Latest news with #activists
Daily Mail
10 hours ago
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Six Americans arrested for trying to smuggle rice into North Korea
Six Americans have been detained in South Korea for trying to float 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, miniature Bibles, $1 bills, and USB sticks toward North Korea. The Americans, missionaries aged from their 20s to 50s, were apprehended on front-line Gwanghwa Island about 1.06am on Friday, local time. Cops grabbed them before they could throw the bottles into the sea so they could float toward North Korean shores on the tides, two Gwanghwa police officers alleged. They said the Americans are being investigated on allegations they violated the law on the management of safety and disasters. The officers, who requested anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak to media on the issue, refused to provide personal details of the Americans in line with privacy rules. Gwanghwa police said they haven't yet found what is on the USB sticks. 'Because the suspects do not speak Korean fluently, we plan to conduct further questioning with the assistance of an interpreter,' they said. Plastic bags containing Bible passages are prepared prior to being thrown into the sea by North Korean defector activists on Ganghwa island, west of Seoul on May 1, 2018 The US Embassy in South Korea had no immediate public comment. For years, activists have sought to float plastic bottles or fly balloons across the border carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets and USB thumb drives carrying South Korean dramas and K-pop songs. This practice that was banned from 2021-2023 over concerns it could inflame tensions with the North. North Korea responded to previous balloon campaigns with fiery rhetoric and other shows of anger. Last year the country launched its own balloons across the border, dumping rubbish on various South Korean sites including the presidential compound. South Korea´s Constitutional Court struck down a controversial law in 2023 that criminalized the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech. But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of frontline South Korean residents. Police detained an activist on June 14 for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island. Police created a dedicated task force to prevent items crossing the border into the North, in response to Friday's arrests. 'We will strengthen coordination with relevant bodies to completely block these leaflet operations and respond strictly to any violations according to the law,' they said. Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee's government halted frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions. North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then. But it's unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee's conciliatory gesture after vowing last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification. Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019, when US-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed.
LBCI
12 hours ago
- Politics
- LBCI
UK police arrest four over pro-Palestinian protest at military base
British police have arrested four people in connection with a pro-Palestinian protest last week in which military planes were sprayed with paint at an air base in England, authorities said Friday. A woman, 29, and two men aged 36 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, while another woman, 41, was arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender, the police statement said. Two activists from the Palestine Action group broke into the air base in central England on June 20, damaging and spraying red paint over two planes used for refueling and transport, an act that was condemned by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as "disgraceful." Within days the government set out plans to use anti-terrorism laws to ban Palestine Action, making it a criminal offence to belong to the group. Interior minister Yvette Cooper then said its actions had become more aggressive and caused millions of pounds of damage.
CTV News
13 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Four arrested in connection with break-in at a U.K. military base
LONDON — British counter terrorism police said Friday that they have arrested four people in connection with a break-in at a military base last week, during which two planes were vandalized. Counter Terrorism Policing South East said in a statement that two men, 24 and 36, from London were arrested Thursday along with a 29-year-old woman of no fixed address 'on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.' A 41-year-old woman, of no fixed address, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. They remain in police custody. The arrests relate to a break-in at the Royal Air Force base in Brize Norton, during which two planes were damaged with red paint. The pro-Palestinian activist group Palestine Action subsequently released video footage appearing to show one of the two activists who entered the base spraying the paint into a jet's turbine engines. The group alleged that Britain was continuing to 'send military cargo, fly spy planes over Gaza and refuel U.S./Israeli fighter jets,' and condemned the country as 'an active participant in the Gaza genocide and war crimes across the Middle East.' Earlier this week, the British government said it will ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws. The measure means it will be a criminal offence to belong to or support the group, with a maximum of 14 years in prison. The group has sought to press its point with high-profile direct action, perhaps most notably in March when it targeted one of U.S. President Donald Trump's golf resorts in Scotland, painting 'Gaza is Not For Sale' in giant letters on the lawn in response to his proposal to empty the Gaza Strip of its Palestinian population. The government said a draft order for the ban will be laid in Parliament next week. Lawmakers still need to approve it. Britain's government has proscribed about 80 organizations, including Hamas and al Qaeda, and far-right groups such as National Action. The Associated Press
The Independent
14 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Six Americans caught trying to float rice and Bibles to North Korea
Six American citizens have been detained in South Korea after allegedly attempting to send 1,600 plastic bottles filled with rice, US dollar bills, and Bibles towards North Korea by sea. The individuals were apprehended on Friday on Gwanghwa Island, a front-line location, where they reportedly tried to launch the bottles into the sea. Their intention was for the containers to float across the maritime border with North Korea via tidal currents. A police officer, who spoke anonymously as they were not authorised to comment publicly, stated that the Americans are currently under investigation. They face allegations of violating South Korea's law on the management of safety and disasters. A second South Korean police officer confirmed the detentions of the Americans. The police officers gave no further details, including whether any of the six had made previous attempts to send bottles toward North Korea. Activists floating plastic bottles or flying balloons carrying anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border has long caused tensions on the Korean Peninsula. North Korea expressed its anger at the balloon campaigns by launching its own balloons carrying trash into South Korea, including at least two that landed in the presidential compound in Seoul last year. In 2023, South Korea's Constitutional Court struck down a 2020 law that criminalized the sending of leaflets and other items to North Korea, calling it an excessive restriction on free speech. But since taking office in early June, the new liberal government of President Lee Jae Myung is pushing to crack down on such civilian campaigns with other safety-related laws to avoid a flare-up tensions with North Korea and promote the safety of frontline South Korean residents. On June 14, police detained an activist for allegedly flying balloons toward North Korea from Gwanghwa Island. Lee took office with a promise to restart long-dormant talks with North Korea and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee's government halted frontline anti-Pyongyang propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts to try to ease military tensions. North Korean broadcasts have not been heard in South Korean front-line towns since then. But it's unclear if North Korea will respond to Lee's conciliatory gesture after it vowed last year to sever relations with South Korea and abandon the goal of peaceful Korean reunification. Official talks between the Koreas have been stalled since 2019 when the U.S.-led diplomacy on North Korean denuclearization derailed.
UAE Moments
15 hours ago
- UAE Moments
3 Arrested Over Palestine Action Attack on UK Airbase
Three individuals have been arrested under terrorism laws over a Palestine Action attack on the UK airbase that has led to multimillion-dollar damage to two aircraft. A 29-year-old woman and two men, aged 36 and 24, were arrested on suspicion of a terrorist offence, police said. A fourth individual, a 41-year-old woman, was also arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. The arrests were made on Thursday, June 26, in Newbury, Berkshire, and in London. Palestine Action's activists claimed an incident, which ruined the Voyager aircraft at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire last Friday. The group released footage of the activists breaking into the defence site and using modified air extinguishers to spray paint inside the two planes; a crowbar was also used. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper revealed that the cost of the damage reached up to 'millions of pounds'. A police statement said that the arrests were made "on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism, contrary to Section 41 of the Terrorism Act 2000". The statement also read, "Those arrested are currently in police custody while enquiries are ongoing." This news comes after the UK revealed plans to designate Palestine Action as a terrorist group. Palestine Action released a statement about the arrests, saying that it "further demonstrates that proscription is not about enabling prosecutions under terrorism laws – it's about cracking down on non-violent protests which disrupt the flow of arms to Israel during its genocide in Palestine'.
