NEWS OF THE DAY
From Around the World
1 Chemical weapons: The Trump administration says Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government may be developing new, more sophisticated chemical weapons. U.S. officials say the characteristics of recent alleged attacks suggest Syria is producing chemical weapons despite a 2013 deal to destroy its program. The officials say it’s “highly likely” that Syria kept a stockpile of weapons. The officials also say Syria may be making new kinds of weapons, either to improve their military capability or to escape international accountability. The officials also say the Islamic State keeps using chemical weapons such as sulfur mustard and chlorine.
2 Van attack: A man who drove a van into a crowd of worshipers near a north London mosque has been convicted of murder. A jury at Woolwich Crown Court on Thursday found Darren Osborne guilty of murder and attempted murder in the June 2017 attack. A 51-year-old man, Makram Ali, was killed and nine people were injured. Prosecutors said Osborne was influenced by far-right ideology and motivated by a hatred of Muslims, whom he saw as extremists or rapists in pedophile gangs. Osborne, of Cardiff, Wales, had pleaded not guilty. He claimed a man named Dave had been driving the van when it struck the crowd.
3 Rebel arrested: Philippine police said Thursday that they had arrested a top leader of the country’s decades-old Communist insurgency, in the latest signal that President Rodrigo Duterte is not interested in resuming the peace talks he halted last year. Rebel leader Rafael Baylosis, 69, was arrested along with an aide Wednesday in Quezon City, a northern suburb of Manila. The military says Baylosis is one of the top leaders of the New People’s Army, the armed wing of the underground Communist Party of the Philippines. The Communist insurgency began in 1969, making it one of the longest-running conflicts in Asia. Over the decades, tens of thousands of people have been killed in the fighting. The Philippine military says the New People’s Army currently has about 5,000 fighters.
4 Antihijab campaign: Iranian police say they have detained 29 women they described as “deceived” who removed their obligatory Islamic veils in protest. The Thursday report by the private Tasnim news agency, which is close to the government, said the detainees were taking part in an antihijab campaign known as “White Wednesdays.” Under the campaign advocated by foreignbased Farsi language satellite TV networks, participants should take their white-colored scarves off on Wednesdays. Women showing their hair in public can be jailed for up to two months or fined $25.
5 Fidel Castro’s son dies: The oldest son of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro killed himself Thursday after treatment for depression, state media reported. He was 68. Official website Cubadebate said Fidel Castro DiazBalart had been in a “deeply depressed state.” A brief note read on state television said his treatment had “required an initial hospitalization then outpatient follow-up.” The oldest son of Cuba’s late revolutionary leader was known for his resemblance to his father, earning him the nickname Fidelito or Little Fidel. Castro Diaz-Balart studied nuclear physics in the former Soviet Union and served as scientific adviser to Cuba’s Council of State. He was vice president of the Cuban Academy of Sciences.