UK remembers London Bridge attack victims on 1st anniversary

LONDON - Britain held a national minute of silence on Sunday, one year on from the London Bridge terror attack that killed eight people and injured dozens more.

Flowers were laid, candles lit and a religious service held at Southwark Cathedral - the spot where three men in a van crashed after careening into crowds, before launching a stabbing spree at nearby Borough Market.

"Today we remember those who died and the many more who were injured, and also pay tribute to the bravery of our emergency services and those who intervened or came to the aid of others," said Prime Minister Theresa May.

She branded the June 3 attack "a cowardly attempt to strike at the heart of our freedoms by deliberately targeting people enjoying their Saturday night with friends and family" and noted that seven of the victims were foreign nationals.

"This is a reflection of our great cosmopolitan capital, whose energy and values brings together people from across the world, and a tragic reminder that the threat from terrorism transcends borders and impacts us all," she said.

May paid tribute to the bravery of first responders and others, including Ignacio Echeverria, a Spanish man who tackled attackers with his skateboard and died in the attack.

On Sunday morning Home Secretary Sajid Javid announced that a new review of counter-terrorism legislation in Britain would be launched on Monday - including a provision to recruit up to 2,000 extra security officers in Britain's intelligence services.

"One of the other announcements I'll be making tomorrow is that MI5 will be sharing much more of its information with other organizations," he said on the BBC's Andrew Marr show.

"Not just with counter terrorism police but neighborhood police, with local government... to make sure that there is a much higher chance of finding some of these extremists and disrupting plots a lot earlier on."

On Friday PC Wayne Marques, who took on the three attackers solo with his baton and was stabbed in the head, revealed he was planning to return to work next month after a year of rehabilitation.

"I'm just basically trying to get as much of me back as possible," he said in a video released by the British Transport Police.

The attackers were shot dead outside Borough Market eight minutes after the first emergency call was made.

The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, one in a six-month campaign of atrocities that swept Britain last year, claiming a total of 35 lives.

AP - AFP