday, August 9, 2011 3:14:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: "There has already been 450 people arrested. We will make sure that court procedures and processes are speeded up, and people should expect to see more -- many more -- arrests in the days to come," "I am determined, the government is determined, that justice will be done -- and these people will see the consequences of their actions"
rferl Tuesday, August 9, 2011 3:14:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated,"
trust Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:58:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
trust Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:58:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: "We will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and make them safe for the law-abiding,"
phantis Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:34:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
AP Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:31:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated,"
eitb-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:22:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated,"
reuters Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:02:00 PM CEST
ニールメラー said: "Just a few days ago we were talking about sterling as a new safe haven but these riots taking place are another blemish that must have soured anyone's taste for the currency,"
reuters Tuesday, August 9, 2011 2:02:00 PM CEST
Марк Адамс said: ``Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC,''
indiatimes Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:58:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: “People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to the streets and to make them safe for the law abiding,”
tribune Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:48:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron added: "I am determined, the Government is determined that justice will be done and these people will see the consequences of their actions"
independent-ie Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:28:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: "We will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets,"
montrealgazette Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:26:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: "We've been discussing actions that we will be taking to help the police to deal with the disorder on the streets of London," "We will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets. Scenes of people attacking police officers and fire crews, this is criminality, pure and simple, this has to be confronted and defeated"
aljazeera-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:23:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron added: "It's quite clear the we need much more police on our streets and more robust police action. All leave within the Met police has been cancelled," "People should expect to see many more arrests in days to come, these people will see consequences of their actions"
aljazeera-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:23:00 PM CEST
Nik Clegg said: "It was needless, opportunistic theft and violence, nothing more, nothing less. It is completely unacceptable,"
aljazeera-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:23:00 PM CEST
Diane Abbott said: "Cuts don’t turn you into a thief. What we saw was people thieving for hours,"
aljazeera-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:23:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron said: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to the streets and to make them safe for the law abiding,"
smh Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:12:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "My office this morning has spoken to the Speaker of the House of Commons, and he has agreed that parliament will be recalled for a day on Thursday so I can make a statement to parliament and we can hold a debate, and we are all able to stand together in condemnation of these crimes and also to stand together in determination to rebuild these communities,"
smh Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:12:00 PM CEST
Theresa Mai told: "The way we police in Britain is not through use of water cannon,"
time Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:08:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron told: "People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding,"
AP Tuesday, August 9, 2011 1:03:00 PM CEST
Марк Адамс said: "Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC,"
kyivpost Tuesday, August 9, 2011 12:41:00 PM CEST
Theresa Mai told: "The disorder we've seen is at a level that hasn't been seen for some years in this country. We do need to bring an end to it and we need to bring an end to it soon,"
channelnewsasia Tuesday, August 9, 2011 12:36:00 PM CEST
Марк Адамс said: ``Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC,''
indiatimes Tuesday, August 9, 2011 12:28:00 PM CEST
David William Donald Cameron added: "This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated"
kuna-en Tuesday, August 9, 2011 12:27:00 PM CEST
Theresa Mai said: “I think this is about sheer criminality. That is what we have seen on the streets. The violence we’ve seen, the looting we’ve seen, the thuggery we’ve seen – this is sheer criminality, and let’s make no bones about it”
eecho Tuesday, August 9, 2011 12:15:00 PM CEST
Марк Адамс said: "Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC,"
AP Tuesday, August 9, 2011 12:05:00 PM CEST
Марк Адамс said: "Security at the Olympic Games is a top priority for the IOC,"
npr Tuesday, August 9, 2011 11:42:00 AM CEST
====
Fresh trouble flares across Manchester and the Midlands as police warn 16,000 officers on London's streets could use plastic bullets
Fresh violence flares tonight in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Greater Manchester and Salford
Prime Minister David Cameron recalls Parliament on Thursday as Government tries to quell uprising
Plastic bullets could be used for the first time in Britain if there are riots tonight
'Unprecedented' 16,000 police on duty in London - compared with just 6,000 last night
Man, 26, shot in Croydon last night dies in hospital
Man, aged in his 60s, critically ill after clashing with rioters in Ealing
England game against Netherlands at Wembley tomorrow called OFF
400% surge in 999 calls on night of violence with 20,800 dialling the emergency services in London
Birmingham Children's Hospital staff forced to barricade themselves in last night as yobs try and break in
Cost of clean-up expected to run into 'tens of millions'
Metropolitan Police use armoured vehicles to push back 150 rioters in Lavender Hill, Clapham
'There are no plans for the Army to get involved,' says police chief
Three arrested on suspicion of attempted murder of police officer
525 people arrested in total and more than 100 people have been charged
16-year-old arrested on suspicion of trying to incite riots via Facebook
All police cells in London are now FULL
Copycat riots in Birmingham, Bristol, Nottingham, Liverpool and Leeds
By Emily Allen and Rob Cooper
Last updated at 7:40 PM on 9th August 2011
Comments (2154)
Add to My Stories
Share
Fresh violence has flared around the UK tonight as police in London admitted they were prepared to use plastic bullets against rioters if a fourth night of lawlessness continues.
Pockets of unrest have been reported in the West Midlands and Manchester as an 'unprecedented' 16,000 police officers were sent to patrol the streets of London following questions over the failure of police to bring last night's riots under control.
Sporadic disorder and looting has been reported in Birmingham, Wolverhampton, West Bromwich, Greater Manchester and Salford, where the Central Housing office is on fire.
Scroll down for video
Cars on fire in West Bromwich this evening as copy-cat riots kick off across the UK
West Bromwich: Cars on fire in West Bromwich this evening as copy-cat riots kick off across the UK. Manchester and Salford are also experiencing disorder
Thick black plumes of smoke are seen over West Bromwich this evening as two cars are set alight whilst police look on
West Bromwich: Thick black plumes of smoke are seen over West Bromwich this evening as two cars are set alight whilst police look on
Manchester: Miss Selfridge burns in Manchester tonight after rioters set fire to the displays and people flee the area
Manchester: Fashion retailer Miss Selfridge burns in Market Street, Manchester tonight after rioters set fire to the displays and people flee the area
A woman can be seen jumping from a burning building in Surrey Street
A woman can be seen jumping from a burning building in Surrey Street
Croydon: A woman leaps from a burning building in Surrey Street, after flames threaten to engulf her. People stand to catch her as she jumps to safety
Hackney: Anarchy broke out last night as hooded youths set fire to cars, bins and buildings as police battled to bring them under control
Hackney: Anarchy broke out last night as hooded youths set fire to cars, bins and buildings as police battled to bring them under control
'You will feel the full force of the law': David Cameron issued a stark warning to rioters and looters as he spoke outside Number 10 today
'You will feel the full force of the law': David Cameron issued a stark warning to rioters and looters as he spoke outside Number 10 today
In Salford, youths have smashed shop windows in the shopping centre and have been looting businesses, according to BBC Radio Manchester.
Miss Selfridges in Market Street has also been set on fire.
Several London theatres are cancelling performances including the Battersea Arts Centre, Greenwich Playhouse and the Arcola Theatre in Dalston.
Around 20 police officers stood guard around the entrance to Hackney town hall, on Mare Street, in east London, which had to be evacuated this afternoon amid fears of further attacks. Managers decided to shut the Southside shopping centre in Wandsworth, south London, to avoid the risk of looting and violence.
David Cameron this morning warned rioters they would face the 'full force of the law' as shops were boarding up their windows across the capital amid fears of more violence. Businesses, pubs, schools and even medical centres were sending staff home early.
Asked if plastic bullets could be used, Deputy Assistant Commissioner Steve Kavanagh said: 'That's a tactic that will be used by the Metropolitan Police if deemed necessary.'
He added that he was 'not going to throw 180 years of policing with the community away' as the prospect of using the non-lethal ammunition for the first time at a British disturbance was raised.
The army of police officers on duty in London will swell to 16,000 tonight - compared with just 6,000 last night - as reinforcements are drafted in from 26 forces across the country.
