Arrests

Police make 12 arrests as demonstrators defy government restrictions to gather on Thames embankment.

Hundreds gathered in central London for the annual Al-Quds Day demonstration, an international show of solidarity with Palestinians that this year took place under sweeping new restrictions and a heavy police presence.

Crowds assembled on Sunday along the Albert Embankment of the River Thames, where demonstrators waved Palestinian flags, held banners, and chanted slogans – some carrying images of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed earlier this month during US-Israeli attacks on Iran.

Police made 12 arrests during the event, including for showing support for a proscribed organisation and threatening or abusive behaviour.

Chants of “from the river to the sea” and “Israel is a terror state” were heard. Al-Quds Day is named after the Arabic name for Jerusalem.

More than 1,000 officers were deployed across the area ahead of what police Assistant Commissioner Ade Adelekan warned would still be “a difficult public order weekend”. Earlier estimates suggested 12,000 people could attend, but only hundreds showed up.

The demonstration marked the first time in more than a decade that authorities banned the march through the capital.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood approved Scotland Yard’s request for a month-long prohibition on marches, with the government citing public disorder risks linked to the “volatile situation in the Middle East”, and potential clashes between different groups of demonstrators.

Organisers from the Islamic Human Rights Commission proceeded with a “static” rally in defiance, telling supporters the event would go ahead regardless.

The group accused London police of having “capitulated to the pressure of the Zionist lobby”.

‘Words have consequences’

Al-Quds Day takes place annually on the final Friday of Ramadan, with rallies held worldwide in solidarity with Palestinians and in opposition to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory. It was held on Sunday in London as Friday was a regular workday.

Police put demonstrators on notice that “intifada” chants and displays of support for proscribed groups would result in arrest, with Adelekan stating “these words have consequences”.

On the opposite bank, a smaller counterprotest organised by Stop The Hate and the Lion Guard of Iran drew Iranian dissidents and others opposed to the Islamic Republic, some waving Israeli flags.

Scotland Yard used the River Thames as a physical barrier, with police boats patrolling the water and Lambeth Bridge closed to separate the two sides.

Both demonstrations were confined to the stretch between Vauxhall and Lambeth bridges and permitted only between 1pm and 3pm.

Both demonstrations wrapped up at 3pm, with police saying the security plan had worked and neither side attempted to breach conditions by marching.

March 6 (UPI) — Counter-terrorism police in London arrested four Iranian men early Friday on suspicion of conducting surveillance for Iranian intelligence of individuals and locations linked to the Jewish community in the capital.

The suspects, one Iranian and three dual British-Iranian nationals aged between 22 and 55, were detained shortly after 1 a.m. local time in raids on addresses in north London and Watford, just north of the city, under the National Security Act, Metropolitan Police said in a news release.

Searches of at least three addresses in the north London borough of Barnet were still underway, said the Met.

Six other suspects, all males aged between 20 and 49, were arrested at one of the locations raided in London on suspicion of assisting an offender and assaulting police.

“Today’s arrests are part of a long-running investigation and part of our ongoing work to disrupt malign activity where we suspect it,” said Commander Helen Flanagan, Head of Counter Terrorism Policing for London.

“We understand the public may be concerned, in particular the Jewish community, and as always, I would ask them to remain vigilant and if they see or hear anything that concerns them, then to contact us,” she added.

The arrests come as the latest development in a long history of covert activity by the Iranian regime on British soil, mostly targeting dissidents, exiled Iranian news organizations providing independent coverage to people inside Iran and the Iranian diaspora, and groups opposing the regime.

“Iran is the biggest state sponsor of terrorism globally and sadly, that is in effect in our own society as well,” British Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told ITV television on Friday morning.

“Our intelligence services and counter-terrorism police have thwarted lots of action over the last few years,” he added.

On Saturday, in his announcement that Britain was joining the U.S-Israeli offensive against Iran in a “defensive” role, Prime Minister Keir Starmer condemned Iranian aggression against Britain’s Middle East allies, saying the United Kingdom had long been a target.

“Even in the United Kingdom, the Iranian regime poses a direct threat to dissidents and to the Jewish community. Over the last year alone, they have backed more than 20 potentially lethal attacks on U.K. soil.”

In May, three Iranian men were charged over allegedly conducting surveillance and reconnaissance of U.K.-based journalists working for the Iran International news outlet to enable “serious violence” to be committed against them.

Mostafa Sepahvand, 39, Farhad Javadi Manesh, 44, and Shapoor Qalehali Khani Noori, 55, of London, are accused of “engaging in conduct likely to assist a foreign intelligence service” under the National Security Act.

A plea hearing is scheduled for Sept. 26 and a provisional trial date set for Oct. 5.

Iran International, a Persian-language satellite TV channel and multilingual digital news operation established in 2017, puts out highly critical coverage of the Iranian government which has banned it as a terrorist organization.

British media and U.S. academics have previously reported links between Iran International and backers at the most senior level in Saudi Arabia, which Iran International denies.

March 5 (UPI) — An international police operation coordinated by Interpol led to 60 suspects accused of sexual crimes against minors arrested and 65 child victims rescued after a yearlong investigation in nine Central American, North American and Caribbean countries, the agency said.

Operation Eclipse, conducted between February 2025 and January, focused on dismantling networks linked to producing and distributing child sexual abuse material, with the primary goal of identifying victims and reopening cases that had remained unsolved for years.

