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Court says 2 of 4 men charged in Moscow attack admit guilt as suspects show signs of beating

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Four men accused of staging the Russia concert hall attack that killed more than 130 people appeared before a Moscow court Sunday showing signs of severe beatings as they faced formal terrorism charges. One appeared to be barely conscious during the hearing.

A court statement said two of the suspects accepted their guilt in the assault after being charged in the preliminary hearing, though the men’s condition raised questions about whether they were speaking freely. There had been earlier conflicting reports in Russian media outlets that said three or all four men admitted culpability.

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court formally charged Dalerdzhon Mirzoyev, 32; Saidakrami Rachabalizoda, 30; Shamsidin Fariduni, 25; and Mukhammadsobir Faizov, 19, with committing a group terrorist attack resulting in the death of others. The offense carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

The court ordered that the men, all of whom are citizens of Tajikistan, be held in pre-trial custody until May 22.

UKRAINE-RUSSIA-ATTACK-SHOOTING
People light candles during a memorial gathering in Donetsk, Russian-controlled Ukraine, on March 24, 2024, as Russia observes a national day of mourning after a Moscow concert hall massacre that killed more than 130 people.

VALERY MELNIKOV/AFP via Getty Images


Russian media had reported that the men were tortured during interrogation by the security services, and Mirzoyev, Rachabalizoda and Fariduni showed signs of heavy bruising, including swollen faces,

Rachabalizoda also had a heavily bandaged ear. Russian media said Saturday that one of the suspects had his ear cut off during interrogation. The Associated Press couldn’t verify the report or the videos purporting to show this.

The fourth suspect, Faizov, was brought to court from a hospital in a wheelchair and sat with his eyes closed throughout the proceedings. He was attended by medics while in court, where he wore a hospital gown and trousers and was seen with multiple cuts.

Court officials said Mirzoyev and Rachabalizoda admitted guilt for the attack after being charged.

The hearing came as Russia observed a national day of mourning for the attack Friday on the suburban Crocus City Hall concert venue that killed at least 137 people.

The attack, which has been claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State group, is the deadliest on Russian soil in years.

The Crocus city hall building was destroyed by fire in the
The Crocus City Hall building was destroyed by fire in the aftermath of a terrorist attack that claimed the lives of at least 137 people.

Vlad Karkov/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images


Russian authorities arrested the four suspected attackers Saturday, with seven more people detained on suspicion of involvement in the attack, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an address to the nation Saturday night. He claimed they were captured while fleeing to Ukraine, something that Kyiv firmly denied.

Events at cultural institutions were canceled Sunday, flags were lowered to half staff and television entertainment and advertising were suspended, according to state news agency RIA Novosti. A steady stream of people added to a makeshift memorial near the burned-out concert hall, creating a huge mound of flowers.

“People came to a concert, some people came to relax with their families, and any one of us could have been in that situation. And I want to express my condolences to all the families that were affected here and I want to pay tribute to these people,” Andrey Kondakov, one of the mourners who came to lay flowers at the memorial, told AP.

“It is a tragedy that has affected our entire country,” kindergarten employee Marina Korshunova said. “It just doesn’t even make sense that small children were affected by this event.” Three children were among the dead.

Rescuers continued to search the damaged building and the death toll rose as more bodies were found as family and friends of some of those still missing waiting for news. Moscow’s Department of Health said Sunday it had begun identifying the bodies of those killed via DNA testing, saying the process would take at least two weeks.

Tribute To The Victims Of Moscow Terror Attack
People lay flowers at the makeshift memorials for the victims of the terrorist attack at the “Crocus City Hall” concert venue on March 24, 2024, in Moscow, Russia.

Tian Bing/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images


Igor Pogadaev was desperately seeking any details about his wife, Yana Pogadaeva, who went to the attack concert. The last he heard from her was when she sent him two photos from the Crocus City Hall music venue.

