buildings and structures

City makes improvements to Sally Milligan Park

BEVERLY — The city’s Open Space and Recreation Committee announced that it has completed improvements to Sally Milligan Park, including a new trail, footbridge and wayfinding signage.

The new trail leads from behind the soccer field on Cross Lane, enabling visitors to access land north and west of the field and the Mackerel River. Parking is available at the Cross Lane soccer field.

The new trail was originally proposed in the fall of 2019 in accordance with the 2002 Sally Milligan Implementation Plan. The trail was approved by the Open Space and Recreation Committee in 2021. In 2022, the city received a MassTrails grant to construct a bridge over the Mackerel River, install a new map kiosk for the Cross Lane soccer fields, and update maps depicting the new trail.

The trail and the bridge were completed in June 2023. The new kiosk and maps were installed in December 2023 and bike racks were installed in September 2024.

Sally Milligan Park was a gift to the citizens of Beverly from Hugh Taylor Birch, who gave the original 31 acres to the city in 1933 as a memorial to his mother, Sally Milligan Birch. In 1999, the city purchased an additional 15 acres from the Santin family with assistance from the state and the Essex County Greenbelt Association.

The city added again to Sally Milligan in 2002 with the purchase of the 37-acre former Hill Estate. For more information on the park visit www.beverlyma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/940/2019-Sally-Milligan-Trail-Map-PDF.

By News Staff

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October 26, 2024
Car crashes into Salem bar

SALEM — The first customer early Friday morning at the Sidelines Sports Bar & Grill was not someone looking for coffee.

It was a white sedan that slammed through the front wall of the Canal Street restaurant, plunging completely inside.

According to owners, the accident caused extensive damage to the brick building, closing the restaurant for an undetermined period of time.

In the meantime, the owners are encouraging customers to patronize its sister location at Paddy Kelly’s Restaurant & Pub on Washington Street.

As of Friday, there were no reports of injuries.

Police are still investigating the accident.

By Buck Anderson | Staff Writer

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August 18, 2024
Vatican Fast Facts | CNN

CNN
—

Here’s a look at the Vatican, also known as the Holy See, the spiritual and governing center of the Roman Catholic Church.

The full name of the country is State of Vatican City.

It stands on Vatican Hill in northwestern Rome, Italy west of the Tiber River. It is comprised of roughly 100 acres.

Tall stone walls surround most of Vatican City.

Historical documentation says that St. Peter was crucified at or near the Neronian Gardens on Vatican hill and buried at the foot of the hill directly under where the main altar of St. Peter’s Basilica now stands. Excavations at the basilica between 1940 and 1957 located the tomb believed to be St. Peter’s.

Vatican City has its own pharmacy, post office, telephone system and media outlets. The population is 1,000 (2022 est.)

The Vatican is an absolute monarchy. Full legislative, judicial and executive authority resides with the pope.

The world’s second-largest Christian church after the Yamoussoukro Basilica in Cote d’Ivoire. St. Peter’s is not a cathedral, which is a bishop’s principal church. The pope is the bishop of Rome, and his cathedral church is in Rome.

Built on the foundation of the first St. Peter’s, the new basilica took 120 years to complete. Masonry, sculpture, painting and mosaic work continued for nearly 200 years.

The dome of the basilica was designed by Michelangelo.

The church is shaped like a cross and is almost 650 feet long.

In the grottoes, beneath the basilica, is a papal burial chamber.

The Vatican Palaces consist of several connected buildings with over 1,000 rooms. Within the palaces there are apartments, chapels, museums, meeting rooms and government offices.

The Palace of Sixtus V is the pope’s residence.

The Vatican museums, archive, library, gardens and other offices make up the remainder of the palaces.

A separate structure from the basilica, designed for the papal court, was commissioned by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere.

It is the site of the papal conclave and where elections for the new pope are held.

It is one of the world’s most famous galleries of biblical art with the ceiling by Michelangelo, tapestries by Raphael and Rosselli’s Last Supper.

320s – Construction begins on the first St. Peter’s, by order of Constantine the Great.

1473-1481 – The Sistine Chapel is constructed.

April 18, 1506 – Pope Nicholas V begins rebuilding and expanding St. Peter’s Basilica.

1508-1512 – Michelangelo paints the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

February 11, 1929 – The signing of the Lateran Pacts between the Holy See and Italy establishes Vatican City State, the smallest independent nation in the world, covering only 109 acres.

June 7, 1929 – The Treaty of the Lateran is ratified. Pope Pius XI gives up all claims to the Papal States, and Italy agrees to the establishment of the independent State of Vatican City.

October 11, 1962-November 21, 1964 – The 21st Ecumenical Council of the Roman Catholic Church, known as Vatican II, is held under orders of Pope John XXIII. The council included 2,700 clergymen from all walks of Christiandom looking to improve relations with the Catholic Church. By the end of the council there is a new pope, Paul VI, a new constitution for the Church and new reforms.

June 2011 – Pope Benedict XVI sends the first Vatican tweet announcing the opening of a news site, “Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI.”

October 6, 2012 – The pope’s former butler Paolo Gabriele is convicted of aggravated theft for leaking confidential papal documents and sentenced to 18 months in prison. In December 2012, Gabriele is pardoned by the pope and released to his family.

November 10, 2012 – Claudio Sciarpelletti, a computer technician, receives a two-month suspended sentence for leaking Vatican secrets to the media.

May 2013 – Missio, a smartphone app, is launched by Pope Francis. The app provides Catholic news from the Vatican and around the world.

November 24, 2013 – The Vatican exhibits the bones of a man long believed to be St. Peter, one of the founding fathers of the Christian church, for the first time.

January 10, 2019 – The Holy See launches its official athletics team after receiving the blessing of the Italian Olympic Committee. Among the first members of the Vatican Athletics track team are nuns, priests, Swiss Guards, museum workers, carpenters and maintenance workers.

March 2, 2020 – The Vatican opens its secret archives containing World War II-era documents from the controversial papacy of Pope Pius XII.

December 24, 2020 – Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the pope holds a sparsely attended Christmas Eve mass with only 200 people in attendance, including 30 cardinals. The Christmas Eve mass, which usually attracts up to 10,000 people, is a landmark event in Vatican City.

July 3, 2021 – The Vatican releases a statement saying that it has indicted 10 people, including an Italian cardinal, for several alleged financial crimes including extortion, corruption, fraud, forgery, embezzlement and abuse of power. The investigation, which started in July 2019, was carried out by the Vatican in cooperation with Italian authorities and revealed “a vast network of ties between financial market operators who generated substantial losses for the Vatican finances.” In December 2023, Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu is sentenced to five and a half years in prison for his role in financial crimes. Others indicted are convicted on some counts and acquitted on others. One, Monsignor Mauro Carlino, former secretary to Becciu, is acquitted on all counts.

June 22, 2023 – The Vatican announces it will hand over evidence in the disappearance of a 15-year-old daughter of one of its employees 40 years ago to the Rome city prosecutor. Emanuela Orlandi, who was the daughter of a prominent Vatican employee and lived within the walls of the holy city, disappeared in the summer of 1983 while on her way home from a music lesson in central Rome. The Vatican – which has come under scrutiny over the years for its handling of the case – announced in January that it had opened a fresh investigation.

November 16, 2023 – The Vatican announces that, as part of a move to reduce its carbon emissions, it will gradually electrify its fleet of vehicles. The Holy See also pledges to build a charging network within Vatican City and in other areas it controls. The city state plans to ensure that electricity for its charging network comes from renewable sources.

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March 28, 2024
‘All I wanted to do was live’: After years of debate, a suicide safety net for the Golden Gate Bridge is nearing completion. Survivors say it’ll give many a 2nd chance at life | CNN

CNN
—

On September 25, 2000, Kevin Hines climbed over the rail of the Golden Gate Bridge.

White fog hung below the gray skies that day. He recalled looking down at the rough, green waters below moments before he did the unthinkable: He jumped.

“My hands left the rail and I had an instantaneous regret for my actions,” Hines told CNN.

Hines fell 220 feet at a speed of 75 miles per hour – “equivalent to a pedestrian being struck by a car that is traveling that fast,” according to the Bridge Rail Foundation, a nonprofit working to prevent suicides on the bridge.

During the 4-second fall, Hines said the feeling of depression left his mind, and was replaced by a survival urge he described as almost instinctual.

“And at that time, all I wanted to do was live.”

After he was rescued from the water, Hines needed three vertebrae replaced with a titanium metal plate and pins, ultimately undergoing four and half weeks of recovery. And in the years since, Hines has been traveling the world to share his rare testimony.

“I have met thousands of people who have survived mild, moderate to extreme suicide attempts who have all said they each had the same instant regret,” Hines said. “They recognized their thoughts didn’t have to become their actions.”

More than a confirmed 1,800 people have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge since it was built in 1937, according to the Bridge Rail Foundation. The very first incident happened that same year.

Hines is one of 39 people known to survive the deadly leap. “Nineteen have come forward to say they all had the exact same instant regret that I had,” Hines said.

After years of debate over installing a suicide deterrent on the iconic bridge, a net is now nearing completion.

In 2018, the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District began building a net along the perimeter of the 1.7 mile long bridge.

The $217 million project consists of the installation of a stainless steel net, 20 feet below the sidewalk on both sides of the bridge, according to Golden Gate Bridge spokesperson Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz.

“The amount of net that we’re installing is the equivalent of seven football fields,” Cosulich-Schwartz told CNN.

It’s a project proponents hope will offer many people a second chance at life.

While Hines noted not all those who jump may feel regretful, he said he can’t help but empathize with those who did experience the same feeling but never got another chance to choose life.

“Recognizing that all the people that passed away might have wished they were still here… it’s a very troubling thing to think about,” he said.

‘A symbol of hope and care’

Kevin Berthia attempted to jump off the Golden Gate on March 11, 2005. But after jumping, he ended up clinging to a railing for over an hour and a half.

“I swung myself around and smacked into the railing, and got on that 4-inch cord,” Berthia recalled.

And he held onto that cord as California Highway Patrol Officer Kevin Briggs talked to him about reasons to choose life. It was in this 92-minute conversation that Berthia began to experience regret.

If you suspect someone may be suicidal:
1. Do not leave the person alone.
2. Remove any ﬁrearms, alcohol, drugs or sharp objects that could be used in a suicide attempt.
3. Call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline.
4. Take the person to an emergency room or seek help from a medical or mental health professional.
Source: American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. For more tips and warning signs, click here.

Why is Japan seeking the dissolution of the controversial Unification Church? | CNN

Tokyo, Japan
CNN
—

Japan’s government on Friday asked a court to order the dissolution of the Unification Church branch in Japan following the assassination of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in July 2022.

The government’s move comes after a months-long probe into the church, formally known in Japan as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification.

The investigation followed claims by the suspected shooter, Tetsuya Yamagami, that he fatally shot Abe because he believed the leader was associated with the church, which Yamagami blamed for bankrupting his family through the excessive donations of his mother, a member.

Earlier in January, Japanese prosecutors indicted Yamagami on murder and firearm charges.

The government’s investigation concluded that the group’s practices – including fund-raising activities that allegedly pressured followers to make exorbitant donations – violated the 1951 Religious Corporations Act.

That law allows Japanese courts to order the dissolution of a religious group if it has committed an act “clearly found to harm public welfare substantially.”

The Tokyo District Court will now make a judgment based on the evidence submitted by the government, according to Japan’s public broadcaster NHK.

This is the third time the Japanese government has sought a dissolution order for a religious group accused of violating the act.

It also sought to dissolve the Aum Shinrikyo cult, after some of its members carried out a deadly 1995 sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system, which left dozens dead and thousands injured, and Myokaku-ji Temple, whose priests defrauded people by charging them for exorcisms. The courts ruled with the government on both orders.

The Unification Church in Japan has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, pledging reform and labeling the news coverage against it as “biased” and “fake.”

On Thursday, it issued a statement, saying it was “very regrettable” that the government was seeking the dissolution order, particularly as it had been “working on reforming the church” since 2009. It added that it would make legal counterarguments against the order in court.