Most of the victims were between 5 and 13 years old, and about 80% were girls, Interpol said.

“Investigating old cases not only serves to deliver justice and protect victims, but also to prevent further harm,” said Cyril Gout, acting executive director of Police Services at Interpol.

“Operation Eclipse demonstrates that, thanks to international cooperation and specialized expertise, it is possible to uncover abuse committed even years ago and bring those responsible to justice.”

The countries that participated in the operation were Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama and the Dominican Republic.

Some victims had appeared for more than a decade in international archives that collect child sexual exploitation material without having been identified.

Investigators said the alleged perpetrators had different levels of relationship with the victims, including relatives, friends, neighbors, educators, online predators and foreign tourists, showing that sexual offenders do not fit a single profile.

The operation received support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and the Child Rescue Coalition. Police and judicial authorities across the region synchronized investigations, conducted targeted interventions and gathered evidence in multiple countries.

Interpol said it provided technical support, real-time information sharing and strategic guidance.

One of the most notable cases occurred in Panama, where authorities resolved an investigation in which a victim had remained unidentified for more than 10 years in Interpol’s international database. The identification, the agency said, allowed investigators to gather key evidence for the judicial process and also led to the location of another victim.

Interpol also maintains the International Child Sexual Exploitation Database, which is used by investigators in more than 70 countries to analyze and compare images and videos of child abuse.

The system allows authorities to establish connections between victims, offenders and locations through digital analysis software, helping identify related cases across different countries and preventing duplicate investigations.

According to the organization, the database contains 4.9 million images and videos and has helped identify more than 42,300 victims worldwide.

A joint study by Interpol and global network ECPAT International also found that more than 60% of the unidentified victims in that material are prepubescent minors, including babies and young children, while 65% are girls and 92% of the visible offenders are men.

Interpol provided several cases of the background of victims.

In the Dominican Republic, two minors ages 10 and 13 were allegedly abused by their mother and a transnational sexual offender who lived with them. Both suspects were arrested during the operation.

In Costa Rica, one of the suspects initially posed as an online celebrity to contact his victim. He later used child-grooming tactics, sextortion and threats against the victim’s family to maintain control over her.

A bilateral meeting between Panama and the Dominican Republic led to identifying two suspects wanted by Panamanian authorities for sexual crimes. Both were located in Dominican territory, leading to the start of extradition procedures.

As part of the operation, participating countries also reviewed 57 existing international notices related to individuals believed to live within their borders. These included Red Notices, issued for suspects wanted internationally, and Blue Notices, intended to gather additional information about a person’s identity or location during an investigation.

So far, 12 of those people have been located and detained, while efforts continue to locate and extradite other suspects, Interpol said.

Authorities also said that 45 suspected child sex offenders remain wanted in the countries that participated in the operation.

Arrest in town near the Ethiopian border follows Kenyan intelligence report revealing more than 1,000 citizens were trafficked for war.

Police in Kenya have arrested a man accused of being a member of a human trafficking scheme that lured Kenyans to Russia with false promises of work, only for them to end up fighting on the front lines of Ukrainian battlefields.

In a statement released late on Wednesday, Kenyan officials said Festus Arasa Omwamba was being detained in Moyale, a town in the country’s north bordering Ethiopia.

The 33-year-old “is believed to be a key player in a more extensive human trafficking syndicate that exploits vulnerable individuals by promising them legitimate employment opportunities in European countries”, read a statement from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations on X. “However, upon arrival, these unsuspecting victims find themselves trapped in illegal and perilous jobs, stripping them of their dignity and safety.”

The suspect was in police custody, undergoing preparation for his “impending” court appearance, it added.

Quoting police spokesperson Michael Muchiri, NTV Kenya reported that Omwamba was arrested after arriving from Russia. He was detained for allegedly recruiting Kenyans into the Russian military, Muchiri said.

The arrest comes after Kenya’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) last week unveiled a report which said more than 1,000 Kenyans have been recruited “to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war”, with 89 currently on the front line, 39 hospitalised, and 28 missing in action.

A day after the NIS released its report, dozens of families protested in Nairobi, demanding the government take action against the network of officials and syndicates tricking locals into joining the war. Many are still awaiting news about their loved ones’ whereabouts and when they might return.

Meanwhile, other families are grieving the deaths of their sons and brothers.

The Russian embassy in Nairobi denies the allegations, calling them in a statement last week “misleading propaganda”. It added that it never issued visas to Kenyan citizens who sought to travel to Russia with the aim to fight in Ukraine. However, the embassy added that Moscow does not preclude citizens of foreign countries from voluntarily enlisting in its armed forces.

Kenya’s Foreign Minister Musalia Mudavadi said he would travel to Russia in March to engage directly with the authorities and secure a safe return of Kenyans believed to be stranded there.

Fraudulent ‘schemes’ to lure foreign fighters

Reports of African men being fraudulently recruited and wilfully duped for work abroad to end up on the front lines in Ukraine have also surfaced from South Africa, Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa.

Ukraine on Wednesday accused Russia of using deception to recruit more than 1,700 Africans to join its war effort as the conflict drags into a fifth year.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha made the allegation during a news conference in Kyiv with his visiting Ghanaian counterpart, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa. He accused Moscow of using fraudulent “schemes” to lure the foreign fighters.

A day earlier, South Africa’s presidency announced it had secured the return home of 11 of its nationals who were “lured” into fighting for Russia in Ukraine. The presidency had already repatriated four others.