MADRID: A Spanish court on Tuesday sentenced a pensioner to 18 years in prison over letter bombs sent to Spain’s prime minister and the US and Ukrainian embassies in 2022.
Pompeyo Gonzalez Pascual — who opposed Western support for Ukraine following Russia’s February 2022 invasion — was found guilty of terrorism and manufacturing explosives, ruled Spain’s top criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional.
The homemade devices were sent to targets including Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Defense Minister Margarita Robles, the US and Ukrainian embassies, a Spanish arms firm that makes grenades donated to Ukraine and a major Spanish military base.
A Ukrainian embassy staffer sustained light injuries while opening one of the packages. The other packages were intercepted by security staff.
The court said a 76-year-old Gonzalez Pascual had aimed to “cause a profound upheaval in Spanish society that would exert pressure so the governments of Spain and the United States and other entities based in Spanish territory would stop supporting Ukraine.”
An expert who examined Gonzalez Pascual’s computer told the court they found evidence of “searches for how to prepare explosive devices” and of his visiting “media propaganda channels related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.”
At his home, investigators found a workshop containing soldering equipment, tools, metal parts and screws compatible with the letter bombs sent as wells as indications of preparatory work to construct more devices.
Gonzalez Pascual was arrested in January 2023 and put in pre-trial detention but a judge granted him conditional release earlier this year on grounds he wasn’t in a position to destroy evidence or likely to reoffend and had no previous convictions.
At the time, the judge said there were “no indications” he had acted in conjunction with “any organized terror group.”
After the embassy attack, Ukraine’s ambassador to Spain, Serhii Pohoreltsev, pointed the finger at Russia and Kyiv ramped up security at its embassies around the world.
Spain jails pensioner 18 years over letter bombs
https://arab.news/9xmus
Spain jails pensioner 18 years over letter bombs
- Pompeyo Gonzalez Pascual — who opposed Western support for Ukraine following Russia’s February 2022 invasion — was found guilty of terrorism and manufacturing explosives
- A Ukrainian embassy staffer sustained light injuries while opening one of the packages
Pope urges end to Papua New Guinea tribal conflicts and fair, sustainable extraction of resources
- The pope appealed for a sense of civic responsibility and cooperation to prevail, to benefit everyone
- Francis is on an 11-day, four-nation tour through Southeast Asia and Oceania, the longest and most challenging of his pontificate
PORT MORESBY, Papua New Guinea: Pope Francis called Saturday for an end to tribal conflicts that have wracked Papua New Guinea for decades and appealed for equitable development of its natural resources during a visit that also surfaced its problem of violence against women.
Dancers in swishing grass skirts performed for Francis as he opened his first full day in the South Pacific country with a mix of political and church business. He met with the governor general and dignitaries from around the region, and then addressed government authorities before visiting with local priests, nuns and street children.
Francis is on an 11-day, four-nation tour through Southeast Asia and Oceania, the longest and most challenging of his pontificate. He landed on Friday evening in Port Moresby, the capital of the Commonwealth nation, from Jakarta, Indonesia to open the second leg of his journey.
During his speech to government authorities and diplomats, Francis marveled at the diversity of Papua New Guinea’s people – there are some 800 languages spoken here – saying their variety must be “a challenge to the Holy Spirit, who creates harmony amid differences!”
But he also noted that such diversity has long created conflict here, a reference to the tribal violence over land and other disputes that have long characterized the country’s culture but have grown more lethal in recent years. Francis appealed for a sense of civic responsibility and cooperation to prevail, to benefit everyone.
“It is my particular hope that tribal violence will come to an end, for it causes many victims, prevents people from living in peace and hinders development,” he said.
If people agree to sacrifice their personal interests for the common good, he said, “the necessary forces can be used to improve infrastructure, address the health and educational needs of the population and increase opportunities for dignified work.”
The poor, strategically important Commonwealth nation is home to more than 10 million people, most of whom are subsistence farmers.
Papua New Guinea’s governor general, Bob Bofeng Dadae, referred to the violence in his remarks, calling in particular for the need to protect women and respect their rights. It was a reference to the gender violence that has been normalized in a country where allegations of sorcery are common.
