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.

Hong Kong media said Monday that the pro-democracy camp had won a commanding majority of the 452 district council seats at stake, taking control of at least 17 of the city’s 18 district councils.

HONG KONG: The pro-democracy opposition won a resounding victory in Hong Kong elections, according to media tallies, in a clear rebuke to city leader Carrie Lam and her handling of violent protests that have divided the Chinese territory.

Hong Kong media said Monday that the pro-democracy camp had won a commanding majority of the 452 district council seats at stake, taking control of at least 17 of the city’s 18 district councils.

The result of Sunday’s elections could force the central government in Beijing to rethink how to handle the unrest, which is now in its sixth month. The district councils have little power, but the vote became a referendum on public support for the protests.

“It’s nothing short of a revolution. This is a landslide,” said Willy Lam, a political expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

“It’s a sound repudiation of the Carrie Lam administration and shows the silent majority are behind the demands of the protesters.”

The media tallies are based on official results for the individual races.

The pro-democracy camp hailed its strong gains in the normally low-key race as a victory for the people. Former Democratic Party chairman Lee Wing-tat said that Carrie Lam should give serious consideration to the demands of the protesters and in particular a call for an independent commission to investigate the events of the past six months.

“It is a genuine referendum of the people of Hong Kong,” he said at a news conference. “The Democratic Party hopes our chief executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, receives the same message because the votes make a clear voice of the Hong Kong people.”

Lam issued a statement saying her government respects the results and will listen to and seriously reflect on the opinions of members of the public.

“There are various analyses and interpretations in the community in relation to the results, and quite a few are of the view that the results reflect people’s dissatisfaction with the current situation and the deep-seated problems in society,” she said.

A record 71% of Hong Kong’s 4.1 million registered voters cast ballots Sunday, well exceeding the 47% turnout in the district council elections four years ago. A large number of votes was slowing down the counting.

The largest pro-Beijing political party suffered a major setback, with at least 155 of its 182 candidates defeated, according to media tallies.

Horace Cheung, the vice-chairman of the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong, said the loss was the collective responsibility of the party, and that the party would reflect on the outcome to prepare for coming challenges.

Among the losing incumbents was controversial pro-Beijing lawmaker Junius Ho, who was stabbed with a knife while campaigning this month.

The winners included former student leaders and a candidate who replaced activist Joshua Wong, the only person barred from running in the election.

Pro-democracy rally organizer Jimmy Sham, who was beaten by hammer-wielding assailants last month, also triumphed, as did a pro-democracy lawmaker who had part of his ear bitten off by an assailant.

The demonstrations have turned increasingly violent. Protesters have smashed storefronts of businesses seen as sympathetic to China, torched toll booths, shut down a major tunnel and engaged in pitched battles with police, countering tear gas volleys and water cannons with torrents of gasoline bombs.

More than 5,000 people have been arrested in the unrest that has contributed to Hong Kong’s first recession in a decade.

The vote is the only fully democratic one in Hong Kong. Members of the legislature are chosen partly by popular vote and partly by interest groups representing different sectors of society, and the city’s leader is picked by a 1,200-member body that is dominated by supporters of the central government in Beijing.

Dixon Sing, a political science lecturer with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said the election result was “tantamount to a rejection of the hard-line policy of Beijing and the Hong Kong government.”

A win would give the pro-democracy camp 117 seats in the panel that elects the city’s leader, bolstering its influence, but Beijing isn’t likely to soften its stance or make any concessions to the protesters, he said.

Strengthening crude oil prices also impacted the rupee movement in the market, forex dealers said.

MUMBAI: The rupee on Monday fell 2 paise to 71.73 against the US dollar in early trade, amid increased demand of the greenback by banks and importers.

Strengthening crude oil prices also impacted the rupee movement in the market, forex dealers said.

However, a higher opening in domestic equity markets and persistent foreign fund inflows restricted the rupee’s fall, they added.

At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened strong at 71.68, showing a rise of just 3 paise over its previous closing.

The domestic unit, however, paired all its early gains to trade lower at 71.73 against the dollar.

The rupee on Friday had closed at 71.71 against the US dollar.

Meanwhile, brent crude futures, the global oil benchmark, surged 0.21 per cent to USD 63.52 per barrel.

Foreign investors have continued with their bullish outlook and bought equities worth Rs 305.72 crore on Friday, according to provisional data.

