Air India crew member, catering staff held for smuggling gold worth Rs 72.46 lakh: Customs
New Delhi, Dec 7: An Air India crew member and a catering staff were arrested by the customs officials for allegedly trying to smuggle into the country gold valuing about Rs 72.46 lakh at the Indira Gandhi International airport here, an official statement said on Monday.
The crew, who had come in a flight from London on Sunday, after seeing the customs officers had secreted the gold in the overhead bin of the aircraft, it said.
The officers later apprehended the staff of the catering company - M/s Ambassador Sky Chef - and based on the discussion between the above said crew of Air India and staff of the catering company recovered four kadas' of gold coated with silver colour from the aircraft on the identification of the crew, the statement issued by the customs said.
The total weight of the recovered gold is 1.667 kg, having tariff value of Rs 72.47 lakh, it said.
The gold was seized and both the accused were arrested, according to the statement.
Further, both the above said persons admitted their role in smuggling of 1.5 kg of gold on December 3, 2020 from London into India, it said.
Thus, these two persons were directly or indirectly involved in the smuggling of gold to the tune of 3.11 kg (1.5 kg on December 3 and 1.667 kg on Sunday), the statement added.
Delhi Airport Customs based on intelligence intercepted a Air India Crew & 1 catering staff regarding Flight AI162 arriving from London on Dec.6 & seized 1667 gms gold valued at Rs.72.47 lakhs in the form of 4 silver coated crudely shaped kadas. Detailed press release attached. pic.twitter.com/2WX0GwZ6NF
— Delhi Customs (@Delhicustoms) December 7, 2020
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Trump sues BBC for USD 10 billion, alleges defamation over edited Jan 6 speech
Washington (AP): President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday seeking USD 10 billion in damages from the BBC, accusing the British broadcaster of defamation as well as deceptive and unfair trade practices.
The 33-page lawsuit accuses the BBC of broadcasting a “false, defamatory, deceptive, disparaging, inflammatory, and malicious depiction of President Trump,” calling it “a brazen attempt to interfere in and influence” the 2024 US presidential election.
It accused the BBC of “splicing together two entirely separate parts of President Trump's speech on January 6, 2021” in order to ”intentionally misrepresent the meaning of what President Trump said.”
The lawsuit, filed in a Florida court, seeks USD 5 billion in damages for defamation and USD 5 billion for unfair trade practices.
The BBC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
The broadcaster apologised last month to Trump over the edit of the Jan. 6 speech. But the publicly funded BBC rejected claims it had defamed him, after Trump threatened legal action.
BBC chairman Samir Shah had called it an “error of judgment,” which triggered the resignations of the BBC's top executive and its head of news.
The speech took place before some of Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol as Congress was poised to certify President-elect Joe Biden's victory in the 2020 election that Trump falsely alleged was stolen from him.
The BBC had broadcast the hourlong documentary — titled “Trump: A Second Chance?” — days before the 2024 US presidential election. It spliced together three quotes from two sections of the 2021 speech, delivered almost an hour apart, into what appeared to be one quote in which Trump urged supporters to march with him and “fight like hell.” Among the parts cut out was a section where Trump said he wanted supporters to demonstrate peacefully.
Trump said earlier Monday that he was suing the BBC “for putting words in my mouth.”
“They actually put terrible words in my mouth having to do with Jan. 6 that I didn't say, and they're beautiful words that I said, right?" the president said unprompted during an appearance in the Oval Office. "They're beautiful words, talking about patriotism and all of the good things that I said. They didn't say that, but they used terrible words.”
The president's lawsuit was filed in Florida. Deadlines to bring the case in British courts expired more than a year ago.
Legal experts have brought up potential challenges to a case in the US, given that the documentary was not shown in the country.
The lawsuit alleges that people in the US can watch the BBC's original content, including the “Panorama” series, which includes the documentary, by using the subscription streaming platform BritBox or a virtual private network service.
The 103-year-old BBC is a national institution funded through an annual license fee of 174.50 pounds (USD 230) paid by every household that watches live TV or BBC content. Bound by the terms of its charter to be impartial, it typically faces especially intense scrutiny and criticism from both conservatives and liberals.
