Main suspect tells Paris attacks trial he’s ‘an ISIS soldier’
The main suspect in a militant rampage that killed 130 people across Paris described himself defiantly as “an Islamic State soldier” and shouted at the top judge on Wednesday at the start of a trial into the 2015 attacks.
Salah Abdeslam, 31, is believed to be the only surviving member of the group that carried out the gun-and-bomb attacks on six restaurants and bars, the Bataclan concert hall and a sports stadium on Nov 13, 2015, in which hundreds were injured.
He appeared in court dressed in black and wearing a black face mask. Asked his profession, the French-Moroccan removed his mask and told the Paris court: “I gave up my job to become an Islamic State soldier.”
While the other defendants, who are accused of providing guns, cars or helping plan the attacks, simply answered routine questions on their name and profession and otherwise remained quiet, Abdeslam clearly sought to use the start of the trial as a platform.
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'Failure is not a crime,' defence says in trial of Theranos founder Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes arrives at court
Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is not a villain but rather a hard-working, young and naive businesswoman whose company simply failed, her lawyer told jurors on Wednesday at the former Silicon Valley star’s trial on federal fraud charges involving the now-defunct blood-testing startup once valued at US$9 billion (S$12 billion).
The prosecution and defence painted remarkably different portraits of Holmes in their opening statements to the 12-member jury in one of the most closely watched trials of a US corporate executive in years. The prosecution then called its first witness, a former company executive.
Robert Leach, a member of the prosecution team, said Holmes had engaged in a scheme of “lying and cheating” to attain wealth and fame at the expense of investors and patients.
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Minister dies trying to save man during Arctic exercise, says Russia
A Russian government minister who once served in President Vladimir Putin's security detail died in the Arctic on Wednesday while trying to save the life of a film director who fell into a river, his ministry said.
Yevgeny Zinichev, 55, a close Putin ally who had headed the high-profile Emergencies Ministry since 2018, was in the remote city of Norilsk to oversee large-scale training exercises in the region.
"This is an irreparable personal loss for me," said Putin in a telegram of condolence published by the Kremlin. "We had worked together for many years."
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Some Afghans evacuated from Kabul struggle to find help in US
After Fahima, 30, stepped off a plane at Dulles international airport in Virginia on Aug 26, she asked an immigration official what would happen to her next. He shrugged, she said, and told her to find a lawyer.
Like many among the thousands of Afghans who were hurriedly evacuated by the US military from Afghanistan last month, Fahima is now facing an uncertain future in the United States.
"I was a little confused," Fahima said through an interpreter. "I didn't know that we had to talk to a lawyer and do all these things by ourselves. I thought the American government was going to take care of this."
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British teen qualifier Raducanu rolls into US Open semi-finals
British 18-year-old sensation Emma Raducanu became the first qualifier to reach the US Open women's semi-finals by defeating Tokyo Olympic champion Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4 on Wednesday.
World number 150 Raducanu, only the fourth qualifier to reach a Grand Slam semi-final, made the Swiss 11th seed the highest-rated victim of her young career in making history on the New York hardcourts.
"It was a really tough match," Raducanu said. "I'm really glad to have come through."
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