In today’s newsletter: More than 100 far-right rallies were anticipated at immigration centres, lawyers’ offices, and charities. Instead, a tide of anti-racist counter-protesters took to the streets
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Good morning. It was billed as a night of bigotry and bloodshed: more than 100 far-right rallies were anticipated across England and Wales, with the potential for the worst unrest of the last two weeks. Shops were boarded up, and workers stayed at home; 41 of 43 local police force areas were preparing for the threat of violence. But something else happened, instead.
In Birmingham and Bristol, Southampton and Sheffield, and in many other towns and cities besides, anti-racist protesters gathered in their hundreds and thousands to stand up against the extremists. And while handfuls of far-right sympathisers did come out in some places, they were almost universally outnumbered. In many places, they simply didn’t turn up at all. At the end of the night, and with very few reports of trouble, the counter-protesters went home peacefully, their message sent with absolute clarity.
Opioids | Millions of people are addicted to, or at risk of becoming dependent on, prescription opioid painkillers, according to international research. The study found that one in three people taking opioids including codeine and oxycodone show symptoms of being dependent on them.
UK news | Shamima Begum’s legal fight to restore her UK citizenship has received a significant blow after the supreme court refused to hear an appeal. Three judges from the UK’s final court of appeal ruled “the grounds of appeal do not raise an arguable point of law”.
Austria | Three Taylor Swift concerts in Vienna this week have been cancelled over an apparent plot to launch an attack on a public event in the Vienna area. Austrian authorities said they had arrested a 19-year-old man for allegedly planning an Islamist attack.
Reform UK | The chair of Reform UK, Zia Yusuf, was a member of the Conservatives until last week when party officials were approached by the Guardian. Richard Fuller, the Conservative party chair, emailed Yusuf to tell him his membership had been revoked last Friday afternoon.
Travel | The huge passenger vessels sometimes known as “cruisezillas” are getting bigger than ever, according to new research finding that the world’s largest cruise ships have doubled in size since 2000. If the industry’s growth does not slow, the biggest ships in 2050 will be eight times larger than the Titanic.
Continue reading… World news | The Guardian
