Spanish police believe a top al-Qaeda operative in Europe put two key suspects in the Madrid bombings in contact with one another, a newspaper reported Friday.
Serhane Ben Abdelmajid Fakhet of Tunisia, the alleged coordinator of the attacks, is believed to have met with suspected al-Qaeda operative Amer Azizi in Turkey in late 2002 or early 2003 to ask for fighters for an attack in Madrid, the daily El Mundo said.
Azizi, a Moroccan who remains at large, was indicted on terrorism charges last September as part of a probe into an al-Qaeda cell accused of helping prepare the Sept. 11 attacks on the US.
Azizi apparently told Fakhet he could not supply men but urged him to contact Moroccan compatriot Jamal Zougam in Madrid, the paper said.
Zougam is one of six people charged with mass murder in the Madrid attacks, which killed 191 people and wounded more than 1,800 others.
Fakhet was one of up to seven suspected terrorists who blew themselves up April 3 when their apartment south of Madrid was about to be stormed by police.
As the sun sets on another scorching Yangon day, the hot and bothered descend on the Myanmar city’s parks, the coolest place to spend an evening during yet another power blackout. A wave of exceptionally hot weather has blasted Southeast Asia this week, sending the mercury to 45°C and prompting thousands of schools to suspend in-person classes. Even before the chaos and conflict unleashed by the military’s 2021 coup, Myanmar’s creaky and outdated electricity grid struggled to keep fans whirling and air conditioners humming during the hot season. Now, infrastructure attacks and dwindling offshore gas reserves mean those who cannot afford expensive diesel
Does Argentine President Javier Milei communicate with a ghost dog whose death he refuses to accept? Forced to respond to questions about his mental health, the president’s office has lashed out at “disrespectful” speculation. Twice this week, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni was asked about Milei’s English Mastiff, Conan, said to have died seven years ago. Milei, 53, had Conan cloned, and today is believed to own four copies he refers to as “four-legged children.” Or is it five? In an interview with CNN this month, Milei referred to his five dogs, whose faces and names he had engraved on the presidential baton. Conan,
French singer Kendji Girac, who was seriously injured by a gunshot this week, wanted to “fake” his suicide to scare his partner who was threatening to leave him, prosecutors said on Thursday. The 27-year-old former winner of France’s version of The Voice was found wounded after police were called to a traveler camp in Biscarrosse on France’s southwestern coast. Girac told first responders he had accidentally shot himself while tinkering with a Colt .45 automatic pistol he had bought at a junk shop, a source said. On Thursday, regional prosecutor Olivier Janson said, citing the singer, that he wanted to “fake” his suicide
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reaffirmed his pledge to replace India’s religion-based marriage and inheritance laws with a uniform civil code if he returns to office for a third term, a move that some minority groups have opposed. In an interview with the Times of India listing his agenda, Modi said his government would push for making the code a reality. “It is clear that separate laws for communities are detrimental to the health of society,” he said in the interview published yesterday. “We cannot be a nation where one community is progressing with the support of the Constitution while the other