Global report
1 UNITED STATES
Texas hostage taker had criminal record in UK
A British man who flew to the US, acquired a gun and took hostages at a Texas synagogue had a criminal record and an extensive history of mental health issues, the Guardian understands.
Malik Faisal Akram, a 44-year-old from Blackburn, was killed after a tense 11-hour hostage standoff at the Congregation Beth Israel synagogue in the Dallas suburb of Colleyville last Saturday evening. All four hostages were unharmed. President Joe Biden declared the incident an act of terror and the British foreign secretary, Liz Truss, said the UK government condemned “this act of terrorism and antisemitism”.
In a statement to Sky News, Akram’s brother Gulbar asked how he had been able to acquire a visa to enter the US. “He’s known to police. Got a criminal record. How was he allowed to get a visa and acquire a gun?” he said. The Guardian understands that Akram had a criminal record in the UK but no known terrorism convictions.
During the siege, Akram could be heard demanding the release of Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani neuroscientist who is serving an 86-year sentence in federal prison in Texas for trying to kill US military officers in Afghanistan.
2 PERU
Two drown in high waves caused by Tonga volcano
Two people drowned off a beach in northern Peru, local authorities said, after unusually high waves were recorded in several coastal areas following last Saturday’s eruption of an underwater volcano in Tonga over 10,000km away. A cleanup operation was also underway at Cavero beach in Ventanilla, where high waves attributed to the volcano caused a tanker to spill oil while
