Radical English director who clashed with the BBC over his ‘horrifying’ film about nuclear war, was forced to look abroad to continue working Peter Watkins, the radical British film-maker who won an Oscar for his controversial drama-documentary The War Game, about a nuclear attack on Britain, has died aged 90. His son Patrick confirmed that he died on Thursday, but no cause of death has been given. Watkins was an uncompromising figure who clashed with the BBC after the latter failed to show The War Game on broadcast TV, and subsequently led a peripatetic film-making existence, looking overseas for backing. He was wary of the press, in a rare interview he spoke to the Guardian in 2000, saying he was “someone who has been working for 30 years to help shift the power balance between public and TV”. He added: “Had TV taken an alternative direction during the 1960s and 1970s and worked in a more open way, global society today would be vastly more humane and just.” Continue reading...

Exclusive: West Midlands police were told supporters randomly attacked Muslims in Amsterdam last year Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters were banned from watching their game against Aston Villa after police intelligence concluded the biggest risk of violence came from extremist fans of the Israeli club. The ban ignited an intense controversy and was criticised by the prime minister, as well as others claiming it was a surrender to antisemitism. Scores of extreme Maccabi fans with a past history of violence and shouting “racist taunts” were expected to travel to the Birmingham game. Dutch police told their British counterparts that the Maccabi fans had instigated trouble in Amsterdam at a game last year. They had randomly picked Muslims in Amsterdam to attack. That led to reprisal violence with some Dutch Jews attacked. A huge Dutch police effort, involving 5,000 officers across three days, was needed to quell the trouble. A community impact assessment by West Midlands police recorded that some Jewish people wanted the Maccabi fans banned because of the trouble that might ensue if they attended. Any trouble started by Maccabi fans attending the Birmingham game could lead to reprisals from local people and further trouble. The process did not consider whether the ban on fans of the Israeli club could be criticised as antisemitic itself or surrendering to antisemitism. Continue reading...