BURY, England // Hundreds of Britons turned out on Thursday to mourn Lee Rigby, a soldier whose murder on a London street made international headlines in May and heightened community tensions in parts of Britain.
Soldiers and red-uniformed drummers escorted Rigby's flag-draped coffin through his battalion's hometown of Bury in northern England to a ripple of applause from the crowd.
Killed near army barracks in Woolwich, London, in broad daylight, the death of Rigby, 25, was described by Prime Minister David Cameron in May as a "betrayal of Islam". Two men will stand trial in November.
Locals were joined by well-wishers from Rigby's nearby hometown of Middleton and elsewhere, holding flowers and British flags, and paying tribute to the 25-year-old father of one.
"He shouldn't have died where he died," said Stacey Walsh, 29, a volunteer support worker, clutching a single rose.
"He served twice in Afghanistan, and he died on British soil, on his homeland," she said, visibly upset.
The crowd fell silent as the coffin reached the church before a private vigil attended by close friends and family.
"I'm a fusilier, and that's why we're here, he's one of us," said Ken Kendrick, a 74-year-old army veteran.
"It should never have happened, should it ... He didn't deserve that," he said, wearing a regimental beret.
Rigby's funeral will be held on Friday morning..
"We should all pay tribute to drummer Lee Rigby for his service to our country," Cameron told parliament on Wednesday.
Rigby's murder sparked anti-Islamist protests in several English cities and some charities reported a surge in attacks on Muslim targets. Far-right groups stayed away on Thursday.
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
'Top Gun: Maverick'
Rating: 4/5
Directed by: Joseph Kosinski
Starring: Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, Jennifer Connelly, Jon Hamm, Miles Teller, Glen Powell, Ed Harris
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
States of Passion by Nihad Sirees,
Pushkin Press
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5