Thanks bakes
Two teens arrested in UK in connection to Texas synagogue hostage standoff: report
January 16, 2022 8:26pm
Two teenagers in the UK were reportedly arrested Sunday night as part of an investigation into the harrowing hostage-taking of a rabbi and three congregants at a Texas synagogue.
The teens were taken into custody by England’s Greater Manchester Police and were being questioned by investigators, the Independent reported.
It wasn’t immediately clear what connection the pair had to Saturday’s frightening ordeal during a Shabbat morning service at the Congregation Beth Israel in Colleyville.
British national Malik Faisal Akram, 44, held the victims captive while demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist with suspected ties to al Qaeda currently locked up at a federal prison in Texas, authorities said.
The tense standoff lasted for about 10 hours, part of which was captured on a Facebook live stream of the services. Akram was fatally shot by an FBI team after all four hostages were safely released from the synagogue.
https://nypost.com/2022/01/16/two-teens-arrested-in-connection-to-texas-synagogue-hostages/
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>England’s Greater Manchester Police
Greater Manchester Police officer jailed for child sex abuse offences
4 days ago
A police officer who was caught trying to arrange the abuse of an eight-year-old girl and accessed indecent images of a vulnerable teen has been jailed.
Det Con Lee Cunliffe admitted seven offences including arranging the commission of a child sex offence.
The 40-year-old Greater Manchester Police (GMP) officer has been suspended from duty since his arrest in 2020.
Cunliffe, of Wigan, was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court for eight years and four months.
The court heard Cunliffe had been a serving officer for 17 years when, in September 2020, he began messaging a woman whom he believed was the mother of the eight-year-old girl on instant messaging app Kik.
Prosecutor Arthur Gibson said Cunliffe told the woman, who was actually an undercover Met Police officer, that he would visit London to sexually abuse her daughter.
Police investigations revealed Cunliffe had sent the messages from several devices, including a police-owned computer at Swinton police station, and he was arrested in October 2020.
Rest of story here:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-manchester-59964542
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Recruitment of veterans by extremists may increase, top Democrat warns
Chair of House veterans affairs committee holding hearings on issue highlighted by veteran participation in US Capitol attack
A top US lawmaker who heads a congressional committee investigating the targeting of veterans by extremist groups has warned that the problem is a serious one and could get bigger unless it is effectively combated.
In an interview with the Guardian Mark Takano, a Democratic congressman from California, said he was concerned about the recruiting strategy being deployed by violent rightwing extremist groups, especially in America’s increasingly fraught political climate in the wake of the 6 January attack on the US Capitol.
Takano is the chairman of the House veteran affairs committee, which has begun hearings into the rising threat to veterans. The first of three hearings occurred in October last year, but Takano has been concerned about the threat for years.
“Targeting of veterans by violent extremist groups is a problem and it could become a bigger problem if we don’t understand what’s involved and the dimensions of it,” Takano said.
Takano said the issue was bipartisan and the definition of extremism did not favor liberal or conservative. “We define extremism not by the content of the ideology of the group, but whether a group espouses, advocates, endorses or promotes violence as a way to achieve their ends,” said Takano.
But he was clear the current threat of veteran recruitment comes more from the extremist right.
“We need to recognise that there is a problem that we have politically motivated violent extremist groups that are targeting veterans. We need to look at ways that we can protect veterans,” he added.
Full story:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/16/recruitment-veterans-extremists-mark-takano-democrat
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[They] are scared.
>still running the same play, for the 47th time in the game.
I laughed so hard when POTUS called them out on their BS last night, and the cherry on top was Don Jr putting them on blast all day today.
I mean, they did try to mix it up a bit with the whole "assassinate a governor" plot that failed so fucking miserably lol
Defense: Whitmer 'kidnapping plot' deteriorating as FBI loses credibility
https://www.iosconews.com/news/state/article_ae02df11-6300-5363-8157-53e7cb7ac809.html
I'm not sure how much more 'credibility' they can lose, tbh.