The United States is warning shipping companies about potential sanctions for paying Iran to pass through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control issued an alert Friday, intensifying the standoff over the strait, a crucial passage for global oil and gas trade. Iran has been charging fees for safe passage after closing the strait in response to U.S. and Israeli attacks. Meanwhile, imprisoned Nobel Peace laureate Narges Mohammadi remains hospitalized in Iran, with her health said to be at "very high risk." In other news, Iran hanged two men convicted of spying for Israel.
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Iran’s imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Narges Mohammadi, has been urgently transferred to a hospital after a severe health decline. Her foundation reported Friday that she experienced two episodes of unconsciousness and a cardiac crisis. Mohammadi fainted twice in prison earlier that day. Her family and foundation have long advocated for her transfer due to systematic medical neglect since her arrest in December. Despite her critical condition, authorities delayed her transfer. Mohammadi, a rights lawyer, was arrested in December and sentenced to seven more years in prison. Her health has worsened due to mistreatment and previous heart issues.
A Florida sheriff says a body found in Tampa Bay has been identified as the second missing University of South Florida doctoral student from Bangladesh. Nahida Bristy’s remains were in a garbage bag, discovered by a kayaker whose fishing line got snagged. Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said the positive identification was eventually made using DNA and dental records. The body of her friend, fellow USF doctoral student Zamil Limon, was found in another garbage bag on a bridge over the bay. Limon’s roommate, Hisham Saleh Abugharbieh, is jailed on two charges of murder. The sheriff said detectives are still working to determine a motive for what he's calling “a monstrous crime.”
U.S. President Donald Trump says that he’s “not satisfied” with Iran’s latest proposal in negotiations to end war between the countries. Trump told reporters Friday at the White House that Iran wants to make a deal but he says they are asking for things he can’t agree to. Trump did not elaborate on what he sees as the proposal’s shortcomings. The president said negotiations have continued by phone after he called off his envoys’ trip to Pakistan last week. He expressed frustration with Iran’s leadership, describing it as fractured. The shaky three-week ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran appears to be still holding.
A former Miami congressman and close friend of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio was convicted Friday in connection with a secret $50 million lobbying campaign on behalf of Venezuela’s socialist government during the first Trump administration. Jurors found Republican David Rivera and an associate guilty on all counts, including failing to register as a foreign agent with the Justice Department and conspiracy to commit money laundering as part of its work for former President Nicolás Maduro’s government. The seven-week trial offered a rare glimpse into Miami’s role as a crossroads for foreign influence campaigns aimed at shaping U.S. policy toward Latin America.
A 45-year-old man has been charged with attempted murder in the stabbings of two Jewish men in London. Essa Suleiman was remanded into custody after appearing in Westminster Magistrates’ Court on two counts of the charge related to the attack in Golders Green, and a third related to an attack elsewhere in the city the same day that left a man with minor injuries. The British government pledged to tackle antisemitism after the stabbings Wednesday. Britain’s official terror threat level has been raised from substantial to severe.
Taylor Frankie Paul, a reality TV star from “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,” and the father of her 2-year-old son were ordered Thursday to stay 100 feet (30 meters) away from each other for the next three years as a Utah court commissioner continues to assess custody plans for the child. Paul has been unable to spend unsupervised time with her son since an April 7 hearing, when Third District Court Commissioner Russell Minas said Paul had a history of volatile behavior directed at her former partner, Dakota Mortensen, while kids were present. Minas on Thursday described the pair’s dynamic as “very toxic” before granting Paul and Mortensen’s dueling requests for protective orders against each other.
AP Wire
Federal prosecutors have released a video showing the moment authorities say an armed man with guns and knives tried to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in an attempt to kill President Donald Trump. Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for Washington, posted the video Thursday on social media amid questions over whose bullet struck a Secret Service officer as Cole Tomas Allen ran through security with a long gun toward the gala packed with journalists, administration officials and others. Prosecutors had previously claimed the agent was shot in the bullet-resistant vest during the melee, but had not confirmed it was Allen who shot the agent. Pirro, however, said Thursday that there is no evidence that the officer was hit by friendly fire.
A Tacoma high school student has been booked on five counts of first-degree assault after four students and an adult security guard were injured in a stabbing at the school. Tacoma police said Thursday the five victims were either stabbed or cut. The suspect was also cut in the altercation. The Fire Department says responders took five patients to hospitals from Foss High School. Four patients were critical condition and one had minor injuries. A sixth injured person was in police custody and taken to a hospital with minor injuries. All were in stable condition as of late afternoon.
Britney Spears has been charged in California with driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol. The Ventura County District Attorney's Office says Spears was charged Thursday with a single misdemeanor count of driving under the combined influence of alcohol and at least one drug. The California Highway Patrol said the 44-year-old pop star was driving erratically in her BMW on March 4 on U.S 101 near her home outside of Los Angeles. She was arrested and jailed after taking several sobriety tests. A representative for Spears called her actions “completely inexcusable” and said she planned to comply with the law. Spears' representative later said she voluntarily checked into a substance abuse treatment facility.