Mexico captures third suspect in murder of Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry

Justice in Mexico

09/24/13 (written by gehrenberg) – Mexican authorities have announced the capture of a third suspect in the 2010 murder of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry, who was killed in a shootout miles away from the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. Police in the Northwestern Mexican state of Sinaloa said that Iván Soto Barraza was captured in a joint operation between State Ministerial Police (Policía Ministerial del Estado, PME) and Interpol; a government spokesperson also reported that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) collaborated in the arrest. Soto Barraza was captured in Sinaloa at 11:00pm on September 11 on the road connecting the city of El Fuerte with the community of Ocolome. He was then transferred to a prison in Hermosillo, Sonora, where he awaits extradition to the United States. Soto Barraza is the third of allegedly five suspects that authorities believe were involved in Terry’s killing. One of…

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Scores Killed by Suicide Bomb in Pakistan—NYT

A suicide attack on a historic church in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 78 people on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on the country’s Christian minority  in years. The attack occurred as worshipers left a church service in the old quarter of the regional capital, Peshawar. Up to 600 people were leaving when two explosions ripped through the crowd. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, who arrived in Peshawar on Sunday evening, said that 78 people had been killed, including 34 women and 7 children. Akhtar Ali Shah, the home secretary of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, said that more than 100 people had been wounded. Mr. Khan said that 37 of those were children. Witnesses reported mayhem as rescue workers ferried victims from the church, which was scattered with body parts, shrapnel and bloodied clothing. Read more here.

Venezuela Arrests 3 in Air France Cocaine Haul—WSJ

Venezuelan authorities arrested 3 members of the National Guard for their alleged involvement in the smuggling of nearly 3,050 pounds of cocaine to Paris earlier this month, the South American country’s Attorney General’s office said late Sunday. The Venezuelan officers join 6 other people nabbed in France—3 Italians and 3 U.K. nationals—allegedly tied to a drug ring… French authorities uncovered the shipment at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport after it was brought over on a commercial Air France flight that departed from Caracas on Sept. 10, Venezuelan officials said. The French Interior Ministry said the cocaine catch is the nation’s largest ever with a street value estimated at $270 million, once the drug is cut and packaged for retail sale. The drug was due to supply… the entire European market. Read more here.

Dozens Killed in Terror Attack on Nairobi Mall—NYT

Masked gunmen stormed into a crowded mall in Nairobi Saturday and shot dead at least 39 people and wounded more than 150 in one of the most chilling terrorist attacks in East Africa since Al Qaeda blew up 2 U.S. embassies in 1998. Parents hurled their bodies over their children, people jumped into ventilation shafts to save themselves, and shoppers huddled behind the mannequins of designer clothing stores as 2 squads of gunmen believed to be linked to a Somali terrorist group moved through the mall, shooting shoppers in the head. Hours later, the mall’s gleaming floors were smeared with blood as police dashed through the corpse-strewn corridors, trying to find the assailants. A standoff with the attackers, who were reported to be heavily armed and holding an unknown number of hostages, continued as the sun rose on Sunday. Read more here.

World’s smallest pony kidnapped—Mail Online

He was due to perform at the show with his owner but ‘equestrian artist’ Bartolo Messina was forced to alert police when he found the pony’s stall empty. Police are investigating the theory that the mafia may be involved and believe the thieves could be holding the pony for ransom. The tiny show-pony was in the central Italian town for the 47th edition of the National Horse Fair. Police said that the horse thieves snipped a wire fence surrounding the fairgrounds, grabbed the miniature pony and made off through a nearby tobacco field where a car was waiting to speed them away.  A spokesman for the Carabinieri in Citta di Castello said: ‘Investigations are continuing. We are not excluding any possibilities including that the perpetrators are part of a criminal organisation.’  Read more here.

Assad suggests Middle East terrorist groups could respond to strike with chemical weapons—Fox News

Syrian President Bashar Assad, warning to “expect everything” as a response to any U.S. strike against his country, appeared to be hoping to use veiled threats to influence a U. S. public already wary about taking action. His comments came in an interview with Charlie Rose on “CBS This Morning.” When asked if “everything” included chemical warfare, Assad replied, “That depends. If the rebels or the terrorists in this region, or any other group have it, it could happen, I don’t know. I am not a fortune teller.” The Syrian dictator could have been referring to a range of possibilities. One was perhaps Hezbollah in Lebanon, with its expanded arsenal of more than 60,000 rockets and missiles capable of striking Israel. According to the Israeli Defense Force, Hezbollah built up its missile stockpile after the 2006 conflict with Israel and now has missiles that could reach Eilat. In recent days, the leader of Hezbollah in neighboring Iraq threatened that Iraq’s Shi’ite groups, would attack U.S. targets in the Gulf, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute. Read more here.

Mexico pursues freed drug lord Caro Quintero—CNN

(09-05-13) Less than a week after drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero was released from prison because of procedural errors, the Mexican government wants him locked up. The office of the Mexican attorney general late Wednesday said that it has issued a warrant for “provisional detention,” acting on a request from the United States. A Mexican judge signed off on the request. Once Caro Quintero is detained, the office said, the United States will have 60 days to formally request his extradition. Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam earlier said his office would review the decision of a Mexican appeals court to release the trafficker. Caro Quintero had served 28 years when he was freed Friday because he was tried in the federal system, when his crimes should have been dealt with at the state level. Read more.

Egypt minister warns of terrorism after assassination attempt-Reuters

(09-05-13) The Egyptian interior minister survived an assassination attempt unscathed on Thursday when a car bomb blew up his convoy and he said afterwards that a wave of terrorism by opponents of the military-installed government was just beginning. The minister, Mohamed Ibrahim, had been involved in overseeing a violent crackdown on supporters of Mohamed Mursi, the elected Islamist president who was overthrown two months ago by the army following mass protests against his rule. Read more.