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UK police charge 3 in arson attack at Persian-language media organization

LONDON (AP) — British police said Friday they have charged three people in an arson attack at a Persian-language media organization in northwest London.

Oisin McGuinness, 21, Nathan Dunn, 19, and a 16-year-old boy were all charged with arson with intent to endanger life, London’s Metropolitan Police Service said in a statement. McGuinness was also charged with dangerous driving. All three are British nationals.

Police said that officers on patrol in the Wembley area of north London on Wednesday night responded to reports of a burning container thrown toward a building. The unspecified container landed in a car park, where the fire went out. There were no reports of any damage or injuries.

The three suspects were arrested after the black SUV they were riding in crashed while being pursued by police.

The incident followed warnings that the conflict in the U.S.-led war against Iran had heightened ethnic and religious tensions in Britain. Persian is the primary language of Iran.

Police are also investigating an attempted arson attack on a synagogue in northwest London earlier Wednesday and an attack last month that destroyed four ambulances owned by a Jewish charity in north London.

While all three attacks are being treated as separate incidents, counterterror police are conducting the investigations due to the nature of the attacks, their locations and the types of buildings involved, the Met said.

Police said they have not declared the incidents as terror attacks and they “retain an open mind” about the motivation behind the attacks.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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