ROME/LONDON // The third man identified as one of the London Bridge terrorists was an Italian-Moroccan who was arrested last year on suspicion of trying to reach Syria, Italian sources said on Tuesday.
Youssef Zaghba, 22, was the son of an Italian mother and a Moroccan father who had separated, and was registered as an Italian living overseas, said Daniele Ruscigno, mayor of Valsamoggia, near Bologna.
“In fact he never lived here. The only member of the family that lived here was the mother, who was known but has not been seen around for some time,” Mr Ruscigno said.
According to Italian media reports, Zaghba was born in Fez and lived mainly in Morocco but had recently spent time working in Britain, most recently at a London restaurant.
The AGI news agency said Zaghba was intercepted at Bologna airport last year as he was about to board a plane for Turkey with only a small backpack, his passport and a one-way ticket to Istanbul. Italy’s anti-terrorist force, DIGOS, believed he was trying to join ISIL militants in Syria. His mother was said to have told police last year that he had asked her for money to travel to Rome before he left on his attempted trip to Syria.
It is thought police found ISIL propaganda videos on his mobile phone but failed to find sufficient evidence of links to terrorism to justify prosecuting him.
As holder of an Italian passport he could not be expelled under the kind of administrative order Italy routinely uses against suspected Islamist militants from Morocco and Tunisia, and so he was released.
According to AGI, Digos notified the British and Moroccan authorities of Zaghba’s status as a potential militant. But British police have said Zaghba was “not a police or MI5 subject of interest”.
Outrage is already growing in Britain over the revelation that one of the other London attackers was a known extremist who had slipped through the net. But authorities admitted on uesday that their hands were often tied in tackling even known threats.
Khuram Shazad Butt, 27 and born in Pakistan, was known to the police and MI5, the domestic intelligence service. He even featured in a television documentary entitled “The Jihadis Next Door”.
The other attacker, Rachid Redouane, 30, who claimed he was Moroccan and Libyan, was not known to the British police or intelligence services. Nor was there any intelligence to suggest a plot to attack.
After three deadly attacks in less than three months, police said they could hardly keep tabs on 3,000 people on the terror watch list and 20,000 who have been on the intelligence radar in the past, even with sweeping new surveillance laws, particularly for online communications. Monitoring just one person a day requires about 20 officers.
London police chief Cressida Dick said the recent string of attacks in Britain, which has claimed 34 lives since March, was “unprecedented in my working life” but risked becoming the new normal. “We in this country have faced a terrorist threat throughout my life — it changed and morphed and we will change and adapt to what appears to be a new reality for us,” she said.
She warned that while police had managed to foil five attacks in recent months, it was possible they were witnessing the start of a wave of copycat assaults by freshly emboldened home-grown radicals.
“Undoubtedly when people see something which appears from their perverted point of view to be successful, some people will be inspired by that,” she said.
Terrorism expert Otso Iho of Jane’s Terrorism and Insurgency Centre said that as ISIL — which said it carried out the three attacks in Britain — loses territory in iraq and Syria, it will turn its attentions to the West.
“It is seeking to project its influence and maintain its relevance by inspiring, encouraging, and — though there does not appear to be evidence of this in the latest UK plots to date — directing attacks in Europe and elsewhere,” he said.
Policing and police numbers has become a flashpoint of the British political debate as the country prepares to go to the polls on Thursday. Police officer numbers have been cut by 20,000 in recent years and notably during Mrs May’s six-years as home secretary (interior minister). jobs, mostly during her six years as interior minister under previous prime minister David Cameron.
* Agence France-Presse
GRAN%20TURISMO
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2 (Heaton (og) 42', Lindelof 64')
Aston Villa 2 (Grealish 11', Mings 66')
ETFs explained
Exhchange traded funds are bought and sold like shares, but operate as index-tracking funds, passively following their chosen indices, such as the S&P 500, FTSE 100 and the FTSE All World, plus a vast range of smaller exchanges and commodities, such as gold, silver, copper sugar, coffee and oil.
ETFs have zero upfront fees and annual charges as low as 0.07 per cent a year, which means you get to keep more of your returns, as actively managed funds can charge as much as 1.5 per cent a year.
There are thousands to choose from, with the five biggest providers BlackRock’s iShares range, Vanguard, State Street Global Advisors SPDR ETFs, Deutsche Bank AWM X-trackers and Invesco PowerShares.
BEETLEJUICE BEETLEJUICE
Starring: Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Jenny Ortega
Director: Tim Burton
Rating: 3/5
Dirham Stretcher tips for having a baby in the UAE
Selma Abdelhamid, the group's moderator, offers her guide to guide the cost of having a young family:
• Buy second hand stuff
They grow so fast. Don't get a second hand car seat though, unless you 100 per cent know it's not expired and hasn't been in an accident.
• Get a health card and vaccinate your child for free at government health centres
Ms Ma says she discovered this after spending thousands on vaccinations at private clinics.
• Join mum and baby coffee mornings provided by clinics, babysitting companies or nurseries.
Before joining baby classes ask for a free trial session. This way you will know if it's for you or not. You'll be surprised how great some classes are and how bad others are.
• Once baby is ready for solids, cook at home
Take the food with you in reusable pouches or jars. You'll save a fortune and you'll know exactly what you're feeding your child.
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Fixtures
Tuesday - 5.15pm: Team Lebanon v Alger Corsaires; 8.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Pharaohs
Wednesday - 5.15pm: Pharaohs v Carthage Eagles; 8.30pm: Alger Corsaires v Abu Dhabi Storms
Thursday - 4.30pm: Team Lebanon v Pharaohs; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Carthage Eagles
Friday - 4.30pm: Pharaohs v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Team Lebanon
Saturday - 4.30pm: Carthage Eagles v Alger Corsaires; 7.30pm: Abu Dhabi Storms v Team Lebanon
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Leap of Faith
Michael J Mazarr
Public Affairs
Dh67
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
Rooney's club record
At Everton Appearances: 77; Goals: 17
At Manchester United Appearances: 559; Goals: 253
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How to help or find other cats to adopt
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