An al-Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility yesterday for a bombing earlier this week targeting the Baghdad offices of a pan-Arab television station, describing the deadly attack that killed six people as a victory against a “corrupt channel.”
A statement posted on the Web site of the Islamic State of Iraq said the operation was carried out by a “hero of Islam” and was intended to hit the “mouthpieces of the wicked and evil.”
The Arabic-language news channel al-Arabiya is one of the most popular in the Middle East but is perceived by insurgents as being pro-Western. A suicide bomber driving a minibus on Monday drove through at least two checkpoints before pulling up to the front of the station’s Baghdad office and blowing himself and his vehicle up.
“We take responsibility for targeting this corrupt channel, and we will not hesitate to hit any media office and chase its staffers if they insist on being a tool of war against almighty God and his prophet,” the announcement said.
The massive blast blew out windows in the two-story al-Arabiya building and left much of the interior in shambles, with doors hanging off their frames. None of the dead were employees of the network.
Meanwhile, a suicide bomber drove a minibus into the main gate of an Iraqi army base near former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein’s hometown yesterday, killing four soldiers and wounding 10, said police and hospital officials.
The 7am attack took place in the town of Shurqat as soldiers were changing their shifts, one witness said.
A roadside bomb also exploded yesterday morning in Fallujah, 65km west of Baghdad, wounding five Iraqi soldiers, a policeman said.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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