UK Muslims report vandalism, attacks amid controversial flag campaign

Names marked with an asterisk have been changed to protect identities.

When Akmal’s* mosque was vandalised last week in Basildon, a town in the English county of Essex, he felt shaken.

“I was so hurt,” said the 33-year-old electrical engineer, who requested Al Jazeera use a pseudonym. “It was so close to home. My local masjid [mosque]. It felt like a real kick in the teeth.”

The South Essex Islamic Centre in Basildon was defaced shortly before midnight on Thursday. Red crosses were daubed across its walls alongside the words “Christ is King” and “This is England”.

The timing, the night before Friday prayers, appeared to many as calculated – an attempt to intimidate a flurry of worshippers in the southeastern English county.

“My wife and baby are growing up here,” Akmal told Al Jazeera. “I want to move out of the area. I just cannot stay here.”

The mosque in Essex was vandalised amid a nationwide flag-raising campaign that followed a wave of protests against asylum seekers [Courtesy: South Essex Islamic Trust]

Community leaders condemned the attack.

Gavin Callaghan, the leader of Basildon Council, described it as “pathetic criminal cowardice”.

“Don’t dress it up. Don’t excuse it. It’s scum behaviour, and it shames our town … The cowards who did this will be caught,” he said. “To do this right before Friday prayers is no coincidence. That’s targeted. That’s intimidation. And it’s criminal.”

Wajid Akhter, head of the Muslim Council of Britain, said, “The St George flag is a symbol of England we should all be proud of. For it to be used in this way, [which] echoes how Nazis targeted Jewish homes, is a disgrace to our flag and our nation. Silence has allowed hate to grow.”

Essex police are investigating the incident.

Council staff and volunteers worked in the early hours of the morning to remove the graffiti before worshippers arrived, but a sense of fear is still lingering.

“I was shocked,” said Sajid Fani, 43, who lives in the area. “I didn’t expect something like that to happen here.”

Local bishops decried the misuse of Christian imagery in the attack. They issued a joint statement calling the vandalism “scandalous and profoundly misguided”, saying that invoking Christianity to justify racism is “theologically false and morally dangerous”.

Racism amid flag-raising campaign

The vandalism took place amid a tense atmosphere in the United Kingdom, amid protests against asylum seekers and a social media campaign dubbed #OperationRaisetheColours.

In recent weeks, those heeding the call have pinned the flag of England bearing Saint George’s Cross and Union Jacks to motorway bridges, lampposts, roundabouts and some shops across the UK. Red crosses have been spray-painted on the white stripes of zebra crossings.

According to the anti-far-right HOPE not hate group, the campaign is led by Andrew Currien, a former member of the Islamophobic English Defence League and now a security figure for the political party Britain First, also an anti-Muslim, anti-immigrant group.

While some supporters frame the project as patriotic, it has been tied to racist incidents.

Racist graffiti has appeared in several other locations. Some 300 miles (about 500km) north of Basildon, for example, xenophobic slurs have been sprayed on buildings in County Durham and Houghton-le-Spring in northern England.

Some have blamed the media’s focus on the issue of asylum.

In recent months, British television networks and newspapers have dedicated significant coverage to asylum seekers, as some social media sites allow hateful content to proliferate.

Shabna Begum, head of Runnymede Trust, a race equality think tank, said the spate of vandalism is part of a “frightening intensification of Islamophobia” driven by political and media narratives scapegoating Muslim communities.

“The violence being played out on our streets and the vandalism of mosques is the product of a political and media soundtrack that has relentlessly demonised Muslim communities,” she said. “Whether it is policy or narratives, we have been fed a monotonous diet that tells us that our economic problems are caused by Muslims, migrants and people seeking asylum.”

She warned that history shows governments that fail to confront economic grievances while scapegoating minorities ultimately collapse.

“The question is how much will this betrayal cost for the Muslim communities that are served as political fodder,” she said.

Fani in Basildon said, “It’s the fear factor. They [media channels] put terror in the hearts of people when it comes to Muslims. I want to show people we are just like them. We’re just human.”

Days before the mosque was vandalised, a roundabout opposite was painted with a red cross.

“I wasn’t offended by England flags being flown,” said Fani. “But this is different. It crossed a line.”

In the wake of the vandalism, mosque leaders encouraged worshippers to attend Friday prayers in greater numbers as a show of resilience.

Fani said the turnout was larger than usual: “Alhumdulillah [Thank God], it resulted in more people coming to the mosque, so the outcome was positive.”

‘A line between being patriotic and being outright racist’

Maryam*, a Muslim woman who lives in Basildon, lamented the “attack on the Muslim community” as she emphasised that it reflects a dark climate.

“There’s a line between being patriotic and being outright racist or Islamophobic – and some people here are crossing that line.”

