Gunman who killed 10 in Colorado grocery store found guilty of murder
Jury rejects defence plea that Ahmad Alissa was insane and hearing voices prior to 2021 shooting. A gunman who fatally shot 10 people at a grocery store in Colorado in 2021 has been found guilty of murder and could face life in prison. On Monday, a jury rejected the defence’s argument that 25-year-old Ahmad Alissa should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. The defence had argued that Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia and could not distinguish the meaning of his actions when he opened fire at the King Soopers grocery store in the city of Boulder. “This tragedy was born out of disease not choice,” defence lawyer Kathryn Herold told the jury during closing arguments. District Attorney Michael Dougherty, meanwhile, argued that the nature of the attack showed Alissa was intentional in his actions. “He is methodical and he is brutal,” Dougherty told jurors. Whether Alissa was responsible for the shooting and the details of the attack were never in question during the trial, which began earlier this month. Alissa had started shooting within moments of arriving in the car park of the store, killing three people before heading inside. He chased several of those he shot and sought out others who were hiding. Prosecutors pointed to those decisions as evidence that Alissa was acting sanely during the attack. They also argued that the illegal magazines and steel-piercing bullets Alissa carried showed the attack was deliberate. State forensic psychologists said that Alissa’s fear of being arrested or killed by the police showed he was sane at the time of the killings. Still, psychologists said they could not provide full confidence in their finding – a point seized on by the defence. Alissa had repeatedly told the psychologists he heard what he described as “killing voices”, but he did not provide further details. Alissa’s family also reported that he had become withdrawn and spoke little, and that he had become increasingly paranoid and heard voices in the years leading up to the attack. They said he had not received any mental health treatment prior to the attack. The state forensic psychologists also concluded that voices likely played a role in the attack and that they did not believe it would have happened if he did not have a mental illness. Still, Colorado law draws a distinction between mental illness and insanity. It defines the latter as having a mental disease so severe that it is impossible for a person to tell right from wrong. The verdict capped a trial filled with harrowing testimonies from survivors of the attack. One survivor, an emergency room doctor, said she crawled onto a shelf and hid among bags of potato chips. A pharmacist at the grocery store testified that she heard Alissa say, “This is fun” at least three times as he fired throughout the store with a semi-automatic pistol resembling an AR-15 rifle. Prosecutors said Alissa, who was born in Syria and emigrated to the US with his family as a small child, had researched locations for possible attacks. However, they did not provide any other motive. Adblock test (Why?)
Myanmar anti-coup forces target Mandalay in struggle to oust military
Myanmar’s second-biggest city is beginning to feel like a city under siege. But while armed groups might be at the gates of Mandalay, most residents do not consider them the enemy. “I’ve lived in Singu since I was born and we’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Tun, a 47-year-old resident of a small town in the Mandalay region, roughly 80km (50 miles) north of the city. He asked to be identified by only part of his name for security reasons. “At first, most residents didn’t flee from the town because we had no experience with war. When the fighting got more intense near the town, we understood we couldn’t stay here.” While Myanmar’s borderlands, home to many of the country’s ethnic minorities, have been ravaged by conflict for decades, the mostly Bamar areas in the heart of the country had not seen conflict since World War II. That all changed when the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in 2021, plunging the country into a political crisis and civil war. Since then, the Myanmar military has suffered stunning defeats at the hands of longstanding ethnic armed groups and more-recently-established pro-democracy militias. But perhaps no development has been as unexpected as the recent capture of four towns in northern Mandalay, leaving the anti-coup alliance within striking distance of a city with a population of nearly 2 million people. Tun said he was “very happy” that resistance groups seized Singu, even though it has had a devastating effect on the town. Public services have collapsed and nearly every resident has fled as the military launches air and artillery attacks in an attempt to reclaim it. Mandalay saw huge protests after the coup in February 2021 [AP Photo] Tun has been sheltering in a village not too far from the town and, like other Singu residents, would occasionally go back to check on his house. But after air strikes in July, he returned to find only ashes and splinters. “Everything is gone,” he said. “Our house was very precious. It was made of teak wood and it was the only thing I inherited from my parents. When I told my wife, she sobbed.” Mandalay, Myanmar’s old royal capital and cultural centre of the Buddhist heartland, saw some of the largest protests after the coup – and some of the most brutal crackdowns. Many of those young protesters