Tag Archives: London

Florida woman killed in London was retired educator

Police officers stand near a forensics tent after a knife attack in Russell Square in London

(Reuters) – A Florida woman killed in a knife attack in London this week was a mother, a retired special education teacher and an avid tennis player, local and national media said on Friday.

Darlene Horton, 64, of Tallahassee died at the scene after a 19-year-old man with suspected mental health problems went on a rampage with a knife in central London’s Russell Square on Wednesday evening, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Five other people were injured in the attack, for which police said there was no evidence of a link to terrorism.

Horton was in London with her husband Rick Wagner, a psychology professor at Florida State University (FSU), the university said on Thursday.

“There are no words to express our heartache over this terrible tragedy,” FSU President John Thrasher said in the statement.

Horton worked as an educator for special-needs children for 30 years, the Wall Street Journal reported. Her friends described her to the Tallahassee Democrat as a dedicated teacher and pleasant personality.

“She is absolutely lovely. Just one of the nicest, sweetest family focused people who is very happy in her space and place,” neighbor Jane Marks said.

Horton loved spending time in London, where her husband taught each summer and her two grown daughters would regularly visit, a friend told the Wall Street Journal.

Horton’s neighbor Mary Alice Linzy told the newspaper that the couple enjoyed entertaining Florida State students and visiting London museums.

“I’m just devastated,” Linzy told the Journal. “She was one of the warmest and most beautiful people. This was somebody that I’ve never seen cross.”

Horton was also involved in the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation and the local humane society, her friends told the Tallahassee Democrat.

Linzy told both papers that her friend was an avid tennis player. Horton and her husband were soon to return to Tallahassee, where her regular doubles match waited.

“I’m just going to miss her so much. She was an inspiration for me,” Linzy said to Tallahassee Democrat. “Every time I step on the tennis court now I’m going to be thinking of Darlene. I just cannot believe it.”

(Reporting by Brendan O’Brien in Milwaukee; Editing by Tom Heneghan)

U.S. woman killed in London knife attack, no evidence of terrorism

Police officers stand near a forensics tent after a knife attack in Russell Square in London

By Costas Pitas and Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) – A U.S. woman was killed and five other people injured by a man with suspected mental health issues who went on a rampage with a knife in central London, but police said there was no evidence that the attack was terrorism related.

Armed police were called at 10:33 p.m. (2133 GMT) after a Norwegian man of Somali origin with a knife started to attack people in London’s Russell Square, an elegant park near the site of a 2005 suicide bombing.

The victim, a U.S. citizen in her 60s, was treated at the scene but pronounced dead a short time later.

Another woman and four men were treated in hospital, though three of them were later discharged. Nationals from Australia, Britain, Israel and the United States were among those hurt.

“All of the work we have done so far increasingly points to this tragic incident as having been triggered by mental health issues,” said London Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley.

“We believe this was a spontaneous attack and that the victims were selected at random,” said Rowley, who is Britain’s most senior anti-terrorism officer.

“So far we have found no evidence of radicalization that would suggest that the man in our custody is in any way motivated by terrorism,” said Rowley. Initially he said that terrorism was a line of inquiry.

Police, who arrived within six minutes of being called, used a Taser electric shock gun while detaining the 19-year-old suspect. He was later formally arrested on suspicion of murder.

Police cordoned off the southern part of the square, which sits at the heart of London’s university area and is close to landmarks such as the British Museum, for several hours as forensics officers examined the attack scene.

Later, workmen hosed blood off the pavement.

“SEVERE THREAT”

London’s Sadiq Khan, the first Muslim mayor of a major Western capital, called for vigilance and urged Londoners to report anything suspicious to the police‎, who increased their presence in the capital.

“The safety of all Londoners is my number one priority and my heart goes out to the victims of the incident in Russell Square and their loved ones,” he said.

Just hours before the Russell Square attack, London’s police chief said that he would deploy an additional 600 armed officers across the capital to protect against attacks.

London counter-terrorism police chiefs have previously warned that Islamic State was seeking to radicalize vulnerable people with mental health issues to carry out attacks. In some operations, police commanders have taken advice from specialist psychologists.

Islamist militants hit London with coordinated suicide bombings on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people. One of the bombs detonated on a bus close to Russell Square.

Since then, dozens of plots have been foiled and there have been smaller-scale attacks, such as the beheading of an off-duty soldier by militant Islamists in a London street in May 2013.

A man who attacked passengers at a London underground train station in December was jailed for life earlier this month. The judge said the attacker was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the offense but may have been motivated by events in Syria.

(Additional reporting by Kylie MacLellan; Writing by Guy Faulconbridge; Editing by Jon Boyle)

British Police Stop UK Islamic Terror Plot

British police have stopped and Islamic terror plot aimed at London.

Four men were taken into custody according to London’s Metropolitan Police.  Police did not release details on the attack but said they were “part of an ongoing investigation into Islamist related terrorism.”

