London Underground operators yesterday reopened sections of two subway lines that had been closed since the deadly July 7 bombings, while police maintained a high-profile security operation throughout the network to avert any further attacks.
Officers also continued questioning 20 suspects held in Britain in connection with the botched July 21 bomb attacks on London's transit system, including two men arrested in raids in south London late on Monday. The government, meanwhile, said it was pursuing attempts to extradite one of the suspected attackers from Italy, and pressing forward with its hunt for anyone who assisted the suspected bombers.
The investigation is now focusing on possible links between the terror cell that killed 52 people when it bombed three Underground trains and a red double-decker bus on July 7, and a second cell that targeted the same transportation system two weeks later but caused no deaths when their bombs failed to fully explode.
Police say the four suicide bombers who carried out the July 7 attacks are all dead. And they believe they have arrested all the failed July 21 bombers, whose explosives detonated only partially and took no lives.
On Tuesday, London Underground restored full service on the Hammersmith and City line and the District line, which were partially shut down after the July 7 bombing at Edgware Road station.
Two other lines remain closed or suspended.
British Transport Police continued its highly visible patrolling operation across the capital's subway system and overland rail network yesterday, spokesman Simon Lubin said. Officers in bright yellow jackets were posted outside many stations, although the police presence was not as strong as Thursday, when a massive force patrolled the network exactly three weeks after the first attacks and one week after the second.
Home Office Minister Hazel Blears also planned the first in a series of meetings with representatives of Britain's Muslim community amid increasing complaints that young Muslims were being targeted by police in stop-and-search operations.
"Just picking people up on the basis that they are Muslim is never going to get the results that we want," Blears told the British Broadcasting Corporation's Radio 4 on Tuesday, reversing her earlier support for the controversial police initiative.
"Tackling terrorism is absolutely dependent on the confidence of these communities to feel that they can come forward, give information and be part of the fight against this threat," she said.
Meanwhile, Britain is also "pursuing extradition" of Hamdi Issac, one of the four suspected July 21 attackers who is being held by police in Rome, she said.
Issac was charged on Monday in Italy with association with the aim of international terrorism and possessing false documents, his lawyer Antonietta Sonnessa said. She raised the possibility that investigations in Italy against Issac could hold up his extradition. "One cannot possibly define the timing of the extradition process," Blears said.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS