Foreign News
Pope assassination plot foiled by UK intelligence
A plot to assassinate Pope Francis during a trip to Iraq was stopped following a tip-off from British intelligence, according to his upcoming autobiography.
The Pope writes that, after landing in Baghdad in March 2021, he was told an event at which he was set to appear was being targeted by two suicide bombers.
Both attackers were subsequently intercepted and killed, he said in excerpts published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The visit, which took place over three days during the coronavirus pandemic, was the first ever to Iraq by a pope and saw an intense security operation.
The years before had seen increased sectarian violence in Iraq, with fighting between Shia and Sunni Muslims as well as the persecution of religious minorities.
The country’s Christian community had shrunk dramatically, having been targeted in particular by the Islamic State group and other Sunni extremists.
In excerpts of his autobiography, the Pope says “almost everyone advised me against” the visit but he felt he “had to do it”.
He says the plot was uncovered by British intelligence, who warned Iraqi police, and they in turn told his security detail once he had touched down.
“A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he says.
“And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention.”
The Pope adds that he asked a security official the following day what had happened to the would-be attackers.
“The [official] replied laconically: ‘They are no more’. The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up,” he wrote.
The book, entitled Hope, is due to be published on 14 January.
[BBC]
A woman from the Philippines who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly executed by firing squad is on her way home.
Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 after she was found carrying 2.6kg (5.7lb) of heroin through an Indonesian airport.
But the 39-year-old mother of two has always maintained she was tricked into carrying the drugs.
She was handed over to Philippine officials on Tuesday night, after the two governments reached a deal to allow her to return home.
“I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me.”
While the agreement states that Ms Veloso will return as a prisoner, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos could grant her a reprieve.
Ms Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at Yogyakarta airport.
She said she was convinced by the daughter of one of her godparents to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.
She claimed that the woman’s male friends gave her new clothes and a new bag, which she was unaware had heroin sewn into it.
She was due to face the firing squad in 2015, but the Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for her after the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking, while Ms Veloso was named a prosecution witness.
Her reprieve was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines went to print with front pages and headlines reporting it had happened.
The case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines (BBC)Ms Veloso’s case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines, which does not have the death penalty.
Her circumstances were familiar to many in the Philippines, where it is common for women to escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic helpers.
“I bring a lot of things, such as guitar, books, knittings … even this T-shirt I’m wearing was given by my friends,” she said while leaving prison for the airport.
Her transfer comes just days after the five remaining members of the infamous Bali Nine drug ring returned home after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.
In the first public remarks attributed to Bashar al-Assad since he left Syria, the deposed Syrian president has defended his rule and denied planning his departure as armed opposition fighters closed in on Damascus earlier this month.
A statement said to be written by al-Assad and released on the Syrian presidency’s Telegram channel on Monday presented an account of how and why the former president fled Syria.
“First, my departure from Syria was neither planned nor did it occur during the final hours of the battles, as some have claimed,” the statement said.
“On the contrary, I remained in Damascus, carrying out my duties until the early hours of Sunday, December 8, 2024.”
The statement added that as rebel fighters, who al-Assad described as “terrorist forces”, entered the capital, he moved to a Russian base on the coastal city of Latakia to “oversee combat operations”.
But according to the statement, the base came under drone attacks from armed opposition fighters.
“With no viable means of leaving the base, Moscow requested that the base’s command arrange an immediate evacuation to Russia on the evening of Sunday 8 December,” it read.
“This took place a day after the fall of Damascus, following the collapse of the final military positions and the resulting paralysis of all remaining state institutions.”
The statement has not been independently verified. Al-Assad has not made any media appearances since he was granted asylum with his family by Russia.
Opposition forces, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), launched a lightning offensive from the northwestern province of Idlib in November, taking city after city from government forces with little resistance.
They reached Damascus in the early hours of December 8 and announced the end of more than 50 years of the al-Assad family’s iron-fist rule over Syria. Al-Assad’s presidency, which began after the death of his father Hafez in 2000, saw one of the most devastating wars of the 21st century.
The conflict started in 2011 as Syrians took to the streets to protest against the government as part of the “Arab Spring” pro-democracy uprisings that swept the Middle East that year.
As the demonstrations were met with a deadly crackdown by security forces, the protest movement turned into an armed uprising.
The war, which lasted more than 13 years, fragmented the country, killed hundreds of thousands of people and displaced millions.
Rights groups have accused al-Assad’s authoritarian government of perpetrating rampant human rights violations.
Opposition fighters and rights advocates have said they discovered more horrific abuses and signs of torture and mass executions as they freed jails housing thousands of detainees across Syria this month.
