Drone strike kills Pakistani Taliban leader
KABUL, Afghanistan — A U.S. drone strike killed the leader of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, who ordered the assassination attempt on thenschoolgirl and future Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Afghan and Pakistani officials said Friday.
Afghan defense ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish said Fazlullah, two other militants and a driver were killed when their car was struck in the Afghan province of Kunar, along the Pakistan border, early Friday morning.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani confirmed the news in phone calls with Pakistani leaders.
Dems eye Pruitt tickets
WASHINGTON— Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt got tickets to the Rose Bowl with help from a firm that does public affairs and communications work for energy companies — and a top congressional Democrat wants to know the details.
Rep. Elijah Cummings of the House Oversight and GovernmentReform Committee sent a letter to Renzi Stone, founder of public relations firm Saxum, asking for documentson how he helped Mr. Pruitt obtain the tickets. Saxum represents PlainsAll American PipelineLP, which has a petition pending before the EPA.
Holmes indicted for fraud
NEWYORK — Federal prosecutors indicted Elizabeth Holmes on criminal fraud charges for alleged violations as the head of blood-testing startup Theranos.
Ms. Holmes and her former chief operating officer, Ramesh Balwani, are charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and nine counts of wire fraud, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California said Friday. If convicted, they could face lifelong prison sentences and fines of $2.75 million each.
Prosecutors allege that Ms. Holmes and Mr. Balwani misled investors, policymakers and the public about the accuracy of Theranos’ blood-testing technologies. Ms. Holmes founded Theranos in Palo Alto, Calif., pitching a cheaper way to run blood tests.
Cohen docs reassembled
NEWYORK — Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have reassembled 16 pages of shredded documents seized from President Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Michael Cohen, and recovered 731 pages of encrypted text messages.
Prosecutors provided the update on material seized from Mr. Cohen’s law office and residences in a letter Friday to Federal Court Judge Kimba Wood.
Mr. Cohen has argued the material is subject to attorney-client privilege. He is under investigation for bank fraud, wire fraud and campaign finance law violations. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday prosecutors also are examining whether he broke the law by working as a secret lobbyist.
Hawking’s ashes buried
LONDON— Stephen Hawking took his place among Britain’s greatest scientists with the burial of his ashes in Westminster Abbey, between Charles Darwin and Isaac Newton.
More than 1,000 people attended a service for the physicist, who died in March at 76 after decades of living with motor neuron disease.
Later Friday, Mr. Hawking’s words, set to music by Greek composer Vangelis, were beamed into space from a satellite dish in Spain. Mr. Hawking’s daughter, Lucy, said the music was aimed at “the nearest black hole, 1A 062000.”