Terror strikes on New Year's Eve in UK, Japan; several injured

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Terror strikes on New Years Eve in UK, Japan; several injured

Manchester/Tokyo - Three injured in a knife attack in Manchester and nine injured in Tokyo after a driver plowed into a crowd of revelers.

By Reuters/AFP

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Published: Tue 1 Jan 2019, 8:56 AM

Last updated: Tue 1 Jan 2019, 5:01 PM

Suspected incidents of terrorism were reported from UK and Japan on New Year's Eve, with three wounded in a stabbing spree in Manchester and eight injured in Tokyo after a driver plowed into a crowd of revelers.
Three injured in knife attack in Manchester
British counter-terrorism police are investigating stabbings at Manchester Victoria train station that left three people injured, including a police officer, on New Year's Eve, the Greater Manchester Police said.
Police were, however, keeping an open mind as there was no intelligence suggesting a wider threat, the Greater Manchester Police said in a statement posted on Twitter.
They said a man is in custody and those injured were in a "serious" but not life-threatening condition.
The stabbings occurred at about 8:50pm.


 "Tonight's events will have understandably worried people but I need to stress that the incident is not ongoing, a man is in custody and there is currently no intelligence to suggest there is any wider threat at this time," Assistant Chief Constable Rob Potts said in a statement.
Police said the man in custody is being held for "questioning on suspicion of attempted murder."
Britain is currently on its second-highest threat level of severe, meaning an attack is considered highly likely and security officials say they are facing record levels of work in countering Daesh militants as well as extremists after four major attacks last year.
9 hurt as car rams into Tokyo street
Nine people were hurt, one seriously, when a man deliberately ploughed his car into crowds celebrating New Year's Eve along a famous Tokyo street, police and media said on Tuesday.
With an "intent to murder", 21-year-old Kazuhiro Kusakabe drove a small vehicle into Takeshita Street in Tokyo's fashion district of Harajuku at 10 minutes past midnight, a police spokesman said.
According to national broadcaster NHK, Kusakabe told police he was acting in "retribution for the death penalty" without giving more precise details.
One college student suffered serious injuries during the attack and was undergoing surgery, the police spokesman said.
Kusakabe was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, police said.
According to local media, Kusakabe hit a total of nine people on the street, which was closed to car traffic at the time as revellers packed the area to celebrate New Year.
Takeshita Street is packed with small shops and is considered the centre of youth culture and fashion in Japan, attracting tens of thousands of international tourists every day.
Man arrested at airport after bomb threat
A departure hall at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport was briefly cleared on Monday after a man claimed to have a bomb, national police said in a statement.

No explosives were found at the airport, the police said, adding that the arrested person held for questioning is a 51-year-old Canadian man. The statement did not further identify the suspect.
Police said the man had been arrested and departure hall 3 had been cleared as a "precautionary measure". The airport said departure hall 3 was open again for operation.
 


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