Protesters gather to watch an apartment building burning near the Minneapolis Police third precinct on Wednesday as protests erupt in the aftermath of a police brutality case in Minnesota, United States. A white police officer was caught on a bystander's video pressing his knee into the neck of African-American man George Floyd, who later died at a hospital.
-reuters-
MONTREAL - A gunman who drove a mock-up police car killed at least 16 people in an Atlantic Canada shooting rampage, federal police said Sunday, the worst case of its kind in Canadian history.
The shooter, identified as Gabriel Wortman, 51, was shot dead by officers after a 12-hour manhunt in Nova Scotia province ended Sunday morning.
Among the victims was a veteran female constable with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which also handles municipal and provincial law enforcement in the province.
Police said the suspect had been on the run since Saturday night, when officers were alerted to shots fired in the town of Portapique, around 100 kilometers (60 miles) from Halifax.
Gun violence in Canada is far less frequent than in the neighboring United States, and weapons more strictly controlled, but the killings were the country's worst ever, exceeding the toll in 1989 when a gunman murdered 14 female students at Montreal's Ecole Polytechnique.
Public broadcaster CBC quoted RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki as saying police know of at least 16 victims, besides the shooter.
"What has unfolded overnight and into this morning is incomprehensible and many families are experiencing the loss of a loved one," Nova Scotia RCMP Commanding Officer, Assistant Commissioner Lee Bergerman, wrote on the force's local Facebook page.
"That includes our own RCMP family. It is with tremendous sadness that I share with you that we lost Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the Force who was killed this morning, while responding to an active shooter incident."
In addition to Stevenson, a mother of two, a male officer was injured and is in hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Bergerman said.
The National Post newspaper said another victim was an elementary school teacher, citing a Facebook post from the woman's sister.
Several victims were discovered both outside and inside a house in Portapique, sparking the manhunt through multiple communities, police said.
"The search for the suspect ended this morning when the suspect was located. And I can confirm that he is deceased," RCMP Chief Superintendent Chris Leather told a press conference.
Leather said that at one point, the suspect appeared to be wearing part of a police uniform and was driving a vehicle made to look like an RCMP cruiser.
FIRES BURNED
RCMP tweeted several times that he was not an officer and warned he was considered "armed and dangerous."
"The initial search for the suspect led to multiple sites in the area, including structures that were on fire," Leather told the news conference.
Another police spokesperson said, without further details, that the gunman was killed after an officer intervened.
An independent agency, the Serious Incident Response Team (SiRT), which probes certain incidents involving the province's police, said that it "is investigating the shooting of a male in Enfield by RCMP officers."
SiRT said in a statement that a confrontation had occurred in Enfield, which is near the Halifax airport, "resulting in officers discharging their firearms. The suspect was found to be deceased at the scene."
Police said they had no indication of a motive. Lucki told CBC there was no indication "at this point" of a terrorist intent.
"What I would say is that it appears to be at least in part, very random in nature," said Leather.
"We are in the early stages of an incredibly detailed and complex investigation that has forever changed countless lives," he said.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement that he "was saddened to learn about the senseless violence in Nova Scotia," and he hopes for a full recovery of the wounded.
The National Post quoted Tom Taggart, a councilor who represents Portapique in the Municipality of Colchester, as saying the community was devastated.
He described the community as a "subdivision in the woods where people have acre lots along the shore," and where Wortman owned three properties.
"It's absolutely unbelievable this could happen in our community. I never dreamt this would happen here," Taggart said.
Agence France-Presse
HYDERABAD, India - Indian police shot dead four men on Friday who were suspected of raping and killing a 27-year-old veterinarian in the city of Hyderabad, a police official told Reuters, drawing applause from her family and citizens outraged over crimes against women.
The men had been in police custody and were shot dead near the scene of last week's crime where they tried to snatch the weapons of accompanying policemen, said N. Prakash Reddy, a deputy commissioner of police in Shamshabad, near Hyderabad.
Reddy said that the four men - two truck drivers and two truck cleaners, aged between 20 and 26 years - had been taken to the spot to re-construct the crime around 6 a.m. (0030 GMT)
"And there was a cross-fire. In this, all the four accused have died," Reddy said. "Two policemen have been injured."
No details were immediately available about how many police had escorted the four accused and whether they were handcuffed or roped together as is usually the case.
