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We will continue attacking British ships, says Houthi rebels

The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been made to try and tow the ship to a safe port before its sinking…reports Asian Lite News

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have vowed to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of a UK-owned vessel.

The US military confirmed that the UK-owned vessel Rubymar had sunk after being struck by an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Iranian-backed Houthi militants on February 18.

The vessel had been abandoned for 12 days after the attack, though plans had been made to try and tow the ship to a safe port before its sinking.

It was the first vessel to be fully destroyed as part of the Houthis’ campaign in response to Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“Yemen will continue to sink more British ships, and any repercussions or other damages will be added to Britain’s bill,” Hussein al-Ezzi, deputy foreign minister in the Houthi-led government, said in a post on X.

“It is a rogue state that attacks Yemen and partners with America in sponsoring ongoing crimes against civilians in Gaza.”

Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping since mid November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel’s military actions in Gaza.

Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel-Hamas war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The US and Britain began striking Houthi targets in Yemen in January in retaliation for the attacks on Red Sea shipping.

The sinking of the Rubymar comes as shipping through the crucial waterway for cargo and energy shipments moving from Asia and the Middle East to Europe continues to be affected by the Houthi attacks. Many ships have turned away from the route.

The sinking could mean further detours and higher insurance rates put on vessels plying the Red Sea route – potentially driving up global inflation and affecting aid shipments to the region.

The Belize-flagged Rubymar had been drifting northward after being struck by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on 18 February in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which links the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

Yemen’s internationally recognised government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed the ship had sunk. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as no authorisation was given to speak to journalists about the incident. The Rubymar’s Beirut-based manager could not immediately be reached for comment.

The Iran-backed Houthis, who had falsely claimed the ship sank almost instantly after the attack, did not immediately acknowledge its sinking.

The Houthis insist their attacks will continue until Israel stops its combat operations in the Gaza Strip, which have enraged the wider Arab world and seen the Houthis gain international recognition. However, there has been a slowdown in attacks in recent days. The reason for that remains unclear

ALSO READ-UK-owned ship attacked by Houthis sinks

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-Top News Arab News

IDF completing preparations for ‘attack from air, sea, land’

Hanegbi says that in a recent cabinet meeting, the government approved a plan to “destroy” Hamas, as stated by the prime minister and defense minister…reports Asian Lite News

As the Israel-Palestine conflict enters its eighth day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has said it is completing preparations for a “significant ground operation” in the Gaza Strip, The Times of Israel reported.

The IDF statement says it is readying to “expand the offensive” by implementing a “wide range of offensive operational plans” which it says include a “joint and coordinated attack from the air, sea and land.”

The IDF said it is finalizing the draft of hundreds of thousands of reservists, as the logistics directorate is working to provide troops with all the equipment they will need for the ground offensive.

It said: “In recent days, the tools required for combat have been transferred to the assembly areas, and at this stage, the various units of the Technological and Logistics Directorate are working to complete the qualification of the tools and equipping them with advanced combat means, as needed.”

“IDF battalions and soldiers are deployed all over the country and are prepared to increase readiness for the next stages of the war, with an emphasis on a significant ground operation,” the military added, according to The Times of Israel.

The military is expected to launch a ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, but its extent and when it is carried out may be affected by operational considerations, as tensions grow on the northern border.

Meanwhile, Israel’s National Security Council head Tzachi Hanegbi has reaffirmed that the cabinet’s war goal is to remove Hamas from military and political control over the Gaza Strip.

Hanegbi, however, declined to elaborate on planned next steps for the coastal enclave.

When asked about Israeli plans for alternative control, or return to occupation, of the Gaza Strip, Hanegbi told The Times of Israel, “We can’t report through you to the enemy on what is coming, we can tell Hamas that it is prohibited for it to be sovereign in Gaza.”

Hanegbi says that in a recent cabinet meeting, the government approved a plan to “destroy” Hamas, as stated by the prime minister and defense minister.

“Hamas will not be the ruler, the sovereign in Gaza after the combat,” he says, as per The Times of Israel. Earlier on Saturday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel is ready with its fighters in the Gaza Strip at the front line.

“With our fighters in the Gaza Strip, on the front line. We are all ready,” Netanyahu wrote on ‘X’ on Saturday. Netanyahu toured Kibbutz Be’eri and Kibbutz Kfar Azza, two of the worst-hit Gaza border communities in last week’s Hamas onslaught, his office announced, The Times of Israel reported.

