Thursday briefing: New York terror suspect in court, Osama bin Laden files, Westminster's 'locker room culture'

Good afternoon, this is Anna bringing you today's top news.

New York mourns again - The suspect in Tuesday’s fatal terror attack, Sayfullo Saipov, 29, appeared in the New York federal courthouse yesterday and prosecutors say he seems to have been inspired by Isis videos of beheadings and violence. He was charged with providing material support to a terrorist group and violence and destruction of motor vehicles. Saipov drove a rented Home Depot truck down a bike lane in central Manhattan, killing eight and injuring 12, before crashing into a school bus. Prosecutors told the courthouse the suspect carried out the attack on Halloween because more people would be on the streets, and that he started planning the deadliest terror tragedy in the city since 9/11 a year ago. Saipov is an Uzbek immigrant and presumed avid supporter of Isis.

Osama’s distaste for Britain - Osama bin Laden was not a fan of Shakespeare or the ‘loose people’ of Britain. Documents released by the CIA show that the former leader of al-Qaida visited Shakespeare’s birthplace, Stratford-upon-Avon, and other places in the UK when he was 13 years old. Entries to his journal illustrate how his distaste for the West grew much earlier than previously thought. ‘I was not impressed and I saw that they were a society different from ours and that they were a morally loose society,’ bin Laden wrote. The notes were seized when US forces killed the 9/11 architect at his hideaway in Pakistan. Bin Laden also wrote that his age at the time couldn’t offer him a clear picture of British life, but there are suggestions he might have tried gain more knowledge by watching Mr Bean videos, episodes of Wallace and Gromit, and more than 30 videos on crocheting.

Westminster’s ‘locker room culture’ exposed - The UK’s defence secretary Sir Michael Fallon has resigned from his position in government amid a sexual harassment scandal that has rocked Westminster. Fallon resigned on Wednesday, saying his treatment of women had ‘fallen below high standards we require of the armed forces’. Prime Minister Theresa May is now being urged by senior Tories to use her upcoming cabinet reshuffle as a way to rid the government of ‘locker room culture’. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson told BBC Radio 4 Today’s programme: ‘The dam has broken and these male-dominated professions, where the boy’s own locker room culture has prevailed and it’s all been a bit of a laugh, has got to stop.’ Gavin Williamson will replace Fallon.

Politically-charged language - It may come as no surprise to readers that ‘fake news’ has been named word of the year by Collins because of its ‘ubiquitous presence’. Usage of Donald Trump’s favourite phrase to deflect criticism of his shambolic administration increased 365% since 2016. In the last few days alone, he has tweeted of how 'The Fake News is working overtime’ in relation to the FBI’s investigation into Russian election interference, and of how ‘Fake News [is] weak!’ Corybnmania, referring to the uptick in support for UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, was up by 310% in 2017. ‘Much of this year’s list is definitely politically charged, but with a new president in the US and a snap election in the UK, it is perhaps no surprise that politics continues to electrify the language,’ said Collins’s head of language content, Helen Newstead.

Judgement day for Catalonia - Fired members of Catalonia’s regional government are due to appear in Spain’s high court to face charges of rebellion and sedition - but the region’s former leader Carles Puigdemont has stayed away. Nine officials turned up to the court in Madrid for questioning after October’s disputed referendum on Catalan independence. Puigdemont is currently in Belgium, refusing to cooperate with authorities until guarantees are offered by Spain’s central government. Four other officials have failed to show up as well, also residing in Belgium. Should anyone be prosecuted for acts of rebellion, it carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years. Spanish prosecutors have asked for eight out of the nine officials in court to be jailed.

Aung San Suu Kyi has blood on her hands - Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has made her first visit to conflict-torn Rakhine, which is almost lifeless since its Rohingya Muslim population fled to nearby Bangladesh to avoid persecution by the army. The country is facing a bloodied and brutal crisis at the hands of the national army, who have been accused of ethnic cleansing by the UN. Rohingya communities are widely-hated in the mostly Buddhist country of Myanmar. Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has faced international condemnation for her handling of the crisis. More than 600,000 Rohingya muslims have taken refuge in barely habitable camps on the border of Bangladesh.