Mr Kavanagh said he was sorry 'that London has got to wake up to these scenes'.
'We need to do better for London because those images last night were shocking for everyone,' Mr Kavanagh told reporters.
Every police cell in the capital was full today, forcing officers to transport suspects outside the city.
The mayor Boris Johnson faced calls to resign from angry residents as he visited riot-hit Clapham with Home Secretary Theresa May.
Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Acting Borough Commander Superintendent Jo Oakley in Croydon this afternoon
Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Acting Borough Commander Superintendent Jo Oakley in Croydon this afternoon
Armoured Jankers lines the streets in Ealing this evening in case disorder escalates tonight
Armoured Jankers lines the streets. They will be deployed around the city tonight if trouble escalates
Ready: Another armoured vehicle speeds through Ealing
Ready: Another armoured vehicle which will be on stand-by this evening. Police said plastic bullets could be used to bring rioters under control
Mr Johnson struggled to make himself heard as he said: 'Tonight we are going to have a huge number of police on the streets.'
He added: 'It is time that people who are engaged in looting and violence stopped hearing economic and social justification for what happened.'
The mayor, who was eventually guided away from the crowds and television cameras, followed other leaders by ending his stay abroad to join efforts to quell the violence that has blighted London.
PLASTIC BULLETS COULD BE USED FOR THE FIRST TIME
Plastic bullet-firing baton gun with a live shell and a bullet from the shell
The Met Police admitted that plastic bullets could be used for the first time in mainland Britain if rioting continues.
Forces across the UK are equipped with the Heckler and Koch L104A1 Launcher weapons which fire non-lethal baton rounds - or 'plastic bullets'.
The Metropolitan Police today said although they had no plans to use ‘plastic bullets’ during any potential riots this evening, they could not rule out using them.
The new weapons were developed after older rounds were criticised because of the risks of serious injury or death if the target's upper body or head was hit.
The AEP has a collapsible nose, which the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) said is designed to extend the duration of the impact while minimising the risk of injury.
In a statement from 2010, Cleveland Police said: ‘The Launcher is an impact weapon. Its intended method of operation is perhaps best described as a means of delivering a strike, similar to that from a baton, but over a greater distance.’
Police policy says officers must aim at the target’s belt buckle and fire from over one metre away. The Launcher was designed to be extremely accurate at distances of up to 30m.
However, although the weapon is a less lethal option, there is still a small chance the projectile could cause a fatality – especially if it ricocheted.
The move came despite Mr Johnson's aides previously insisting he could deal with the burgeoning crisis remotely as if 'he was sitting in his office'.
Nick Clegg was booed on a walkabout in Birmingham city centre before hurriedly being rushed into a waiting car by police and security staff.
Amid the political backlash, the riots claimed their first life as a 26-year-old man who was shot as he sat in a car during rioting in Croydon died in hospital.
Huge swathes of the capital woke up to the charred debris of burned out buildings and streets littered with waste. David Cameron has recalled Parliament for the day on Thursday as he pledged to bring the situation under control.
More...
Forced to strip naked in the street: Shocking scenes as rioters steal clothes and rifle through bags as people make their way home
So where WERE the police? Shopkeepers mystified at tactics that left them defenceless
Keep away from Britain! Governments around world warn citizens to avoid riot-hit UK
They stole EVERYTHING! Shelves stripped bare and shops ransacked as looters pillage London high streets
We ran for our lives as thugs ambushed bus: Chaos across the capital as orgy of violence rages on
Hailed a hero: The fearless West Indian woman who stood up to a rioting mob
'It's unbelievable BlackBerry Messenger hasn't been shut down': Mayor's aide calls for ban on riot 'tool'
The sickening moment heavily bleeding teenager is robbed in broad daylight by thugs who pretend to help him
DAILY MAIL COMMENT: No excuses for this wanton criminality
RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Red sky at night, Tottenham's alight - as looters liberate everything from trainers to flat-screen TVs
Surrender! Powerless police let the mob seize the streets, looting shops and starting fires in their wake
Met police 'rudderless since resignations forced by hacking scandal', claim officers
Shooting inquiry: Answers to the key questions behind the man who was gunned down by police triggering the riots
Centuries of business up in flames: The family-run furniture shop razed to the ground by rioters' fire
'Our terror in the flats inferno': Residents flee from burning homes as flames lick up their buildings
Left-wing cynics blame the Tory cuts for orgy of violence: MPs and activists line up to make excuses for thugs
Twit and Twitter: 'Looter' posts photo of himself and his booty online as police say website was used to co-ordinate riots
Apologists for these thugs should hang their heads in shame: A stinging rebuke from an inner-city youth worker
Left-wing cynics blame the Tory cuts for orgy of violence: MPs and activists line up to make excuses for thugs
#RiotWombles on the march: After yobs devastate London streets, Twitter-inspired community clean up begins
After cutting short his Tuscany holiday to deal with the worsening public disorder crisis, the Prime Minister said today: 'We will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets and to make them safe for the law-abiding.
'Let me, first of all, completely condemn the scenes that we have seen on our television screens and people have witnessed in their communities.
'These are sickening scenes - scenes of people looting, vandalising, thieving, robbing, scenes of people attacking police officers and even attacking fire crews as they're trying to put out fires. This is criminality, pure and simple, and it has to be confronted and defeated.
London Mayor Boris Johnson talks with a cleanup volunteer holding a broom during a visit to Clapham this afternoon where he faced a barrage of criticism
London Mayor Boris Johnson talks with a cleanup volunteer holding a broom during a visit to Clapham this afternoon where he faced a barrage of criticism
'I feel huge sympathy for the families who've suffered, innocent people who've been burned out of their houses and to businesses who have seen their premises smashed, their products looted and their livelihoods potentially ruined.
'I also feel for all those who live in fear because of these appalling scenes that we've seen on the streets of our country. People should be in no doubt that we are on the side of the law-abiding people who are appalled by what has happened in their own communities.
'I am determined, the Government is determined that justice will be done and these people will see the consequences of their actions.
Aftermath: Burnt out buildings in Croydon are doused down today after the worst night of rioting so far
Aftermath: Burnt out buildings in Croydon are doused down today after the worst night of rioting so far
Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Acting Borough Commander Superintendent Jo Oakley in Croydon, south London today
Labour leader Ed Miliband speaks with Stafford Blake from Peckham following rioting last night
Prime Minister David Cameron talks to Superintendent Jo Oakley in Croydon while Ed Miliband talks to Stafford Blake from Peckham, right, following rioting last night
Graphic charts riots Twitter activity
'And I have this very clear message to those people who are responsible for this wrongdoing and criminality: you will feel the full force of the law and if you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the punishment.'
TODAY'S POLL
Should the Army be brought in to deal with the riots?
Yes
No
Army tank
All polls
Last night copycat violence broke out in Liverpool, Birmingham and Bristol, with further reports of violence in Nottingham and Leeds as it spread from the capital for the first time.
Among the most serious of incidents was the arrest of three people on suspicion of attempting to murder a police officer in north London early this morning. Armoured vehicles - known as 'Jankels' - were used to push back a mob of 150 rioters in Clapham, south London, while dozens of businesses were gutted by fire or looted until shelves were bare.
Children aged as young as eight were reportedly seen fleeing shops with games consoles in Ealing.
A man in his 60s suffered life-threatening injuries when he was attacked by rioters after he tried to extinguish a fire they had started in a bin in Spring Bridge Road, Ealing, about 11pm, a witness said.
Commander Simon Foy, of Scotland Yard, said: 'It was quite a grave assault and his condition is causing us some concern.'
The witness, known as Jim, 40, who owns stores on The Green and Devonshire Road, said: 'I went up to Spring Bridge Road to check on my other shop and saw him on the ground.
'The rioters had set a bin alight and then they jumped on him when he tried to put it out.
'They ran away when the police arrived, and they put him in the recovery position.'
Despite 6,000 officers on the streets of London alone, many residents reported a lack of police while marauding gangs were a law unto themselves.