Earlier, a local police official had put the time of the deaths at around 3:30 a.m. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
Indian police have frequently been accused of extra-judicial killings, called "encounters," especially in gangland wars in Mumbai and insurrections in the state of Punjab and in disputed Kashmir. Police officers involved in such killings were called "encounter specialists" and were the subject of several movies.
During the past week, thousands of Indians have protested in several cities following the alleged rape and murder of the veterinarian.
The woman had left home for an appointment on her motor-scooter and later called her sister to say she had a flat tire. She said a lorry driver had offered to help and that she was waiting near a toll plaza.
Police said she was abducted, raped and asphyxiated and her dead body then set alight on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Her family welcomed the news of the killings of the alleged perpetrators.
"It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. I express my gratitude towards the police & government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now," Reuters partner ANI quoted her father as saying.
A crowd gathered at the site of the shooting and threw flower petals at police vans in support of the action. Some shouted "Long live police"; others hoisted police officials onto their shoulders.
UNABATED
Crimes against women have been unabated in India despite tough new laws that were enacted following the 2012 gang rape and murder of a woman in a Delhi bus that led to an outpouring of anger across the country.
Despite the setting up of fast track courts, cases have moved slowly, for lack of witnesses and the inability of many families to go through the long legal process. Some victims and their families have ended up being attacked for pursuing cases against powerful men, often local politicians.
Many Indians applauded the killings on Friday, taking to Twitter to support the police.
"Great work #hyderabadpolice ..we salute u," wrote Indian badminton star and former world No. 1 Saina Nehwal.
On Twitter, #encounter was the top-trending hashtag in India and No. 4 worldwide.
In Uttar Pradesh state, where a rape victim was set ablaze on Thursday while she was on her way to court, opposition politician Mayawati said the police there should take "inspiration" from what happened in Hyderabad.
Indian police registered more than 32,500 cases of rape in 2017, according to the most recent government data. But courts disposed of only about 18,300 cases related to rape that year, leaving more than 127,800 cases pending at the end of 2017.
But some people said the lack of progress in the courts did not mean the police had a free hand to dispense justice.
"This isn't instant justice - this is the absence of justice. We're not going to make women safer by abandoning the rule of law - is that so hard to understand?" said Rukmini S., an Indian columnist, in a tweet.
Supreme Court lawyer Vrinda Grover said the police who were involved in Friday's incident should face an inquiry, but in all likelihood would be rewarded with medals. "Killing accused like this is a short cut, but in the long run this won't work, it will carry its own consequences."
There was no immediate word from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government on the incident, but Maneka Gandhi a lawmaker from his Bharatiya Janata Party said the police appeared to have over-reached.
"You can't take law in your hands, they (accused) would've been hanged by Court anyhow. If you're going to shoot them before due process of law has been followed, then what's the point of having courts, law & police?"
source: news.abs-cbn.com
LONDON - British police found the bodies of 39 people inside a truck container believed to have come from Bulgaria at an industrial estate to the east of London on Wednesday.
The discovery was made in the early hours after emergency services were alerted to people in the container, on a gritty industrial site in Grays, about 20 miles from central London.
Police said the driver of the truck, a 25-year-old man from Northern Ireland, had been arrested on suspicion of murder. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was appalled.
"I am receiving regular updates and the Home Office will work closely with Essex Police as we establish exactly what has happened," Johnson said on Twitter. "My thoughts are with all those who lost their lives & their loved ones."
Police said the truck was thought to have entered Britain at Holyhead, a North Wales port that is a major entry point for traffic from Ireland, on Saturday and to have originally started its journey in Bulgaria.
The victims, 38 adults and a teenager, were all pronounced dead at the scene after they were found at the Waterglade Industrial Park, not far from docks on the River Thames.
Bulgaria's foreign ministry said it could not confirm at this stage whether the truck had started its journey from the country.
"We are still checking the information, published in the British media and we're contacting the authorities," foreign ministry spokeswoman Tsvetana Krasteva said.
Police officers in forensic suits were on Wednesday inspecting a large white container on a red truck next to warehouses at the site. Police had sealed off the surrounding area of the industrial estate with large green barriers as they carried out their investigation.
"This is a tragic incident where a large number of people have lost their lives. We are in the process of identifying the victims, however, I anticipate that this could be a lengthy process," said Chief Superintendent Andrew Mariner, from Essex Police.
