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Paul Pelosi Attacker Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole

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Paul Pelosi Attacker Sentenced to Life in Prison Without Parole

The man who broke into the home of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and attacked her husband with a hammer has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on state charges in California.

David DePape was also convicted on federal charges in May, leading to a 30-year prison sentence which will now be served concurrently. In the state trial, a San Francisco jury found DePape guilty of kidnapping, first-degree burglary and false imprisonment of an elder. The attack left Paul Pelosi, now 84, in the hospital for six days with a fractured skull and other injuries.

In a statement after the sentencing, the Pelosi family said that “legal justice has been served” and that the sentence sends a message “that political violence against elected officials or their family members will not be tolerated.”

Judge Harry Dorfman refused a defense request for a more lenient sentence, saying he did not feel sympathy for DePape and that it was his intention that the attacker “will never get out of prison, he can never be paroled.”

Video of the incident showed DePape, a Canadian citizen who has lived in the U.S. for two decades, breaking into the Pelosi home in California armed with a hammer on October 28, 2022. DePape admitted during his federal trial that he planned to hold Nancy Pelosi hostage, interrogate her on camera and “break her kneecaps” if she did not admit to what he claimed were her lies.

When police officers arrived, they found Paul Pelosi and DePape both gripping the hammer. Moments later, after being asked to drop the weapon, DePape abruptly struck Pelosi before being wrestled to the ground by officers.

In addition to a fractured skull, Pelosi suffered injuries to his arm and hand, having been struck three times during the attack. In a letter read by his daughter Christine, Pelosi said the incident left him with nerve damage and in fear of sleeping alone at home.

When given the chance to address the court, DePape spoke at length about conspiracy theories surrounding the 9/11 attacks, forced the judge to interrupt him several times. DePape’s lawyer had unsuccessfully argued that his client’s mental health issues and isolation made him vulnerable to propaganda.

TikTok Co-Founder Becomes China’s Richest Person

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TikTok Co-Founder Becomes China’s Richest Person

The surging global popularity of TikTok has seen the co-founder of its parent company, ByteDance, become China’s richest person.

According to the Hurun Research Institute’s rich list, Zhang Yiming is now worth $49.3 billion (£38 billion) – 43% more than in 2023. The 41-year-old stepped down from his role in charge of the company in 2021, but is understood to own around 20% of the firm.

TikTok has become one of the most popular social media apps in the world, despite deep concerns in some countries about its ties to the Chinese state. While both companies insist they are independent of the Chinese government, the US intends to ban TikTok in January 2025 unless ByteDance sells it.

Despite facing that intense pressure in the US, ByteDance’s global profit increased by 60% last year, driving up Zhang Yiming’s personal fortune.

“Zhang Yiming is the 18th new Number One we have had in China in just 26 years,” said Hurun head Rupert Hoogewerf. “The US, by comparison, has only four Number Ones: Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. This gives an indication of some of the dynamism in the Chinese economy.”

Zhang is not the only representative of China’s huge tech sector on the list. Pony Ma, boss of the tech conglomerate Tencent, is third on the list with an estimated personal wealth amounting to £44.4 billion.

However, the Hurun China Rich List has shrunk for an unprecedented third year running, as China’s economy and stock markets had a difficult year. Only around 30% of the people on the list had an increase in their net worth, while the rest saw a decline.

“Solar panel, lithium battery and EV makers have had a challenging year, as competition intensified, leading to a glut, and the threat of tariffs added to uncertainties,” Hoogewerf said.

Russia Simulates ‘Massive’ Nuclear Strike in Drills Amid Ukraine War

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Russia Simulates ‘Massive’ Nuclear Strike in Drills Amid Ukraine War

Russia has test-fired nuclear missiles from land, sea and air as it simulated a “massive” response to an attack from the West, with President Vladimir Putin warning that Russia would respond to any attack with “overwhelming” nuclear firepower.

“Taking into account growing geopolitical tensions and emerging new threats and risks, it’s important for us to have modern strategic forces that are always ready for combat,” Putin said.

The Russian military test-fired a Yars nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile from the Plesetsk launchpad, while two nuclear-powered submarines in the Barents Sea and the Sea of Okhotsk launched ballistic missiles that can be armed with nuclear warheads. Tu-95 strategic bombers also launched practice long-range cruise missile attacks.

Andrey Belousov, Russia’s minister of defence, told Putin that the exercise simulated Russia’s “strategic offensive forces launching a massive nuclear strike in response to a nuclear strike by the enemy”.

The move comes as tensions remain high between Russia and the West over the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. In September, Putin lowered the threshold to launch a nuclear strike in Russia’s military doctrine.

Analysts noted that while the nuclear drills were planned in advance and not a direct reaction to recent exercises by the U.S., they reflect the increasing nuclear dangers amid the geopolitical tensions.

“Important to add that these exercises are planned long in advance and not a direct reaction to the other,” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.

Ukraine is still trying to persuade its Western partners to allow it to fire Western-made long-range missiles at Russia, a move that the Kremlin has warned would trigger a major response.

Torrential Rains Batter Spain’s Coastal Resorts, at Least Four Missing

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Torrential Rains Batter Spain’s Coastal Resorts, at Least Four Missing

At least four people are missing after torrential rains caused flash flooding across southern and eastern Spain, hitting popular holiday resorts.

Some areas across the Costa Del Sol, and further north in Valencia on the Costa Blanca, got a month’s worth of rain on Tuesday, as mud-colored waters carried away cars and cut off roads and rail connections.

Emergency services workers are looking for “around four” people who are missing in the wake of the flash floods, Letur Mayor Sergio Marin Sanchez told Spanish public television. “We couldn’t have predicted anything like this was going to happen. It’s a major catastrophe.”

A lorry driver disappeared on Tuesday afternoon in the town of L’Alcudia in the Valencia region, while in the Paiporta area a bridge was filmed collapsing into the river. On Tuesday evening, the entire province of Valencia, which has a population of 5.5 million, was told to avoid travel.

In the southern region of Andalusia, a high-speed train with 276 passengers derailed, although no one was injured, the regional government said. Emergency services also rescued scores of people in Alora in Andalusia, some by helicopter, after a river overflowed.

Spain’s weather agency AEMET has declared a red alert in the eastern Valencia region and the second-highest level of alert in parts of Andalusia in the south. National rail infrastructure operator ADIF said it had suspended high-speed trains between Madrid and Valencia as a result of the storm.

An emergency rescue brigade of Spain’s army has been deployed to help with rescue efforts. The storms are forecast to continue through Thursday. Scientists say extreme weather events like these are becoming more frequent due to climate change. Meteorologists believe the warming of the Mediterranean, which increases water evaporation, plays a key role in making torrential rain more severe

Shots Fired at Atlanta Four Seasons Hotel Building, Suspect in Custody

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Shots Fired at Atlanta Four Seasons Hotel Building, Suspect in Custody

A police officer and a suspected shooter were injured Tuesday after gunfire erupted at a Midtown Atlanta building occupied by a Four Seasons hotel and residences, authorities said.

Officers responded to the high-rise after 10 a.m. following a dispute between a Four Seasons worker and a man on the 33rd floor, which is occupied by residences, said Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum. The man fired at least once from the balcony of a residence, also firing through walls and doors, though no other injuries were reported.

The officer was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect, Jay Steven Berger, 70, who used as many as three guns including a handgun and at least one long gun, was also hospitalized, though the extent of his injuries was not specified.

At least two officers returned fire during the incident. The 33rd floor was evacuated as police negotiated with the man, who ultimately refused to come out. Police then breached the door of the unit to rush him and take him into custody.

“We saw bravery,” Schierbaum said. “We saw an effort made to preserve life.”

Mayor Andre Dickens said the gunman was wearing what appeared to be a gas mask, though it was unclear why. He said more than 15 shots were fired during the incident.

Because police used force, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will investigate officers’ response, Schierbaum said.

At 4:35 p.m., police said a shelter-in-place order for those in and near the high-rise on 14th Street Northeast has been lifted and that a suspect was in custody. The police department asked people to continue to avoid the area as it investigated.

The Four Seasons hotel takes up 19 of 53 stories of the high-rise and occupies 244 rooms, 23 of which are designated suites. The building also includes 96 residences and 97,000 square feet of office space.

3 Men Indicted for Alleged Plot to Attack Jewish Target in Germany

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3 Men Indicted for Alleged Plot to Attack Jewish Target in Germany

Three men have been charged in a case that involves an alleged plan to attack a Jewish target in western Germany, prosecutors said Tuesday.

