Government & Politics

An Attack At London Bridge And A NATO Meeting: The News From London

WAMU 88.5

Published December 3, 2019 at 10:06 AM CST

Police patrol on London Bridge after last week's attack in central London. The government said it was reviewing the early release from prison of dozens of convicted terrorists.

President Donald Trump is in London, marking the 70th anniversary of NATO.

CNN spoke to James Townsend, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Europe and NATO, who said: “the betting is that there are going to be some fireworks.”

The president has called the alliance “obsolete” and its members “delinquent” for not spending more on defense.

Later in the program, we also unpack the recent terror attack in London.

Two people are confirmed dead and three others were wounded in a “terror-related attack” over the weekend. ISIS has claimed the attack.

1. ISIS has just claimed the London Bridge attack, through a bulletin from its news agency Amaq, which was published in one of the few rooms on the app Telegram that is still posting ISIS propaganda following the operation by @Europol which aimed to deplatform the group: pic.twitter.com/NOCPydiYff

— Rukmini Callimachi (@rcallimachi) November 30, 2019

What do we know about the attacker’s motives? How should we deal with those who might harm us, physically and psychologically?

Produced by Gabrielle Healy.

GUESTS

Matthew Levitt, Senior fellow and director, Reinhard Program on Counterterrorism and Intelligence, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy; @Levitt_Matt

Frank Langfitt, Correspondent, NPR’s London bureau; author, “The Shanghai Free Taxi: Journeys with the Hustlers and Rebels of the New China;” @franklangfitt

For more, visit https://the1a.org.