US Revokes Plea Deal with 9/11 Mastermind

The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
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US Revokes Plea Deal with 9/11 Mastermind

The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
The mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed

The US on Friday revoked a plea agreement reached earlier this week with the mastermind of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, after Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin relieved the senior official in charge of military commissions, Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, from her oversight of the case.

The plea agreement would have seen the suspect avoid the death sentence.

In a memo released Friday evening, Austin said, “In light of the significance of the decision, I have determined that the authority to make a decision on accepting the plea agreements is mine.”

He added, “I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements that you signed on July 31, 2024 in the above-referenced case.”

The three agreements were signed with Mohammed and two alleged accomplices, Walid bin Attash and Mustafa al-Hawsawi, held at the Guantanamo Bay military base in Cuba.

The deals sparked anger among family members of the nearly 3,000 people who died in the Sept. 11, 2001 when hearing that the agreements would exempt the defendants from the death penalty.

In his order, Austin said he relieved Brig. Gen. Susan Escallier, from her oversight of the case. Escallier oversaw the cases in her capacity as the Department of Defense's Convening Authority for Military Commissions.

“Effective immediately, in the exercise of my authority, I hereby withdraw from the three pre-trial agreements...,” Austin wrote in his memo.



Indian Army Reports 'First Calm Night' after Kashmir Truce with Pakistan Holds

A Pakistani security official stand guard at the scene of a suicide bomb blast targeting a vehicle of police in Peshawar, Pakistan, 11 May 2025. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB
A Pakistani security official stand guard at the scene of a suicide bomb blast targeting a vehicle of police in Peshawar, Pakistan, 11 May 2025. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB
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Indian Army Reports 'First Calm Night' after Kashmir Truce with Pakistan Holds

A Pakistani security official stand guard at the scene of a suicide bomb blast targeting a vehicle of police in Peshawar, Pakistan, 11 May 2025. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB
A Pakistani security official stand guard at the scene of a suicide bomb blast targeting a vehicle of police in Peshawar, Pakistan, 11 May 2025. EPA/BILAWAL ARBAB

The frontier between arch-foes India and Pakistan was peaceful and had the "first calm night in recent days", the Indian army said Monday, after a surprise weekend ceasefire.

The truce was agreed to on Saturday after four days of missile, drone and artillery attacks between the two countries which killed at least 60 people and sent thousands fleeing, reported AFP.

It was the worst violence since the nuclear-armed rivals' last open conflict in 1999 and sent global shudders that it could spiral into full-blown war.

There were initial doubts as the two sides accused each other of breaching the ceasefire just hours after it was unexpectedly announced by US President Donald Trump on social media.

"The night remained largely peaceful across... Kashmir and other areas along the international border," the Indian army said.

"No incidents have been reported, marking the first calm night in recent days," the statement added.

It was also the second straight night without gunfire or shelling at Poonch, the frontier town in the part of divided Kashmir administered by India.

Poonch was one of the worst-hit regions in the latest conflict, with at least 12 residents killed and most of the estimated 60,000 residents fleeing their homes.

On Sunday, people started trickling back to the town, although many still remained worried that the ceasefire would not last.

The alarming spiral towards all-out conflict began before dawn on Wednesday, when India launched missile attacks destroying what it called "terrorist camps" in the Pakistani part of Kashmir.

This followed an April 22 attack on tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir, which killed 26 civilians.

India accused Pakistan of backing the attack but Islamabad denied involvement and immediately responded to the strikes with heavy artillery fire.

It claimed to have downed five Indian fighter jets -- something New Delhi has not commented on.

Militants have stepped up operations in Kashmir since 2019, when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked the region's limited autonomy and took it under direct rule from New Delhi.

Divided Muslim-majority Kashmir is claimed in full by both countries, who have fought several wars over the territory since their independence from Britain in 1947.