(WASHINGTON) — The U.S. military has struck Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, U.S. officials told ABC News.
“U.S. Central Command forces conducted multiple airstrikes on numerous Iran-backed Houthi weapons storage facilities within Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen,” a U.S. defense official said.
The defense official said the weapons were used to “target military and civilian vessels navigating international waters throughout the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.”
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed that B-2 strategic stealth bombers were used in the strikes against “five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.”
His statement also hinted that using such significant aircraft for the job was meant to send a signal to other bad actors in the region.
“The employment of U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit long-range stealth bombers demonstrate U.S. global strike capabilities to take action against these targets when necessary, anytime, anywhere,” it said.
Austin’s statement also boasted of the military’s “ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified.”
U.S. Central Command said in a statement: “These actions were taken to degrade the Houthi’s capability to continue their reckless and unlawful attacks on international commercial shipping.”
Early assessments indicate no civilian casualties, according to CENTCOM.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
APRIL 2024: Demonstrators marched on the Northrop Mall before setting up tents on the lawn. A few hundred people gathered outside Coffman Memorial Union to call for a cease fire in Gaza before marching on the Northrop Mall and setting up an encampment on the lawn Monday afternoon, April 29, 2024 on the University of Minnesota campus in Minneapolis. Israel/Hamas war protest. (Photo by Jeff Wheeler/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
(MINNEAPOLIS) — A demonstration at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities Monday led to 11 arrests after pro-Palestinian protesters barricaded an administrative hall on campus, locking staff members inside the building.
The protesters blocked the entrance and exit of Morrill Hall, which houses the offices of the university president, Rebecca Cunningham.
According to a statement from the university issued Monday night, the protest began with a peaceful assembly on a lawn in front of the campus’ Coffman Memorial Union at about 3 p.m. local time.
However, “A group of these individuals quickly moved north, up the Northrop Mall, and entered Morrill Hall,” according to the university.
“Once inside the building, protesters began spray painting, including covering lenses of all internal security cameras, breaking interior windows, and barricading the building’s entrance and exit points,” the statement said.
The protest’s escalation was first announced as a SAFE-U Emergency Alert at 4:34 p.m., advising students, “If you are currently in Morrill Hall and able to safely exit the building, please do so immediately. Others are advised to avoid this area until further notice.”
The university has said that “a number” of staff were present, and many were unable to exit the building “for an extended period of time.”
Police officers arrived on the scene and began to detain protestors around one hour after the first alert was issued, according to the university’s statement.
“With necessary support from the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, UMPD entered the building at approximately 5:40 p.m. and arrested 11 people,” it said.
By 9:10 p.m. there was another SAFE-U Emergency Alert stating that the University of Minnesota Police Department had cleared Morrill Hall and “the situation has been resolved for this evening.”
The University of Minnesota Twin Cities stated that as of Monday night, “The full extent of the damage is unknown.”
No additional information is currently available, but the university has clarified that an investigation into the incident is ongoing.
(LONDON) — Kate, the Princess of Wales, is opening up about her health six months after announcing she had been diagnosed with cancer.
Kate, the wife of Prince William and a mom of three, said in a video message Monday that she is focused on staying “cancer free” and gradually returning to work after completing chemotherapy.
“As the summer comes to an end, I cannot tell you what a relief it is to have finally completed my chemotherapy treatment,” Kate, 42, said in the video message shared by Kensington Palace. “The last nine months have been incredibly tough for us as a family. Life as you know it can change in an instant and we have had to find a way to navigate the stormy waters and road unknown.”
Kate went onto describe her cancer journey as “complex, scary and unpredictable for everyone,” adding of the perspective it’s given her, “This time has above all reminded William and me to reflect and be grateful for the simple yet important things in life, which so many of us often take for granted. Of simply loving and being loved.”
The video gives an intimate glimpse into Kate and her family, including William and their three children, Princes George and Louis and Princess Charlotte.