Tens of thousands of Syrians believed to have been in government custody remain unaccounted for.
But in Monday’s statement, attributed to “President Bashar al-Assad”, the former president sounded unapologetic about his years in power, saying he considered himself the “custodian” of a national project backed by Syrians.
“I have carried an unwavering conviction in their will and ability to protect the state, defend its institutions, and uphold their choices to the very last moment,” the statement said.
“When the state falls into the hands of terrorism and the ability to make a meaningful contribution is lost, any position becomes void of purpose, rendering its occupation meaningless.”
[BBC]
A student opened fire at a private Christian school in the US state of Wisconsin, injuring six people and killing a teacher and teenaged student.
Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes identified the attacker on Monday night as a 15-year-old female student at the school.
Authorities say the attacker was in attendance at Abundant Life Christian School before opening fire and was found dead at the scene. Six students were injured, including two who suffered life-threatening injuries.
A second grade student was the first to call in the active shooter report, according to Chief Barnes
“Today is a sad day not only for Madison, for our entire country,” Chief Barnes said. “We have to do a better job in our community.”
He added the police had not identified a motive in the shooting, and the suspect’s family was co-operating with the investigation. He said it is not yet clear how the attacker got hold of a firearm.
He named the alleged attacker as Natalie Rupnow, who also went by the name Samantha. She is believed to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The official cause of death will be released by the Dane County Medical Examiner pending autopsy results.
Chief Barnes said that, to his current knowledge, police had not had any prior interactions with the alleged shooter.
Officers responded to a 911 call of a shooter at the Christian school around 11:00 local time (17:00GMT) on Monday. The attacker attended school before the shooting, Chief Barnes said.
The shooting was confined to a study hall with students in mixed grades.
Barbara Wiers, director of relations at the school, said the school had conducted active shooter training earlier this year and the information was “very fresh” for educators to put into practice on Monday.
She said while the school does not have a dedicated police officer, known as a school resource officer, the doors of all classrooms automatically lock and anyone wanting to gain entry to the campus must be buzzed in through the primary entrance.
Ms Wiers, who said she was teaching at the time of the attack, said students handled themselves “brilliantly”.
“They were clearly scared,” she said. “When they heard ‘lockdown, lockdown’ and nothing else, they knew it was real.”
Police say they found the shooter dead when they arrived at the school, along with a handgun. No officers fired weapons.
Police have not named any of the victims.
Chief Barnes said two students were in critical but stable condition in the hospital facing life-threatening injuries. Four others were taken to hospital with non life-threatening injuries, two of whom have since been released.
Authorities have appealed for witnesses who saw or heard the attack to come speak to police, and that they hope these accounts will shed light on the attacker’s motive.
“But that’s not something we want to rush. We’re not gonna interrogate students,” Chief Barnes said. “We’re gonna give them an opportunity to come in and tell us what they saw when they’re ready.” He added that “eveyr child, every person in that building is a victim and will be a victim forever”.
The chief said officers responded to the school as they were undergoing training at a training centre for law enforcement located three miles away.
“What began as a training day became an actual day,” he said.
The shooting also resulted in a large response from emergency officials. Madison Fire Chief Chris Carbon said 15 ambulances respond.
Officials from the FBI also responded, as well as other federal and local law enforcement officials.
The Abundant Life Christian School has around 400 students ranging from kindergarten through high school.
“Please pray for our Challenger Family,” the school wrote in a post on Facebook. The post quickly received hundreds of comments of support from people across the US.
The school remains closed while police continue their investigation.
“This has been a rough day for our city,” said Chief Barnes. “This is going to be a day that will be etched in the collective minds and memories of all those from Madison.”
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said that he was closely monitoring the situation and praying for everyone involved. He also ordered that flags fly at half mast on state buildings.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that the shooting was “shocking and unconscionable”. “Students across our country should be learning how to read and write – not having to learn how to duck and cover,” said Biden, who also called on Congress to act immediately on legislation that could prevent more gun violence.
Shootings are common in the US, and schools are no exception.
The K-12 Violence Project, a non-profit working on reducing violence through accessible and actionable research, has counted more than 300 shootings in 2024. These include events where a gun is brandished or fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims.
According to the news organisation EducationWeek, 38 school shootings have resulted in deaths or injuries across the US this year. There were a total of 69 victims – including 16 deaths – before today’s shooting.
Mass shootings by females are far less common, however. School shootings committed by female attackers are even less common.
In a blog post last year, K-12 School Shooting Database founder David Riedman wrote that the vast majority of school shooters are males in their teens or early 20’s. However, at least four planned school shootings were by female attackers dating back to 1979.
[BBC]
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