US, Gulf States Sanction Somali Terror Group
By and Mohamed Omar Ahmed
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The US sanctioned 15 members of al-Shabaab operating in Somalia for funding and supporting the terrorist group.
The move made jointly with the Terrorist Financing Targeting Center seeks to prevent the al-Qaeda linked group from gaining access to 'financial networks to secure funding, coordinate attacks, and enable its violent activities,' the US Treasury's Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing Anna Morris said in a statement.
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Newsweek
12 hours ago
- Newsweek
Houthis Say '1000 Leaders' in Store Amid Israel Assassination Strike Report
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Hamilton Spectator
20 hours ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Oman says US-Iran talks over Tehran's nuclear program ‘will not now take place' after Israel strikes
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DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Israel's defense minister warned Saturday that 'Tehran will burn' if Iran continues firing missiles, as the countries traded blows a day after Israel launched a blistering surprise attack on Iranian nuclear and military sites, killing several top generals. The attacks have left Iran's surviving leadership with the difficult decision of plunging deeper into conflict with Israel's more powerful forces or seeking a diplomatic route. The ongoing Israeli strikes appear to have halted — for now — any diplomacy between the U.S. and Iran over Tehran's rapidly advancing nuclear program . Israel and Iran signaled more attacks are coming despite urgent calls from world leaders to deescalate to avoid all-out war. The region is already on edge as Israel makes a new push to eliminate the Iranian-backed militant group Hamas in Gaza after 20 months of fighting. 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On Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump urged Iran to reach a deal with the U.S. on its nuclear program. He warned on social media that Israel's attacks 'will only get worse,' adding that 'Iran must make a deal, before there is nothing left.' Iranian missiles strike Israel Khamenei signaled in a recorded message Friday that Iran was prepared to keep up its retaliatory attacks on Israel: 'We will not allow them to escape safely from this great crime they committed.' Iran launched waves of missiles at Israel late Friday and early Saturday, and Iranians awoke to state television airing repeated clips of strikes on Israel, as well as videos of people cheering and handing out sweets. The Iranian attacks killed at least three people and wounded 76, mostly in and around Tel Aviv, according to two local hospitals. One missile severely damaged at least four homes in the nearby city of Rishon Lezion, according to first responders. The Israeli military said seven soldiers were lightly wounded when a missile hit central Israel, without specifying where. It was the first report of Israeli military casualties since the initial Israeli strikes. U.S. ground-based air defense systems in the region were helping to shoot down Iranian missiles, said a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the measures. In Ramat Gan, east of Tel Aviv, an Associated Press journalist saw burned-out cars and at least three damaged houses, including one whose front was nearly entirely torn away. Residents of a central Israeli city that was hit Friday night told the AP the explosion was so powerful it shook their shelter door open. 'We thought, that's it, the house is gone, and in fact half of the house was gone,' said Moshe Shani. Israeli police said debris from the interception of drones and missiles fell in dozens of locations in northern Israel, causing damage and fires but no injuries. Israel's main international airport said Saturday it will remain closed until further notice. Indications of a new Israeli attack Iranian state television reported online that air defenses were firing in the cities of Khorramabad, Kermanshah and Tabriz. Footage from Tabriz showed black smoke rising from the city. An Israeli military official said Saturday that the military was poised to carry out more strikes in Iran, saying, 'This is not over.' He spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official procedures. Israel's army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin, said Israel had attacked more than 400 targets across Iran, including 40 in Tehran, where dozens of fighter jets were 'operating freely.' He said it was the deepest point Israel's air force had operated. Defrin said fighter jets struck over 40 'missile-related targets and advanced air defense array systems' across Iran. 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The main centrifuge facility underground did not appear to have been hit, but the loss of power could have damaged the infrastructure there, he said. Israel said it also struck a nuclear research facility in Isfahan, including 'infrastructure for enriched uranium conversion,' and said it destroyed dozens of radar installations and surface-to-air missile launchers in western Iran. Iran confirmed the strike at Isfahan. The Israeli military official said that according to the army's initial assessment 'it will take much more than a few weeks' for Iran to repair the damage to the Natanz and Isfahan nuclear sites. The official said the army had 'concrete intelligence that production in Isfahan was for military purposes.' 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Associated Press writers Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, and Nasser Karimi in Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
New York Post
a day ago
- New York Post
Convicted terrorist who conspired to kill Americans has a new job at an NYC mosque
