Martha Odom, 16, died from a gunshot wound to the chest according to the local coroner’s statementA high school senior has been identified as the person killed in a mass shooting that also wounded five others when two groups exchanged gunfire inside the food court at a mall in Louisiana’s capital city on Thursday afternoon, according to officials.Martha Odom, 16, died from a gunshot wound to the chest, according to a statement issued Friday by the local coroner’s office. Continue reading...
• President Trump issued a controversial 'shoot and kill' order targeting boats placing mines in the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with Iran escalate, marking an intensification of military posturing in the critical shipping lane.
• Congress was briefed that removing all mines from the strait could take up to six months, creating significant concerns about extended disruptions to global energy supplies and trade.
• The Chevron CEO warned of potential air travel disruptions due to expected jet fuel shortages resulting from the ongoing tensions and potential blockade of the strategic waterway.
US president claims ‘total control’ of strait of Hormuz despite Iranian seizure of two ships and report warning it could take months to clear waterway of minesTrump claims US has total control over strait of Hormuz after Iran seizes two container shipsAnalysis: Trump may talk of regime infighting, but Iran seems united by strategy born of warHello and welcome to our live coverage of events in the Middle East.Donald Trump has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the strait of Hormuz and claimed that US minesweepers “are clearing the strait right now” amid the standoff over the key waterway.Trump said the US had “hit about 75% of our targets” in Iran and that a deal had not yet been reached because Iran was “in turmoil”. Trump added to reporters in the Oval Office that he would not use a nuclear weapon against Iran as the conflict continues without a clear end in sight.Trump also said the US had “total control over the strait of Hormuz” – a claim that has drawn scepticism in the face of Iran’s seizure of two container ships and a US report warning it could take six months to clear the strait of mines.Israel’s killing of a Lebanese journalist in a strike has been met with international outrage as Lebanon’s prime minister described the attack as a “war crime”. Amal Khalil, 43, was killed in what colleagues described as a sustained attack by Israeli forces, with rescuers attempting to dig her out of the rubble of a building also targeted and prevented from providing life-saving assistance.Iran’s president, Masoud Pezeshkian, said there were no “hardliners” or “moderates” in Iran, responding a Trump claim there was internal division in Iran’s leadership. Separately, Iran’s foreign minister, Seyed Abbas Araghchi, said Iranian state institutions “continue to act with unity, purpose and discipline”.Italian sports officials say Italy is not interested in replacing Iran at the upcoming World Cup after a suggestion to that effect by a Trump administration official. Sports minister Andrea Abodi said “it’s not a good idea” while finance minister Giancarlo Giorgetti called the suggestion “shameful”. The US said it had no objections to Iranian players participating in the Cup but they would not be allowed to bring along people with ties to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards.Pope Leo XIV urged the US and Iran to return to talks to end the war and condemned capital punishment, calling for a new “culture of peace” to replace the recourse to violence.It remained unclear if the US and Iran would hold another round of talks in Pakistan amid efforts from mediators there towards a peace deal. Continue reading...
Michelle Sadio, 44, was shot near the River of Life Pentecostal church in Willesden in 2024Two men have been found guilty of murdering an innocent woman and injuring two more people in a drive-by shooting outside a wake.Michelle Sadio, a mother of two, was shot outside the River of Life Pentecostal church in Willesden in north London on 14 December 2024. She had been among about 100 mourners, including children as young as five, at the wake for 80-year-old Dianne Boatong. Continue reading...
Lawyers for Robert Morales’s family said chatbot ‘may have advised the shooter’ on how to carry out shootingThe family of a man who was killed at Florida State University last year plans to sue ChatGPT and its parent organization, OpenAI, for allegedly telling the accused gunman how to carry out the mass shooting.Lawyers for the family of Robert Morales wrote in a statement they had learned the shooter was in “constant communication with ChatGPT” ahead of the shooting, and that the chatbot “may have advised the shooter how to commit these heinous crimes”. Continue reading...
No other injuries were reported after the attack at a small Bulverde campus, where classes were cancelledA 15-year-old student shot a teacher at a Texas high school and then fatally shot himself on Monday, according to authorities, who were still investigating what led to the early morning attack.No other injuries were reported at Hill Country college preparatory high school in Bulverde, a small but growing city near San Antonio.Guardian staff contributed Continue reading...
A memorial will be built on the site, with final plans to be revealed in May and completion scheduled for fall 2027Sign up for the Breaking News US email to get newsletter alerts in your inboxDemolition of Pulse, the LGBTQ+-friendly nightclub in Florida where 49 people were killed in 2016, began on Wednesday, bringing a symbolic end to an almost decade-long wrangle over the future of the building that some residents and its former owners wanted to be preserved as a memorial for the victims.A new $12m permanent memorial will be built on the site, with final plans expected to be revealed in May, and its completion scheduled for fall 2027. Continue reading...
Muhammad Baylor Jalo, a former Virginia Army National Guard member with prior ISIS material support conviction from 2016, opened fire on ROTC students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, killing an instructor and wounding two others before dying. The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism targeting military trainees. US law enforcement is bracing for additional threats following multiple recent attacks. The shooting occurred Thursday amid heightened domestic terror concerns linked to Middle East conflicts.
Muhammad Baylor Jalo, a former Virginia Army National Guard member with prior ISIS material support conviction, opened fire on ROTC students at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, killing one instructor and wounding two others before dying. The FBI is investigating the incident as an act of terrorism linked to the shooter targeting military trainees. Federal agents brace for additional threats amid rising tensions from the Iran conflict and related attacks. Law enforcement heightened alerts nationwide following multiple domestic incidents.
