Hostage survivor testifies in trial of ISIS member accused in deaths of several Americans
CNN
A hostage taken by the ISIS terror cell known as the "Beatles" testified Thursday in a trial against one of the alleged members, El Shafee Elsheikh, who is accused of assisting in the kidnapping, torture and death of several Americans, Europeans and other foreign nationals from 2012 to 2015.
During the second day of trial, Italian aid worker Federico Motka told the jury how he was captured, imprisoned and tortured by the terror cell alongside other hostages who were eventually killed, including Americans James Foley, Steven Sotloff, Kayla Mueller and Peter Kassig.
The so-called Beatles -- as the hostages came to call them because of their British accents -- were the primary handlers of the hostages and, according to the Department of Justice, Elsheikh is the last of the group to stand trial. His co-defendant pleaded guilty in September and the other member, Mohamed Emwazi, was killed in a drone strike in 2015.
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Two top House lawmakers emerged divided along party lines after a private briefing with the military official who oversaw September’s attack on an alleged drug vessel that included a so-called double-tap strike that killed surviving crew members, with a top Democrat calling video of the incident that was shared as part of the briefing “one of the most troubling things” he has seen as a lawmaker.
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As lawmakers demand answers over reports that the US military carried out a follow-up strike that killed survivors during an attacked on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean, a career Navy SEAL who has spent most of his 30 years of military experience in special operations will be responsible for providing them.
The murder trial of Brian Walshe, who is accused of killing and dismembering his wife in 2023 continues. Follow for live updates.
The FBI arrested a person Thursday who investigators believe planted pipe bombs near the Republican and Democratic National Committee headquarters the night before the 2021 US Capitol riot.
Lawyers for the New York attorney general’s office are expected to appear in federal court in Albany on Thursday to try to disqualify a US attorney from investigating the state’s civil case against President Donald Trump.
A new poll shows more than 70% of Republicans with Obamacare coverage don’t want their enhanced premium subsidies to expire.
A safety volunteer accused of fatally shooting a man taking part in a “No Kings” protest last June in Salt Lake City while firing at another man he believed to be a potential mass shooter has been charged with manslaughter, prosecutors announced Wednesday.
The specter of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown looms over the Somali diaspora in the Twin Cities – home to the nation’s largest Somali population.
Honduras’ former President Juan Orlando Hernández thanked US President Donald Trump for pardoning his US drug trafficking conviction amid criticism from lawmakers that the pardon undermines the White House’s efforts to stop drug trafficking.