UNITED STATES
F-22s sent to Qatar in first
F-22 stealth jets have been deployed to Qatar for the first time, the military said on Friday, adding to a buildup of forces in the Gulf amid tensions with Iran. The stealth planes have been deployed “to defend American forces and interests,” the Air Forces Central Military Command said in a statement that did not specify how many had been sent. Last month, the Air Force deployed several nuclear-capable B-52s to the Gulf in response to what the Department of Defense described as a possible plan by Iran to attack US forces in the region, as well as an aircraft carrier task force.
UNITED STATES
Life sentence for neo-Nazi
A neo-Nazi who killed an activist when he rammed his car into a group of counter-protesters during a “Unite the Right” white supremacist rally was ordered jailed for life without possibility of parole on Friday. James Alex Fields Jr, 22, in March pleaded guilty to 29 federal hate crime charges in a deal with prosecutors that eliminated the possibility of a death sentence. The charges were linked to the 29 people wounded when he drove his car through a crowd in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Aug. 12, 2017, killing 32-year-old paralegal Heather Heyer. “As a result of this act of domestic terrorism that was charged as 29 hate crimes, a United States district judge this afternoon determined that Mr Fields deserved to spend the rest of his life in federal prison,” US attorney Thomas Cullen said. Addressing the court, Fields apologized for his actions. He is to be sentenced for his first-degree murder conviction in a state court next month.
TUNISIA
Power vacuum fears quelled
Authorities on Friday said that President Beji Caid Essebsi’s condition was improving and insisted there was no power vacuum after the 92-year-old leader’s hospitalization and twin suicide attacks. Essebsi was taken to hospital for a “serious illness” on Thursday, the same day that bombings claimed by the Islamic State group killed a police officer in Tunis and wounded several other people. The president had met with the defense minister early on Friday and should leave hospital “soon,” a presidential spokeswoman told state radio.
ETHIOPIA
‘Coup plotters’ arrested
The nation has arrested 255 people following an “attempted coup,” the government said on Friday, vowing that the act of “treason” would not derail democratic reforms as it continues to hunt for suspects. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office said that evidence was uncovered that a series of weekend attacks in Addis Ababa and Amhara State, which killed five high-ranking officials, had been part of “a larger plan.”
UNITED STATES
Doughnuts brought to break-in
A would-be convict has contrived to get himself into jail by breaking into a police station near Seattle with a box of doughnuts. The 26-year-old man last week smashed the Fairwood Police Station’s window and clambered inside to wait for officers to arrive, the King County Sheriff’s Office said. He was discovered with his feet up on a chair, watching TV and finishing a cigar. When questioned, he said he would “rather go to jail” for breaking into the building than “kill his roommate.” The issue with his roommate was not clear, but fearing that the police would be angry with him for the break-in, the suspect had brought along a “peace offering”: a fresh box of doughnuts. He was granted his wish and booked into the county jail.
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
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number