“President Donald Trump fired Chair of the Joint Chiefs Gen. C.Q. Brown on Friday night, and said he intends to dismiss the Navy’s top admiral and the Air Force’s second in command — an unprecedented shakeup of the Pentagon’s top brass that will trigger ripple effects throughout the military. Trump, in a Truth Social post, said he was nominating retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Dan ‘Razin’ Caine to take Brown’s place. Caine is a partner at Shield Capital, a venture capital firm. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, minutes later, said in a statement that he is ‘requesting nominations’ for replacements for Chief of Naval Operations Lisa Franchetti and Air Force Vice Chief Gen. James Slife. The Pentagon chief also said he was also looking for new nominations for senior judicial officers — the services’ top lawyers — for the Army, Navy and Air Force.” (02/21/25)
“Hadi Matar, the man who stabbed and partially blinded prize-winning novelist Salman Rushdie at an event in New York, has been found guilty of attempted murder. Jurors delivered the verdict on Friday for Matar’s assault on Rushdie on stage at an arts institute’s event in August 2022. The Satanic Verses author, 77, was stabbed with a knife multiple times in the head, neck, torso and left hand, blinding his right eye and damaging his liver and intestines, and requiring emergency surgery and months of recovery.” (02/22/25)
“You can’t bleat this. A mischievous goat somehow got itself stuck on a fifth-floor window ledge in Spain, forcing firefighters to pull off hair-raising rescue — with the whole thing caught on video. ‘Among the services we provide are the rescue of animals at risk,’ firefighters in Madrid said in Spanish in a Facebook post after last week’s rescue. ‘In this intervention we received a notice of a goat on the ledge of a 5th floor!’ … Video footage showed them them climbing onto a balcony, with one firefighter reaching over to put out a container of water and several carrots to try to lure the scared goat back to safety. The billy took the bait and was seen gingerly walking on the ledge of the balcony as spectators on the ground could be heard cheering far below — and while the rescuers stepped back into the vacant apartment to avoid spooking the already frightened farm animal.” (02/23/25)
“An armed robbery suspect is dead after he was shot trying to rob a donut shop on the southeast side of Clinton Township on Thursday afternoon, according to police. … According to a preliminary investigation, a male suspect in his mid-30s entered the store and pulled out what police said appeared to be a firearm while demanding cash from the register. ‘During the incident, an employee produced a firearm and discharged a shot, which is believed to have struck the suspect,’ police Detective Brandon Blake said in a news release. Authorities said the suspect ran from the shop and got into a vehicle, which crashed a short distance away at a gas station at 15 Mile and Harper. … the suspect was transported to a local hospital, where he was later pronounced dead, Blake added.” (02/21/25)
“Mali’s military government says it is investigating allegations that soldiers ‘coldly executed’ at least 24 civilians in the north of the country on Monday. That claim was made by a separatist Tuareg rebel alliance, called Azawad Liberation Front (FLA), which is battling the Malian government in the same region. The FLA accuse Malian forces and Wagner mercenaries of intercepting two passenger vehicles travelling to Algeria from the Malian city of Gao and killing the civilians on board, including women and children. In a statement, army chief Gen Oumar Diarra said the allegations ‘relayed by terrorist networks, allies and sponsors’ follow other ‘unfounded’ claims against state forces.” (02/22/25)
“US stocks fell the most in two months as a bout of gloomy economic data showed sentiment among consumers and businesses has cooled a month into Donald Trump’s presidency. The S&P 500 fell 1.7 per cent on Friday, the worst slide for Wall Street’s blue-chip index since December 18, when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates but signalled a slower pace of monetary policy easing in 2025. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite was down 2.2 per cent in its steepest fall since January 27, when Big Tech stocks were hit as worries over advancements by Chinese artificial intelligence start-up DeepSeek rattled the sector. The sharp decline came as a series of reports signalled that the world’s biggest economy was facing growing challenges from elevated borrowing costs and inflation. Trump’s tariffs have also begun to dent sentiment among consumers and businesses.” (02/21/25)
“One of the biggest airport brawls to have ever erupted in Atlanta was captured in a video that has now gone viral. Dozens of travelers broke out in a massive fight last week at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The video shows the brawl taking place at a waiting area near a Spirit Airlines boarding gate. The footage, which received 2 million views since it was posted to X on Friday, shows a chaotic crowd rapidly punching and kicking one another in front of a Spirit Airlines poster. … Police responding to the disturbance told Fox 5 Atlanta that the crowd had dispersed by the time officers arrived. It does not appear that anyone has been arrested, the local station reported.” (02/23/25)
“The United Nations Security Council on Friday called on Rwanda’s military to stop supporting the M23 rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and immediately withdraw all troops from Congolese territory ‘without preconditions.’ The 15-member council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution urging the DRC and Rwanda to return to diplomatic talks to achieve a lasting peaceful resolution. The M23 has captured the two largest cities in eastern Congo, stoking fears of a wider war. Rwanda denies allegations from Congo and the U.N. that it supports the M23 with arms and troops.” (02/21/25)
“A Hillsborough police officer was ‘ambushed’ by a gunman in the rear parking lot of the town’s police station Saturday afternoon, but survived, officials said. The suspect, who fled the scene on foot, was still at large Saturday night. While the officer returned fire, it wasn’t known whether he struck his assailant, police said. The attack occurred about 3:49 p.m. at the police station, which is located with Town Hall at 1600 Floribunda Ave. The wounded officer was taken to San Francisco General Hospital and was expected to make a full recovery, police said in a press release.” (02/22/25)
“The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an emergency appeal to fire the leader of an independent watchdog agency in the issue first to reach the Supreme Court challenging President Donald Trump’s executive orders. Hampton Dellinger will be able to lead the Office of Special Counsel through at least Wednesday after an unsigned opinion backed by at least five justices.” (02/21/25)
