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Luton Man Convicted On Terror Charges

A delivery driver from Luton has been convicted of plotting to kill a US airman outside a base in East Anglia.

Junead Khan, 25, a supporter of so-called Islamic State (IS), was found guilty of preparing terrorist acts. Khan had driven past RAF Lakenheath and other US bases on his delivery route, and had discussed staging a car crash and attacking a soldier with a knife.

He was also convicted of preparing to join IS in Syria. His uncle Shazib Khan was also convicted of the same charge.

In what police called a “chilling message” to a suspected IS member, Junead Khan described how he had missed an opportunity to kill US soldiers on his rounds as a delivery driver. The message said: “When I saw these US soldiers on road it just looked simple but I had nothing on me or would’ve got into an accident with them and made them get out the car.” His contact replied: “That’s what the brother done with Lee Rigby” – referring to the British solider murdered in Woolwich in 2013.

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Air Strike In Syria Kills More Than 30

The US says it is “appalled” by reports that Syrian government air strikes killed more than 30 people in a rebel-held suburb of Damascus on Thursday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 12 children were among those who died in the raids near a school and a hospital in Deir al-Asafir. The US said it condemned any attacks directed at civilians.

The air strikes came despite a month-long cessation of hostilities between government and rebel forces. The partial truce has resulted in a significant reduction in violence in much of Syria and has largely held despite both sides accusing each other of violations.

Thursday’s attack on Deir al-Asafir, a town in the rebel-dominated rural eastern Ghouta region, was one of the deadliest incidents involving civilians since the cessation of hostilities began on 27 February.

The Syrian Observatory, a UK-based monitoring group, said that 12 children, nine women, a teacher and a volunteer emergency response worker from the Syrian Civil Defence, an organisation also known as the “White Helmets”, were among the 33 people killed. The Syrian Civil Defence published a video of what it described as the last moments of the emergency worker, Mohammed Walid al-Ghorani. It showed an ambulance arriving at the scene of one of the strikes in Deir al-Asafir and a man, carrying a stretcher over his shoulder, rushing towards damaged buildings.

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Russian Journalist Stabbed To Death

Noted Russian journalist Dmitry Tsilikin has been found stabbed to death in his flat in St Petersburg.

Mr Tsilikin, 54, was found on Thursday evening after friends and family had been unable to contact him. His mobile phone and computer are missing. Police have opened a murder inquiry.

Mr Tsilikin was a well-known culture and arts critic, working on TV and radio as well as for print media such as Kommersant, Vogue and Elle. Mr Tsilikin had reportedly just returned from a trip to the Latvian capital, Riga. Friends and family last spoke to him at the end of last week.

Mr Tsilikin was found with multiple knife wounds and it is believed he may have been dead for at least two days.

The Russian Investigative Committee said a forensic investigation was being carried out and it had not ruled out “murder committed on domestic grounds”. St Petersburg Union of Journalists chairwoman Lyudmila Fomichev told Kommersant: “This is a great tragedy for the entire journalistic community, because he was a very well-known, great journalist who wrote on culture and art.”

Mr Tsilikin, a graduate of the Leningrad State Institute of Music and Cinema, turned to journalism after the collapse of the Soviet Union, working for the newspaper Rush Hour and editing Culture and Society.
He also worked on a number of TV and radio programmes, as well as other newspapers and magazines.

Brussels Airport To Remain Closed

Plans to partially reopen Brussels airport on Friday evening have been halted amid a strike by airport police over security concerns.

The Zaventem facility has been closed since a twin suicide bomb attack on the departures hall on 22 March. The SLFP police union told the BBC that security measures put in place for the reopening were insufficient.

So-called Islamic State (IS) said it carried out bombings of the airport and metro system that killed 32 people.

Vincent Gilles, the president of the SLFP, the largest police union in Belgium, said: “We are on strike because of what happened on 22 March – we cannot continue as if this day has not happened. “The police feel the security measures put in place by the airport company are insufficient for those who work and use the airport.” He says metal detectors, body scanners and x-ray machines should be set up to screen people before they are allowed into terminals.

The authorities have so far rejected this, arguing that such checks would create new queues outside the buildings, leading to fresh security risks. In an earlier statement, the airport’s operators had said a partial reopening would be possible on Friday evening, after a temporary check-in system had been tested and made ready. However, it said the departures area, which was severely damaged by the bomb attacks, would only operate at 20% of normal capacity, receiving only 800 departing passengers per hour.

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