United States
BBC: Michigan School Killer Could Spend Life In Prison
“Ethan Crumbley, 17, pleaded guilty to terrorism and murder charges last year. He was 15 when he opened fire at Oxford High School, around 30 miles (48km) north of Detroit, in November 2021. The sentencing is set for December. He faces a minimum term of 25 years in prison. Automatic life sentences for criminals aged under 18 have been ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court - even for murder - but they can be imposed by a judge based on the seriousness of the crime, the maturity of the child and other factors. During an online hearing Friday, Judge Kwamé Rowe cited psychological evaluations and said that the attacker's planning, work and social life "does not illustrate the hallmark immaturity of a child". The judge noted that before the attack the attacker wrote 22 pages in his journal about school shootings and conducted significant research online about other school shootings and potential maximum sentences. He killed four students and wounded seven others during the rampage. The shooter pleaded guilty last year to 24 charges, including terrorism, murder, assault and possession of a firearm.”
Turkey
Reuters: After Ankara Bombing, Turkey Hits Back In Iraq And At Home
“Turkey said it unleashed air strikes on militant targets in northern Iraq and detained suspects in Istanbul overnight, hours after Kurdish militants sabÇıbıvid they orchestrated the first bomb attack in the capital Ankara in years. On Sunday morning, two attackers detonated a bomb near government buildings in Ankara, leaving them both dead and wounding two police officers. The outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militant group claimed responsibility. The defence ministry said many militants were "neutralised", a term mostly used to mean killed, in air strikes that destroyed 20 targets - caves, shelters and depots used by the PKK in Iraq's Metina, Hakurk, Qandil and Gara regions. Turkey has stepped up military action against the PKK in northern Iraq over the last few years in operations it says are conducted under self-defence rights arising from Article 51 of the United Nations charter. The PKK is designated a terrorist organisation by Turkey, the United States and European Union. It launched an insurgency in southeast Turkey in 1984 and more than 40,000 people have been killed in the conflict.””
Afghanistan
Reuters: Afghan Embassy In Delhi To Cease Operations From Oct. 1
“The embassy of Afghanistan in India's capital New Delhi will cease operations from Oct. 1, due to a lack of support from India and a reduction in personnel and resources, the embassy said in a statement on social media platform X. The embassy also said a failure to meet expectations in serving Afghanistan's interests is another key factor in shutting of the embassy. "Given these circumstances, it is with deep regret that we have taken the difficult decision to close all operations of the mission with the exception of emergency consular services to Afghan citizens till the transfer of the custodial authority of the mission to the host country," the embassy said in the statement dated Sept. 30. India does not recognise the Taliban government, and closed its own embassy in Kabul after the Taliban took control in 2021, but New Delhi had allowed the ambassador and mission staff appointed by the Western-backed government of ousted Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to issue visas and handle trade matters.”
Reuters: No Current Talks With Taliban, Afghanistan's Massoud Says, Promising Guerrilla Warfare
“There are no talks with the Taliban to negotiate a peace settlement, Afghan anti-Taliban leader Ahmad Massoud said on Thursday, vowing to step up "guerrilla warfare" to bring the hardline Islamists to the negotiating table. Speaking in an interview in Paris, Massoud, the exiled leader of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF), said that the only way for the Taliban to achieve legitimacy would be to hold elections, but there was no prospect of that happening for now. "The Taliban are refusing any talks of negotiation and they just want the world and the people of Afghanistan to just accept that this is the only way going forward, which it is not," said Massoud, son of the former anti-Soviet mujahideen commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, said late on Thursday. The NRF groups opposition forces loyal to Massoud. It opposed the Taliban takeover and clashes have occurred since August 2021 between the two sides in the resistance movement's stronghold of Panjshir, north of the capital Kabul.”
Associated Press: Russia Hosts The Taliban For Talks On Regional Threats And Says It Will Keep Funding Afghanistan
“Moscow will keep helping Afghanistan on its own and through the U.N. food agency, Russian officials said Friday as they hosted Taliban representatives for talks on regional threats The talks in the Russian city of Kazan came as Moscow is trying to maintain its influence in Central Asia even as it wages war on Ukraine. The discussions focused on regional threats and creating inclusive government, Russian state news agency Tass reported. President Vladimir Putin’s special representative for Afghanistan, Zamir Kabulov attended the gathering and said Russia is inclined to keep helping Afghanistan independently and through the World Food Program.”
Pakistan
Voice Of America: Report: Surge In Terrorism Kills More Than 700 Pakistanis
“Militant attacks have surged in Pakistan, killing more than 700 security forces and civilians in the first nine months of the year, according to a report released Saturday. The Islamabad-based independent Center for Research and Security Studies, or CRSS, published the report a day after suicide bombings and insurgent raids in southwestern Baluchistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces killed at least 69 people. No group has claimed responsibility for Friday's deadly violence. The report noted that the number of fatalities from terrorist attacks this year has increased by 19 percent compared to 2022, with the two Pakistani provinces bordering Afghanistan suffering 92% of all fatalities. "Pakistan's security forces lost at least 386 personnel, 36% of all fatalities — including 137 army and 208 police personnel — in the first nine months of 2023, marking an eight-year high," the CRSS said. The report said 33 paramilitary forces, supervised by the army, also were among the fatalities.”
