Archive for February 17, 2025
Mysterious leader of violent, cultlike Zizian group arrested in Western Maryland
Jack ‘Ziz’ LaSota, the apparent leader of the Zizians, a cult-like group tied to at least six deaths, was arrested Sunday evening in western Maryland. LaSota, who uses she/her pronouns, is being held in the Allegany County jail on charges of trespassing, wrongly possessing a handgun in a vehicle and obstructing or hindering authorities, according…
Read MoreMother, daughter die from injuries suffered in Munich car attack
A 37-year-old mother and her 2-year-old daughter have died from injuries they sustained in the Munich car attack on Thursday. They were from Munich and the mother was a city staff member, according to a spokesperson for the Bavarian State Office of Criminal Investigation. At least 37 other people, including several children, were injured after…
Read MoreMichigan appeals court finds terrorism threat law unconstitutional, tosses Wayne Co. case
Michigan’s law about making a terroristic threat or a false threat of terrorism has been found by a three-judge Michigan Court of Appeals panel to be unconstitutional. Judges Michael Kelly, Mark Boonstra and Allie Greenleaf Maldonado wrote that the Michigan law violates the First Amendment because it does not account for a person’s state of…
Read MoreUS says it killed senior al-Qaeda affiliate official in Syria
The US military said Sunday it killed a member of an Al-Qaeda affiliate organization in a precision airstrike in Syria. US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted the strike Saturday “in Northwest Syria targeting and killing a senior finance and logistics official in the terrorist organization Hurras al-Din (HaD), an Al-Qaeda affiliate,” according to a…
Read MoreAustria says stabbing attack suspect swore allegiance to Islamic State
The Syrian asylum seeker suspected of carrying out a deadly stabbing rampage in the Austrian town of Villach had sworn allegiance to Islamic State and was radicalised online, authorities said on Sunday. A 14-year-old boy was killed in Saturday afternoon’s attack in the centre of Villach and five other people were wounded, three of whom…
Read MoreCultlike group investigation linked to FBI search in North Carolina: Report
In the wooded outskirts of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, a perplexed landlord noticed odd sights at two of his rental properties. Tenants wore long black coats and parked box trucks outside the duplexes. They ran an electrical cord from one box truck into one of the condos, and kept a stretcher inside another. A neighbor…
Read MoreAirstrike in Syria kills senior official in al-Qaida affiliate, CENTCOM says
An airstrike conducted by U.S. Central Command forces on Saturday in Northwest Syria killed a senior official in an al-Qaida affiliate, CENTCOM announced Sunday. CENTCOM described the operative as a senior finance and logistics official in the al-Qaida affiliate organization Hurras al-Din. The strike comes three days after an airstrike by Iraqi Security Forces in…
Read MoreWorld’s ‘first openly gay imam’ shot dead in South Africa
Muhsin Hendricks, a pioneering figure dubbed the world’s first openly gay imam, has been shot dead in South Africa. The 57-year-old cleric ran a mosque in Cape Town intended as a safe haven for gay and other marginalised Muslims. He was killed on Saturday morning after the car in which he was travelling near the…
Read More2-year-old girl, mother die from injuries in Munich car attack
A 2-year-old girl and her mother have died after they were injured in the car-ramming attack on a labor union demonstration in Munich, police said Saturday. A 24-year-old Afghan man who came to Germany as an asylum-seeker was arrested immediately after the attack on Thursday. Prosecutors said Friday that he appears to have had an…
Read MoreKnife Attack Suspect in Austria Was Inspired by ISIS, Official Says
One person was killed and five others wounded in stabbings in the center of the town of Villach. A man from Syria was arrested at the scene. A Syrian asylum seeker who the Austrian authorities said killed a teenager and wounded five other people in a knife attack in Villach, Austria, was inspired by the…
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