Terrorism

Luca Attanasio, Italy's ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo, has been killed in an armed attack.

According to diplomatic sources in Kinshasa, the ambassador to his injuries on Monday after an attack on a World Food Programme convoy near the city of Goma in the east of the country.

A policeman from the escort and the driver also died.

In a national terrorism bulletin warning, the US Department of Homeland Security warned of heightened domestic terror threat across the United States following the attacks on the US capitol on January 6.

"Throughout 2020, Domestic Violent Extremists (DVEs) targeted individuals with opposing views engaged in First Amendment-protected, non-violent protest activity. DVEs motivated by a range of issues, including anger over COVID-19 restrictions, the 2020 election results, and police use of force have plotted and on occasion carried out attacks against government facilities," the bulletin read. "DHS is concerned these same drivers to violence will remain through early 2021 and some DVEs may be emboldened by the January 6, 2021 breach of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. to target elected officials and government facilities."

The Canadian parliament has called on the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to classify the far-right organization Proud Boys as a terrorist group. A corresponding motion by the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP) was unanimously adopted by MPs on Monday. Proud Boys members had taken part in the violent storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6.

Twin suicide bombings ripped through a busy market in the Iraqi capital Thursday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 73 others, officials said.

No one immediately took responsibility for the attack, but Iraqi military officials said it was the Islamic State group's work.

Iraq's military said at least 28 people were killed and 73 wounded in the attack and said some of the injured were in serious condition. Health and police officials said the toll might be higher. They spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.

The Trump administration added Cuba to a list of state sponsors of terrorism Monday, reversing a signature policy move of the Obama administration and potentially hampering President-elect Joe Biden’s ability to broker a rapprochement to Havana quickly.

A U.S. economic embargo of Cuba already curbs Americans’ ability to do business with or visit the communist island. But the new terrorism label could hinder commercial deals with third countries. Cuba relies on to import essential goods and turn off foreign investors in its all-important tourism industry.

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo accused Cuba of "repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbour to terrorists."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has published a statement, asking for "information related to violent activity at the U.S. Capitol Building" that happened on Wednesday while the US Senate was to certify the Electoral College results.

"The FBI is seeking information that will assist in identifying individuals who are actively instigating violence in Washington, DC. The FBI is accepting tips and digital media depicting rioting and violence in the U.S. Capitol Building and surrounding area in Washington, DC, on January 6, 2021," the statement reads. "If you have witnessed unlawful violent actions, we urge you to submit any information, photos, or videos that could be relevant at fbi.gov/USCapitol. [...] You may also call ‪1-800-CALL-FBI (1-‪800-225-5324) to verbally report tips and/or information related to this investigation."

Henry 'Enrique' Tarrio, leader of rightwing Proud Boys, has been arrested ahead of pro-Donald Trump protests in Washington DC and was charged with destruction of property and possession of firearms. Tarrio allegedly burned a Black Lives Matter banner taken from a historic Black church during a pro-Trump protest on December 12.

"He was charged with Destruction of Property related to an offense that occurred on Saturday, December 12, 2020 in the 900 block of 11th Street, Northwest," DC Metropolitan Police Department Public Information Officer Sean Hickman said. "At the time of his arrest, he was found to be in possession of two high capacity firearm magazines. He was additionally charged with Possession of High Capacity Feeding Device."

A bus was attacked in Syria’s eastern Deir Az Zor province. 13 were wounded and sources report 25-30 people were killed. The bus carried soldiers and pro-government fighters on their way back to their base. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

A heavy explosion occurred at the airport in the Yemeni city of Aden on Wednesday. According to witnesses, the incident occurred shortly after the landing of a plane coming from Saudi Arabia carrying Yemen's new government.

However, the head of the government and its members are fine, according to Information Minister Muammar Al-Erjani. "We assure our people that all cabinet members are safe," he wrote via Twitter. He said it was a "cowardly terrorist attack by the Iran-backed Huthi militia."

