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Paul Pelosi attack: Suspect enters not guilty plea
The man who allegedly broke into the home of U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in October and beat her 82-year-old husband has pleaded not guilty to six charges, including attempted murder. The suspect, David DePapp, entered a plea in state court on Wednesday. Authorities said he had planned to kidnap the out-of-town spokesman when he broke into the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28. Instead, he beat her husband, Paul Pelosi, severely with a hammer. The two policemen stunned the political world. The public defender’s office declined to comment.
Lawmakers signal probe into U.S. government use of foreign spyware
Senior lawmakers said they would investigate the government’s purchase and use of powerful spyware made by two Israeli hacking firms, as Congress passed a measure in recent days to try to rein in the proliferation of hacking tools. The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), sent a letter to the head of the DEA asking for details about the agency’s use of Graphite, a spyware tool made by Israel’s Paragon. Graphite, like Pegasus, a better-known Israeli hacking tool, can infiltrate targeted phones and extract messages, videos, photos, and other content.
Judge orders longest sentence to date in Gov. Whitmer conspiracy
A Delaware truck driver described as the mastermind of a plot to kidnap Michigan’s governor has been sentenced to more than 19 years in prison. The sentence announced Wednesday is the longest sentence to date for anyone involved in the plot. Prosecutors are seeking a life sentence for Barry Croft Jr., 47, the fourth and last federal defendant to learn of his fate. Judge Robert J. Jonker described him as the “creative man” behind the plot and called him a “very persuasive communicator” to those willing to accept his views. Croft and accomplice Adam Fox were convicted of conspiracy in Grand Rapids in August. Fox was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Tuesday.
US to require COVID-19 testing for travelers from China
The US will soon require COVID-19 testing for travelers from China. The United States joined several other countries in imposing travel restrictions as infections surged in China. The increase in cases comes after the rollback of strict anti-virus controls in China. Beginning Jan. 5, travelers traveling from China to the U.S. must be tested for COVID-19 within two days of travel and provide a negative result before boarding a flight. The U.S. action, announced Wednesday, reinstates the requirement for some international travelers. The Biden administration rescinded the last such authorization in June.
Vatican says retired Pope Benedict’s health ‘deteriorating’
The Vatican said the health of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI had deteriorated in the past few hours and that doctors had been monitoring his condition. Pope Francis on Wednesday called on the faithful to pray “until the end” for his “very ill” predecessor. A Vatican spokesman said Francis went to visit Benedict, 95, at the Vatican monastery, where he has lived since his retirement in February 2013. Benedict’s situation “is currently under control,” the spokesperson said. Benedict is the first pope in 600 years to resign. Earlier, Francis left a prepared speech asking the faithful to pray for the retiring pontiff. In recent years, Benedict has grown frail as he devotes his post-pope life to prayer and meditation.
Whelan detained in Russia for up to 4 years
U.S. officials reiterated their commitment to bring Paul Whelan home on Wednesday, the fourth anniversary of his detention in Russia where he was sentenced to 16 years in prison on espionage charges the U.S. government said were false. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Whelan, 52, had been “going through unfathomable ordeal,” adding, “Our efforts to secure Paul’s release will not stop until he returns to the family.” Whelan, a corporate security executive and former U.S. Marine, was arrested in Moscow in 2018 and charged with espionage.
Ukraine again requests evacuation, Russia continues airstrikes on Kherson
Russian forces have launched missile attacks and nearly three dozen rocket attacks on Kherson over the past day, Ukraine’s military said on Wednesday, with officials calling on residents to evacuate the troubled southern city that Moscow has stepped up shelling. The strike hit maternity wards where at least five women were recovering after giving birth, according to Kirillo Tymoshenko, deputy head of Ukraine’s presidential office. “Miraculously, no one was hurt,” he said. Kherson has been under fire since Ukraine recaptured the city last month, with Russian forces shelling the city on an almost daily basis.
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