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The UK has spent about £10 million ($15 million) providing a 24-hour guard at the Ecuadorean embassy in London since WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange claimed asylum there, Scotland Yard figures show.
Julian Assange, who denies allegations he assaulted two women in Sweden, faces arrest if he leaves the embassy.
A WikiLeaks spokesman said the policing costs were “embarrassing”.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg said Julian Assange should go to Sweden and “face justice”.
Between June 2012 and October 2014, direct policing costs were £7.3 million ($11 million), with £1.8 million ($2.8 million) spent on overtime, police said.
Scotland Yard confirmed the cost of the operation to UK taxpayers in the first 28 months, until October 31, 2014, had reached £9 million ($13.5 million).
According to British police, the costs were covered by the budget for diplomatic protection, which provides policing for embassies in the UK.
The cost of a further three months policing is now expected to have taken the total bill to about £10 million ($15 million).
“It is embarrassing to see the UK government spending more on surveillance and detaining an uncharged political refugee than on its investigation into the Iraq war, which killed hundreds of thousands,” WikiLeaks spokesman Kristinn Hrafnsson said.
Julian Assange has attacked Sweden, saying the country had “imported Guantanamo’s most shameful legal practice – indefinite detention without charge”.
In August 2014, Julian Assange indicated he would “soon” leave the embassy, where he has now been for more than 950 days, but he remains inside.
Swedish authorities want to question Julian Assange over allegations that he assaulted two women while he was in Stockholm to give a lecture in 2010.
A Swedish appeal court upheld an arrest warrant against Julian Assange in November 2014.
UK courts have repeatedly ruled that he should be extradited to Sweden to face questioning.
But Julian Assange fears he could be extradited to the US to face charges over the release of top-secret documents by WikiLeaks.
He entered Ecuador’s embassy in London after the UK’s Supreme Court dismissed his bid to reopen his appeal against extradition. He was then granted asylum by Ecuador in August 2012.
Julian Assange has been warned he will be arrested if he leaves the embassy, prompting the 24-hour guard by Metropolitan Police officers.
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Footage of the aftermath of the police shooting of Mark Duggan, whose death in north London sparked the 2011 summer riots, has emerged to media.
The footage, by someone who says they witnessed the shooting, includes attempts to save Mark Duggan’s life following the incident last August.
On the tape, the witness recounts that Mark Duggan jumped out of a car and police twice shouted: “Put it down.”
The witness who provided the footage to the BBC has asked to remain anonymous.
Mark Duggan was shot by police on 4 August in north London. Within days there was rioting in Tottenham – the scene of the shooting – which then spread across England in the worst disorder in a generation.
The father-of-four was a passenger in a minicab which was stopped in a planned operation involving the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Trident, which investigates gun crime affecting black communities, and officers from the specialist firearms team CO19.
Footage of the aftermath of the police shooting of Mark Duggan, whose death in north London sparked the 2011 summer riots, has emerged to media
Two shots were fired from a police gun and Mark Duggan died following a single gunshot wound to the chest. A non-police issue firearm was found at the scene.
The pre-inquest review into the death heard earlier this year that the gun had no traces of Mark Duggan’s fingerprints, DNA or blood on it.
The footage begins just minutes after the police opened fire at about 6:15 p.m. It shows the people-carrier minicab that Mark Duggan had been travelling in and three unmarked police cars used to halt the vehicle. Mark Duggan is lying on the pavement as attempts are made to resuscitate him.
Buses initially pass the scene before the police have had time to close roads. As time goes on, paramedics can be seen continuing emergency treatment in vain. Firearms officers wearing baseball caps can be seen moving around the scene.
During the footage, the witness provides occasional commentary of what has happened – and also recounts the moments before the filming began.
According to an audio expert, the witness says: “They blocked him in, they blocked him in. He jumped out… And then he’s taken out, shot him … because I heard them shout at him yeah, put it down, put it down.”
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) had not been able to interview any of the 31 officers who were present at the incident.
All the firearms officers involved in this operation have provided statements to the IPCC but they have all turned down a request to be interviewed. The IPCC does not have the power to compel them to answer questions about what happened there.
