News of the World

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US Conducts Airstrikes in Syria
After 1 Killed in Suspected Iranian Drone Attack on Base

The U.S. military carried out an airstrike in Syria on Thursday after a drone attacked a U.S. base, killing one and injuring six more, including service members, according to the Department of Defense (DOD).

In a late Thursday night statement, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced that he had authorized U.S. Central Command forces to carry out precise airstrikes in eastern Syria against facilities used by groups linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
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According to the U.S. Intelligence Community, the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) responsible for the attack on the coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria was determined “to be of Iranian origin.”

The UAV targeted a maintenance facility and struck at approximately 1:38 p.m. local time, resulting in the death of one U.S. contractor and injuries to five service members and an additional U.S. contractor.

Two of the wounded service members received medical treatment on site while three other service members and the U.S. contractor were evacuated to coalition facilities in Iraq for further medical attention.

The DOD declared that the strikes were carried out with the aim of safeguarding and defending American personnel. It also affirmed that the response was “proportionate and deliberate” and aimed to curtail the possibility of increased hostilities and casualties.

Austin emphasized that President Joe Biden had conveyed the message that the United States would use all necessary means to protect its people and would retaliate on its own terms.

Rockets Target US Troops in Syria Day After US Strikes, No Casualties Reported

U.S. troops stationed in eastern Syria came under rocket attack on Friday, a day after U.S. forces conducted retaliatory air strikes on Iranian forces operating in Syria.

The barrage of eight rockets targeted U.S. troops stationed near the Al-Omar oil fields in Syria’s Deir ez-Zur province at around 8:05 a.m. local time.

“We can confirm there was a rocket attack on Green Village in Syria,” Maj. John Moore, a spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said in an emailed statement.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) spokesperson reported no U.S. or coalition personnel were injured, and no equipment or facilities were damaged in this latest attack.

The rocket attack came a day after a U.S. contractor was killed when an explosives-laden drone crashed into a maintenance facility on a Coalition base near Hasakah in northeast Syria. Five U.S. service members and another U.S. contractor were wounded in that attack. U.S. forces determined the suicide drone was of Iranian design and attributed the attack to Iranian-affiliated groups operating in Syria. U.S. forces responded to the Thursday suicide drone attack by launching retaliatory air strikes against facilities used by groups affiliated with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).

Neither CENTCOM nor the DoD attributed Friday’s rocket attack to Iranian forces or their proxies in the area. Still, the incident could be the latest exchange of fire between the U.S. and Iranian-aligned forces in Syria.

A social media post purportedly shows a U.S. Army Apache attack helicopter operating over the Deir ez-Zur province in Syria on Friday afternoon.

Manhattan DA Office Responds:
Trump Created ‘False Expectation’ He Would Be Arrested

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg fired back at House Republicans seeking to probe his reported case against former President Donald Trump, offering the first public response to the former president’s claim that he would be indicted by Bragg’s office soon.

“Your letter dated March 20, 2023 (the ‘Letter’), in contrast, is an [unprecedented] inquiry into a pending local prosecution,” Bragg’s office wrote (pdf) to House Judiciary Republicans in the letter, which was posted online by multiple news outlets. It said that the GOP’s letter “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested the next day, and his lawyers reportedly urged you to intervene. Neither fact is a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry.”

If Bragg’s office were to comply with the request, it would “interfere with law enforcement,” and the GOP letter represents an “unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty,” according to the letter. It was written by Bragg’s general counsel, Leslie B. Dubeck, and dated March 23.

The letter represents the first public comments Bragg made specifically about the investigation into Trump after the former president announced last weekend that he would be indicted on Tuesday, although Tuesday passed without any charges being filed against him. So far, Epoch Times requests for comment to Bragg’s office have gone unanswered.

However, the letter provided little insight into the investigation and whether the grand jury will return an indictment against Trump. Several witnesses, including former Trump attorney Michael Cohen and fellow lawyer Robert Castello, testified in front of the grand jury in recent days, triggering even more speculation about the case.

Trump Lawyer Says Manhattan DA Bragg Should Be Investigated,
Ethics Complaint Filed

Joseph Tacopina, attorney for former President Donald Trump, has accused Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg of violating prosecutorial conduct in his case against Trump.

In an interview with The Epoch Times, Tacopina noted that he had filed a recommendation to an oversight body requesting an investigation on Bragg.

The remarks came a day after Alan Dershowitz, a professor emeritus at Harvard Law School, said on Fox News’ “Hannity” that Bragg should be investigated for bringing into the proceedings former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who reportedly became a star witness in the grand jury investigation issues surrounding Trump’s alleged involvement in hush money Cohen paid to adult entertainment actress Stormy Daniels. Trump has denied having an affair with Daniels, saying he’s a victim of extortion.

“I have never seen a weaker case, and, in the end, I really do think that Bragg is worried about his own bar card. I think he’s worried that [if] he brings this case, and he uses a witness who he has to know is lying, there could be investigations of [Bragg], and there should be investigations,” Dershowitz said, referring to Cohen.

The testimony of Cohen, who claims that he paid Daniels at Trump’s direction, is likely to be critical in establishing charges against Trump, which experts expect to be felony falsifying business records. That charge would require that the fraud had been to hide another crime—in this case a violation of federal campaign law.

Tacopina, who has represented high-profile clients such as Michael Jackson and rapper ASAP Rocky, told The Epoch Times that he agreed with Dershowitz’s assessment.

Kellyanne Conway Breaks Silence on Michael Cohen’s Trump Allegations

“Michael Cohen never told me he was using money to pay this person,” Conway, Trump’s 2016 campaign manager, told Fox News on Tuesday, responding to details that surfaced about the probe. She was referring to Cohen’s claims that he paid hush money to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign, while Bragg’s office is reportedly trying to determine whether Trump misclassified the payment.

Conway met with Manhattan prosecutors several weeks ago and was seen arriving at the district attorney’s office in early March, according to reporters. In her interview with Hannity, Conway confirmed she testified in front of the grand jury, noting that she did so without a lawyer present.

“They are trying to build a case against Donald Trump … based on the testimony of Michael Cohen,” she said, adding that Cohen “had nothing to do with the [Trump] campaign” in 2016.

Two years after the 2016 campaign ended, Cohen was indicted on federal charges and ultimately pleaded guilty to tax evasion, campaign finance, and making false statements. Cohen’s three year sentenced ended in mid-2021 and at the time, he told reporters he will work with law enforcement to “ensure that others are held responsible for their dirty deeds and no one is ever believed to be above the law.”
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During the Fox News interview, Conway noted that in late 2016, weeks before the November election, nobody believed Trump would win the presidency after several women threatened to come forward with allegations against him. She noted there were “women coming out” constantly and “nothing came of any of that.”

Man Drives at Pedestrians Inside German Airport Garage

A motorist drove at pedestrians and rammed parked cars on Friday in a parking garage at Cologne-Bonn Airport in western Germany, injuring three people slightly, police said.

Two police officers also were slightly hurt as they pinned down the 57-year-old man, who appeared to have mental health issues, according to a police statement.

Most people apparently were able to get out of the way of the vehicle, though one of the injured was squeezed between cars.

The driver was detained and taken to the hospital. He was uninjured.

Police said that, before the incident, security officers had twice thrown the man out of the airport “because of his behavior.” They didn’t elaborate.

He then apparently climbed into a rental company’s minibus that had been parked in the garage for cleaning and drove across the parking garage—shifting gears, going forward and backward over and over again until police stopped him.