Domestic bourses opened on a positive note on Monday with benchmark Sensex was trading 143 points up at 40,502.82 in the opening session and Nifty rose 0.44 per cent to 11,967.20.

The dollar index, which gauges the greenback’s strength against a basket of six currencies, fell 0.04 per cent to 98.25.

The 10-year government bond yield was at 6.50 per cent in morning trade.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which has the maximum number of such sites, has the potential to attract the Sikh community from across the globe.

PESHAWAR: Indian-origin British historian and author Bobby Singh Bansal, who is considered as an authority on Sikh heritage in Pakistan, has claimed that 90 per cent of the Sikh heritage sites are located in the country, mostly in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, as he underlined their potential to promote religious tourism.

Speaking at a guest talk titled ‘From Kartarpur to Khyber Pass’ at the Victoria Memorial Hall of Peshawar Museum on Friday, the UK-born historian took the audience to an interesting journey through a historic landscape dotted with Sikh era monuments, forts, battlefields, shrines, tombs, gurdwaras and havelies.

He said 90 per cent of the Sikh heritage sites are located in Pakistan.

The KP province, which has the maximum number of such sites, has the potential to attract the Sikh community from across the globe.

Bansal, who is also a filmmaker, talked about Sikh personalities associated with the KP province, particularly General Hari Singh Nalwa and Akali Phoola Singh.

Both died in KP and their tombs are there.

The ‘Jamrud Fort’ in Khyber district is a “goldmine” for attracting Sikh tourists because of the tomb of Nalwa there, he said.

Nalwa was the commander-in-chief of the army of the Sikh Empire.

“He is one of the most revered personalities among the Sikhs and people from the community would want to visit his tomb.

The love and association for Hari Singh Nalwa by Sikh community could be gauged from the fact that my own car number plate carry his name,” Bansal said.

If Pakistan allows Sikh diaspora to visit the cremation site and tomb of Nalwa, the community members from across the globe will rush to the site, he said.

He also highlighted other Sikh-era monuments, including the tomb of Akali Phoola Singh in Nowshera, the Balahisar Fort, Gor Ghattree, the Shabqadar Fort and the Bhai Biba Singh temple.

“These places should be on Sikh tourist map of KP. This topic is of particular interest to the Sikh diaspora from around the world who would like to travel to KP and be part of organised tours to be able to view this shared heritage,” he said at the lecture organised by the KP Directorate of Archeology.

Bansal, who is also the director of the Sikh Heritage Foundation UK, narrated his experiences of visiting the KP province since the1980s and the subsequent research, which led him to visit and document all the Sikh monuments in KP from 2007 to 2019.

Bansal is the man behind Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s life-size statue that was unveiled at the Mai Jindan Haveli in the Lahore Fort on the occasion of 180th death anniversary of the legendary Sikh ruler in June.

His father migrated to the UK from India in the early 1960s.

Mahinda, the current main opposition leader, will assume duties soon after incumbent Wickremesinghe steps down formally on Thursday.

COLOMBO: Newly-elected Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Wednesday appointed his elder brother and former President Mahinda Rajapaksa as the prime minister of the island nation. Mahinda Rajapaksa will be sworn in on Thursday. 

The move came hours after PM Ranil Wickremesinghe resigned saying he was respecting the people’s mandate and stepping down although his United National Party enjoyed a majority in Parliament.

Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former defence secretary, had defeated Sri Lanka Deputy Prime Minister Sajith Premadasa in the presidential poll polling 52.25 per cent of the votes.

With the Rajapaksa brothers, who are considered to be close to China, assuming power in the island nation, there seems to be a sense of worry in New Delhi. 

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday was in Colombo and met the newly-elected president hours after he assumed office. 

Sri Lanka, which enjoys a strategic position in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), cosying up to China has been a cause for concern for India. 

Earlier in July, Sri Lanka was forced to lease the Hambantota port to China after it failed to repay a debt. India has also raised concerns over the docking of Chinese warships at Sri Lankan ports.

Earlier in the day, the senior Rajapaksa had demanded the prime minister’s resignation and said that governance would improve if the president and the Cabinet are from the same party.

“I think it is better if we have general elections. Many Cabinet members have already stepped down. I think it is more effective to have a government where the President and Cabinet are from the same party,” Sri Lankan media quoted him as saying.