New York subway shooter Frank James pleads guilty to terrorism charges

The man who set off smoke bombs on a crowded New York subway train before shooting 10 people last April in one of the most violent attacks on the city's transit system pleaded guilty on Tuesday to terrorism and weapons charges.

Frank James appeared in US District Court in Brooklyn to change his plea after his lawyers requested the hearing last month. He had initially pleaded not guilty in May to 10 counts of committing a terrorist attack and other violence against a mass transport system — one count for each person shot — and using a firearm during a crime of violence.

A total of 23 people were injured in the assault during the morning rush hour on April 12 on a Manhattan-bound N train at a station in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighbourhood. No one was killed.

It was some of the worst violence involving the US' largest subway system, which is more than a century old.

In a letter to the court last week, US prosecutors said that if James demonstrates that he accepts responsibility for the crime, a prison sentence of 32 to 37 years would be appropriate. If not, he could face 40 years to life.

Police apprehended James in Manhattan's East Village neighbourhood 30 hours after the attack, following a massive manhunt. Bystanders spotted the man and posted pictures of him to social media.

The New York Police Department said they had initially linked James to the assault after finding keys to a rented U-Haul van left at the crime scene.

James, a native of the city's Bronx borough with recent addresses in Philadelphia and Milwaukee, had nine prior arrests in New York and three in New Jersey, police said.

He is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn.

Less than two months after James's attack, a man was arrested in the fatal, unprovoked shooting of a man on a subway car crossing the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn into Manhattan.

In June, another man was arrested on suspicion of pushing a woman on to the tracks of a subway station in the Bronx.

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SUE%20GRAY'S%20FINDINGS

%3Cp%3E%22Whatever%20the%20initial%20intent%2C%20what%20took%20place%20at%20many%20of%20these%20gatherings%20and%20the%3Cbr%3Eway%20in%20which%20they%20developed%20was%20not%20in%20line%20with%20Covid%20guidance%20at%20the%20time.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22Many%20of%20these%20events%20should%20not%20have%20been%20allowed%20to%20happen.%20It%20is%20also%20the%20case%20that%20some%20of%20the%3Cbr%3Emore%20junior%20civil%20servants%20believed%20that%20their%20involvement%20in%20some%20of%20these%20events%20was%20permitted%20given%20the%20attendance%20of%20senior%20leaders.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22The%20senior%20leadership%20at%20the%20centre%2C%20both%20political%20and%20official%2C%20must%20bear%20responsibility%20for%20this%20culture.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20found%20that%20some%20staff%20had%20witnessed%20or%20been%20subjected%20to%20behaviours%20at%20work%20which%20they%20had%20felt%20concerned%20about%20but%20at%20times%20felt%20unable%20to%20raise%20properly.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%22I%20was%20made%20aware%20of%20multiple%20examples%20of%20a%20lack%20of%20respect%20and%20poor%20treatment%20of%20security%20and%20cleaning%20staff.%20This%20was%20unacceptable.%22%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A

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if you go

The flights
Emirates flies to Delhi with fares starting from around Dh760 return, while Etihad fares cost about Dh783 return. From Delhi, there are connecting flights to Lucknow.
Where to stay
It is advisable to stay in Lucknow and make a day trip to Kannauj. A stay at the Lebua Lucknow hotel, a traditional Lucknowi mansion, is recommended. Prices start from Dh300 per night (excluding taxes).

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Investors: B&Y, Phoenician Funds, M1 Group, Shorooq Partners

'Midnights'

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Pharaoh's curse

British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.