Israel attacks Yemen airport after Houthi missile strike near Tel Aviv airport
(LONDON) — TThe Israeli military on Tuesday launched an attack on Yemen’s Sana’a International Airport and other civilian sites, claiming they were used by Houthi militants.
The strike came two days after a ballistic missile launched from Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthis landed near Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv, Israel.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Tuesday that the central Yemen airport “is used by the Houthi terrorist organization for the transfer of weapons and operatives, and is regularly operated by the Houthi regime for terrorist purposes.”
The airport strike led “to its complete shutdown,” the IDF said. Israel also targeted power stations and a concrete factory, which it accused the Houthis of using to build tunnels and military infrastructure.
“This is another example of the Houthi terrorist organization’s use of civilian infrastructure for terrorist operations,” an IDF spokesperson said in a statement.
Avichay Adraee, the Israel Defense Forces’ Arabic spokesperson, posted an evacuation warning on social media prior to the strike.
“We call upon you to evacuate the airport area — Sana’a International Airport — immediately and warn everyone in your vicinity of the need to evacuate this area immediately,” Adraee said. “Failure to evacuate and move away from the place exposes you to danger.”
(PARIS, FRANCE) — Kim Kardashian made a defiant walk into Paris’ Palace of Justice in May, to face the criminals who held the reality star at gunpoint and robbed in 2016. The trial’s shocking outcome would only prompt more questions.
Ten suspects, dubbed the “Grandpa Robbers” by French media because most of them were in their 60s and 70s, stood trial in Paris for the notorious 2016 jewel heist that terrorized the reality star.
Despite finding eight of the 10 suspects guilty of crimes related to the 2016 heist, the French court allowed all defendants to walk free, with some receiving suspended sentences or credit for time already served. The judge cited the defendants’ ages and health concerns as reasons for leniency. Two were acquitted.
The crime occurred during Paris Fashion Week in October 2016, when Kardashian was staying at the exclusive “No Name Hotel,” reportedly known for hosting celebrities like Leonardo DiCaprio and Madonna. That night, while Kardashian’s security detail accompanied her sister Kourtney to a nightclub, the robbers struck.
In an interview with ABC News, Yunice Abbas, one of the convicted robbers, said he didn’t even know who Kardashian was at the time.
“I was always told ‘wife of an American rapper,'” Abbas said.
The robbers, wearing fake police jackets, first confronted the hotel’s night concierge, Abderrahmane Ouatiki. They forced him at gunpoint to lead them to Kardashian’s suite.
“When you feel the cold steel of a gun on the back of your neck, you have to be calm,” Ouatiki told ABC News. “You have to be wise in such situations.”
The thieves escaped with more than $6 million worth of jewelry, including Kardashian’s upgraded 18.8-carat wedding ring from then-husband Kanye West. In their hasty bicycle getaway, Abbas admitted to falling and spilling some of the stolen jewels on the street.
Following the verdict, Kardashian, who has become an advocate for criminal justice reform, released a statement.
“While I’ll never forget what happened, I believe in the power of growth and accountability and pray for healing for all. I remain committed to advocating for justice, and promoting a fair legal system.”
The outcome of the trial surprised even the defendants. When asked if he expected the lenient sentence, Abbas responded with a simple “No” as he left the courthouse a free man.
The unexpected verdict left some questioning the French justice system.
“I respect Kim Kardashian, but I call foul. Justice was not served,” legal commentator Nancy Grace told ABC News. “They should be in jail for what they did.”
(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Tuesday pushed for Karol Nawrocki to be president of Poland while speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Warsaw, decrying his opponent as a “train wreck.”
It is an extraordinary move for a sitting member of the U.S. Cabinet to advocate for a political candidate in a foreign country.
Noem spoke for more than 20 minutes at CPAC, an American group that seeks to spread conservative ideas and held its first conference in Poland on Tuesday.
She claimed there is no time for “nice words,” saying, “We do not have time to dance around the dangers that threaten our societies.”
“It matters who’s in charge,” Noem told the crowd. “I have watched over the years as socialists and people that are just like this mayor out of Warsaw that is an absolute train wreck of a leader have destroyed our countries because they have led by fear.
“They have used fear to control people, and they’ve used fear to promote an agenda that is not what liberty is about, that is not what freedom is about,” she said.
The Polish runoff election for president is on Sunday, June 1, with Nawrocki as the conservative choice and Rafal Trzaskowski for the Civic Platform party.
Nawrocki visited President Donald Trump earlier this year.
“He needs to be the next president of Poland,” Noem said of Nawrocki. “Do you understand me?”
Noem then took aim at “weak” European leaders who have allowed in migrants and “destroyed their civilizations.”
“You have enforced your borders. You have protected who comes into your country, enforced your visa programs. You’ve done good work to make sure that this country has a different story,” she told the crowd.
“But you have much more to do, and you are threatened with a leader who is on the ballot who would take all of that protection away from you, who would open you up to much of the experiences that America had to live through under our last president, Joe Biden,” she added, offering pointed criticisms at Biden and her predecessor, Alejandro Mayorkas.
She argued America “lived through four years of hell” and that the public made a choice in electing Trump in November.
“Thousands and thousands of dangerous criminals came into our country, hundreds of known terrorists infiltrated our country and our communities,” she said. “And our families were murdered and raped and victimized, arrested, released again by his administration to continue the fear agenda that he was trying to promote and to allow political power to be in his hands but not in the people any longer.”
Noem praised Trump as making the United States “safer” for the public.
“Donald Trump is a strong leader for us, but you have an opportunity to have just as strong of a leader in Karol if you make him the leader of this country,” she said.