An 'unprecedented' number of police will be on the streets of London tonight with 'all able-bodied officers in the Met' out on duty.
Police confirmed that 525 people have now been arrested since rioting began on Saturday and over 100 have been charged.
The violence was first sparked by the shooting by police of suspected drug dealer Mark Duggan, 29, in Tottenham last Thursday who was carrying a blank-firing handgun converted to fire live bullets when he was killed by a single gunshot to the chest.
This afternoon it emerged he did not fire at officers before he was killed, ballistic tests indicate.
There is 'no evidence' that a handgun found at the scene where Mark Duggan was killed by armed officers was used, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said.
England's friendly international against the Netherlands tomorrow at Wembley has been called off amid fears that it could be targeted and both West Ham and Charlton have postponed their Carling Cup clashes tonight on police advice.
Amid the unrest, with a year to go until the games, senior members of the International Olympic Committee are in the capital today. As London is cleaned up they are expected to watch beach volleyball at Whitehall.
Rioting erupts across London
After the storm: Fire crews douse out burnt out buildings on London Road in Croydon this morning following the worst night of rioting
After the storm: Fire crews douse out burnt out buildings on London Road in Croydon this morning following the worst night of rioting
The charred shell of Reeves Furniture store in Croydon this morning which was completely destroyed in the huge blaze
The charred shell of Reeves Furniture store in Croydon this morning which was completely destroyed in the huge blaze
Clear-up: A group of around 300 volunteers were helping to tidy Hackney, north London, where vehicles were torched
Prime Minister David Cameron talks to senior fire brigade officers during a visit to the Metropolitan Police's Gold Command headquarters in Lambeth, south London
Clear-up: A group of around 300 volunteers were helping to tidy Hackney, north London, where vehicles were torched while David Cameron talks to senior fire brigade officers during a visit to the Metropolitan Police's Gold Command headquarters
Arson: The buildings at Reeves Corner today which were totally destroyed by fire last night
Arson: The buildings at Reeves Corner today which were totally destroyed by fire last night
TV PRESENTER 'ARRESTS' RIOTER
Presenter Dan Snow performed a citizen's arrest on a rioter outside his home
Television star Dan Snow 'arrested' a rioter as he looted a shop outside his London home, it was revealed today.
The 6ft 6in presenter confronted yobs as they raided a shoe shop outside his property in Notting Hill gate at around 11pm last night.
As around 50 people caused chaos outside he bravely rugby-tackled a thug and held him until police arrived.
He told The Times: 'As I came up I could hear police sirens coming up the road.
'One of them belted out of the shoe shop. He didn't see me coming, so I rugby-tackled him. He was quite surprised.'
Last night 44 police officers were injured - four of them seriously - as the capital endured the worst night of violence it has seen for decades. Police said 111 officers have been injured since the violence began on Saturday night.
London Ambulance Service said it took 22 people to hospital from the main areas of the disturbances, although others were treated at the scene or made their own way to accident and emergency departments. Some rioters threw missiles at ambulances or threatened medics as they tried to care for the injured.
Deputy Mayor of London Kit Malthouse told LBC radio: 'Officers were extremely brave. What we are trying to do is maximise the number of police officers we have out again tonight.
'We have something like 6,000 on duty last night. We need to get even more out tonight, and that includes officers from outside London, so we are appealing to other forces to help us where they can.'
Acting Scotland Yard Commissioner Tim Godwin said there had been 'far too many' young people on the capital's streets last night and called on parents and guardians to keep youngsters in tonight.
'We've got the full support of the Government in getting as much mutual aid from outside of London as is necessary and I would like to take this opportunity to remind people of what I said last night as things were escalating.
'There were far too many young people on the streets of London last night, in places which were both dangerous and violent and I urge all the citizens of London, and the guardians and parents of young people especially, to keep them in tonight.
'We will be very robust in policing any disorder we get tonight.
'This is not just a game. This is criminality, this is burglary, this is violence, and we will pursue each and every one that has been involved in this and we will be making sure they are brought to justice and to court.
'We have a significant investigative asset that's in place.'
In one of the most serious incidents, the well-known Reeves furniture store in Croydon, south London, which first opened in 1867, was completely destroyed by a huge fire.
Owner Trevor Reeves told Sky News: 'It has just provided my family and the 15 or 20 staff and families that were supported, it's just completely destroyed.
'Words fail me. It's just gone, it's five generations. My father is distraught at the moment. It's just mindless thuggery.'
Crumpled heap: This Sony distribution centre in Waltham Abbey, north of London was destroyed by violence overnight, and there were reports of looting at the scene before the blaze
Crumpled heap: This Sony distribution centre in Waltham Abbey, north of London was destroyed by violence overnight, and there were reports of looting at the scene before the blaze
The Reeves furniture store in Croydon - which opened in 1867 - burns to the ground on the third night of unrest last night
The Reeves furniture store in Croydon - which opened in 1867 - burns to the ground on the third night of unrest last night
A police officer aims a Heckler Koch Baton gun which fires rubber bullets in Northern Ireland. They could be used in mainland UK for the first time if rioting resumes tonight
A police officer aims a Heckler Koch Baton gun which fires rubber bullets in Northern Ireland. They could be used in mainland UK for the first time if rioting resumes tonight
In Clapham youths went on the rampage trashing dozens of shops and walking out with plundered products.
Residents complained that police were very slow to respond as a huge Debenhams store was ransacked. This morning the whole high street was cordoned off as a major investigation and clear-up got underway.
Rioting began in Hackney shortly after 4pm yesterday when a mob of hooded youths began hurling missiles at officers and setting fire to bins and cars. Masked rioters on BMX bicycles armed with batons attacked a crowded London bus during the evening rush-hour, chasing terrified commuters as they tried to escape.
The thugs, some as young as eight, forced the driver to stop the double-decker by pelting it with champagne bottles stolen from a nearby Tesco. About 40 passengers – some carrying screaming toddlers – burst out of the exits and sprinted away.
Within hours similar scenes erupted in Lewisham, spreading to Peckham, Deptford and Croydon in south-east London.
Hundreds of fires were started all over the capital, from Camden in the north, Woolwich in the south-east, Ealing in west London and then, more worryingly as police lost control of the streets last night, locals were forced to take the law into their own hands to protect their homes and businesses.
In Dalston and Hackney, north-east London, shopkeepers and their families fought back against looting youths and forced them from the streets. As surrounding areas were pillaged members of the town's large Turkish community stood firm outside their homes and businesses.
The Home Secretary Theresa May this morning appeared to rule out bringing in the Army and using water cannon. She told BBC Breakfast: 'The way we police is by consent.'
Arson attack: Smoke rises from the Sony distribution centre in Enfield as frefighters try to bring the blaze under control. The fire started last night after it was looted
Arson attack: Smoke rises from the Sony distribution centre in Enfield as frefighters try to bring the blaze under control. The fire started last night after it was looted
Scene of devastation: A firefighter sprays water onto Reeves furniture store torched by rioters in Croydon, south London
Scene of devastation: A firefighter sprays water onto Reeves furniture store torched by rioters in Croydon, south London
A smouldering car is seen in Hackney, east London, following unrest overnight
A smouldering car is seen in Hackney, east London, following unrest overnight
Significant: The ballistics report on the shooting of Mark Duggan, which sparked the initial riot in Tottenham, is expected to be published by the IPCC later today
Significant: The ballistics report on the shooting of Mark Duggan, which sparked the initial riot in Tottenham, is expected to be published by the IPCC later today
'British policing has always meant and always depended on the support of local communities and that's what we need now.'
She told Sky News the capital needed 'robust policing' - and rejected suggestions that police budget cutting had any impact on violence.
'Don't let police budgets be used as an excuse for what is going on on our streets it is sheer criminality and nothing else.'
Patrick Mercer, the Tory MP and former Army officer, hit out and told the Telegraph that tougher policing should be used in mainland Britain for the first time.
