The peaceful demonstration involved some sloganeering against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which was signed into law earlier this week.

LONDON: People from different groups gathered outside the Indian High Commission here on Saturday to protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act and what they branded as Modi government’s “failures”.

A group of protesters from the British Assamese community, dressed in their traditional attire and accompanied by children, waved placards in Assamese as well as some in English that read: “Save Democracy, Stop CAB”.

The peaceful demonstration involved some sloganeering against the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), which was signed into law earlier this week.

“Assam is united and CAB is divisive. Say no to division, yes to unity,” said one of the activists.

Alongside, the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) UK chapter organised its “Bharat Bachao Rally” (Save India) to coincide with similar protests in New Delhi and around the world.

“The rally is against the Modi government’s failures, including the economic crisis, high unemployment, farmer distress and divisive politics,” said an IOC UK spokesperson.

The Congress protesters carried banners and placards reading: “Women against BJP” and “Farmers against BJP”.

IOC UK president Kamal Dhaliwal said: “All sections of our community are suffering today due to the wrong policies of the Modi government.

“The youth needs jobs, women need safety and security, farmers need reasonable prices for their crops. The promises Modi ji made during the elections are nowhere.”

In reference to the Citizenship Amendment Bill, the IOC UK spokesperson added: “CAB is unconstitutional, which has set fire in the North Eastern states.”

The new law, which amends the Citizenship Act of 1955, provides eligibility for minorities from neighbouring Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to access Indian citizenship. It has come under severe criticism as non-secular, sparking widespread protests in the North East of India.

Military specialists on Friday recovered six bodies from the island in a carefully planned but risky operation.

WHAKATANE (NEW ZEALAND): Police divers working in near zero visibility in contaminated waters around New Zealand’s volcanic White Island tried on Saturday to find the remaining two victims of an eruption that left at least 16 dead and dozens severely burned.

Ash and other fallout from Monday’s eruption has made the sea near the island toxic and divers have to be washed clean after every completed dive. Police Deputy Commissioner John Tims called search conditions “unique and challenging.”

“Divers have reported seeing a number of dead fish and eels washed ashore and floating in the water. Conditions in the water today are not optimal with between zero and 2 meters visibility depending on location,” he said. Navy divers are expected to join the police search effort later Saturday.

Military specialists on Friday recovered six bodies from the island in a carefully planned but risky operation. Two more bodies of victims known to have been on the island could not be located during the four-hour operation, carried out by bomb disposal experts — six men and two women — wearing yellow hazmat suits and breathing apparatuses.

Police believe one of the missing bodies was sighted in the water close to the island by rescue teams on Tuesday, the day after the eruption. The location of the other body is not known. 

Divers began the search for the bodies on Friday but were forced to stop near evening when weather conditions deteriorated. An aerial search of the island was suspended at nightfall. The six bodies were transported to Auckland for identification.

In a statement, police said their own experts, forensic pathologists, scientists, odontologists and coroner’s officials were involved in the work of identification. Under New Zealand law, the coroner must confirm the victims’ identities.

Police said the process may take some time, though they are working as quickly as possible to return the bodies to their families.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern called on New Zealanders to observe a minute’s silence in memory of victims of the disaster at 2:11 pm on Monday, exactly a week from the eruption. Ardern and her Cabinet will pause in silence during their regular meeting at Parliament in Wellington.

“Wherever you are in New Zealand or around the world, this is a moment we can stand alongside those who have lost loved ones in this extraordinary tragedy. Together we can express our sorrow for those who have died and been hurt and our support for their grieving families and friends,” Ardern said.

The bodies recovered on Friday are thought to be of Australians, who were most of the visitors to the island when the volcano erupted. The two last victims are believed to be New Zealanders — a tour guide and a boat captain who had taken tourists to the island.

Scientists have warned that White Island, which is the exposed tip of a mostly undersea volcano, is highly volatile, and has been venting steam and mud regularly. The eruption Monday occurred as 47 tourists and their guides were exploring the island.

He said that of the 15 injured, 11 are in “very critical” condition. All 13 Australians who suffered burns have been returned to Australia.

Husband and wife Pratap and Mayuri Singh were confirmed Saturday to be among survivors. The Atlanta couple are recovering from burns in Auckland’s Middlemore Hospital where their conditions were listed as stable.

Specialist medical teams were heading to New Zealand from Australia, Britain and the United States. Skin banks were also sending tissue to New Zealand hospitals to use for grafts.

Authorities say 24 Australians, nine Americans, five New Zealanders, four Germans, two Britons, two Chinese and a Malaysian were on the island at the time. Many were from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship that had left Sydney two days earlier.

