Airman Charged in Leak of Classified Documents
The Justice Department on Friday filed criminal charges against Jack Teixeira, 21, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, accusing him of leaking U.S. classified documents that detailed everything from Ukraine battlefield assessments to covert surveillance of American allies. A day after his arrest by federal agents, Teixeira appeared in a Boston courtroom on two separate counts related to the unauthorized handling of classified materials. He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years if convicted. A complaint unsealed after the hearing detailed Teixeira’s access to sensitive information as a computer network specialist and his posting of documents bearing top secret markings to a gaming chat group.
DeSantis Attempts to Woo Young Evangelicals
The morning after signing one of the nation’s most stringent abortion bills into law, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis pitched himself to thousands of evangelical college students as a defender of truth, common sense and morality. “Yes, the truth will set you free,” DeSantis said, invoking the words of Jesus Christ. “Because woke represents a war on truth, we must wage a war on woke.” DeSantis spoke Friday to about 10,000 students at Liberty University’s twice-weekly convocation service, which the school bills as “the world’s largest gathering of Christian students.” The Florida law that DeSantis signed Thursday night prohibits the abortion past six weeks.
Tech Executive Was Left ‘to Slowly Die’ After Stabbing, Prosecutors Say
The man accused of killing tech executive Bob Lee on a secluded San Francisco street this month stabbed him three times with a kitchen knife, prosecutors said in court documents released on Friday. Nima Momeni, 38, had argued with Lee about whether anything “inappropriate” had happened between Lee, 43, and Momeni’s younger sister, prosecutors said, describing details of the police investigation in a motion to hold Momeni without bail. Momeni’s arraignment was put off until later this month. He has not entered a plea. Prosecutors said Momeni stabbed Lee on April 4, including once through the heart. He raced away, leaving Lee “to slowly die,” the motion states.
Pompeo Says He Won’t Run for President in 2024
Mike Pompeo, who served in the Trump administration as CIA director and then as secretary of state, said Friday that he would not seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024. He made the announcement in an interview on Fox News. Pompeo, 59, had indicated his interest in running as he toured early primary states. He said he had not made his decision based on former President Donald Trump’s lead in early polls of the Republican race. He also declined to endorse Trump and obliquely criticized him, saying, “I think Americans are thirsting for people making arguments, not just tweets.”
Supreme Court Briefly Restores Broad Availability of Abortion Pill
Justice Samuel Alito on Friday issued a temporary stay ensuring that a common abortion pill would remain widely available while the Supreme Court decides whether to grant a formal stay. The interim stay will expire at midnight Wednesday. Such a stay is meant to preserve the status quo while the justices study briefs and lower court rulings, and it did not forecast how the justices would ultimately rule. Alito ordered the groups challenging the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of the pill to file their brief by noon Tuesday. The move followed an emergency application filed Friday morning by the Biden administration asking the justices to intervene.
Virtual Clinics Have Been a Fast-Growing Method of Abortion. That Could Change.
A nascent but rapidly growing industry of abortion providers administers abortions only through telemedicine, with no physical clinics. A federal court ruling Wednesday that aims to ban the mailing of abortion pills could make it much harder for them to operate. But for now, several of the more than a dozen virtual clinics say they will continue offering medication abortions that include mifepristone, the pill under dispute, as they await clarity from the Food and Drug Administration. Honeybee, which fills prescriptions for most of them and is the largest mail-order pharmacy for abortion pills in the United States, said it would continue to mail medication to the 24 states where it’s allowed.
Brazil’s Lula Meets Xi in China as They Seek Path to Peace in Ukraine
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met in Beijing on Friday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the two leaders declared in a joint statement that negotiation was “the only viable way out of the crisis in Ukraine.” In the statement, they avoided the words “invasion” or “war” and offered few specifics about how to bring Russia or Ukraine to the table after more than a year of war. At the same time, Lula called for China’s territorial integrity to be respected with regards to Taiwan, a similar stance to the one French President Emmanuel Macron took last weekend after he met with Xi in China.
Core of Macron’s Pension Plan Clears Key Legal Test as Protesters Fume
French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to increase the nation’s legal retirement age was approved by the country’s Constitutional Council on Friday, clearing the way for the measure to be gradually introduced in the fall but doing little to quell the seething popular anger against it. In a highly anticipated ruling, the council, which reviews legislation to ensure it conforms to the constitution, struck down parts of Macron’s pension overhaul, but upheld its core: raising the age when workers can start collecting a government pension — albeit not a full one — to 64, from 62.
North Korea Says It Launched a Solid-Fuel ICBM, a First
North Korea said Friday that it had test-launched a solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time, technology that would be a significant step forward for its missile program if developed successfully. The launch Thursday, off the North’s east coast, was reported at the time by South Korea’s military, which said only that it had been an intermediate- or long-range missile. On Friday, the North’s state media said it had been a three-stage Hwasong-18 ICBM, a new model with solid-fuel technology. A solid-fuel missile is easier to hide and transport, and it takes less time to prepare one for launch.
Four Sons of El Chapo Face Sweeping New Charges in Fentanyl Indictments
Federal officials announced charges Friday against the four sons of the notorious Mexican drug lord known as El Chapo, saying the men were leading their imprisoned father’s empire and were responsible for moving vast quantities of fentanyl into and throughout the United States. Attorney General Merrick Garland said at a news conference in Washington that in addition to the four sons — collectively known as Los Chapitos — federal indictments in Manhattan, Chicago and Washington had charged more than two dozen other people in what he described as a global fentanyl manufacturing and distribution operation run by the Sinaloa drug cartel.
Germany Quits Nuclear Power, Ending a Decadeslong Struggle
It began as pacifists chaining themselves to fences outside nuclear power plants. Five decades later, the effort to close German nuclear power plants will end with echoes of the Cold War era in which it began, as Russia’s war in Ukraine is a reminder of both the risks and promise of nuclear energy. Germany’s three remaining reactors will be shut down by Saturday — ending nuclear power generation in Europe’s largest economy. But it comes as the continent grapples with questions over whether it can secure enough energy to drive its economies and keep homes warm while also reaching ambitious climate targets.
Biden Overcome Seeing Priest Who Gave Last Rites to Son Beau
President Joe Biden, who spent most of this week exploring his family lineage in Ireland, received a surprise Friday in the form of an impromptu meeting with a person from his more recent past: the priest who had administered last rites to his son, Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015. Biden broke down in tears after seeing the priest, Friar Frank O’Grady, who was given a last-minute security approval for the meeting at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Knock, a sacred shrine for Roman Catholics, who have reported seeing apparitions of the Virgin Mary and other holy figures there.
By wire sourcces