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Metropolitan Police in UK have issued a computer-generated image of what Madeleine McCann might look like now, as evidence into her disappearance are reviewed.
The picture, created with the McCann family, shows how Madeleine would look aged nine, the Metropolitan Police said.
Having analyzed the evidence, the Met said it is possible Madeleine McCann is alive, and they believe she was abducted.
Madeleine McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was nearly four when she disappeared from a holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007.
On Tuesday, Det. Ch. Insp. Andy Redwood, who is heading the UK review, said his team was “seeking to bring closure to the case”.
The picture, created with the McCann family, shows how Madeleine would look aged nine
The UK review began last May after Prime Minister David Cameron responded to a plea from Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate.
The Metropolitan Police have been working in “close collaboration” with a senior investigating officer from Portugal’s Policia Judaria.
The review team has been compiling and reviewing material from three separate strands – the Portuguese investigation, inquiries by the UK law enforcement agencies, and the work of private investigators or agencies.
It is believed to be around 40,000 pieces of information equating to about 100,000 pages.
“The intention is to identify from that material investigative opportunities which we will then present to the Portuguese authorities who retain primacy for the investigation.
“Officers have so far identified around 195 such opportunities within the historic material, and are also developing what they believe to be genuinely new material,” said the Metropolitan Police.
The force said the objective of the team was to work with the Portuguese authorities with a view to having the case, closed since 2008, re-opened in due course.
DCI Redwood said: “From the outset we have approached this review with a completely open mind, placing Madeleine McCann at the heart of everything we do.
“We are working on the basis of two possibilities here – one is that Madeleine is still alive; and the second that she is sadly dead,” he said.
The Metropolitan Police have also appealed for anyone with new information to come forward.
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Scotland Yard has charged more than 1,000 suspects over the last weeks London riots.
Tim Godwin, London Metropolitan Police acting commissioner hailed a “significant milestone” as he said a total of 1,005 suspects had been charged after 1,733arrests so far.
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Tim Godwin, who said last weekend that the force was aiming for 3,000 convictions, added that the investigation is “far from over”.
Scotland Yard has charged more than 1,000 suspects over the last weeks London riots
Operation Withern – the force’s investigation into the violence and looting last week – includes 500 officers who have gathered 20,000 hours of CCTV (Closed Circuit TV) footage.
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Forensic officers have made more than 300 submissions to labs from more than 1,100 crime scenes, the force added.
Commissioner Godwin hailed also the work of his officers and Londoners over the response to the crisis.
“Our tireless investigations to find those responsible for last week’s appalling violence continue,” he said.
“Officers across the Met are carrying out great police work, day and night, to gather the kind of evidence which has led to these charges.”
“The response from the public in coming forward with information has been fantastic. I want to thank all communities for their help over the last 10 days and ask for their continued support. If you know anyone involved in the disorder tell us – don’t let them get away with it.”
London Mayor Boris Johnson said:
“Thanks to the commitment and hard work of each and every police officer in London, those responsible for the sickening crimes we saw across the capital last week are swiftly being brought to justice.”
“To have already charged 1,000 people is a testament not only to their dedication, but also to the outstanding support they have had from law-abiding Londoners who will not tolerate this behaviour in their communities.”
“We have shone a torch on London’s criminal fraternity, and this milestone sends out the clear message that offenders will be made to pay for their appalling actions.”
[googlead tip=”patrat_mic” aliniat=”dreapta”]Tuesday, the fourth night of riots in UK. One Nottingham police station was set ablaze by a group of up to 40 people, according to the police, meanwhile there was looting in Manchester and other disturbances in Salford.
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16,000 police officers have been placed on London’s streets in order to prevent a fourth night of disturbances
10:00 p.m., local time. Canning Circus police station in Nottingham was attacked by a group of 40, no injuries were reported and a number of men were detained nearby, said Nottinghamshire police.
Birmingham and other parts of the West Midlands met some trouble, but was relative calm in London as Scotland Yard attempted to put the city in a lockdown with 16,000 police on the streets instead of 6,000 on Monday.