Each employee of St John Properties was given a red envelope at the Christmas dinner. It contained roughly 38,000 pounds (around Rs 35 lakh) each.

MARYLAND: The owner of a Maryland-based company left his 200 employees overwhelmed by announcing ten million pounds as Christmas bonus, a media report said.

The lucky workers were not expecting the gift from founder-chairman Edward St John, 81, as they celebrated company targets achievements on Saturday, The Sun reported.

Each employee of St John Properties was given a red envelope at the Christmas dinner. It contained roughly 38,000 pounds (around Rs 35 lakh) each. A video of the event showed surprised workers reacting with joy after the announcement.

Mr John said the company wanted to reward the employees in a big way to celebrate achievement of firm’s goals to make a significant impact on their lives.

“I am thankful for every one of our employees, for their hard work and dedication. I couldn’t think of a better way to show it. I may steer the boat, but they’re the ones that run the boat. They are the ones that make the boat go. Without the team, we are nothing,” he said.

“What happened tonight was magical. It’s life-changing,” said an employee.

The firm’s real estate investments are valued at $3.5 billion (2.6 billion pounds).

London: A consortium of Indian public sector banks led by State Bank of India (SBI) are back in the UK high court to seek a bankruptcy order against liquor tycoon Vijay Mallya over the alleged unpaid debt of around 1.145 billion pounds.

Judge Michael Briggs is presiding over a hearing in the insolvency division of the court in London this week in relation to a bankruptcy petition filed by the banks back in 2018 in their attempt to recoup unpaid debt accrued by the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

A previous UK High Court ruling had refused to overturn a worldwide order freezing Mallya’s assets and upheld an Indian court’s ruling that the consortium of 13 Indian banks were entitled to recover funds amounting to nearly 1.145 billion pounds.

The banks then launched efforts to recover dues as part of the freezing order, with the bankruptcy petition aimed at seizing UK-based Mallya’s assets to recover the dues.

Besides SBI, the 13 Indian banks include Bank of Baroda, Corporation bank, Federal Bank Ltd, IDBI Bank, Indian Overseas Bank, Jammu & Kashmir Bank, Punjab & Sind Bank, Punjab National Bank, State Bank of Mysore, UCO Bank, United Bank of India and JM Financial Asset Reconstruction Co. Pvt Ltd.

They have secured follow-on High Court orders to recover some of the funds owed to them as a result of Kingfisher Airlines’ unpaid loans.

In July, the banks had won a High Court battle to access documents they were after to establish the true ownership of assets they believed were linked with the embattled liquor tycoon.

Frankly, the answer needs to be known as to which assets are that of Mr Mallya, both for the purpose of the worldwide freezing order and enforcement of the judgment, Justice Robin Knowles had ruled.

Two superyachts, a game reserve in South Africa, numerous undeclared high-value and vintage cars, valuable paintings and a piano previously owned by famous British singer-songwriter Elton John were among some of the assets on their target list.

The true ownership of a plush home overlooking Regent’s Park in the heart of London also remains in contention.

Mallya’s legal team has argued that the petition for bankruptcy in the UK should be dismissed because the banks are pursuing the same debt through the Indian courts.

The lawyers have also sought a stay on proceedings until Mallya’s appeal against his extradition order, scheduled in the Royal Courts of Justice in London, is heard in February next year.

Meanwhile, Mallya remains on bail pending the appeal hearing in the extradition proceedings brought by India in relation to charges of fraud and money laundering amounting to an alleged Rs 9,000 crores.

He had been arrested on an extradition warrant back in April 2017 and has been fighting his extradition in the UK courts since then.

Jersey City: Six people, including a police officer and three bystanders, were killed in a furious gun battle that filled the streets of Jersey City with the sound of heavy fire for hours, authorities said.

The dead included the two gunmen, Jersey City Police Chief Michael Kelly said.

The slain officer, Detective Joseph Seals, 40, was credited by his superiors with having led the department in the number of illegal guns removed from the streets in recent years, and might have been trying to stop an incident involving such weapons when he was cut down by gunfire that erupted near a cemetery, authorities said.

The shooting then continued at a kosher supermarket about a mile away, where five more bodies were found, Kelly said.

Authorities believe the Jewish market was targeted by the gunmen, Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop tweeted Tuesday night. Fulop, whose public safety director said earlier in the day that terrorism wasn’t suspected, did not elaborate on why authorities now believe the market was targeted.

Messages were left Tuesday night seeking comment on Fulop’s tweet. It’s a really tough day for the city of Jersey City, Fulop said.