fled to territory controlled by ethnic armed groups to get weapons and training. They are now returning – armed and determined. Pyay, 22, was a university student in Mandalay city before the coup. His parents were public school teachers who joined a mass strike of civil servants while he hit the streets to protest. On March 27, 2022 – a year after the military shot dead at least 40 civilians in Mandalay in a nationwide crackdown on opposition to its coup – he decided to join an armed resistance group called the Madaya People’s Defence Team. On August 5 this year, he and his troops were recuperating at an outpost on the outskirts of Madaya, the last town between the anti-coup fighters and Mandalay. “Suddenly, a military aeroplane came and we dived to crawl on the ground. The military must have got some information that there were revolutionary groups based in the area,” said Pyay, who also asked to use just part of his name for security reasons. But instead of striking their outpost, the bombs fell directly on a village, destroying homes and injuring three civilians. “I felt so angry,” Pyay said. “The residents are innocent and there was no reason to attack them… but they don’t dare fight us on the ground so they use artillery and aeroplanes.” ‘Operational depth’ Groups like Pyay’s are generally loyal to the National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration of elected lawmakers removed in the coup. But the most effective units typically operate under the guidance of an ethnic armed group. The most powerful of all may be the Mandalay People’s Defence Force (PDF), which fights under the command of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and has been central to the operations in northern Mandalay. “Without the Mandalay PDF, we can’t take Madaya,” Pyay conceded. Anthony Davis, an analyst with the Janes defence and security publications, said the Mandalay PDF has become so powerful because it operates as “a virtual extension of the TNLA”. The TNLA fights for the autonomy of the ethnic Ta’ang people, who largely live in the mountains of northern Shan State, some of the least developed parts of Myanmar. There is a long history of Ta’ang armed movements but the modern TNLA was founded in 2009. It enjoys a close relationship with China and has seized an unprecedented swath of territory from the military in an offensive that began in October last year. Morgan Michaels, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, agrees with Davis. “The Mandalay PDF’s success is directly attributable to the training, weapons, command and control, and operational depth the group has been afforded by the TNLA. The outfit was raised by the TNLA,” he said. “There is no operation under way where it’s purely the Mandalay PDF on its own. They still rely on the command and control of the TNLA.” Both analysts agree the Mandalay PDF would need TNLA support to seize the city. But it is unclear whether the TNLA would provide such support. Its closest ethnic armed group ally, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, recently announced it had no intention to march on Mandalay, seemingly in response to Chinese pressure to rein in the conflict. Even if the resistance does not push south towards Mandalay city, capturing the northern Mandalay region is still significant to the fight because it connects opposition-controlled territories. Davis said the “logistical and operational connectivity between now-contiguous swaths of resistance-dominated territory… will be critically important, perhaps decisive.” Analysts also warn that an attack on a city like Mandalay would carry immense risk for the people
Biden administration designates UAE ‘major defence partner’ in rare move
US-UAE boost military cooperation as Middle East tensions over war in Gaza surge and despite friction over Sudan war. United States President Joe Biden has recognised the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as a “major defence partner”, deepening military ties despite friction over the war in Sudan and as deadly tensions ratchet in the Middle East. The announcement on Monday, which came following a White House meeting between Biden and UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, makes the UAE only the second country to receive the designation. The Biden administration gave India the designation in 2021. In a statement, the White House said the designation would “further enhance defense cooperation and security in the Middle East, East Africa, and the Indian Ocean regions”. It added that it would also “allow for unprecedented cooperation through joint training, exercises, and military-to-military collaboration, between the military forces of the United States, the UAE, and India, as well as other common military partners, in furtherance of regional stability”. The meeting came as Israel stepped up its attacks on Lebanon. At least 492 people, including 35 children, were killed on Monday in Israeli attacks on the territory which it said were targeting Hezbollah military infrastructure. “My team is in constant contact with their counterparts, and we’re working to de-escalate in a way that allows people to return to their home safely,” Biden told reporters during a photo opportunity in the Oval Office. A US State Department official, speaking to reporters on background on Monday, also said that US officials would be discussing “concrete ideas” for an “off-ramp” on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week. Washington has been regularly criticised for avoiding using its leverage – including the billions in military aid it provides to Israel – to calm tensions in the region. On Gaza, the two leaders “underscored their commitment to continue working together towards ending the conflict” and the need for UN humanitarian aid to be allowed into the enclave, the White House said. To date, at least 41,431 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza amid a nearly yearlong Israeli offensive. The UAE has been a leading voice in the UN Security Council, putting forward resolutions condemning Israel’s war on Gaza, often putting it at odds with the veto-carrying US. Still, Washington has long viewed the Gulf country as integral to any post-war recovery plans in Gaza. The White House said Biden and Al Nahyan discussed “a path to stabilisation and recovery that responds to the humanitarian crisis, establishes law and order, and lays the groundwork for responsible governance” as well as their “commitment to the two-state solution” for Israel and Palestine. Conflict in Sudan The designation on Monday comes despite friction over the UAE’s alleged role in the war in Sudan. The UAE has been accused of channelling weapons to Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which have been locked in a bloody civil war with the Sudanese army since April last year. Both sides have been accused of abuses in the fighting, which has internally displaced more than 10.7 million people and forced a further 2.3 million to flee the country, according to the UN. Ahead of the White House meeting, five US lawmakers sent a letter to Biden calling on him to use Washington’s leverage to seek a change of course. The White House statement said the leaders had discussed the conflict and “stressed that there can be no military solution to the conflict in Sudan”. They also “underscored that all parties to the conflict must comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law”, it added. In a separate meeting with the UAE president, US Vice President and presidential candidate Kamala Harris “raised her deep concerns about the conflict in Sudan”, the White House said. “She expressed alarm at the millions of individuals who have been displaced by the war and the atrocities committed by the belligerents against the civilian population,” the statement said. Adblock test (Why?)
Karnataka HC to give verdict today on CM Siddaramaiah’s plea challenging Guv’s order
The High Court on September 12 completed its hearing in the case, and reserved its orders, while extending its August 19 interim order directing the special court for people’s representatives that was slated to hear complaints against him in the case, to defer its proceedings till the disposal of th
Delhi Metro: DMRC receives first ‘Make in India’ driverless metro trainset, to operate at speed of…
DMRC Managing Director Vikas Kumar said, “Today is a historic occasion for the Delhi Metro family as we take another major step towards operationalising the Phase 4 corridors.”
PM Modi meets Ukraine President Zelenskyy for second time in a month, reiterates support for resolution of conflict
PM Modi had visited Ukraine at the invitation of President Zelenskyy in first ever visit by an Indian Prime Minister to Ukraine since diplomatic relations were established between the two countries in the year 1992
Nebraska GOP senator opposes Electoral College change that may have helped Trump win re-election
The Republican Party’s efforts to lock down all of Nebraska’s electoral votes for former President Trump could be jeopardized after a state lawmaker refused to throw his support behind an initiative to change how the state allocates its electoral votes. Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell, a former Democrat from Omaha who switched his party to Republican this year, issued a statement Monday about his opposition to awarding that state’s five electoral votes as a winner-take-all, like 48 other states currently do. Maine and Nebraska are the only two states that give two electoral votes to the candidate who wins statewide and one to the winner in each congressional district. “Elections should be an opportunity for all voters to be heard, no matter who they are, where they live, or what party they support,” McDonnell’s statement read. “For decades, Nebraska has tried to live up to that ideal by allocating our electoral college votes in a way that gives all Nebraskans an equal voice in choosing our President. For Omaha, the city I love and have called home for 58 years, it brings tremendous national attention, is impactful on our local economy and forces Presidential candidates to make their case to all Nebraskans, instead of just flying over and disregarding us.” HOW A LONE NEBRASKA DISTRICT COULD DECIDE THE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION The senator continued, saying over the past weeks, there had been conversations about whether to change how the electoral college could be allocated. While McDonnell said he respects the desire some of his colleagues have on the issue, he has taken time to listen to his constituents and national leaders on both sides of the issue. “After deep consideration, it is clear to me that right now, 43 days from Election Day, is not the moment to make this change,” he wrote. “I have notified Governor Pillen that I will not change my long-held position and will oppose any attempted changes to our electoral college system before the 2024 election.” TEXAS GOV. GREG ABBOTT’S DEBATE ADVICE FOR TRUMP: ‘LET HARRIS SPEAK’ McDonnell also said he encouraged the governor, and will encourage his