As per a statement, Netanyahu “walked between the ruins of the houses where these terrible massacres took place.” The prime minister was briefed by the IDF officers there, including the head of the paratrooper battalion.

The visit comes as Netanyahu’s first visit to the scene, more than a week after the attack that saw more than 1,300 Israelis killed, most of them civilians, as waves of Hamas terrorists breached the border. Meanwhile, the Israeli Air Force (IAF) has said that upon receiving the report of wounded following the infiltration of terrorists in Zikim, the soldiers of Unit 669 were rushed to the field.

“The forces worked to rescue the wounded under fire and mortar fire. Since the beginning of the fighting, Unit 669 rescued about 200 wounded in about 45 rescues,” the IAF wrote on ‘X’.

In the wake of Israel Hamas war in the Gaza Strip which claimed the loss of thousands of lives on both sides including civilians, an agreement has been reached under which Israel will allow foreigners to leave the war-torn Gaza, Times of Israel reported on Saturday.

Egypt, Israel and the United States have agreed to allow foreigners residing in Gaza to pass through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt, under which Israel agreed to refrain from striking areas the foreigners would pass through on their way out of the Palestinian territory.

The Israeli publication added that Qatar was involved in the negotiations and the participants received approval from the Palestinian terror groups, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

ALSO READ-OIC calls for urgent, extraordinary meet on Israel-Gaza

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-Top News USA

General Milley Dismisses Trump’s Iran Attack Accusations

Trump was reportedly captured on audio tape talking about the plan with biographers for Meadows way back in July 2021 at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort, acknowledging he had not declassified the document…reports Asian Lite News

General Mark Milley, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has strongly rejected a claim made by former President Donald Trump and his White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that he had recommended an American military attack on Iran.

Rilley told CNN on Wednesday that he never recommended a military attack on Iran during the Trump administration, pushing back on the claims. 

“I can assure you that not one time have I ever recommended attacking Iran,” the top military official said.

Milley told CNN he did not know the specific document Trump was referring to.

It had been previously reported that it was not authored by Milley.

“I don’t know the document they’re talking about. I’ve never seen – no one’s presented me with what it is they’re talking about. So, I really still can’t comment on it,” Milley said.

“But I can assure you that, you know, a military attack on Iran is a very, very serious undertaking. We have capabilities. We have plans – that’s not particularly unusual – to comment on that. But I am not going to go further and discuss any of the details, he said referring to Trumps claims. ”

Trump was reportedly captured on audio tape talking about the plan with biographers for Meadows way back in July 2021 at his Bedminster, New Jersey, resort, acknowledging he had not declassified the document.

“As president, I could have declassified, but now I can’t,” Trump says of the document, according to the transcript of the tape .

Milley, an Army general who is retiring on September 30 as the nation’s top military officer, was Trump’s chairman of the Joint Chiefs during the final 16 months of his time in office.

He had a huge role in events of Trump’s presidency, including the response to the Black Lives Matter protests in 2020 and actions he took after January 6, 2001, when he was concerned that the former President could go “rogue”, media reports said.

Milley also became a significant figure in special counsel Jack Smith’s indictment of Trump over his alleged mishandling of classified documents, when the former President claimed to have a plan to attack Iran authored by Milley.

In a superseding indictment filed against Trump in July, Smith alleged that the former President willfully retained a top-secret document that was a “presentation concerning military activity in a foreign country”, which as reported was Iran.

In the July 2021 meeting with Meadows’ biographers, Trump was complaining about Milley shortly after The New Yorker released a story on how the Army General nstructed the Joint Chiefs to ensure Trump issued no illegal orders in the final days of his presidency.

In his book, “The Chief’s Chief”, Meadows references the meeting and the Iran document, claiming Milley urged Trump to attack Iran more than once during Trump’s presidency, but that Trump would not do so.

Meadows in his book says: “The President recalls a four-page report typed up by Mark Milley himself. It contained the general’s own plan to attack Iran, deploying massive numbers of troops, something he urged President Trump to do more than once during his presidency. President Trump rejected those requests every time.”

Milley told CNN that he did not know what Meadows had written but reiterated he had never recommended an attack on Iran.

