Several bands have boycotted the Victorious Festival in the UK after organisers cut off audio during Irish folk group The Mary Wallopers' set as they were leading a "Free Palestine" chant.
British alternative rock band The Last Dinner Party, Irish band Cliffords and Irish indie group The Academic pulled out hours before their scheduled performances in solidarity with The Mary Wallopers.
Held in the city of Portsmouth since 2012, more than 80,000 music fans attended the first day of the three-day festival, according to the BBC, with headliners including American rockers Queens of the Stone Age and English indie group Kaiser Chiefs.
On Friday, The Mary Wallopers' set was dramatically cut short after one of the group's members walked on stage with a Palestinian flag. Following a brief altercation, a crew member was seen removing the flag, which led to frontman Charles Hendy stopping his set asking for the flag to be brought back. He then led the crowd with chants of "Free Palestine".
The group shared a video of the incident on social media on Saturday.
"We completely reject Victorious’ portrayal of today’s events and request that they retract their statement immediately," they said.
"Yesterday, a famine was declared in Gaza, where at least 65 people were killed by Israeli attacks, all the while Israel pushed ahead with plans to split the West Bank in two. These are the important facts about yesterday.
"We are uploading this video so everybody can see Victorious Festival cut our gig short for having a Palestinian flag on stage. We know this is getting some attention and we don’t want another distraction which takes attention away from the genocide that is happening in Palestine."
In a statement on social media, Victorious Festival apologised for the incident and said it has had a policy of not allowing flags of any kind on stage for many years "for wider event management and safety reasons".
"We accept that, although mics remained live for longer, sound for The Mary Wallopers' audience was cut as described in the band's video and that comments after that were not audible to the public," it said. "We are sorry that this situation has come about and will be making a substantial donation to humanitarian relief efforts for the Palestinian people."
Following the statement, The Last Dinner Party announced they were boycotting the festival.
"We are outraged by the decision made to silence The Mary Wallopers yesterday at Victorious. As a band, we cannot co-sign political censorship and will therefore be boycotting the festival today," they posted on Instagram on Saturday. "We are so deeply sorry to our fans who were looking forward to seeing us today, and we are devastated to be put in this position that upsets both us and you. Free Palestine."
The Academic followed suit, saying they would not "play at a festival that silences free speech and the right to express your views".
"We stand in solidarity with the other Irish acts here this weekend. Up the Mary Wallopers. Free Palestine," the group posted.
Members of the Irish group Cliffords also said they refused to play "if we are to be censored for showing our support to the people of Palestine".
"We were not made aware of a 'no flag' policy when we agreed to play Victorious, and while we understand their predicament, we have no intention of playing if this is how artists are treated for speaking out against genocide," the group posted, along with a photo of its members holding a Palestinian flag.
"We will be donating to Medical Aid for Palestinians. We’ll put a link on our story so you can donate too," they added.
'The worst thing you can eat'
Trans fat is typically found in fried and baked goods, but you may be consuming more than you think.
Powdered coffee creamer, microwave popcorn and virtually anything processed with a crust is likely to contain it, as this guide from Mayo Clinic outlines:
Baked goods - Most cakes, cookies, pie crusts and crackers contain shortening, which is usually made from partially hydrogenated vegetable oil. Ready-made frosting is another source of trans fat.
Snacks - Potato, corn and tortilla chips often contain trans fat. And while popcorn can be a healthy snack, many types of packaged or microwave popcorn use trans fat to help cook or flavour the popcorn.
Fried food - Foods that require deep frying — french fries, doughnuts and fried chicken — can contain trans fat from the oil used in the cooking process.
Refrigerator dough - Products such as canned biscuits and cinnamon rolls often contain trans fat, as do frozen pizza crusts.
Creamer and margarine - Nondairy coffee creamer and stick margarines also may contain partially hydrogenated vegetable oils.
THE BIO
BIO:
Born in RAK on December 9, 1983
Lives in Abu Dhabi with her family
She graduated from Emirates University in 2007 with a BA in architectural engineering
Her motto in life is her grandmother’s saying “That who created you will not have you get lost”
Her ambition is to spread UAE’s culture of love and acceptance through serving coffee, the country’s traditional coffee in particular.
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Anti-semitic attacks
The annual report by the Community Security Trust, which advises the Jewish community on security , warned on Thursday that anti-Semitic incidents in Britain had reached a record high.
It found there had been 2,255 anti-Semitic incidents reported in 2021, a rise of 34 per cent from the previous year.
The report detailed the convictions of a number of people for anti-Semitic crimes, including one man who was jailed for setting up a neo-Nazi group which had encouraged “the eradication of Jewish people” and another who had posted anti-Semitic homemade videos on social media.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Cofe
Year started: 2018
Based: UAE
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Amount raised: $13m
Investors: KISP ventures, Cedar Mundi, Towell Holding International, Takamul Capital, Dividend Gate Capital, Nizar AlNusif Sons Holding, Arab Investment Company and Al Imtiaz Investment Group
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