If disbanded, the Unification Church, founded by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon in South Korea in 1954, would lose its status as a religious corporation in Japan and be deprived of tax benefits. However, it could still operate as a corporate entity.

Experts argue that an order to disband the group completely could take years to process and could even risk pushing the entity’s activities underground.

Police have theory about what motivated Shinzo Abe murder suspect

The Unification Church became known worldwide for mass weddings, in which thousands of couples get married simultaneously, with some brides and grooms meeting their betrothed for the first time on their wedding day.

Public scrutiny of the church in Japan increased after Abe was fatally shot during an election campaign speech last July.

Abe’s alleged assailant told police that his family had been ruined because of the huge donations his mother made to a religious group, which he alleged had close ties to the late former prime minister, according to NHK.

A spokesperson for the Unification Church confirmed to reporters in Tokyo that the suspect’s mother was a member, Reuters reported, but said neither Abe nor the suspected killer were members.

Following Abe’s death local media carried a series of reports claiming various other lawmakers of the country’s ruling party had links to the church, prompting Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to order an investigation.

Kishida told reporters Thursday that ruling party lawmakers had cut ties with the religious group, amid concerns that the Unification Church had been trying to wield political influence.

Since last November, Japan’s Ministry of Cultural Affairs has questioned and sought to obtain documents from the Unification Church while also collecting testimonies from around 170 people who say they were pressured into making massive donations known in Japan as “spiritual sales.”

The practice involves asking followers to buy objects like urns and amulets on the grounds that doing so will appease their ancestors and save future generations, according to Yoshihide Sakurai, a religious studies expert at Hokkaido University.

CNN has contacted the Unification Church for an official comment but has not yet heard back.

This is not the first time the Unification Church has been at the center of a controversy.

Naomi Honma, a former Unification Church member, told CNN that between 1991 and 2003, she worked on a legal case called “Give Us Back Our Youth,” a lawsuit that alleged the Unification Church had used deceptive and manipulative techniques to recruit unsuspecting members of the public.

This, they argued, had the potential to violate the freedom of thought and conscience upheld by Article 20 of Japan’s constitution.

After a 14-year trial, multiple plaintiff testimonies and a 999-page report outlining the “mind control” process of the group, the trial had its moment.

The Sapporo District Court made a landmark ruling in favor of 20 former Unification Church members who had sued the group as part of the case. It ordered the Unification Church to pay roughly 29.5 million yen ($200,000) in damages for recruiting and indoctrinating people “while hiding the church’s true identity” and for “coercing some former members into purchasing expensive items and donating large amounts of money.”

In a separate controversy, between 1987 and 2021, the Unification Church in Japan incurred claims for damages over the sale of amulets and urns that totaled around $1 billion, according to the National Lawyers Network against Spiritual Sales – a group established in 1987 specifically to oppose the Unification Church.

Nobutaka Inoue, an expert on contemporary Japanese religion at Kokugakuin University, is critical of the techniques used by the church to recruit and raise funds. However, he also notes that some of its members felt happy and at peace after making donations to the Unification Church.

Some critics of the Unification Church say the government’s actions don’t go far enough as it could still operate as a non-religious group. One option for the government would be to seek a court order stripping the church of its corporate status, too, but experts say that could take up to two years to process.

Sakurai, the religious studies expert, cautioned that if the Unification Church loses its status as a religious corporation, it would no longer be under the control of Japan’s Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs, making it harder to regulate its activities.

Sakurai pointed to the case of Aum, noting that after the sarin gas attack the Japanese government revoked recognition of the group as a religious organization but continued to regulate it through a new law passed in 1999 that authorized continued police surveillance of its activities.

But making a new law that would allow the government to continue to watch over the Unification Church’s activities – even if one could be passed – would not work as well, Sakurai warned.

“(Aum) only numbers over 1,200 members or so; however, the Unification Church has penetrated many layers of Japan’s society – some members are housewives, some work in factories, others are teachers, so the police cannot watch all the movements or activities of the Unification Church,” Sakurai said.

Some experts say Japan needs to do more to educate the public about non-traditional religions, which some see as having a rising influence in society.

Kimiaki Nishida, a social psychologist and chairman of the Japan Society for Cult Prevention and Recovery (JSCPR), pointed out that state and religion were separated in Japan following World War II, and the new constitution forbade teaching religious studies at school.

This made religion essentially a taboo topic, Nishida said, and to this day, religious education is not provided at elementary, junior, or high schools in Japan, unlike in most EU member states.

This, according to Toshiyuki Tachikake, a professor at Osaka University specializing in cult countermeasures since 2009, has left students – particularly at university campuses – vulnerable to being pressured into recruitment.

He and other experts say more should be done to educate young Japanese about religion.

“We need religious education in schools. Giving someone a broad understanding of different religions and their teachings allows them to make an informed decision on whether they want to join a certain group if a recruiter ever approached them,” said Tachikake.

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October 21, 2023

Gaza conditions worsen amid warnings that shortages could ‘kill many, many people’ | CNN

CNN
—

Shortages of food, fuel and electricity in Gaza “are going to kill many, many people,” a senior aid official warned Friday, as Israel’s siege and bombardment of the enclave approached the two-week mark, while life-saving aid was again stuck in Egypt for another day.

A spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said Friday that seven hospitals and 21 primary care health centers had been rendered “out of service,” and 64 medical staff have been killed, as Israel continues its airstrikes on Gaza.

“It is absolutely life or death at this point,” Avril Benoit, executive director for Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), told CNN.

Among those trapped in Gaza are the hostages captured by Hamas during its brutal terror attack on October 7. In an update Friday the Israel Defense Forces said the majority of the hostages are alive. It said the number of missing is between 100-200, and more than 20 of the hostages are under the age of 18.

Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have rallied troops ahead of a potential ground incursion. The IDF has mobilized more than 300,000 reservists as it seeks to “destroy” Hamas and prevent it from launching further attacks on Israeli soil.

In a speech from the Oval Office Thursday, US President Joe Biden reiterated his government’s support for Israel’s war against Hamas, casting it as vital to America’s national security. But he cautioned the Israeli government not to be “blinded by rage” and drew a clear distinction between Hamas and the Palestinian people, calling for civilians in Gaza to be protected.

Any Israeli ground incursion will come amid a growing chorus of outrage across the Arab world, where mass anti-Israel protests have broken out earlier in the week and on Friday in support of 2.2 million Palestinians who remain trapped in Gaza.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned the Middle East had entered “a moment of profound crisis… unlike any the region has seen in decades.”

Israeli leaders on Friday ordered the evacuation of some 23,000 residents living near the border with Lebanon, amid sustained crossfire with the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah. IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN that the IDF had bolstered its forces along the northern border and was prepared for a “broader conflict.”

Around 200 trucks carrying vital aid destined for Gaza remain stuck in Egypt, despite a frantic diplomatic effort to open the Rafah crossing. Negotiations continued through Thursday as workers filled dangerous road craters from Israeli bombing to allow up to 20 trucks to pass in an initial delivery.

Video released Friday by the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights showed “repair work and paving the road between the Egyptian and Palestinian sides” at the Rafah crossing. Egyptian authorities worked to remove cement blocks at the entrance to the crossing in preparation for its opening, several drivers at the crossing told CNN.

But the possible initial passage of 20 trucks would be far lower than usual. “We need to build up to the 100 trucks a day that used to be the case of the aid program going into Gaza,” UN relief chief Martin Griffiths said in an interview with CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

“We need to be able to have the assurance that we can go in at scale everyday – deliberately, repetitively and reliably,” Griffiths said.

Guterres traveled to the Rafah crossing on Friday as part of the UN’s efforts to help aid reach Gaza.

“Behind these walls, we have two million people that are suffering enormously. So, these trucks are not just trucks, they are a lifeline. They are the difference between life and death,” Guterres said at a press conference held on the Egyptian side of the border.

A CNN team on the ground attended the press conference and witnessed a protest by several hundred demonstrators break out after Guterres finished his speech. Guterres was then forced to leave the Rafah gate earlier than planned as the protest began to get out of control.

As well as the trucks, a plane carrying World Health Organization supplies for Gaza landed in Egypt’s Al Arish airport Friday morning, the WHO regional office wrote on X. It said the package included “surgical supplies and instruments for 1000 medical operations, water tanks and tents.”

But how much difference the initial deliveries will be able to make for the more than 2 million people living in Gaza is unclear. A group of UN independent experts accused Israel of committing “crimes against humanity” in its current campaign.

“The complete siege of Gaza coupled with unfeasible evacuation orders and forcible population transfers, is a violation of international humanitarian and criminal law. It is also unspeakably cruel,” the UN Human Rights Office said Thursday in a press release.

Doctors Without Borders said Thursday Gaza’s main medical facility, the Al-Shifa Hospital, only had enough fuel to last 24 hours.

“Without electricity many patients will die,” said Guillemette Thomas, the group’s medical coordinator for Palestine, based in Jerusalem. Thousands of Palestinians are using Al-Shifa hospital as a safe haven from constant bombing, he added.

Many supermarkets have no more food to sell, and everyday tasks have become grueling for residents who queue for hours for food and water under the roar of airstrikes.

“There is no life now… It’s just trying to survive. That’s it,” a Palestinian man living in Gaza, who wished to remain anonymous, told CNN.

The population of southern Gaza has swelled in recent days after the Israeli military told around 1 million residents to leave northern Gaza ahead of the expected Israeli ground incursion.

A Palestinian boy carrying water walks past a destroyed house in Rafah, October 18, 2023.

Israel’s sustained assault on Gaza follows Hamas’ murderous rampage on October 7 that killed an estimated 1,400 people in Israel, mostly civilians, in what has been described as the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

In the days since, Israeli airstrikes have killed more than 4,100 people in Gaza, including hundreds of women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas.

The violence has spread beyond Gaza: The ministry said at least 81 people had been killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7. Israel also arrested more than 60 suspected Hamas operatives in the West Bank early Thursday.

Among those detained during raids was Hamas spokesperson Hassan Yousef, Israeli authorities confirmed Friday. Yousef is a leading Palestinian political figure serving as the official Hamas spokesperson in the West Bank and holding a seat on the Palestinian Legislative Council.

Meanwhile, Israel appears set to launch its ground offensive into Gaza. Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant told troops gathered not far from the Gaza Strip on Thursday that they will “soon see” the enclave “from the inside.”

Early Friday morning, CNN’s Nic Robertson witnessed increased military activity along Israel’s border with Gaza. Several illumination flares were seen floating down in the distance while red tracer rounds were accompanied by the sound of heavy machine gun fire. CNN could not verify what the night-time military activity was.

A bakery prepares rations of bread to pass out to internally displaced Palestinians in the southern Gaza Strip on October 17, 2023.

Any Israeli incursion will further inflame the outrage that has spread across much of the Arab world. Huge protests broke out in several Middle Eastern countries this week after an explosion at the Al-Ahli hospital in southern Gaza, which Hamas officials said was caused by an Israeli airstrike that had killed 500 people.

Thousands of protesters shouting anti-Israel slogans gathered in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Tunisia. Several Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Iraq issued statements condemning Israel and accusing its military of bombing the hospital.

But Israel has since presented evidence that it said shows the blast was caused by a misfire by militant group Islamic Jihad. US President Joe Biden backed Israel’s explanation, citing US intelligence.

“Israel Probably Did Not Bomb Gaza Strip Hospital: We judge that Israel was not responsible for an explosion that killed hundreds of civilians yesterday [17 October] at the Al Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip,” read an unclassified intelligence assessment obtained by CNN. The assessment also estimated the number of deaths was at the “low end of the 100-to-300 spectrum.”

But the subsequent revelations have done little to quell the rage across the Middle East.

“Everybody here believes that Israel is responsible for it,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told CNN Wednesday. “The Israeli army is saying it’s not but… try and find anybody who’s going to believe it in this part of the world.”

Fresh protests began Friday, with thousands taking to the streets in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and the West Bank after Islamic Friday prayers.

