London acid attacks: Two teenagers arrested

Two teenagers have been arrested after acid was thrown in people's faces in five attacks over one night in London.

Two moped riders attacked people in a 90-minute spree in Islington, Stoke Newington and Hackney on Thursday, stealing mopeds in two of the attacks.

An eyewitness said he heard a victim, who he believed was a delivery driver, "screaming in pain". One victim suffered "life-changing injuries".

Police are looking at whether moped theft was the motive for the attacks.

Officers said they were linking the attacks and boys aged 15 and 16 have been arrested on suspicion of robbery and causing grievous bodily harm.

Delivery services Deliveroo and UberEATS have confirmed two of the victims were couriers working for the firms.

The attacks happened amid rising concern about the number of assaults involving corrosive substances in London.

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Since 2010, there have been more than 1,800 reports of attacks involving corrosive fluids in the capital. Last year, it was used in 458 crimes, compared to 261 in 2015, according to Met Police figures.

Hackney resident Jon Moody said he was watching TV when he heard screaming and ran to the window.

"I heard a high-pitched scream but thought it was the boys playing football... I heard more shouting and ran to my window," he said.

"I could see a man in serious distress, he was screaming in pain.

"There were only two police officers with the victim, they took out two large water canisters and poured it over him."

He said he believed the victim was a delivery driver and about 20 fellow delivery drivers turned up at the scene.

The Hackney Gazette last week reported many delivery drivers are refusing to work in some areas after 21:30 BST because of robbery fears.

Takeaway delivery firm Deliveroo emailed drivers saying it was working with the Met Police and urged its staff to report any information about the attacks.

The email said the firm was "truly shocked" about what had happened.

The assaults happened amid increasing concern about the sharp rise in acid attacks in London

A Met spokesman said one line of inquiry detectives would be pursuing was whether the attackers were targeting moped riders to steal their bikes.

The 16-year-old boy was arrested in Kingsbury Road, north-west London, early on Friday, while the 15-year-old was arrested in Stoke Newington several hours later.

The attacks began at 22:25 BST on Thursday in Hackney Road.

A 32-year-old man on a moped was left with facial injuries after another moped, with two male riders, pulled up alongside him and threw a corrosive substance in his face.

One of the men stole his moped and the other drove away on the vehicle they arrived on.

The Met said it was awaiting an update on the extent of the victim's injuries. Inquiries are ongoing.

Thursday night attacks timeline

• 22:25 BST: A 32-year-old man on a moped in Hackney Road is left with facial injuries after a moped, with two male riders, pulls up alongside and attacks him. They also steal his moped.
• 22:49 BST: A 44-year-old man has a corrosive substance thrown in his face by two men on a moped in Islington.
• 23:05 BST: A corrosive substance is reported to have been thrown in the face of a 52-year-old man by two men on a moped in Shoreditch High Street. The victim is taken to hospital.
• 23:18 BST: Police receive reports of a robbery in Cazenove Road, Stoke Newington, where a corrosive substance is thrown. A 24-year-old man suffers facial injuries described as "life changing".
• 23:37 BST: A 33-year-old man on a moped in traffic in Chatsworth Road, Clapton, has liquid sprayed in his face and his vehicle stolen.

Assaults involving corrosive substances have more than doubled in England since 2012, with the number of acid attacks in the capital showing the most dramatic rise in recent years.

The Met's own figures show there were 261 acid attacks in 2015, rising to 458 last year.

So far this year - excluding Thursday night - the Met has recorded 119 such attacks.

A man appeared in court earlier this week in connection with a separate attack on cousins Resham Khan and Jameel Muhktar, who had acid thrown at them through a car window in Beckton, east London.

Shadow Home Secretary and Stoke Newington MP Dianne Abbott responded to news of the attacks, tweeting: "More terrible acid attacks, Why would you scar someone for life just to steal a moped."

Labour MP for East Ham Stephen Timms has tabled an adjournment debate for Monday in the House of Commons on the rise in the number of acid attacks.

About a third of last year's acid attacks in the capital took place in the London borough of Newham, which is in his constituency.

Mr Timms told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he was "most concerned about sulphuric acid" and that carrying a bottle without justification should be treated as an offence, like carrying a knife.

"We could certainly come up with arrangements that would allow people to use sulphuric acid in the normal way, perhaps with the benefit of a licence.

"But simply walking around the street with a bottle of sulphuric acid, that should be an offence," he said.

A Downing Street spokesman said the prime minister viewed acid attacks as "horrific".

"We are working with the police to see what more we could do. The prime minister's view is that the use of acid in this way is horrific."

Home Office minister Sarah Newton told BBC Radio 5 live Breakfast the government was considering tighter controls on some chemicals in response to the acid attacks in East London and elsewhere.

But she said regulation would be difficult, as "these chemicals are under everyone's kitchen sinks".

She said it was clear acid was being used "as a weapon" and work had been commissioned "to understand the motivation" of people who use it to injure others.