He said: ‘I find it strange that we are willing to use these sort of measures against the Irish yet when Englishmen step out of line and behave in this atrocious and appalling way, we are happy to mollycoddle them.'
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh appeared to contradict the Home Secretary and said using the military had not been ruled out.
'All options were discussed last night and that means, not that we're doing it, the people of London need to know that the Commissioner and his management board team are considering everything and working through those options as we go forward,' he told BBC Breakfast.
Mr Kavanagh said it was 'a shocking and appalling morning for London to wake up to' and he was struck by the 'sheer scale and speed with which the attacks took place across London last night'. It 'was truly unprecedented' he said.
He said there was a 'changing nature' in the make-up of the rioters, with the profile changing 'dramatically' last night from 14 to 17-year-olds to 'older groups in cars doing organised looting'.
He added: 'And there was the far more focused attempt at injuring London Ambulance staff, there to help the community, trying to injure Fire Brigade officers and, of course, police officers.'
Elsewhere, West Midlands Police said it had made about 100 arrests and confirmed that a police station in Handsworth, Birmingham, was on fire. Merseyside Police said there were a number of incidents in South Liverpool, including cars being set alight.
Avon and Somerset Police reported around 150 rioters were in Bristol city centre, with main roads closed and a number of shops damaged.
Carnage: The high street close to Clapham Junction is covered in debris today after hundreds of people went on the rampage last night. The Debenhams store, right, was ransacked and looted
Carnage: The high street close to Clapham Junction is covered in debris today after hundreds of people went on the rampage last night. The Debenhams store, right, was ransacked and looted
Devastation: Flames shoot more than 100ft into the air in Croydon as a building is torched. The suburb has suffered some of the most serious violence in the capital Devastation: Flames shoot more than 100ft into the air in Croydon as a building is torched. The suburb has suffered some of the most serious violence in the capital
Mentions of rioting on Twitter today
Mentions of rioting on Twitter today
Gangs of looters - who appeared to be teenagers and young adults from a range of different backgrounds - raided hundreds of shops and businesses across London, making off with TVs and other electrical goods, cigarettes, clothes and alcohol.
Staff at Birmingham Children's Hospital formed a 'human shield' as they barricaded themselves inside after rioters threatened to set it on fire - in an evil bid to 'win respect' from fellow thugs.
Police ordered an immediate lock-down of the hospital after rioters used Twitter to spread the word and encourage thugs to storm the wards just after 9pm last night. Gangs of rioters rounded on the hospital - which cares for some of Britain's sickest children - armed with broken bottles and knives hoping to 'out-riot' yobs running amok in London.
A hospital spokesman said: 'We were told by police to lock the hospital down. They asked us not to let anyone in or out until it was safe to do so. 'It is extremely dangerous and our main concern is for the welfare of our patients and staff.'
In Medway, Kent, a group of around 15 youths arrived by train and went on the rampage, while violence was also reported in Chatham, Rainham and Gillingham.
Yobs also went on the rampage in Nottingham where up to 40 cars were damaged, there were attempts to loot shops and a container of 200 tyres was set on fire.
Cars and wheelie bins were torched during five hours of violence across Liverpool. A Tesco store in Myrtle Street was looted and police came under attack in Admiral Street with some of the rioters aged as young as 10.
Of the attempted murder of a police officer, Scotland Yard said the three people were apprehended following an incident in Brent, north west London, that led to a police officer being injured by a car while trying to stop looters.
Croydon: Arsonists started a blaze in Croydon the latest borough to come under attack from rioters
Croydon: Arsonists started a blaze at Reeves furniture store - the latest borough to come under attack from rioters. The family business is more than 100 years old
Woolwich: A Wetherspoons pub is completely gutted by fire last night as the violence continued
Woolwich: A Wetherspoons pub is completely gutted by fire last night as the violence continued
Liverpool: Two vehicles are set alight on Lawrence Road in Toxteth, Liverpool as crowds of youths gather
Liverpool: Two vehicles are set alight on Lawrence Road in Toxteth, Liverpool as crowds of youths gather
Camden: The violence spread to Camden and Chalk Farm in north London. Police are seen walking the streets near Camden Lock
Camden: The violence spread to Camden and Chalk Farm in north London. Police are seen walking the streets near Camden Lock
A yob attacks a police car in Hackney
A resident films a police officer on his mobile phone
Hackney: A yob attacks a police car in Hackney with a piece of wood whilst elsewhere in the east London suburb a resident takes a photo of a police officer in riot gear
Looters raid the Orange phone shop in New Street Birmingham
Copycats: Looters raid the Orange phone shop in New Street Birmingham as the violence spread north
Birmingham: Looters raid the Orange Store in New Street yesterday in copy-cat riots which have erupted in the city
A force spokesman said: 'At approximately 2.50am on Tuesday, August 9 a male police officer was injured by a car in Fulton Road, Brent. He has been taken to a north London hospital where he remains in a stable condition.
'It is believed the injury occurred when police stopped some cars as their occupants were suspected of being involved in looting of a nearby electrical store. It is believed the driver of one of the cars drove away injuring the police officer in the process. Three people were later stopped by police and arrested on suspicion of attempted murder.'
As the trouble intensified, at 2.30am the Met changed its tactics in the Lavender Hill, Clapham, introducing armoured vehicles to push back more than 150 people where substantial damage was being caused to shops and local businesses.
Because the tactic proved a success police are now considering using the same methods elsewhere.
A large blaze at a Sony distribution centre near Enfield, north London, also sent plumes of thick smoke across the sky last night.
In Croydon, one woman was seen leaping from a burning building on Surrey Street as flames threatened to engulf her. Police also revealed a man was shot in the suburb, and though he is in a serious condition he was not fatally injured.
Disturbances were reported in Harrow, in the north west of the city and Clapham, in south London, where shops were looted, including the Debenhams store and a row of shops in Lavender Hill.
Unrest was also been reported in Fulham, at Wandsworth Bridge Road, and in Ealing in west London where windows at a Tesco supermarket were smashed and rubbish strewn across the street.
Police officers arrest a man as rioters gathered in Croydon
A police officer helps an injured officer as rioters gathered in Croydon, south London
Croydon: Police carry away a rioter on the streets of London last night, while elsewhere in the south London suburb an officer helps an injured colleague to safety
A bus at High Street Kensington was attacked and unrest was reported in Camden, Chalk Farm, Enfield, Bethnal Green and Portabello Road, Notting Hill.
Some people in Hackney and Clapham Junction were forced to flee their homes following the violence. Police have also urged football clubs to cancel any up-coming London fixtures this week until the violence has been brought under control.
Last night about 1,700 extra police officers were brought in from neighbouring forces to help contain the trouble, including officers from Thames Valley Police, Kent, Essex, Hampshire, Surrey, Northamptonshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk and Sussex.
Commander Christine Jones, said: 'The violence we have seen is simply inexcusable. Ordinary people have had their lives turned upside down by this mindless thuggery. The Met will ensure that those responsible will face the consequences of their actions and be arrested.'
Roy Ramm, a former Scotland Yard commander, said the Met could lose control of London’s streets.
‘That has to be a possibility and the Home Secretary and commissioner are going to have to make some difficult decisions.
He said that by using mobile phones and social networks ‘these people can mass and change direction very quickly and the police tactics are being subverted.’
Looters run from a clothes shop with a bag of clothes
A masked rioter raises a wine bottle in Hackney
Croydon: Looters run from a shop in Hackney with a bag of clothes whilst another rioter in Hackney raises a wine bottle as he rampages through the streets
British police officers arrest a man as rioters gathered in Croydon, south London
A masked man carries a toy horse in front of a burning car in Hackney
Hackney: Police detain a man in Hackney whilst another man covers his face with a scarf and is photographed with a wooden rocking horse
Croydon pub landlord Alan McCabe told BBC he was furious about the fires raging in Croydon.
'I have never seen such a disregard for human life. I hope they rot in hell.
'The grief they have caused people, the fear they have put in people's hearts, decent people who have done nothing to anyone.'