People inspect an area around the Greek Orthodox Church after an Israeli strike in Gaza City, on October 20.

The protests began in the wake of a separate explosion at Gaza’s oldest church. St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church in central Gaza City said its compound was hit by an Israeli airstrike Thursday night.

Video from the ground in Gaza City showed the damage at the site of the church and its surrounding area. The main impact of the strike heavily damaged a building next to the church compound. One church building was partially collapsed by the airstrike, according to CNN’s analysis of the video.

The footage from the ground also shows people working to search through rubble for any bodies. At one point, a group can be seen dragging a body wrapped in a blanket out of the rubble and through a small crowd, as many pull out their cameras and phones to record the moment. Other people can be seen grieving and crying.

Earlier Friday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said that 17 people were killed in the Israeli strike on the church on Thursday night. CNN cannot independently confirm the number of casualties. A Hamas statement about the incident mentioned “a number of casualties” but did say how many.

The IDF has said it will have more information on the strike, but it did not respond to CNN questions on when that information would be available. The IDF on Friday acknowledged that “a wall of a church in the area was damaged” as a result of an IDF strike.

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October 20, 2023

11 killed after Mexico church roof collapses | CNN

CNN
—

At least 11 people were killed and two people seriously injured on Sunday after the roof of a church in northern Mexico collapsed, officials said.

Preliminary reports indicate that about 100 people were inside the building in Ciudad Madero at the time of the incident, according to a statement from security services in the state of Tamaulipas. Thirty people were believed to be buried in the rubble, Reuters reported.

At least 60 people were injured, with two people sustaining serious injuries, Tamaulipas security spokesperson said.

Units from the National Guard, State Guard, Civil Protection and the Red Cross were assisting in the rescue operation.

Bishop Jose Armando Alvarez, from the diocese of Tampico, said the roof of the church collapsed while worshipers were taking communion, Reuters reported. He urged other members of the community to pray for survivors.

“In this moment the necessary work is being carried out to pull out the people who are still under the rubble,” Bishop Armando said in a recorded message shared on social media, according to Reuters.

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October 2, 2023

Chinese tensions loom large over Biden’s summit with Asian allies | CNN Politics

CNN
—

The Camp David invitation President Joe Biden extended to his Japanese and South Korean counterparts this week – the first summit held at the legendary presidential retreat since 2015 – was a significant show of camaraderie for two increasingly essential US allies.

Undergirding the talks is the three nations’ mutual concern over China, whose leader Xi Jinping Biden has sought to cultivate, despite a hardening view of the leader as an autocrat and adversary.

“This is a guy who I think I understand,” Biden told Democratic donors last week in Utah after describing Xi’s China as a “ticking time bomb.”

“We’re not looking for a fight with China,” he went on. “But we’re looking for a rational relationship to have with China.”

Work toward a “rational relationship” has been halting, despite Biden’s long ties with Xi. After months of acrimony, administration officials have recently begun visiting Beijing in a bid to reestablish regular communication. Yet tensions persist, and US-China ties remain deeply fraught.

Perhaps no other relationship in the world is quite as consequential than the one between Biden and Xi, who last spoke in person on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Bali last November in the hopes of establishing what US officials called a “floor” in the US-China relationship.

Biden told CNN’s Arlette Saenz on Friday he hopes to follow up on last year’s meeting with Xi “this fall.”

“I expect and hope to follow up on our conversation from Bali this fall – that’s my expectation,” Biden said.

The talks were watched closely in Tokyo and Seoul, where China’s military and economic aggressions are an ever-present reality and a motivator in mending a long-tarnished relationship. At Camp David on Friday, agreements on joint military and technology initiatives will be made against the looming backdrop of Beijing’s growing power.

“China is just fact on the ground, a huge player in Asia. You can’t dismiss it away,” explained a senior administration official. “You’re trying to shape the environment in ways that both advance our interests, secure our partners, and send a clear signal about what kind of actions we think would be provocative.”

As of Thursday evening, discussions were underway about how to describe China in the joint documents that are expected to come out of the summit, Japanese Foreign Ministry press secretary Hikariko Ono told a group of reporters.

It wasn’t so long ago that Xi was invited to his own high-profile summits hosted by an American leader. President Barack Obama hosted him at Sunnylands, the sprawling Palm Springs resort intended by its builder as the “Camp David of the West,” for lengthy talks in 2013. President Donald Trump served him chocolate cake at Mar-a-Lago.

Those types of engagements are difficult to imagine now, particularly amid growing tensions around Taiwan, a battle over emerging technology, human rights concerns and a leader Biden has deemed a “dictator.”

Even though Biden often recounts the hours of meetings he held with Xi as vice president, he has been challenged in new ways by his relationship with Xi as the two men have risen to the leader level.

“When they engaged last time neither of them had power,” the official said. “Xi has an enormous amount of power now. Biden senses that, understands it.”

Biden-Xi meetings are now treated as the “biggest possible gametime” for Biden, the official explained.

“The most intense, the most focus that I’ve ever seen President Biden is in advance of these engagements with President Xi,” the official said. “The President’s level of focus is off the charts. He wants intelligence briefings, he wants to bring his advisers together, he wants to hear different perspectives and he brings outsiders in.”

That preparation demonstrates just how consumed Biden and his entire administration are by what the official called “relentless” competition between the US and China.

Still, Biden’s hugely consequential personal relationship with Xi remains a work in progress.

Some officials say that Biden has struggled to develop the type of personal relationship with Xi that he deeply values in fellow world leaders who share democratic values. When Biden met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India at the White House in June, they bonded over shared frustrations with Xi, according to a second senior administration official.

Biden often speaks to his personal relationship with Xi publicly on the campaign trail, and he has continued to highlight the many hours they have spent together.

“I’ve spent more time with Xi Jinping than any world leader has,” Biden told donors at his fundraiser, recounting the hours they’d spent getting to know each other when each was their country’s number two.

At the same event, Biden offered a warning that reverberated throughout the region. Describing China’s weakening economy as a “ticking time bomb,” Biden said it could prompt China’s leaders to lash out.

“That’s not good because when bad folks have problems, they do bad things,” Biden said.

It was the latest example of Biden offering candid observations donors off-camera. Earlier this summer, Biden himself demonstrated a willingness to characterize Xi in a negative light, calling him a dictator at a fundraiser.

Biden and Xi have spoken by phone several times and met in-person once, and officials said they expect the two men to speak again soon, potentially on the sidelines of an Asian leaders summit Biden is hosting in November in San Francisco.

And the extent to which their personal relationship will impact US-China relations overall has yet to be determined.

“How much does their personal relationship, their experience over you know, decades come into play? And I think the answer to that, honestly, is unknown,” the official said.

When the two leaders met in Bali, Biden drew on his personal experience in speaking with Xi about Taiwan – making commitments while he looked into Xi’s eyes, that appeared to have an impact.

“The President basically said, look, we’re not going to destabilize the status quo. We believe in the maintenance of peace and stability. We’re not going to push for Taiwan independence. And I could tell that had an impact on [Xi],” the first senior administration official said.

While leader-to-leader level engagement remains important in the eyes of US officials, its not the primary factor dictating the Biden administration’s China policy.

A senior State Department official explained it this way: “Biden and Xi do understand each other. That is borne out of years of getting to know one another. But Biden knows they aren’t changing one another’s minds.”

Former US officials closely watched Biden and Xi bond during the Obama administration, but they are not surprised by the tenor of the current relationship.

“The relationship that Biden and Xi had during the Obama administration was an unusual one. The two vice presidents bonded. They had extensive and deep conversions together. It felt like a healthy relationship,” explained Danny Russel, the assistant secretary of state for Asia during the Obama administration. “It is understandable to me that Biden might feel frustrated that the quality of the relationship he has with Xi now has little resemblance to what it used to be. Xi essentially won’t return his phone calls, and has become increasingly hardline, autocratic and ideological.”

Without the leaders’ relationship serving as the launchpad to steady the ship, Biden administration officials continue to put intense efforts into shoring up alliances. While investing in alliances has been central to the Biden administration’s foreign policy approach since day one, it has developed an outsized importance.

The trilateral meeting at Camp David on Friday between Biden, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Friday will put those efforts on display.

“This summit is formalizing and institutionalizing a major strategic shift of the region,” explained a third senior administration official. “China has previously seen an unbridgeable wedge between Japan and South Korea. But now we are stronger because we are bringing them together, doubling down on our alliances.”

In the backdrop to challenging China by drawing in US allies, the Biden administration has maintained a willingness to engage at the working level with Chinese officials. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen and Climate Envoy John Kerry have all visited Beijing in the last two months.

Their visits come as US officials continue to believe that engagement is key in order to prevent competition from veering into conflict. But they are not banking on those engagements resulting in major deliverables.

“It is about getting caught trying,” said a diplomat from the Indo-Pacific who has been briefed on the visits. “The Biden administration has always been clear that talking is best, they will keep showing up, and communication is necessary. But it is really to show the rest of the world that they are not giving up, even though they are not expecting anything major out of the engagements.”

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August 2, 2023

CNN
—

Donald Trump has been indicted on criminal charges by a federal grand jury in a case that strikes at the former president’s efforts to remain in the White House after losing the 2020 election and undermine the long-held American tradition of a peaceful transfer of presidential power.

Trump is scheduled to appear at the Washington, DC, federal courthouse at 4 p.m. ET on Thursday.

As part of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation, Trump was charged with: Conspiracy to defraud the United States; conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding; obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding; and conspiracy against rights.

“(F)or more than two months following election day on November 3, 2020, the defendant spread lies that there had been outcome-determinative fraud in the election and that he had actually won,” the indictment states.

“These claims were false, and the Defendant knew they were false,” it adds, referring to Trump. “But the defendant disseminated them anyway – to make his knowingly false claims appear legitimate, create an intense atmosphere of mistrust and anger, and erode public faith in the administration of the election.”

The plot to overturn the 2020 election shattered presidential norms and culminated in an unthinkable physical assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, as Congress met to certify President Joe Biden’s victory. Even before that, Trump engaged in an unprecedented pressure campaign toward state election workers and lawmakers, Justice Department officials and even his own vice president to persuade them to throw out the 2020 results.

Smith told reporters that he will seek a “speedy trial” and encouraged members of the public to read the indictment.

“The attack in our nation’s capital on January 6 2021, was an unprecedented assault on the seat of American democracy, and as described in the indictment, it was fueled by lies,” Smith said in a brief statement. “Lies by the defendant targeted at obstructing the bedrock function of the US government nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of a presidential election.”

The indictment alleges that Trump and co-conspirators “exploited” the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by continuing efforts to convince members of Congress to delay the certification of the election.

“As violence ensued, the Defendant and co-conspirators exploited the disruption by redoubling efforts to levy false claims of election fraud and convince Members of Congress to further delay the certification based on those claims,” according to the indictment.

The indictment also says that Trump had deceived many rioters to believe then-Vice President Mike Pence could change the election results to make Trump the victor.

Six unindicted co-conspirators were included in the filing.

Among the six are four unnamed attorneys who allegedly aided Trump in his effort to subvert the 2020 election. Also included is one unnamed Justice Department official who “attempted to use the Justice Department to open sham election crime investigations and influence state legislatures with knowingly false claims of election fraud.”

The indictment also mentions an unnamed “political consultant who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”

The first count Trump is facing, conspiracy to defraud the United States, is brought under a statute that can be used to prosecute a broad range of conspiracies involving two or more people to violate US law.

Two other counts relate to obstruction of an official proceeding – brought under provisions included in a federal witness tampering statute that has also been used to prosecute some of the rioters who breached the Capitol.

Those counts carry a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment. The appropriateness of using the law to prosecute the rioters has been litigated in the Capitol breach cases.

Trump also faces a conspiracy against rights charge under a Reconstruction-era civil rights law. The law prohibits two or more people from conspiring to “injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any….the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States.”

It carries a 10 year maximum sentence of imprisonment, unless the conspiracy results in death.

Smith’s move to bring charges will test whether the criminal justice system can be used to hold Trump to account for his post-election conduct after he was acquitted in his impeachment trial related to his actions that day.