The Nashville bomber has been identified as Anthony Quinn Warner, a 63-year-old Nashvillian with extensive experience with electronics and alarm systems, after matching his DNA to remains found at the scene of the explosion.

"We've come to the conclusion that an individual named Anthony Warner is the bomber. He was present when the bomb went off, and then he perished," said Don Cochran, US attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

William Barr has demanded that Libya extradite a suspect in the Lockerbie bombing. The suspect is a former Libyan intelligence officer who allegedly built the bomb for the attack, Barr said. The man is in custody in Libya, he said. The U.S. government will ask the Libyan leadership to extradite him so he can be tried in the United States, Barr said. He said he is optimistic that the Libyan government will comply with the request.

A jumbo jet operated by U.S. airline Pan Am had crashed into the Scottish village of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988. The attack killed 270 people, including eleven villagers. The plane was en route from London to New York at the time. Most of the fatalities were Americans. Barr said the attack was clearly directed against the United States.

A leading Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh was assassinated near the capital Tehran on Friday, Iran's Defense Ministry announced on state television. Iran's state media reports that the scientist died during an attack in the Absard area of the province of Damavand, about 60 kilometres east of Tehran.

Western officials and experts believe Fakhrizadeh played a pivotal role in suspected Iranian work in the past to develop the means to assemble a nuclear warhead behind the facade of a declared civilian uranium enrichment programme.

In 2018, Netanyahu gave a presentation in which he unveiled what he described as material stolen by Israel from an Iranian nuclear archive and showed a photograph of Fakhrizadeh.

Twenty-three rockets have struck Kabul, Afghan, hitting areas in the centre and the north. According to Tariq Arian, spokesman for the interior ministry, the rockets were fired from a small truck. The regional Islamic State group claimed responsibility. At least eight people have been killed, over 30 wounded.

French President Emmanuel Macron criticized the Anglophone media for their suggestion that the core issue on hand is not violence from Islamists, but the racism and Islamophobia in France.

Macron states that the Anglophone media seems to him not able to understand one of the core principles of the French republic, laïcité. France will not give up its special brand of secularism and freedom of speech, which very much includes every kind of satire, Macron says.

As a consequence of the attack in Vienna, the German police union ("Gewerkschaft der Polizei") is demanding that people who pose a risk to society are monitored by federal authorities in the future.

Complete monitoring of potential terrorists is no longer possible due to the lack of personnel at the state level.

Berlin currently counts 88 Islamists, whose surveillance would require 2,640 officials. The land has 190 at its disposal.

Samuel Paty, the teacher decapitated in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine, has been posthumously awarded the Légion d’honneur.

On October 21, during a private ceremony in the Sorbonne university, President Emmanuel Macron bestowed the country’s highest honour on the family of Paty.

Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of France on Sunday in support of Samuel Paty, the teacher beheaded after showing cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad to his pupils.

A protester carried a sign reading "zero tolerance to all enemies of the Republic", another "I am a professor. I'm thinking of you, Samuel."

Over Twitter, the hashtag #JeSuisSamuel was being used to express support for the late teacher.

The French teacher who was brutally murdered in the Paris suburb of Conflans-Sainte-Honorine had been the target of threats prior to his death, France's anti-terrorism prosecutorJean-François Ricard said.

The suspect is an 18-year-old Chechen born refugee living in France. Before the attack, he had asked pupils to point out his victim.

French President Emmanuel Macron has publicly said the beheading of a teacher in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine was an "Islamist terrorist attack". Macron said the teacher, who has yet to be named, was killed because he "taught freedom of expression."

Six people were arrested Thursday morning in a raid over the alleged plot to kidnap Governor Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan. According to the FBI, the group had been planning the plot since June.

They had surveilled Whitmer's vacation home in August and September, and according to the FBI, they indicated that they wanted to take her hostage before the presidential election in November.

Adam Fox, Barry Croft, Kaleb Franks, Daniel Harris, Brandon Caserta, and Ty Garbin were taken into custody in a raid on a house in suburban Detroit on Thursday morning