International
The Islamic State, responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia since 2015
The attacks on Russian soil by the Islamic State (IS) are not something new. The jihadist group began to claim actions in Russia in 2015, some of them without victims and others with several deaths, such as the one that occurred in the Urals in 2017 when the explosion of a residential building left 39 dead.
According to the figures collected by EFE, both from its own information and from databases such as the United States Department of State, the IS has claimed or been responsible for at least 15 attacks in Russia between 2015 and 2019, the last year in which a Daesh action was registered until this Friday in Moscow.
The one in Moscow’s Crocus City Hall concert hall is the deadliest counted since then, but IS actions in Russia have gone from the murder of police, the killing of faithful in a church, an explosion in a supermarket, shootings or a lone wolf stabbing pedestrians.
2015
December 19. In the first attack claimed by IS on Russian soil, a man shot 11 tourists and killed one of them while visiting the city of Naryn-Kala de Derbent, in the Republic of Dagestan.
2016
-August -17. Two men attacked a policeman with weapons and axes at a traffic control post in the Moscow suburb of Balashija, and were killed by the agents. A policeman was seriously injured. The attack was claimed by the IS.
-October 23rd. Two men shoot a policeman who was inspecting his car in Nizhny Novgorod, who returned the fire and killed the two attackers. The IS claimed the attack stating that they were two “soldiers of the Islamic State.”
December -17th. Two alleged IS militants stabbed a policeman in Grozni, Chechnya, and used his weapon and a stolen car to kill three police officers. Although the IS did not claim the action, the U.S. State Department claims that they were recruited by a Daesh commander in Syria and videos were published in which they swore allegiance to the group.
2017
-March 24th. A group of alleged IS affiliates attacked a Russian National Guard post in Grozny, which resulted in the death of six soldiers and six attackers. He didn’t claim it, but the US attributed the attack to him.
-April 4th. Two Russian policemen die in a shooting in the southern city of Astrajan, in an action later claimed by IS.
– August 19. A 19-year-old from the Siberian city of Surgut wanders the streets with a knife and injures seven people, before being killed by the police. The attack, claimed by ISIS, occurred the day after similar ones that occurred in Finland and Germany, where several people were stanched.
-December 27. Explosion occurred in a supermarket of the Perekriostok chain in St. Petersburg, with about twenty injured. The pump, which had a power equivalent to 200 grams of trilite, did not cause serious damage to the building. EI became responsible for the attack.
2018
-February 8. An armed man shoots indiscriminately outside a church in the town of Kizliar against a crowd of people who were celebrating the Russian festival of the Másletnisa, similar to Carnival. Five people die and five others are injured. Claimed the same day by the IS.
-May. ISIS claims three attacks, one in Neftekamsk, another in Nizhny Novgorod and a third in Dagestan. They claim that they attacked police and a Sufi sanctuary, with no reported deaths.
December 31st. An explosion in a residential building in the Russian city of Magnitogorsk, in the Urals, causes 39 deaths. At the time of the tragedy it was believed that the building collapsed due to a gas explosion, but days later the IS claimed its authorship stating that it had killed 39 Russian “crusaders”.
2019
April 8th. There is an explosion in Kolomna, near Moscow, which was later claimed by IS. Supposedly there were no victims.
– July 1. A man kills a policeman with a knife at a checkpoint in the Chechen district of Achkhoy-Martonovsky. The policeman killed the attacker. The IS is attributed to the attack.
International
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem claimed that Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has deported “more than half a million” migrants due to pressure from former President Donald Trump.
During a cabinet meeting highlighting the “achievements” of Trump’s administration in its first 100 days, Noem asserted that under the Republican leader’s influence, “Mexico has finally come to the table” to negotiate on migration and fentanyl trafficking.
“The president of Mexico told me she has returned just over half a million people before they reached our border,” Noem stated, criticizing media reports that suggest the Biden administration deported more migrants than Trump’s.
“I wish those deportations were counted,” Noem added, “because those people never made it to our border—she sent them back because you made her.” She went on to thank Trump: “They never made it here because they got the message—because you were so aggressive.”
Noem has made controversial claims about Sheinbaum in the past, prompting the Mexican leader to refute them.
On April 1, Sheinbaum responded to one such statement by declaring, “The president answers to only one authority, and that is the people of Mexico,” after Noem said on Fox News that she gave Sheinbaum “a list of things Trump would like to see” and that Mexico’s actions would determine whether Trump granted tariff relief.
International
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
he Vatican’s post offices and select collector shops began selling special edition stamps this week to mark the period between the death of Pope Francis and the election of his successor.
Known as “Sede Vacante” stamps, they feature an image used on official Vatican documents during the interregnum between popes — two crossed keys without the papal tiara. These stamps went on sale Monday and will remain valid for postal use only until the new pontiff appears at the window overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
Until then, they can be used to send letters, postcards, and parcels. “Once the new pope is elected, the stamps lose their postal validity, but their collectible value rises,” said Francesco Santarossa, who runs a collectors’ shop across from St. Peter’s Square.
The Vatican has issued the stamps in four denominations: €1.25, €1.30, €2.45, and €3.20. Each is inscribed with “Città del Vaticano” and “Sede Vacante MMXXV” — Latin for “Vacant See 2025.”
International
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
The conclave, which in the coming weeks must choose the successor to Pope Francis, will strictly follow a precise protocol refined over centuries.
The 135 cardinal electors, all under the age of 80, will cast their votes four times a day — except on the first day — until one candidate secures a two-thirds majority. The result will be announced to the world through the burning of the ballots with a chemical that produces the eagerly awaited white smoke, accompanied by the traditional cry of “Habemus Papam.”
The start date for the conclave could be announced today, as the cardinals are set to hold their fifth meeting since the pope’s passing. Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich suggested it could begin on May 5 or 6, following the traditional nine days of mourning. According to German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the conclave could last only “a few days.”
Although the late Argentine pontiff appointed the majority of the cardinal electors, this does not necessarily ensure the selection of a like-minded successor. Francis’ leadership style differed significantly from that of his predecessor, Benedict XVI, a German theologian who was less fond of large public gatherings. It also marked a contrast with the popular Polish pope, John Paul II.
The Argentine Jesuit’s reformist papacy drew strong criticism from more conservative sectors of the Church, who are hoping for a doctrinally focused shift. His tenure was marked by efforts to combat clerical sexual abuse, elevate the role of women and laypeople, and advocate for the poor and migrants, among other causes.
Kristi Noem credits Trump for mass migrant deportations by mexican president
Vatican releases special “Sede Vacante” stamps ahead of papal transition
Conclave to choose pope Francis’ successor could begin in early may
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