She also said the government was examining sentencing for those who use acid to injure people.

Egypt Hurghada stabbing: Two Germans killed at Red Sea resort

Two German tourists have been killed in stabbings at a hotel beach in the popular Red Sea resort of Hurghada, Egyptian officials say.

At least four other people were injured and a man has been arrested.

The suspect is being questioned by police to determine his motives, the interior ministry said.

The knifeman initially killed the two women before injuring two other tourists at the Zahabia hotel, officials told Reuters news agency.

He then swam to a nearby beach and attacked and wounded two more people at the Sunny Days El Palacio resort before he was overpowered by staff and arrested.

"He had a knife with him and stabbed each of them three times in the chest. They died on the beach," El Palacio hotel Security Manager Saud Abdelaziz said.

Mr Abdelaziz said the injured include two Czechs and two Armenians. All are now being treated in hospital.

The attacker's motive was still under investigation, the interior ministry said.

"He was looking for foreigners and he didn't want any Egyptians," a member of staff at the Zahabia hotel said.

Three foreign tourists were stabbed at the same resort, renowned for its scuba diving, in January 2016 by two suspected militants from the Islamic State militant group (IS).

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Initial reports had said those killed were Ukrainian, but Ukrainian officials denied this.

It is unclear whether the attacker had any links to jihadist groups or whether he was psychologically disturbed, officials said.

Egypt's security forces are dealing with an Islamist uprising in the country's Sinai Peninsula. The tourist industry has been targeted by militants in North Africa over the past few years

Colombia coca cultivation rises by 50% says UN

The United Nations says there was a 50% increase last year in the area of land being used to cultivate coca leaf in Colombia.

The UN estimates that a third more cocaine was being produced in the country in 2016.

The head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, Bo Mathiasen, called the increase significant.

Analysts say much of it was due to the end of the eradication of coca crops by spraying.

The report said the total coca-growing area rose from 96,000 hectares in 2015 to 146,000 in 2016.

Mr Mathiasen said that he held out hope for a reduction in cultivation because Colombia had signed a peace agreement with the biggest rebel group in the country, the Farc, which controlled much of the drug-producing areas.

But local analysts argue that the rise was caused partly by a hiatus resulting from the government's peace deal with Farc rebels.

Under the deal, the Farc agreed to relinquish control over drug production areas and help the government try to encourage local farmers to plant substitute crops.

Farmers have taken advantage of the delays while the crop substitution policy is set up to plant coca, which has increased in price by almost 50%, because they know they will be offered subsidies later not to grow the plant.

Meanwhile, the Colombian government has increased by almost 50% its seizures of cocaine - from 253 tonnes confiscated in 2015 to 378 tonnes in 2016.

Raul Castro denounces Donald Trump's Cuba policy

The president of Cuba has spoken publicly for the first time against US President Donald Trump's rollback of a thaw between the two countries a month ago.

President Raul Castro said "attempts to destroy the revolution" would fail.

Mr Trump has tightened restrictions on US travel to and business with the communist island.

But the US embassy in Havana, re-opened by former President Barack Obama, is still operating.

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Mr Castro was speaking in front of Cuba's national assembly. It was his first public comment on the policy changes Mr Trump announced a month ago.

State-run Cuban media quoted Mr Castro as saying that Mr Trump was using "old and hostile rhetoric" and had returned to "confrontation that roundly failed over 55 years".

He said: "We reject the manipulation of the topic of human rights against Cuba, which can be proud of much in this area and does not need to receive lessons from the United States nor anyone."

Mr Trump anchored his policy rollback in human rights concerns raised by political opponents of Cuba's communist government, many of whom have fled to Miami where Mr Trump announced the changes on 16 June.

Mr Castro continued: "Cuba and the United States can cooperate and live side by side, respecting their differences. But no one should expect that for this, one should have to make concessions inherent to one's sovereignty and independence."

Mr Castro will step down as president in seven months, but will remain the head of the country's Communist Party.

Turkey dismisses thousands a year after coup attempt

Turkey has dismissed more than 7,000 police, ministry staff and academics, ahead of the first anniversary of an attempted coup.

It comes as part of a major purge of state institutions, including the judiciary, police and education, in response to last year's unrest.

On Saturday, Turkey marks one year since rogue soldiers bombed buildings and opened fire on civilians.

More than 250 people were killed in the violence.

The Turkish authorities accuse a movement loyal to the Muslim cleric, Fethullah Gulen, of organising the July 2016 plot to bring down President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Mr Gulen, who remains in the United States, denies any involvement. Washington has so far resisted calls from the Turkish authorities to extradite the cleric.

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The latest dismissals came in a decree from 5 June but only published by the official government Gazette on Friday.

It says the employees are people "who it's been determined have been acting against the security of the state or are members of a terrorist organisation".

Among those listed were 2,303 police officers and 302 university academics. Another 342 retired officers and soldiers were stripped of their ranks and grades, Reuters reports.

