Call to try Lockerbie suspect in UK Facebook bans French accounts

The suspect in the Lockerbie bombing set to face new US charges should stand trial in Scotland or the International Criminal Court, not in America, relatives of the terror attack’s victims have said. Two family members of people who died in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the deadliest terror attack in modern British history, expressed concern the suspect could be executed if put on trial in America. The US Justice Department is expected to announce charges against Abu Agila Mas’ud, a Libyan believed to be held by authorities in Tripoli, at a press conference on Tuesday, the 32nd anniversary of the tragedy. It would be the first public breakthrough in the case for many years.

Individuals linked to Russia and the French military used fake Facebook and Instagram accounts to wage a covert disinformation campaign in the Central African Republic ahead of elections there this month, Facebook announced this week. Facebook said it took down hundreds of accounts and groups linked to France and Russia accused of “co-ordinated inauthentic behaviour” in the CAR as well as other countries in Africa and the Middle East. While accounts traced to Russia have been repeatedly accused of such activity, Facebook said this is the first time it has taken action against a network tied to individuals associated with a Western government.however, the company said its investigators “did not see evidence that the French military itself directed the activity”.