LONDON (AP) — A 26-year-old Libyan man pleaded guilty to murder Wednesday for stabbing three friends to death as they sat in an English city park.
Khairi Saadallah admitted to three counts of murder and three of attempted murder for the June 20 attack in Reading, 40 miles (64 kilometers) west of London.
James Furlong, 36, David Wails, 49, and Joseph Ritchie-Bennett, 39, were enjoying a warm Saturday evening in the city’s Forbury Gardens park when they were stabbed. Each died from a single stab wound. Three other men were injured.
Police declared the stabbings a terrorist attack. Prosecutors said Saadallah, an asylum-seeker who was living in Reading, stabbed all six victims within two minutes while shouting “Allahu akbar” — the Arabic phrase for “God is great.”
Judge Nigel Sweeney said during a hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court that Saadallah maintained he was not motivated by an ideological cause and had not done substantial planning for the attack.
The judge set a sentencing hearing for the week of Dec. 7.
Regulators authorized AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine for use in adults throughout the European Union on Friday, amid criticism the bloc is not moving fast enough to vaccinate its population.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A former FBI lawyer was sentenced to probation for altering an email that the Justice Department relied on during its surveillance of an aide to President Donald Trump during the Russia investigation.
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers lashed out Friday at rival Republicans who tried to repeal his statewide mask mandate, saying killing the order would be a ridiculous move comparable to abolishing speed limits.
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A Moscow court on Friday put the brother and several allies of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny under house arrest for two months as authorities sought to stymie more protests over the jailing of the top Kremlin foe.