Seals was one of the best officers for getting the most guns off the streets. He was a good cop. Two other officers were wounded but were later released from the hospital, authorities said.

The bullets started flying early in the afternoon in the city of about 270,000 people, situated across the Hudson River from New York City.

Seals, who worked for a unit called Cease Fire, was shot around 12:30 pm. The gunmen then drove a stolen rental van to another part of the city and engaged police in a lengthy shootout.

Kelly said when police responded to the area of the kosher store, officers were immediately engaged by high-power rifle fire. A video shot by a witness shows a police officer on the ground by a car, apparently wounded. Another officer goes to him, helps him up and the two run around a corner as gunshots ring out. Seconds later, as a police cruiser pulls up in front of the store, about a dozen shots are heard in rapid succession.

“Our officers were under fire for hours,” the chief said.

Inside the grocery store, police found the bodies of who they believed were the two gunmen and three other people who apparently happened to be there when the assailants rushed in, authorities said. Police said they were confident the bystanders were shot by the gunmen and not by police.

The kosher grocery is a central fixture in a growing community of Orthodox Jews who have been moving to Jersey City in recent years.

Chabad Rabbi Moshe Schapiro, who shops at the kosher store and attends a synagogue next door, said he spoke with the store owner, Moishe Ferencz.

He told me he had just walked out of the store into the synagogue not five feet away just before this happened, and then he couldn’t get back for hours, Schapiro said.

His wife was inside the store. He said, ‘I hope my wife is safe.'” The names of the victims inside the store were not immediately released, pending notification of relatives.

City Public Safety Director James Shea said earlier Tuesday that authorities believe the bloodshed was not an act of terrorism but that it was still under investigation.

The shooting spread fear through the neighborhood, and the nearby Sacred Heart School was put on lockdown as a precaution.

SWAT teams, state police and federal agents converged on the scene, and police blocked off the area, which in addition to the school and supermarket included a hair salon and other shops. Dozens of bystanders pressed against the police barrier to capture the action on their cellphones, some whooping when bursts of fire could be heard.

Video shot by residents recorded loud volleys of gunfire reverberating along one of the city’s main streets and showed a long line of law enforcement officers pointing guns as they advanced, yelling to bystanders, Clear the street! Get out of the way! It’s like firecrackers going off,” said Andy Patel, who works at a liquor store about three blocks away.

“They were shooting like crazy. … The cops were clearing everyone off the streets. Police also removed what they described as a possible incendiary device from the rental vehicle and sent it for examination by a bomb squad. The results of that examination were not available Tuesday evening.

Seals had been on the Jersey City Police Department since 2006. In addition to his work with the illegal guns unit, he was cited for heroism in a Christmas Eve 2008 incident in which he and another officer burst through the window of a home and stopped a sexual assault that was being carried out against a 41-year-old woman.

The turnover of the 100 biggest arms manufacturers came to $420 billion, thanks in large part to the US market, said the report. US manufacturers alone accounted for 59 percent of the market.

STOCKHOLM: Arms sales rose by nearly five per cent worldwide in 2018 in a market dominated by the United States, according to a new report published Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The turnover of the 100 biggest arms manufacturers came to $420 billion, thanks in large part to the US market, said the report.

US manufacturers alone accounted for 59 per cent of the market, or a turnover of $246 billion, up 7.2 per cent on the previous year.

“This is a significant increase over one year considering the already high levels of US combined arms sales,” Aude Fleurant, the director of SIPRI’s arms transfers and military expenditure programme, told AFP.

US firms were benefitting from the Trump administration’s decision to modernise its armed services to reinforce its position against China and Russia.

Russia was second in the rankings for arms production, with 8.6 per cent of the market, just ahead of the United Kingdom on 8.4 per cent and France on 5.5 per cent.

The study did not include China, for which there was insufficient data, but SIPRI’s research estimated that there were between three and seven Chinese businesses in the top 100 arms manufacturers.

Two major European companies, Airbus and MBDA were also responding to “demand due to ongoing armed conflicts and severe tensions in several regions”, Fleurant added.

China has spent 1.9 per cent of its gross domestic product on defence every year since 2013.

The top-ranked Russian firm, Almaz-Antei, jumped to ninth on the list with a turnover of $9.6 billion — 18 per cent up on the previous year.

“This increase was based not only on strong domestic demand, but also on continuing growth in arms sales to other countries, in particular exports of the S-400 air defence system,” said the report.

One of the buyers of this system is NATO member Turkey, which took the deal despite a US threat of sanctions.

Turkey’s arms industry had two businesses in the top 100 and turnover of $2.8 billion, up 22 per cent on the previous year.

