UR MAG

NEW YORK (AP) — Two men who broughtexplosivesto a far-right protest outside New York City's mayoral mansion said they were inspired by the Islamic State extremist group, according to a court complaint.

Emir Balat, 18, and Ibrahim Kayumi, 19, were being held without bail after a court appearance Monday on charges that include attempting to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and using a weapon of mass destruction. Their lawyers didn't argue for bail but could do so later.

The homemade devices,which did not explode,were hurled Saturday during raucous counterprotests against an anti-Islam demonstration led by Jake Lang, a far-right activist and critic of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a Democrat and the first Muslim to hold the office.

"Balat and Kayumi sought to incite fear and mass suffering through this alleged attempted terror attack in the backyard of an elected city official," James Barnacle, who runs the FBI's New York office, said at a news conference after the brief court session.

The defendants said nothing in court, but Kayumi smirked and looked over at Balat as the judge read part of the complaint alleging they acted in support of the Islamic State group. Balat stared ahead at the defense table.

According to the complaint, Kayumi blurted out, as he was being arrested Saturday, that "ISIS" was the reason for his conduct. Balat later told authorities that he had pledged allegiance to the extremists, and Kayumi asserted that he was affiliated with the group, the complaint said.

Officers asked Balat whether he was aiming to accomplish something akin to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people and wounded hundreds more.

"No, even bigger," Balat replied, according to the complaint.

Defense attorney highlights suspect's youth

Emir Balat's lawyer, Mehdi Essmidi, said outside court that his client is a Philadelphia-area high school senior with "complicated stuff going on" in his personal life. "There's a lot to figure out," the attorney added.

Asked whether he believed Balat was a terrorist, the lawyer said: "I believe he's 18 and he doesn't have any idea what he's doing."

Kayumi's lawyer, Michael Arthus, pointed in court to the extensive publicity surrounding the case and asked that prosecutors avoid saying anything that could prejudice potential jurors.

No one answered the door at a home listed as belonging to one of Kayumi's relatives in Newtown, Pennsylvania. At a home where neighbors said Balat lives in nearby Langhorne, a young man declined to comment when a reporter knocked on the door.

A spokesperson for Neshaminy High School, located in Langhorne, confirmed that Balat is in his senior year there. He has not attended in-person classes since enrolling in the district's virtual program this past September, according to a note sent to parents Monday by the district's superintendent.

Essmidi said he didn't believe the two young men had known each other for long. Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said neither defendant had a criminal history.

Meanwhile, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on social media that authorities "will not allow ISIS's poisonous, anti-American ideology to threaten this nation."

Advertisement

No ties to Iran war are identified

Tisch said there are no indications that the attack was connected to the ongoingwar in Iran.

An automated license plate reader captured the defendants entering New York City from New Jersey less than an hour before the noontime attack, according to the complaint. Kayumi's mother filed a missing person report, saying she last saw him around 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

The men's vehicle — registered to one of Balat's relatives — was discovered Sunday, a few blocks from where they were arrested. A search of the car turned up a fuse, a metal can, and a list of chemical ingredients and components that could be used to build explosives, the complaint said.

Lang's sparsely attended protest Saturday drew a far larger group of counterdemonstrators. Amid the faceoff, Balat tossed a jar-sized device that contained the explosive TATP into the crowd, the complaint said. The object also contained a fuse, plus an exterior layer of duct-taped nuts and bolts, the complaint said.

The device extinguished itself steps from police officers. According to the complaint, Balat then ran down the block and collected a second, similar device — which has yet to be tested for explosives — from Kayumi. Balat dropped it near some police officers and tried to run away, the complaint said. Police tackled Balat and soon arrested him and Kayumi.

"Violence that is meant to chill free speech, violence that is meant to keep us from assembling peaceably, will be met with swift justice," Manhattan-based U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said at a news conference Monday.

Protester arrested on unrelated charges

The scene had grown chaotic even before the devices were thrown. Police said one person involved in the anti-Islam demonstration, Ian McGinnis, 21, was arrested after he pepper-sprayed counterprotesters.

McGinnis, of Philadelphia, was released without bond after pleading not guilty Sunday to assault and aggravated harassment in a New York court, records show. His attorney, Steven Metcalf, said Monday that McGinnis was defending himself from counterprotesters.

Three others were arrested but released without charge.

Lang, who's running for U.S. Senate in Florida, was charged with assaulting an officer and other offenses during theJan. 6 insurrectionat the U.S. Capitol. He was later freed from prison as part ofPresident Donald Trump's sweeping act of clemency.

While Mamdani spoke to reporters Monday morning at the mayoral residence, Gracie Mansion, Lang heckled from outside the gates.

This story has been corrected to reflect that police are now identifying one of the suspects by the name Ibrahim Kayumi, instead of Ibrahim Nikks. Earlier headlines were corrected to show Tisch referred to the possibility of the suspects being inspired by rather than related to the Islamic State group.

Associated Press writers Michael Catalini in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, and David Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed.