The 25-year-old main suspect, a German citizen, flew to Istanbul in April with the intention of continuing to Syria to join with Islamic extremist fighters, prosecutors in Stuttgart said. That plan failed and he returned to Germany.

Along with an 18-year-old German-Turkish dual national, he then allegedly planned an attack on a Jewish facility in either Heidelberg or Mannheim. The pair also discussed getting fatally shot by police after such an attack and then having a video claim of responsibility released with recriminations against German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and his policy toward Israel, prosecutors said.

The aim of the planned attack was an end to cooperation between Germany and Israel, they added. Germany is a staunch ally of Israel.

The main suspect is already in custody because he is accused of the attempted manslaughter of a German police officer during a raid in May related to the alleged attack plan. He has now been charged with preparing a serious act of violence and conspiracy to murder.

The 18-year-old, who is also in custody, was charged with being an accessory to preparing a serious act of violence and conspiracy to murder.

A second 25-year-old German is accused of driving the main suspect to Stuttgart Airport, knowing that the man’s plan was to try to travel to Syria. He was charged with being an accessory to preparing a serious act of violence.

The state court in Heilbronn will have to decide whether, and if so when, to send the case to trial.

Over 2,000 Salvadoran Soldiers Fence Off Neighborhood in Gang Crackdown

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Over 2,000 Salvadoran Soldiers Fence Off Neighborhood in Gang Crackdown

More than 90 people, including 20 children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Gaza early Tuesday, local officials said, the deadliest attack in months as Israel wages a renewed assault on the northern part of the Palestinian enclave.

The strike hit a five-story building in the northern city of Beit Lahia housing some 200 people, according to the Gaza government media office. Some 93 people were killed, another 40 people were missing and dozens injured, it added.

The nearby Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of Gaza’s last functioning medical facilities, had no doctors to treat the wounded after a dayslong siege there by Israeli forces, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. “Critical cases without intervention will succumb to their destiny and die,” the ministry warned.

The deadly airstrikes came just hours after the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, passed a law banning UNRWA, the United Nations’ Palestinian aid agency, from operating inside Israel or having any contact with Israeli authorities. The move has raised fears of a spiraling humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where UNRWA is the main supplier of food, water, medicine and other essential supplies to the enclave’s 2 million residents.

UNRWA head Philippe Lazzarini called the vote “unprecedented” and “nothing less than collective punishment” for the Palestinians after more than a year of “sheer hell.” The U.S. expressed deep concern over the legislation, which it said would outlaw an agency that “plays a critical, important role in delivering humanitarian assistance to civilians that need it in Gaza.”

The Israeli airstrike and UNRWA ban are the latest developments in the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. The assault on Gaza comes after a surge of violence in March 2022, prompting the Israeli government to declare a “state of emergency” and undertake a widespread crackdown on suspected militants.

Meanwhile, in neighboring Lebanon, the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah named a new leader – former deputy Sheikh Naim Kassem – after the killing of its powerful chief Hassan Nasrallah and his presumed successor.

Over 2,000 Salvadoran Soldiers Fence Off Neighborhood in Gang Crackdown

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Over 2,000 Salvadoran Soldiers Fence Off Neighborhood in Gang Crackdown

More than 2,000 soldiers and 500 police officers surrounded a populous neighborhood on the outskirts of El Salvador’s capital on Monday in an effort to quash the remnants of gangs the president said were trying to set up shop in the area.

“There is a group of gang members in hiding. We have established a security fence throughout the neighborhood… to extract every last gang member in the area,” wrote Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in a post on X.

Police surrounded the San Marcos neighborhood with a military fence, setting up checkpoints to prevent gang members from escaping, said Defense Minister René Francis Merino Monroy.

The fence was the third of its kind to be installed in parts of San Salvador intended to find and arrest gang members still operating in the country. In March, Bukele ordered similar barricades to be put up in a northern part of the country, which he said was to dismantle a faction of the Barrio 18 gang.

The blockade is the latest in the populist leader’s war on gangs, announced by Bukele following a surge of violence in March 2022. Bukele’s government called for a “state of emergency” and waived constitutional rights to arrest more than 1% of El Salvador’s population with little evidence.