According to UN Women, 60 percent of the country’s women have experienced physical and or sexual violence from an intimate partner at some time in their lives, double the global average. Papua New Guinea ranked 160 out of 161 countries on a UN gender inequality index in 2021.
“We want to acknowledge the role of the woman and air the need for protection,” Bofeng Dadae said. “We also recognize the physical and the spiritual care that the church continues to give to those that are being abused, neglected or rejected by families and communities.”
Francis amended his remarks to pick up on the theme, saying women “are the ones who carry the country forward, they give life, build and grow a country, let us not forget the women who are on the front line of human and spiritual development.”
Francis also called for fair and environmentally sustainable extraction of country’s vast natural resources, which include gold, nickel and natural gas. Disputes over how wealth should be distributed and who is entitled to mining royalties which have often led to conflicts.
Francis, who has written entire encyclicals about the environment, has long insisted that development of natural resources must benefit local people, not just the multinational companies that extract them, and be pursued in an environmentally responsible way to preserve them for future generations.
He made that argument again Saturday, saying Papua New Guinea’s resources “are destined by God for the entire community.”
“Even if outside experts and large international companies must be involved in the harnessing of these resources, it is only right that the needs of local people are given due consideration when distributing the proceeds and employing workers,” he said.
“These environmental and cultural treasures represent at the same time a great responsibility, because they require everyone, civil authorities and all citizens, to promote initiatives that develop natural and human resources in a sustainable and equitable manner,” he said.
Finally, Francis called for a “definitive solution” to the question of Bougainville, an island region whose people voted overwhelmingly to become independent from Papua New Guinea in 2019. The outcome of the nonbinding referendum has not been implemented.
Later Saturday, Francis was visiting with charity workers who care for street children and then meeting with Papua New Guinea’s clergy and religious sisters at a Marian sanctuary. On Sunday, he travels deep into the jungle to meet with Argentine missionaries.
Despite the rigors of the trip and jet lag (Papua New Guinea is eight hours ahead of Rome time), the 87-year-old Francis appeared in relatively good form, though he coughed through his speech. He smiled as he handed out candies to young children dressed in traditional clothes who had performed for him.
Francis is the second pope to visit Papua New Guinea, after St. John Paul II visited first in 1984, then in 1995 to beatify Peter To Rot, a Catholic layman who was declared a martyr for the faith after he died in prison during World War II.
Brazil probes ice buildup in plane crash that killed 62
BRASILIA/SAO PAULO: A preliminary report into the August crash of an airliner in Brazil found signs of ice buildup on the plane but no definite cause for the accident, the country’s Center for Research and Prevention of Aeronautical Accidents (Cenipa) said on Friday.
The document pointed out that icing detectors had been activated on airline Voepass’ aircraft, and a Cenipa official told a press conference that cockpit recordings showed the copilot said there was “a lot of icing” during the flight.
According to investigators, that comment indicates that the plane’s de-icing system might have failed, but Cenipa said that information still needed to be confirmed.
Three experts interviewed by Reuters suggested that icing could have played a role in the crash, but urged caution as the report is preliminary and accidents are caused by multiple factors.
The ATR-72 aircraft from local carrier Voepass swirled out of control before plunging to the ground on Aug. 9, killing all 62 on board.
According to Cenipa, investigations into the crash will probably last for over a year.
US aviation safety expert Anthony Brickhouse said: “Everything I have read from the report today is consistent with icing, but accidents are rarely caused by one single event.”
According to officials, loss of speed alerts were triggered, but the ATR’s crew never declared an emergency situation before the plane spiraled down to the ground.
Cenipa officials on Friday also said it is still unclear to them why an aircraft with all necessary certifications ended up losing control and falling. “What we know is that the airplane was flying in an area with severe icing conditions,” said lieutenant colonel Paulo Froes.
The carrier said in a statement that the report confirmed that the aircraft and the pilots were properly certified, adding that the ATR’s required systems were in operation. It added the company would continue cooperating with the investigations.
