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Sunday, July 14, 2019

BREAKING: UK police identify suspect behind leaked envoy memos

July 14, 2019 14H:33 GMT/ZULU

by Selina O'Grady and Biodun Iginla, BBC News and Reuters, London

LONDON - The suspect behind the leak of confidential memos from Britain’s Washington ambassador, which sparked a major diplomatic rift with the United States, has been identified, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

FILE PHOTO: Britain's ambassador to the United States Kim Darroch (C) listens as U.S. President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May hold a joint news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 27, 2017. Picture taken January 27, 2017. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Last week, Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper published memos from Kim Darroch in which he described Donald Trump’s administration as “inept” and “dysfunctional”, prompting an angry response from the U.S. president and causing the envoy to announce his resignation.

British officials have launched an inquiry to find the person responsible for the leak and counter-terrorism police said on Friday they had launched a criminal investigation.

According to the Sunday Times, which cited unnamed government sources, a suspect had been identified and suggestions that it could be the result of a computer hack by a foreign state had been ruled out.

“They think they know who did the leaking,” an unnamed government source told the paper. “It’s now a case of building a case that will stand up in court. It was someone with access to historical files. They went in and grabbed a range of material. It was quite crude.”

Both the Sunday Times and the Mail on Sunday reported that intelligence officials from the GCHQ eavesdropping spy agency were about to join the investigation to find the suspect by scouring email and phone records.

The Mail also published further memos from Darroch, defying a police warning that media which did so could be committing a criminal act.

The paper said Darroch had written to the British government in May 2018 that Trump had decided to unilaterally withdraw from Iran’s nuclear deal with major powers for “personality reasons” because it had been agreed by his predecessor Barack Obama.

Darroch had said in the cable that the Trump administration was “set upon an act of diplomatic vandalism”, the paper said.

Britain’s most senior counter-terrorism police officer had warned the media not to print any more leaked documents, saying it could breach the Official Secrets Act.

However, he was widely criticized by editors and politicians including the foreign minister Jeremy Hunt and ex-London Mayor Boris Johnson, the two men battling to replace Theresa May as prime minister when she steps down in just over a week’s time.

“It cannot be conceivably right that newspapers or any other media organization publishing such material should face prosecution,” Johnson, the frontrunner, said.

Saturday, June 8, 2019

BREAKING: UK police bail 5 teens arrested over bus attack on lesbian couple

Date created : 09/06/2019 - 06:30 GMT/ZULU

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by Emily Straton and Biodun Iginla, France24

British police on Saturday released on bail five teenagers arrested following a homophobic attack on a lesbian couple who refused to kiss for a gang of youths on a London night bus.

Melania Geymonat, 28, said she and her girlfriend Chris were robbed and left covered in blood after the incident on a bus in the north of the British capital last week.

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London's Metropolitan Police on Friday arrested four teens aged between 15 and 18 on suspicion of involvement in what a senior officer called the "disgusting attack".

Officers then detained another 16-year-old male Saturday on suspicion of robbery.

"(The) five arrested have been bailed to a date in early July," the Met said in a statement.

"Officers are not currently looking for any other parties in connection with the incident."

Geymonat told us at the BBC on Friday that the gang surrounded the couple while aboard the top deck of the bus.

"They started saying really aggressive stuff, things about sexual positions, lesbians and claiming we could kiss so they could watch us," she said.

"They started throwing coins. The next thing I know Chris is in the middle of the bus and they are punching her.

"So I immediately went there by impulse and tried to pull her out of there and they started punching me. I was really bleeding."

Police said the incident happened in the early hours of May 30 after the two women got on the bus in north London headed to the Camden Town neighbourhood.

The women were punched several times before the males ran off the bus after also stealing a phone and bag, the Met added.

Both women were taken to hospital for treatment to facial injuries.

"This was a disgusting attack on two women," said Detective Superintendent Andy Cox.

"CCTV footage from the attack is being reviewed by detectives.

"We continue to appeal for information from the public," he added.

Geymonat is from Uruguay while British newspapers reported that her girlfriend is from the US.

She told us at the BBC that she has previously experienced "a lot of verbal violence" but had never been assaulted before because of her sexuality.

"I was and still am angry," she said.

"It was scary, but this is not a novel situation."

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Friday condemned the incident.

"This was a sickening attack and my thoughts are with the couple affected," she said.

"Nobody should ever have to hide who they are or who they love and we must work together to eradicate unacceptable violence towards the LGBT community."

Wednesday, November 22, 2017

UK police probe second Kevin Spacey allegation: report

22 November 2017 - 18H40 GMT/UTC/ZULU TIME

by Selina O'Grady and Biodun Iginla, France24, London

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British police are investigating Hollywood star Kevin Spacey over a second allegation of sexual assault, the Press Association news agency reported on Wednesday.

London's Metropolitan Police said it was examining an allegation of sexual assault against a man in 2005 in the Lambeth area of the city.

The alleged victim came forward on Friday, more than two weeks after another male said he was assaulted by the same man in 2008.

Police would not confirm the identity of the alleged assailant, who was named as Spacey by the Press Association.

The American actor is facing numerous claims of sexual assault and harassment, as part of a broader scandal in Hollywood sparked by allegations against mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Abuse claims against Spacey prompted The Old Vic theatre to launch an investigation into the actor's term as artistic director, between 2004 and 2015, receiving 20 claims of inappropriate behaviour.

The incidents reported to the Lambeth theatre cover a period of 1995 to 2013 and have not been verified, The Old Vic said.

Spacey has been accused of attempting to rape a 15-year-old boy in New York and of making advances on actor Anthony Rapp when he was 14 years old, 31 years ago.

In a separate incident, a US woman claimed her 18-year-old son was sexually assaulted by the actor last year.