In her view, a wave of protests against housing asylum seekers at hotels earlier this summer has coincided with Islamophobic abuse – particularly in Epping, a nearby town where The Bell Hotel has been the focus of violent agitation.

Police data is yet to confirm a link or rise in racist attacks, but locally reported incidents tell a troubling story.

Last week, a man in Basildon was arrested after a hijab-wearing woman and her child were allegedly racially abused, while vandals sprayed St George’s crosses on nearby homes.

At the end of July, residents reported glass projectiles being hurled from the upper floors of a building near Basildon station, apparently targeting Muslim women and families of colour.

Beyond the headline incidents, Maryam reeled off a list of other recent examples of racism she has witnessed – a woman of East African origin called a racial slur, a driver mocking a Muslim woman in hijab as a “post box”.

“Unfortunately, I’ve [also] been subjected to a lot of Islamophobia in Basildon – often in front of my child,” she added. “It has affected my mental health … it’s created a lot of trauma and barriers to simply living a normal life.”

While the mosque attack prompted swift attention from councillors and police, isolated incidents against individuals often go unreported.

Houthis fire missile at Israeli-owned tanker after prime minister killed

Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for a missile attack on a tanker in the Red Sea, days after Israeli air strikes killed its prime minister and several senior officials.

The group on Monday said it directly hit the Liberian-flagged Scarlet Ray, which is Israeli-owned, according to the maritime security company Ambrey.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency, which monitors shipping in the region, disputed the claim, reporting the missile missed its target on Sunday.

“The crew witnessed a splash in close proximity to their vessel from an unknown projectile and heard a loud bang,” UKMTO said, adding all staff were unharmed and the tanker had resumed its voyage.

The attack is the latest in a string of Houthi operations in the Red Sea. The group sank two tankers in July and has pledged to continue targeting Israel-linked shipping as part of its declared support for Palestinians and opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza.

On Saturday, the Houthis announced that Prime Minister Ahmed Ghaleb al-Rahawi and other top officials had been assassinated in Israeli strikes on Thursday. A funeral for the prime minister and other slain officials is scheduled on Monday.

Houthi leader Abdel-Malik al-Houthi hailed them as “martyrs of all Yemen” and accused Israel of “savagery” against civilians. “The crime of targeting ministers and civilian officials is added to the criminal record of the Israeli enemy in the region,” he said.

Tensions escalated further on Sunday when Houthi fighters raided United Nations offices and detained at least 11 staff members, accusing them of espionage.

The UN has rejected the allegations and called for their “immediate and unconditional release”. The group is already holding 23 other UN employees, some since 2021.

In May, Oman brokered a ceasefire between the United States and the Houthis, leading Washington to halt its daily bombing campaign in Yemen. However, Houthi chief negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam said the agreement does not cover operations against Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has promised to retaliate, warning the Houthis they will “pay a heavy price” for attacks on Israeli territory and shipping.

Japan and South Korea record hottest summers in history

Since records began, South Korea and Japan have experienced summers that have been sweaty.

According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), the average summertime temperature in Japan was 2.36 degrees Celsius (4.24 degrees Fahrenheit).

According to the JMA, “this set the record for the hottest summer since records first started in 1898.”

The weather agency added that the average summertime temperatures reached records at 123 of the 153 weather stations nationwide, with the number of automated meteorological stations recording “extremely hot days” reaching a record 9, 385.

The JMA advised people to take appropriate precautions to avoid heat-related illnesses over the next two weeks, particularly in eastern and western Japan.

The temperature in the central city of Isesaki reached 41.8C (107.24F) last month, breaking the previous record for the hottest day on record twice in a single day.

The average summertime temperature in South Korea also set a new record, reaching 25.7C (78.26F), the highest level since 1973, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.

In a previous article, both South Korea and Japan had declared that their summer would be the hottest ever.

South Korea’s average summer temperature last year was 25.6C (78.08F), while Japan’s average temperature was 1.76C (3.17F) above the norm in both 2024 and 2023.

Scientists have issued recent record-breaking warnings that human-driven climate change is causing more extreme weather in the East Asian nations.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Asia has been particularly susceptible to extreme heat.

The UN agency&nbsp reported that the region was warming nearly twice as quickly as the average in its most recent climate report from June.

Isak signs with Liverpool from Newcastle for record British fee: Report

Multiple media reports claim that Liverpool, the English Premier League champion, has agreed to pay a record-breaking transfer fee for Alexander Isak from Newcastle United.

According to reports from The Athletic and The Telegraph on Monday, the Swedish forward is expected to sign with the Reds in a deal worth about 130 million pounds ($176m).

Before signing a six-year deal with the Merseyside club, Isak will go through a medical, according to The Athletic, which will take place on Monday.