Turkey was “driven by the goal of being self-sufficient in arms supply and therefore develop arms production capabilities in all segments (land systems, air systems, naval systems, missiles, etc.),” said Fleurant.

“Turkey is also involved with an enduring armed conflict with the Kurds, which also tends to increase demand for arms,” she added.

The world’s largest arms maker remains the US firm Lockheed Martin, as it has been since 2009, this last year with turnover of $47.3 billion. 

Its sales alone account for 11 per cent of the world market.

Trump this week signed into law congressional legislation that supported protesters in the China-ruled city, despite angry objections from Beijing.

Masked protesters hold placards during the “March of Gratitude to the US” event in Hong Kong.

Hundreds of people in Hong Kong, including many elderly residents, marched to the US consulate on Sunday to show “gratitude” for US support of anti-government protests that have roiled the financial hub for nearly six months.

Waving American flags, with some donning Donald Trump logo hats and t-shirts, protesters unfurled a banner depicting the US president standing astride a tank with a US flag behind him.

Another banner read “President Trump, please liberate Hong Kong.”

Trump this week signed into law congressional legislation that supported protesters in the China-ruled city, despite angry objections from Beijing.

“Thank you President Trump for your big gift to Hong Kong and God bless America,” shouted a speaker holding a microphone as he addressed a crowd at the start of the march.

Protesters walk towards the US Consulate during a “March of Gratitude to the US” event in Hong Kong. (Reuters)

Earlier on Sunday, hundreds of protesters, including many families with children, marched in protest against police use of tear gas.

Carrying yellow balloons and waving banners that read “No tear gas, save our children”, the protesters streamed through the city’s central business district towards government headquarters on the main Hong Kong island.

There has been relative calm in Hong Kong for the past week but activists have pledged to maintain the momentum of the movement with three marches planned for Sunday. All have been approved by authorities.

Anti-government protests have rocked the former British colony since June, at times forcing government offices, businesses, schools and even the international airport to shut.

“We want the police to stop using tear gas,” said a woman surnamed Wong, who marched with her husband and five year old son.

“It’s not a good way to solve the problem. The government needs to listen to the people. It is ridiculous.”

Police have fired around 10,000 rounds of tear gas since June, the city’s Secretary for Security, John Lee, said this week.

FURTHER PROTESTS

Sunday’s marches came as a top Hong Kong official said the government was looking into setting up an independent committee to review the handling of the crisis, in which demonstrations have become increasingly violent.

The protesters in Hong Kong are angry at what they see as Chinese meddling in the freedoms promised to the former British colony when it returned to Chinese rule in 1997.

China denies interfering and says it is committed to the “one country, two systems” formula put in place at that time and has blamed foreign forces for fomenting unrest.

Rioters burn cars and throw rocks on anniversary of ‘yellow vest’ demonstrations

Tear gas and water cannon were used on Saturday as Paris police sought to disperse yellow vest protesters marking the first anniversary of the birth of their movement against government policies seen as favouring the rich. Shattered glass littere…

On Saturday, secondary school students and retirees joined forces to protest against what they called police brutality and unlawful arrests.

While Saturday’s rallies were mostly peaceful, public broadcaster RTHK reported that police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse protesters after a vigil outside the Prince Edward metro station. Some residents believe that some protesters were killed by police there three months ago. Police have denied that account.

Further protests are planned through the week and a big test of support for the anti-government campaign is expected on December 8 with a rally planned by Civil Human Rights Front, the group that organised million-strong marches in June.

Another march is planned on Sunday in the popular shopping district of Tsim Sha Tsui.

That march is scheduled to end in Hung Hom, a district near the ruined campus of Hong Kong Polytechnic University.

The campus turned into a battleground in mid-November when protesters barricaded themselves in and faced off riot police in violent clashes of petrol bombs, water cannon and tear gas.

About 1,100 people were arrested last week, some while trying to escape.

On Friday police withdrew from the university after collecting evidence and removing dangerous items including thousands of petrol bombs, arrows and chemicals which had been strewn around the site.

The extremist group’s Amaq news agency on Saturday said the 28-year-old attacker Usman Khan was one of Islamic State’s fighters.
 

LONDON: The Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibilty for the Friday’s terror attack at London Bridge where two people were killed and three others injured.

The extremist group’s Amaq news agency on Saturday said the 28-year-old attacker Usman Khan was one of Islamic State’s fighters, reported metro.co.uk.

Without providing any evidence, Islamic State said that the attack was carried out in response to its calls to target citizens of the countries that have been part of a coalition fighting against the jihadist group.

