Central agencies looking into bomb hoax threat to Bengaluru schools: Home Minister Araga Jnanendra
Bengaluru(PTI): Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Saturday said central agencies are looking into the bomb hoax threat received by multiple private schools in Bengaluru via e-mail, with regards to a terror angle, if any.
At least 15 schools in the city and its outskirts received bomb threats through e-mail on Friday morning triggering panic among students, parents and school managements, which the police later declared as a hoax after conducting searches.
"Searches went on till last night. There was no bomb, it was a hoax. Our police are trying to find out as to who was behind the hoax threat, and central agencies are also specially looking into it seriously," Jnanendra told reporters here.
The home minister, however, did not specify which central agency is involved in the investigation.
Asked whether the state has referred the matter to central agencies, he said, "They have come themselves, to look into terror angle, whether the mail has come from outside... they will also inquire, collect details from our (police) investigation," he added.
Bomb detection and disposal teams were sent to the schools that received threats on Friday to conduct searches, while police teams began investigating about threat e-mails and the sender.
The e-mail threats to schools read, "A very powerful bomb has been planted in your school, attention is not a joke, this is not a joke, a very powerful bomb has been planted in your school, immediately call the police and sappers, hundreds of lives may suffer, including yours, do not delay, now everything is only in your hands!"
Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday commenting on bomb threats said there seems to be a conspiracy to disturb peace in Karnataka, which is a progressive state. He also assured that all the necessary precautionary measures will be taken.
Responding to a question whether the government has taken serious note of Al-Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahiri's video statement in which he has used the recent hijab controversy in Karnataka to target democracy in India, Jnanendra said the government has taken it seriously and all necessary measures are being taken.
"I can't share the details, because it is not a normal thing. He (Zawahiri) is the head of an international terrorist organisation. If he has spoken about our Mandya girl, we have taken it seriously. It is a matter of securing our national unity and integrity, we will do whatever is required for it," he added.
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Health minister Wes Streeting's resignation piles pressure on UK PM Starmer
London (PTI): UK Health Secretary Wes Streeting resigned from the Cabinet on Thursday, declaring that he had lost confidence in the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer.
As a frontrunner to replace Starmer at 10 Downing Street, Streeting is expected to launch his bid to be elected Labour leader if he can secure the backing of the party's requisite 81 members of Parliament.
It piles further pressure on Starmer, who has been attempting to quell an internal rebellion over the devastating results for the governing party in last week’s local elections.
“It is now clear that you will not lead the Labour Party into the next general election and that Labour MPs and Labour unions want the debate about what comes next to be a battle of ideas, not of personalities or petty factionalism," Streeting said in his resignation letter addressed to Starmer.
“It needs to be broad, and it needs to be the best possible field of candidates. I support that approach and I hope you will facilitate it,” he said.
The former minister accused his boss of lacking any vision and overseeing a power “vacuum” and also went on to highlight his own record of leading the Department for Health and Social Care and state-funded National Health Service (NHS).
Streeting added: “The National Health Service is the embodiment of all that is best about Britain and our values. Thanks to our Labour government, it is on the road to recovery: lots done, but so much more to do.
“These are all good reasons for me to remain in post, but as you know from our conversation earlier this week, having lost confidence in your leadership, I have concluded that it would be dishonourable and unprincipled to do so.”
His words are being interpreted as paving the way for a Labour leadership contest, with former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband among his other expected rivals.
While some indications are that this process may not be triggered any time soon, Starmer's future as Labour leader is looking extremely tenuous if the party’s National Executive Committee (NEC) gets involved in a formal election process.
Meanwhile, Rayner issued a statement earlier to confirm that she had been cleared by the UK tax authorities of any wrongdoing over her financial affairs that had forced her to step down from the Cabinet last year.
"I took reasonable care and acted in good faith, based on the expert advice I received, and HMRC [His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs] has accepted this," she said.
This is seen as her declaring her intention to be ready to join the fray, should a Labour leadership election be launched.
The latest turmoil at the top of the British government comes after a series of junior ministerial resignations, with Starmer staying the course by announcing their replacements. Earlier his ally, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, cautioned her colleagues to refrain from plunging the country into chaos and putting the UK’s economic recovery at risk.
“We shouldn’t put that at risk by plunging the country into chaos at a time when there is conflict in the world, but also at a time when our plan to grow the economy is starting to bear fruit," she said.
However, the deep divisions within the Labour Party ranks are only expected to escalate further in the coming days and weeks.
