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US reinstates plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, other 9/11 suspects

US reinstates plea deals for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, other 9/11 suspects

Military judge rules Defense Secretary Austin did not have the authority to rescind plea agreements with three accused. A United States military judge has ruled that plea agreements reached with the alleged plotters of the September 11, 2001, attacks are valid, reversing an order by the country’s defence minister. The order by the judge, Air Force Colonel Matthew McCall, means the three accused men may eventually be sentenced to life in prison instead of death as part of the deal reached earlier, The New York Times and The Associated Press news agency reported on Wednesday. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rescinded the three separate pretrial agreements on August 2, two days after a senior Pentagon official signed them. But the military judge at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba ordered that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind, and two accused accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, can appear before his court to enter pleas. He is reportedly yet to set a timetable. The judge argued that Austin had the authority to exert supervision over the process when it was ongoing, but did not have the legal authority to rescind the plea deals as the defence minister. The Pentagon was reviewing the judge’s decision and had no further comment, said its spokesman Major-General Pat Ryder. Prosecutors have also not commented on the ruling, which has not yet been publicly announced. Mohammed and four others were charged in 2012 with conspiring in the attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people, but the cases have for years been mired in litigation over the torture of the defendants by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged 9/11 mastermind, is seen shortly after his capture during a raid in Pakistan [File: AP Photo] Pretrial hearings were scheduled at Guantanamo Bay in the case for another defendant, Ammar al-Baluchi, who has not reached a plea deal. The fifth defendant, Ramzi bin al-Shibh, was last September found incompetent to stand trial or reach a plea deal. A forensic psychiatrist is reportedly expected to testify on Thursday on whether the defendants made their 2007 confessions under torture or voluntarily, after spending years in secret CIA prisons. The cases are still expected to take a long time before reaching the finish line even if verdicts and sentences are reached. A US court of appeals would then likely have to hear many of the issues surrounding the cases – including the destruction of videos of interrogations by the CIA. Mohammed was regarded as one of al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden’s most trusted men before he was captured in a covert operation in Pakistan in March 2003. He spent three years in secret CIA prisons before arriving in Guantanamo in 2006. Bin Attash, a Saudi of Yemeni origin, allegedly trained two of the hijackers who carried out the attacks. He was captured with Mohammed in 2003 and was also held in a network of secret CIA prisons. Al-Hawsawi is suspected of managing the finances for the 9/11 attacks. He was arrested in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, and was also held in secret prisons before being transferred to Guantanamo in 2006. Adblock test (Why?)

Spain floods: Is Europe prepared for climate change?

Spain floods: Is Europe prepared for climate change?

Spain’s devastating floods have raised concerns about EU preparedness for climate change. It is Spain’s worst natural disaster in recent history and some scientists are linking it to global warming. Devastating floods across the eastern region of Valencia have destroyed roads, railways, other infrastructure and businesses. Recovery efforts are still under way, but the total cost is likely to be enormous. The government has approved more than $11bn in loans and grants to help storm and flood victims. But many Spaniards are outraged by what they say is a slow response to the crisis. Israel extends a lifeline for the Palestinian economy, but just for one month. Plus, Africa’s energy potential. Adblock test (Why?)

Iran ‘terrified’ of Trump presidency as Iranian currency falls to an all-time low

Iran ‘terrified’ of Trump presidency as Iranian currency falls to an all-time low