colleagues, to pass an amendment next year that gives the people of Nebraska the chance to decide on how the electoral college votes are allocated on the ballot. “This November, Nebraskans will have the chance to elect candidates at every level who reflect their views, including on this issue,” McDonnell wrote. “That’s how it should be. Nebraska voters, not politicians of either party, should have the final say on how we pick a president.” The senator’s decision means Republicans do not have the two-thirds majority they would need in Nebraska to pull off a change before the Nov. 5 election. TRUMP AND HARRIS ON COLLISION COURSE AS 2024 CAMPAIGN ENTERS FINAL STRETCH Nebraska is one of nine states that Republican candidates have carried in every presidential election since 1964. It also has not had a winner-take-all rule in place since 1991, and most times since then, Republican candidates have captured all of the state’s votes. But in 2020, President Biden captured the vote for the Second Congressional District in Omaha. Former President Obama did the same thing in 2008. In order to lock down the presidency, a candidate needs to win 270 of the 538 electoral votes. In one scenario, Democratic Presidential Candidate Vice President Kamala Harris would win the battlegrounds of Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, while Trump wins the other four battleground states of North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada. In that case, Harris would collect 269 electoral votes to Trump’s 268 — which includes four from Nebraska. The Associated Press reported that in that scenario, a Trump victory in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District would create a tie of 269-269, throwing the final decision to the U.S. House of Representatives. At that point, each state would have one vote, a situation that would likely favor Trump. But, if Harris carried the district, she would be president. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Fox News Politics: Swing State Stats
Welcome to Fox News’ Politics newsletter with the latest political news from Washington D.C. and updates from the 2024 campaign trail. What’s happening… -Congress has less than a week to avert government shutdown -Trump’s ground game shrinks in several key states -Newsom rejects bill allowing illegal immigrants to work on campuses Former President Donald Trump leads Vice President Kamala Harris in three crucial swing states, according to a Monday poll from the New York Times. Trump is leading Harris in Arizona by five points in a 50%-45% spread, and he holds a similar 49%-45% lead in Georgia. Harris is closer to the former president in North Carolina, however, where the race sits at 49%-47%, according to the poll. The Times conducted its poll from Sept. 17-21, surveying 2,077 likely voters across all three states. Arizona and Georgia would be major victories for Trump in the general election, as both are states that President Biden won in 2020. Arizona in particular represents a major swing toward Trump, where a Times poll in August found Harris leading by five points. The Times survey comes days after a Fox News national poll found Harris leading Trump by two points in a 50%-48% matchup. The new Fox News national survey found a 3 percentage-point shift among registered voters in the 2024 presidential contest since mid-August. Trump had a 1-point advantage in August….Read more ‘COVER-UP’: Dozens of lawmakers rip into Biden-Harris admin’s child migrant policies …Read more SHUTDOWN COUNTDOWN: Congress has less than a week to avert government shutdown …Read more ‘OUTRAGED’: Mike Johnson says Kamala Harris is Iran’s ‘preferred candidate’ in scathing letter to FBI …Read more ‘CONSTRAINING’ THE PRESIDENT: Top Dem previews Left’s efforts to restrain Trump if he wins in November …Read more NO CASH FOR TERRORISTS: GOP bill would ban aid to Afghanistan …Read more EARLY VOTING BREAKDOWN: Maryland and Mississippi are the latest states to begin early voting as of Monday …Read more SUCCESSFUL LAUNCH: Musk super PAC website aims to increase canvassers in battleground states …Read more CAMPAIGN EXODUS: 4 Mark Robinson staffers resign in wake of report on porn website posts …Read more LAW AND ORDER: Harris-Trump showdown: Leading law enforcement group takes sides in presidential election …Read more UNIQUE ENDORSEMENT: Who is Amer Ghalib, the Trump-backing mayor of the US’s only Muslim-majority town? …Read more TRAILING NUMBERS: New poll finds Iowa Republican in hot water …Read more TAKING ADVANTAGE?: Crucial Senate showdown: Hogan says its ‘deeply disturbing’ Alsobrooks improperly benefited from tax breaks on two properties …Read more CLOSING IN: Trump campaign’s ground game shrinks voter registration gap in key battleground states …Read more FUNDING CHINA’S ARMY: US research dollars may have aided Chinese military technology, GOP-led report say …Read more STAY IN JAIL: Trump would-be assassin ordered held behind bars …Read more ‘DEVASTATED’: Missing North Carolina college student found dead in South Africa …Read more BLUE STATE VETO: Newsom rejects bill that would let illegal immigrant students work on campus …Read more CREEPY: Trump assassination suspect wrote chilling letter months before golf course plot: ‘I failed you’ …Read more LIKE IN A MOVIE: Tennessee woman attempted to hire hitman to kill wife of man she met on dating website: ‘Needs to seem random’ …Read more Subscribe now to get the Fox News Politics newsletter in your inbox. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more on FoxNews.com.