In Birmingham police said several shops near the Bullring shopping centre were attacked and property stolen as youths rampaged around the city centre causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
The disorder started at about 7.45pm when a mob of around 40 youths charged from the station into the main shopping area smashing shops and causing havoc. One group grabbed hundreds of coat hangers throwing them onto the streets and tipping over rubbish bins.
Among the damaged shops were a Sainsbury's Local, Adidas, JD Sports, Primark, TMobile and stationery shop Savers, which is located yards away from Jamie Oliver's restaurant Jamie's Italian.
Shocked diners at Wagamamas and Jamie's Italian stopped eating to stand up and look at the riots in progress.
Back in London, on Peckham High Street, around 500 youths gathered near riot police, while a gang of 10 looters raided a loan shop and an ABC Pharmacy was targeted by men using plastic bags to cover their faces.
Dresses were among the items taken from a clothing store, while a cashpoint and a branch of Coral bookmakers were also badly damaged.
Three lines of riot police charged at a large group of youths outside Peckham Library, forcing them to retreat.
At Westfield Shopping Centre in Shepherd's Bush, barriers were erected, and Kilburn High Street was closed off. Police were also on the streets in Harlesden.
The widespread rioting led to railway station closures while numerous roads were also shut.
Among the mainline stations that were shut last night were Peckham Rye and Queens Road, Peckham, as well as Barking in east London, West Croydon in south-east London, and Bethnal Green in east London.
A masked man walks past a burning car outside a Carhartt store in Hackney. Violence is also taking place in Peckham and Lewisham
Violence: A masked man walks past a burning car outside a Carhartt store in Hackney yesterday evening - clutching a can of Special Brew
Police officers in riot gear block a road near a burning car on a street in Hackney as youths hurl missiles at officers
Hackney: Police officers in riot gear block a road near a burning car on a street in Hackney as youths hurl missiles at officers yesterday
Hackney: Dozens of riot police in helmets and shields surround a rioter in Hackney yesterday afternoon. Police have struggled to contain the violence across London
Hackney: Dozens of riot police in helmets and shields surround a rioter in Hackney yesterday afternoon. Police have struggled to contain the violence across London
A burning car in Hackney yesterday. Violence swept across south, west and north London as well as Liverpool and Birmingham
A burning car in Hackney yesterday. Violence swept across south, west and north London as well as Liverpool and Birmingham
Looters in Hackney
Looters raid Harris Electronics in Hackney
Looters raid two shops in Hackney, east London last night. They are seen forcing their way into buildings making off with goods with smashed glass all over the pavement
Hooded youths loot a Carhartt store in Hackney by ripping out a roller-shutter door before making off with clothes
Hooded youths loot a Carhartt store in Hackney by ripping out a roller-shutter door before making off with clothes
People flee in Hackney as rioting began in the east London suburb yesterday where cars and bins were set alight and missiles thrown at police
People flee in Hackney as rioting began in the east London suburb yesterday where cars and bins were set alight and missiles thrown at police
The violence has spread to Deptford this evening - including this building which has been set on fire
The violence has spread to Deptford this evening - including this building which has been set on fire. It follows violence in Hackney, Lewisham and Peckham today
Police officers in riot gear drag a man along a street in Hackney
Youths loot a Carhartt store in Hackney
Police in riot gear drag a man along a street in Hackney whilst looters in hooded tops and scarves raid the Carhartt store with one man making off with a pair of jeans
Twitter users describe the riots
Twitter users describe the riots
Chaos: Twitter users describe seeing youths loot a lorry and the sports shop JD Sports, while another woman tells how rioters are attacking police cars
A car burns outside a Carhartt store in Hackney where youths also looted the store
A car burns outside a Carhartt store in Hackney where youths also looted the store
Explore more:
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2023874/London-riots-Cameron-orders-16k-officers-regain-control-police-use-plastic-bullets.html#ixzz1UZ4P6Xnu
====
British cities clear up after looting, London quiet
10 Aug 2011 03:55
Source: reuters // Reuters
* Cameron to chair second crisis committee talks
* British cities clear up after copycat looting
* Parliament recalled
By Jodie Ginsberg and Stefano Ambrogi
LONDON, Aug 10 (Reuters) - British cities began on Wednesday to clean up shopping streets littered with debris from a night of looting by gangs of hooded youths copying the tactics of young Londoners who had rampaged through districts of the capital for three nights.
London itself was largely quiet on Tuesday night, with some 16,000 police -- 10,000 more than on Monday -- sent onto the streets in a show of force in districts where gangs had looted shops and burned cars and buildings virtually unchecked on the previous three nights.
Prime Minister David Cameron, who cut short a family holiday in Italy to deal with the crisis, was due to chair a second meeting of COBRA, the government's crisis committee, and recalled parliament, a rare occurrence, to debate the violence.
The chaos in London, and fears of further disruption, led to the cancellation of an England-Netherlands soccer friendly on Wednesday and the postponement of three club matches.
The looting also showed the world an ugly side of London less than a year before it hosts the 2012 Olympic Games, an event officials hope will serve as a showcase for the city.
A visit by an International Olympic Committee went ahead on Tuesday "as planned" and the London organisers of the Games said the violence would not hurt preparations for the Olympics.
While heavy policing in London prevented all but a few incidents in the capital, copycat looting and violence erupted in cities and towns to the north and west.
Groups of youths in hooded tops fought running battles with police in Manchester in northwest England, smashing windows and looting shops, and setting fire to a clothes shop.
In Salford, greater Manchester, rioters threw bricks at police and set fire to buildings. A BBC cameraman was attacked. Television pictures showed flames leaping from shops and cars, and plumes of thick black smoke billowing across roads.
"Greater Manchester Police has been faced with extraordinary levels of violence from groups of criminals intent on committing widespread disorder," Assistant Chief Constable Gary Shewan said.
"These people have nothing to protest against - there is no sense of injustice or any spark that has led to this. It is, pure and simple, acts of criminal behaviour which are the worst I have seen on this scale."
In Liverpool's Toxteth district, rioters attacked two fire engines and a fire officer's car, police said. Earlier, some 200 youths throwing missiles wrecked and looted shops, causing 'disorder and damage', police said.
Police said they had arrested 47 people in Manchester and Salford, and 37 in Toxteth.
In Gloucester, in western England, eight fire crews fought a blaze in a large derelict building, cars were set on fire and groups of youths attacked police with rocks and bottles.
Cars were burned and stores looted in West Bromwich and Wolverhampton, and in the Midlands town of Nottingham a gang of young men set fire to a police station. There were also disturbances in Birmingham and Leicester in the Midlands, and Milton Keynes north of London.
In London, commuters hurried home early on Tuesday, shops shut and many shopkeepers boarded their windows.
Gangs have ransacked stores, carting off clothes, shoes and electronic goods, torched cars, shops and homes -- causing tens of millions of pounds of damage -- and taunted the police.
Community leaders said the violence in London, the worst for decades in the multi-ethnic capital of 7.8 million, was rooted in growing disparities in wealth and opportunity, but many insisted that greed was the looters' only motive.
Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters: "This is criminality pure and simple and it has to be confronted and defeated."
"People should be in no doubt that we will do everything necessary to restore order to Britain's streets," he said after the first meeting of COBRA.
STRUGGLING ECONOMY
The unrest poses a new challenge to Cameron as Britain's economy struggles to grow while his government slashes public spending and raises taxes to cut a yawning budget deficit -- moves some commentators say have aggravated the plight of young people in inner cities.
Police said they had arrested a total of 768 people -- one as young as 11 -- in London since the looting began on Saturday, and had charged more than 100 suspects, mainly with burglary and public order offences.
The first riots broke out on Saturday in north London's Tottenham district, when a protest over the police shooting of a suspect two days earlier led to violence.
Police are likely to come under fresh pressure over that incident after a watchdog said on Tuesday there was no evidence that a handgun retrieved by police at the scene had been fired. Reports initially suggested Mark Duggan had shot at police before they shot and killed him.