"We have arrested the lorry driver in connection with the incident who remains in police custody as our inquiries continue."
In Britain's biggest illegal immigrant tragedy in 2000, British customs officials found the bodies of 58 Chinese people crammed into a tomato truck at the southern port of Dover.
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CULIACAN, Mexico - Heavily armed gunmen waged an all-out battle against Mexican security forces Thursday as soldiers arrested -- then reportedly released -- a son of jailed drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman in his home state, Sinaloa.
Security Minister Alfonso Durazo said soldiers on a routine afternoon patrol came under fire from a residence in the state capital, Culiacan.
He said they responded by taking the house and detaining four people inside, including Ovidio Guzman, one of several sons of "El Chapo" who have partly taken over the Sinaloa cartel since he was extradited to the United States in 2017.
Cartel gunmen then "surrounded the house, outnumbering the soldiers," and began a massive assault on various parts of the city, Durazo said.
That triggered an hours-long battle that left blazing vehicles strewn across the street and sent terrified residents running for shelter.
"In order to protect the greater good, the people of Culiacan's safety and well-being, the (federal government's) security cabinet decided to suspend said actions," Durazo said in a video message.
According to Mexican media reports, that included freeing Ovidio Guzman.
Neither Durazo nor President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador's office immediately responded to requests for further information, and details on the day's incidents remained murky.
Durazo said the security cabinet would travel to Culiacan to personally oversee the next steps. Officials were due to give a press conference in the western city at 6:45 am (1245 GMT) Friday.
Images carried on Mexican television showed army and police personnel under assault by men armed with heavy weapons.
Some panicked drivers abandoned their cars in the middle of the street to take cover from the deafening gunfire.
Gunmen blocked roads and highways into the evening, bringing the city of 750,000 people to a standstill, AFP journalists said.
Sources in the Sinaloa state government speaking on condition of anonymity said police officers had been wounded.
They also said an unknown number of inmates had escaped from the Aguaruto prison in Culiacan amid the chaos.
The state government said it was "working to restore calm and order in the face of the high-impact incidents that have occurred in recent hours in various points around Culiacan."
It called on residents to "remain calm, stay off the streets and be very attentive to official advisories on the evolving situation."
Dire security situation
"El Chapo," 62, was sentenced to life in prison in July for trafficking hundreds of tons of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States over the course of a quarter-century.
However, his cartel remains one of the most powerful in Mexico.
Guzman's extradition unleashed an initial period of instability in the group, as Ovidio and his brothers waged war with cartel co-founder Ismael "El Mayo" Zambada for control, leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.
But the situation has since stabilized into a reluctant truce.
Guzman, whose nickname means "Shorty," was re-arrested in 2016 after a brazen prison escape -- the second of his career.
He is considered the most powerful drug lord since Colombia's Pablo Escobar, who was killed in a police shootout in 1993.
After being convicted in a New York court, "El Chapo" is now serving a life sentence in the notorious ADX federal maximum security prison in Colorado.
Ovidio and his brothers have tried to fill their father's shoes, but anti-narcotics experts portray them as flashy party boys who have little ability to run the business side of the cartel.
Reports that Ovidio had been arrested and then freed triggered harsh criticism of Obrador's security strategy.
The leftist leader, who took office in December 2018, has struggled to rein in the brutal violence racking Mexico.
Earlier this week, 28 people were killed in two separate gun battles in the restive states of Michoacan and Guerrero.
Mexico has registered more than 250,000 murders since the government controversially deployed the army to fight drug cartels in 2006.
Many experts blame the "drug war" for spiraling violence, as fragmented cartels battle each other and the army.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Hong Kong police fired volleys of tear gas to break up anti-government protests in a gritty industrial suburb on Saturday after activists threw petrol bombs and bricks, as China freed a British consulate worker whose detention had fueled tensions.
Four MTR subway stations were closed around Kwun Tong, a densely populated area of the Chinese-ruled city on the east of the Kowloon peninsula, but thousands packed the streets anyway, most carrying umbrellas against the sun.
Police used tear gas after some protesters threw Molotov cocktails and bricks and others tore up "smart" lamp posts equipped with surveillance cameras. Others had set up roadblocks with bamboo scaffolding.
It was the first use of tear gas in 10 days after a series of mostly peaceful demonstrations in the former British colony.
There were no immediate reports of injuries.