The indictment is the second time in two months that Smith has brought charges against Trump. In June, Trump was charged with retention of classified documents and conspiracy with a top aide to hide them from the government and his own attorneys. And separately in March, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg indicted Trump on state charges of falsifying business records.

Trump has pleaded not guilty in both cases – and is likely to do so again when he’s arraigned on the latest charges.

Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.

Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.

Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy.

Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.

Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating from college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.

In 1979, Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center.

Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.

Trump and his family, circa 1986. Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.

Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.

Trump stands in the atrium of Trump Tower.

Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.

Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.

Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.

Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.

An advertisement for the television show

A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.

Trump attends the US Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.

Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.

In 2012, Trump announced his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.

Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.

Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.

In June 2015, during a speech from Trump Tower, <a href=

Trump — flanked by US Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz — speaks during a CNN debate in March 2016. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May of that year.

Members of the Trump family pose for a photo in New York in April 2016. Behind Trump, from left, are daughter Tiffany, daughter-in-law Vanessa, granddaughter Kai Madison, son Donald Jr., son-in-law Jared Kushner, daughter Ivanka, wife Melania, son Eric and daughter-in-law Lara.

Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, in April 2016. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.

Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July 2016, accepting the party's nomination for president.

Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in <a href=

Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October 2016, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made more than a decade ago regarding women.

Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner in November 2016.

Two days after winning the election, Trump meets with President Barack Obama at the White House. Three days after mocking Trump as unfit to control the codes needed to launch nuclear weapons, Obama told his successor that he wanted him to succeed and would do everything he could to ensure a smooth transition.

Trump arrives for his inauguration ceremony in January 2017.

Trump is joined by his wife and his five children as he takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts. Melania is holding a family Bible and a Bible that belonged to former President Abraham Lincoln. Next to Melania, from left, are Trump's children Barron, Donald Jr., Ivanka, Tiffany and Eric.

The new president kisses the first lady as they dance at one of <a href=

Trump shakes hands with FBI Director James Comey during a White House reception in January 2017. <a href=

Trump, in front of a portrait of his 2016 opponent Hillary Clinton, <a href=

Trump watches as Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, right, administers the judicial oath to Neil Gorsuch during <a href=

Trump points at Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador to the United States, while hosting Kislyak and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, at the White House in May 2017. <a href=

From right, President Trump, first lady Melania Trump, Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi attend an inauguration ceremony for the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology. The facility is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. <a href=

Trump touches the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, while in Jerusalem in May 2017. Trump became <a href=

Pope Francis stands with Trump and his family during <a href=

Trump talks with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer during a meeting in the White House Oval Office in September 2017. The end result of that meeting was Trump <a href=

Trump, accompanied by the first lady, puts on a bomber jacket that he received from US forces in Tokyo in November 2017. Trump was on <a href=

Trump holds his notes while hosting a <a href=

Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron walk to the Oval Office before a meeting at the White House in April 2018. Speaking before US lawmakers from both the Senate and the House,<a href=

In this photo provided by the German Government Press Office, German Chancellor Angela Merkel talks with a seated Trump as they are surrounded by other leaders at the G7 summit in Charlevoix, Quebec, in June 2018. According to two senior diplomatic sources, <a href=

Trump sits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during <a href=

Trump announced in July 2018 that Brett Kavanaugh, foreground, was his choice to replace Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy, who retired at the end of the month. Kavanaugh, who once clerked for Kennedy, <a href=

Trump and Britain's Queen Elizabeth II inspect a guard of honor during <a href=

Trump shakes hands with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of <a href=

Rapper Kanye West stands up during his Oval Office meeting with Trump in October 2018. West and football legend Jim Brown <a href=

A White House staff member reaches for the microphone held by CNN's Jim Acosta as he questions Trump during a news conference in November 2018. Later that day, in a stunning break with protocol, the White House said that it was <a href=

Donald and Melania Trump join former US presidents and their wives at <a href=

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence meet with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer at the White House in December 2018. In the meeting, part of which was open to the press, <a href=

Pelosi and Pence clap during Trump's State of the Union address in February 2019. Because of the record-long government shutdown, <a href=

Trump boards Air Force One in Kenner, Louisiana, in May 2019.

Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the two <a href=

Crowds gather around the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool to watch Trump speak in July 2019. <a href=

Trump officially launched his re-election campaign with a rally in Orlando in June 2019.

Trump speaks to the media on the South Lawn of the White House in June 2019.

Trump shares a laugh with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson during a working breakfast at the G-7 summit in Biarritz, France, in August 2019.

Melania Trump greets Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau with a kiss on the cheek prior to a group photo at the G-7 summit in August 2019. <a href=

In September 2019, Trump shows an <a href=

Money sticks out of Trump's back pocket as he boards Air Force One in Mountain View, California, in September 2019.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg watches Trump as he enters the United Nations to speak with reporters in September 2019. Thunberg, 16, <a href=

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meets with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in September 2019. A day earlier, the White House <a href=

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi points at Trump during <a href=

Trump and the first lady watch as a US Army carry team moves a transfer case containing the remains of Chief Warrant Officer 2 David C. Knadle in November 2019. Knadle, 33, was killed in a helicopter crash while serving in Afghanistan.

Trump holds his notes while speaking to the media in November 2019. Trump repeatedly said he told Gordon Sondland, the US ambassador to the European Union, that he wanted

The Trumps greet Britain's Queen Elizabeth II during a NATO reception held at Buckingham Palace in December 2019.

Faith leaders pray with Trump in Miami during a rally for evangelical supporters in January 2020.

Trump meets with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, in the White House Oval Office in January 2020. At right is Vice President Mike Pence and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump holds up a newspaper at the National Prayer Breakfast in February 2020. It was a day after he was acquitted in his impeachment trial.

Trump arrives to speak at a campaign rally in Phoenix in February 2020.

Trump holds a news conference about the coronavirus outbreak in February 2020. He defended the White House's response to the outbreak, stressing the administration's ongoing efforts and resources devoted to combating the virus.

Trump looks at a coronavirus model while touring the National Institutes of Health in March 2020.

Instead of a handshake, Trump and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar greet each other with a bow as Varadkar visited the White House in March 2020. Because of the coronavirus outbreak, the White House canceled a St. Patrick's Day reception that Varadkar was slated to attend.

Trump introduces Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, after Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic to be a national emergency in March 2020.

A close-up of Trump's notes shows where the word

Trump ripped into NBC News' Peter Alexander, seated, during a White House coronavirus briefing in March 2020. Alexander had asked Trump whether he was giving Americans

Trump hands a pen to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell during a bill-signing ceremony for the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act in March 2020.

Trump leaves the White House Rose Garden following a coronavirus briefing in April 2020. During the briefing, Trump threatened to leave after Playboy correspondent and CNN analyst Brian Karem attempted to ask a question about social distancing.

Trump wears a face mask while visiting a Ford plant in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in May 2020. But it was during a part of the tour where reporters were not allowed.

Trump tours the Ypsilanti Ford plant, which was making ventilators and personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci looks down as Trump speaks in the White House Rose Garden in May 2020. Trump was unveiling <a href=

Trump holds a Bible outside St. John's Episcopal Church during a <a href=

Trump walks on the South Lawn of the White House <a href=

Trump arrives at Mount Rushmore for his <a href=

Trump wears a face mask in July 2020 as <a href=

Trump plays catch with former New York Yankees pitcher Mariano Rivera as he greets youth baseball players on the South Lawn of the White House in July 2020.

Supporters look on as Trump delivers remarks at a rally in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in August 2020.

Trump is accompanied by the first lady as he arrives for <a href=

Lightning flashes as Trump exits Air Force One in August 2020. He was returning from a campaign rally in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

Trump and the first lady pay respects to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September 2020. <a href=

Judge Amy Coney Barrett reacts as Trump <a href=

Trump speaks to the White House press corps after <a href=

Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden take part in <a href=

Trump walks from Marine One after returning to the White House in October 2020. On October 2, the president tweeted that he and his wife <a href=

Secret Service agents stand on the South Lawn of the White House as the president is flown to Walter Reed Medical Center on October 2, 2020. He stayed at the hospital for three nights, receiving medical treatment after <a href=

Trump briefly left the hospital to wave to his supporters from the back of an SUV. A Secret Service agent is seen in the front seat wearing a full medical gown, a respirator mask and a face shield.

Trump, in his first public event since he was diagnosed with Covid-19, gives a <a href=

Trump tosses face masks to the crowd as he takes the stage for a campaign rally in Sanford, Florida, on October 12, 2020.

Trump speaks to NBC News' Savannah Guthrie at his town-hall event in Miami in October 2020. Trump and Biden held <a href=

Trump walks with first lady Melania Trump after a day of campaign rallies in Michigan, Wisconsin and Nebraska in October 2020.

Trump speaks at the White House after Election Day came and went without a winner. Trump attacked legitimate vote-counting efforts in <a href=

Trump plays golf in Sterling, Virginia, in November 2020. He was at the course when Joe Biden was projected as the winner of the presidential election.

Trump, days after losing the presidential election, <a href=

Trump arrives to speak to supporters at a rally in Washington, DC, in January 2021. His speech included calls for his vice president to step outside his constitutional bounds and overturn the results of the election. A short time later, Trump supporters <a href=

Trump talks to the media at the White House one day before <a href=

Trump waves goodbye as he boards Marine One for the last time in January 2021.

Trump gives a farewell speech at Joint Base Andrews before heading to Florida and skipping <a href=

Trump acknowledges his children and other family members on the tarmac of Joint Base Andrews.

Trump acknowledges his supporters after landing in West Palm Beach, Florida, on his last day in office.

Trump prepares to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando in February 2021. He was making <a href=

Trump points while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February 2022.

Trump is seen in the reflection of a camera lens as he appears at the National Rifle Association's annual convention in May 2022. Trump — and other GOP leaders who spoke at the event in Houston — <a href=

Trump is seen with former first lady Melania Trump and several other family members as they attend <a href=

Trump gestures as he departs Trump Tower in New York in August 2022. He was on his way to the New York attorney general's office, where <a href=

Trump holds a rally in Youngstown, Ohio, in September 2022. The former president used his endorsement to help US Senate candidates emerge from crowded Republican fields.

Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, on Tuesday, November 15. He announced that he will <a href=

Trump delivers remarks at a fire station in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023. Trump has criticized the Biden administration's handling of the train derailment disaster in East Palestine.

Trump sits with his defense team at his arraignment in New York in April 2023. The former president <a href=

Trump speaks at a Georgia Republican Party convention in Columbus on Saturday, June 10. This was Trump's first campaign stop since his <a href=

In pictures: Former President Donald Trump

The new special counsel indictment comes as Trump remains the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The first two indictments have done little to impact his standing in the race.

Trump’s March indictment marked the first time in US history that a former president had faced criminal charges. Now there are three separate, concurrent cases where the president is facing felony allegations, which are all going to play out as Trump seeks to return to the White House in 2024 following his loss to Biden in 2020.

The so-called fake electors plot was an unprecedented attempt to subvert the Electoral College process by replacing electors that Biden had rightfully won with illegitimate GOP electors.

Trump supporters in seven key states met on December 14, 2020, and signed fake certificates, falsely proclaiming that Trump actually won their state and they were the rightful electors. They submitted these fake certificates to Congress and to the National Archives, in anticipation that their false claims would be embraced during the Electoral College certification on January 6.

At the time, their actions were largely dismissed as an elaborate political cosplay. But it eventually became clear that this was part of an orchestrated plan.

“Under the plan, the submission of these fraudulent slates would create a fake controversy at the certification proceeding and position the Vice President-presiding on January 6 as President of the Senate to supplant legitimate electors with the Defendant’s fake electors and certify the Defendant as president,” the indictment states.

Senior Trump campaign officials orchestrated the fake electors plot and directly oversaw the state-by-state mechanics – linking Trump’s campaign apparatus to what originally looked like a hapless political stunt by local Trump supporters.