“I can tell you with certainty that this chairman never recommended a wholesale attack on Iran,” Milley said.

“And to do that, I think would require a significant degree of risk that we may or may not want to take given the circumstances, but that that part of it didn’t happen. And I’m not sure I don’t know the exact quotes that Meadows said, but I can assure you I know what I’ve done and it’s not to recommend an attack on Iran.”

ALSO READ-Trump Calls for Judge’s Recusal in Criminal Case

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-Top News Europe

New attacks on Ukraine very close to NATO-member Romania’s border

According to an assistant to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Kremlin intended for the strikes to spark a “food crisis” in the country…reports Asian Lite News

President of NATO-member Romania, Klaus Iohannis, said that the latest attacks on neighbour Ukraine happened “very close” to his country’s border, as Russia repeatedly launches drone raids on Danube infrastructure in southern Ukraine, Al Jazeera reported.

“We had attacks … which were verified at 800 metres [2,600 feet] from our border. So very, very close,” Iohannis told a joint news conference with Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

The NATO member nation refuted Kyiv’s claims on Monday that an attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail resulted in Iranian-made Russian drones falling and exploding on Romanian soil, according to Al Jazeera.

“There was no piece, and no drone and no other part of any device that made it to Romania,” Iohannis told the media on Tuesday, echoing comments Monday by the defence ministry.

“But yes, we are concerned because these attacks are taking place within a very short distance from the Romanian border,” Iohannis added, speaking from the Cincu military base in central Romania.

“But we are alert,” he said, as reported by Al Jazeera.

In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Defence said that it was aiming at gasoline storage facilities in the Ukrainian port of Reni that were used to supply Ukraine’s armed forces. The attack was effective, the Russian statement continued, with “all assigned targets neutralised.”

The NATO member Romania issued a quick reprimand after the salvo crossed its border. The attack was denounced by Romania’s Ministry of Defence in “the strongest terms possible,” calling it “unjustified and in deep contradiction with rules of international humanitarian law.”

The ministry said that there was no direct threat to Romanian territory or its territorial waters, CNN reported.

According to an assistant to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Kremlin intended for the strikes to spark a “food crisis” in the country.

“Russian terrorists continue to attack port infrastructure in the hope that they will be able to provoke a food crisis and famine in the world,” the aide, Andriy Yermak, said on the messaging app Telegram.

The airstrikes that took place overnight are Moscow’s most recent attempt to attack Ukrainian shipping infrastructure since July, when Moscow backed out of an agreement that permitted Ukrainian ships to get around a Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and safely navigate the waterway to Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait in order to access international markets.

The failure of the agreement raised food prices worldwide and stoked concerns that the world’s poorest nations would struggle to feed their populations.

The UN too has been seeking to revive the deal, CNN reported. (ANI)

ALSO READ-Russian Drone Strike Hits Port Facilities on River Danube in Ukraine

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-Top News Europe

Drone Attack Hits Pskov Airport, Damaging Transport Aircraft

Ukraine launched drone attacks on targets in seven Russian regions overnight…reports Asian Lite News

Ukraine has said that four Il-76 transport aircraft were destroyed during an overnight drone attack at Pskov airport in western Russia.

“Four Il-76 have been destroyed on Wednesday and cannot be restored. A few more (aircraft) units were damaged,” Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence, told the Ukrainian government-run Ukrinform news agency.

He did not specify whether Ukraine was responsible for the attack, Xinhua news agency reported.

Earlier on Wednesday, Russian media reported that Il-76 transport aircraft were damaged during a drone attack at Pskov airport, citing the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations.

Pskov Region Governor Mikhail Vedernikov said that there were no victims according to preliminary information, and the scale of the destruction was being specified.

According to the airport’s website, Russia’s 334th Military Transport Aviation Regiment armed with II-76 aircraft was stationed at the airport by the time of the drone attack.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing on Wednesday that Ukraine would not have been able to hit targets deep inside the Russian territory without satellite data obtained from the West.

Zakharova warned that Ukraine’s actions will not be left unpunished.

Commenting on Kiev’s recent drone attacks, Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov said Russian military experts were investigating the launch routes of the drones to prevent such situations in the future and Moscow will take all necessary measures.

