Followers of cleric killed in indonesia Official: Trump to attend Army- Navy game. Longtime National Spelling Bee director steps down.
Six followers of divisive Indonesian cleric Rizieq Shihab were shot and killed by police on the outskirts of Jakarta early Monday after what authorities described as an attack on officers who were tailing the men as part of an investigation.
According to the police account, cars carrying Rizieq’s followers stopped the unmarked police car and began attacking six uniformed officers with revolvers, sickles and a sword. The officers, fearing for their lives, fired in self- defense, police said. Six men were killed. Four other men fled. No police officers were reported to be harmed.
Army investigates deaths at Fort Bragg.
The Army said it was investigating the deaths last week of a Green Beret and an Army veteran whose bodies were found in a training area at Fort Bragg in North Carolina.
The men’s bodies were discovered on Wednesday, the Army said. Officials have not said how they died, but they said the deaths were not related to official unit training activities.
Fort Bragg identified the Army veteran as Timothy Dumas, 44, of Pinehurst, N. C.
U. S. Army Special Operations Command identified the Green Beret as Master Sgt. William J. Lavigne II, 37, who had been assigned to Headquarters and Headquarters Company.
ANNAPOLIS, MD. » President Donald Trump is scheduled to attend this weekend’s Army- Navy football game in New York, the U. S. Naval Academy’s athletic director said Monday.
The game on Saturday at the U. S. Military Academy’s homefield in West Point, N. Y., will mark the first time the storied rivalry will be held at an academy’s field since 1943, Chet Gladchuk told the Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors.
“The president’s going to make it,” Gladchuk said. “I just found out a few moments ago he’ll be at the game.”
U. S. troop pullouts in Mideast raise fears of Iranian attacks.
WASHINGTON. » As the Pentagon pulls troops out of the Middle East in the coming weeks, under orders from President Donald Trump, U. S. military leaders are working to find other ways to deter potential attacks by Iran and its proxies, and to counter arguments that America is abandoning the region.
A senior U. S. military official with knowledge of the region said Monday that Iran may try to take advantage of America’s troop withdrawals from Iraq and Afghanistan, and the planned departure of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz from the Arabian Gulf.
The official said as a result military leaders have determined that based on the security situation in the region, the Nimitz must remain there now and “for some time to come.” In addition, the official said an additional fighter jet squadron may also be sent to the region, if needed.
Pope to visit Iraq in March.
VATICAN CITY » Pope Francis is scheduled to make a pilgrimage to Iraq in March, pandemic conditions permitting, the Vatican said Monday, announcing what would be the pontiff’s first trip abroad in more than a year.
Scripps National Spelling Bee announced executive director Paige Kimble’s departure on Monday, effective immediately, after 22 years in charge of the world’s preeminent spelling competition. The May event was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.