WORLD> Europe
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WORLD> Europe
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Revellers packed the streets for Notting Hill Carnival
(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-08-26 10:53 It did not go entirely without incident, though. 165 people were arrested on Monday for a variety of offences, including 54 drugs-related crimes, as well as 22 arrests in connection with possession of weapons, in addition to the 110 people arrested on Sunday.
In addition, officers detained 151 people in south London after they received intelligence that a group was travelling to the carnival, the people were detained to "prevent a breach of the peace", with Scotland Yard saying that allowing them to Notting Hill "could have put public safety at risk". A spokesman for London's Metropolitan Police said that, except for those carrying drugs or weapons, they would be released once the carnival had been concluded. The festival was launched in 1959 by post-World War II immigrants from what were then Britain's Caribbean colonies, as a community act of defiance following ugly race riots the year before. It was held in various parts of London before settling permanently in Notting Hill in 1964. The annual event is now the world's second-biggest carnival after Rio de Janeiro. The festival has been marred by violence in recent years. Last year, two teenagers were shot, while two men were murdered in 2000, and memories of riots in 1976 linger. |
