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    U.K. Counterterrorism Police Investigate After Crossbow Attack Injures 2 Women

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    The British police arrested a man on Saturday after an attack in Leeds, a city in northern England.Counterterrorism police in Britain are investigating an attack on Saturday that “seriously injured” two women in the northern English city of Leeds. The police said that they had recovered a crossbow and a firearm.The police arrested a 38-year-old man, who was taken to the hospital with what they called a “self-inflicted injury.”They said they were not looking for anyone else in connection with the attack, which happened on Saturday afternoon, and that the motive for the violence remained under investigation.“Clearly this has been a shocking incident,” said Carl Galvin, an assistant chief constable with the West Yorkshire Police, the force that led the initial police operation. He thanked civilians and emergency responders for helping the victims.“We would strongly urge people not to speculate online or share information or footage which could affect the active investigation,” he added.The incident comes amid debates about violence and terrorism in Britain, which is still reckoning with the killing of three young girls last July in Southport, in northwest England. The knife attack last year set off rioting, which was inflamed by disinformation and far-right agitators.Knife crime is more common than crossbow attacks in Britain, but the use of the weapon is not without precedent in the country. Last July, a man with a crossbow killed three women in London — his ex-partner, who had recently ended their relationship, as well as her sister and their mother.A separate crossbow attack, which the police said resulted in non-life-threatening injuries, was reported in London in March last year. More

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      UK Police Brace for Unrest After Southport Stabbing

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      Protests escalated into violent riots in Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester and Belfast over the weekend, with dozens arrested and more demonstrations planned.The police in cities across Britain were bracing on Sunday for the spread of far-right and anti-immigration protests, a day after dozens of people were arrested in another day of unrest after a stabbing in a northern town last week.Protests in cities including Liverpool and Manchester descended into riots on Saturday, prompting a heavy police response across the country. The National Police Chiefs’ Council, which represents law enforcement across Britain, has said that nearly 4,000 additional officers have been deployed to deter the violence.“The police have our full backing,” Yvette Cooper, the British home secretary, said on Saturday. “I want everyone to be clear. Anyone who gets involved in criminal disorder, violent thuggery on our streets will have to pay the price.”Tension has gripped some communities across the country after a stabbing rampage at a Taylor Swift-themed dance and yoga class on Monday in the town of Southport, near Liverpool, killed three young girls and injured many others. A 17-year-old suspect was later named.Disinformation about the attacker’s identity spread quickly online, falsely identifying him as a migrant and fueling a violent, far-right riot in which a mosque was attacked and dozens of police officers were injured in Southport on Tuesday.Unrest has since spread to other parts of Britain, with violent protests in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham and other cities over the weekend. A protest was also held in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and also turned violent.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Art and the Power to Heal

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      Artists and community organizations around the world are increasingly turning to art to create positive social change.Using her arms as a makeshift clapboard, a Sudanese woman in a black hijab and black-and-white caftan clapped her hands together, signaling the beginning of the rehearsal. The other amateur Thespians, wearing comic stick-on mustaches, moved to their marks, improvising a scene in a women’s beauty salon where one patron’s hair is accidentally dyed blue.As the scene ended, all the women were in hysterics, ribbing each other over how they could better play their parts next time. Scenes like this are common at the Kuluhenna Creative Workshop, which is held at a community clubhouse on the outskirts of this Yorkshire city. The workshop is open to all local women, but with a focus on immigrant communities, including refugees and asylum seekers.The 90-minute class, which the Mafwa Theater has held since 2019, is a happy space. Each week, some 15 women gather to tell stories, dance, act and gossip. They are provided with bus passes, a play area for their young children and an on-site health worker in case any of the women want to talk.Eman Elsayed, a mother of three originally from Egypt, said before she joined the workshop in 2020, she was “depressed, isolated and fed up” with her life in Leeds. But eventually, especially after joining Mafwa Theater’s associate artists program in 2021, she felt her life change.“Art, it’s a magic wand,” said Elsayed, who now has a paid job doing community outreach for the program. “But you need to believe, and you need to take the time to see what it will do.”Mafwa’s project is just one example of a larger trend — as more and more groups and individuals worldwide are using the arts to empower, unite and even help heal people who have suffered trauma, from war and natural disaster, or discrimination, poverty and displacement.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More