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Glasgow, United Kingdom – Suella Braverman has been sacked from her role as the United Kingdom’s home secretary after she called pro-Palestinian protesters “hate marchers”, adding to a sense of chaos in Britain as war flares anew in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak dismissed the populist politician on Monday, after days of speculation over her future.

The hard-right Conservative has never hidden her disdain for Britain’s supporters of the besieged people of Gaza. Her sacking is understood to be linked to her article in The Times last week, in which she accused the police of being tougher on far-right activists than pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

Sunak’s office did not approve the final text of the article, which The Times itself has described as “inflammatory”.

In previous weeks, she had also told police that waving a Palestinian flag could become a crime – which also saw her accused of meddling.

“Historically, governments in the UK, like others across the world, have used moments of crisis to launch attacks on all of our civil liberties – often starting with those who are already marginalised,” the British civil rights group Liberty said at the time.

“We saw this in response to 9/11 and the 7/7 bombings, with the creation of new and broad offences around ‘glorifying’ terrorism and the extension of the period for which terror suspects could be held without charge.”

Braverman’s dismissal – and the surprise return of ex-Prime Minister David Cameron to politics – are being mocked by observers as signs of a government in crisis.

Cameron, premier between 2010 and 2016, now holds the role of foreign secretary after James Cleverly replaced Braverman.

While the government is in a state of flux as Sunak’s cabinet reshuffle gathers pace on Monday, tensions between communities are rising, and rights groups are raising the alarm about a possible crackdown on free expression.

This past weekend, hundreds of thousands of protesters marched in London in solidarity with Gaza, marshalled by a heavy police presence, as a small number of far-right groups staged counter-protests.

The rally came about a month after Israel began shelling the Gaza Strip, in response to Hamas’s unprecedented incursion into Israel. More than 1,200 Israelis and 11,000 Palestinians have been killed.

Britons sympathetic to the plight of the Palestinians have accused UK political leaders and academic institutions of pursuing a campaign to restrict – or even silence – shows of support for the beleaguered enclave.

On Saturday, some 300,000 supporters of Gaza took to the streets of London in defiance of Britain’s Conservative Party-led government, which has pledged unwavering support for Israel’s actions and views with scepticism pro-Palestinian support.

The rally took place on Armistice Day – the annual commemoration marking the end of World War I – which Braverman condemned as an “unacceptable” act of desecration. Sunak cast the demonstration as “disrespectful”.

Protesters including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War Coalition and Muslim Association of Britain set off from London’s Hyde Park, before ending at the US Embassy.

Exclusion zones were imposed around the city’s war memorial, the Cenotaph.

Chants advocating for Gaza included “free Palestine”, “ceasefire now” and “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.

More than 100 people were arrested on the day, mostly counterprotesters.

Opposition accused of silencing debate

Accusations that Britain’s political establishment is trying to crack down on freedom of speech on Gaza also extend to the main opposition Labour Party, led by Keir Starmer.

Like Sunak, he has supported Israel’s bloody onslaught as its “right” to self-defence.

Last month, one of Labour’s largest constituency branches in Scotland saw office bearers resign their posts en masse after accusing the party, odds-on to win the next UK general election, of silencing debate on the crisis.

Nine officials at the Glasgow Kelvin Constituency Labour Party (CLP), in Scotland’s central belt, stood down in protest after a directive was issued by the party’s UK and Scottish general secretaries saying, “any motions” about Gaza would be “out of order and should not be debated at party meetings”.

Labour Party House of Lords peer, Baroness Pauline Bryan of Partick, was among those to quit.

She lamented the “reluctance [by Labour officials] to allow [CLPs] to express their support for the people in Gaza” and expressed concern about how the party would deal with other such debates – on Palestine or anything else – in the future.

The left-wing peer also disagreed with Starmer’s decision to suspend Labour MP Andy McDonald after he referenced “from the river to the sea” during a speech at a pro-Palestinian rally last month.