Taliban Imposes New Bizarre Restriction on Afghan Women, Banning Them from Hearing Each Other’s Voices

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Taliban Imposes New Bizarre Restriction on Afghan Women, Banning Them from Hearing Each Other’s Voices

In its latest attempt to enforce a hardline version of Islamic law, the Taliban has banned women in Afghanistan from hearing other women’s voices, even during prayer. The bizarre new restriction, announced by the country’s minister for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, Khalid Hanafi, in a rambling voice message on Monday, has left many Afghan women and human rights activists outraged and despairing.

Although the precise details of the Taliban’s ruling remain unclear, activists warn that it could effectively ban women from holding conversations with one another. In his message, Hanafi stated, “Even when an adult female prays and another female passes by, she must not pray loudly enough for them to hear.” He added, “How could they be allowed to sing if they aren’t even permitted to hear [each other’s] voices while praying, let alone for anything else.”

The new rules, which Hanafi said will be gradually implemented with “God’s help,” have been met with disbelief and anger from Afghan women. One woman in Kabul told The Telegraph, “Whatever he says is a form of mental torture for us. Living in Afghanistan is incredibly painful for us as women. Afghanistan is forgotten, and that’s why they are suppressing us – they are torturing us on a daily basis.”

Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban has systematically restricted women’s rights in Afghanistan. Women have already been ordered to cover their faces “to avoid temptation and tempting others,” refrain from speaking in the presence of unfamiliar men, and be accompanied by a “male guardian” when leaving their homes. The Taliban has also ordered women not to speak loudly inside their homes to prevent their voices from being heard outside, with those who defy the rules facing arrest and imprisonment.

A UN report in July 2024 said the ministry for promoting virtue and preventing vice was contributing to a climate of fear and intimidation among Afghans through its edicts and enforcement methods. The Taliban’s supreme leader has also vowed to start stoning women to death in public.

Afghan women have expressed a sense of abandonment by the international community. A former civil servant in Kabul told The Telegraph, “They [the Taliban] are waging an all-out war against us, and we have no one in the world to hear our voices. The world has abandoned us. They left us to the Taliban, and whatever happens to us now is a result of Western government policies.”

The increased restrictions have also caused discord within the Taliban’s own ranks, with a senior Taliban official telling The Telegraph of frustration from moderates with the more hardline elements of the regime. “Someone should stop the supreme leader. Many within the Taliban are angry and worried that, with everything the leadership is doing, we could lose Afghanistan as quickly as we took it,” the official said, expressing concerns that people may revolt if an alternative to the Taliban emerges.

As the Taliban continues to tighten its grip on Afghan society, particularly on women’s rights, the international community faces growing pressure to address the dire situation and protect the fundamental human rights of Afghan women and girls.

About 40 Soldiers Killed in Overnight Attack on Chad Military Base, Presidency Announces

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About 40 Soldiers Killed in Overnight Attack on Chad Military Base, Presidency Announces

An attack by unidentified assailants on a military base in Chad’s western Lake region has left at least 40 soldiers dead, the country’s presidency announced on Monday. The overnight assault took place on the base in Barkaram, an island in the Lake Chad area.

In response to the attack, President Mahamat Deby Itno visited the base early Monday morning and declared the launch of a military operation to pursue the attackers. The presidency released a statement detailing the president’s visit and the government’s plan to take action against those responsible for the deadly incident.

Chad has long been grappling with an insurgency in its western region, particularly near the border with Nigeria. While the identity of the assailants behind the latest attack remains unknown, previous incidents in the area have been attributed by the government to the Boko Haram militant group.

The region had experienced a period of relative peace following a successful military operation launched by the Chadian army in 2020 to destroy Boko Haram’s bases in the Lake Chad area. This had allowed for the reopening of schools, mosques, and churches, as well as the return of humanitarian organizations. However, the recent attack has revived fears of violence in the region.

In March, an attack that the government blamed on Boko Haram claimed the lives of seven soldiers, serving as a reminder of the ongoing threat posed by the extremist group. Boko Haram, which launched an insurgency more than a decade ago against Western education, seeks to establish Islamic law in Nigeria’s northeast and has since spread its influence to neighboring West African countries, including Cameroon, Niger, and Chad.

The latest attack comes as Chad continues to grapple with political turmoil in the wake of a controversial presidential election that saw Deby Itno, who had been serving as interim president during a period of military rule following the death of his father in 2021, emerge victorious.

The attack on the military base in Barkaram serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing security challenges faced by Chad and the wider West African region, underscoring the need for continued vigilance and cooperation in the fight against terrorism and insurgency.

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