British PM Starmer visits Ireland seeking to reset relations after election win; sets US trip next week
- Starmer is seeking better co-operation with EU countries, looking to improve diplomatic ties and trading relations without revisiting the fundamental basis of Britain’s departure from the bloc
DUBLIN/LONDON: Keir Starmer will go to Dublin on Saturday, the first visit to the Republic of Ireland by a British Prime Minister for five years, as his new government seeks to improve relations with its nearest neighbor and other members of the European Union.
Next week, he will visit Washington for talks that are expected to touch on the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and other issues.
After his Labour Party won a July election to return to power for the first time since 2010, Starmer has sought better co-operation with EU countries, looking to improve diplomatic ties and trading relations without revisiting the fundamental basis of Britain’s departure from the bloc.
Britain’s 2016 referendum decision to leave the EU put particular strain on Anglo-Irish relations, as trading rules governing Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom and has a land border with Ireland, became the major sticking point for a deal.
Starmer hosted his Irish counterpart Simon Harris in July, shortly after an election result which has also been seen in Dublin as the opportunity for a reset in relations.
“Our relationship has never reached its full potential, but I want to change that. We have a clear opportunity to go further and faster to make sure our partnership is fully delivering,” Starmer said in a statement ahead of the visit.
“(Harris) and I are in lockstep about our future, and we look forward to deepening our collaboration further.”
The two will meet businesses before watching a soccer match between the Republic of Ireland and England later in the day.
A match between the two sides in Dublin in 1995 — played three years before the Good Friday Agreement which largely ended three decades of violence in Northern Ireland — was abandoned due to a riot. However, a 2015 fixture between the teams passed off without significant incident.
White House talks
On Friday, Joe Biden will host Starmer as the US president looks to step up engagement on the international stage in his final months in office.
US allies and adversaries are also intently watching how the race to succeed Biden between Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican former President Donald Trump plays out.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement that the visit, the second by Starmer since he was elected earlier this summer, will focus on continuing Western support for Ukraine as it tries to repel Russia’s invasion, ongoing efforts to secure a hostage and ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, threats to commercial shipping in the Red Sea posed by the Houthis, an Iranian-backed group, as well as shared concerns about the Indo-Pacific.
Starmer visited the White House two months ago for one-on-one talks with Biden when he was in Washington for the NATO Summit.
Pakistani charged with plotting shooting at a New York Jewish center on anniversary of Oct. 7 Hamas attack
- Muhammad Shahzeb Khan tried to travel from Canada to New York City allegedly with the goal of slaughtering "as many Jewish people as possible,” says US attorney general
- Khan has reportedly been sharing Daesh propaganda videos and expressing his support for the terror group in social media posts and communications with others on an encrypted messaging app
NEW YORK: A Pakistani man was arrested in Canada this week and accused of plotting a mass shooting at a Jewish center in Brooklyn on the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the latest conflict in the Middle East, federal authorities announced Friday.
US Attorney General Merrick Garland said Muhammad Shahzeb Khan had attempted to travel from Canada, where he lives, to New York City with the “stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of Daesh, as many Jewish people as possible.”
The 20 year-old, who is also known as Shahzeb Jadoon, was apprehended Sept. 4 and charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to the Daesh terror group, which stands for the Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham.
“Jewish communities — like all communities in this country — should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack,” Garland said in a statement.
It was unclear if Khan has a lawyer, where in Canada he was being held and when he may be brought to the US to face the charges.
Spokespersons for the Justice Department and the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office, which is handling the case, deferred to Canadian national police, which didn’t respond to an email seeking comment but said in a statement posted online that Khan will appear in the Superior Court of Justice in Montreal on Sept. 13.
“This planned antisemitic attack against Jewish people in the US is deplorable and there is no place for such ideological and hate-motivated crime in Canada,” Michael Duheme, commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, said in the statement.
US authorities said Khan began sharing Daesh propaganda videos and expressing his support for the terror group in social media posts and communications with others on an encrypted messaging app last November.
In conversations with two undercover law enforcement officers, he said he was trying start a “real offline cell” of Daesh in order to carry out attacks against “Israeli Jewish chabads” in America. Khan said he and another Daesh supporter based in the US needed to obtain AR-style assault rifles, ammunition, hunting knives and other materials, according to the Justice Department.