“Andy McDonald is an extremely well-respected MP,” she told Al Jazeera. “I think people will be shocked and horrified if he’s not reinstated very, very quickly.”

British academia has also become embroiled in the conflict, with universities and university bodies accused of bowing to government pressure.

On October 31, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a national funding agency investing in science and research, suspended its Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) advisory group following a letter of complaint by Michelle Donelan, the science secretary, who accused some members of “sharing some extremist views on social media”.

Among her allegations was “the amplification” of a tweet on X by one group member, which, she wrote, “condemns violence on both sides but makes reference to Israel’s ‘genocide and apartheid’”.

Yesterday, UKRI responded to a letter from Secretary of State, Michelle Donelan. Now we are publishing that response and the Terms of Reference for the review we are setting up. pic.twitter.com/RjZypgnbVK

— UK Research and Innovation (@UKRI_News) October 31, 2023

One academic from a leading British university said that Donelan’s intervention had “crossed a line”, adding “that the idea that tweets I make about the conflict might be held against me in this way is outrageous”.

The professor, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Al Jazeera: “Given the Conservative party’s drift to the ‘Orbanite’ right, I fear this will not end here. If we do not push back against this pressure, it will invite further interventions to marginalise political positions they are hostile to and establish a precedent of academic freedom being subject to the government’s own idea of which political views are acceptable.”

In response to the suspension of the EDI, many academics resigned from UKRI peer review bodies in protest.

Among them was Matt Bennett, a senior research officer at England’s University of Essex.

He claimed that Donelan’s letter was “a frightening reminder that the UK government has no respect for freedom of speech in universities”.

He added: “The secretary of state has signalled to the whole scientific community that any of us who criticise the UK government and call for a ceasefire in Gaza are in danger of being publicly labelled, by a government minister, as an extremist and supporter of terrorism.”

But Bennett told Al Jazeera that “the UK government’s assault on freedom of speech did not begin with the secretary of state’s October 28 letter to UKRI”.

He flagged up the intervention made by UK Education Secretary Gillian Keegan on October 11 when she wrote to university vice-chancellors to “remind” them of their responsibilities under the British anti-terrorism Prevent programme, insinuating that any shows of support for Gaza were anti-Semitic.

Bennett continued: “I have been told by students and colleagues at universities about a range of repressive techniques that university managers, under pressure from government, are using to prevent students and staff holding events in solidarity with the people of Gaza.”

The academic stated that he had “heard of students [being] prevented from distributing leaflets advertising Gaza-solidarity events by campus security” at one university. He also claimed to “have seen an all-staff email at [another] university, sent by their most senior administrator, that smeared a student rally in solidarity with Palestine as likely to be supportive of Hamas terrorism, with no reason given for thinking this other than that the rally was pro-Palestinian”.

Indeed, reports emerged last month that SOAS University of London had suspended some of its students who had taken part in a pro-Gaza rally on campus. The SOAS Palestine Society labelled the suspensions “a targeted act of political repression for those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people”.

But a SOAS spokesperson told Al Jazeera that “the small number of suspensions relate” to students “violating our health and safety protocol”.

“Fire alarms were set off and part of the estate was vandalised, halting lectures for the day,” the spokesperson added.

A former American football player has been killed in a car crash in Houston.

D J Hayden, 33, was among six people who died in the incident which happened when a Chrysler 300 allegedly sped through a red light and collided with an SUV early on Saturday, police said.

Ex-NFL cornerback Hayden played for teams including the Oakland Raiders, Detroit Lions and Jacksonville Jaguars during the years 2013 to 2020.

Most recently he was part of the Washington Commanders in 2021. He was born in Houston and had starred at the University of Houston.

Five men and one woman lost their lives in the crash in central Houston at about 2am local time (8am UK time).

Three of the university’s former football players died – Hayden, his ex-teammate, cornerback Zach McMillian, and Ralph Oragwu. A fourth former university football player was injured.