"Give me democracy or give me death," was spray-painted on a wall, an illustration how the demands of the protesters have expanded beyond the withdrawal of a bill that would have allowed extraditions to China.
The government said in a statement the protesters "posed a serious threat to the safety of everyone" at the scene.
"After repeated warnings to the protesters..., police officers deployed tear gas and minimum force to disperse protesters," it said.
There were sporadic, smaller protests elsewhere in the territory which continued after nightfall. Police fired tear gas in a running battle with protesters blocking a highway in the Wong Tai Sin district, to the northwest of Kwun Tong.
The airport and the roads and railways leading to it operated normally despite plans by protesters to implement a "stress test" of transport links after weeks of unrest.
The airport was forced to close last week after protesters thronged the main terminal for several days, grounding around 1,000 flights and occasionally clashing with police.
The wider calls for democracy have plunged the city into an unprecedented crisis posing a direct challenge for Communist Party leaders in Beijing.
Demonstrators say they are fighting the erosion of the "one country, two systems" arrangement that enshrines a high degree of autonomy for Hong Kong since it was handed back from British to Chinese rule in 1997.
One Kwun Tong protester showed off a tattoo on her arm which read "Hong Kong add oil", a common encouragement for the protest movement.
"I love Hong Kong very much. Even though I may not come out to protest regularly, I still want to mark down this moment,” Bu Chan, 25, told Reuters.
Hundreds took part in an "anti-fake news" protest, with people waving the Hong Kong and China flags and targeting government-funded broadcaster RTHK. A station spokeswoman, Amen Ng, rejected claims that RTHK was engaged in fake news.
CONSULATE WORKER FREED
British consulate staffer Simon Cheng was detained for 15 days for violating public security management regulations, police in Shenzhen, across the border from Hong Kong, said on their Twitter-like Weibo account.
Police said Cheng was released as scheduled on Saturday and that his legal rights and interests had been observed. They also said Cheng had confessed to accusations against him, a commonly used comment by Chinese police, even though Cheng was not given a chance to defend himself in court.
Cheng had now returned to Hong Kong, his family said on his Facebook page.
No details were given of his detention, with the Facebook post asking the "media and friends to give them some time and space, and we will explain more later".
Some protesters in recent days had demanded Cheng be released. Britain said it welcomed the news.
Cathay Pacific Airways, which has become the biggest corporate casualty of the protests after China demanded it suspend staff involved in the demonstrations, protested against a planned rally by the Hong Kong Confederation of Trade Unions around the airport's "Cathay City" HQ on Monday.
"We have also reiterated to our employees that there is a zero-tolerance approach to any support for or participation in illegal protests, violent activities or overly radical behavior," it said in a statement.
There is no sign of a let-up almost three months after the anti-government demonstrations began. On Friday night, thousands of chanting protesters formed human chains around the city in a peaceful protest dubbed the "Hong Kong Way".
Authorities have so far refused to meet any of the protesters' five key demands, including calls for an independent inquiry into police brutality, a full withdrawal of the extradition bill, and full democracy.
Organizers are planning a host of protests in the coming weeks including a mass march, a city-wide strike and class boycotts at universities.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
HONG KONG - Tension flickered across Hong Kong Saturday as riot cops squared off with protesters near a police station in a working-class neighborhood, as an uneasy peace lasting several days threatened to give way.
Thousands of demonstrators, many wearing hard hats and gas masks, marched through the industrial Kwun Tong area, where they were blocked by dozens of riot police with shields and batons.
Protesters pulled together a barricade of traffic barriers and bamboo construction poles while shouting at the rank of police.
Hong Kong's police force has become the target of the protesters' ire for their perceived heavy-handed response to the months of demonstrations.
Antipathy has soared towards the police, who have used baton charges, rubber bullets and tear gas against hardcore protesters, but are also accused of beating peaceful demonstrators.
The city has for now pulled back from what appeared to be a nosedive into violence, with the last serious clashes taking place a week and a half ago.
But tension rippled across Saturday's march, where a number of frontline radical demonstrators known as "braves" had gathered.
"I've never seen Hong Kong in such a situation," 65-year-old Dee Cheung told AFP.
"The youngsters who come out have put their future at stake... they are doing this for Hong Kong.
"There might be some things we don't agree with, like the 'braves' who tend to charge. But let's think about why they do that?"
