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Israel strikes Iran nuclear sites, assassinates military leaders and scientists. Israel launched five waves of airstrikes on Iran starting before dawn on Friday local time, killing Iran’s top three military officials and at least two prominent nuclear scientists. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military action sought to crush “the heart of Iran’s ballistic missile program.” More than 200 warplanes struck at least 100 targets across Iran, including the main building of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, residential compounds of prominent individuals, and the Natanz nuclear enrichment facility. At least 12 civilians were killed in strikes on Tehran alone, according to Iran’s state news agency. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran’s supreme leader, said Israel “should anticipate a harsh punishment.” Iran deployed at least 100 drones to Israel immediately following the strikes. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US was not involved in the attacks on Iran. Fox News host Bret Baier said President Trump told him he had prior knowledge of Israel’s planned attacks on Iranian leadership, but hoped nuclear negotiations with Iran could continue. Iran announced on state TV that it would not participate in nuclear negotiations with the US until further notice, scrapping talks planned for Sunday.—HVL
India suffered one of its worst plane crashes in decades. A London-bound India Air flight crashed shortly after takeoff into a medical college in Ahmedabad, India, yesterday, killing 241 passengers and crew as well as dozens of people on the ground. A sole surviving passenger walked away without life-threatening injuries, telling a medic that the plane, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, split in two before exploding. A pedestrian video shows the plane angled upward but descending before it disappears behind buildings into a fireball. The US and UK said they’re sending officials to aid in India’s crash investigation.—ML
Boeing draws fresh scrutiny for the crash. The scandal-ridden planemaker has had fatal problems with the 737 Max for years, but this is the first time that Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner has crashed since the model launched in 2011. Last year, a whistleblower working on the 787 raised concerns about the craft (he said he was later fired), while many airlines have reportedly discovered engine problems with the 787, leading them to delay or cancel flights. Meanwhile, yesterday’s crash came less than two weeks after Boeing agreed to pay $1.1 billion to dodge criminal charges for two fatal 737 Max crashes in 2018 and 2019.—ML
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