Deutsche Welle Somali: Al-Shabab Attacks Intensify As Election Looms In the past week alone, Somalia has been the scene of over a dozen deadly terror attacks by al-Shabab. The Islamist militant group is seen to be bent on thwarting the forthcoming elections in the Horn of Africa country. More than a dozen attacks by the Islamist militant group al-Shabab were recorded in Somalia this week, with civilians and military officers among the casualties. The upsurge in violence comes despite ongoing airstrikes by the US military on the group. The attacks come as Somalis prepare to go to the polls for a staggered general election. The process is due to start with legislative elections on November 1 and culminate in a presidential election by the beginning of 2021.  The dates were announced on Thursday following the resolution of a drawn-out dispute over the electoral model between the federal government in Mogadishu...

Bahrain Says Foiled 'Terrorist Attack' Backed By Iran In Early 2020 DUBAI (Reuters) - Bahrain’s interior ministry said on Sunday it had foiled a “terrorist attack” early this year that was backed by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.The statement confirmed earlier media reports about an alleged planned attack and added a timeframe.Earlier on Sunday Saudi state television Al-Ekhbariya and Bahraini newspaper Akhbar al-Khaleej reported that interior ministry investigations found that a new group called the “Qassem Soleimani Brigade” had planned to attack several public and security structures in Bahrain. The reports had not given a time frame.“We want to make clear that this case goes back to early 2020 and it is currently being looked into by the relevant court,” the ministry statement said.Iranian authorities were not immediately available for comment. In the past, Tehran has denied any involvement in Bahrain’s domestic affairs. Bahrain, host to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth...

  Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Monday, September 21, 2020 Department Of Justice Identifies New York City, Portland And Seattle As Jurisdictions Permitting Violence And Destruction Of Property Identification is Response to Presidential Memorandum Reviewing Federal Funding to State and Local Governments that are Permitting Anarchy, Violence, and Destruction in American Cities The U.S. Department of Justice today identified the following three jurisdictions that have permitted violence and destruction of property to persist and have refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities: New York City; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington. The Department of Justice is continuing to work to identify jurisdictions that meet the criteria set out in the President’s Memorandum and will periodically update the list of selected jurisdictions as required therein. The list was published on DOJ’s website today in response to President Trump’s memorandum of September 2, 2020, entitled “Memorandum...

Iran's Offer of Nuclear Cooperation is a Sham by Con Coughlin  •  Gatestone Institute This effort [lifting the arms embargo on Iran] has prompted Iran to launch a diplomatic offensive to have the arms embargo lifted, a move that would allow Tehran to increase its ability to supply arms to terror groups such as Hizbollah and Hamas, as well as the Houthi rebels in Yemen fighting US-backed coalition forces "Iran is desperate to get the arms embargo lifted at the UN, and so has decided to cooperate with the IAEA to improve relations with the UN," a senior Western diplomat who is familiar with the negotiations told me. "Tehran believes that if it cooperates with the UN, there is a greater possibility that the arms embargo will not be renewed." As a senior Gulf official... told me earlier this week, lifting the ban would simply allow Iran to continue arming...

Fox News Defense Secretary Esper: Since Sept. 11 Attacks, Our Heroic Military Has Successfully Fought Terrorism We cannot forget that America’s safety over the past two decades has come at a great costBy Mark T. Esper Exactly 19 years ago, Al Qaeda launched a vicious attack on our homeland by using four hijacked airlines as tools to murder nearly 3,000 innocent men, women and children at New York City’s World Trade Center, at the Pentagon, and on a quiet field near Shanksville, Pa.No one could have fathomed on that bright and clear September morning just how much the world would change in the wake of the darkest and most vicious terrorist attack in our nation’s history. It was an evil assault on our citizens, our institutions, and on our fundamental ideals themselves — freedom, human rights and respect for the American way of life.In their attempt to break the spirit...