After President-elect Trump’s victory, Iran must now prepare to contend with the man it’s been trying to assassinate for years. Tehran had reportedly been interfering in the U.S. election on behalf of Vice President Kamala Harris. But with former Trump’s win, the regime will have to prepare for a U.S. leader who is, at the very least, a wild card.  On Wednesday, the Telegram channel of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IGRC), its military force, posted a video threatening to kill Trump. It ended with footage of a bloodied Trump and the words “We will finish the job.” Iran has long vowed revenge for Trump approving the 2019 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani.  IRAN-BACKED IRAQI MILITIA ATTACKS HAIFA, ISRAEL WITH DRONES “The Islamic Republic has to be terrified that the presidential candidate that they tried to kill has just won the election,” Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran expert at the hawkish Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) think tank, told Fox News Digital.  “The regime knows it can ill afford more exogenous economic shocks. Even the return of maximum pressure alone to the Islamic Republic is going to cause major, major economic problems.” Iran’s currency tanked to an all-time low Wednesday after Trump clinched victory, signaling its challenges are far from over in the Middle East as war rages on through proxies in both Gaza and Lebanon.  The rial traded at 703,000 rials to the dollar, traders in Tehran said, breaking a record before recovering slightly later in the day to 696,150 to $1. In 2015, at the time of Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers, the rial was at 32,000 to $1. On July 30, the day Iran’s reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian was sworn in and started his term, the rate was 584,000 to $1. And despite U.S. sanctions that critics claim have not been enforced, Iran has been able to export near-record amounts of oil, around 1.7 million barrels per day.   At the same time, Iran could ramp up production to build a nuclear weapon in a matter of weeks by many estimates.  “Tehran knows maximum pressure is set to return,” said Taleblu. “During this lame duck period, the nuclear saber rattling threat has to be taken seriously, particularly when its conventional deterrence has been so badly beaten.” After the Trump administration pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, it imposed harsh sanctions on the regime to stop its funding of proxies abroad, banning U.S. citizens from trading with Iran or handling Iranian money.  It also punished entities in other countries that did business with Iran by cutting them off from the dollar.  President Biden often waived enforcement of such sanctions, keen to bring Tehran back to the negotiating table to prevent it from acquiring nuclear weapons and fearful of driving up global oil prices.  Iran gained access to more than $10 billion through a State Department sanctions waiver that allowed Iraq to continue buying energy from Iran, which the Biden administration argues is necessary to keep lights on in Baghdad.  White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby has insisted none of the funds go to the IRGC or Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei but are “for humanitarian goods.” IRAN THREATENS TO USE MORE POWERFUL WARHEADS AGAINST ISRAEL IN NEXT ATTACK: REPORT Iran must also now factor an imminent Trump presidency into how it escalates war with Israel. Israel responded to Tehran’s strikes on Tel Aviv last month with attacks on Iranian military sites, and now Khamenei has vowed harsh countermeasures.  “Trump’s victory will give Iran pause as it considers striking back at Israel in their tit for tat,” said Sean McFate, adjunct professor at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs.  “During Trump’s previous administration, he scuttled the Iran Nuclear Deal (JCPOA), strongly embraced Israel and sought to normalize Jewish-Arab relations in the region. I doubt he will support the Palestinians, and he will likely end the Biden-Harris dual policy of support to both sides in the Gaza conflict. None of this is good for Iran.” But others predicted Trump may actually be less supportive of Israel, Iran’s No. 1 foe in the region, than the Biden administration due to his anti-interventionist tendencies.  “There’s the unpredictability factor with Trump,” said Chuck Freilich, former deputy national security adviser in Israel. “They don’t know. They’ll be cautious from that point of view with him and more so than they would have been with Biden.” “Will they be willing to do what has to be done to prevent Iran from crossing, and that may include military action? The Republican Party has become isolationist. “Biden sent aircraft carrier groups [near Israel] on four occasions in the last year. That’s an unprecedented deployment of American force, both in support of Israel and to deter Iran. Is [Trump] willing to do that?” he added. “I think he will be maybe even less inclined to use military force than Biden would have been.” Officially, Iran brushed off the suggestion a Trump presidency could inflict damage on the regime.  “The U.S. elections are not really our business. Our policies are steady and don’t change based on individuals. We made the necessary predictions before, and there will not be change in people’s livelihoods,” government spokesperson Fatemeh Mohajerani said, according to the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

How Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 presidential run mirrors her ill-fated 2020 campaign

How Kamala Harris’ failed 2024 presidential run mirrors her ill-fated 2020 campaign

