A UK anti-racism campaign group has called five local election candidates "bigoted and unpleasant" after uncovering Islamophobic comments made to voters and on social media.
Hope Not Hate found posts that criticised the wearing of the hijab and described Islam as a “death cult”.
The candidates – four in London and one in the northern English city of Newcastle – are listed as standing in UK local elections on Thursday.
One of the "troubling" candidates identified by Hope Not Hate is John Moss, a sitting councillor and candidate in Chingford, East London.
He was suspended by the ruling Conservative Party in June 2019 after it was revealed he posted a string of Islamophobic messages on Twitter, including one in which he referred to Islam as a “death cult”.
In another post he said "an 'Islamophobe' is by definition somebody frightened of Muslims. Maybe we should nominate every 11 year old girl?”
Gregory Davis, a researcher at Hope Not Hate, condemned Mr Moss over the tweets.
"Despite promising to apologise to his local mosque as a condition of his suspension being lifted, it was later revealed that he had in fact sent a local campaigner to apologise on his behalf and did not make any effort to contact them himself," Mr Davis said.
"While he has deleted the highlighted posts, there are a number of alarming tweets still visible on his profile, including repeated calls for the 'carpet bombing' of civilian areas occupied by ISIS in Syria and Nigeria, as well as a racist statement about native Americans."
Another Conservative councillor, Stephen Savva, is due to stand in the Enfield area of north London.
He has posted tweets that called for "the removal of all immigrants" and urged people coming to the UK from abroad to "stop dressing funny".
He has been suspended by the party following the investigation by Hope Not Hate, but will still appear on ballot papers on Thursday.
In one tweet, Mr Savva said 2015 Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain “wouldn’t suffer any [Islamophobic] abuse” if she “integrated more” and did not wear a hijab.
In another he said: "How about the removal of all immigrants? Wouldn't that be wonderful? Just think of all the homes that would suddenly become available? All those school places?"
The Enfield North Conservative Association said it took "reports such as these extremely seriously".
Another candidate in Enfield, Chris Joannides, has also previously been suspended by the party over a social media post.
"He was suspended for a Facebook post that likened people who wear the burqa to bags of rubbish," Mr Davis said.
"His response was to reject the allegations as a 'smear' and refer to the posts in question as 'blokish banter'.”
Joyce McCarty, a sitting councillor in Newcastle for the opposition Labour Party, will appear on the ballot despite being suspended over allegations of Islamophobia. He accused fellow councillors of being part of a “Muslim plot” to deselect a fellow councillor and made threats of retaliation.
Meanwhile, David Dean is a Conservative candidate in the south-west London seat of Merton despite previously being suspended by the party after he was accused of making an inappropriate comment to a voter.
"He was suspended from the Conservative Party in May 2016 due to comments he made while campaigning on behalf of Zac Goldsmith," Mr Davis said.
"He allegedly told a voter that 'as a white man, [London Mayor Sadiq Khan] would treat him like dirt' and that 'he’d be a pariah in his own town'.
Mr Dean did not deny making the comments, but dismissed them as “a bit of banter” that was “taken out of context”.
"In January 2017, a party spokesperson apparently announced that Cllr Dean had been expelled from the party, yet just three months later he was back on Merton Council’s Conservative group and has been re-selected to stand in this year’s local elections," Mr Davis said.
The Conservatives currently trail Labour by about six points ahead of the local polls.
The vote comes as the Conservatives deal with the effects of the pandemic and the "partygate" scandal, when Prime Minister Boris Johnson was found to have breached lockdown rules, and the rising cost of living.
Labour is on course to be the biggest winner from an anticipated drop in support for Mr Johnson’s party.
India cancels school-leaving examinations
MATCH INFO
RB Leipzig 2 (Klostermann 24', Schick 68')
Hertha Berlin 2 (Grujic 9', Piatek 82' pen)
Man of the match Matheus Cunha (Hertha Berlin
Jawan
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Sly%20Cooper%20and%20the%20Thievius%20Raccoonus
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDeveloper%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sucker%20Punch%20Productions%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EPublisher%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Sony%20Computer%20Entertainment%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EConsole%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20PlayStation%202%20to%205%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%205%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
BOSH!'s pantry essentials
Nutritional yeast
This is Firth's pick and an ingredient he says, "gives you an instant cheesy flavour". He advises making your own cream cheese with it or simply using it to whip up a mac and cheese or wholesome lasagne. It's available in organic and specialist grocery stores across the UAE.
Seeds
"We've got a big jar of mixed seeds in our kitchen," Theasby explains. "That's what you use to make a bolognese or pie or salad: just grab a handful of seeds and sprinkle them over the top. It's a really good way to make sure you're getting your omegas."
Umami flavours
"I could say soya sauce, but I'll say all umami-makers and have them in the same batch," says Firth. He suggests having items such as Marmite, balsamic vinegar and other general, dark, umami-tasting products in your cupboard "to make your bolognese a little bit more 'umptious'".
Onions and garlic
"If you've got them, you can cook basically anything from that base," says Theasby. "These ingredients are so prevalent in every world cuisine and if you've got them in your cupboard, then you know you've got the foundation of a really nice meal."
Your grain of choice
Whether rice, quinoa, pasta or buckwheat, Firth advises always having a stock of your favourite grains in the cupboard. "That you, you have an instant meal and all you have to do is just chuck a bit of veg in."
Sting & Shaggy
44/876
(Interscope)
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
Match info
Huddersfield Town 0
Chelsea 3
Kante (34'), Jorginho (45' pen), Pedro (80')
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request
Fast%20X
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Louis%20Leterrier%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Vin%20Diesel%2C%20Michelle%20Rodriguez%2C%20Jason%20Statham%2C%20Tyrese%20Gibson%2C%20Ludacris%2C%20Jason%20Momoa%2C%20John%20Cena%2C%20Jordana%20Brewster%2C%20Nathalie%20Emmanuel%2C%20Sung%20Kang%2C%20Brie%20Larson%2C%20Helen%20Mirren%20and%20Charlize%20Theron%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
More on Quran memorisation:
Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Canada
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Results
6.30pm: Mazrat Al Ruwayah – Group 2 (PA) $36,000 (Dirt) 1,600m, Winner: RB Money To Burn, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Eric Lemartinel (trainer)
7.05pm: Handicap (TB) $68,000 (Turf) 2,410m, Winner: Star Safari, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
7.40pm: Meydan Trophy – Conditions (TB) $50,000 (T) 1,900m, Winner: Secret Protector, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
8.15pm: Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 - Group 2 (TB) $293,000 (D) 1,900m, Winner: Salute The Soldier, Adrie de Vries, Fawzi Nass
8.50pm: Al Rashidiya – Group 2 (TB) $163,000 (T) 1,800m, Winner: Zakouski, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
9.25pm: Handicap (TB) $65,000 (T) 1,000m, Winner: Motafaawit, Sam Hitchcock, Doug Watson
Company profile
Name: Thndr
Started: October 2020
Founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: FinTech
Initial investment: pre-seed of $800,000
Funding stage: series A; $20 million
Investors: Tiger Global, Beco Capital, Prosus Ventures, Y Combinator, Global Ventures, Abdul Latif Jameel, Endure Capital, 4DX Ventures, Plus VC, Rabacap and MSA Capital
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
