Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid is taking action to tackle hate crime. AFP
Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid is taking action to tackle hate crime. AFP
Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid is taking action to tackle hate crime. AFP
Britain's Home Secretary Sajid Javid is taking action to tackle hate crime. AFP

Facebook posts by Tory members reignite party’s Islamophobia crisis


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British Conservative Party members have been posting anti-Muslim comments on Facebook, urging each other to prevent Home Secretary Sajid Javid from becoming prime minister, adding to the Islamophobia crisis within the party.

Buzzfeed News reported that 20 Facebook users that claimed to be Conservative members made anti-Muslim comments on the platform.

However, senior Conservatives have denied that the party has an Islamophobia problem.

Prime Minister Theresa May previously told parliament: “The party chairman takes very seriously any allegations that are brought before the party and we will continue to do so”, though Brandon Lewis [Chairman of the Conservative Party] himself said he "would dispute that that is a problem that exists”.

Buzzfeed reported that a man who was in a closed group of Conservative members called Muslims "muzz rats", "sub human scum" and asked "why have we got them in our country?"

Another man, who wrote that he joined the party last week to get a hard-line Brexiter to become prime minister said: “Britain is not ready for a Muslim PM, that would be taking the absolute piss out of the country”.

Speaking about London Mayor Sadiq Khan, he added: “This man does not represent the United Kingdom, he is only the Mayor of Londonistan… Theresa May needs to get a grip of this Muslim Brotherhood stooge.”

Both Mr Khan and Mr Javid are from families of Pakistani descent.

One woman who wrote two days ago that she was staying as a Tory member “so that we can elect the right leader” wrote that the home secretary “will protect his own. He was sworn in on the Koran”.

The recent posts on social media have reignited the party’s Islamophobia crisis.

Commenting on the recent Facebook posts, recently retired former Conservative MP Nick Boles said the party leadership “needs to act decisively to cut this cancer out. Enough with the suspensions; we need to see expulsions”.

On March 25, Conservative Party has quietly reinstated the membership of 15 councillors who were suspended for posting racist and anti-Muslim content online, an investigation by a British newspaper has found.

Former Tory party chair and first Muslim woman cabinet minister, Sayeeda Warsi, said that the move to reinstate the councillors was “revolving door racism”.

“Another bunch of bigots found out,” she wrote on Twitter.

The party announced earlier in March that 25 party members had been suspended over anti-Islamic comments. Another 40 were suspended following previous investigations into Islamophobia.

The five pillars of Islam

1. Fasting

2. Prayer

3. Hajj

4. Shahada

5. Zakat 

Roll of honour

Who has won what so far in the West Asia Premiership season?

Western Clubs Champions League - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Bahrain

Dubai Rugby Sevens - Winners: Dubai Exiles; Runners up: Jebel Ali Dragons

West Asia Premiership - Winners: Jebel Ali Dragons; Runners up: Abu Dhabi Harlequins

UAE Premiership Cup - Winners: Abu Dhabi Harlequins; Runners up: Dubai Exiles

West Asia Cup - Winners: Bahrain; Runners up: Dubai Exiles

West Asia Trophy - Winners: Dubai Hurricanes; Runners up: DSC Eagles

Final West Asia Premiership standings - 1. Jebel Ali Dragons; 2. Abu Dhabi Harlequins; 3. Bahrain; 4. Dubai Exiles; 5. Dubai Hurricanes; 6. DSC Eagles; 7. Abu Dhabi Saracens

Fixture (UAE Premiership final) - Friday, April 13, Al Ain – Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins

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SPEC%20SHEET
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UAE Premiership

Results

Dubai Exiles 24-28 Jebel Ali Dragons
Abu Dhabi Harlequins 43-27 Dubai Hurricanes

Final
Abu Dhabi Harlequins v Jebel Ali Dragons, Friday, March 29, 5pm at The Sevens, Dubai

Super 30

Produced: Sajid Nadiadwala and Phantom Productions
Directed: Vikas Bahl
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Pankaj Tripathi, Aditya Srivastav, Mrinal Thakur
Rating: 3.5 /5

West Indies v India - Third ODI

India 251-4 (50 overs)
Dhoni (78*), Rahane (72), Jadhav (40)
Cummins (2-56), Bishoo (1-38)
West Indies 158 (38.1 overs)
Mohammed (40), Powell (30), Hope (24)
Ashwin (3-28), Yadav (3-41), Pandya (2-32)

India won by 93 runs

Company profile

Company name: Suraasa

Started: 2018

Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker

Based: India, UAE and the UK

Industry: EdTech

Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding

In 2018, the ICRC received 27,756 trace requests in the Middle East alone. The global total was 45,507.