Khan also provided details about how he would cross the border from Canada and said he was considering conducting the attacks on either the Oct. 7 anniversary or on Oct. 11, which is the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, authorities said.
On Aug. 20, he told the undercover officers that he had settled on targeting New York because of its sizeable Jewish population and sent a photograph of the specific area inside a Jewish center where he planned to carry out the attack, according to the Justice Department.
His online messages described the Brooklyn site, which is not named in court documents, as “the ultra orthodox hasidic jews world headquarters,” according to authorities.
A spokesperson for the Chabad-Lubavitch, an influential Hasidic Jewish movement headquartered Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section, didn’t immediately comment Friday.
Khan began making his way to the US on Wednesday morning from the Toronto area in a car that also picked up additional passengers, according to the federal complaint unsealed Friday.
The group switched cars around Nepanee and again around Montreal, before their vehicle was eventually stopped around Ormstown, a town in the province of Quebec that is about 12 miles (19 kilometers) from the international border, the complaint states.
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney, a lifelong Republican, says he will vote for Kamala Harris
- Cheney, who was VP from 2001 to 2009 under President George W. Bush, says Republican candidate and former president Donald Trump “can never be trusted with power again”
- Several other top Republicans have come out in support of Harris while some, including Sen. Mitt Romney and former Vice President Mike Pence, say they won’t be voting for Trump
CHEYENNE, Wyoming: Former Vice President Dick Cheney, a lifelong Republican, will vote for Kamala Harris for president, he announced Friday.
Liz Cheney, who herself endorsed Harris on Wednesday, first announced her father’s endorsement when asked by Mark Leibovich of The Atlantic magazine during an onstage interview at The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin.
“Wow,” Leibovich replied as the audience cheered.
Like his daughter, Dick Cheney has been an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump, notably during Liz Cheney’s ill-fated reelection campaign in 2022.
Dick Cheney put out a statement Friday confirming his endorsement, which read almost entirely as opposition to Trump rather than support of Harris.
“He can never be trusted with power again,” the statement said. “As citizens, we each have a duty to put country above partisanship to defend our Constitution. That is why I will be casting my vote for Vice President Kamala Harris.”
Trump responded on his Truth Social platform by calling the former vice president “an irrelevant RINO, along with his daughter.” The acronym stands for “Republican in name only.”
Asked for comment, Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung said, “Who is Liz Cheney?”
The campaign confirmed Cheung was being sarcastic by also pointing to a comment Liz Cheney posted online four years ago in which she called Harris a “radical liberal.”
Dick Cheney, 83, has made few if any public appearances over the past year or more. He has dealt with heart issues since his 40s and underwent a heart transplant in 2012.
Dick Cheney’s statement Friday was similar to a 2022 campaign ad for Liz Cheney as she sought a fourth term as Wyoming’s lone congressperson. In it, he called Trump a “coward” for trying to “steal the last election using lies and violence to keep himself in power after the voters had rejected him.”
The ad did little good for his daughter in a deep-red state that once held the Cheney family dear but is now thoroughly in Trump’s corner. By a more than 2-to-1 margin, Liz Cheney lost her Republican primary to Trump-endorsed attorney Harriet Hageman.
Dick Cheney has been friends with Democrats over the years but never supported one for president.
Both Cheneys backed Trump in 2016, but after Liz Cheney criticized Trump foreign policy decisions and Trump criticized the “endless wars” in Afghanistan and Iraq launched when Dick Cheney was vice president, their support waned.
If either Cheney supported Trump in 2020, they were mum about it. Meanwhile, their home state of Wyoming that year delivered Trump his widest margin of victory.
By 2021, Liz Cheney’s vote to impeach Trump and her investigation into him for the 2021 US Capitol riot made them irredeemable to Trump — and soon most of the GOP.
There were exceptions. One was Cheney ally Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, a Republican Trump critic who earlier this year endorsed Biden and spoke in support of Harris at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Several other top Republicans have come out in support of Harris while some, including Sen. Mitt Romney and former Vice President Mike Pence, say they won’t be voting for Trump.
Of them only Romney, who is not seeking reelection, is still in office.