Jury clears all but one defendant in Texas “Trump Train” trial
Six Trump supporters were accused of intimidating a Biden campaign bus in 2020. Both plaintiffs and defendants saw Monday’s verdict as a victory.
Trump reveals which US rival will be his first phone call if re-elected
Former President Donald Trump said Monday afternoon that his “first call” if re-elected to the Oval Office will be made to Chinese President Xi Jinping to enforce a trade deal from the end of his tenure as 45th president. “My first call, I’m going to call up President Xi. I’m going to say, ‘You have to honor the deal you made. We made a deal. You’d buy $50 billion worth of American farm product.’ And I guarantee you he will buy it. 100% he will buy it,” Trump said Monday during a campaign event in Smithton, Pennsylvania. Trump struck a trade deal with China in 2020 that included Beijing’s commitment to halt intellectual property theft, refrain from currency manipulation, cooperate in financial services and purchase an additional $200 billion of U.S. products over two years, including up to $50 billion of U.S. agriculture. In return, the U.S. vowed to reduce tariffs on some products made in China, but keep duties the White House has imposed on $375 billion worth of merchandise. US, CHINA SIGN HISTORIC PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL The deal was dubbed the “phase one” trade agreement and came amid the U.S. and China’s 18-month trade war. “Biden and Harris, they’re never going to enforce anything… That group is a disaster. It’s a disaster for our country in so many ways, but certainly the farmers are one of those ways,” Trump said of the current administration and the deal. The 45th president joined a panel of farmers on Monday afternoon as part of a Protecting America Initiative event, which is a group led by Trump’s acting director of national intelligence Richard Grenell and former New York Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin that works to prevent China from infiltrating U.S. “farmland, food supply, education system, energy production, manufacturing chains, and our national security.” WHY ‘PHASE ONE’ CHINA TRADE DEAL DOESN’T NEED CONGRESSIONAL APPROVAL, UNLIKE USMCA Trump added that in addition to calling on China to honor its 2020 trade deal, he would tell Xi to enforce a death penalty on fentanyl dealers sending the fatal drug to the U.S. via the Mexico border. STOCKS CELEBRATE PHASE ONE TRADE DEAL WITH RECORD HIGHS “Second thing I’m going to do is, I’m going to say you have to give the death penalty to your fentanyl dealers who are sending fentanyl. You know, in China, they give the death penalty. They don’t have a drug problem because they give the death penalty,” Trump said. “But I’m going to say, second thing — and this affects you also, it affects everybody,” Trump told the panel of farmers. “… We’re losing hundreds of 1,000s of people a year. Comes through the southern border. Now, the weakest border in history. It was the best border we ever had when I was there. We built hundreds of miles of wall and everything else, and it was the best border. Now it’s a weakest. I had a handshake deal with him, it was going to happen very quickly, and then this side didn’t, didn’t do anything about it, he said. And he suggested to me, ‘Anybody sends fentanyl to the United States, it’s the death penalty. They get the maximum penalty.’” “He would have done it. Then we had an election that didn’t exactly work out too good,” Trump added. Trump was joined by Grenell, Zeldin, Republican Senate candidate to represent Pennsylvania Dave McCormick and other political supporters for the Pennsylvania event. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.