Britons cash in as ATM pays out double

London, June 23: Any time double money! An ATM here started paying twice the amount asked for, due to a human error, and hordes of people benefited from the unexpected windfall till it lasted. There was a run on a cash machine in central London when it started paying out double money after an employee accidentally loaded the £10 tray with £20 notes.

Long queues formed outside the Sainsbury's ATM in Tottenham Court Road as word of the unexpected windfall spread like wildfire. Some customers walked away hundreds of pounds better off after withdrawing maximum of £300 on multiple cards and getting the same amount again each time for free. It's not the first time a "doubleyour-money" error has occurred at cash machines and on previous occasions some banks have chosen to write off the losses rather than pursue a large number of claims.

One office worker, who did not wish to be named, said he became aware of the blunder when he went to get cash out at lunchtime on Thursday.

"I realized the machine was paying double, so I queued up again and withdrew even more," he was quoted by the Daily Mail as saying, after benefiting £200 of free cash from the mistake.

"I checked my statement online and it was only showing the amount we had asked for, not what was paid out. It was the best thing in the world," he said.

The cash machine was finally closed down when a customer reported the problem to the supermarket. "We're only human, so on very rare occasions ATMs can be loaded with the incorrect cash which means a few get lucky customers get more than they bargained for," a spokeswoman for Sainsbury's said.

"We'd like to thank our customers for letting the store know and we have turned the machine off while we investigate the matter," she added.

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Spain blocks arms ship from India to Israel amid ongoing Gaza genocide

News Network

May 18,2024

In a humanitarian move, Spain has refused entry to a ship carrying arms from India’s Chennai to Israel to dock at one of its ports, its Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares has said.

The Denmark-flagged cargo ship Marianne Danica sailed from Chennai on April 8 when people in Gaza were observing Ramadan fasting, and was headed to the port of Haifa in Israel, according to maritime tracking portals and Spanish media.

Spain has been extremely critical of the rising civilian casualties due to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and, along with Belgium, has suspended arms exports licenses to Tel Aviv.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal, at the weekly press conference, only said that they have seen the report of the ship and will revert with more information.

Meanwhile, a source said, “Investigation will reveal if the items on board were cleared for export and if the end user is the same as reported by The Guardian because there are items that are not banned for exports.”

Speaking to reporters in Brussels on Thursday on the issue, Mr. Albares had said, “This is the first time we have done this because it is the first time we have detected a ship carrying a shipment of arms to Israel that wants to call at a Spanish port.”

“This will be a consistent policy with any ship carrying arms to Israel that wants to call at Spanish ports. The Foreign Ministry will systematically reject such stopovers for one obvious reason: the Middle East does not need more weapons, it needs more peace,” he stated.

The ship was carrying 27 tonnes of explosives according to local reports. It was to make a port call at Cartegena in Spain.
In February, Mr. Albares said that they had suspended arms export licences to Israel since October 7, which he said made them “realise” the importance of a “fair and lasting solution” to the Palestinian cause.

The incident comes amid an ongoing row between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party and his coalition partners over another ship, Borkum, that was due to dock at Cartegena port on Friday over allegations that it was carrying arms meant for Israel. However, the Spanish government has said that the arms it is ferrying are meant for the Czech Republic.

Belgium had suspended two arms export licences to Israel.

“We welcome the decision of the Spanish government to deny the transit authorisation of the vessel Marianne Danica, in accordance with Tratado (treaty) on Arms Trade and Spanish law,” Amnesty International Spain said on social media platform ‘X’.

The timing also coincides with the Israeli ground offensive inside Rafah. According to the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) at least 6,30,000 Palestinians have been forced out of Rafah since the launch of the incursion on May 7.

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