UK to hold emergency meeting after weekend of violence

YEREVAN, AUGUST 5, ARMENPRESS. Downing Street has confirmed there will be an emergency response meeting on Monday after more than 150 people were arrested following violent disorder in UK towns and cities over the weekend, the BBC reports.

It comes after PM Keir Starmer condemned an attack on a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham and promised those involved in unrest would face "the full force of the law".

Police responded to violent scenes in Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Bolton and other parts of the UK on Sunday.

The Cobra meeting will come after a sixth day of escalating violence following the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport last week.

The rioters believe the suspect is an immigrant but police say he was born in the UK.

Cobra meetings, or Cobr meetings as they are often also called, are named after Cabinet Office Briefing Room A on Whitehall.

During the UK prime minister's televised address on Sunday, he warned those involved that they will "regret" taking part.

"People in this country have a right to be safe, and yet we've seen Muslim communities targeted, attacks on mosques," the prime minister said. "Other minority communities singled out, Nazi salutes in the street, attacks on the police, wanton violence alongside racist rhetoric, so no, I won't shy away from calling it what it is: far-right thuggery."