Day: November 8, 2024

AMSTERDAM — Antisemitic rioters “actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them” after a football match, Amsterdam authorities said Friday as Israel said it was sending planes to the Dutch capital to fly fans home.

An unknown number of Israeli supporters were injured in the Thursday night violence that was condemned by the leaders of both the Netherlands and Israel as antisemitic.

A statement issued by the Dutch capital’s municipality, police and prosecution office said that the night after the Europa League match between Ajax and Maccabi Tel Aviv “was very turbulent with several incidents of violence aimed at Maccabi supporters.”

There was no immediate word on the number of injured or arrests.

The violence erupted Thursday despite a ban on a pro-Palestinian demonstration near the football stadium imposed by Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, who had feared that clashes would break out between protesters and supporters of the Israeli football club.

Israel ordered that two planes be sent to the Dutch capital to bring the Israelis home.

“The prime minister has directed that two rescue planes be sent immediately to assist our citizens,” said a statement from Benjamin Netanyahu’s office.

It added that “the harsh pictures of the assault on our citizens in Amsterdam will not be overlooked,” and that Netanyahu “views the horrifying incident with utmost gravity.” He demanded that the Dutch government take “vigorous and swift action” against those involved.

Netanyahu’s office added that he had called for increased security for the Jewish community in the Netherlands.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof said on X that he followed reports of the violence “with horror.”

“Completely unacceptable anti-Semitic attacks on Israelis. I am in close contact with everyone involved,” he added, saying that he had spoken to Netanyahu and “emphasized that the perpetrators will be tracked down and prosecuted. It is now quiet in the capital.”

Geert Wilders, the hard right nationalist lawmaker whose Party for Freedom won elections in the Netherlands last year and who is a staunch ally of Israel, reacted to a video apparently showing a Maccabi fan being surrounded by several men.

“Looks like a Jew hunt in the streets of Amsterdam. Arrest and deport the multicultural scum that attacked Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters in our streets. Ashamed that this can happen in The Netherlands. Totally unacceptable,” Wilders said.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon, also condemned the violence in a post on the social media platform X.

Ajax won the Europa League match 5-0. 
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NEW DELHI — Tens of thousands of Hindu devotees flocked to rivers and bodies of water across India to pray to the sun god as part of the Chhath festival this week.

In Noida, on the outskirts of the capital New Delhi, families gathered at the Yamuna river, which is covered with white toxic foam as a result of pollutants discharged from nearby industries.

Women in brightly colored saris waded into the knee-deep water flecked with blobs of white foam. Some carried a coconut or other fruits as an offering to thank Lord Surya, the god of the sun, for sustaining life on earth as they sought divine blessings.

The Yamuna is considered one of India’s most sacred rivers, and Hindu devotees have continued to use it despite warnings about the toxic foam. A court in Delhi on Wednesday forbade worshipers from performing rituals on the bank of the heavily polluted river over health and safety concerns, local media reported, yet thousands gathered on Thursday and Friday at the river banks to immerse themselves in the river and drinks it water.

From the financial capital Mumbai to Hyderabad in the south and Guwahati in the east, thousands of men, women and children did the same.

The Chhath festival, celebrated after the Hindu festival of Diwali, originated in the country’s eastern states, with large celebrations in Bihar and Jharkand, and extends to Nepal. Over the years, it has grown more popular across India, often introduced as migrants from eastern states mark the festival away from home.

The rituals, which stretch over four days, include a holy dip in the river and a period of fasting and abstaining from drinking water. On the last two days, devotees stand in the waters to pray to the sun as it rises and sets, with some families camping out overnight along the banks. 
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BUENOS AIRES — Three people have been charged in connection with the death of Liam Payne, a former member of musical group One Direction who died after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires last month, Argentine prosecutors said Thursday.

Prosecutor Andrés Madrea charged the three suspects, whose identities were not revealed, with the crimes of “abandonment of a person followed by death” and “supplying and facilitating the use of narcotics,” the prosecutor’s office said. Madrea also requested their arrest to judge Laura Bruniard, who ruled the three cannot leave the country.

Payne fell from his room’s balcony on the third floor of his hotel in the upscale neighborhood of Palermo, in the Argentine capital. His autopsy said he died from multiple injuries and external bleeding.

Prosecutors also said that Payne’s toxicological exams showed that his body had “traces of alcohol, cocaine and a prescribed antidepressant” in the moments before his death.

Investigators said hours after Payne’s death that he was by himself when he fell. But the prosecutors’ office said Thursday that one of the people charged was often with the singer during his time in Buenos Aires. The second is a hotel staffer who allegedly gave Payne cocaine during his stay between October 13 and 16. And the third is a drug dealer.

The charges in Payne’s case bear some resemblance to the U.S. cases stemming from the death of Friends star Matthew Perry a year ago. The actor’s personal assistant and a longtime friend are among those charged with helping supply him with ketamine in the final months of his life, leading up to his overdose on the anesthetic.

Three young men were similarly charged in the opioid-overdose death of rapper Mac Miller in 2018.

Local authorities gathered, among other pieces of evidence, Payne’s cellphone records, material for forensics and testimonies. They are yet to unlock the singer’s personal computer – which is damaged – and other devices that were seized.

Payne’s autopsy showed his injuries were neither caused by self-harm nor by physical intervention of others. The document also said that he did not have the reflex of protecting himself in the fall, which suggests he might have been unconscious.

Prosecutors in Argentina also ruled out the chances of Payne dying by suicide.

One Direction was among the most successful boy bands of recent times. It announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016 and Payne — like his former bandmates Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson — pursued a solo career.

The singer had posted on his Snapchat account that he traveled to Argentina to attend Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires on October 2. He shared videos of himself dancing with his girlfriend, American influencer Kate Cassidy, and singing along in the stands. Cassidy had left Argentina after the show, but Payne stayed behind. 
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