Vice President Harris‘ second failed presidential bid mirrors aspects of her first trek on the campaign trail in 2019, proving to be short-lived and unfocused on key issues important to American voters, experts say. “Both started with great promise,” Tevi Troy, a presidential historian and former senior official in the George W. Bush administration, told Fox News Digital in an interview.  “There’s the sense that she’s the savior of the new flavor, the next generation for Democrats, and both kind of failed spectacularly,” he said. HARRIS NOW THE SECOND DEM CANDIDATE TO LOSE TO TRUMP AND NOT SPEAK TO SUPPORTERS ON ELECTION NIGHT In December 2019, then-Sen. Harris suspended her bid for the presidency 11 months after entering the race, citing a lack of campaign funds and a lag in the polls. It wasn’t long before staffers exposed the disarray in her campaign. But before she was one of the more prominent early dropouts among the field of Democrat contenders, Harris’ campaign started off with significant momentum, marked by her strong launch that drew a large crowd in Oakland, California. She was initially seen as a top-tier candidate. However, as the campaign progressed, her campaign’s messaging became unclear and faced tough opposition from then-candidate Joe Biden as well as Elizabeth Warren, Tulsi Gabbard and Bernie Sanders. HEAD HERE FOR THE LATEST FOX NEWS ELECTION RESULTS “Both [campaigns] ran aground on the same two things. No. 1 is her inability to communicate even the most simple idea to the American people. And it’s not because she’s not intellectually capable of doing it, it’s because she is in a box,” Troy said of Harris. “She’s trapped,” he added. “On the one hand, her inclinations and her voters are on the left, and on the other hand, she wants to win the general election, and to appeal to people in the general election, she has to renounce the more woke policies that she’s espoused throughout her life.” But to do that, Troy said, would cost her excited progressive big donors. Harris became the Democrat frontrunner after President Biden suspended his bid for re-election in July amid reports of his declining mental acuity in the wake of a poor debate performance against Republican former President Trump in June. Biden quickly endorsed Harris, who made “reproductive rights” a top issue on the campaign trail, a strategy that would ultimately not win over enough swing state voters. Harris was the Democrat nominee for only about four months. “I don’t think voters felt like abortion rights were at risk,” another GOP strategist told Fox News Digital. “They largely agreed that the voters should decide, which was President Trump’s message that it should be sent to the states for voters themselves to decide.” “I think our biggest strength was Kamala’s own words that she had so many far-left San Francisco liberal policy proposals that were all explained by her on camera during the 2020 campaign that we were able to deploy really effectively and target into districts where people have really negative views of those,” the Republican expert said.  And voters may have wanted more substance from Harris when it comes to the economy and the border. Preliminary data from the Fox News Voter Analysis, a survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, provides an early look at the mood of voters as they cast their ballots. Voters say the economy is far and away the top issue facing the country, followed distantly by immigration and abortion. In a sign of inflation’s economic toll, roughly three times as many voters feel they were falling behind financially as those who feel they were getting ahead. DEMOCRAT ADAM SCHIFF WINS DIANNE FEINSTEIN’S FORMER SENATE SEAT Harris also faced the challenge of decoupling herself from Biden but otherwise ran an “expertly run campaign,” according to Philadelphia-based Democrat strategist Mustafa Rashed. “It was going to be hard to distance herself from the sitting president; she couldn’t use him as a surrogate because he was just not an effective surrogate,” Rashed told Fox News Digital. “He’s not great on the campaign trail, and he’s not popular enough to outweigh the downsides of having him as your partner.” Harris conceded to Trump over the phone on Wednesday morning after he clinched a majority of the electoral vote overnight. She gave her concession speech later in the day at her alma mater, Howard University. “The outcome of this election is not what we hoped, not what we fought, not what we voted for,” Harris said. “But hear when I say … the light of America’s promise will always burn bright as long as we never give up and as long as we keep fighting.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub. Fox News Digital’s Polling Unit contributed to this report.

How Harris was dogged by ‘border czar’ label, past radical immigration views during failed campaign

How Harris was dogged by ‘border czar’ label, past radical immigration views during failed campaign