ABC: Pakistani Taliban Attack A Police Post In Eastern Punjab Province, Killing 1 Officer
“Pakistani Taliban fighters attacked a police post in eastern Punjab province early Sunday, killing one officer and injuring three others, and triggering a shootout that killed two of the attackers, officials said. The attack occurred in the Mianwali district of Punjab province and led to an intense exchange of fire as reinforcements arrived at the besieged police post, said Imran Nawaz, a spokesman for the counterterrorism police. A group of 10 to 12 militants attacked the Kundal police post in the Easa Khel area of Mianwali, close to the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, after midnight, Nawaz said. The exchange of gunfire continued for hours, during which two of the attackers were killed and a third was wounded but escaped with the others, Nawaz said. A search operation was underway in the area to find the attackers, he said. Mohammad Khurasani, a spokesman for Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, or TTP, claimed responsibility for the attack.”
Yemen
Reuters: Yemen's National Airline To Suspend Flights From Sanaa To Jordan
“Yemen's national airline will suspend the only international commercial flight from Yemen's capital Sanaa in response to the Houthi administration blocking the carrier from withdrawing its funds in Sanaa banks, four company executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. Yemenia will halt six weekly flights to Jordan in October, the company officials said, after negotiations with the Houthis failed to secure the release of airline funds which executives at the carrier said amounted to $80 million. Yemenia had proposed the Houthi administration take 70% of the funds while the remaining 30% would go to the internationally recognised government, the sources said. The Houthi administration rejected the offer which was when the airline decided to suspend flights to Jordan, they added. Yemenia said in a statement that it had been unable to withdraw its funds in Sanaa banks for several months and called on the Houthi authorities to lift restrictions "illegally" imposed on its assets. Reuters could not reach the Houthi Ministry of Transport for comment.”
Middle East
Reuters: Israeli Troops Kill Hamas Man Who Army Says Attacked Post In West Bank
“Israeli soldiers on Friday killed a member of the Hamas Islamist group who the army said was among assailants who threw fire bombs at a military post in the occupied West Bank. The military said the attack on the post was near Psagot, an Israeli settlement. "Soldiers conducting routine activity at the scene identified the suspects and responded with live fire. Two assailants were neutralized and transferred to receive medical treatment," it said. The Palestinian Health Ministry said one of the men later died of his wounds. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip but has strong support in the West Bank as well, claimed the man as a member. Violence in the West Bank has raged for more than a year, amid stepped-up Israeli military raids, increased settler assaults on Palestinian villages, and a spate of Palestinian attacks on Israelis.”
The Times Of Israel: Gaza Terrorist Group Announces Resumption Of Border Riots After Three-Day Break
“A Gaza group called “Revolutionary Youth,” affiliated with Hamas, announces that it will resume disturbances at the security barrier with Israel today, after a three-day break it had announced Thursday. The group has been carrying out rallies on the border since mid-September, which have often escalated into clashes with Israeli soldiers. Rioters have launched grenades and incendiary balloons across the security fence and placed explosive devices along the barrier. In a statement, the group says it intends to “expand the scope of the confrontation and add fuel to the fire, and ignite our eastern borders with flames and the blast of our bombs,” in response to Israel’s alleged “intensified desecration” of the al-Aqsa compound. The group says it made its decision after a visit by dozens of Jews to the Temple Mount on Sunday, where the al-Aqsa mosque is located, during Sukkot. Palestinian media sources from various factions, including the official Wafa agency, have condemned the visit, claiming that Jews have entered the compound to “perform Talmudic rituals” under the pretext of celebrating Sukkot.”
Somalia
Reuters: Suicide Bomber Kills At Least 7 In Somali Tea Shop; Al Shabaab Claims Responsibility
“A suicide bomber set off an explosion at a shop selling tea in Somalia's capital on Friday, killing at least seven people, a witness and medical personnel. Police put the number of dead at five. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its Arabic media unit Shahada News Agency, the SITE Intelligence Group reported on Friday. It put the number of dead at 11 and wounded at 18; its numbers on casualties in attacks often differ from government figures. The Friday afternoon blast occurred at a checkpoint on a road leading to the parliament and the president's office and the shop is frequented by soldiers, the witness said. The witness and medical personnel who were at the scene put the number of dead at seven and the wounded at up to eight. Sadik Ali, the police spokesperson, said the blast killed five people and wounded six others, adding the bomber was a member of al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group.”