Turkey has already dismissed more than 150,000 officials since the coup attempt, and arrested another 50,000 from the military, police and other sectors.

The government says the measures are necessary given the security threats it faces but critics say Mr Erdogan is using the purges to stifle political dissent.

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Istanbul is awash with giant anniversary billboards and posters showing people confronting pro-coup soldiers.

Huge rallies are due to take place, with President Erdogan, who avoided capture last year, addressing parliament at the exact time that it was bombed.

He and his supporters see the defeat of the coup as Turkey's rebirth, but for others it's less triumphant, says the BBC's Mark Lowen.

Israeli police killed in attack near Jerusalem holy site

Two Israeli policemen have been killed and a third wounded in a shooting attack near a sacred site in Jerusalem.

They were shot by three Israeli Arabs close to the compound known to Jews as the Temple Mount and to Muslims as Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary).

Police chased the attackers into the site and shot them dead.

There has been a wave of stabbings, shootings and car-rammings of Israelis predominantly by Palestinians or Israeli Arabs since late 2015.

Two of the previous attackers were Jordanians.

Police say the three men who carried out Friday's attack were aged between 19 and 29 and came from the northern Israeli city of Umm al-Fahm. Israel's Shin Bet security agency said that they were not previously known to the security services.

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Police say the gunmen opened fire as they made their way from the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif towards Lions' Gate, an opening in the Old City walls about 100ft (30 metres) away.

The attackers were then pursued back to the compound, where they were killed.

In the wake of the incident, police sealed off the site to search it for weapons. It is the first time in decades that the compound, which contains the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque, has been closed for Muslim Friday prayers, which normally draws thousands of worshippers.

The site is administered by an Islamic authority (Waqf), though Israel is in charge of security there. Police are investigating how the attackers managed to smuggle in a handgun, sub-machine gun and knife.

The Palestinian Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Mohammad Hussein, who had urged worshippers to defy the closure, was detained by police, his aides said, though Israeli officials would not comment.

Elsewhere, a Palestinian was shot dead in clashes with Israeli forces at a refugee camp near Bethlehem on Friday, Palestinian sources said.

Barra Hamamdeh, 21, was killed during a raid by troops on the Dheisheh camp, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

'Severe event'

The Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif is the holiest site in Judaism and third holiest in Islam and is one of the most politically sensitive sacred places in the world.

It is located in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since the 1967 Middle East war. Israel considers the entire city its sovereign capital, while Palestinians claim East Jerusalem as the capital of their sought-after future state.

Israel's Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the attack was "a serious and severe event in which red lines were crossed", adding that security arrangements in and around the site would be reviewed.

No group has said it was responsible, though the militant Palestinian Hamas movement, which runs the Gaza Strip, praised the attack as a "natural response to the Zionist ongoing crimes".

The shooting comes weeks after an Israeli policewoman was killed in a knife and gun attack outside the Old City by three Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

Forty-four Israelis and five foreign nationals have been killed in nearly two years of such attacks.

At least 255 Palestinians - most of them attackers, Israel says - have also been killed in that period, news agencies report. Others have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops.

Israel says Palestinian incitement has fuelled the attacks. The Palestinian leadership has blamed frustration rooted in decades of Israeli occupation.

China villagers launch Dutch court bid to retrieve mummy

Chinese villagers are taking their fight to retrieve an allegedly stolen 1,000-year-old mummified monk to a Dutch court on Friday.

The monk's remains, which are inside a Buddha statue, were taken from a temple in the small Chinese village of Yangchun in Fujian province in 1995.

The villagers say a Dutch collector, whom they are suing, bought the statue in Hong Kong in 1996.

The statue was not seen until turning up at a show in Budapest in 2015.

In recent years, Beijing has vigorously tried to retrieve artefacts it says were stolen.

But so far there have been few successes via courts of law.

The latest case is complicated by the fact that the collector, Oscar van Overeem, is believed to have swapped the statue with another dealer, whose identity has been hidden, in exchange for several Buddhist artefacts in late 2015.

The statue's current whereabouts are not clear.

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In this case, the Buddha statue, known as the Zhanggong Patriarch, had been in the villagers' temple for centuries, and was also worshipped by residents of the neighbouring Dongpu village.

The villagers had hidden the mummy in their homes and even buried it in fields during the destruction wrought by China's Cultural Revolution in the 1960s and 70s, reported the South China Morning Post.

A scan of the statue a few years ago showed it contained the remains of a monk, thought to be 1,000 years old.

The villagers were able to prove they were descendants of the monk, their lawyer, Jan Holthuis, told AFP news agency.

He said they would argue that, according to Dutch law, "a person is not allowed to have a known body in their possession.

"We also have enough evidence to prove that the statue is indeed the one that was stolen from the temple," Mr Holthuis added.

According to the state-owned China News Service, the Dutch collector is contesting the claim on the grounds that it was filed by village committees - entities he claims cannot be seen as legal plaintiffs under Dutch law.