British woman pleads guilty to plotting
bomb attacks in London
By Clyde Hughes
Prosecutors said she was arrested after disclosing plot details to undercover investigators.
Photo by London Metropolitan Police/EPA-EFE
Feb. 21 (UPI) -- A British woman pleaded guilty to terror-related charges in a London court Friday, in connection to a plot to bomb a hotel and the city's historic St. Paul's Cathedral.
Safiyya Amira Shaikh, a Muslim convert and Islamic State supporter, entered the plea in Central London Criminal Court.
Born Michelle Ramsden before converting in 2007, she was accused of preparing terrorist acts and disseminating of terrorist publications. The judge set her sentencing for May 11.
Authorities said Shaikh admitted plans to undercover officers for a suicide-bombing at the cathedral, and said she wanted to kill as many victims as possible. Metropolitan Police also said she shared terrorist documents on a messaging app for weeks last year as she was plotting the attacks. She was arrested last fall.
The 36-year-old woman began following Islamic militants online and became severely radicalized in 2015, police said, adding that she wanted to strike a historic landmark at peak visiting hours.
Built in 1675, St. Paul's was the first cathedral built after English Reformation when King Henry VIII moved the Roman Catholic Church from Britain. It has long been a tourist attraction and has hosted major events in London.
Anti-terrorism monitoring group blacklists Iran
By Danielle Haynes
President of Iran Hassan Rouhani speaks at the 74th General Debate at the United Nations General Assembly
on September 25. The Financial Action Task Force had given Iran until February to pass anti-terrorism
legislation, but it didn't. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI
on September 25. The Financial Action Task Force had given Iran until February to pass anti-terrorism
legislation, but it didn't. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI
Feb. 21 (UPI) -- An international antiterrorism group voted to keep Iran on its blacklist for failing to stop financing terrorism, the group announced Friday.
The Financial Action Task Force made the decision during its three-day meeting in Paris.
The monitoring group had given Tehran a February deadline to halt the bankrolling of terror groups and individuals by passing legislation on the issue. Since it didn't, the FATF moved Iran back onto its blacklist, imposing sanctions on Iran from the member countries.
The FATF had temporarily moved Iran onto a so-called gray list in 2016 to give it more access to the international banking system as it worked toward passing legislation.
The move will likely complicate Tehran's efforts to do business in the European Union after the United States re-imposed sanctions after breaking from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action -- the so-called Iran nuclear deal.
The FATF also voted to move several other countries onto its gray list of non-compliant nations, including Albania, Barbados, Jamaica, Mauritius, Myanmar, Nicaragua and Uganda. It removed Trinidad and Tobago from the gray list entirely.
Shock as Ryanair CEO says
'terrorists are generally Muslim'
In racist remarks, calls for profiling of Muslim men at airports
Is it racist if it is true?
London: Muslim men should be profiled at airports as terrorists will “generally be of a Muslim persuasion”, Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said in an interview published Saturday, sparking accusations of racism.
“Who are the bombers?” the budget airline’s controversial chief executive said while discussing airport security in the interview with the Times newspaper.
“They are going to be single males travelling on their own... If you are travelling with a family of kids, on you go; the chances you are going to blow them all up is zero.”
“You can’t say stuff, because it’s racism, but it will generally be males of a Muslim persuasion. Thirty years ago it was the Irish.”
A spokesman from the Muslim council of Britain accused O’Leary of “Islamophobia”.
O’Leary was “encouraging racism”, Labour MP Khalid Mahmoud told the newspaper.
“In Germany this week a white person killed eight people. Should we profile white people to see if they’re being fascists?”
It may come to that if truth continues to be politically incorrect and unacceptable to governments and media. The growth of far-right extremists are a consequence of the lack of effort, or acknowledgment, of the governments and media that there is a severe problem with Muslims living in Europe. Until they do, we can expect far-right extremists to continue to grow in numbers and in violence.
Car rammed German parade crowd in ‘attack’
injuring dozens
© Elmar Schulten/Waldeckische Landeszeitung via REUTERS
A silver Mercedes was intentionally driven into a crowd during a parade in the central German town of Volksmarsen on Monday, according to police, injuring around 30 people. One suspect has been arrested.
The incident unfolded at around 2:30pm local time during a Carnival procession in the town, when the silver station wagon ran through a barrier and plunged into the crowd, German media reports.
The male driver was arrested at the scene, with police describing him as a 29-year-old German from the region. Frankfurt prosecutors have said that he is also injured, so cannot be questioned yet.
RT✔
@RT_com
A silver Mercedes was intentionally driven into a crowd during a parade in #Germany's #Volksmarsen injuring around 30 people, no sign it was politically-motivated – police https://on.rt.com/abkx
ISCResearch
@ISCResearch
#Breaking: A car rushed into the crowd gathered for #Carnaval in #Volkmarsen (#Germany)
At least 10 people were injured, including children.
The driver was arrested. It is not known if this is an accident or an attack. (Hessenschau)
A police spokesman said that the suspect drove his car into the crowd “deliberately,” according to newspaper Die Welt.However, the driver’s motives remain unclear and investigators are currently treating the case as attempted homicide.