The footage, taken by photographer Will Warr in August in Norfolk, England, shows the Wales family playing outside, enjoying a picnic together and embracing in hugs and kisses.
In one clip, Kate, William and their three children are seen playing a card game with Kate’s parents, Michael and Carole Middleton.
In other clips, William and Kate are seen walking and sitting together and embracing.
Kate announced in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer after undergoing what the palace described as “planned abdominal surgery” in January.
She has not revealed publicly what type of cancer she faced, nor exact details of her treatment beyond that she was undergoing “preventative chemotherapy.”
In the newly-released video, Kate said she plans to take on a few additional public duties after remaining out of the public spotlight for most of the past year.
“Doing what I can to stay cancer free is now my focus. Although I have finished chemotherapy, my path to healing and full recovery is long and I must continue to take each day as it comes,” she said. “I am however looking forward to being back at work and undertaking a few more public engagements in the coming months when I can.”
Since March, she has been seen only a few times publicly, including attending Trooping the Colour in June and watching the men’s singles final at Wimbledon in July alongside her daughter Charlotte.
Prior to attending Trooping the Colour in June, Kate shared a health update, saying she was “making good progress” while undergoing chemotherapy but was not “out of the woods yet.”
Kate said at the time that her treatment would continue “for a few more months.”
Kate’s absence from public duties came at the same time that her father-in-law, King Charles III, also faced a cancer diagnosis.
Buckingham Palace announced in February that Charles was diagnosed with cancer, but did not specify the type of cancer, the stage of cancer or the type of treatment.
Charles also spent time away from public duties before returning to a modified schedule of public engagements in late April.
The king’s first public royal engagement since his own cancer diagnosis was a visit to a cancer treatment center in London.
(NEW YORK) — Marking the latest foray into space exploration, NASA is preparing to launch its first mission to explore Jupiter’s moon, Europa, to determine if it harbors conditions suitable to support life.
NASA’s Europa Clipper is set to launch on Oct. 10 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will be carried into orbit on SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, according to the agency.
The agency will invest approximately $5.2 billion in the entire life of the mission, which spans nearly two decades, beginning in 2015 and ending in 2034, according to a press release from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Europa is the fourth largest of Jupiter’s 95 moons, and planetary scientists believe this unique moon harbors a salty ocean beneath its icy crust.
NASA says the mission aims to answer the question: Does the global, subsurface ocean contain the organic compounds and energy sources necessary to sustain life?
“As an ocean world, Europa is very intriguing,” Gina DiBraccio, director of NASA’s planetary science division, said during a press briefing this month.
“This mission is going to help us to understand a complex piece of our solar system,” DiBraccio added.
NASA’s 100-foot-long and approximately 58-foot-wide Clipper probe is the largest spacecraft the agency has built for a planetary mission and will travel 1.8 billion miles to Europa.
The sizeable spacecraft was built with large solar arrays to collect enough light for its power needs as it operates in the Jupiter system, according to the agency.
The journey to Europa is long, with the flight there spanning roughly five-and-a-half years. NASA says the spacecraft will fire its engines to enter orbit around Jupiter in April 2030.
Once there, the spacecraft will conduct nearly 50 flybys of the planet at “closest-approach altitudes” as low as 16 miles above the surface to gather detailed measurements of the planet’s environment, according to NASA.
Throughout the mission, the spacecraft must fly through one of the “most punishing radiation environments in our solar system — second only to the Sun’s,” according to NASA.
The reason the environment is so challenging is that Jupiter is surrounded by a magnetic field that is 20,000 times stronger than Earth’s.
When the field spins, NASA reports, “it captures and accelerates charged particles, creating radiation that can damage the spacecraft.”
Because of this, the Europa Clipper is designed to shield sensitive electronics from radiation, and NASA researchers designed the spacecraft’s orbits to limit exposure to the most radiation-heavy areas around Jupiter.
If successful, the agency reports the mission will end in June 2034.
