Signals

Ahmed Hassan was inspired by Islamic State extremism and was "disappointed" when the bomb only partly detonated in a huge fireball that injured 51 passengers. Parsons Green Tube bomber Ahmed Hassan wanted to avenge his father who was blown up in Iraq A "ruthless" teenage asylum seeker has been jailed for at least 34 years for planting the Parsons Green Tube bomb which injured 51 passengers. Iraqi Ahmed Hassan, who claims to be aged 18, pretended to engage with the anti terrorism Prevent scheme as he plotted mass murder. He made a bomb with 400g of "Mother of Satan" explosives and 2.2kg of shrapnel while his unsuspecting foster parents were on holiday in Blackpool. The Old Bailey heard he wanted to avenge the death of his father in Iraq and was "disappointed" when the bomb only partly detonated in a huge fireball. A jury rejected his explanation that he only wanted to act out a fantasy like the Tom Cruise film Mission: Imp...

Two Libyan men have been charged with threatening a man with large knives, in what police say was as an unprovoked attack. Ahmed Al Allagi, 27 and Ben Arus Karam, 32, both residents of Swatar, appeared before magistrate Consuelo Scerri Herrera this morning, accused of carrying two knives - one blade measuring 12cm and the other 20cm -in public without police permission, attacking and threatening a third party with them. Police say the man had no connection to the attackers. Al Allagi alone was also charged with threatening and attacking a fourth man with a bladed weapon and failing to abide by bail conditions he had been placed under  last September. Ben Arus Karam pleaded guilty through his lawyer Helga Debono. Magistrate Scerri Herrera sentenced the man to 1 month in prison, suspended for 2 years. “Tell him he has an ax hanging over his head for two years. If he offends again he will be punished for that offense and have this added to his sentence. This is because he...

There was a time, between 12,000 and 5,000 years ago, when the Sahara was populated and covered in luxurious vegetation, according to a recent DNA study. The reconstruction was by a group of international biologists coordinated by Fulvio Cruciani from the Sapienza University of Rome in a study published in the Genome Biology journal.  To solve the puzzle of human evolution in the Sahara, the researchers used an innovative technique of genetic sequencing with which they analyzed over 3 million DNA letters of 104 individuals. They focused especially on the Y chromosome, passed down from fathers only to their sons, identifying almost 6,000 genetic variants, half of which had never previously been described. The data show that genetic characteristics of North African and sub-Saharan male population were shaped by migrations in ancient times.