Ukraine launched drone attacks on targets in seven Russian regions overnight.

Pskov is a city in western Russia, located 20 km east of the Estonian border.

ALSO READ-

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-Top News EU News Europe

Sweden thwarts planned acts of terrorism, PM reveals

In one of the locations raided by German police, chemicals and fertilizers that can be used for manufacturing explosives were found, SVT said, citing German newspaper Die Welt…reports Asian Lite News

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said that the government had thwarted several terrorist attacks.

“We know that planned acts of terrorism have been hindered,” Kristersson said at a press conference on Thursday, hours after the Swedish Secret Service’s decision to raise the terrorist threat level from “elevated” to “high”, Xinhua news agency reported.

Addressing the same press conference, Minister for Justice Gunnar Strommer said: “During spring, several people were arrested in Sweden and abroad suspected of having prepared attacks in Sweden.”

Strommer did not comment further on these arrests, but Swedish Television (SVT) reported that there were at least two known cases.

In April, five men were arrested in coordinated dawn raids in three Swedish cities. Four of them were later detained on suspicion of planning attacks triggered by the burning of the Quran, SVT reported.

Also in April, two men suspected of planning an attack on a church in Sweden were arrested by police in Germany, SVT reported.

In one of the locations raided by German police, chemicals and fertilizers that can be used for manufacturing explosives were found, SVT said, citing German newspaper Die Welt.

Sweden and Denmark have been in the spotlight in recent weeks after several extremists repeatedly burned or desecrated the Quran in the two countries’ capitals, sparking criticism from Muslim countries across the world.

ALSO READ-Turkey greenlights Sweden’s NATO bid

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-Top News India News UK News

Cleverly talks tough on Indian High Commission attack

British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis also responded to Cleverly’s tweet and said the UK government attaches importance to the safety of friends and colleagues…reports Asian Lite News

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly on Thursday said that any direct attacks on Indian High Commission in London are “completely unacceptable.”

He said the UK has made clear to the High Commissioner of India to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami and the Indian government that the safety of staff at the High Commission is paramount. “Any direct attacks on the Indian High Commission in London are completely unacceptable. We have made clear to @VDoraiswami and the Government of India that the safety of staff at the High Commission is paramount,” Cleverly said in a tweet.

Cleverly’s remarks come after posters emerged of a pro-Khalistan rally in London on July 8.

The rally is being held in the name of Harjit Singh Nijjar aka Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist who was killed in a targeted shooting in Canada’s Surrey on June 18. The posters contained threats to the Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami and Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India, Birmingham.

British High Commissioner to India Alex Ellis also responded to Cleverly’s tweet and said the UK government attaches importance to the safety of friends and colleagues.

“To amplify the importance which @FCDOGovUK attaches to the safety and security of friends and colleagues, and their premises, at @HCI_London,” he said in a tweet.

Posters containing threats to Indian diplomats are being circulated in Canada also. The posters purportedly circulated by Sikh extremists have named Indian High Commissioner to Canada Sanjay Kumar Verma and the Consulate General of India, Toronto, Apoorva Srivastava.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday told reporters on the sidelines of a programme in Delhi that India has requested partner countries like Canada, the UK, and Australia not to give space to Khalistanis as these radical extremist ideologies are not good for the bilateral relationship.

‘India to judge UK by what happens on ground’

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India has raised the issue of threats to Indian diplomats in London, but it will judge the UK authorities only by what actually happens on the ground.

This pertains to the threats that emerged after posters emerged of a pro-Khalistan rally in London on July 8. Addressing a briefing here on Thursday, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “There is a rally on July 8. This violence against our diplomats and inside our diplomatic premises abroad is unacceptable, and we condemn them in the strongest terms”.

He later added in the briefing about the rally, “If there are attacks and threats against our diplomats, which is actually there on those posters, we are taking them very seriously and we would expect to see action by those authorities”.

Bagchi further said that India will judge the UK authorities only by “what happens on the ground”.

“We have seen comments by UK Foreign Secretary, as you are aware, we have had problems with the security of our mission in London. We have taken up the issue of this threat against our diplomats with the UK authorities. We have noted these comments by the UK authorities but we will naturally judge them by what happens on the ground. In the name of freedom of expression, we should not be giving space to those who advocate violence, propagate separatism or legitimise terrorism,” Bagchi said.