“The person who carried out the London attack… was a fighter from the Islamic State, and did so in response to calls to target citizens of coalition countries,” the statement read.

Two people were stabbed to death and three others injured when Khan, a terror convict who had been out on parole, targeted a gathering of students and other former convicts during a Cambridge University conference on prisoners’ rehabilitation at Fishmongers’ Hall at the north end of London Bridge at 1.58 p.m. on Friday.

Television images captured Khan brandishing a knife as he walked across the London Bridge. He was shot dead by police after members of the public wrestled him to the ground.

Khan, who was living in Staffordshire, UK, was jailed in 2012 for being involved in a conspiracy to bomb the London Stock Exchange and establish a terror training camp in Pakistan.

In 2008, Khan’s home in Stoke-on-Trent was raided as part of a counter-terrorism investigation.

The Friday’s incident evoked memories of the 2017 terror attack at London Bridge when a van was deliberately driven into pedestrians before its three occupants ran to the nearby Borough Market area and began stabbing people in and around restaurants and pubs, leaving eight people dead and 48 injured. The attackers, who claimed allegiance to the Islamic State, were shot dead by the police.

The police identified the attacker, who was shot dead by officers after Friday’s attack, as 28-year-old Usman Khan, was convicted in 2012 of terrorism offences and released in December 2018

LONDON: The British Police on Friday said that the attacker who stabbed and killed two persons and injured three others in a terror attack at London Bridge was a former prisoner convicted for terrorism offences and released last year.

The police identified the attacker, who was shot dead by officers after Friday’s attack, as 28-year-old Usman Khan, was convicted in 2012 of terrorism offences and released in December 2018 “on the license,” which means he had to meet certain conditions or face recall to prison, The Times of Israel reported.

Khan had been living in the Staffordshire area of central England, the police said, where searches are still being carried out in connection to the attack.

London police counterterrorism head, Neil Basu, was further quoted as saying that Khan was attending a London event hosted by Learning Together — a Cambridge-based organisation that works to educate prisoners — when he launched the attack.

Meanwhile, the British media citing security sources reported the attacker had links to Islamic terror groups and was known to the UK’s MI5 intelligence agency.

Health officials said one of the injured was in critical but stable condition, one was stable and the third had less serious injuries.

Shortly after the police confirmed the incident was a terror attack, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he had “long argued” that it was a “mistake to allow serious and violent criminals to come out of prison early.”

“It is very important that we get out of that habit and that we enforce the appropriate sentences for dangerous criminals, especially for terrorists, that I think the public will want to see,” the prime minister added.

At approximately 2 pm (local time), police were called in response to the attack at the premises near London Bridge, Assistant Commissioner for Specialist Operations at the Metropolitan Police Neil Basu said in a statement.

Neil Basu, the London police counterterrorism head, said the suspect appeared to be wearing a bomb vest but it turned out to be “a hoax explosive device.”

People from several high-rise buildings were evacuated in the affected area, which was cordoned off by the police.

The violence erupted less than two weeks before Britain holds a national election. In the wake of the incident, major political parties, including Labour Party and Conservative Party, have temporarily suspended campaigning for the December 12 election, as a mark of respect for the victims in the attack. 

Indian diplomat Vimarsh Aryan said that the world does not need lessons on human rights of minorities from a country whose own citizens have never enjoyed true democracy.

GENEVA: India on Thursday lambasted Pakistan over its statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on Supreme Court’s verdict on Ayodhya land dispute case and asked the country to rather work constructively and positively for education and upliftment of its own minorities instead of spewing lies for a self-serving malicious propaganda.

Exercising India’s right to reply in response to the statement delivered by Pakistan at the 12th session of Forum of Minority Issues, Indian diplomat Vimarsh Aryan noted that the religious, ethnic, sectarian and linguistic minorities in Pakistan have suffered an immense infringement of their fundamental human rights due to the so-called blasphemy laws.

“India is a robust democracy where independent and effective constitutional mechanisms are in place to safeguard interests of all our citizens including religious and linguistic minorities and we strongly reject Pakistan’s reference to our judicial decisions

“It is widely known that in Pakistan, the religious, racial, ethnic, sectarian and linguistic minorities have suffered an immense infringement of their fundamental rights due to the so-called blasphemy laws,” he added.

Aryan said that the world does not need lessons on human rights of minorities from a country whose own citizens have never enjoyed true democracy.

“This forum is meant to deliberate upon crucial Human Rights issues of minorities. But instead of adhering of that objective, Pakistan is merely spewing lies of self-serving mendacious propaganda that was evident in its statement which was nothing but a farrago of distortions and misrepresentations,” he said.