Protests started against a proposed law that would have allowed extradition to China, but have bled into wider calls for democracy and police accountability in the semi-autonomous city.
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SYDNEY -- Australian police on Tuesday arrested three men accused of links to the Islamic State group over an alleged plot to attack police stations, embassies and defense facilities in central Sydney.
The men -- aged 20, 23 and 30 -- were arrested in raids in the city's suburbs after their online activities raised suspicion.
Two of them will face charges of being members of a terrorist organization and of preparations to carry out terror attacks.
"We will say that they had a number of targets, including police stations, defense establishments, embassies and councils, courts and churches," Australian Federal Police Assistant Commissioner Ian McCartney told reporters.
The plots were said to be in the "early stages", but included moves to import weapons and explosives to target facilities in the central business district.
The third man -- described as an "associate" -- will be charged with lesser offences.
New South Wales police assistant commissioner Mick Willing said the men "knew each other via social media" including WhatsApp and Telegram, and shared a "like-minded philosophy".
Late last year, Australia passed controversial laws allowing spy agencies and police to access encrypted communications from suspected criminals and terrorists.
Police said one of the suspects had come under the watch of authorities after returning from Lebanon last year, alleging he had made plans to go to Afghanistan to fight with the Islamic State.
Police said there was no further threat to the public.
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NEW YORK, United States - The head of the New York police department on Thursday apologized for a crackdown on the city's LGBTQ community during the notorious Stonewall riots, ahead of the 50th anniversary of the clashes that gave rise to the Gay Pride movement.
"I do know what happened should not have happened," said police chief James O'Neil. "The actions taken by the NYPD were wrong, plain and simple. The actions were discriminatory and oppressive and for that I apologize."
The June 1969 riots, sparked by constant police raids on the Stonewall Tavern, a well-known gay bar in New York's Greenwich Village, proved to be a turning point in the LGBTQ community's struggle for civil rights and gave rise to the Gay Pride movement.
The police chief made the comments to long applause during a briefing on safety measures for the city's Pride Month, the annual celebration for the city's diverse LGBTQ community.
A number of people have called in recent days for the police department to apologize for its actions, including the speaker of the city council, Corey Johnson, who is himself homosexual, and the organizers of Gay Pride.
On June 28, 1969, members of the gay community protested against the latest in a seemingly endless series of police raids on the Stonewall Tavern on New York's Christopher Street, triggering a week of demonstrations and clashes that led to numerous arrests and property damage.
New York is staging a series of events and rallies to mark the anniversary this month, culminating on June 30 with WorldPride, billed as the largest gathering of the LGBTQ community in the world.
More than 3 million people are expected to attend those events in New York, New York police said.
Last month, mayor Bill de Blasio announced the city would erect a statue to 2 transgender women who participated in the protests and who fought for LGBTQ rights. The mayor said it would be the first such statue in the world.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
ORLY, France - Flights at one of Paris's busiest airports were delayed Wednesday after a brawl between 2 of the biggest stars of French rap and their entourages.
Booba and Kaaris were held for questioning after the fight, which forced officials at Orly airport to temporarily shut down a departures hall.
Videos of the incident taken by passengers and posted on social media showed the men scuffling in a duty-free shop and the waiting lounge, which were crowded with travelers at the height of the summer holiday period.
Border police detained 13 people after the fracas in Hall 1 of the airport's western terminal, according to police and airport sources.
"A small number of flights were delayed by 15 to 30 minutes at the time of the fight and the lounge was temporarily closed," Orly's operator Paris Aeroport said.
The two rappers were on their way to Barcelona ahead of a concert, an airport source said.
The incident is the latest shot fired in a long-running feud between rival French rappers.
The pair have known each other since 2011 but Booba, one of France's most popular rappers, has reportedly fallen out with Kaaris in the past after he failed to support him in a dispute with fellow French artist Rohff.
Rohff was sentenced in November to 5 years in jail for aggravated assault in a clothes boutique owned by yet another rapper, Unkut.
Booba, whose often raw and violent tracks evoke life on the street in the Paris suburbs, has sold more than 2.5 million records. Kaaris, who has 4 studio albums to his name, has sold more than half a million records.
source: news.abs-cbn.com
Policemen detain topless activists of women's rights group Femen, who staged a performance during a protest against Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and the government while marking the Day of Dignity and Freedom near the presidential administration headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine on Tuesday.
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