An Iraqi doctor was found guilty yesterday by a London court of trying to murder hundreds of people in failed attacks in London and Glasgow last year.
British-born Bilal Abdulla, 29, was also found guilty of conspiracy to cause explosions, while his co-defendant Mohammed Asha, a 28-year-old Jordanian neurologist, was cleared on both counts.
The Iraqi, who faces a life sentence, had admitted to Woolwich Crown Court in London that he was a “terrorist,” but accused the British government of terrorism too and maintained that he was not trying to kill or injure anyone.
Lawyers for Asha had said that he would not have fitted in with the alleged attackers because he was too brainy, arguing that Abdulla and another man looked down on him because of his concentration on his work.
After 24 hours and 15 minutes of deliberations, the jury of seven women and five men rejected Abdulla’s defense and found Asha to have known nothing of his friend’s plans.
Abdulla will be sentenced today. Asha faces deportation.
Authorities have detained three former Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TMSC, 台積電) employees on suspicion of compromising classified technology used in making 2-nanometer chips, the Taiwan High Prosecutors’ Office said yesterday. Prosecutors are holding a former TSMC engineer surnamed Chen (陳) and two recently sacked TSMC engineers, including one person surnamed Wu (吳) in detention with restricted communication, following an investigation launched on July 25, a statement said. The announcement came a day after Nikkei Asia reported on the technology theft in an exclusive story, saying TSMC had fired two workers for contravening data rules on advanced chipmaking technology. Two-nanometer wafers are the most
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FLOOD RECOVERY: “Post-Typhoon Danas reconstruction special act” is expected to be approved on Thursday, the premier said, adding the flood control in affected areas would be prioritized About 200cm of rainfall fell in parts of southern Taiwan from Monday last week to 9am yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District (桃源) saw total rainfall of 2,205mm, while Pingtung County’s Sandimen Township (三地門) had 2,060.5mm and Tainan’s Nanhua District (南化) 1,833mm, according to CWA data. Meanwhile, Alishan (阿里山) in Chiayi County saw 1,688mm of accumulated rain and Yunlin County’s Caoling (草嶺) had 1,025mm. The Pingtung County Government said that 831 local residents have been pre-emptively evacuated from mountainous areas. A total of 576 are staying with relatives in low-lying areas, while the other 255 are in shelters. CWA forecaster
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