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world news Diamars 16 November 2021

UK raises terror threat level after Liverpool taxi blast

(AP) — British authorities lence,” he said. understood, given all the cir-
raised the country’s threat cumstances, it has been de-
level to its second-highest A male passenger in a taxi was clared a terrorist incident,”
rung on Monday, after po- killed and the driver injured he said at a press briefing.
lice said a blast in a taxi when a blast ripped through
outside a Liverpool hos- the vehicle as it pulled up He said the passenger had
pital that killed one man outside the hospital on Sun- been picked up by the cab a
and injured another was day morning. Russ Jackson, 10-minute drive away and
caused by a homemade the head of Counterterror- asked to be taken to the hos-
bomb. ism Policing in northwest pital, where the explosion oc-
England, said the explosion curred. The driver, named by
Investigators said they were was caused by “the ignition local media as David Perry,
treating the explosion in Liv- of an explosive device” that managed to escape from the
erpool as a terrorist incident, was brought into the vehicle car. He was treated in the
but that the motive was un- by the passenger. hospital and released.
clear.
Three men in their 20s were Police said officers had
The Joint Terrorism Analy- arrested elsewhere in the city searched two addresses in the Nick Aldworth, a former se- The Joint Terrorism Analysis
sis Centre raised the U.K. under the Terrorism Act on city linked to the passenger nior terrorism investigator in Centre sets the threat level
threat level from substantial Sunday, and a fourth was and found “significant items” Britain, said the taxi appeared based on intelligence about
— meaning an attack is like- detained on Monday. All are at one of them, to have sustained “a lot of fire international terrorism at
ly — to severe, meaning it is believed to be “associates” damage with very little blast home and overseas.
highly likely, following the of the dead passenger, police Liverpool Mayor Joanne An- damage.”
U.K.’s second fatal incident said. derson said the taxi driver Britain has experienced at-
in a month. Conservative locked the doors of his cab so He said “whatever was in that tacks by both Islamic and
lawmaker David Amess was Suspicions about a motive the passenger couldn’t leave. vehicle was either a low yield far-right extremists over the
stabbed to death in October for the explosion have been Police did not confirm that or didn’t work properly, or years, including a May 2017
in what police said was an act aroused by the timing — just account. possibly an incendiary. So I suicide bombing at an Ariana
of terrorism. before 11 a.m. on Remem- think it’s very much open to Grande concert in Manches-
brance Sunday, the moment “The taxi driver, in his heroic debate at the moment about ter that killed 22 people.
Prime Minister Boris John- people across Britain hold efforts, has managed to divert what has happened.”
son condemned the “sick- services in memory of those what could have been an ab- Amess was stabbed to death
ening attack” at Liverpool killed in wars. solutely awful disaster at the Britain’s official terrorism Oct. 15 while meeting with
Women’s Hospital and told hospital,” Anderson told the threat level was lowered from constituents, in what police
reporters that the British Jackson said investigators had BBC. “severe” to “substantial” in said was an act of terrorism
people “will never be cowed not found a link to remem- February. It has been at se- by a supporter of the Islam-
by terrorism.” brance events, “but it is a line The prime minister also said vere most of the time since ic State group. The slaying
of inquiry we are pursuing.” the driver appeared to have 2014, briefly rising to “criti- came five years after Labour
“We will never give in to behaved “with incredible cal” amid a spate of violent Party lawmaker Jo Cox was
those who seek to divide us “Although the motivation presence of mind and brav- attacks in 2017. shot and stabbed to death by
with senseless acts of vio- for this incident is yet to be ery.” a far-right extremist.

EU to add airlines to Belarus sanctions as tensions mount

(AP) — The European guards and police. At least 11 deputy foreign minister, said The 27-country EU has al- EU headquarters said the
Union ratcheted up pres- migrants have died in recent during a discussion orga- ready imposed four sets of bloc will now be able to tar-
sure on Belarus by agree- weeks. nized by the German Mar- sanctions on Belarus authori- get individuals and entities
ing Monday to slap sanc- shall Fund of the U.S. ties and senior officials over organizing or contributing to
tions on airlines accused Polish authorities said Mon- the disputed election last year activities by the Lukashenko
of helping Belarus Presi- day that Belarusian services “The situation is unprec- that returned Lukashenko to regime that “facilitate illegal
dent Alexander Lukash- had led a large group of mi- edented and unpredictable,” office and his government’s crossing” of the EU’s exter-
enko wage a “hybrid at- grants to a border crossing Przydacz said. brutal crackdown on peaceful nal borders. A list of those to
tack” against the bloc us- with Poland and made them protesters that followed. Op- be hit by the asset freezes and
ing migrants, as tensions believe they would be trans- Belarus’ borders with Po- position leaders and Western travel bans is expected to be
mounted on the Polish ported by bus to Germany. land, Lithuania and Latvia nations have described the finalized shortly.
and Lithuanian borders. Polish police broadcast mes- are also the eastern borders vote as a sham.
sages across the border telling of both the EU and NATO. The EU believes Lukash-
Up to 4,000 migrants are the migrants that “they have The EU says Lukashenko’s The EU is preparing a fifth enko began luring migrants
stuck in makeshift camps in been deceived.” authoritarian regime has for lot of sanctions on Belarus. to Belarus as a retaliatory to
freezing weather in Belarus months invited migrants to On Monday the bloc’s for- destabilize the bloc, which
while Poland has reinforced “The Belarusian side is de- Minsk, many of them Iraqis eign ministers extended the has been deeply divided over
its border with 15,000 sol- liberately escalating the situ- and Syrians, with the prom- scope of those measures to how to manage migration
diers, in addition to border ation,” Marcin Przydacz, a ise of helping them across the add airlines, travel agents and since well over 1 million peo-
border. others accused of helping to ple entered the bloc in 2015.
bring migrants to Minsk, the
Meanwhile, Lithuanian offi- Belarusian capital. Germany allowed in hun-
cials said they were seeing a dreds of thousands of people
rising number of attempts by “Today’s decision reflects the that year, but doesn’t want to
migrants to cross its border determination by the Euro- encourage more now.
from Belarus. pean Union to stand up to
the instrumentalization of German Foreign Minister
“They try entering from migrants for political pur- Heiko Maas was asked in
many other places which poses. We are pushing back Brussels if he would support
previously were not used,” on this inhuman and illegal Germany taking in people
Lithuanian Interior Minister practice,” EU foreign policy now on the Belarusian side of
Agne Bilotaite told reporters. chief Josep Borrell said. the border if the flow of mi-
grants to Belarus is stopped.