(Additional reporting by Paul Hoskins, Adrian Croft, Avril Ormsby, Jon Hemming, Sonya Hepinstall, Jon Boyle, Stefano Ambrogi, Peter Griffiths and Georgina Prodhan; Writing by Tim Pearce)
===
ALERT
England riots claims lives of three Pakistanis
Ubaid Mughal ----> Aug 10th, 2011 // No Comment
8Share
Birmingham: At least three Pakistanis have been killed in ongoing riots and flaring violence across England, news agencies reported on Wednesday.
According to details, the three youth, Mansoor Hussain, Haroon Hussain and Moswwir Ali were ran over by a car driven by rioters in Birmingham.
Reports said that two youngsters died on the spot while the third breathed his last in the nearby hospital.
Police have launched a search operation in the area to arrest the culprits.
Locals told media that the three were protecting their locality and community against the potential attacks by the rioters, who already have set ablaze millions of dollars of property and other business . Reports said a black man has been arrested in regard with the triple murder case.
Talking to media at Downing Street after the meeting of Cabinet’s Cobra Meeting British Prime Minister David Cameron said that major operation was underway and culprits have been picture picture identified.
He said,” every possible step would be taken to tackle the situation”.The premier termed the riots as the worst riots in the history of the country.
===
Three men mowed down and killed by hit-and-run driver as they 'tried to protect their community from looters'
Man, 32, arrested and a vehicle recovered from near the scene
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 11:13 AM on 10th August 2011
Add to My Stories
Share
Three men died after being mown down by a car as they protected their neighbourhood from rioters in the early hours of the morning.
The trio - named locally as Haroon Jhar, 20, and two brothers, Abdul Nasir, 31, and Shazad Ali, 30 - had emerged from a mosque shortly before they were knocked down by the hit-and-run driver in Birmingham.
The men were reportedly standing on the pavement when they were hit. Today, a 32-year-old man was being questioned on suspicion of murder.
Carnage: The men passed away at Birmingham City Hospital after suffering 'significant injuries'
Carnage: The men passed away at Birmingham City Hospital after suffering 'significant injuries'
Mohammed Chowdhri, who knew Haroon, said: 'I have known Haroon since he was a baby, we are all absolutely devastated. He was fed up with the rioters and the looters and he was determined that they would not destroy our community.
'Him and the two other boys who died, Shazad and Musaver, went out to protect the mosque and the local businesses.
'They were very worried that the businesses and the mosque would be looted and destroyed.
'Haroon was a very religious boy, a very good boy, and he was doing what he thought was right. The boys took it upon themselves to put an end to the violence.
'They went to stand outside the mosque to protect it, and a car came driving round and round the nearby streets, at a really high speed. Suddenly it mounted the pavement and hit the three boys.'
Shazad Ali had recently got married, and his wife, Khansa, is four months' pregnant. The men were killed while trying to protect a Muslim Community Centre, and a friend's business, from rioters as chaos spread across Birmingham last night.
A cousin of Shazad and Abdul, Sobia Nazia, said: 'They had gone for evening prayer at the community centre when they came out and saw a car circling the block.
'We had all heard about the looting and the rioting are everyone was worried that they were going to spread to our community.
'Although there hadn't been any looting there yet, the boys and their friend Haroon decided to stay out on the street and make sure no trouble started.
'They knew shops and businesses had been ransacked in Birmingham and they were worried. They decided to stay outside the community centre, and also to protect a petrol station owned by a friend. The car had driven past at a high speed several times.
Scene: Three men are dead after they were struck by a car near the Jet garage on Dudley Road in Birmingham
Scene: Three men are dead after they were struck by a car near the Jet garage on Dudley Road in Birmingham
'It was when they were standing in front of the petrol station that the car ploughed into all three men. Their mother and father are distraught. Their mother has suffered severe chest pains because of the stress.
'They have been left childless by what happened and they are now at the age where they were needing to rely on them.
'Shazad was expecting a baby with his wife, who was four months' pregnant. She has collapsed with the shock and we are really worried about her.
'The brothers were lovely men, who were respected and well-liked by everyone. They were beautiful people and now they're dead.
'They were only trying to do the job that the police didn't do.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024375/BIRMINGHAM-RIOTS-3-Asian-men-killed-hit-run-protected-neighbourhood.html#ixzz1UchnSWq9
Murray McGregor, a spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said members of the public were attempting resuscitation on the men when the ambulance arrived, but that it quickly became apparent they had all suffered 'significant injuries'.
Mr McGregor added that some of his colleagues had been attacked by a mob wielding weapons including baseball bats while they were attending emergency calls in Birmingham that night, which he described as 'just awful'.
Paramedics attending the call to the hit-and-run found around 80 people at the scene when they arrived.
Mob-rule: Emergency services reported around 80 people gathered on the street at the time of the incident
Mob-rule: Emergency services reported around 80 people gathered on the street at the time of the incident
A relative of two of the dead men said they were on the streets protecting their business because of violence the previous night
A relative of two of the dead men said they were on the streets protecting their business because of violence the previous night
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: 'Detectives investigating the death of three men following a road traffic collision in Birmingham this morning will today question a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
'It's understood the three man - aged 31, 30 and 20 - were on foot in Dudley Road in the Winson Green area of the city when they were in collision with a car. All later died from their injuries in hospital.
'Officers arrested the man nearby and also recovered a vehicle which will be examined by forensics experts.'
Two of the men were pronounced dead soon after they arrived at hospital while the third was pronounced dead at 7am.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024375/BIRMINGHAM-RIOTS-3-Asian-men-killed-hit-run-protected-neighbourhood.html#ixzz1UcjV0OAy
=====
'My boy died trying to protect our community': Devastated father tells how son and two friends were mowed down by riot thugs
Tariq Jahan desperately tried to perform CPR on his dying son Haroon, 21
Trio were standing on the pavement when they were knocked down
Father: 'Two days from now the whole world will forget - no one will care'
Man, 32, arrested and a vehicle recovered from near the scene
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 5:19 PM on 10th August 2011
Add to My Stories
Share
A devastated father told today how he performed CPR on his dying son, after a hit-and-run driver mowed down three men who were ‘protecting their community against rioting and looters’.
Tariq Jahan said his hands and face were ‘covered in blood’ as he tried to save the life of 21-year-old Haroon in Birmingham.
Clearly in shock and pleading for an end to the violence that has swept across cities and towns, he said: 'I miss him dearly but two days from now the whole world will forget - no one will care.'
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: 'Tensions are already high in the area.
'It's already bad enough what we are seeing on the streets now without other people taking the law into their own hands.'
Mowed down: Haroon Jahan, 21, who was knocked down by a car and killed during disturbances last night (pictured here at school age)
Abdul Musavir
Mowed down: Haroon Jahan, 21, left, and Abdul Musavir, 30, right, were killed alongside Shazad Ali, 31, in a hit and run during riots in Birmingham
Tragic: Abdul Musavir, 30, was also killed alongside the two men
Tragic: Abdul Musavir, 30, was also killed alongside the two men
Haroon, Abdul Musavir, 31, and Shazad Ali, 31, were mowed down as they stood on the pavement protecting their mosque and businesses in the community.
Today, a 32-year-old man was being questioned on suspicion of murder.
The father said he was standing round the corner as the car mounted the pavement and knocked down the three young men.
He said he acted instinctively and helped - without realising his boy was one of the trio who were fatally injured.
Mr Jahan said: 'The car came up on the pavement for God knows what reason and I was standing nearby.
'I heard it happen and I turned round and I saw three people on the ground and my instinct to help and I started CPR and someone told me that one of them was my son.
'I started CPR on my own son and my hands and face were covered in blood. What was the point in doing it? We are here defending the community. He was a good kid aged 21, and very well liked.'
Mohammed Chowdhri, who knew Haroon, said the three young men were on the streets protecting the mosque and businesses from rioters.