After Pogadaev saw the reports of gunmen opening fire on concertgoers, he rushed to the site, but couldn’t find her in the numerous ambulances or among the hundreds of people who had made their way out of the venue.

“I went around, searched, I asked everyone, I showed photographs. No one saw anything, no one could say anything,” Pogadaev told AP in a video message.

He watched flames bursting out of the building as he made frantic calls to a hotline for relatives of the victims, but received no information.

As the death toll mounted Saturday, Pogodaev scoured hospitals in the Russian capital and the Moscow region, looking for information on newly admitted patients.

His wife wasn’t among the 182 reported injured, nor on the list of 60 victims authorities had already identified, he said.

The Moscow Region’s Emergency Situations Ministry posted a video Sunday showing equipment dismantling the damaged music venue to give rescuers access.

Putin has called the attack “a bloody, barbaric terrorist act” and said Russian authorities captured the four suspects as they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a “window” prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border.

Russian media broadcast videos that apparently showed the detention and interrogation of the suspects, including one who told the cameras he was approached by an unidentified assistant to an Islamic preacher via a messaging app and paid to take part in the raid.

Putin didn’t mention IS in his speech to the nation, and Kyiv accused him and other Russian politicians of falsely linking Ukraine to the assault to stoke fervor for Russia’s fight in Ukraine, which recently entered its third year.

U.S. intelligence officials said they had confirmed the IS affiliate’s claim.

“ISIS bears sole responsibility for this attack. There was no Ukrainian involvement whatsoever,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said in a statement.

Gunfire Reported At Concert Venue Outside Moscow
People walk past Crocus City Hall on March 23, 2024 in Krasnororsk, Russia.

Getty Images


The U.S. shared information with Russia in early March about a planned terrorist attack in Moscow, and issued a public warning to Americans in Russia, Watson said.

The raid was a major embarrassment for Putin and happened just days after he cemented his grip on the country for another six years in a vote that followed the harshest crackdown on dissent since the Soviet times.

Some commentators on Russian social media questioned how authorities, who have relentlessly suppressed any opposition activities and muzzled independent media, failed to prevent the attack despite the U.S. warnings.

IS, which fought against Russia during its intervention in the Syrian civil war, has long targeted Russia. In a statement posted by the group’s Aamaq news agency, the IS Afghanistan affiliate said that it had attacked a large gathering of “Christians” in Krasnogorsk.

The group issued a new statement Saturday on Aamaq, saying the attack was carried out by four men who used automatic rifles, a pistol, knives and firebombs. It said the assailants fired at the crowd and used knives to kill some concertgoers, casting the raid as part of the Islamic State group’s ongoing war with countries that it says are fighting against Islam.

In October 2015, a bomb planted by IS downed a Russian passenger plane over Sinai, killing all 224 people on board, most of them Russian vacationers returning from Egypt.

The group, which operates mainly in Syria and Iraq but also in Afghanistan and Africa, also has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Russia’s volatile Caucasus and other regions in past years. It recruited fighters from Russia and other parts of the former Soviet Union.



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Eye Opener: At least 70 people killed in gang attack in Haiti, United Nations says

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Eye Opener: At least 70 people killed in gang attack in Haiti, United Nations says – CBS News


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The United Nations said at least 70 people have been killed in a gang attack in Haiti. Meanwhile, a 21-year-old Yazidi woman was rescued from Gaza after a decade. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener.

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Floods, landslides struck parts of Bosnia as residents slept, leaving at least 16 dead and several missing

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A severe rainstorm struck Bosnia overnight Friday, killing at least 16 people in floods and landslides in several towns and villages in central and southern parts of the country, with surging waters rushing into people’s homes as they were sleeping.

Rescue services in the south said several people were missing and called on volunteers and the army to assist as roads were closed and houses left without electricity.

Josip Kalem, a resident of Fojnica, one of the towns hit by the floods, said his dog’s barking woke him up at around 4 a.m. When he came out on the terrace, he saw the water rising rapidly.