Vice President Kamala Harris came into the presidential race with immigration and border security as top issues for voters, but struggled to gain momentum on the issue given her radical past policies as a California senator and her role in the Biden administration’s failure to control the crisis at the southern border. The Fox News Voter Analysis found that 52% of voters said President-elect Donald Trump was the better candidate to handle immigration, while just 36% said Harris.  Meanwhile, it was one of the top issues for voters, with 20% saying it was the most important issue facing the country, behind only the economy and jobs (39%) and ahead of abortion (11%) and climate change (7%) ‘LIBERATION DAY’: WHAT TO EXPECT FROM PRESIDENT-ELECT TRUMP ON BORDER SECURITY, IMMIGRATION The roots of Harris’ troubles on immigration began in 2021, when the Biden-Harris administration rolled back Trump-era policies including border wall construction and the Remain-in-Mexico policy and aimed to place a moratorium on deportations. That was followed by a dramatic and historic surge at the border which overwhelmed Border Patrol agents and broke records for encounters, leading to chaos throughout the country as migrants poured in. The Biden administration said it was dealing with a “broken” system and congressional inaction, proposing a sweeping immigration bill that included a mass amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants, but Republicans and others tied the surge to the policies of the administration,. As those numbers took off, President Biden in March 2021 tasked Harris with leading diplomacy to countries south of the border to tackle what they saw as the root causes of migration — including climate change, violence and poverty. Crucially, it led her to be dubbed the “border czar” by critics and media outlets, although the White House rejected that moniker. Despite the limits on that role, it made her a figurehead of the spiraling crisis, and she immediately faced pressure to visit the southern border. She visited Mexico and Guatemala but initially shrugged off calls to visit the border. “You haven’t been to the border,” NBC’s Lester Holt told her, after she claimed she had been to the border. “And I haven’t been to Europe,” Harris quipped. WHY NOW? MEDIA OUTLETS LARGELY QUIET ON TIMING OF SUDDEN CRACKDOWN OF KAMALA HARRIS ‘BORDER CZAR’ LABEL  She eventually visited El Paso, Texas, but the controversy stuck, and Republicans would regularly mention the “border czar” when attacking the administration’s policies. Reports also emerged that she was dissatisfied with the assignment.  In that role, she would go on to raise more than $5.2 billion committed since May 2021 from over 50 companies and organizations to tackle root causes, but the ongoing crisis, which didn’t slow down until 2024, took the spotlight. This year, she and the administration threw their weight behind a bipartisan border security bill that was introduced in the Senate in January. That bill, which failed to pick up enough support to pass the chamber, would have provided additional funding to the border, including for thousands of additional personnel. It also included an emergency authority to allow officials to shut down entries at the southern border when they reach a certain level — but conservatives say it would solidify high levels of illegal immigration. But Trump’s opposition to the bill allowed Harris to accuse Trump of torpedoing the bill for political purposes. LIVE BLOG: DONALD TRUMP ELECTED AS THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES  “Donald Trump learned about that bill and told them to kill it because he preferred to run on a problem instead of fixing a problem,” she said. She also noted a recent drop in border crossings since June after President Biden signed a proclamation limiting asylum entries into the U.S. “[Trump] can make up whatever lies he wants, but the fact is there’s only one candidate in this race who will fight for real solutions to help secure our nation’s border, and that’s Vice President Harris,” her campaign said. As a presidential candidate, she also emphasized her past as an attorney general going after transnational criminal organizations “that smuggled guns, drugs, and human beings across the U.S.-Mexico border.” But she was also hit by her past statements made during her time as a California senator and a presidential candidate in the 2020 election cycle. Her support for gender transition surgery to detained migrants hit headlines and was used as a weapon against her by Republicans. CLICK HERE FOR MORE COVERAGE OF THE BORDER SECURITY CRISIS She would also move away from past statements in which she called for the decriminalization of illegal border crossings and for the closing of immigration detention centers. She had also mulled ICE starting again “from scratch.” A Harris campaign adviser told Fox that her positions have been “shaped by three years of effective governance as part of the Biden-Harris administration.” Ultimately, though, it was not enough to help her overcome her deficit on the issue over Trump, who on Wednesday reiterated his calls to secure the border. He has pledged to resume wall construction and launch a mass deportation operation, while ending a number of Biden-era policies when he enters office in January 2025.