“The entire University of Houston community is heartbroken over the tragic passing of former football student-athletes D J Hayden, Zachary McMillian and Ralph Oragwu earlier today, and our thoughts and prayers remain with Jeffery Lewis in his recovery ahead,” University of Houston Athletics said in a statement.

‘An indelible impact on each life they touched’

It added the men who died were “three individuals who made an indelible impact on each life they touched”.

The victims included the driver of the Chrysler and a man who appeared to be homeless, according to police.

The Las Vegas Raiders, formerly the Oakland Raiders, said in a statement: “D J’s courage, perseverance, and dedication to his teammates will be fondly remembered by everyone who knew him.”

“The prayers of the entire Raider Nation are with D J’s loved ones at this time,” they added.

‘High velocity’

The Chrysler “appears to be going very fast, high velocity,” Houston Police Assistant Chief Megan Howard said.

Four people were pronounced dead at the scene.

Four others were taken to hospital, where two of them died and a female passenger was in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, Ms Howard said.

Officers said they interviewed a male passenger from the SUV and that investigators were working to identify the driver of the SUV.

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Hayden survived a near-death experience in 2012, when he suffered a tear to a major vein by his heart after colliding with a teammate during practice. He was discharged from hospital just a week after having emergency surgery.

After completing her fifth prayer at the mosque one Friday evening this September, Fatimata Diallo made her way to Kol Yehuda, Ivory Coast’s first synagogue, where she recited her blessings in Hebrew during Shabbat services.

Born and raised a Muslim, the 70-year-old’s life took a profound turn 10 years ago when she first heard about the Torah. She not only learned Hebrew but also adopted Orthodox Jewish practices, embracing Judaism alongside her Islamic faith.

In Cote d’Ivoire, Judaism is fairly new, dating back to less than half a century. Yet in the heart of Abidjan, the economic capital of the West African country, other Ivorians, like Diallo are joining a small, emerging Jewish community.

With the financial support of Kulanu, a New York-based organisation that seeks to bring Jews from isolated and emerging places together, Yehouda Firmin, leader of the Ivorian community, has been teaching the readings of the Torah and Jewish practices since 2001. There are now at least four different independent Jewish communities in Abidjan, each with their respective synagogues.

Today, sub-Saharan Africa is still the region with the lowest Jewish population in the world and most have not been recognised by Israel. Like in most African nations, it is hard to quantify the Jewish community. Firmin estimates that there are about 300 people who attend the religious services at the Kol Yehuda Synagogue and the other three Jewish communities estimate between 30 and 230 members each.

In Cote d’Ivoire, nearly 43 percent of the population are Muslims while Christians account for about 40 percent of the population. This has played a significant role in the political landscape centred on a rivalry between current President Alassane Ouattara, largely supported by Muslims in the north, and his predecessor and rival Laurent Gbagbo, supported by Christians in the south.

Like Diallo, many other Ivorians with a Christian or Muslim background who are interested in Judaism have integrated both sets of practices into their lives. Kulanu representatives say one reason for this is the difficulty of fully incorporating all Jewish traditions and practices in Africa. Another is that these new converts face potential isolation by those in their community who, due to their unfamiliarity with Judaism, erroneously associate the religion with witchcraft.

Kulanu co-founder Bonita Sussman explains that the internet has helped in spreading the teachings of the Old Testament across sub-Saharan Africa, where some see the expansion of Judaism as a way to dissociate faith from imperialism.

“They google Judaism and they, too, find it interesting,” Sussman said, referencing her conversation with multiple newly converted Jews across the region. “They admire Israel and they admire that the Jewish people were able to build their own state after the Holocaust. After their colonial experience, they could learn from it, and build their own country.”

Since 2012, Kulanu has been sending Torahs and books about Judaism to the synagogue. The organisation also brought a rabbinical court to perform 40 conversions and participated in Cote d’Ivoire’s first Jewish wedding ceremonies, marrying six couples. “We’re not there to change their practice,” Sussman said. “We’re here to put them on the map.”

Tim Minchin has paid tribute to his mother, Ros, after announcing her death while performing a show in Australia.