“I came down, woke up my wife, and we looked around, we could not get out of the house. We saw more and more water coming in,” he said. “All of a sudden, the water was flooding the garage, basement, my car — everything. The water swept it all away, including my dog. Flood took it downstream.”

Andja Milesic, another resident of Fojnica, also said she was caught by surprise in the middle of the night.

“When I woke up, my bedroom floor was already soaked. I walked into the hallway — water was everywhere — the living room, everywhere,” she said. “It was horrible.”

APTOPIX Bosnia Flooding
A car is submerged in flood waters outside an apartment building in the village of Kiseljak, northern Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024.

Armin Durgut / AP


Darko Juka, a spokesman for the local administration, said at least 14 people had died in and around the southern town of Jablanica. Officials later said two more bodies have been found.

“Those are the ones who have been discovered by rescuers,” he said. “We still don’t know the final death toll.”

“I don’t remember such a crisis since the war,” Juka said referring to the 1992-95 war in Bosnia that left the country in ruins. “The scale of this chaotic situation is harrowing.”

Defense Minister Zukan Helez told N1 regional television that troops have been engaged to help and that the casualties were reported.

Helez said that “hour after hour we are receiving news about new victims. … Our first priority is to save the people who are alive and buried in houses where the landslides are.”

A pregnant woman lost her baby after she was rescued from the floods and transferred to a hospital in the regional center of Mostar. Authorities said doctors were fighting for her life as well. Separately, a child was successfully rescued and hospitalized, local officials said.

Rescue services in the towns of Jablanica and Kiseljak said the power was off overnight and mobile phones lost their signal.

The Jablanica fire station said that the town was completely inaccessible because roads and trainlines were closed.

“The police informed us that the railroad is also blocked,” the state rescue service said in a statement. “You can’t get in or out of Jablanica at the moment. Landline phones are working, but mobile phones have no signal.”

It urged people not to venture out on the flooded streets.

Human-caused climate change increases the intensity of rainfall because warm air holds more moisture. This summer, the Balkans were also hit by long-lasting record temperatures, causing a drought. Scientists said the dried-out land has hampered the absorption of floodwaters.

Bosnia Flooding
Apartment buildings are reflected at a flooded soccer field after a heavy rain in the village of Kiseljak, northern Bosnia, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024.

Armin Durgut / AP


Drone footage broadcast on Bosnian media showed villages and towns completely submerged under water, while videos on social networks showed dramatic scenes of muddy torrents and damaged roads.

One of the busiest roads linking Sarajevo with the Adriatic coast via Jablanica was swept into a river, together with a railway line in a huge landslide, according to photos.

“Many people are endangered because of big waters and landslides. There is information about victims and many injured and missing persons,” said the civic protection service.

Authorities urged people to stay on the upper floors of their homes. Reports said surging waters swept away domestic animals and cars as the water swiftly filled up lower floors of buildings.

The heavy rains and strong winds were also reported in neighboring Croatia, where several roads were closed and the capital of Zagreb prepared for the swollen Sava River to burst its banks.

Heavy winds have hampered traffic along the southern coast of the Adriatic Sea, and flash floods caused by heavy rain threatened several towns and villages in Croatia.

Floods caused by torrential rains were also reported in Montenegro, south of Bosnia, where some villages were cut off and roads and homes flooded.

In 2014, floodwaters triggered more than 3,000 landslides across the Balkans, laying waste to entire towns and villages and disturbing land mines leftover from the region’s 1990s war, along with warning signs that marked the unexploded weapons.



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The Uplift: Steve Gleason and more

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The Uplift: Steve Gleason and more – CBS News


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NFL legend Steve Gleason shares his experience with ALS in a heartfelt conversation with David Begnaud. A man whose life changed drastically in a split second is using the life-changing event to inspire others. Plus, more heartwarming stories.

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