Federal investigators have subpoenaed the fake electors across the country, sent FBI agents to interview witnesses about their conduct, and recently granted immunity to two fake electors from Nevada to secure their grand jury testimony.

In Michigan, the state’s attorney general charged the 16 fake electors who signed certificates falsely claiming Trump won Michigan in the 2020 election with multiple felonies. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is also expected to ask a grand jury this month to bring charges related to efforts in Georgia to subvert the election results.

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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Inside efforts to avert environmental ‘catastrophe’ in the Red Sea | CNN

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.

CNN
—

Moored five miles off the coast of Yemen for more than 30 years, a decaying supertanker carrying a million barrels of oil is finally being offloaded by a United Nations-led mission, hoping to avert what threatened to be one of the world’s worst ecological disasters in decades.

Experts are now delicately handling the 47-year-old vessel – called the FSO Safer – working to remove the crude without the tanker falling apart, the oil exploding, or a massive spill taking place.

Sitting atop The Endeavor, the salvage UN ship supervising the offloading, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Yemen David Gressly said that the operation is estimated to cost $141 million, and is using the expertise of SMIT, the dredging and offshore contractor that helped dislodge the Ever Given ship that blocked the Suez Canal for almost a week in 2021.

How to remove one million barrels of oil from a tanker

Twenty-three UN member states are funding the mission, with another $16 million coming from the private sector contributors. Donors include Yemen’s largest private company, HSA Group, which pledged $1.2 million in August 2022. The UN also engaged in a unique crowdfunding effort, contributing to the pool which took a year to raise, according to Gressly.

The team is pumping between 4,000 and 5,000 barrels of oil every hour, and has so far transferred more than 120,000 barrels to the replacement vessel carrying the offloaded oil, Gressly said. The full transfer is expected to take 19 days.

The tanker was carrying a million barrels of oil. That would be enough to power up to 83,333 cars or 50,000 US homes for an entire year. The crude on board is worth around $80 million, and who gets that remains a controversial matter.

Here’s what we know so far:

The ship has been abandoned in the Red Sea since 2015 and the UN has regularly warned that the “ticking time bomb” could break apart given its age and condition, or the oil it holds could explode due to the highly flammable compounds in it.

The FSO Safer held four times the amount of oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez off Alaska in 1989 which resulted in a slick that covered 1,300 miles of coastline. A potential spill from this vessel would be enough to make it the fifth largest oil spill from a tanker in history, a UN website said. The cost of cleanup of such an incident is estimated at $20 billion.

The Red Sea is a vital strategic waterway for global trade. At its southern end lies the Bab el-Mandeb strait, where nearly 9% of total seaborne-traded petroleum passes. And at its north is the Suez Canal that separates Africa from Asia. The majority of petroleum and natural gas exports from the Persian Gulf that transit the Suez Canal pass through the Bab el-Mandeb, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The sea is also a popular diving hotspot that boasts an impressive underwater eco-system. In places its banks are dotted with tourist resorts, and its eastern shore is the site of ambitious Saudi development projects worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

The first step of the mission was to stabilize and secure the vessel to avoid it collapsing, Gressly said. That has already been achieved in the past few weeks.

“There are a number of things that had to be done to secure the oil from exploding,” Gressly told CNN, including pumping out gases in each of the 13 compartments holding the oil. Systems for pumping were rebuilt, and some lighting was repaired.

Booms, which are temporary floating barriers used to contain marine spills, were dispersed around the vessel to capture any potential leaks.

The second step is to transfer the oil onto the replacement vessel, which is now underway.

exp Yemen tanker United Nations cnni world 072611ASEG1_00001402.png

Oil being removed from tanker near Yemen in Red Sea

After The Safer is emptied, it must then be cleaned to ensure no oil residue is left, Gressly said. The team will then attach a giant buoy to the replacement vessel until a decision about what to do with the oil has been made.

“The transfer of the oil to (the replacement vessel) will prevent the worst-case scenario of a catastrophic spill in the Red Sea, but it is not the end of the operation,” Gressly said.

While the hardest part of the operation would then be over, a spill could still occur. And even after the transfer, the tanker will “continue to pose an environmental threat resulting from the sticky oil residue inside the tank, especially since the tanker remains vulnerable to collapse,” the UN said, stressing that to finish the job, an extra $22 million is urgently needed.

A spill would shut the Yemeni ports that its impoverished people rely on for food aid and fuel, impacting 17 million people during an ongoing humanitarian crisis caused by the country’s civil war and a Saudi-led military assault on the country. Oil could bleed all the way to the African coast, damaging fish stocks for 25 years and affect up to 200,000 jobs, according to the UN.

A potential spill would cause “catastrophic” public health ramifications in Yemen and surrounding countries, according to a study by researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine. Yemen, Saudi Arabia and Eritrea would bear the brunt.

Air pollution from a spill of this magnitude would increase the risk of hospitalization for cardiovascular or respiratory disease for those very directly exposed by 530%, according to the study, which said it could cause an array of other health problems, from psychiatric to neurological issues.

“Given the scarcity of water and food in this region, it could be one of the most disastrous oil spills ever known in terms of impacts on human life,” David Rehkopf, a professor at Stanford University and senior author of the study, told CNN.

Up to 10 million people would struggle to obtain clean water, and 8 million would have their access to food supplies threatened. The Red Sea fisheries in Yemen could be “almost completely wiped out,” Rehkopf added.

The tanker has been an issue for many people in Yemen over the past few years, Gressly said. Sentiment on social media surrounding the removal of oil is very positive, as many in Yemen feel like the tanker is a “threat that’s been over their heads,” he said.

The tanker issue remains a point of dispute between the Houthi rebels that control the north of Yemen and the internationally recognized government, the two main warring sides in the country’s civil conflict.

While the war, which saw hundreds of thousands of people killed or injured, and Yemen left in ruins, has eased of late, it is far from resolved.

Ahmed Nagi, a senior analyst for Yemen at the International Crisis Group think tank in Brussels, sees the Safer tanker issue as “an embodiment of the conflict in Yemen as a whole.”

“The government sees the Houthi militias as an illegitimate group controlling the tanker, and the Houthis do not recognize (the government),” Nagi told CNN.

The vessel was abandoned after the outbreak of the Yemeni civil war in 2015. The majority of the oil is owned by Yemeni state firm SEPOC, experts say, and there are some reports that it may be sold.

“From a technical point of view, the owner of the tanker and the oil inside it is SEPOC,” Nagi said, adding that other energy companies working in Yemen may also share ownership of the oil.

exp un yemen oil spill tanker achim steiner vause intv FST 071912ASEG2 cnni world_00003204.png

U.N. begins high-risk operation to prevent catastrophic oil spill from Yemen tanker

The main issue, Nagi added, is that the Safer’s headquarters are in the government-controlled Marib city, while the tanker is in an area controlled by the Houthis. The Safer is moored off the coast of the western Hodeidah province.

Discussions to determine the ownership of the oil are underway, Gressly said. The rights to the oil are unclear and there are legal issues that need to be addressed.

The UN coordinator hopes that the days needed to offload the oil will buy some time for “political and legal discussions that need to take place before the oil can be sold.”

While the UN may manage to resolve half of the issue, Nagi said, there still needs to be an understanding of the oil’s status.

“It still poses a danger if we keep it near a conflict zone,” he said.

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July 28, 2023

Overnight Russian strikes on Odesa cause significant structural damage, destroy church | CNN

CNN
—

Russian strikes on Odesa overnight damaged at least at least six residential buildings, a Ukrainian Orthodox Church and “architectural monuments,” according to Ukraine’s southern Operational Command.

“Dozens of cars were damaged, facades and roofs of many buildings in the city were damaged and windows were blown out,” it said in a statement on Telegram.

“Several craters have been formed in the city. There are power outages, which may hamper traffic and the route of public transport may be changed.”

The strikes on Saturday night killed at least one person, the statement said, and left at least 19 hurt.

“Another 19 people including four children were injured. Eleven adults and three children were hospitalized while the rest are being treated on an outpatient basis,” the statement said.

Ukraine has been struggling in the past week to repel a wave of Russian strikes against Odesa – its air defenses unable to cope with the types of missiles that Moscow has used to pummel the region.

By Friday residents endured at least four nights of bombardment.

A CNN team on the ground began hearing explosions on Thursday, with near continuous strikes lasting at least 90 minutes – followed by air raid sirens on Friday as Russian troops fired more missiles from the Black Sea.

In a statement on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned Moscow’s latest strikes on Odesa.

“Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral… There can be no excuse for Russian evil,” Zelensky said. “As always, this evil will lose and there will definitely be a retaliation to Russian terrorists for Odesa. They will feel this retaliation,” he said, adding that those injured were being provided with medical assistance.

“I am grateful to everyone who is helping people and to everyone who is with Odesa in their thoughts and emotions. We will get through this. We will restore peace. And for this, we must defeat the Russian evil.”

His words come as local military commanders reported at least two deaths following Russian overnight strikes in the Kharkhiv region, among them a 57-year-old woman and 45-year-old man killed in the Dvorichna district by shelling.

“Over the past day, the enemy has been massively shelling settlements in Kharkiv, Chuhuiv, Kupyansk and Izium districts with artillery, mortars and aircraft,” Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration, said on Telegram.

Civilian industry buildings including at least three houses and outbuildings were also damaged as a result of the attacks on Kupyansk with rocket launchers, cannon artillery and mortars.

“Our defenders are holding their positions in the Kupyansk sector. The enemy has made no progress,” Syniehubov said.

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July 22, 2023

Southern Baptist Convention votes to uphold removal of Saddleback Church over women pastors after appeal by Rick Warren | CNN

CNN
—

The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention voted to affirm a decision made earlier this year to remove Saddleback Church, a major southern California congregation founded by the pastor and author Rick Warren, due to its having women pastors.

Representatives at the conference in New Orleans overwhelmingly supported the decision to expel the church, according to the vote count reported Wednesday morning, despite pleas a day earlier by Warren, the author of “The Purpose Driven Life.” The representatives, known as messengers, also voted to affirm the ousters of two other churches, including Fern Creek in Louisville, Kentucky, which has had a female pastor since 1993.

The vote to uphold those removals came just a few hours before a two-thirds majority of the Southern Baptist Convention – the largest Protestant denomination in the United States – separately voted to approve an amendment to its constitution that would more broadly prohibit churches from having women hold any pastoral title.

The amendment must pass by a two-thirds vote two years in a row, with Wednesday’s vote marking its first.

The Baptist Press, which describes itself as the SBC’s official news service, reported Saddleback was found “not to be in friendly cooperation” with the SBC’s “statement of faith,” which says in part that “the office of pastor is limited to men.”

Warren was among those who asked the SBC to reverse the February decision on Tuesday. He appealed to the representatives to “act like Southern Baptists who have historically ‘agreed to disagree’ on dozens of doctrines in order to share a common mission,” per the Times, which reported Warren appointed a husband and wife to succeed him after his retirement in 2021. Three more women were ordained as pastors at Saddleback that year, according to Baptist Press.

Voters were unconvinced: Per the Baptist Press, 9,437 votes were cast in favor of upholding the decision, compared to 1,212 against. Fern Creek Baptist’s appeal was similarly rejected, with 9,700 voting in favor of upholding the decision and 806 voting against.

CNN has reached out to the SBC, Saddleback Church and Fern Creek Baptist for comment.

The ousting of a third church, Freedom Church in Vero Beach, Florida, was also upheld. That church was expelled for a separate reason unrelated to the question of female pastors.

Churches not found in friendly cooperation effectively lose their affiliation with the wider convention, though they could still operate congregations.

The fight at one of the nation’s most important evangelical bellwethers is playing out against the backdrop of broader political and cultural battles over the rights of women and LGBTQ people.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade, an energized, conservative faction within the GOP has pushed for strict abortion restrictions and limits on gender-affirming care for transgender people in statehouses across the country. That push has also triggered a backlash among the broader electorate, with Democrats notching victories in competitive 2022 midterm races and 2023 elections where those cultural clashes have taken center stage.