The comedian, musician and singer shared a photograph on Instagram, simply captioned: “So it goes.”

During his show at the State Theatre in Sydney on Friday as part of his latest tour, An Unfunny Evening With Tim Minchin And His Piano, he told the audience his mother had died the previous day, according to local media in Australia.

Minchin told fans ahead of the encore and said he had wanted the show to go on, before performing one of his most popular songs, White Wine In The Sun.

The track includes the lyrics: “I’ll be seeing my dad, My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum, They’ll be drinking white wine in the sun.”

Minchin, who was brought up in Perth, Western Australia, shared stories about his mum during the show, including her diagnosis with terminal blood cancer in 2020, and played a variety of songs he had written about her, Perth Now reported.

He closed the show with a cover of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah, with the audience joining him to sing.

On Monday, as well as his tribute, the star also shared a picture of himself on stage at the State Theatre, saying: “Thank you, Sydney, for a weekend of shows I’ll never forget.”

One of the hundreds of fans who responded to his posts described Friday night’s show as “beautiful”, saying: “None of us will ever forget it. And most of all, much love, strength and support to you and your family at this sad time.

“Your beautiful Mum would be immensely proud of the amazingly talented man she created who was able to touch and connect every single person in that theatre through love, tears and song.”

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Another fan said Minchin’s second show at the venue on Saturday night was the same. “A night we’ll never forget,” they wrote. “Thanks for sharing yourself with us. Our hearts go out to you and your family.”

“Our hearts went out to you when you spoke about your Mum,” another wrote.

Minchin is currently touring Australia, with shows planned across the country before he ends with eight days in Perth in February and March 2024.

Greta Thunberg was interrupted as she addressed a climate protest in Amsterdam on Sunday after inviting a Palestinian and an Afghan woman on stage.

The Swedish activist was speaking to a crowd of tens of thousands in the Dutch capital before the country heads to the polls in a general election next week.

“As a climate justice movement, we have to listen to the voices of those who are being oppressed and those who are fighting for freedom and for justice,” she said.

“Otherwise, there can be no climate justice without international solidarity.”

After the Palestinian and Afghan women had come on stage and spoken, Ms Thunberg resumed her speech.

But a man went on to the stage and told her: “I have come here for a climate demonstration, not a political view,” before he was ushered off.

The man’s identity was not clear. He was wearing a jacket with the name of a group called Water Natuurlijk that has elected members in Dutch water boards.

Ms Thunberg appeared to be wearing the Palestinian keffiyeh, a traditional black and white scarf.

Earlier proceedings had been interrupted as a small group of activists at the front of the crowd waved Palestinian flags and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.

The interruption did not seem to phase Ms Thunberg, 20, as she was later seen dancing behind the stage as a band played.

The speeches on stage were the culmination of a mass protest that saw tens of thousands of people march through the streets of Amsterdam, urging for more action to tackle climate change.

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Climate change is one of the key policy areas the political parties are fighting over in their election campaigns.

Organisers claimed that 70,000 people took part in the march and called it the biggest climate protest in the Netherlands.

Ms Thunberg was among those walking through the historic heart of the Dutch capital.

Political leaders including former European Union climate chief Frans Timmermans, who now leads a centre-left, two-party bloc in the election campaign, later addressed the crowd in a square behind the landmark Rijksmuseum.

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Event organiser, the Climate Crisis Coalition, said in a statement: “We live in a time of crises, all of which are the result of the political choices that have been made. It has to be done and it can be done differently.”

While the coalition included the Fridays for Future youth movement, protesters were all ages and included a large contingent of medics in white coats carrying a banner emblazoned with the text: “Climate crisis = health crisis.”

“I am a paediatrician. I’m here standing up for the rights of children,” said one of the protesters, Laura Sonneveld. “Children are the first to be affected by climate change.”

“It is time for us to protest about government decisions,” said Margje Weijs, a Spanish teacher and youth coach. “I hope this influences the election.”