British police are concerned about the risk of clashes between anti-racist protesters and far-right activists on Saturday 13 June in London. Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and London mayor Sadiq Khan urged people to stay away from the protests, while police called on participants to follow a specific route and disperse as early as 16 hours (18 hours in Paris).
Although the Black Lives Matter movement canceled the planned early afternoon demonstration in the center of the capital, police expect thousands to converge. Fears of overflow add to the risk of transmission of the coronavirus, which has killed more than 41,000 people in the country.
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Protected statues in London
The previous weekend, protests, sparked by the death of African-American George Floyd, asphyxiated by a white police officer, had been "As a whole peaceful", the police said in a statement, but a "Minority" people attacked police and committed vandalism.
The statue of ex-Prime Minister Winston Churchill near Parliament has been tagged with the inscription "Racist". Other statues symbolizing the country's colonial past have been targeted in the country, including that of a slave trader, Edward Colston, who was debunked in Bristol. To prevent further action, the statues of Nelson Mandela and Gandhi, near Parliament, were protected on Friday, and that of Winston Churchill was sheltered in a metal box.
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Football world pays tribute to George Floyd
The English Premier League, which resumes its championship next week, has announced that all players' jerseys will display the anti-racism slogan "Black lives matter" in the back instead of their name. The initiative was decided at the request of the players, who will also be able to kneel – in tribute to George Floyd, the African-American father killed by a policeman at the end of May in Minneapolis, in the United States .
In Italy, players from Juventus Turin and AC Milan, who faced off in the Italian Cup semi-finals on Friday, warmed up in outfits with anti-racist messages.
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Events in Australia
Despite recommendations from the government and health officials, several thousand people expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement in Australia on Saturday. The largest gathering was held in Perth, on the west coast. About 5,000 people were gathered, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corp. This figure, lower than the 8,000 to 15,000 people expected by the organizers, is explained by the rainy weather and the lack of authorization to demonstrate.
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