Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran – Newstrends
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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran

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Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran

RIYADH: The leader of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, has been assassinated in Iran, the Palestinian group said.

Iran’s state television made the announcement of the killing early on Wednesday.

A statement by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said that Haniyeh and a security guard had been ambushed in their place of residence, and an investigation is now underway.

Haniyeh, who was the head of the political office of Hamas Islamic Resistance, travelled to Iran for the swearing in ceremony of the reformist president Masoud Pezeshkian.

The 62-year-old Palestinian leader had earlier met Pezeshkian and Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, said : “This assassination by the Israeli occupation of Brother Haniyeh is a grave escalation that aims to break the will of Hamas and the will of our people and achieve fake goals. We confirm that this escalation will fail to achieve its objectives.”

“Hamas is a concept and an institution and not persons. Hamas will continue on this path regardless of the sacrifices and we are confident of victory.”

Mohammed Ali Al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthis, said: “Targeting Ismail Haniyeh is a heinous terrorist crime and a flagrant violation of laws and ideal values.”

Israel has promised to wipe out Hamas after the group conducted a deadly raid into settlements outside the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing around 1,200 people and taking hostages back to the Palestinian enclave.

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Israel soon after launched a devastating military assault in Gaza and has since killed over 40,000 people, mainly civilians.

Both sides have been trying to negotiate a hostage release agreement, which would include a cessation of fighting, with the help of the US and regional negotiators.

The assassination comes amid an escalation of hostilities between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which was blamed for an attack on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights which killed 12 children on the weekend.

On Tuesday night, Israel struck a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon, saying that it had killed Fuad Shukr, head of Hezbollah’s military operations room, who Israel said was responsible for the attack in the Golan Heights, an accusation the Lebanese group denies.

Israel, which has not yet commented on the killing of Haniyeh, has previously carried out assassinations in Iran on figures key to the Islamic republic’s nuclear program.

In 2021, Israel assassinated Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, Iran’s top nuclear scientist.

But since the war in Gaza, Israel has been carrying out targeted attacks on key Hamas and IRGC figures, including Saleh Al-Arouri, a leader in the Palestinian group.

In April, Iran said its consulate in Damascus was destroyed and a top general killed in an attack Tehran blamed on Israel.

Iran soon after launched a barrage of missiles toward Israel, but they were all shot down. Israel hit back by attacking sites in Isfahan.

Further escalation between the two sides had been avoided through diplomacy, but Israel has continued to attack Iranian affiliates in Syria.

The scale of Israel’s military response to the Hamas attacks has been condemned, with the International Court of Justice agreeing that there may be a possible case that the country has engaged in acts of genocide.

Israel has also been accused of collective punishment and using starvation as a weapon in the fight against the militant group.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran

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Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

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Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.

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Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.

As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.

 

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

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Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

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President-elect Donald Trump

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the legal cases brought against him, calling them “empty and lawless”.

He accused Democrats of weaponising the judicial system to target him as a political opponent.

In a strongly worded statement, Trump alleged that over $100 million in taxpayer money had been wasted in what he described as a politically driven effort to undermine his influence.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he said, pointing to high-profile prosecutors, including Georgia’s Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as key figures in what he called a “political hijacking.”

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Trump also accused Willis of colluding with Nathan Wade, whom he described as “her lover” and lacking the experience to handle such cases.

He claimed Wade was paid “millions,” allegedly enabling lavish trips and cruises.

Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil fraud case against Trump, was also criticised.

He claimed she had campaigned on a promise to “get Trump” in her bid for office, an action he labelled “unethical” and “probably illegal.”

Trump also mentioned Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, alleging that Bragg initially resisted prosecuting him but was pressured into action by the Justice Department and the Democratic Party.

Describing the series of legal actions as a “low point in the history of our Country,” Trump maintained his resolve, declaring: “I persevered, against all odds, and WON.”

 

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

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US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

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US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

A United States federal jury sentenced two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, to 30 years in prison for scamming certain US citizens $3,500,000.

This was mentioned in a news statement made public on the US Department of Justice website on Monday.

According to the statement, the Nigerians, Ibekie and Aniukwu mislead their victims by informing them that they had received big inheritances that required payment to claim.

The couple would then ask their victims to transfer money, promising to refund them after the inheritances were claimed.

It also stated that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding them to send money after they had built trust in their victims.

It read, “An undercover law enforcement investigation has resulted in federal prison sentences for two Nigerian nationals residing in the Chicago suburbs who conducted online inheritance scams and other fraud schemes.

“Using aliases, Anthony Emeka Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu communicated with victims throughout the United States, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to individuals associated with the defendants in order to claim it.

“In addition to the inheritance scam, the pair carried out an online romance scam that involved communicating with victims via social media and dating websites, building trust with the victims through a purported online romance, and convincing them to send money to a predetermined recipient. Aniukwu and Ibekie also orchestrated a ‘business email compromise’ scam that targeted corporate email accounts.

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“The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.”

According to the statement, after being arraigned on 14 charges, the duo pleaded guilty to their different alterations.

Following their guilty pleas, Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday, and Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years in prison on November 8.

The statement continued, “A federal jury earlier this year convicted Ibekie, 59, of Oswego, Illinois, on all 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on Thursday sentenced Ibekie to 20 years in federal prison.

“Aniukwu, 50, of Romeoville, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Judge Seeger on Nov. 8, 2024, sentenced Aniukwu to 10 years in prison.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Gosha, an accomplice of the Nigerians and a US citizen, is expected to be sentenced on December 18 after pleading guilty.

“A third defendant, Jennifer Gosha, 52, a U.S. citizen from Oak Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. Gosha is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seeger on December 18, 2024,” the statement concluded.

 

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

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