British prime minister Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons on June 26, 2017. AFP / Parliament Recording Unit
British prime minister Theresa May speaks in the House of Commons on June 26, 2017. AFP / Parliament Recording Unit

British government back in contact with MCB



British security officials held a series of meetings with the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) last year, breaking a seven-year deadlock triggered by concerns over the group’s close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The meetings revolved around submissions by the MCB on the government’s flagship anti-extremism policy Prevent and took place at the Home Office, the interior ministry headquarters. The MCB is an opponent of the Prevent approach, which it claims unfairly targets Muslims and in particular focuses on schools as hotbeds of radicalisation.

According to a senior figure with knowledge of the talks, the MCB remains determined to re-establish its place as the premier voice of British Muslims. The source acknowledged that its membership has a strong make-up of Muslim Brotherhood groups. “We have made submissions on the problems of Prevent and these are that there is too much focus on Muslims,” the source told The National.

Once close contacts between the MCB and Whitehall were broken-off by the new Coalition government in 2010, though the source said that talks continued with senior Conservative politicians including the former attorney general Dominic Grieve. “There was a problem with the Conservatives over the statements of some of our members and there being a number of the constituent groups being [Muslim Brotherhood],” he said.

Khalid Mahmood, a Labour party MP, expressed alarm over the meeting, warning that the group must not re-emerge as the “gate-keeper” between Muslims and the British state. "I am extremely concerned," he said. "These people are pushing their Muslim Brotherhood agenda into official policy."

A Home Office statement neither confirmed nor denied that the encounters had taken place but said no one group would be the sole arbitrar of the dialogue between Muslim groups and the government.  "We work with a wide range of organisations in this country to prevent people from becoming radicalised; to challenge poisonous extremist narratives and safeguard our young people and our society. Those organisations must be prepared to show leadership, point to solutions and challenge and confront terrorist and extremist ideologies whatever form they take,” a spokeswoman said. "While we do not keep a running commentary on the meetings we hold, we are very clear that those we work with must share our common values.”

An MCB statement also made no denial that meetings had taken place.

The Sand Castle

Director: Matty Brown

Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea

Rating: 2.5/5

COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Autumn international scores

Saturday, November 24

Italy 3-66 New Zealand
Scotland 14-9 Argentina
England 37-18 Australia

German intelligence warnings
  • 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
  • 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
  • 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250 

Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution

Asia Cup Qualifier

Venue: Kuala Lumpur

Result: Winners play at Asia Cup in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in September

Fixtures:

Wed Aug 29: Malaysia v Hong Kong, Nepal v Oman, UAE v Singapore

Thu Aug 30: UAE v Nepal, Hong Kong v Singapore, Malaysia v Oman

Sat Sep 1: UAE v Hong Kong, Oman v Singapore, Malaysia v Nepal

Sun Sep 2: Hong Kong v Oman, Malaysia v UAE, Nepal v Singapore

Tue Sep 4: Malaysia v Singapore, UAE v Oman, Nepal v Hong Kong

Thu Sep 6: Final

 

Asia Cup

Venue: Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Schedule: Sep 15-28

Teams: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, plus the winner of the Qualifier

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Director: Magizh Thirumeni

Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra

Rating: 4/5

 

UAE SQUAD

Mohammed Naveed (captain), Mohamed Usman (vice captain), Ashfaq Ahmed, Chirag Suri, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Imran Haider, Tahir Mughal, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed, Fahad Nawaz, Abdul Shakoor, Sultan Ahmed, CP Rizwan

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Scores

Day 2

New Zealand 153 & 56-1
Pakistan 227

New Zealand trail by 18 runs with nine wickets remaining

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
 
Started: 2020
 
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
 
Based: Dubai, UAE
 
Sector: Entertainment 
 
Number of staff: 210 
 
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
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Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

Things Heard & Seen

Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini

Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton

2/5