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Palestine Action activists convicted in UK for break-in at Israeli defense factory

LONDON (AP) — Four Palestine Action activists were convicted Tuesday of breaking into an Israeli defense factory in the U.K. and smashing equipment with sledgehammers and crowbars.

Jurors in Woolwich Crown Court found Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio and Fatema Rajwani guilty of criminal damage. They face sentencing June 12.

The attack was one of the events that led the government to ban the group as a terrorist organization. London’s High Court said that decision was unlawful, but has kept the ban in place while the government appeals.

The group said they wanted to dismantle drones and weaponry they believed would be used to kill people.

Head was behind the wheel of a van that crashed through the gates of the Elbit Systems factory in Bristol on Aug. 6, 2024.

The four activists, dressed in red jumpsuits, began destroying property before ending up in a fight with security guards and police that left one officer with a broken back.

Prosecutor Deanna Heer said the attack was “meticulously organized” to cause maximum damage and get information about the company. The raid caused an estimated 1 million pounds ($1.36 million) in damage.

Corner was also convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm for striking police Sgt. Kate Evans twice in the back with a sledgehammer, fracturing her spine.

Two others, Zoe Rogers and Jordan Devlin, were acquitted of criminal damage.

The convictions followed a previous trial in which jurors acquitted the six of aggravated burglary but could not reach verdicts on criminal damage charges.

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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