United States: Man shot after firing near the White House
An individual took out a gun from a bag and fired a flurry of shots on a security checkpoint near the White House in Washington on Saturday evening, The New York Times reported. A bystander, whose injuries were unknown at the time, was also hit during the exchange of fire. President Donald Trump, who has been the target of three presumed assassination attempts in the past two years, was in the building at the time of the incident, which occurred shortly after 6 p.m. local time. The American president “had announced on Friday that he would spend the weekend at the White House” to handle the Iran dossier, as noted by the American newspaper. According to several American media outlets, the presumed shooter, a 21-year-old from Maryland, had a history of mental health issues and was already known to the Secret Service for appearing several times around the White House.
Ukraine: Kiev under massive attack of Russian missiles and drones
Russian forces launched a “large-scale” attack involving missiles and drones against Kiev and its region during the night from Saturday to Sunday, according to The Kyiv Independent. The strikes hit several residential buildings and a school, resulting in at least one dead and thirteen injured, as reported by the Ukrainian site. The first wave of strikes occurred around 1 a.m. followed by several others between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Air raid alerts were triggered across the country. Russian President Vladimir Putin had promised retaliation after a Ukrainian drone strike on Thursday to Friday night in the Ukrainian region of Luhansk, occupied by Moscow, which resulted in at least 18 deaths.
Israel: Far-right minister Ben Gvir banned from French territory
The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Yves Le Drian, announced on Saturday that the Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir “was banned from entering all French territory with immediate effect” due to the “reprehensible actions” of the far-right minister towards activists of the Gaza flotilla held in Israel, according to The Times of Israel. Itamar Ben Gvir had posted a video on Wednesday showing dozens of Gaza flotilla activists kneeling with their hands tied after being intercepted at sea and detained. Some of them denounced “violence” and “humiliations” by Israeli forces. “We cannot tolerate that French citizens are threatened, intimidated, or brutalized, especially by a representative of the public authority”, Mr. Le Drian stated.
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