He said: 'I have known Haroon since he was a baby, we are all absolutely devastated. He was fed up with the rioters and the looters and he was determined that they would not destroy our community.
'Him and the two other boys who died, Shazad and Musaver, went out to protect the mosque and the local businesses.
'They were very worried that the businesses and the mosque would be looted and destroyed.
More...
So who is the lady who leapt for her life? Hunt goes on for woman who escaped Croydon inferno
Manchester and the Midlands burn as children as young as NINE join copycat riots... but London's streets are 'under control'
Why police were so soft on London looters: They were ordered to 'stand and observe' as capital burned (but in Manchester they were hunting looters within hours)
Lowest of the low: Rioters who attacked children's hospital prevent parents from spending night with their dying baby
Fightback! London's looters stay home as 16,000 police flood the streets ready to use plastic bullets
MAX HASTINGS: Years of liberal dogma have spawned a generation of amoral, uneducated, welfare dependent, brutalised youngsters
'Haroon was a very religious boy, a very good boy, and he was doing what he thought was right. The boys took it upon themselves to put an end to the violence.
'They went to stand outside the mosque to protect it, and a car came driving round and round the nearby streets, at a really high speed. Suddenly it mounted the pavement and hit the three boys.'
'I miss him but in two days no one will care': Tariq Jahan said he performed CPR on his son Haroon as he lay dying
'I miss him but in two days no one will care': Tariq Jahan said he performed CPR on his son Haroon as he lay dying
Shazad Ali had recently got married, and his wife, Khansa, is four months pregnant. The men were killed while trying to protect a Muslim Community Centre, and a friend's business, from rioters as chaos spread across Birmingham last night.
A family friend told the Mail Online: 'Haroon's father is devastated. The whole family is in shock. Nobody can quite believe what's happened.
'Haroon was the kindest, most loving, down to earth person you could wish to meet.'
Another friend said were simply standing up for what they believed was right. The friend, who asked not to be named, said: 'They were very kind and very friendly and very charming - and they were very caring people as well.
'They were protecting other people's property because the day before the Jet petrol station had been robbed and they (looters) were planning to do it again.'
A police forensics officer steps past a shoe as he inspects the scene where three men were killed by a car in the Winson Green area of Birmingham last night
A police forensics officer steps past a shoe as he inspects the scene where the three men were killed by a car in the Winson Green area of Birmingham last night
A forensic worker examines the scene today after three men were knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Birmingham
A forensic worker examines the scene today after three men were knocked down and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Birmingham
The family friend said Shazad, who had a degree in business management from the University of Central England, was standing near the petrol station with his brother when they were hit.
Appealing on behalf of the family for people not to take the law into their own hands, the man told the Press Association: It's really, really sad. The family just want justice to be done.'
A cousin of Shazad and Abdul, Sobia Nazia, said: 'They had gone for evening prayer at the community centre when they came out and saw a car circling the block.
'We had all heard about the looting and the rioting are everyone was worried that they were going to spread to our community.
'Although there hadn't been any looting there yet, the boys and their friend Haroon decided to stay out on the street and make sure no trouble started.
'They knew shops and businesses had been ransacked in Birmingham and they were worried. They decided to stay outside the community centre, and also to protect a petrol station owned by a friend. The car had driven past at a high speed several times.
Police at the scene where three men were killed last night as they tried to protect their mosque and local community
Police at the scene where the trio were killed last night as they tried to protect their mosque and local community
Scene: Three men are dead after they were struck by a car near the Jet garage on Dudley Road in Birmingham
Scene: The three men were killed when they were struck by a car near the Jet garage on Dudley Road in Birmingham
'It was when they were standing in front of the petrol station that the car ploughed into all three men. Their mother and father are distraught. Their mother has suffered severe chest pains because of the stress.
'They have been left childless by what happened and they are now at the age where they were needing to rely on them.
'Shazad was expecting a baby with his wife, who was four months pregnant. She has collapsed with the shock and we are really worried about her.
'The brothers were lovely men, who were respected and well-liked by everyone. They were beautiful people and now they're dead.
'They were only trying to do the job that the police didn't do.'
Murray McGregor, a spokesman for West Midlands Ambulance Service, said members of the public were attempting resuscitation on the men when the ambulance arrived, but that it quickly became apparent they had all suffered 'significant injuries'.
Mr McGregor added that some of his colleagues had been attacked by a mob wielding weapons including baseball bats while they were attending emergency calls in Birmingham that night, which he described as 'just awful'.
Paramedics attending the call to the hit-and-run found around 80 people at the scene when they arrived.
Carnage: The men passed away at Birmingham City Hospital after suffering 'significant injuries'
Carnage: Haroon and brothers Abdul Nasir, 31, and Shazad Ali, 30, passed away at Birmingham City Hospital after suffering 'significant injuries'
Mob-rule: Emergency services reported around 80 people gathered on the street at the time of the incident
Mob-rule: Emergency services reported around 80 people gathered on the street at the time of the incident
A spokesman for West Midlands Police said: 'Detectives investigating the death of three men following a road traffic collision in Birmingham this morning will today question a 32-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
'It's understood the three man - aged 31, 30 and 20 - were on foot in Dudley Road in the Winson Green area of the city when they were in collision with a car. All later died from their injuries in hospital.
'Officers arrested the man nearby and also recovered a vehicle which will be examined by forensics experts.'
Two of the men were pronounced dead soon after they arrived at hospital while the third was pronounced dead at 7am.
A relative of two of the dead men said they were on the streets protecting their business because of violence the previous night
A relative of two of the dead men said they were on the streets protecting their business because of violence the previous night
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2024375/BIRMINGHAM-RIOTS-Tariq-Jahan-tells-thugs-killed-son-Haroon-2-friends.html#ixzz1Ue4zeRE5
=====
Is Iraq a Third-World Country?
Posted on 10 August 2011
The big news this week is the sacking of the Iraqi electricity minister, following the revelation that two recently-announced power generation contracts were, let's say, 'questionable'.
While the idea that a government and civil service can be fooled by a website and a company presentation may seem far-fetched, bear in mind that in Iraq the business of government is often carried out through amateur-looking websites and Yahoo emails. If proper due diligence didn't follow, few would be surprised.
But this assumes that the officials involved made a naive or incompetent mistake; there is also a theory that the mistake was deliberate rather than incompetent.
In either case, it reflects very poorly on the administration.
If Iraq wants to be taken seriously, it must stop behaving like a third-world country.
=====
TIMELINE-Riots in Britain
12 Aug 2011 11:26
Source: reuters // Reuters
Aug 12 (Reuters) - Prime Minister David Cameron is under growing pressure to abandon plans to cut police funding, after the worst looting and rioting in decades hit cities across England.
Following are some of the key events during the violence:
Aug. 4, 2011 - Police investigating gun crime in a black community shoot 29-year-old Mark Duggan after stopping him in a taxi in Tottenham, north London. He dies at the scene.
-- The police watchdog opens an inquiry into the shooting.
Aug. 6 - Duggan's friends and family gather outside Tottenham police station for a peaceful protest. About 200-300 people join the demonstration.
-- Later, missiles are thrown at police after what locals say is a dispute between a protester and a police officer.
Aug. 6-7 - Violence continues through the night in Tottenham. Rioters attack banks and loot shops.
Aug. 7-8 - Violence spreads to Enfield in northeast London. Shortly after, missiles are thrown in Brixton, south London. Rioters loot stores and destroy vehicles.
Aug. 8 - Police say they are dealing with "copycat criminality" across London.
-- Violence spreads to Hackney, northeast London and Clapham, an upmarket area in southwest London. Rioting follows in Ealing in the west and Woolwich in the east. London Mayor Boris Johnson says he will cut short his holiday and return to the capital.
-- Looting and violence spread to Britain's second biggest city Birmingham. Large fires break out in Croydon, south London.
Aug. 8-9 - Rioting continues through the night in several parts of the capital. A police station is set alight in Birmingham and officers are called to a number of incidents in the northwest port city of Liverpool.