Mali
BBC: Mali Crisis: Fierce Fighting Erupts After Tuareg Rebels Kill 'More Than 80 Soldiers'
“It comes after the separatist fighters said they had killed more than 80 soldiers in the centre of the country. The government confirmed an army base in the Mopti region had been targeted on Thursday, but gave no details. The upsurge in violence comes as UN peacekeepers, deployed to Mali in 2013, withdraw on the orders of the junta. Thursday's raid on the town of Dioura is the most southerly one since Tuareg rebels renewed hostilities in August after the collapse of a 2015 peace deal. This has coincided with growing violence from Islamist militant groups, despite the deployment in December 2021 of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries. The army had already been targeted in Bamba earlier in September by al-Qaeda-linked jihadists. In a social media post, the military said the clashes in Bamba on Sunday had begun at 06:00, describing them as "intense". It did not name the fighters involved, only describing them as "terrorists". An alliance of Tuareg groups, including the Co-ordination of Azawad Movements (CMA), said in a statement that it had now taken control of the area around Bamba, a town on the left bank of the River Niger between the cities of Timbuktu and Gao.”
Africa
BBC: Niger Attack: Soldiers Killed By Hundreds Of Jihadists In Kandadji
“Seven soldiers were killed in combat, while five others died in a road accident responding to the attack. The defence minister said over 100 militants had been killed in a counter-offensive. Jihadist attacks on the army have risen since the military seized power in July. The army said it had staged the coup so it could better fight the militants, some of which are linked to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group. The junta has ordered French troops stationed in the country to help fight the jihadists to leave - last week, French President Emmanuel Macron agreed to withdraw them. The French ambassador left Niger earlier this week after living under a blockade ordered by the junta for several weeks in the embassy. Now back in Paris, Sylvain Itté told French TV that the aim was to "break me down". Reports say soldiers from across the country have been recalled to the capital, Niamey, to guard the coup leaders, leaving large areas vulnerable to militant attacks. At least 17 soldiers were killed last month in another attack near the border with Burkina Faso. This was the deadliest known attack in the country since the coup.”
North Korea
Reuters: North Korea Blames US For 'Grave Terrorist' Act Against Cuban Embassy
“North Korea accused the United States on Sunday of letting a "terrorist" act against Cuba take place on U.S. soil, saying a recent attack against the Cuban embassy in Washington was the result of "despicable anti-Cuban" U.S. intentions. The United States has neglected to ensure the safety of the Cuban mission and was only keen to put countries it dislikes, such as Cuba, on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, a spokesman of North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement. Along with Cuba, North Korea, Syria and Iran are on the State Department list. An assailant attacked the embassy on Sept. 24 with two Molotov cocktails. No one was hurt and there was no significant damage. The incident was "a grave terrorist attack", the North Korean spokesman said, adding there was a pattern as it followed a 2020 incident at the same embassy in which someone fired a rifle at the building. "This goes to prove that the above-said incidents were committed evidently at the tacit connivance of the U.S. administration," the unnamed spokesman said in the statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.”
India
The Times Of India: Delhi Police Arrest NIA's Most Wanted And Suspected ISIS Terrorist Shahnawaz
“In a major crackdown, a special cell of Delhi police arrested National Investigation Agency's (NIA) most wanted and suspected ISIS terrorist Shahnawaz alias Shafi Ujjama and two others. The anti-terror agency had placed a reward of Rs 3 lakhs on the arrested terrorist Shahnawaz. Shahnawaz, who hails from a neighbourhood in south-east Delhi, was also wanted in the Pune ISIS case. An engineer by profession, Shahnawaz had escaped from Pune police custody and was living in Delhi,. reported ANI quoting Delhi police. Shahnawaz was briefly caught by Pune Police on the intervening night of July 17-18 when he was trying to steal a motorcycle in the Kothrud area of Pune. He escaped from custody while he was being taken to his hideout for further questioning. Police later caught two of Shahnawaz's associates - Imran and Yunus - in Pune and realised the men are likely part of an IS-inspired module During investigation, it came to light that a foreign-based handler had possibly put Shahnawaz in touch with Imran and Yunus in February, with instructions to execute a terror strike.”
Technology
Reuters: Court To Weigh State Laws Constraining Social Media Companies
“The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday agreed to decide the legality of Republican-backed state laws in Texas and Florida that constrain the ability of social media companies to curb content on their platforms that these businesses deem objectionable. The justices took up two cases involving challenges by technology industry groups who argued that these 2021 laws restricting the content-moderation practices of large social media platforms violate the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for freedom of speech. Lower courts split on the issue, striking down key provisions of Florida's law while upholding the Texas measure. The industry challengers to the laws are NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), industry groups whose members include Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc (META.O), Alphabet Inc's Google (GOOGL.O), which owns YouTube, as well as TikTok and X, formerly called Twitter. CCIA President Matt Schruers called the court's decision to tackle the case encouraging. "It is high time that the Supreme Court resolves whether governments can force websites to publish dangerous content. Telling private websites they must give equal treatment to extremist hate isn't just unwise, it is unconstitutional, and we look forward to demonstrating that to the court," Schruers said.”
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