Russia is "engaged in a large-scale global attempt" to take over Signal and WhatsApp accounts,two Dutch intelligence agenciessaid Monday, adding to warnings issued by several groups about the security risk to the messaging apps.

According to the agencies, hackers are using phishing techniques to target high-profile individuals, posing as accounts with names like "Signal support" and securing details from users that would allow them account access.

Signal is believed to be one of the most secure messaging platforms available. It is a common battlefield messaging tool among theUkrainian militaryand last year it became the subject of aWhite House scandalwhen a group of top officials accidentally added a journalist to a group chat discussing military strikes in Yemen.

Now, according to the Dutch report, Russian intelligence has launched a vast campaign to break into Signal and WhatsApp accounts,. The scheme has already compromised the messages of Dutch government employees, the report said, adding that it is "probable that targets include other persons of interest to the Russian government, such as journalists."

Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.

Advertisement

The warning follows a similar one issued byGermany in February, saying that unidentified hackers were trying to phish high-profile Signal users in German military and politics.

Last year, Google said it had identifiedRussian actors trying to phish Signal accountsassociated with the Ukrainian military, and warned that the tactic would likely spread.

"We are aware of recent reports regarding targeted phishing attacks that have resulted in account takeovers of some Signal users, including government officials and journalists. We take this very seriously," the companypostedon social media, alongside an example phishing message.

Hackers havelong targeted WhatsApp, owned by Meta, which as of last year claimed to have more thanthree billion active monthly users. But Signal,operated by a nonprofit, is far less popular and uses a complex type of encryptiondesigned to be unbreakable, even by a theoretical advanced quantum computer.

While Signal verifies a new user's account by texting their phone number, the app deliberately does not show users' phone numbers to each other as a way to better protect their privacy. However, that can make a scam message seem more convincing, since a user who receives a message that comes from "Signal support" — not a real service Signal offers — can't check the phone number associated with the account to see if it's suspicious.

A WhatsApp spokesperson declined to comment but recommended users never share their login information with other people and recommended itsscam protection guide.

NEW YORK (AP) — A widening war in Iran has halted oil tankers, made targets of refineries and spooked investors worried about the cascading impact of spiking energy prices.

Oil Prices

If it might seem like the ideal time to dip into the world's emergency oil stockpiles, global leaders have so far responded with reluctance.

Here is a look at the energy supplies that countries hold and when they tap them:

Many countries have reserves of oil

Since war erupted in the Middle East on Feb. 28 with U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran, the flow of oil tankers through theStrait of Hormuzhas all but stopped, cutting off a vital passageway for a huge amount of the world's oil.

That has sent prices of oil soaring.

Brent crude oil, the international standard,surged to nearly $120 a barrelMonday, about 65% higher than when the war started, before retreating toward $90.

Countries around the world hold vast quantities of oil that they can use in the event of a crisis, including the U.S., which holds a massive emergency supply — known as theStrategic Petroleum Reserve— in underground salt caverns in Texas and Louisiana.

Because oil is a global commodity and flooding the market with a sudden stream of new supply has international implications, countries often talk to one another before tapping reserves. That includes coordinating with the International Energy Agency, an organization created in the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis.

But opting to use oil reserves is never a simple calculation, particularly when linked to a war with constantly shifting parameters and no clear timeline.

"The key question on drawing down these reserves remains one of, 'How long will this conflict last?'" says Tom Seng, an energy finance professor at Texas Christian University. "And, more importantly, 'How long with the Strait of Hormuz remain blocked?'"

Timing a release is tricky

Oil reserves have been tapped when the market has faced major disruption in the past, including wars in Iraq, Libya and, most recently,in Ukraine.

Advertisement

Kenneth Medlock, senior director of the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University, says it's not a matter of whether the current conflict is serious enough to merit intervention, but whether the precise moment has arrived.

"The price is up but it could get worse," Medlock says. "What happens if this drags on for two, three months? Then you run into a situation where you lose your buffer."

Each of the 32 member countries of the IEA promises to have a reserve at least equivalent to what they import in a 90-day period. The U.S. exports more than it imports, maintaining its reserve despite there being no requirement. But for other countries, tapping their reserves will result in them eventually needing to replenish what was taken.

"Because of that, countries tend to keep reserves for a last-resort scenario, should the disruption be prolonged," says Maksim Sonin, an energy executive who works with Stanford University's Hydrogen Initiative.

Discussions can cool markets

So far, leaders have been reticent to tap reserves.

Over the weekend, U.S. President Donald Trump downplayed the idea of turning to the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, saying supplies were ample and prices would soon fall.

Representatives from the Group of Seven major industrialized powers discussed the issue Monday, but likewise decided against using strategic reserves.

"We're not there yet," French Finance Minister Roland Lescure said after chairing the G7 meeting. Still, he told reporters in Brussels that the group was "ready to take necessary and coordinated steps in order to stabilize markets, such as strategic stockpiling."

