London:

UK police arrested two men on Saturday following an assault on a participant in an anti-fascism protest, held to counter another nearby demonstration organised by far-right agitator Tommy Robinson.

London’s Metropolitan Police said the pair were arrested on suspicion of assaulting a “Stand Up To Racism” protester in Victoria Embankment Gardens in the city centre.

Officers gave the victim first aid after he sustained a head injury in the incident, and he will be taken to hospital to be checked, according to the force.

It noted that, contrary to social media reports, the arrests were not related to the carrying of any flags.

The Met, as the London force is known, said around 1,000 officers were on duty Saturday as part of the policing operation to deal with the two rallies, as well as another protest.

Thousands gathered in the heart of the British capital from late morning for the demonstration organised by Robinson, a far-right firebrand and founder of the now defunct Islamophobic English Defence League organisation.

Meanwhile the counter-protest staged by Stand Up To Racism and others also rallied in the heart of London, with the Met imposing so-called conditions on the two marches “with the aim of preventing serious disruption”.

They included requiring participants to stick to certain areas and streets and disperse by stipulated times.

“Our first priority is to keep the peace to ensure that those exercising their right to lawful protest can do so safely,” Chief Superintendent Colin Wingrove said ahead of the weekend events.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

London:

An Iraqi-born man who detonated a bomb outside a UK hospital two years ago held a grievance against the British state for rejecting his asylum claim, police said Monday.

Emad Al Swealmeen, 32, was killed when he set off the homemade device in a taxi outside Liverpool Women’s Hospital in northwest England in November 2021.

No one else died in the botched attack, with the taxi driver managing to escape with minor injuries.

The explosion occurred shortly before events to honour military war dead on Remembrance Sunday and was quickly declared a terrorist incident by police.

A police investigation has concluded that there was no evidence that Swealmeen held extremist views.

“It seems most likely that Al Swealmeen’s grievance against the British state for failing to accept his asylum claim compounded his mental ill health which in turn fed that grievance and ultimately a combination of those factors led him to undertake the attack,” the police report said.

Detective Superintendent Andy Meeks, of the counter-terrorism unit for England’s northwest, said it was believed Swealmeen planned to detonate his bomb in the hospital, but that it likely exploded earlier than planned.

The explosion came a month after a British MP was stabbed to death as he met constituents in southeast England.

The two attacks prompted the government to raise the terror threat level from “substantial” to “severe” — the second-highest — meaning an attack was “highly likely”.

Swealmeen had previous convictions and had falsely claimed asylum as a Syrian refugee in the UK after arriving legally on a Jordanian passport.

His asylum claims had been refused and counter-terrorism police have suggested that Swealmeen may have converted to Christianity in the hope of strengthening his case to stay.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

London:

A 55-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of assault of an emergency worker, UK police said on Wednesday with reference to a social media video allegedly showing an altercation between an Indian-origin group of men and women and a police officer during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in the city of Leicester.

Leicestershire Police said the man was taken into custody on Monday evening and has since been released under investigation as enquiries continue. It said the arrest was related to an “unplanned procession” following an “authorised religious festival celebration” which concluded earlier on Monday.

The police statement came in response to a social media post by a diaspora group of a Hindu priest allegedly being “pushed around” by a police officer during a Ganesh Chaturthi procession.

“Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations disrupted in Leicester. Hindu priest pushed around by Sgt Adam Ahmed of Leicestershire police,” tweeted Insight UK community group.

According to the police, its officers attempted to engage with the crowd to establish the details.

“We can confirm that a man, aged 55, was arrested on suspicion of assault of an emergency worker on Belgrave Road, Leicester, on the 18th September,” a Leicestershire Police statement said.

“The man was taken to custody and was since released under investigation as enquiries continue. An authorised religious festival celebration had been successfully facilitated earlier in the evening. We understand an additional unplanned procession was then found to be underway on the street,” the statement noted.

“There are legal requirements surrounding processions and therefore officers attempted to engage with the crowd to establish the details of an organiser. This led to an incident, where the man was arrested and is now subject to investigation,” it added.

The police force said its officers continue to engage with the local community and those involved in any celebrations to ensure that everyone is able to celebrate safely.

“We actively encourage any organisers of events to inform the Council so that gatherings can be appropriately supported to ensure the safety of those involved and to ensure the proper flow of traffic in the area,” the statement concluded.

