Reuters, Washington
The FBI is investigating this week’s massacre of 14 people by a married couple in California as an “act of terrorism,” officials said on Friday, noting that the female shooter had pledged allegiance to a leader of the militant group Islamic State.
Tashfeen Malik, 27, a native of Pakistan who lived in Saudi Arabia for more than 20 years, and her U.S.-born husband, Syed Rizwan Farook, 28, were killed in a shootout with police hours after the Wednesday attack during a holiday party at the Inland Regional Center social services agency in San Bernardino, about 60 miles (100 km) east of Los Angeles.
Paris attackers have Britain links
AFP, Washington
Several people suspected of having ties to the alleged ringleader of last month’s Paris terror attacks are based in Britain, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.
The US newspaper, citing unnamed Western officials, said several people with connections to the attacks’ suspected planner, Abdelhamid Abaaoud, are based in the Birmingham area in England’s West Midlands region.
US warns of ‘terrorism’ attacks in Nigeria
Reuters, Washington
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria said on Friday it had received information that groups “associated with terrorism” may be planning attacks against hotels in the country that are frequented by Westerners.
In a brief message for U.S. citizens, the embassy said it had no further information regarding the timing or method of any planned attacks.
China to build navy base in Djibouti
AFP, Djibouti
China is to build its first naval base in Djibouti, the Djiboutian foreign minister said Friday, in the latest sign of China’s growing international security presence.
Djibouti is seen as a key strategic location in the Horn of Africa, with United States, France and Japan already having facilities in the country. “The negotiations have come to an end and the naval base will be built in Djibouti,” Mahamoud Ali Youssouf told AFP on the sidelines of a summit of African leaders in Johannesburg.
