British police have released another man who was detained in connection with the failed July 21 bomb attacks on London's transit system.
London's Metropolitan Police said yesterday that officers were continuing to question 16 suspects. Of the 37 people detained over the attempt to set off bombs on three subway trains and a double-decker bus, 21 are no longer being held in connection with the investigation.
The man police released on Tuesday was let go without charge.
British authorities say those still in custody include three of the failed bombers. They are trying to extradite the fourth suspected attacker, Hamdi Issac, from Italy, but his lawyer said Italian investigations could delay any extradition to Britain.
Police say all four bombers who carried out the first series of attacks on July 7 in London died in the blasts that killed 52 other people on three subway trains and a bus. Officers are not holding any suspects in connection with those bombings.
Britons were stunned to learn that three of the alleged July 7 suicide attackers were young Pakistani Britons; the third moved from Jamaica as a child. Most of the men alleged to have carried out failed attacks two weeks later, taking no lives, were immigrants from East Africa.
The apparent willingness of men born and raised in Britain to turn to militancy has prompted soul-searching in a nation proud of its diversity and tolerance.
There are some 1.8 million Muslims in Britain and the overwhelming majority are moderate in their views.
Nevertheless, police figures released on Tuesday showed that crimes motivated by religious hatred had increased by nearly 600 percent since the July 7 bombings.
Many Muslims fear officers are using racial profiling in their search for terror suspects. The Mail on Sunday newspaper quoted Ian Johnston, chief constable of the British Transport Police, as suggesting race would be a factor in police searches. "We should not waste time searching old white ladies," he reportedly said.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and