Aug. 9 - Cameron condemns the disorder as "criminality pure and simple". He says there will be 16,000 police on the streets of the capital.
-- Cameron visits Croydon to see the damage from the previous night's violence. Johnson visits Clapham to thank volunteers for cleaning up.
-- In Salford, Greater Manchester, rioters throw bricks at police and set fire to buildings. A police station is firebombed by 30 to 40 males in Nottingham. Cars are burned and stores looted in West Bromwich and Wolverhampton in central England.
Aug. 10 - In Birmingham, police launch a murder inquiry after three Muslim men are killed in a hit and run car incident. One person is arrested.
-- "We will not allow a culture of fear to exist on our streets." "We needed a fight back and a fight back is under way," Cameron says after a meeting of the government's COBRA crisis planning group.
-- A surge in police numbers and heavy rain in many places help to calm streets in London, although missiles are thrown at police in Eltham in south London.
Aug. 11 - Courts in several cities, including in London, Solihull and Manchester, work through the night to deal with those arrested.
-- Parliament is recalled and Cameron says he will keep a higher police presence of 16,000 officers on London streets through the weekend and will give police powers to demand the removal of face masks or other coverings if their wearers are suspected of crime.
-- Cameron tells parliament police tactics had failed at the start of the rioting. The Association of Chief Police Officers head, Hugh Orde, says "The fact that politicians chose to come back is an irrelevance in terms of the tactics that were by then developing".
-- A Premier League match between Tottenham and Everton at White Hart Lane, to be played on Aug. 13, is postponed, amid fears of further unrest.
-- Richard Mannington Bowes, who was injured an attack in Ealing on Aug. 8, becomes the fifth person to die because of the riots. A 22-year-old man has been arrested.
Aug 12 - Steve Kavanagh, deputy assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, says 16,000 officers will remain on duty in the capital on Aug. 13.
-- The Metropolitan Police say they have arrested 1,051 people in connection with the violence and looting around London - 591 people have been charged. West Midlands police have made 467 arrests since the violence began with around 100 being charged. (Writing by Peter Griffiths and David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by Karolina Tagaris)
=====
'We just stood there and cried': Croydon street that was destroyed in riots looks like a devastating scene from the Blitz
By Anna Edwards
Last updated at 5:10 PM on 15th August 2011
Comments (143)
Add to My Stories
Share
We knew that rioters had torn through England's streets, willfully torching everything they could.
But this shocking photograph shows the true cost of the thugs' actions.
These are the faces of those whose lives have been left in tatters since thugs rampaged through London Road, in Croyon.
The row of homes and independent shops look like they could have been injuries of the blitz, as they have been left as mere shells of their former selves, teetering on the brink of collapse.
These are the human faces behind the havoc wreaked on London Road, Croydon, after rioters ransacked the street
These are the human faces behind the havoc wreaked on London Road, Croydon, after rioters ransacked the street
1. Lynn Roberts
The solicitor 40, narrowly escaped the baying mob who started attacking her office.
The business was set on fire and all of the solicitor's case notes were destroyed, while the man who lived above the business has been left homeless.
Ms Roberts said people were being assaulted in the street, forcing her and her colleagues to flee through the back door of the property, which has now been condemned.
2. Binu Matthew and Lisy George
Van owner Mr Matthew, 40, and his wife Mrs George, 37, a nurse, were attacked so thugs could steal their van.
Mrs George was stripped of her uniform and left half-naked as the looters grabbed their £1,000 takings from their shop.
She described how one woman punch Mr Matthew and screamed that they should burn.
3. Nawaz Phansopkar
The pharmacist, 43, and his family nearly died after thugs torched a grocer's that they lived above.
He said: 'We came too close to dying. We could see smoke but people were bing robbed in the street so we were trapped.'
He and his wife Hayatbi, 40, and their children Nabila, 9, Nazmeen, 14, Hiba, 17 and Heena, 20, eventually fled to a friend's house, but now they have been left homeless and have nothing but the clothes they escaped in.
4. Zaheer Ahmed and Mumtaz Hassan
Landlord Mr Ahmed, 52, watched from across the road as flames ripped through his three-storey building, worth £500,000.
The blaze was so dangerous he described how firefighters could not even attempt to tackle the inferno until an hour after they arrived.
Mr Hassan, 48, whose Crystal Clean launderette was housed inside Mr Ahmed's property, says his entire livelihood has been wiped out.
5. Eddie and Teddy Marley
Shopkeepers Mr Marley, 85, and his wife, 88, ran a motorcycle business for 33 years but watched it go up in smoke last Monday as rioters demolished everything in their path.
Mrs Marley told the Daily Mirror that she and her husband were helpless as looters helped themselves to helmets and anything else they could grab.
She said even in World War II they had never witnessed so much destruction and their dream of retiring next year has been destroyed as they have nothing left.
Mrs Marley said: 'When I went to see what was left I just stood there and cried.'
6. Marianne Simons
Hairdresser Marianne Simons, 36, says thugs were so intent on taking whatever they could, they even stole her hair extensions supply.
The entrepreneur said she will have to close her business for six months and she and her six staff will now have to cope without an income.
She estimates it will cost £6,000 to repair her hairdressing shop.
Charred remains: Fire crews spray the smouldering heaps of rubble that were torched by rioters
Charred remains: Fire crews spray the smouldering heaps of rubble that were torched by rioters
Inferno: London Road was engulfed in flames as looters torched the buildings, while shopkeepers and residents could only helplessly watch
Inferno: London Road was engulfed in flames as looters torched the buildings, while shopkeepers and residents could only helplessly watch
Violence flared as rioters tore through the streets, smashing their way into shops and grabbing anything they could, while terrified shopkeepers were attacked if they dared to try and protect their livelihoods.
More...
Cameron pledges non-military 'national service' for 16-year-olds across the country and vows to overhaul human rights laws which have had a 'chilling effect' on society
The brave police dog who suffered horrific injuries after looting thug threw brick... and patrolled streets for another TWO HOURS
My son's the victim, says mother who faces eviction from her taxpayer-funded flat
Innocent members of the public were beaten in the street if they dared get in the way of the anarchic mob and residents compared the scene in Croydon to the blitz as a double-decker bus and several cars were also torched in the road.
As the looters torched the buildings, homeowners and business people could only watch in despair as the flames engulfed the buildings, leaving scorched remains as the only reminder of their livelihoods and possessions.
But London Road was not the only part of Croydon to be torched.
One of the area's most historic buildings, the Reeves Furniture Store, was destroyed on Monday.
A 33-year-old man has today been charged with starting a fire which destroyed the building, which has survived both World Wars and is more than 140-years-old.
Gordon Edward Thompson of Waddon Road, Croydon, was charged with arson with intent to endanger life, arson at the furniture store, two counts of burglary and one count of violent disorder, Scotland Yard said.
He was remanded in custody and will appear at Croydon Magistrates' Court tomorrow.
Scorched: Homes and businesses were left as piles of smouldering rubble
Scorched: Homes and businesses were left as piles of smouldering rubble
But there may be some hope for small businesses.
Those who suffered as a result of last week's riots and looting will be able to take out loans from a £10 million fund set up by a major bank.
RBS is offering interest and fee-free loans of up to £25,000 to directly-affected businesses across the country.
The relief fund is designed to give the banking giant's customers short-term assistance to get back on their feet and resume trading while they wait for financial support from the Government or insurers.
After six months, the businesses should either repay the loans from the payouts or transfer to other loan products offered by the bank.
Chris Sullivan, chief executive of RBS and NatWest corporate division, said: 'We want to do everything we can for businesses affected by the riots.
'These loans will help firms waiting for insurance payments or needing urgent repairs to open for business as soon as possible.
'I hope that other banks will also be able to help small businesses recover. Our high streets are vital for local communities and the economic recovery.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2026282/UK-riots-Croydon-street-destroyed-riots-looks-like-devastating-scene-Blitz.html#ixzz1VBYsRWWM
==========
No comments:
Post a Comment