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Scotland Yard gave specific orders to the officers to use each available force including the possible deployment of plastic bullets to tackle widespread rioting and looting as London was flooded with the biggest police presence in British history.
Manchester, looting was taking place across city centre. There were also disturbances in Salford and tense scenes around Shopping City, where a large group of youths had gathered.
Rioters set ablaze a Miss Selfridge shop on Market Street in Manchester city centre. About 100 young people looted Foot Asylum in the Arndale Centre after two of them smashed the windows with stones and jumped into the store carrying out clothing and shoes.
On King Street, a recently opened fashion boutique, owned by former Oasis singer, Liam Gallagher, was been hit by looters too.
A Bang & Olufsen store and a Diesel clothing shop were also broken into, with a chorus of cheers going up among the crowd as the front window of the latter was smashed.
Few looters shouted out for the others to follow, suggesting a degree of co-ordination. They immediately spread away in many directions as police sirens sounded.
An amusement arcade had been looted in Piccadilly Gardens. In Piccadilly Museums, machines were overturned with coins spread across the carpet.
A cafe on Deansgate also had its windows smashed.
Large crowds gathered along the street, while looters helped themselves to bottles of alcohol from a Sainsbury’s Local at the corner of Bridge Street.
The thieving continued for several minutes in front of onlookers.
All the looters had grabbed what they wanted and disappeared into side streets before three police vans arrived.
A jewellers was also reportedly attacked before plain-clothed police nearby ran in to arrest two looters from the shop.
Riot police in vans chased large groups of youths wearing ski masks and hoods as they rampaged through the city streets.
Other gangs prowled the streets on mountain bikes, their faces also masked.
On occasions they could be seen talking to drivers of cars on mobile phones, exchanging information, while they drove around the streets in what appeared to be co-ordinated manoeuvres.
Terry Sweeney, assistant Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police said:
“The force has been engaged with dealing with outbreaks of minor disorder in Salford and Manchester city centre this afternoon, involving a small number of youths. A handful of shops have been attacked by groups of youths who have congregated and seem intent on committing disorder. As we have said, we will not allow such mindless criminal damage and wanton violence to go unpunished and we will arrest and prosecute anyone found to be involved in looting or acts of criminal damage.”
Earlier two cars were set on fire in West Bromwich where shops closed early in the afternoon after rumours of trouble circulated online.
[googlead tip=”lista_mare” aliniat=”stanga”]Police made a total of 36 arrests in the West Midlands on Tuesday night, as fresh disturbances saw looting and vehicles set alight Birmingham, West Bromwich and Wolverhampton.
But West Midlands Police said the disorder was not as severe as Monday’s looting in Birmingham city centre, which led to 142 arrests and saw 13 people taken to hospital.
Shops, including a branch of Marks & Spencer and a hi-fi store, were again targeted in Birmingham tonight, although two groups of youths were largely kept away from the city centre by riot police.
In central Birmingham a fluid mob of up to 300 youths gathered, dispersed and regrouped, attacking shops.
Chased by police, groups tried to get into the Mailbox shopping, office and restaurant centre near the city’s rejuvenated canal basin, and the Pallisades shopping complex above New Street station before staff brought shutters down.
Marks and Spencer’s had windows damaged and a car was set on fire in Albert Street by a large gang retreating from the Dale End part of the centre. House of Fraser was attacked along with a nearby jewellery shop before a line of riot police with batons drove the crowd away.
West Midlands police urged to families with teenagers out to get in touch with them and persuade them to go back home.
3 men had been arrested by 8:00 p.m.
Police pinned 60 rioters in part of Wolverhampton after 5 hours of sporadic violence which left the town centre empty of residents and visitors, with shops shuttered and pubs shutting early. As in Birmingham, a core of several hundred troublemakers continually gathered, dispersed and then picked new targets.
The atmosphere also remained very tense in Handsworth with groups of Afro-Caribbean youths gathering, while Asian shop-owners and security staff stood outside their heavily-shuttered stores.