Fatih Birol, the executive director of the IEA, took part in the meeting, noting afterwards the "significant and growing risks for the market." IEA member countries have more than 1.2 billion barrels of emergency oil on hand, the organization says.

Though leaders have so far held off from using their reserves, energy expert Brenda Shaffer says the fact that they are even discussing the option could ease markets.

"As long as the market keeps hearing about these possibilities," says Shaffer, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School, "I think that will have a smoothing effect on the global oil market."

The U.S. may be responsible for the bombing ofa girls' school in Iranthat killed 168 people, many of them children, on Feb. 28, sources told CBS News.

The preliminary U.S. assessment suggests that the United States is "likely" responsible for the deadly attack but did not intentionally target the school and may have hit it in error, possibly due to the use of dated intelligence which wrongly identified the area as still part of an Iranian military installation, a person briefed on the preliminary intelligence told CBS News.

Israel's military was also not operating in the area, two sources told CBS News.

An additional source familiar with the ongoing inquiry told CBS News that investigators believe the U.S. military may have been responsible because it was operating in the area while Israel's military was not, though no final conclusions have been reached.

And an Israeli government source told CBS News that Israel was not behind the attack and its military was not operating near the school.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told CBS News in a statement that the "investigation is ongoing," and "There are no conclusions at this time, and it is both irresponsible and false for anyone to claim otherwise."

CBS News has confirmed the school building was located in close proximity to two sites controlled by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Minab, a city in the southern Iranian province of Hormozgan.

Footage filmed from a parking lot showed black smoke billowing from a damaged building adorned with murals featuring drawings of crayons, children and an apple. The CBS News Confirmed team geolocated the video to a building in Minab. Iranian media identified the building as the Shajareh Tayyebeh elementary school.

Iranian state media said at least 168 people, including schoolgirls ages 7 to 12, were killed in the strike which occurred last Saturday, on thefirst day of the war. Saturdays are regular school days in Iran.

Advertisement

Alist publishedin Iranian state media from authorities in Iran's Minab county claimed to show the names of 57 of those killed.Human Rights Watch has saidat least 48 of those names appear to be children, according to their birthdates on the list, along with their school principal and teachers.

Without providing evidence, President Trump said Saturday that the U.S. believes the bombing "was done by Iran" and cited information that he had seen.

"We think it was done by Iran, because they're very inaccurate with their munitions, they have no accuracy whatsoever, it was done by Iran," Mr. Trump said aboard Air Force One after attending thedignified transferof six U.S. soldiers who were killed in an Iranian strike in Kuwait on March 1.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and U.S. Central Command have both said an investigation was ongoing and did not echo the president's assertions.

Questioned about the incident in aCBS News "60 Minutes"interview that aired Sunday, Hegseth said "unlike our adversaries, the Iranians, we never target civilians," and "it's being investigated, which is the only answer I'm prepared to give."

The New York Times and Reuters were first to report that the U.S. may be behind the fatal bombing.

Source: Havana Syndrome investigation is "a massive CIA cover-up" | 60 Minutes

"Framed": Highlighting the art that surrounds art

Uncertainty deepens over Iran as U.S. and Israeli attacks continue

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Belarusian journalist Pavel Dabravolski was convicted Monday of treason and sentenced to nine years in a maximum-security prison, activists said, the fifth media worker to be jailed in two weeks in a relentless government crackdown on freedom of the press.

Belarus Crackdown

Dabravolski, who has reported for international and domestic news outlets and won numerous prizes for his work, was found guilty during a closed-door trial at Minsk City Court, according to the Belarusian Association of Journalists. The 36-year-old most recently worked for BelaPAN, which the Belarusian authorities have designated as extremist.

President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for over three decades, has stayed in power through a relentless crackdown on dissent.

Massive protests broke out following the 2020 elections, which were widely denounced as fraudulent. More than 65,000 people were arrested and thousands were beaten. In the wake of the protests, hundreds of independent media outlets and nongovernmental organizations were shut down and outlawed.

Exiled opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said Dabravolski was being targeted by "trumped-up charges."

"Dabravolski's only 'crime' was doing his job and covering the 2020 protests after the stolen elections," she said. "We see that the conveyor belt of repression inside Belarus continues unabated."

Advertisement

Activists have reported a sharp increase in government pressure on Belarus' media workers.

"Repression is escalating and Dabravolski's sentence shows that the authorities are increasing pressure on journalists in a country that already has the worst freedom of speech in Europe," Andrei Bastunets, the head of the journalists' association, told The Associated Press.

The group says that 28 journalists are imprisoned in Belarus.

"It contradicts the idea that the human rights situation in Belarus has allegedly improved due to the release of prominent political prisoners," Bastunets said.

Under Lukashenko, Belarus has faced years of Western isolation and sanctions for repression and for allowing Moscow to use its territory during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He has recently sought to improve relations with the West by releasing hundreds of political prisoners.

Many more remain behind bars, however, with human rights organization Viasna estimating that there are 1,140 political prisoners.