Meanwhile, Bild cites police as saying that although they assume it was an attack, there are no indications it was a politically-motivated crime. German tabloid Bild reported that the man was known to police, and had a record of harassment and trespassing.
Eyewitnesses told HNA that it sounded like the vehicle drove faster as it was approaching the people.
Several of the victims - including children - have sustained serious injuries, police said.
The town was celebrating Rose Monday, a traditional event held annually on the Monday before the start of the Christian period of Lent. Volkmarsen has a population of around 6,800 people, of whom some 1,500 were expected to attend the parade.
All other carnivals in the state of Hesse have been cancelled as a “precautionary measure,” police said on Twitter, adding that they currently have no information about the possibility of similar ramming incidents taking place elsewhere in Germany.
Update 25/02/2020: Nearly 60 people have been reported as injured today. A second man was arrested at the scene, and is accused of filming the incident, prosecutors told Reuters. His suspected links to the driver are being investigated. Still no name or motive identified.
The incident comes less than a week after a gunman carried out mass shootings at two hookah bars in Hanau (6th story on link), Germany, killing nine people. The suspect was later found dead at his home along with the body of his mother.
Israel intercepts 12 out of 14 missiles fired from Gaza in latest cross-border flare-up – IDF
The Iron Dome anti-missile system intercepts rockets from Gaza, in Sderot, southern Israel February 24, 2020.
© REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
Israel has shot down twelve projectiles, hours after the IDF carried out attacks inside Syria and Gaza. The Israeli military has claimed that its initial strikes were aimed at terrorist targets.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced on Twitter that air sirens had gone off in southern Israel on Monday, after fourteen projectiles were fired into Israel from Gaza. The IDF claims that twelve of the missiles were successfully intercepted.
Videos posted to social media purportedly show Israel’s Iron Dome anti-air defense system in action. There are no reports of injuries. The Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group reportedly claimed responsibility for the attacks.
🇵🇸🇾🇪🇮🇶🇸🇾🇱🇧🇦🇫🇳🇬🇮🇷🇮🇳🇵🇰
@g8sin
Occupied Palestine is under attack by Hamas. #BREAKING
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan told the media that he believes the rocket barrage has prompted Tel Aviv to seriously consider a “large-scale operation” in the Gaza Strip.
The missile attack comes just hours after Israeli fighter jets launched airstrikes on Sunday, claimed to have targeted Islamic Jihad positions in Syria and Gaza.
Footage posted by Palestinian media purportedly shows an Israeli strike on Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. The clip shows a large explosion, followed by smoke rising from a nearby structure.
The flare-up in violence follows a spike in Palestinians’ outrage after the Israeli army used a bulldozer to scrap (scrape) the body of man who was shot dead by the IDF for trying to place an explosive at the border fence.
What's the problem with that? He's in Paradise raping virgins now, right?
Man arrested in Toronto hammer attack now facing
terrorism-related charge
terrorism-related charge
Saad Akhtar, 30, charged with 1st-degree murder
in death of Scarborough woman
CBC NewsPolice said Tuesday that Saad Akhtar, 30, of Toronto had his charges updated to first-degree murder including terrorist activity.
The charge was updated because of a collaborative investigation with the RCMP's Integrated National Security Enforcement Team, police spokesperson Meaghan Gray told CBC News.
Police say the attack appears to be an isolated incident and there is no further known threat to the public.
Investigators did not say what led them to upgrade Akhtar's charge, except that "evidence was discovered" that "led investigators to believe the homicide may have been a terrorist-related offence."
The arrest stems from Friday evening, when police were called to the area of Sheppard Avenue and Havenview Road, east of McCowan Road, for a possible medical complaint.
They arrived to find a woman lying in the street, wounded. She was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim has been identified as 64-year-old Hang-Kam Annie Chiu of Scarborough.
Homicide Insp. Hank Idsinga said in a statement the Toronto Police Service is "committed to working with our partners … to ensure a successful outcome for this case."
"Today's announcement is a result of the good work that is done when the dedication of our members, the assistance of the public, and the involvement of our intelligence partners comes together to investigate an incident of national security," said RCMP Supt. Christopher deGale, in a statement.
Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-4200 or leave an anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers by calling 416-222-TIPS.
Police foil plot to attack school in southwest Russia
By Clyde Hughes
Investigators said the boys were planning the assault for May.
File Photo by FotograFFF/Shutterstock/UPI
Moscow's Federal Security Service said it arrested the 14-year-old boys and found at least one gun at an abandoned bomb shelter in Saratov, which is located about 430 miles southeast of Moscow. Officials said they were planning to use a shotgun and an "incendiary mixture" in the attack.
The FSS said one of the boys made a video that described a coming attack in May, which he said would be an act of revenge. One of the boys planned to kill at least 40 people, his accomplice said.
Authorities said the teens often visited online communities that promote mass murder and suicide, and planned to build bombs with information they found on the Internet.
"The thwarted attack was organized by two Russian citizens born in 2005," the FSS said.
"The teenagers were nabbed at an abandoned bomb shelter, where they kept a sawed-off hunting shotgun."
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