President Trump and Grover Cleveland: How presidential candidates triumphantly returned to the White House

President Trump and Grover Cleveland: How presidential candidates triumphantly returned to the White House

President-elect Donald Trump succeeded early in the morning on Wednesday, and defeated Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential race for the White House. Trump will take office for a second time in January. The only other presidential candidate in history to win the presidency non-consecutively was Grover Cleveland, who was elected as the 22nd and 24th U.S. president. FAITH LEADERS REACT TO TRUMP RE-ELECTION: ‘GOD SPARED MY LIFE FOR A REASON Cleveland, born into a large family as one of nine children in New Jersey, according to WhiteHouse.gov., was raised in New York. The former president studied law and became a lawyer before taking public office as mayor of Buffalo in 1881, according to WhiteHouse.gov. Cleveland became the Democrat U.S. presidential candidate in 1884, while he was serving as the governor of New York. He was the first Democrat elected president after the Civil War, defeating his Republican opponent, Sen. James G. Blaine of Maine. During his first term in office, he faced criticism for his veto of private pension bills for Civil War veterans, according to NPR. TRUMP’S PROJECTED VICTORY DOESN’T GO OVER WELL WITH LIBERAL MEDIA: ‘I’M GONNA THROW UP’ Also during his first term, a proposed bill to provide Texas farmers with $10,000 in federal funds to be used for seed grain was brought to the floor, which he vetoed, according to the New York Post. Cleveland called for Congress to reduce high protective tariffs from the Civil War, according to the Associated Press, and signed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1887, which established federal regulation of an industry for the first time through its regulation of railroads, according to NPR.  During his first term in office, Frances Folsom, who was 21 at the time, became the first lady with her marriage to Cleveland. To this day, Cleveland is the only president to be married inside the White House.  HERE’S HOW VP-ELECT JD VANCE’S SENATE SEAT WILL BE FILLED Four years after becoming president, Cleveland was up for re-election. He campaigned against Republican Benjamin Harrison but was unsuccessful in his bid to return to the White House. Cleveland won the popular vote but lost the Electoral College to his Republican opponent. “He began the race without a campaign manager; delegated most of the electioneering responsibilities to his running mate, Allen Thurman, who, at the age of 74, was not healthy enough to withstand the rigors of campaigning; and based the entire race around his proposal to reduce tariffs, which divided his own Democratic Party and unified the Republicans in opposition,” presidential historian Troy Senik told History.com.  In 1892, there was a rematch between Cleveland and Harrison, and Cleveland came out victorious, making him the first to return to the White House for a non-consecutive term. TRUMP WHITE HOUSE VICTORY CALLED ‘THE GREATEST POLITICAL COMEBACK IN AMERICAN HISTORY’ Cleveland was the only president to hold this distinction until Trump accomplished a similar feat. Trump was first elected as president in 2016, when he beat his Democrat opponent, Hillary Clinton. Trump lost the popular vote but won the electoral vote to win the presidential race. Trump’s success stems from a background in business as a real estate developer, rather than politics. In July 2016, Trump accepted the Republican nomination for president, was elected on Nov. 8, 2016, and was inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2017.  His first term in office included policies like tax cuts, energy independence, military expansion, improved health care for veterans and security of the southern border. PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP’S VICTORY SENDS HOLLYWOOD INTO TAILSPIN Also during his first term, Trump appointed federal judges, including three U.S. Supreme Court judges, and signed legislation to create the Space Force, the first new armed service since 1947, according to the U.S. Department of Defense’s website. In 2020, Trump faced Democrat challenger Joe Biden for the White House and lost the election. After years removed from the presidency, Trump began a campaign for re-election. He announced his third run for office in the days after the 2022 midterm elections and began two more years of campaigning. Initially, Trump and Biden were campaigning against one another again. However, in July 2024, now-President Biden announced an end to his re-election bid and endorsed his vice president, Harris, as the Democrat nominee. Trump defeated Harris in the 2024 presidential election, becoming president-elect. Trump is now the 45th and 47th U.S. president. “I want to thank you all very much,” Trump said in an address to the American people during the early morning hours Wednesday, after the results of Election Day. “This is great. These are our friends. We have thousands of friends in this incredible movement. This is a movement like nobody’s ever seen before; I believe the greatest political movement of all time.” “I want to thank the American people for the extraordinary honor of being elected the 47th president,” Trump continued. “And every citizen, I will fight for you, for your family and your future. Every single day, I will be fighting for you. And with every breath in my body, I will not rest until we have delivered the strong, safe and prosperous America that our children deserve and that you deserve.”