Israeli military pledges response to Iran attack
Israel’s military chief said on April 15 his country would respond to Iran’s weekend missile and drone attack, amid calls for restraint by allies anxious to avoid an escalation of conflict in the Middle East.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu summoned his war Cabinet for the second time in less than 24 hours to weigh how to react to Iran’s first-ever direct attack on Israel, a government source said.
Israel’s military chief of staff Herzi Halevi said the country would respond, but provided no details.
“This launch of so many missiles, cruise missiles, and drones into Israeli territory will be met with a response,” he said at the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, which sustained some damage in the April 13 night-time attack.
Dozens of potential Trump jurors dismissed for bias
The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money trial dismissed dozens of potential jurors on April 15 who said they could not impartially decide whether the former US president is guilty or innocent of criminal charges.
On the first day of the historic criminal trial, the first to involve a former president, Justice Juan Merchan told nearly 100 prospective jurors they must set aside any biases or personal attitudes about the defendant or the case, including “political orientation.”
At least 50 were dismissed after saying they could not be impartial in judging Trump, the 2024 Republican candidate for president.
Coral reefs suffer fourth global bleaching event
Along coastlines from Australia to Kenya to Mexico, many of the world’s colourful coral reefs have turned a ghostly white in what scientists said on April 15 amounted to the fourth global bleaching event in the last three decades.
At least 54 countries and territories have experienced mass bleaching among their reefs since February 2023 as climate change warms the ocean’s surface waters, according to the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration’s (Noaa) Coral Reef Watch, the world’s top coral reef monitoring body.
Bleaching is triggered by water temperature anomalies that cause corals to expel the colourful algae living in their tissues. Without the algae’s help in delivering nutrients to the coral, the corals cannot survive.
Rust armourer sentenced to 18 months in fatal shooting
Hannah Gutierrez, the chief weapons handler for the Western movie Rust, was sentenced to 18 months in prison on April 15 in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was shot when actor Alec Baldwin was handling a gun during the film’s production in 2021.
In March, Gutierrez, 27, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter for mistakenly loading a live round into a revolver Baldwin was using on a Santa Fe, New Mexico, movie set.
“You turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon,” Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer told Gutierrez, as she handed down the sentence.
Palmer scores four as Chelsea hit Everton for six
Cole Palmer scored four goals to put Chelsea within touching distance of the Premier League’s top six after a 6-0 win over Everton on April 15.
The England international has been a shining light in an otherwise disappointing campaign for the Blues, and moved level with Manchester City striker Erling Haaland’s 20 Premier League goals in the race for the Golden Boot.
Palmer killed the game as a contest as he completed his hat-trick inside 30 minutes before Nicolas Jackson also struck before half-time.
