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Police in the United Kingdom say a man has been arrested on suspicion of murder after three people were found dead on the street in the central English city of Nottingham and three were injured after an attempt to run them over with a van.

Detectives said they had an open mind about the motive for the linked incidents, which began just after 4am and added that counter-terrorism officers were working on the investigation, although they said this was normal.

Two of the those killed were students from one of the city's universities.

A 31-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of murder and detectives said they were not looking for anyone else.

The major operation, which led to many roads across Nottingham being closed, began after police were called to a report of two people being stabbed and left unresponsive on a road in the city centre.

Both were 19 years old.

Officers were then alerted to another incident not far away where someone driving a van had tried to run over three people, leaving one man in a critical condition in hospital while the other two suffered minor injuries.

Another man in his fifties was then found dead from knife injuries shortly afterwards on a road about three kilometres from the first incident.

Police said they believed the suspect had stolen this man's van, which was used to injure the three people.

"We are keeping an open mind as we investigate the circumstances surrounding these incidents and are working alongside Counter Terrorism Policing to establish the facts - as we would normally do in these types of circumstances," Chief Constable Kate Meynell said.

"We are at the early stages of the investigation and need to determine the motives behind these attacks and will keep the public updated as soon as we are able to say more."

Police said they had searched a number of addresses in the city but that there had been no further arrests.

The University of Nottingham said two of those killed were its students.

"We are shocked and devastated by the news and our thoughts are with those affected, their families and friends," the university said on Twitter.

Witness Lynn Haggitt told BBC TV she had seen a van hit a man and a woman who were left lying in the street.

"He went straight into these two people. The woman went on the kerb, the man went up in the air," she said.

"There was such a bang. I wish I never saw it. It's really shaken me up."

Inside one of the police cordons, officers were guarding a white van with its passenger door wide open and a rucksack lying on the ground beside it. It had damage to its bonnet and windscreen.

At Ilkeston Road, where the two people were found dead, medical equipment was strewn across the street.

"I am being kept updated on developments. The police must be given the time to undertake their work," Prime Minister Rishi Sunak wrote on Twitter, calling the incident "shocking".

Several major roads around the city remained closed and the Nottingham tram network was suspended.

"Awful news for our city to wake up to today," Alex Norris, a lawmaker for Nottingham, said on Twitter.

"Our community's thoughts and prayers are with all those affected."

© RAW 2023

British police are questioning a man on suspicion of murder as they seek the motive for a stabbing and van attack in the central English city of Nottingham which left three people dead and another critical.

Two 19-year-olds, a man and a woman who were university students, were found dead on a city centre street with stab wounds after police were alerted about 4am (0300 GMT) on Tuesday.

Another 50-year-old man was also found dead with knife wounds on a road about three kilometres away.

A van, stolen from the 50-year-old victim, was then driven at three people, leaving one critically injured in hospital.

After the vehicle was stopped, police used a stun gun to arrest a 31-year-old man, and say they are not looking for any other suspects.

Counter-terrorism officers are helping with the investigation but Nottinghamshire Police's Chief Constable Kate Meynell said they were keeping an open mind as to what happened.

The BBC reported the suspect was believed to be a migrant of West African origin with a history of mental health issues.

"We are still in the early stages of the investigation and need to determine the motives behind these attacks," Meynell said.

The incident has shocked the city, particularly the student community, with Nottingham home to two universities with more than 50,000 students.

British media said one of the two teenage victims, named as Grace Kumar, had played hockey for England's Under 18 team.

The other, Barnaby Webber, was said to be a keen cricket player.

The University of Nottingham students were attacked as they returned home from a post-exam party, The Times reported.

Webber's parents said their son was "a beautiful, brilliant, bright young man, with everything in life to look forward to".

"Complete devastation is not enough to describe our pain and loss at the senseless murder of our son," they said in a statement released to media.

© RAW 2023

Former US president Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to federal criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national-security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them.

Trump's plea, entered before US Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman in a federal court in Miami, sets up a legal battle likely to play out over coming months as he campaigns to win back the presidency in a November 2024 election.

Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place.

Trump, wearing a blue suit and a red tie, frowned and leaned back in his chair but did not speak during the 47-minute hearing.

He was allowed to leave court without conditions or travel restrictions and no cash bond was required.

Goodman ruled that he was not allowed to communicate with potential witnesses in the case.

Trump's aide Walt Nauta, who is also charged in the case, appeared in court alongside Trump but will not have to enter a plea until June 27 because he does not have a local lawyer.

He, too, was released without having to post bond and was ordered not to talk to other witnesses.

Supporters chanted "We love Trump" as his motorcade departed the courthouse at 3.55pm, roughly two hours after it arrived.

Trump is the first former president to be charged with federal crimes.

Trump has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and accuses Democratic President Joe Biden's administration of targeting him.

He called Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, a "Trump hater" on social media on Tuesday.

During a stop at Versailles - a Cuban restaurant - after the hearing, Trump told supporters that the United States was "rigged," "corrupt" and "in decline".

"We've got a government that's out of control," he said.

Smith accuses Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate and his New Jersey golf club, according to a grand jury indictment released last week.

Photos included in the indictment show boxes of documents stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.

The 37-count indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back.

The indictment also alleges Trump conspired with Nauta to keep classified documents and hide them from a federal grand jury.

Nauta has worked for Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago.

Recent events have not dented Trump's hopes of returning to the White House.

After his arraignment Trump was due to fly from Miami to his New Jersey golf club, where he was scheduled to speak.

Nor have Trump's legal woes hurt his standing with Republican voters.

A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed Trump still led rivals for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin, and 81 per cent of Republican voters viewed the charges as politically motivated.

In an ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted over the weekend 47 per cent of all adults surveyed believed the charges in the documents case were politically motivated, compared with 37 per cent who said they were not.

Most of Trump's Republican rivals for the nomination have lined up behind him and accused the FBI of political bias.

Vivek Ramaswamy, one of those candidates, said outside the Miami courthouse that he would pardon Trump if he were elected.

Trump faces charges that include violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalises unauthorised possession of defence information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

That is the maximum sentence he faces, as he would serve any sentences concurrently if convicted.

Legal experts say the evidence amounts to a strong case, and Smith has said Trump will have a "speedy" trial.

Experts say the complexities of handling classified evidence and legal manoeuvring by Trump's lawyers could delay a trial by more than a year.

In the meantime, Trump is free to campaign for the presidency and could take office even if he were to be found guilty.

with AP

© RAW 2023