Andy Wood, who currently pastors Saddleback Church, pushed back after the SBC’s decision to remove the church in a video in March, noting that all the church’s elders were men but that they could “empower women and mobilize women to use their spiritual gifts in the local church.”

“This is a historic moment,” Wood said. “The church at large, the global church is looking for good Bible believing examples of empowering women for ministry. So Saddleback, we want to lead the way in that conversation.”

“If we can be a part of mobilizing and empowering a whole generation of women, we would love nothing more than to lean into that conversation and empower women for ministry.”

The proposed amendment taken up Wednesday would add a qualification to Article III of the SBC Constitution, saying churches will be considered in friendly cooperation only if they do “not affirm, appoint, or employ a woman as a pastor of any kind.”

Mike Law, the pastor of Arlington Baptist Church in Arlington, Virginia, has identified himself as the person who introduced the amendment. In a video, he explained the goal was to “encourage Southern Baptists to keep in step with the spirit and the scriptures on the subject of the Pastoral office.

“The Baptist faith and message announces our belief that the office of Pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture, and this amendment would clarify that our cooperation as churches is in accord with this particular belief.”

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June 14, 2023

Karakorum: Mongolia’s ancient capital is a cultural delight | CNN

Editor’s Note: This CNN Travel series is, or was, sponsored by the country it highlights. CNN retains full editorial control over subject matter, reporting and frequency of the articles and videos within the sponsorship, in compliance with our policy.

Karakorum, Mongolia
CNN
—

Karakorum is known by many names and even more reputations. Once the home of the world’s most famous Khan, this ancient city quickly became one of the Silk Road’s most important – and progressive – convergence points.

Located in Mongolia’s Övörkhangai province, Karakorum and its surrounding landscapes are among the best places to visit in Mongolia today.

Located just 350 kilometers from Ulaanbaatar, the country’s modern-day capital city, the road to Karakorum is an essential drive on any Mongolia travel itinerary not only for its beauty, but for its history.

It’s this same East meets West route that was once traveled by Turks, Chinese, Uighurs, Sogdians, Hungarians, Greeks, Armenians, Alans and Georgians. By diplomats, traders, artisans and merchants all looking to trade silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool and precious metals, as well as ideas.

Because of this, Karakorum quickly became a place where cultures would intertwine and learn to live in harmony with one another. Despite many of the connotations about Genghis Khan and his empire many of us hold today, Karakorum was a city built on understanding and acceptance.

It was a place where different religious practices were accepted, with at least 12 different pagan temples, two mosques, a church and at least one Buddhist temple located inside the city’s walls.

The city’s glory was, however, short lived. Kublai Khan eventually moved the empire’s capital to Beijing only 50 years after development first began. With harsh temperatures and a vulnerability to attacks, the city’s inhabitants didn’t stay around for long after that, and Karakorum quickly turned into a pile of rubble.

The Karakorum we see today may be nothing like it was in the days of the Great Khan, but with a recent vow from the president of Mongolia to revitalize this culturally significant city in the coming years, there’s a brighter future on the horizon.

Until then, there are still plenty of reasons to visit.

As a country with a nomadic culture Mongolia doesn’t have many traces of its past still standing. Even today, much of the Mongol’s history as one of the largest and most powerful empires in the world is a mystery still being pieced together.

Besides “The Secret History of the Mongols,” not many written accounts from the Mongolian Empire, as told by Mongols, remain. Archeological sites around Karakorum are still filling in many blanks.

Excavations in and around Karakorum have discovered paved roads, remains of brick and adobe buildings, floor-heating systems, bed stoves, evidence of the processing of copper, gold, silver, iron, glass, jewels, bones and birch bark, as well as coins from China and Central Asia, ceramics and four kilns.

Many of these discoveries, and the stories around them, can be found in the Karakorum Museum, a sleek and modern attraction in the heart of the city.

None of the artifacts and exhibitions, however, are as enthralling as the tale of the Silver Tree – a once ornate fountain that was the centerpiece of the Mongol capital.

According to the legend, the tree was adorned with silver fruit and flowing with various alcoholic drinks, including wine, fermented mare’s milk (airag), rice wine and honey mead, all for the grandsons of Genghis Khan and his invited guests.

The Silver Tree hasn’t been discovered and was most likely dismantled during one of the city’s raids, but the tale of it is enough to fill our own cups just like it once did those of the Mongol royals.

The Erdene Zuu Monatary is one of Mongolia's most sacred spaces.

Back in 1585 when Karakorum was abandoned and falling into ruin, the city’s salvation came in the form of a Buddhist monastery commissioned by the then Khalkha-Mongolian prince.

It was the prince’s meeting with the third Dalai Lama, and his declaration of Tibetan Buddhism as the state religion of Mongolia, that would make Erdene Zuu Monastery the first Buddhist monastery in Mongolia.

During the Soviet purges of the 1930s, Stalin himself saved a few of the main temples from being destroyed, calling them symbols of religious freedom. The monastery complex was eventually converted into a museum.

After the fall of the Soviet Union, the monastery again became active, but nothing like its former days. At its peak, the monastery was home to more than 100 temples, around 300 yurts, and 1,000 monks in residence.

Today, Erdene Zuu Monastery is one of Mongolia’s most sacred Buddhist temples, with Buddhist-practicing Mongols vowing to visit the complex at least once in their lives.

The Laviran Temple at the back of the complex is where monks can be found chanting, practicing musical instruments and providing sacred readings daily.

The Erdenesiin Khuree Mongolian Calligraphy Center recently expanded and now offers more workshops and exhbitions.

Another Karakorum highlight is the Erdenesiin Khuree Mongolian Calligraphy Center – among the best reasons to visit Mongolia, especially this summer.

With a recent expansion and the ability to offer a wider array of workshops and exhibitions that go beyond Mongolian calligraphy, the center focuses on promoting all aspects of Mongolian heritage.

Concerts featuring traditional Mongolian music as well as masterclasses on khoomei, or traditional Mongolian throat singing, will be held throughout the summer.

In September, the center plans to open a ceramic workshop.

The new Silver Tree Guest House offers a variety of sleeping options including traditional yurts.

While Karakorum is often considered a stop along the route to somewhere else, this culturally rich city deserves closer attention. Visitors should plan to spend at least two days exploring this ancient area, booking at least one night at one of these hotels, guesthouses or tourist ger (yurt) camps.

The modern and clean Ikh Khorum Hotel and Restaurant stands out as one of the city’s most elegant choices. The hotel features 27 rooms, a sauna, restaurant, bar and lounge. The hotel is within walking distance to Erdene Zuu Monastery, Karakorum Museum, and the Erdenesiin Khuree Calligraphy Center.

While Silver Tree Guest House is still in its opening phases, staying here feels like you’ve been invited into someone’s home. And that’s also because it is. Silver Tree Guest House is a family-run guest house offering yurt stays, rooms with toilets and showers, and a restaurant that can accommodate both meat eaters and vegetable lovers.

It’s also the first building in Mongolia to utilize a biogas heating system and can speak several languages, including English, French, Russian, Polish, and Mongolian.

For the real yurt experience, Anja Camp makes the list as one of the best in Karakorum, offering ecologically healthy and natural meals from their three-season greenhouse as well as having a focus on environmental projects.

The camp and its founders have started initiatives to grow sea buckthorn to stop soil erosion, using the trees to create creams, liqueurs, organic juice, organic oil, and – a Mongolian favorite – sea buckthorn tea. They also have a sister lodge in Elsen Tasarkhai, the Sweet Gobi Geolodge, an hour outside of Karakorum that’s worth checking into if you’re in the area.

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May 15, 2023

King Charles III is crowned in once-in-a-generation ceremony | CNN

Editor’s Note: Sign up for CNN’s Royal News, a weekly dispatch bringing you the inside track on the royal family, what they are up to in public and what’s happening behind palace walls.

London
CNN
—

Britain’s King Charles III has been crowned in a once-in-a-generation royal event that is being witnessed by hundreds of high-profile guests inside Westminster Abbey, as well as tens of thousands of well-wishers who have gathered in central London despite the rain.

The intricate coronation service followed a traditional template that has stayed much the same for more than 1,000 years.

The King took the Coronation Oath and became the first monarch to pray aloud at his coronation. In his prayer he asked to “be a blessing” to people “of every faith and conviction.”

He was anointed with holy oil by the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, the spiritual leader of the Anglican Church who is leading the ceremony. The anointment, considered the most sacred part of the ceremony, took place behind a screen.

The King was presented with the coronation regalia, including the royal Robe and Stole, in what is known as the investiture part of the service.

He was then crowned with the 360-year-old St. Edward’s Crown, the most significant part of the coronation ceremony. After crowning the King, Welby declared: “God Save the King.”

Wearing the crown, the King was seated on the throne, after which the Archbishop of Canterbury invited the British public, as well as those from “other Realms,” for the first time, to recite a pledge of allegiance to the new monarch and his “heirs and successors.”

Ahead of the event, some parts of the British media and public interpreted the invitation as a command, reporting that people had been “asked” and “called” to swear allegiance to the King. In the face of such criticism, the Church of England revised the text of the liturgy so that members of the public would be given a choice between saying simply “God save King Charles” or reciting the full pledge of allegiance.

Once the King was crowned, his wife, Queen Camilla, was crowned in her own, shorter ceremony with Queen Mary’s Crown – marking the first time in recent history that a new crown wasn’t made specifically for this occasion – and presented with the Sceptre and Rod.

While Charles became King on the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II in September last year, the coronation is the formal crowning of the monarch and is a profoundly religious affair, reflecting the fact that aside from being head of state of the United Kingdom and 14 other countries, Charles is also the Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

However, it has been modernized in certain key ways. The archbishop acknowledged the multiple faiths observed in the UK during the ceremony, saying the Church of England “will seek to foster an environment in which people of all faiths may live freely.”

King Charles III during his coronation ceremony in Westminster Abbey, London, on Saturday.

The King and Queen arrived at Westminster Abbey in a splendid coach drawn by six horses, accompanied by the Household Cavalry. They then walked down the long aisle wearing historic robes, flanked by the top officials of the Church of England as well as some of their closest family members.

Despite the splendor of the occasion, it has not been without controversy. Some have objected to millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money being spent on a lavish ceremony at a time when millions of Britons are suffering a severe cost-of-living crisis.

The coronation has also attracted anti-monarchy demonstrations, with a small number of protesters arrested in central London on Saturday morning before the event began.

Some royal fans spent the past few days camping along the 1.3-mile (2km) route from Buckingham Palace, the British monarchy’s official London residence, to Westminster Abbey, the nation’s coronation church since 1066, in order to secure the best vantage point for the procession.

By early Saturday, the London Metropolitan Police Service announced that all viewing areas along the procession route were full and closed off to new arrivals.

The Met said ahead of time that Saturday would be the largest one-day policing operation in decades, with more than 11,500 officers on duty in London. Security around the event came into focus earlier this week when a man was arrested just outside Buckingham Palace after he allegedly threw suspected shotgun cartridges into the palace grounds.

The ceremony was expected to last two hours – about an hour shorter than Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953. It began with the recognition and oath, followed by a reading from the Bible by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and – in a coronation first – gospel music.

The congregation, while including some 2,300 people, is much smaller than it was in 1953 when temporary structures had to be erected within the abbey to accommodate the more than 8,000 people on the guest list.

The doors to the abbey opened just before 8 a.m. local time, with the first guests taking their seats a full three hours before the ceremony began.

Among the first people to arrive were singer Lionel Richie, musician Nick Cave, actresses Emma Thompson, Joanna Lumley and Judi Dench, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, UK Labour Party leader Keir Starmer, and broadcaster Stephen Fry.

Top British officials, faith leaders and international representatives followed in their steps. They all took their seats in the vast church with more than an hour to go – reflecting the huge logistical challenges presented by an event attended by hundreds of VIPs.

All Sunak’s living predecessors as prime minister were there: Liz Truss, Boris Johnson, Theresa May, David Cameron, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and John Major. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, UK opposition leader Keir Starmer and Chancellor of the Exchequer Jeremy Hunt were also in attendance.