The 25-year-old striker helped Newcastle qualify for the Champions League last season by scoring 23 goals in the Premier League, behind only Mohamed Salah at Liverpool.

However, after making clear that he wanted to move to Liverpool, he has been the subject of a drawn-out and occasionally agonizing transfer saga this summer. He has been training separately from the rest of the Newcastle squad.

In a move seen as opening the door for Isak’s departure, Newcastle signed German international striker Nick Woltemade for a record club fee reported to be worth up to 69 million pounds ($93m).

When Liverpool play second-from-right Alexander Isak and Mohamed Salah, not-pictured, [Getty Images: Ian MacNicol] they will have the two top goalscorers from the previous season.

Timeline of Afghanistan’s deadliest earthquakes since 2015

After a powerful earthquake struck Afghanistan’s eastern Kunar province, killing over 800 people and injuring over 2,500 others.

Afghanistan is prone to tremors because of its mountainous surroundings, which are highly active seismically near the intersection of the Indian and Eurasian tectonic plates.

The country has experienced one of the most deadly earthquakes in the last ten years:

August 31, 2025

Around midnight on Sunday (23:30 GMT on Sunday), a magnitude 6 earthquake struck Kunar and Nangarhar, the nation’s eastern provinces.

According to Interior Ministry spokesman Mufti Abdul Mateen, at least 600 people died in Kunar and 12 in Nangarhar.

According to Sharafat Zaman, a spokesman for the Health Ministry, rescue operations are still being conducted because the earthquake destroyed a number of villages.

October, 2023

In one of the country’s most deadly natural disasters in a long time, three earthquakes erupted in Herat province in October 2023.

Western Afghanistan’s Herat province was struck by a magnitude 6. 3 earthquake on October 7.

On October 11, another magnitude 6. 3 earthquake struck the province, and a magnitude 6. 4 earthquake was recorded on October 15.

At least 2,445 people died in these earthquakes, according to the British Red Cross Society.

March 21, 2023

Near the border with Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Badakhshan, was struck by a magnitude 6. 6.5 earthquake.

At least 13 people died.

September 2022

The neighboring provinces of Kunar and Nangarhar in northeastern Afghanistan experienced two earthquakes of magnitudes of 5. 1 and 4. 6.

At least eight people have been reported dead.

June 22, 2022

Eastern Afghanistan’s Paktika, Paktia, Khost, and Nangarhar provinces were struck by a magnitude 6.1 earthquake.

More than 1, 000 people were killed when several homes collapsed as a result of the disaster.

January 17, 2022

A shallow earthquake of magnitude 5.3 was reported by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in the western Afghan province of Badghis.

At least 26 people died.

October 26, 2015

Northeastern Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region was the site of a magnitude 7.500 earthquake.

117 people were killed, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).

Putin blames West for Ukraine war at China-led SCO summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin has blamed the West for igniting the war in Ukraine, insisting Moscow’s assault was provoked by years of Western provocations.

Speaking at the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit in the Chinese city of Tianjin on Monday, Putin accused NATO of destabilising the region and dismissed claims that Russia triggered the war.

“This crisis was not triggered by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, but was a result of a coup in Ukraine, which was supported and provoked by the West”, Putin told the gathering of regional leaders. He was referring to the 2013-14 pro-European uprising that toppled Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yanukovych.

Russia responded to the revolution by annexing Crimea and backing separatists in eastern Ukraine, leading to a conflict that has left tens of thousands dead and devastated large parts of the country.

Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 escalated the fighting, prompting sweeping sanctions from the United States and the European Union and deepening Russia’s isolation from the West, though not from the rest of the international community.

Putin said Western efforts to draw Ukraine into NATO were a key driver of the war, reiterating that Russia’s security concerns must be addressed before any peace deal can be reached.

“For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed”, he said.

The Russian president highlighted talks he held with US President Donald Trump in August, describing the discussions as “opening a way to peace”. He praised diplomatic efforts from Beijing and New Delhi, saying their proposals could “facilitate the resolution of the Ukrainian crisis”.

Putin met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday to discuss Ukraine and said he would expand on those talks in bilateral meetings with leaders on the sidelines of the summit. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are also attending.

Moscow and Beijing have promoted the SCO as a counterweight to Western-led alliances, with Putin arguing the world needs a “system that would replace outdated Eurocentric and Euro-Atlantic models”.

Despite repeated calls from Trump for Moscow and Kyiv to negotiate, peace efforts have faltered. Russia has rejected ceasefire proposals and demanded that Ukraine cede more territory, conditions Kyiv has dismissed as unacceptable.

“For the Ukrainian settlement to be sustainable and long-term, the root causes of the crisis must be addressed”, said Putin.

Part of the source of the conflict “lies in the ongoing attempts by the West to bring Ukraine into NATO”, he said.