The rally is being held in the name of Harjit Singh Nijjar aka Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Khalistani terrorist who was killed in a targeted shooting in Canada’s Surrey on June 18. The posters contained threats to the Indian High Commissioner to the UK Vikram Doraiswami and Shashank Vikram, Consul General of India, Birmingham.

Speaking ahead during the briefing about the recent arson attempt at the Indian consulate in San Francisco, the MEA spokesperson said that the matter has been taken up with the US authorities and the Indian authority in touch with US authorities regarding what can be done to ensure the security of the diplomats.

“We have noted posters circulated in other countries, the US particularly. There was an arson attempt by some extremist elements in the Indian consulate in San Francisco. It was quickly brought down by the authorities. We again condemn attacks on our diplomatic premises abroad. We have taken the matter with the US side, and the US authority has responded promptly at very senior levels. The safety and security of our diplomats is at utmost priority for the government,” Bagchi said. (ANI)

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-Top News India News

India experienced 7 lakh malware attacks in 2022

In 2021, the top three sectors affected by ransomware were banking, government, and manufacturing, but the trend shifted in 2022 when the Indian government sector became the most affected, followed by manufacturing and banking…reports Asian Lite News

India experienced approximately 7 lakh malware attacks in 2022, up from 6.5 lakh in 2021, with the banking sector being the most vulnerable to these attacks, totalling 44,949 incidents, a report showed on Wednesday.

The top six industries affected by malware in India in 2022 were banking, government, manufacturing, technology, healthcare, and finance.

However, there was a slight decline in the number of malware detections across the six critical sectors, indicating that appropriate measures are being taken, according to the report by global cyber-security firm Trend Micro.

In 2022, there were a total of 14,983,271 ransomware threats globally, with 38.06 per cent of the attacks targeting Asia, and 10.51 per cent of those attacks being detected in India.

“The report reveals a 16 per cent increase in malware attacks, underscoring the need for ongoing vigilance and collaboration to safeguard critical industries such as banking, government, and manufacturing in India,” said Vijendra Katiyar, Country manager for India & SAARC, Trend Micro.

In 2021, the top three sectors affected by ransomware were banking, government, and manufacturing, but the trend shifted in 2022 when the Indian government sector became the most affected, followed by manufacturing and banking.

Interestingly, while the number of attacks on the Indian banking sector decreased significantly from 15,928 to just 626 ransomware alerts, the number of attacks on the government sector remained relatively stable, and the manufacturing sector saw an increase from 994 to 1,178 incidents in 2022, the data showed.

Fraudsters get creative, come up with newer ways to dupe people. (Photo:Unsplash)

Globally, the cyber-threat detections hit a record 146 billion in 2022.

The report mentioned a massive 55 per cent increase in overall threat detections in 2022 and a 242 per cent surge in blocked malicious files, as threat actors indiscriminately targeted consumers and organisations across all sectors.

There was an 86 per cent increase in backdoor malware detections. These backdoors primarily targeted web server platform vulnerabilities.

“A surge in backdoor detections is particularly concerning in showing us their success in making landfall inside networks,” said Jon Clay, VP of threat intelligence at Trend Micro.

ALSO READ-2 Pak men nabbed for plotting terrorist attack in Greece

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-Top News Asia News

Four people plotted to kill me, claims Imran

He indicated that he received the information of this plot through the relationships he had formed while in power…reports Asian Lite News

PTI Chairman Imran Khan has claimed that four people plotted to kill him, stating that the “handlers” were taking the decisions at the back but the people were turning out to his rallies in record numbers, a media report said.

“Four people plotted to kill me. I made a video and named those people and have stashed it abroad,” Khan said, adding that it would be released in case something happens, Dawn reported.

He indicated that he received the information of this plot through the relationships he had formed while in power.

In his first address since the assassination attempt on him in Gujranwala on Thursday, in which Khan sustained bullet injuries in his leg, the PTI chief stated that he was aware of the plot to kill him.

“I’ll come to the details of the attack later. I got to know the day before [the attack] that either in Wazirabad of Gujrat, they planned to kill me,” he said, Dawn reported.

The former Prime Minister said that Pakistan’s own agencies were not allowing democratic processes to continue.