First Lady of the United States Jill Biden arrives for the coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London on May 6, 2023.

First Lady of the United States Jill Biden and the US Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry were there, as was the Chinese Vice President Han Zheng.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, French President Emmanuel Macron and numerous other world leaders were also present.

Last to arrive, just before the King and Queen, were the most senior members of King Charles’ family, his siblings and children, including Prince Harry who traveled to the UK from the US without his wife, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and their two young children. Saturday is also Prince Archie’s 4th birthday.

Music is playing a central part in the ceremony, and five new compositions have been commissioned for the main part of the service, including an anthem by Lloyd Webber, who is better known for West End musicals.

Charles’ consort Camilla will also be crowned in a shorter, simpler part of the ceremony.

Once done with the formalities, the newly crowned King and Queen will ride back in a much larger parade to Buckingham Palace, where they will be greeted by a royal salute.

The pomp and pageantry will conclude with the customary balcony appearance by the King and his family as they join the crowds below in watching a flypast of more than 60 aircraft.

While undoubtedly a historic occasion, the run-up to the coronation has seen controversy.

Republic, a campaign group that calls for the abolition of the monarchy, said the idea of the “homage of the people” was “offensive, tone deaf and a gesture that holds the people in contempt.”

Some eyebrows were also raised earlier this week when a controversial and widely criticized UK public order bill came into force.

Since the death of Queen Elizabeth II last year, there have been a number of instances of anti-monarchists turning up at royal engagements to voice their grievances against the institution.

The new rules, signed into law by the King on Tuesday, just days before the coronation, empower the police to take stronger action against peaceful protesters.

From Wednesday, long-standing protest tactics such as locking on, where protesters physically attach themselves to things like buildings, could lead to a six-month prison sentence or “unlimited fine,” according to the UK Home Office.

Republic said it had received a letter from the Home Office which set out the new policing powers and asked the campaign group to “forward this letter to your members who are likely to be affected by these legislative changes.” The group added that it would not be deterred by it.

Republic said it was expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 people to join an anti-monarchy protest at Trafalgar Square, just south of the royal procession route. On Saturday morning, Republic said on Twitter that organizers of the protest had been arrested shortly after the demonstration started – including the group’s leader, Graham Smith.

The Metropolitan Police tweeted: “Earlier today we arrested four people in the area of St Martin’s Lane. They were held on suspicion of conspiracy to cause public nuisance.”

A further three people were arrested “on suspicion of possessing articles to cause criminal damage,” the force added. And “a number of arrests” have been made of people suspected of breaching the peace.

Republic had said earlier on Twitter that police “won’t say” why their demonstrators were detained. “So much for the right to peaceful protest,” the group said.

Despite the pomp of Saturday’s events, the King is facing significant challenges. A CNN poll has found that Britons are more likely to say their views of the monarchy have worsened than improved over the past decade.

The results of the survey, conducted for CNN by the polling company Savanta in March, show Charles’ heir Prince William is viewed with greater affection than his father.

Despite their cooler attitude towards the King, most Britons say they plan to take part in at least one event related to the coronation this weekend, the poll found, with many communities planning street parties and lunches.

Artists Katy Perry, Richie and Take That will headline the “Coronation Concert” at Windsor Castle on Sunday evening and people have also been encouraged to use Monday, the final day of the long weekend, to volunteer in their communities.

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May 6, 2023

Tucker Carlson out at Fox News | CNN Business

CNN
—

Fox News and Tucker Carlson, the right-wing extremist who hosted the network’s highly rated 8pm hour, have severed ties, the network said in a stunning announcement Monday.

The announcement came one week after Fox News settled a monster defamation lawsuit with Dominion Voting Systems for $787.5 million over the network’s dissemination of election lies. Fox News said that Carlson’s last show was Friday, April 21.

Carlson was a top promoter of conspiracy theories and radical rhetoric at the network. Not only did he repeatedly sow doubt about the legitimacy of the 2020 election, but he also promoted conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 vaccines and elevated white nationalist talking points.

Jonathan Greenblatt, the head of the Anti-Defamation League, praised Fox News’ decision, saying it is “about time” and that “for far too long, Tucker Carlson has used his primetime show to spew antisemitic, racist, xenophobic and anti-LGBTQ hate to millions.”

Tucker Carlson was a key figure in Dominion Voting Systems’ mammoth defamation lawsuit against Fox News, which the parties settled last week on the brink of trial for a historic $787 million.

In some ways, Carlson played an outsized role in the litigation: Only one of the 20 allegedly defamatory Fox broadcasts mentioned in the lawsuit came from Carlson’s top-rated show. But, as CNN exclusively reported, he was set to be one of Dominion’s first witnesses to testify at trial. And his private text messages, which became public as part of the suit, reverberated nationwide.

Dominion got its hands on Carlson’s group chat with fellow Fox primetime stars Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, and a trove of other messages from around the 2020 presidential election.

These communications revealed that Carlson told confidants that he “passionately” hated former President Donald Trump and that Trump’s tenure in the White House was a “disaster.” He also used misogynistic terms to criticize pro-Trump lawyer Sidney Powell and reject her conspiracies about the 2020 election – even as those wild theories got airtime on Fox News.

The lawsuit exposed how Carlson privately held a wholly different view than his on-air persona. A Dominion spokesperson did not comment on Carlson’s departure from Fox.

Carlson was also one of the biggest promoters of conspiracy theories in right-wing media, sowing doubt about the 2020 presidential election, the January 6 insurrection, and Covid-19 vaccines.

In the two years since the attack on the US Capitol, the Fox primetime host used his huge platform to amplify paper-thin theories that the attack was a false-flag operation orchestrated by the FBI and government agents because they loathed Trump, and that the criminal rioters were themselves the victims.

The baseless theory originated from a right-wing website, and Carlson catapulted it into the mainstream by repeatedly featuring it on his show. He routinely suggested that Capitol rioter and Trump supporter Ray Epps was actually an FBI provocateur who sparked the deadly riot.

In a “60 Minutes” interview that aired Sunday night, Epps had this to say about Carlson’s lies: “He’s obsessed with me. He’s going to any means possible to destroy my life and our lives.”

Carlson’s disinformation campaign about January 6 reached its apex just a few months ago, with an assist from the newly installed House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican.

The top-rated Fox host obtained and aired never-before-seen footage from Capitol security cameras, but the clips were cherry-picked and selectively edited. He said on his program that he ran the tapes by the US Capitol Police before airing the material, but they disputed his claim.

Abby Grossberg, the ex-Fox News producer who has since disavowed the network, claimed in recent lawsuits that there was rampant sexism and misogyny among Tucker Carlson’s show team.

Grossberg, who joined Carlson’s team after the 2020 election, said in her lawsuit that after her first day on the job that “it became apparent how pervasive the misogyny and drive to embarrass and objectify women was among the male staff at TCT,” referring to “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

Fox News is aggressively fighting two lawsuits from Grossberg. A Fox spokesperson previously said the lawsuits were “riddled with false allegations against the network and our employees.”

In a lawsuit filed last month, Grossberg said Carlson “was very capable of using such disgusting language about women in the workplace.” She cited some of Carlson’s private texts, where he used the phrase “c-nt” to refer to Trump lawyer Sidney Powell, a top 2020 election denier.

Her lawsuits also describe seeing sexually suggestive posters that were visible in the workplace, facing “uncomfortable sexual questions” about her former Fox News boss Maria Bartiromo, and witnessing internal debates on which women politicians were “more f–kable.”

In a TV interview, she said the sexual harassment was so bad that she considered suicide.

Carlson’s departure at Fox News comes after the network also severed ties with right-wing bomb thrower Dan Bongino, who had been a regular fixture on the network’s programming, in addition to hosting a weekend show.

“Folks, regretfully, last week was my last show on Fox News on the Fox News Channel,” Bongino said on Rumble, chalking up the exit to a contract dispute.

“So the show ending last week was tough. And I want you to know it’s not some big conspiracy. I promise you. There’s not, there’s no acrimony. This wasn’t some, like, WWE brawl that happened. We just couldn’t come to terms on an extension. And that’s really it.”

Fox News responded in a statement, “We thank Dan for his contributions and wish him success in his future endeavors.”

Shares of Fox Corp.

(FOXA) fell 5% on the news. The stock had been up slightly before the announcement. Carlson did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

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April 24, 2023

Swimming pools vs. wild swimming — a germs expert on which is worse | CNN

Editor’s Note: The views expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer. CNN is showcasing the work of The Conversation, a collaboration between journalists and academics to provide news analysis and commentary. The content is produced solely by The Conversation.

CNN
—

Wild swimming has grown massively in popularity in recent times. Not only is swimming outdoors a pleasant way to enjoy the sunshine, fresh air and green leafy surroundings, it can also help to relieve stress and elevate our endorphins. This creates a sense of wellbeing as well as burning calories and exercising muscles.

But along with the joys of outdoor swimming come some dangers. Not only are wild swimmers more at risk from tides, currents and swells, there can also be nasty bugs and bacteria lurking in the water. And with untreated sewage regularly flowing into seas, rivers and lakes in my home country of the UK, it can be hard to find a safe spot for a paddle.

Of course, swimming in a pool comes with its own set of risks. Urinary tract infections, ear infections and tummy bugs are the most common illnesses caught here. Dirty pools can also cause your eyes to sting and harbor all sorts of bacteria and germs – including urine, faeces and sweat. In many ways, swimming pools are like a big bath filled with lots of strangers.

But while it’s clear that swimming in outdoor waters carries different risks from swimming in a pool, the question of where’s safest to swim may not seem immediately obvious. So where’s cleanest for a dip: swimming pools, or rivers, lakes, canals and the sea? Let’s look at the evidence.

Unlike swimming pools where waters are carefully monitored, outdoor waters are constantly changing in composition. This means that chemicals can leach into wild waters from nearby farms or industrial areas, animals can defecate in water, and in certain areas human sewage may be legally or otherwise dumped into the water (if you can see pipes, do not get in).

There may not be signposts warning of local dangers, and the presence of toxic agents might not be obvious. When in doubt about the chemical safety of outdoor waters, it’s better to not enter them. If the water doesn’t look or smell right, trust your instinct.

There are also natural hazards to outdoor waters compared with pools, especially in the summer. Blue-green algae is a type of bacteria naturally found in lake ecosystems. In warm summers, the algae tends to multiply and form a powdery green scum (known as a bloom) on the surface of the lake. This blue-green algae bloom can release toxins which are harmful to humans and occasionally lethal to pets.

Swimming in or swallowing water containing toxin-releasing algal blooms can lead to skin rashes, eye irritation, severe gastrointestinal upset, fever, and muscle and joint pain.

Diarrhea is the most common illness linked to open-water swimming, often due to sewage contamination. You become ill if you swallow contaminated water, which can contain bacteria and viruses such as E.coli and Norovirus.

Rats living in sewers adjacent to freshwater rivers or canals can also carry in their urine the bacterial pathogen Leptospira, which causes Leptospirosis (Weil’s disease). The infection occurs if soil or water from a lake, river or canal that contains urine from infected animals is swallowed, gets in a swimmer’s eyes or a cut.

Leptospirosis can cause liver and kidney damage, and may be fatal if left untreated. If you develop flu or jaundice symptoms up to two weeks after swimming in a river or canal, it may be a good idea to ask your doctor for a Leptospirosis test.

As for the sea, a 2018 study found that people swimming in seawater were more likely to experience infections of the ear, nose, throat and gastrointestinal system than those who stayed on the beach. So it’s a good idea to wash after swimming in any outdoor waters, and certainly before eating food.

When you add it all up, even with the possibility of people peeing and pooping in the pool, a managed swimming pool will always be a safer environment for a swim. Especially when you consider things like jellyfish stings and the additional risks that come with swimming in cold water.

Compared with a pool, wild swimmers are more likely to become unwell from swimming in outdoor water as there will always be potentially disease-causing microbes present.

