LONDON: Police in London said that five people had been charged on Sunday after their arrest during pro-Palestinian protests a day earlier, which saw tens of thousands march for a humanitarian cease-fire in Gaza.
The Metropolitan Police arrested nine people — two on suspicion of assaulting police officers and seven for public order offenses.
A further two people were arrested on Sunday morning, suspected of inciting racial hatred following an incident in Trafalgar Square on Saturday evening, the Met said in a statement.
Among the five charged, aged between 16 and 51, two were accused of racially aggravated offenses, including the display of a placard that was “threatening and racist in nature.”
The others were accused of throwing a beer can at a protester and verbal and physical assaults on police officers.
About 100,000 people joined the “March for Palestine” in London on Saturday according to British media, which also reported scuffles with police.
It was the third consecutive weekend that London hosted a large rally in support of Palestinians.
Organizers claimed that 500,000 people took part this Saturday, compared with 300,000 a week ago.
London’s Metropolitan Police deployed more than 1,000 officers to patrol the march.
On Sunday afternoon, around 200 people holding portraits of hostages taken by Hamas gathered outside the Qatari embassy in London to call for their release, according to an AFP photographer.
Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border on October 7 in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 230 others, according to Israeli officials.
The health ministry in Gaza says the retaliatory Israeli bombardment has killed more than 8,000 people, mainly civilians and half of them children.
The conflict has led to a sharp rise in racist incidents in the UK.
Anti-Semitic acts in London have multiplied about 14-fold, and Islamophobic acts by almost three, Scotland Yard chief Mark Rowley told Sky News on Sunday.
Five charged after pro-Palestinian protests in London
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Five charged after pro-Palestinian protests in London
- The Metropolitan Police arrested nine people — two on suspicion of assaulting police officers and seven for public order offenses
- A further two people were arrested on Sunday morning, suspected of inciting racial hatred following an incident in Trafalgar Square on Saturday evening
LA 2028 Olympics chief to sell agency over Epstein uproar: reports
WASHINGTON: The embattled chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics is selling his talent agency after his name appeared in the recent wave of revelations concerning late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to US media reports.
LA28 chairman Casey Wasserman has faced mounting calls to step down after racy emails he sent Epstein’s former girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell in 2003 emerged in US Justice Department files dropped last month.
In a memo late Friday to the employees of talent agency Wasserman Group, which bears his surname, the entertainment executive reportedly said he would sell the firm but stay on as Olympics chief.
“I’m deeply sorry that my past personal mistakes have caused you so much discomfort,” Wasserman wrote in the memo published by multiple US media outlets, including the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
“It’s not fair to you, and it’s not fair to the clients and partners we represent so vigorously and care so deeply about.”
Wasserman, 51, said in the memo that his appearance in the Epstein files had “become a distraction,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
He has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in the scandal.
He said in an apology last month that his exchange with Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year sentence for trafficking underage girls for Epstein, took place before her crimes came to light.
In one email exchange between Wasserman and Maxwell in April 2003, he told her “I miss you” before appearing to ask for a massage.
The LA28 executive committee this week said he should continue in his role following a probe into his appearance in the files.
His talent agency represents a galaxy of stars from across music, sport and entertainment.
But several artists represented by Wasserman’s company, including Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Chappell Roan, have announced their departure from the agency since his involvement in the scandal emerged.
Multiple Los Angeles city officials have also called on Wasserman to step aside as head of the 2028 Olympics.