 

There are 139,018 global trace requests that have not been resolved yet, 55,672 of these are in the Middle East region.

 

More than 540,000 individuals approached the ICRC in the Middle East asking to be reunited with missing loved ones in 2018.

 

The total figure for the entire world was 654,000 in 2018.

Kamindu Mendis bio

Full name: Pasqual Handi Kamindu Dilanka Mendis

Born: September 30, 1998

Age: 20 years and 26 days

Nationality: Sri Lankan

Major teams Sri Lanka's Under 19 team

Batting style: Left-hander

Bowling style: Right-arm off-spin and slow left-arm orthodox (that's right!)

Three tips from La Perle's performers

1 The kind of water athletes drink is important. Gwilym Hooson, a 28-year-old British performer who is currently recovering from knee surgery, found that out when the company was still in Studio City, training for 12 hours a day. “The physio team was like: ‘Why is everyone getting cramps?’ And then they realised we had to add salt and sugar to the water,” he says.

2 A little chocolate is a good thing. “It’s emergency energy,” says Craig Paul Smith, La Perle’s head coach and former Cirque du Soleil performer, gesturing to an almost-empty open box of mini chocolate bars on his desk backstage.

3 Take chances, says Young, who has worked all over the world, including most recently at Dragone’s show in China. “Every time we go out of our comfort zone, we learn a lot about ourselves,” she says.

Hurricanes 31-31 Lions

Wellington Hurricanes: 
Tries: Gibbins, Laumape, Goosen, Fifita tries, Barrett
Conversions: Barrett (4)
Penalties: Barrett

British & Irish Lions:
Tries: Seymour (2), North
Conversions: Biggar (2)
Penalties: Biggar (4)

Company%20profile
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THE SPECS

      

 

Engine: 1.5-litre

 

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

 

Power: 110 horsepower 

 

Torque: 147Nm 

 

Price: From Dh59,700 

 

On sale: now  

 
Remaining fixtures
  • August 29 – UAE v Saudi Arabia, Hazza bin Zayed Stadium, Al Ain
  • September 5 – Iraq v UAE, Amman, Jordan (venue TBC)
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Despacito's dominance in numbers

Released: 2017

Peak chart position: No.1 in more than 47 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Lebanon

Views: 5.3 billion on YouTube

Sales: With 10 million downloads in the US, Despacito became the first Latin single to receive Diamond sales certification

Streams: 1.3 billion combined audio and video by the end of 2017, making it the biggest digital hit of the year.

Awards: 17, including Record of the Year at last year’s prestigious Latin Grammy Awards, as well as five Billboard Music Awards

Tenet

Director: Christopher Nolan

Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh 

Rating: 5/5

MATCH INFO

Jersey 147 (20 overs) 

UAE 112 (19.2 overs)

Jersey win by 35 runs

Sun jukebox

Rufus Thomas, Bear Cat (The Answer to Hound Dog) (1953)

This rip-off of Leiber/Stoller’s early rock stomper brought a lawsuit against Phillips and necessitated Presley’s premature sale to RCA.

Elvis Presley, Mystery Train (1955)

The B-side of Presley’s final single for Sun bops with a drummer-less groove.

Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two, Folsom Prison Blues (1955)

Originally recorded for Sun, Cash’s signature tune was performed for inmates of the titular prison 13 years later.

Carl Perkins, Blue Suede Shoes (1956)

Within a month of Sun’s February release Elvis had his version out on RCA.

Roy Orbison, Ooby Dooby (1956)

An essential piece of irreverent juvenilia from Orbison.

Jerry Lee Lewis, Great Balls of Fire (1957)

Lee’s trademark anthem is one of the era’s best-remembered – and best-selling – songs.

The lowdown

Rating: 4/5