Swimming pool water, with adequate chlorine disinfection levels and pH maintenance, is much less likely to contain infectious microorganisms and so represents a much safer environment for recreational swimming. Injuries and drowning are also much less likely in pools where trained lifeguards and safety equipment are present.

Perhaps, then, an outdoor managed swimming pool offers the best of both worlds – a swim with the sun on your back in a sanitary environment.

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April 17, 2023

Man accused of stabbing imam at New Jersey mosque pleads not guilty to attempted murder charge | CNN

CNN
—

The 32-year-old man accused of stabbing an imam at a mosque Sunday in New Jersey pleaded not guilty to an attempted murder charge in court Monday afternoon.

Serif Zorba was arrested for allegedly stabbing Imam Sayed Elnakib of the Omar Mosque in Paterson. Elnakib, who is in stable condition, was stabbed during the first prayer of the day around 5:30 a.m. while the congregation was kneeling, mosque spokesperson Abdul Hamdan told CNN.

Surveillance video of the incident shows a group of worshippers at the mosque positioned in five long rows. As they knelt down in prayer, a person wearing a hoodie in the third row moved to the front of the room, stepping over other worshippers, and then thrust his right hand into the back of the kneeling imam, the video shows.

The congregation then rose together, and the assailant tried to push through the crowd and flee out of the back of the mosque, the video shows.

Zorba was charged with first-degree attempted murder, third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon, according to a news release from the Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office.

Zorba, a native of Istanbul, also pleaded not guilty to the unlawful weapon possession charges. His plea was entered Monday by a public defender on Zorba’s behalf.

The suspect appeared in court before Paterson Municipal Court Judge Vincenzo Stampone wearing an orange jumpsuit, with his long hair mostly covering his face. Zorba communicated with court officials through a Turkish translator.

When Stampone asked Zorba about his current address, Zorba indicated that he lived in Paterson but did not offer a proper address.

Zorba is being held on pretrial detention. His next court appearance is scheduled for Thursday.

The prosecutor’s office said they could not provide any further details on Zorba’s possible motive, citing the ongoing investigation.

The maximum sentence for his alleged crimes is around 26 years, according to the release.

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April 10, 2023

Dozens of rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel after raids on al-Aqsa mosque | CNN

Jerusalem
CNN
—

Dozens of rockets were fired from Lebanon into Israel on Thursday, the Israeli military said, in a major escalation that comes amid regional tensions over Israeli police raids at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Some 34 rockets were launched from Lebanese territory into Israeli territory, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said, with the majority intercepted but six landing in Israel.

It was the largest such attack since a 2006 war between the two countries left around 1,200 Lebanese people and 165 Israelis dead.

Videos posted on social media showed rockets streaking through the skies over northern Israel, and the sounds of explosions in the distance.

The country closed its northern airspace in the wake of the barrage. No deaths were reported, and it is not yet known which group in Lebanon launched the rockets.

Israel said it would “decide on the place and time” of its response, an IDF defense official who asked not to be named told CNN. An Israeli military spokesman said they believed a Palestinian militant group was behind the attack, not the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah.

The Lebanese army confirmed a number of a rockets were launched from the country’s south, but did not detail who had fired them. It said on Twitter that a unit had found “missile launchers and a number of rockets intended for launch” in the vicinity of the Lebanese towns of Zibqin and Qlaileh, and was “currently working to dismantle them.”

Hezbollah has not yet commented on the incident. It comes a day after Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, arrived in Beirut for meetings with Hezbollah officials.

Tensions are sky-high in the region after Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem on two separate occasions Wednesday, as Palestinian worshipers offered prayers during the holy month of Ramadan.

Footage from inside the mosque showed Israeli officers beating people with their batons and rifle-butts, then arresting hundreds of Palestinians. Israeli police said they entered the mosque after “hundreds of rioters” tried to barricade themselves inside.

The incident, which was met with widespread condemnation from the Arab and Muslim world, sparked retaliatory rocket fire from Gaza into Israel.

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi told CNN “we are at a very dangerous moment.”

“What we see unfolding on the Lebanese border is obviously a consequence, a reaction to what we saw happening in al-Aqsa [mosque].” Safadi said.

Trails from rockets can be seen over the skies of northern Israel in this video screengrab, as authorities raised concerns over increased tensions between Israel and Lebanon.

Lebanon and Israel are considered enemy states, but a truce between them has largely held since the 2006 war.

There have been several small-scale rocket attacks from Lebanon in recent years that have prompted retaliatory strikes from Israel. Few casualties were reported in those incidents, with the largest death toll in an exchange of fire in 2015 that left two Israeli soldiers and a Spanish peacekeeper dead. Palestinian factions in Lebanon were believed to be behind those rocket attacks.

The 2006 conflict was the biggest flare-up between Lebanon and Israel since 1982. Around 1,200 Lebanese people and 165 Israelis died in an exchange of fire that involved a nationwide Israeli aerial assault, and a naval and aerial blockade. Hezbollah fired many rounds of rockets reaching deep into Israeli territory during the conflict.

The Israeli military pinned the blame for the rockets on either Hamas or the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, with international spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht saying the IDF assumed that “Hezbollah knew about it, and Lebanon also has responsibility.”

But he emphasized several times that the IDF viewed the attack as having come from a Palestinian source, and that it did not represent a widening of the conflict to actors outside of the direct Israeli-Palestinian conflict, raising hopes that tensions could be ratcheted down after the incident.

The Lebanese foreign ministry also said it was ready to cooperate with the United Nations and take steps to “restore calm and stability” in the south, while calling on “the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop escalation,” the state-owned National News Agency reported.

The IDF has been concerned for some time about an escalation on the Lebanese border, and hosted a high-level seminar in the spring of 2022 to brief journalists and policy makers about it.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Thursday’s escalation of violence between Lebanon and Israel was “extremely serious.”

UNIFIL also said it has directed its personnel stationed at the border between the two countries to move to air raid shelters, as a “common practice.”

The White House said it was “extremely concerned by the continuing violence and we urge all sides to avoid further escalation.”

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April 6, 2023

Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan prayers, sparking rocket fire from Gaza | CNN

CNN
—

Israeli police stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, one of Islam’s holiest sites, during Ramadan prayers early Wednesday, arresting hundreds of Palestinians and sparking retaliatory rocket fire from militants in Gaza.

Footage shared on social media showed Israeli officers striking screaming people with batons inside the darkened building. Eyewitnesses told CNN that police had smashed doors and windows to enter the mosque and deployed stun grenades and rubber bullets once inside. Video shared by Israeli police show forces holding riot shields up as fireworks were launched back at them, ricocheting off the walls.

Israeli police said in a statement that its forces entered al-Aqsa after “hundreds of rioters and mosque desecrators (had) barricaded themselves” inside.

“When the police entered, stones were thrown at them, and fireworks were fired from inside the mosque by a large group of agitators,” according to the statement.

The Palestinian Red Crescent in Jerusalem said at least 12 people were injured during clashes in and around the mosque, and at least three of the injured were transferred to hospital, some with injuries from rubber bullets.

The Red Crescent added that at one point its ambulances were targeted by police and were prevented from reaching the injured.

The incident drew condemnation from across the Arab and Muslim world. Jordan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the Israeli police actions “in the strongest terms,” and called on Israel to immediately remove its forces from the mosque. Egypt’s Foreign Ministry also condemned the “storming” of the mosque by police, saying it had caused “numerous injuries among worshipers and devotees” and was “in violation of all international laws and customs.”

Police said they arrested and removed more than 350 people in the mosque, and that one Israeli police officer was wounded in the leg by stones.

Images shared on social media showed dozens of detained people lying facedown on the floor of the mosque with their legs and arms bound behind their backs, and others with their hands tied being led into a vehicle.

Al-Aqsa has seen hundreds of thousands of worshipers offer prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan this year. Jews are set to celebrate Passover on Wednesday evening.

Over the last two weeks, there have been calls by Jewish extremist groups to slaughter goats at the mosque compound as part of an ancient Passover holiday ritual that is no longer practiced by most Jews. A greater number of Muslim worshipers stayed in the mosque after calls came to prevent those attempts.

Last week, a Palestinian man was shot and killed by Israeli police at the entrance of the compound. Palestinian and Israeli sources disputed the circumstances that led to the killing of 26-year-old Muhammad Al-Osaibi.

The mosque compound, frequently a flashpoint in tensions, is home to one of Islam’s most revered sites but also the holiest site in Judaism, known as the Temple Mount.

The compound reopened for prayers shortly after.

In a statement Wednesday, Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh condemned the actions of the Israeli police, saying: “What is happening in Jerusalem is a major crime against worshipers.”

“Israel does not want to learn from history, that al-Aqsa is for the Palestinians and for all Arabs and Muslims, and that storming it sparked a revolution against the occupation,” Shtayyeh added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Wednesday that nine rockets were fired from Gaza Strip toward Israel after the incident in Jerusalem.

“Following the previous report regarding the sirens which sounded in Sderot, five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory,” said the IDF. “Four of them were intercepted by the aerial defense array.”

The IDF also said four additional rockets launched from Gaza toward Israel but landed in open space.

“Following the additional sirens that sounded in the surroundings of the Gaza Strip, four rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip that landed in open areas. No interceptors were launched according to protocol,” the IDF added.

Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, said in a statement that “the current Israeli occupation’s crimes at the al-Aqsa mosque are unprecedented violations that will not pass.”

Later on Wednesday, the Israeli military said its fighter jets had struck weapons manufacturing and storage sites in the Gaza Strip belonging to Hamas.

“This strike was carried out in response to rockets fired from the Gaza Strip toward Israeli territory earlier,” it said in a statement.

Last year was the deadliest for both Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and for Israelis in nearly two decades, CNN analysis of official statistics on both sides showed.

And this year has seen a violent beginning, too. At least 90 Palestinians have been killed, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health statistics. In addition to suspected militants being targeted by Israeli forces, the dead include Palestinians killing, wounding or attempting to kill Israeli civilians, people clashing with Israeli security and bystanders, CNN records show.

In the same period, at least 15 Israelis have been killed in attacks by Palestinians in Israel and the West Bank, CNN records show – 14 civilians and a police officer who was hit by friendly fire after being stabbed by a Palestinian teenager while inspecting bus passengers.

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April 5, 2023

DOJ reaches tentative $144.5 million settlement with victims of Sutherland Springs church mass shooting | CNN

CNN
—

The US Department of Justice on Wednesday announced it had reached an “agreement in principle” to settle claims from the November 2017 mass shooting at a Sutherland Springs, Texas, church for $144.5 million, according to a news release.

A federal court in 2021 ruled the US government was liable for damages caused by the shooting, in which 26 people were killed and 22 others wounded. The Air Force, a judge concluded, failed to exercise reasonable care when it didn’t submit the shooter’s criminal history to the FBI’s background check system, which increased the risk of physical harm to the general public.

A court must still approve some parts of the settlements, the DOJ release said.

“No words or amount of money can diminish the immense tragedy of the mass shooting in Sutherland Springs,” Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said. “Today’s announcement brings the litigation to a close, ending a painful chapter for the victims of this unthinkable crime.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

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April 5, 2023

Tag: buildings and structures

City makes improvements to Sally Milligan Park

Car crashes into Salem bar

‘All I wanted to do was live’: After years of debate, a suicide safety net for the Golden Gate Bridge is nearing completion. Survivors say it’ll give many a 2nd chance at life | CNN

‘A symbol of hope and care’

If you suspect someone may be suicidal:

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In pictures: Former President Donald Trump

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Southern Baptist Convention votes to uphold removal of Saddleback Church over women pastors after appeal by Rick Warren | CNN

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King Charles III is crowned in once-in-a-generation ceremony | CNN

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Swimming pools vs. wild swimming — a germs expert on which is worse | CNN

Man accused of stabbing imam at New Jersey mosque pleads not guilty to attempted murder charge | CNN

Dozens of rockets fired from Lebanon into Israel after raids on al-Aqsa mosque | CNN

Israeli police storm al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan prayers, sparking rocket fire from Gaza | CNN

DOJ reaches tentative $144.5 million settlement with victims of Sutherland Springs church mass shooting | CNN