A convicted Al-Qaeda sympathizer who conspired to kill Americans in shopping malls and traveled to the Mideast to train with the terror group is now teaching kids at a muslim community center on Staten Island. For the past five months, Tarek Mehanna — who prosecutors say once vowed to wage armed jihad against Americans both here and abroad — has been teaching Arabic and the Quran to children as young as 4 at the Muslim Community Center of Staten Island in West Brighton. Mohamed Bahi, a former senior advisor to Mayor Adams and the Muslim Community Center of Staten Island's founder, announced Mehanna's hiring in a since-deleted Facebook post, promoting the MCC's Jan. 11 grand opening. Advertisement Adams has visited the MCC in Brooklyn in the past. 8 Tarek Mehanna, right, was released from federal prison in August. Mohammad Elshinawy/ Instagram Mehanna, 43, teaches four days a week, four hours per day. Advertisement 'I'm all for second chances — but not when it comes to convicted terrorists teaching kids. That's not rehabilitation — that's insanity,' said City Councilman Frank Morano (R-Staten Island). The Sept. 11 attacks inspired the terror teacher and galvanized his radicalization, according to federal prosecutors. Mehanna and his unnamed co-conspirators were undeterred when denied entry into Afghanistan at the Pakistan border in 2002, and 'agreed to explore ways in which they, too, could kill Americans.' When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Mehanna discussed purchasing automatic guns with his co-conspirators to murder US citizens inside shopping malls, 'but [they] ultimately dismissed them as impractical,' according to prosecutors. Their focus then shifted towards killing American soldiers, whom Mehanna called 'infidels,' according to court records. Advertisement 8 The Post visited the Muslim Community Center of Long Island, and was told Mehanna was not a member. Leonardo Munoz 'They discussed many options,' reads the government's 2012 sentencing memoradum, which asked a judge to send Mehanna away for life. Ultimately, they decided in 2004 to 'seek training in Yemen, sought guidance on how to obtain it, received contacts, equipped and readied themselves for the journey, and made arrangements to sneak out of Massachusetts.' After days criss-crossing Yemen's hostile landscape, 'braving brigands and once facing down an AK-47,' the group failed to 'find a suitable training camp' and 'Mehanna returned to the United States disappointed but no less determined to provide support to America's enemies.' 8 Mohamed Bahi, right, a former advisor to Mayor Eric Adams, left, founded the MCC of Staten Island. Mohamed Bahe Advertisement The one-time pharmacist worked in an upscale Boston suburb. He attended an Al-Qaeda training camp in Pakistan later in 2004, where he received 'paramilitary training so that he could eventually join Al-Qaeda in Iraq in fighting and killing American soldiers,' prosecutors said. Mehanna spent the last 14 years at the federal pen in Florence, CO, after being convicted in 2011 of providing material support to terrorists, conspiracy to commit murder, and making false statements to the FBI. Mehanna lied about his Yemeni trip when questioned by federal agents, and later translated jihadist propaganda and distributed it online, along with Al-Qaeda recruitment videos, officials said. 8 Mehanna showed beheading videos to pals on 'movie nights' he regularly hosted. AP Prosecutors further stated Mehanna, whose best friend was Islamist extremist Daniel Joseph Maldonado, 'enjoyed viewing' and immersing himself in footage of the beheadings of Pennsylvania contractor Nick Berg, New Jersey contractor Paul Johnson, and Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. He showed the horrific videos during 'movie nights' he hosted, according to prosecutors, who said Mehanna idolized Iraqi terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who killed Berg. 'He prolifically distributed a video of the mutilation of American soldiers in Iraq, described how one could see the internal organs and ribs, and then said, 'Texas BBQ is the way to go,'' prosecutors said. 8 Mehanna had worked at a Boston-area pharmacy prior to his arrest. REUTERS Advertisement 'This is the role model that kids should be looking up to?' seethed former Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind. 'This is a role model? Someone desperate to become a terrorist? It's a model of terrorism. 'We know what he stands for and what he's about — what is he teaching these children?' asked Hikind, the founder of Americans Against Antisemitism. While in federal custody, a treatise attributed to Mehanna was posted to a Facebook page calling for his release. In the post, he likened the entire Muslim world to the human body, and compared America to AIDS. 'Jihad is its immune system,' Mehanna wrote. Advertisement 8 On Facebook, Mehanna ridiculed a US soldier's death in one comment. Obtained by the New York Post Following his release in late August, Mehanna mocked the deaths of Israeli soldiers on Facebook, writing 'Poor baby' above videos he shared in both October and November. He also ridiculed Sgt. Quandarius Davon Stanley, 23, who was killed May 23, 2024, while delivering aid to Gaza on President Biden's failed floating pier. 'Another poor baby,' Mehanna wrote on Facebook. Advertisement 8 The MCC has been promoting Mehanna's involvement. MCC Staten Island/ Facebook In December, Mehanna translated a speech by Abdullah Azzam, one of Osama bin Laden's mentors, and shared the lecture — about Marwan Hadid, a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood in Syria — in a now-deleted Facebook post. The MCC of Staten Island, affiliated with the Muslim Community Center in Brooklyn, has only been open since mid-January, and only just filed its not-for-profit incorporation documents with the Department of State's Division of Corporations on June 5. Advertisement The MCC did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'It's clear he still harbors the same anti-American hatred he held before his sentence,' blasted City Councilwoman Inna Vernikov (R-Brooklyn). 'The 'education' these children are receiving is being administered on American soil and should reflect the values and interests of our nation.' 8 Mehanna, right, is seen embracing author and teacher Mohammad Elshinawy. Mohammad Elshinawy/ Instagram Vernikov wants him removed from any position where he'll have 'any opportunity to mold young minds.' Asked Vernikov: 'Do any of us really believe that someone who was convicted for colluding with Al Qaeda — a terrorist organization that's committed terrorist acts on American soil and shed American blood — is truly 'reformed' and won't continue to collude with other terrorists, and won't indoctrinate the children in his care into a radical jihadist ideology?'
