All posts tagged: embassy

Major Kensington Gardens update after park closed for investigation near Israeli Embassy | UK | News

Major Kensington Gardens update after park closed for investigation near Israeli Embassy | UK | News

Published by Sam Flores

Kensington Gardens has reopened after the Metropolitan Police launched an investigation into several suspicious items in the London beauty spot. Among the items were two jars containing a powdered substance, which the force confirmed were not harmful or hazardous. Officers were also made aware of a video circulating online featuring a group that claimed to have targeted the nearby Israeli Embassy with drones carrying dangerous substances. The Met confirmed that the embassy was not attacked after specialist officers were sent to the scene to assess the items and identify any risk to the public. Some officers were deployed wearing protective clothing as a precaution. They have since determined that there is no risk to the wider public and the search has concluded. The force’s chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) team and underwater and confined space search team were also sent to the park. Commander Helen Flanagan, of Counter Terrorism Policing London, said: “We recognise this incident and consequent police activity may have caused concern among local residents and the wider public. “We are grateful …

Chinese embassy urges Tokyo to probe threats against its diplomats

Chinese embassy urges Tokyo to probe threats against its diplomats

Published by Sam Flores

TOKYO: The Chinese embassy in Japan has accused Tokyo of failing to protect its diplomats after it received three threats within a month, as a spat between the Asian neighbours rumbles on. In a post on X on Thursday (Apr 17), the embassy urged Tokyo to “severely punish the perpetrators”, detailing incidents including an intrusion and a bomb threat. On March 24, a man described as a member of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) broke into China’s Tokyo embassy and threatened to kill diplomats. This was, it said, just a few weeks after an intimidating letter from a self-described “elite unit” of former SDF and police members had arrived, threatening to kill Chinese people. A third incident at the end of last month involved an online bomb threat against the embassy by a person also claiming to be a former military officer. “We once again strongly urge the Japanese side to expedite the investigation to clarify the facts of the case” and “severely punish the perpetrators in accordance with the law,” Charge d’Affaires Shi Yong was …

Man ‘tried to break into London’s Israeli embassy armed with two knives’, court hears | UK News

Man ‘tried to break into London’s Israeli embassy armed with two knives’, court hears | UK News

Published by Sam Flores

A man who twice entered the UK by small boat tried to break into the Israeli embassy in London with two knives to “exact revenge” for the killing of children in Gaza, a court heard. Kuwait-born Abdullah Albadri is accused of planning a terror attack when he took weapons to the consulate while wearing a red and white scarf wrapped around his head and face. The 34-year-old is said to have climbed an 8ft (2.4m) fence in a bid to enter the embassy grounds in Palace Green, Kensington, west London, on 28 April last year. A trial at the Old Bailey on Wednesday heard that Albadri was “almost successful in his attempt to scale the fence”, but armed diplomatic protection officers reached up and grabbed him. Image: The Israeli embassy in Kensington. File pic: AP Prosecutor Catherine Pattison told the court Albadri later told police “that he wanted to send a message, to stop the killing of children, to stop the war”. This was said to be a reference to the Israeli war in Gaza, …

Why Is China’s Embassy In D.C. Hardening Security Perimeter With Barbed Wire

Why Is China’s Embassy In D.C. Hardening Security Perimeter With Barbed Wire

Published by Jenni Sidey

Washington, D.C.-focused local outlet Popville, short for Prince of Petworth, posted several images showing barbed wire being installed around the security perimeter of the Chinese Embassy. The photos appear to show at least four workers installing the barbed wire atop an already hardened perimeter wall of block and iron fencing.  Embassies in Washington face security risks, but the sudden decision to further harden the Chinese compound raises obvious questions: whether Beijing is responding to a specific threat, anticipating protests or unrest nearby, or preparing for the arrival of a senior official or foreign delegation. We should also note that activist networks aligned with pro-China and Marxist groups have called for May 1 general strike actions aimed at disrupting the U.S. economy. It remains unclear whether the embassy’s sudden security hardening is connected to those planned demonstrations or to some other threat stream. Source link

‘Payment expected within seven days’: New Zealand doctor invoices US embassy for rising petrol costs

‘Payment expected within seven days’: New Zealand doctor invoices US embassy for rising petrol costs

Published by Sam Flores

A New Zealand doctor has asked the US embassy in Wellington to reimburse his clinic for petrol costs, saying Donald Trump and his administration started an “avoidable war” and should foot the bill for rising fuel prices. Dr Shane Dunphy, of Onslow medical centre in New Zealand’s capital, requested the US embassy pay his centre NZ$2,790.95 (US$1,597) for the cost of petrol vouchers provided to staff to help pay for transport. In a letter sent with the invoice, Dunphy said his staff were struggling to afford petrol because of the energy crisis triggered by the US-Israeli attacks on Iran. Related: Manila’s transport workers struggle to make ends meet as Philippines feels force of oil crisis The clinic had provided the vouchers to staff so they could afford to come to work and feed their families, he said. “We now ask that the USA reimburse us the cost of these vouchers. The USA is responsible for this and therefore should be held accountable.” New Zealand is particularly exposed to the energy crisis caused by the conflict, …

Residents living on London’s new Chinese embassy site fear they have unknowingly been living ‘in China’ since 2018 | Politics News

Residents living on London’s new Chinese embassy site fear they have unknowingly been living ‘in China’ since 2018 | Politics News

Published by Sam Flores

Residents living on the site of the new Chinese “super embassy” in London fear they have unknowingly been living “in China” since 2018. People living in the 100 flats in Royal Mint Court estate said they were “shocked” when the government failed to disagree during a judicial review hearing brought by the residents that the land has been diplomatic – with access rights therefore subject to Chinese approval – since 2018. Their flats, built in 1978, are on the land belonging to Beijing after it bought the old Royal Mint site in 2018, but they say they have never been told if their homes are on diplomatic land, which would mean, if they are, the land is inviolable. Under international diplomatic laws, inviolability means UK authorities, including ambulances, police and fire engines, cannot enter inviolable land unless the head of an embassy consents. The residents have brought the judicial review over concerns about their safety and whether planning conditions attached to the government’s planning permission, granted in January, can realistically be enforced. At a review …

Hundreds to rally at Japanese Embassy in Washington in support of Family Federation Japan

Hundreds to rally at Japanese Embassy in Washington in support of Family Federation Japan

Published by Sam Flores

WASHINGTON — Members of the Family Federation and supporters will gather outside the Japanese Embassy in Washington, DC on Thursday, March 19 at 12:00 PM to call attention to what organizers describe as a serious and historic moment for religious freedom in Japan. Participants say the Japanese government has dissolved the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, resulting in the closure of 400 churches and offices across the country. Congregations that had existed for decades were forced to shut their doors, and thousands of members were asked to leave sanctuaries where they had prayed, gathered, and raised their families in faith. “For our brothers and sisters in Japan, this moment has brought deep sorrow and uncertainty,” organizers said. “Communities that have served quietly and sacrificially for decades are now facing the sudden loss of their churches and places of worship.” The demonstration in Washington will serve as a peaceful appeal for the protection of religious liberty and the dignity of people of the members of the Family Federation. Organizers say members of the global …