“During the by-elections in July, all the state machinery was used, rigging was done, but PTI swept the elections. What happened next was that more pressure and threats were given. A handler came to Islamabad — Major General Faisal — and he said that he will show how to straighten them [PTI] out,” Khan alleged, Dawn reported.

“More strictness started on media and journalists favouring PTI. Our MPAs were approached, scared and threatened to abandon me… they threatened to release inappropriate videos and blackmailed them.”

Khan said that his party wasn’t “made by the establishment” like the PPP and the PML-N, asserting that he came to power with the people’s support, Dawn reported.

“The way the people supported me, I was surprised… we announced a long march on May 25. They staged three marches during our tenure. We thought the law and Constitution permitted us [to stage a protest].

“We thought they would give us permission because we have given them permission, he said. But instead they subjected our workers and leaders to violence.

“They shelled families in Islamabad… they thought the party would end but they didn’t understand the [sentiments of the] nation because when decisions are made in closed rooms, you don’t know what is happening,” Khan said.

ALSO READ-Assassination bid: Imran’s PTI to hold countrywide protests

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Crime USA

July 4 parade gunman considered 2nd attack

Police removed a collection of knives from the home but did not make any arrests. The knives were returned later after Crimo’s father said they were his…reports Asian Lite News

The 21-year-old man arrested for a deadly mass shooting at a July 4 parade in an affluent Chicago suburb has confessed and admitted he considered a second attack while on the run, officials said Wednesday.

Illinois State Police also addressed mounting questions about how Robert Crimo, who had a history of mental health issues and threatening behavior, was able to legally purchase at least five firearms.

After fleeing the parade shooting scene in Highland Park, Illinois, Crimo drove to Madison, Wisconsin where he thought about attacking another July 4 event, police said.

“He seriously contemplated using the firearm he had in his vehicle to commit another shooting,” police spokesman Christopher Covelli said.

Prosecutor Ben Dillon said during a bond hearing for Crimo that the suspect had confessed to carrying out the shooting in Highland Park, which left seven people dead and at least three dozen injured.

Among those killed were the parents of a two-year-old boy, Aiden McCarthy. A GoFundMe donation page set up for the child had raised over $2.5 million as of Wednesday.

Judge Theodore Potkonjak ordered Crimo, who has been charged with seven counts of first-degree murder, to be held without bail and to appear on July 28 for a preliminary hearing.

Crimo, dressed in a black shirt, attended by video and listened impassively as prosecutors recounted details of the shooting.

He was asked by the judge if he had a lawyer and responded that he did not. The judge appointed a public defender.

Dillon, the prosecutor, said Crimo had “provided a voluntary statement confessing to his actions.”

Crimo climbed on to a rooftop overlooking the parade route armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he said.

“(He) dressed up as a girl and covered his tattoos with makeup” to conceal his identity, Dillon added.

Crimo has several distinctive facial tattoos including the word “Awake” above his left eyebrow and the number “47” on his temple.

Dillon said Crimo fired three 30-round magazines from his rifle into the parade crowd before fleeing.

He dropped his weapon in an alley and then drove to Madison armed with another gun in his car.

He considered attacking a celebration there but “indications (are) that he didn’t put enough planning forward to commit another attack,” Covelli said.

Crimo returned to the Chicago area and was captured about eight hours after the initial attack following a brief car chase.

According to police, Crimo has a history of mental health problems and threatening behavior, but his firearms were purchased legally.

Police were called to Crimo’s home twice in 2019: once in April to investigate a suicide attempt and again in September because a relative said he had threatened to “kill everyone” in the family.

Police removed a collection of knives from the home but did not make any arrests. The knives were returned later after Crimo’s father said they were his.

In December 2019, Crimo, who was then 19, applied for a firearms permit which was sponsored by his father because he was under 21, police said.

Because no formal complaints had been lodged in connection with the earlier incidents, there were no grounds to deny the permit, police said.

Crimo subsequently purchased several other guns.

Crimo, whose father owns a deli in Highland Park, was an amateur musician billing himself as “Awake the Rapper.”

The authorities are investigating online posts and videos made by Crimo which include violent content alluding to guns and shootings.

One YouTube video featured cartoons of a gunman and people being shot.

“I need to just do it,” a voice-over says. “It is my destiny. Everything has led up to this. Nothing can stop me, not even myself.”

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