“You can be that shining city on a hill that the rest of Europe and the world will watch and know how strong you are, how free you are because you’ve elected the right leader that will protect it and defend it and ensure that every individual is treated the same and has equal rights as afforded to them,” she added.
Noem also said that if the Polish elect the right person, the country will continue to have the backing of the U.S.
“If you have elected a leader that will work with President Donald J. Trump, the Polish people will have an ally strong that will ensure that you will be able to fight off enemies that do not share your values,” she said. “You will have strong borders and protect your communities and keep them safe and ensure that your citizens are respected every single day. You will continue to have a U.S. presence here, a military presence, for Trump, that we can work together for the security of both of our nations.”
CPAC will go to Hungary later this week, but it is unclear if Noem or any other U.S. officials will speak at the conference.
People gather along the road as the coffin of Pope Francis is transported from Saint Peter’s Basilica to Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica, after the pontiff’s funeral ceremony in St. Peter’s Square, at The Vatican (Marco Ravagli/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
(ROME) — Pope Francis was laid to rest Saturday at the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome after dying at 88 years old on April 21.
More than 250,000 people turned out to bid farewell to the 266th pope of the Roman Catholic Church. The crowd at St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican included many young people and world leaders, giving us some important snapshots of our political moment.
Here are some key moments from the historic event:
Francis remembered as ‘pope among the people’
At his funeral, Pope Francis was remembered and venerated as a pontiff with “strength and serenity” who modeled his pontificate on St. Francis of Assisi. The dean of the College of Cardinals, Giovanni Battista Re, delivered the homily in front of mourners in St. Peter’s Square.
“He established direct contact with individuals and peoples, eager to be close to everyone, with a marked attention to those in difficulty, giving himself without measure, especially to the marginalized, the least among us,” Re said.
“He was a Pope among the people, with an open heart towards everyone. He was also a Pope attentive to the signs of the times and what the Holy Spirit was awakening in the Church.”
Young people play a prominent role in Pope Francis’ funeral
Pope Francis’ outreach resonated with the younger generations, thousands of whom were present in St. Peter’s Square to mourn the late pontiff during his funeral on Saturday morning.
About 80,000 teenagers had registered for the Jubilee of Teenagers, a special event for worshippers between the ages of 12 and 17 during the Catholic Church’s Jubilee year of 2025, according to the Dicastery for Evangelization, a department of the Roman Curia — the central governing body of the Catholic Church.
Some changes were made to the event, scheduled for Friday and Sunday, due to Francis’ death. The canonization of Carlo Acutis, who died in 2006 at the age of 15 from leukemia, was postponed. Acutis, an Italian teen known for his devotion to the Eucharist, is set to become the first “millennial” saint upon his canonization, which was formally approved by Francis in July 2024.
Crowd applauds as Pope Francis’ coffin is brought out of basilica
The mourners assembled in St. Peter’s Square broke into applause as pallbearers carried the pope’s coffin outside. It was the site of Pope Francis’ last official act, when he celebrated Easter Sunday a day before he died on April 21.
American reporter delivers 1st reading
Some young adults even played a prominent role in the funeral proceedings. American Kielce Gussie, 28, did the first reading in English — several verses from the Acts of the Apostles.
Gussie works as a journalist at Vatican News and completed her undergraduate degree in theology at Mount St. Mary’s University. She also has a licentiate degree in church communication from Rome’s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
Crowd applauds Ukrainian President Zelenskyy
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in attendance with his wife Olena Zelenska, earned applause from the crowd in St. Peter’s Square appeared on the screens around the area.
Zelenskyy has led Ukraine during the country’s war with Russia, which escalated in 2022 after the Russian invasion of the Eastern European country.
President Donald Trump met privately with Zelenskyy prior to the funeral and had a “very productive session,” White House Communications Director Steven Cheung told the press pool traveling with Trump.
It was the first meeting between the two men since their contentious February meeting in the Oval Office, in which Trump and Vice President JD Vance rebuked Zelenskyy for his handling of the war.
First lady Melania Trump joined the president at the funeral. Former President Joe Biden and former first lady Jill Biden attended the funeral as well, sitting about four rows behind the Trumps.
Pages of the Book of Gospels blow in the wind
It is one of the most poignant and iconic moments in papal funerals: the simple yet profound image of the breeze blowing the pages of the Book of the Gospels resting on top of the pope’s coffin in St. Peter’s Square.
The book was opened to the reading, “In the Passion and death of the Lord.”
Bells toll as coffin is brought back into basilica
The coffin carrying Pope Francis was brought through the Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica for a final time as bells tolled for the pope throughout the Vatican.
The funeral, which lasted more than two hours, concluded with bells ringing for the pontiff. His coffin was taken to Rome’s Basilica of Saint Mary Major where he was laid to rest.
Thousands line streets of Rome for Pope Francis’ funeral procession
The four-mile route between St. Peter’s Basilica and the final resting place of Pope Francis — the Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome — was lined with tens of thousands of mourners following his funeral on Saturday morning.
People could be seen crying and applauding as Francis’ coffin drove by.
Francis’ coffin was placed in the bed of a white pickup truck, where it was visible to the thousands lining the streets. The procession took the pope’s body past some of Rome’s historical landmarks, such as the Roman Forum and the Colosseum.
When Pope Francis arrived at the Basilica of Saint Mary Major, it was the last time he was seen in public before his burial. The basilica will reopen to visitors again on Sunday.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler, Kevin Shalvey, Jon Haworth, Hannah Demissie, Molly Nagle, Alex Ederson, Phoebe Natanson and Thomas Dunlavey.