The city of Leicester was the scene of communal clashes a year ago, in September 2022, in the wake of an India-Pakistan cricket match. The unrest, which led to several arrests, is now the subject of an independent review set up by the UK government to establish the facts.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

U.K. interior minister Suella Braverman ordered a watchdog to review “political activism and impartiality” in the police after an independent review found the force racist, sexist and homophobic. File
| Photo Credit: AFP

U.K. interior minister Suella Braverman said Saturday she has ordered a watchdog to review “political activism and impartiality” in the police after an independent review found the force racist, sexist and homophobic.

Braverman, who has earned criticism since taking up the post nearly a year ago with her “anti-woke” rhetoric and hardline stance on immigration, commissioned the probe to “explore impacts of police taking part in political matters”.

The interior ministry cited officers policing gender-critical views on social media, their conduct at political marches and some taking the knee in public as examples of how public confidence in police may have been “damaged”.

The review by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services comes ahead of a general election expected next year and prompted immediate criticism it was a politicised move.

Braverman’s ruling Conservatives, in power since 2010, have been trailing the main Labour opposition by double digits in the polls for more than a year.

They have been accused of increasingly stoking so-called culture war issues — such as those linked to immigration, transgender rights and social justice — to reverse sliding fortunes.

Conservatives and others have hit out at police in recent years after some officers made public demonstrations of support for social justice issues, such as taking the knee to protest against racism.

However, U.K. police forces have also been embroiled in numerous scandals involving racism, sexism and corruption, in particular London’s Metropolitan Police Service, the country’s largest.

One of its officers was sentenced to life in prison in 2021 for kidnap, rape and murder, while another was jailed after admitting being a serial rapist.

In March, an independent review found it to be institutionally racist, sexist and homophobic.

Braverman said the review will explore if officers’ supposed involvement in “politically contentious matters is having a detrimental impact on policing”.

“The British people expect their police to focus on cutting crime and protecting communities — political activism does not keep people safe, solve crimes or support victims, but can damage public confidence,” she said..

In a letter to police chiefs, the hardline interior minister said she had reiterated that officers should not engage in political activism and maintain a neutral stance at all times.

Meanwhile in an interview with the Daily Telegraph, she said rank-and-file cops had told her that they are “fed up with apologies by chiefs for being institutionally racist, because they’re not racist, and they don’t feel that they’ve been properly represented”.

“They’re uncomfortable with the takeover by gender ideologues and trans ideology.”

But opposition parties and unions criticised Braverman’s decision to order the review.

“Policing should never be put on any political agenda and is too important to be kicked around like a political football,” Tiffany Lynch, deputy chairwoman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said.

Labour criticised Braverman for commissioning a report “into her own political obsession”, and the Liberal Democrats opposition party accused her of using the police “as a weapon in her culture war”.

A serial burglar, responsible for several “sophisticated” burglaries across various locations in Britain, where he stole items exceeding 800,000 pounds ($1,009,132) in value, was ultimately caught due to an electronic tag placed within stolen luggage.

Mari Dinjaku, aged 38, was arrested at his residence in Wokingham, Berkshire. This breakthrough came about through the use of an Apple AirTag, discreetly inserted into a suitcase that had been stolen during a burglary 15 miles away from Dinjaku’s house.

According to a statement by the Surrey Police, on January 5, a burglary was reported in Woking. The property had been searched, and a lime green suitcase, clothing, and jewellery had been stolen. An Apple AirTag left in the suitcase helped officers track it to Dinjaku’s home address, where he was arrested. A search also uncovered walkie-talkies, false documents, a large amount of cash in several currencies, gloves and face coverings, and 15 mobile phones, one of which was in the area of the Woking burglary at the time of the offence.”

The police department further mentioned that Dinjaku was also forensically linked to two vehicles near his home address. One of these was connected to a second burglary in Farnham in December 2022, where a car was stolen along with two safes containing jewellery-a loss believed to be in excess of 350,000 pounds. A walkie-talkie was recovered at this address, which was the same make and model as the set recovered in Wokingham, which had been missing a single walkie-talkie.

Dinjaku has been sentenced to six years in prison for his involvement in a conspiracy to commit burglary across Surrey and Manchester.

The investigating officer, PC Tom Hinch, said: “Mari Dinjaku caused significant distress and financial loss to the victims he burgled. These were serious offences, committed with significant planning and a disregard for the impact that breaking into somebody’s home can have. He has rightly been given a significant custodial sentence. We continue to pursue criminals who conspire to commit offences of this nature in Surrey.”