“They have all been taken to police stations in central London and remain in custody,” Metropolitan Police said.

The arrests come on the heels of 10 men arrested two weeks ago on similar terrorism related charges.   The men were charged with supporting a banned organization and encouraging terrorism.

The UK’s Press Association said that radical British cleric Anjem Choudary, who has been accused of brainwashing men in Belgium to fight for Islamic terror groups in Syria, was among the men arrested in late September.

UK officials say that at least 500 British citizens are in Iraq or Syria fighting with Islamic terrorist groups.  The country has banned any Briton who fights with an Islamic terror group from being able to return to the country.

Woman Speaks Out About Abortion Regrets

A woman who aborted her child is speaking out in the London newspapers.

Lora Bishop went to the Daily Mail newspaper after a pro-abortion columnist wrote a piece claiming that her decision to kill her baby via abortion was “no big deal.”

Lora told the Daily Mail about how after her abortion the guilt pounded her to the point that she took an overdose of drugs.  She said that before her abortion the doctor told her not to look at the screen showing her baby on ultrasound because the doctor was concerned she would change her mind and give her baby life.

The Daily Mail also talked to other people who were directly impacted by abortion and shared their stories of the pain that came from the decision to end a child’s life.

A woman named Mary shared about how her life has been tormented following the abortion on her 22-year-old daughter.

“I grieved for the grandchild I would never hold,”  Mary said.  “I understand that women can have very mixed emotions when they have had a termination: relief and sadness.  But I hope that someone can spare a thought for the people who have no say in the matter and do their best to support their daughters, but, ultimately, would rather hold a grandchild in their arms.”

Christian NHS Manager Suspended For Praying For Muslim

A Christian occupational therapist has been disciplined after she prayed for Muslim co-worker who had encouraged her to speak about her faith only to use that to attack.

Victoria Wasteney, who was the Head of Occupational Therapy at the East London NHS trust, prayed for a Muslim colleague who had been going through health issues.  Wasteney asked if she could pray and the co-worker willingly agreed to it.

She also gave the woman a book about a Muslim girl who converted to Christianity that the co-worker gladly accepted before going into a hospital for treatment.

The co-worker then came through treatment and filed a complaint against Wasteney.  She was immediately suspended for nine months pending an investigation into the incident.  The co-worker who filed the complaint had never told Wasteney she was distressed by the prayer or the book.

However, despite the co-worker not showing up to any disciplinary hearing and a witness saying she was pressured into testifying falsely against Wasteney, the Christian woman was found guilty of three offenses:  praying for her colleague, inviting her to a church charity event and giving her the book before her hospital treatment.

Wasteney is appealing the decision. She and her counsel are pointing out that the NHS is openly accommodating to Muslims but actively discriminating against Christians.  An example is allowing Muslims to take breaks five times a day for prayer but refusing to allow Christians to be off on Sundays to attend worship.   Christians are not even permitted to take time off during lunch breaks for prayer or worship.

Former Porn Magazine Editor Now Speaking Out Against Porn

Martin Daubney, former editor of a soft core pornography magazine, has turned his back on the porn industry and is now speaking out against the dangers of pornography for the youth of today.

London’s Daily Mail reported that Daubney has been conducting conversations with teen males about their pornography habits and a research study that has shown porn to be addictive. Daubney is now warning parents of the dangers of pornography on teen males.

Daubney is part of an upcoming documentary called “Porn On The Brain” where he expresses shock and dismay over the extent of teenager’s knowledge of porn.

“I was profoundly saddened by what I had witnessed,” said Daubney. “While teenage boys will always be fascinated by, and curious about, sex, what’s now considered ‘normal’ by under-18s is an entirely distorted view of intercourse and the way relationships should be conducted.”

“When you interview young women about their experiences of sex, you see an increased level of violence: rough, violent sex,” Professor Gail Dines told Daubney as part of the documentary. “That is directly because of porn, as young boys are getting their sexual cues from men in porn who are acting as if they’re sexual psychopaths,” she added. “Pornography is sexually traumatizing an entire generation of boys.”

U.K. Heatwave Melts Roads; Warps Railroad Tracks

In a week where the highest temperature of the year was recorded at Heathrow Airport in London, the U.K. Is facing a serious heat crisis.

London’s Waterloo train station was facing delays after a rail buckled due to the heat. The station’s platforms one through four are closed pending repairs to the warped rail. Network Rail had issued restrictions to trains last week because of the high temperatures trackside. Continue reading →

Islamic Terrorists Kill Soldier On London Street

Two Islamic terrorists almost beheaded an off-duty British soldier on a London street and demanded witnesses record the attack on their cell phones.

The UK’s Counter Terrorism Command is heading up the investigation of the murder. Prime Minister David Cameron told reporters in France where he had been meeting with French President Francois Hollande that the UK will “never buckle” in the face of terror. Continue reading →