Blinken says talks on Israel’s Rafah offensive expected next week
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on April 9 said he expects talks between Israeli and US officials to take place next week on a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, Gaza’s last refuge for displaced Palestinians.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday victory over Hamas required entry into Rafah and said there was a date for the operation, despite Washington’s warning not to go ahead.
Blinken, speaking to reporters after a meeting with British Foreign Minister David Cameron at the State Department, said Washington has not been given a date.
Biden calls Trump main threat to US democracy
US President Joe Biden called his Republican challenger Donald Trump the main threat to US democracy in an interview aired April 9 on the main US Spanish-language TV network.
Asked by Univision in the Oval Office what he considered the “primary threat to freedom and democracy at home,” Biden said: “Donald Trump. Seriously.”
Biden referred to Trump’s support for the mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan 6, 2021, inflicting “destruction and the mayhem” in an attempt to overturn his election loss to Biden two months earlier.
Parents of US school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years in prison
The parents of a teenager who carried out a deadly school shooting in the US state of Michigan were sentenced to 10 to 15 years in prison on April 9 in an unprecedented and closely watched case.
Jennifer Crumbley, 46, and her husband James, 47, were the first parents of a school shooter convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the United States for the actions of their child.
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl Matthews sentenced them to 10 and 15 years in prison each with credit for the 28 months they had already spent behind bars.
At least three dead after explosion at Italian hydroelectric plant
At least three people have died and four are missing after a fire and explosion underground at a hydroelectric power plant in northern Italy on April 9, the local mayor said.
Italian utility group Enel said that a fire had broken out on one of its transformers at its hydro power plant in Bargi, close to Bologna in early afternoon.
The fire brigade said earlier that an explosion had occurred around 3.00 pm (1300 GMT) at a dam on Lake Suviana which is one of three artificial lakes that feed the power station.
Kane scores as Bayern Munich draw 2-2 at Arsenal
Bayern Munich striker Harry Kane returned to north London to score his customary goal against Arsenal as the first leg of their Champions League quarter-final tie ended 2-2 on April 9.
The former Tottenham Hotspur player, so often Arsenal's nemesis in north London derbies, stroked home a penalty in the 32nd minute as the Bundesliga side came from behind to lead 2-1.
Premier League leaders Arsenal, playing in their first Champions League quarter-final for 14 years, had gone in front early on with a clinical Bukayo Saka strike.
