Homeland Security News

An ex-girlfriend of the Ohio gunman who killed nine people says he showed her a video of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting on their first date.

Adelia Johnson says in an emailed statement to The Associated Press that Connor Betts often joked about having dark thoughts. She says he told her that he had bipolar disorder and that his talk didn’t scare her because she thought it was a symptom of his mental illness.

Pittsburgh area native Nicholas Cumer was killed along with eight others in the mass shooting.

Read more: WJZ

The Taliban on Tuesday denounced as a sham a presidential election due next month, saying their fighters would do everything they could to block it, while urging people to stay away from rallies that could be attacked.

The warning came as both the United States and the Taliban reported progress in talks on a deal that is expected to bring a U.S. commitment to withdraw its troops in exchange for a Taliban promise the country will not be used to plot terrorist attacks.

The Taliban called for a boycott of the election scheduled for Sept. 28, and said foreign powers should instead focus on the effort to negotiate the deal with the United States on “ending the occupation of Afghanistan”.

Read more: Reuters

Cesar Sayoc, the Florida man who mailed more than a dozen pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and CNN, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Earlier this year, Sayoc, 57, pleaded guilty in a federal court in Manhattan to four sets of charges -- 65 counts total -- for sending 16 packages containing explosive material and glass shards to liberal politicians and others who support liberal policies, such as Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Robert De Niro. Current presidential candidates Cory Booker, Kamala Harris and Joe Biden were also included as targets in the string of package bombs.

Read more: ABC News