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Days before Trump exit, US rebrands Cuba state sponsor of terror
Washington (AFP) - President Donald Trump's outgoing administration on Monday returned Cuba to the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, the latest in a slew of last-minute actions to hinder President-elect Joe Biden's diplomacy. The terror designation severely hampers foreign investment and can only be removed after a formal review by the Biden administration, meaning it may remain in force for months and slow efforts to ease tensions. With nine days left in office, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo cited Cuba's ties with Colombian rebels, alliance with leftist Venezuela and sanctuary to...
AFP
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Lindsey Graham says Capitol attackers were 'domestic terrorists,' president's actions were the problem
COLUMBIA, S.C. — U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, called the mob that stormed the Capitol on Wednesday domestic terrorists and said that had the law enforcement in charge of defending the nation's seat of power been in the military, they would have been court-martialed for their failure. "The first thing that stands out to me is how embarrassed and disgusted I am that the United States Capitol could be taken over by domestic terrorists while we're in session, transferring power from one president to the other, that a band of people who are terrorists not pa...
The State (Columbia, S.C.)
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Nashville suspect sent packages to ‘acquaintances’ before Christmas suicide bombing, including letter about lizard people, 9/11 conspiracy: report
In the days before he allegedly blew himself and an RV up in downtown Nashville, Anthony Warner sent a series of packages to “acquaintances” around the country, FBI officials said Saturday. Warner, 63, has been blamed for the Christmas morning bombing that injured three people and damaged dozens of building, but officials are still working to determine a motive and have cautioned that they may be unable to do so after he died in the blast. One of the packages showed up on New Year’s Day, postmarked two days before the bombing, WTVF reported, with at least nine typed pages and two Samsung thumb...
New York Daily News
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Cuba warns US against new terror designation
Washington (AFP) - Cuba on Wednesday warned the outgoing US administration against redesignating the island as a state sponsor of terrorism, a move reportedly under discussion that could hinder President-elect Joe Biden's diplomacy. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is reviewing the possibility before leaving office on January 20 of returning Cuba to the blacklist, which severely impedes foreign investment, a person familiar with the situation said. CNN, quoting an unnamed senior administration official, said that Pompeo would make the designation "in the coming days." The New York Times first r...
AFP
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Do cellphone records prove Sacramento ISIS terror suspect is falsely accused of murder?
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — For more than a year, federal defenders in Sacramento have been working to get records out of Turkey that they say will prove their case that Omar Ameen, a Sacramento truck mechanic arrested in August 2018 and accused of murdering an Iraqi police officer in 2014, is innocent. Now, as Ameen sits in the Sacramento County Jail awaiting word on whether he will be extradited to face trial in Iraq and, possibly, executed, his lawyers have what they've been waiting for: cellphones records from Turkey that they say prove he could not have been in Iraq the day police Major Ihsan Ab...
The Sacramento Bee
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Tennessee man charged after driving white box truck playing similar audio as Nashville bomber
A man who played “similar” audio outside a Tennessee church as the Nashville suicide bomber on Christmas Day has been arrested, local police announced Sunday night. James Turgeon, 33, drew fears of a copycat Sunday when he parked a white box truck outside Kings Chapel Independent Missionary Baptist Church and convenience store playing similar recordings to those played by Anthony Warner, who allegedly blew his RV up in downtown Nashville. The Rutherford County Sheriff’s Office began receiving 911 calls around 10:30 a.m. Sunday about the truck and caught up to Turgeon during a traffic stop in W...
New York Daily News
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German synagogue attacker handed life sentence for 2019 incident
A 28-year-old man who confessed to carrying out a 2019 terrorist attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, has been handed a life sentence by a German court. A regional court in Naumburg determined that, once Stephan Balliet had served out the 15-year sentence, he would be subject to preventive detention. This is the maximum penalty available under German law and the decision cannot be appealed. The lead judge in the case, Ursula Mertens, referred to the incident as a "cowardly attack" and acknowledged the special gravity of the crime. Balliet, who responded to the verdict without emotion, has ...
DPA
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German synagogue attacker handed life sentence
A 28-year-old man who confessed to carrying out a 2019 terrorist attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, has been handed a life sentence by a German court.
DPA
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German synagogue attacker handed life sentence for 2019 incident
A 28-year-old man who confessed to carrying out a 2019 terrorist attack on a synagogue in Halle, Germany, has been handed a life sentence by a German court. A regional court in Naumburg determined that, once Stephan Balliet had served out the 15-year sentence, he would be subject to preventive detention. This is the maximum penalty available under German law. Ballier has confessed to attempting to storm a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, on October 9 last year. He was unable to gain entry to the synagogue, but went on to kill a passer-by identified as Jana L, be...
DPA
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Defendant arrives for verdict in German synagogue attack trial
A German court is expected to hand down its verdict on Monday, 14 months after a right-wing terrorist attack on a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle. Stephan Balliet, a 28-year-old German man, arrived at the court on Monday to hear the reading of the verdict, which is scheduled for 11 am (1000 GMT). He has confessed to attempting to storm a synagogue on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, on October 9 last year. He was unable to gain entry to the synagogue, but went on to kill a passer-by identified as Jana L, before killing Kevin S, a young man in a kebab shop. He has been...
DPA