Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Cameron Recalls Commons as 200 Held in Third Night of London Riots


British Prime Minister David Cameron recalled Parliament from its summer vacation after police made more than 200 arrests in a third night of rioting in London and unrest spread to other British cities.

Cameron cut short his Italian vacation to deal with the violence in which gasoline bombs have been thrown and vehicles and businesses set ablaze. He said there will be 16,000 officers on duty in London tonight to tackle any unrest, up from about 6,000 last night. More than 450 people have been arrested, he said. Sixty-nine people have been charged, according to police.

A statement from the Metropolitan Police reported “serious outbreaks of disorder,” including looting.

A Scotland Yard chief warned that Twitter users could face arrest for inciting violence in the wake of two nights of unrest in London.

But some observers have noted that the social media that has really helped "organize" the looting is not Twitter or even Facebook. Many of the teenagers running through London's streets are communicating by BlackBerry Messenger.

BlackBerrys cost less than smartphones and that BBM is both essentially cost-free and invisible to police.

The below picture shows a woman jumping from a burning house in Croydon.



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