On This Day, April 26: Syrian ends 29-year military presence in Lebanon
April 26 (UPI) -- On this day in history:
In 1607, the first British colonists to establish a permanent settlement in America landed at Cape Henry, Va.
In 1933, Nazi Germany's secret police, better known as the Gestapo, is formed by Hermann Goering. The Allies declared the Gestapo a criminal organization during the Nuremberg trials and sentenced Goering to die.
In 1937, during the Spanish Civil War, German-made planes destroyed the Basque town of Guernica, Spain.
In 1964, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged, forming the country of Tanzania.
In 1982, Argentina surrendered to British forces on South Georgia Island amid a dispute over the Falkland Islands.
In 1986, a fire and explosion at the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear reactor north of Kiev, Ukraine, resulted in the world's worst civilian nuclear disaster. About 30 deaths were reported in the days following the accident. It is believed that hundreds of people eventually died from high doses of radiation from the plant and that thousands of cases of cancer could be linked to the crisis.
In 1993, Indian Airlines Flight 491 slammed into a parked truck during takeoff and crashed minutes later near the western Indian city of Aurangabad, killing 56 people.
In 1994, South Africans began going to the polls in the country's first election that was open to all. Four days of voting would elect Nelson Mandela president.
In 2002, a German youth who had been expelled from the Gutenberg school in Erfurt, Germany, returned to the school and shot 16 people to death.
In 2005, the last of Syria's troops left Lebanon, ending a 29-year military presence.
In 2010, longtime Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir, sought by the International Criminal Court in connection with reputed crimes against humanity in the Darfur section of western Sudan, was re-elected president in a controversial vote.
In 2012, a U.N.-backed court convicted former Liberian President Charles Taylor of war crimes, including murder, acts of terrorism, rape, sexual slavery and use of child soldiers, for aiding rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone. He was sentenced to 50 years in prison.
In 2018, a Pennsylvania jury found actor Bill Cosby guilty on charges he drugged and sexually assaulted Andrea Constand in 2004. He was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison.
In 2020, the 23rd victim of the Aug. 3, 2019, shooting at an El Paso, Texas, Walmart died from his injuries.
In 2021, Kanye West's Nike Air Yeezy 1 Prototype shoes sold for a record-breaking $1.8 million through a private sale facilitated by Sotheby's. It was the first recorded sneaker sale for more than $1 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
2 hours ago
- Newsweek
NATO Ally 'Can't Rely' Solely on US for Protection, Ex-Trump Adviser Warns
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The U.S. can no longer be considered a reliable ally for Britain and the other NATO members, former Russia adviser to President Donald Trump Fiona Hill said in a recent interview with British newspaper The Guardian. "We're in pretty big trouble," the American-British national said during her interview about the U.K.'s vulnerable geopolitical situation. "We can't rely exclusively on anyone anymore," she said, casting doubt on Trump's determination to tackle Vladimir Putin's aggressive expansion ambitions in Europe. Why It Matters Hill's comments reflect widespread concerns in Europe that the U.S. is no longer the reliable ally it used to be for the continent, and European nations need to quickly get ready to fend for themselves, boosting military spending, forging new alliances or strengthening existing ones. Earlier this week, most NATO members voted to endorse Trump's demand for them to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of their GDP. But this goal might be hard to reach: already in 2023, NATO leaders agreed to spend at least 2 percent of their GDP on national defense budgets, but 22 of the 32 member states are still falling short. During #DefMin, NATO Defence Ministers agreed an ambitious new set of capability targets to build a stronger, fairer, more lethal Alliance, and ensure warfighting readiness for years to come Tap to learn more ↓ — NATO (@NATO) June 5, 2025 What To Know While Hill was born in England, she lived and worked in the U.S. for 30 years, ascending to the role of the White House's chief adviser on Russia during Trump's first administration. Her role was cut short in the summer of 2019, when she was fired by the president, who later accused her of being "terrible at her job." The dismissal followed Hill's testimony at Trump's impeachment trial, where she spoke of Russian meddling at the heart of the White House. Since then, Hill has spoken repeatedly of Trump's admitted admiration for Putin, criticizing his soft approach to the Russian strongman. Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, on February 2, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. Fiona Hill, former senior director for Europe and Russia at the National Security Council, on February 2, 2022, on Capitol Hill in Washington said that Putin had "declared war on the West" through his invasion of Ukraine, which the Kremlin leader presented to his counterparts in China, North Korea and Iran as "part of a proxy war with the United States." But Trump, who has long admired the Russian president, appears unwilling to take a strong stance against him and instead "wants to have a separate relationship with Putin to do arms-control agreements and also business that will probably enrich their entourage further," Hill told The Guardian. While Trump has recently shown frustration with Putin, who has largely ignored or stalled on the U.S. president's calls for an end to the invasion of Ukraine, he has remained reluctant to impose further sanctions on Moscow—a type of punishment that European leaders have instead embraced. In a recent interview with The Telegraph, Hill said: "If you offer the Russians a carrot, they just eat it, or they take it and hit you over the head with it." What People Are Saying European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in March: "If Europe wants to avoid war, Europe must get ready for war. By 2030, Europe must have a strong European defense posture." Though she recently insisted that the U.S. was still "an ally," in April she said: "The West as we knew it no longer exists." France's President Emmanuel Macron, who has long advocated for the creation of an EU army and boosting military spending, said in January: "What will we do in Europe tomorrow if our American ally withdraws its warships from the Mediterranean? If they send their fighter jets from the Atlantic to the Pacific?" Earlier this week, President Donald Trump described a phone call with Putin as a "good conversation, but not a conversation that will lead to immediate peace." During the phone call, he said, Putin said "he will have to respond to the recent [Ukrainian] attack on the airfields," Trump wrote on social media, without adding whether he tried to sway the Russian leader from doing so. On June 1, Kyiv launched coordinated, long-range strikes on multiple Russian airbases thousands of miles from Ukraine which took out more than a third of Moscow's strategic cruise missile carriers. What Happens Next According to Hill, Putin sees the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a way toward establishing the country's dominance as a "military power in all of Europe." And the U.S., she warned, cannot be relied on at the moment to help Europe fight off this growing threat. When it comes to defense, she said, the U.K.—and the other NATO members—should not rely on the military umbrella of Washington as they did during the Cold War, "not in the way we did before." A recent survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations found that Europeans are increasingly losing confidence in the U.S. from a geopolitical perspective. A majority, according to the study released in February, considered the U.S. a "necessary partner" rather than "an ally."
Los Angeles Times
2 hours ago
- Los Angeles Times
No Supreme Court win, but Mexico pressures U.S. on southbound guns
MEXICO CITY — More than a decade ago, Mexican authorities erected a billboard along the border in Ciudad Juárez, across the Rio Grande from El Paso. 'No More Weapons,' was the stark message, written in English and crafted from 3 tons of firearms that had been seized and crushed. It was a desperate entreaty to U.S. officials to stanch the so-called Iron River, the southbound flow of arms that was fueling record levels of carnage in Mexico. But the guns kept coming — and the bloodletting and mayhem grew. Finally, with homicides soaring to record levels, exasperated authorities pivoted to a novel strategy: Mexico filed a $10-billion suit in U.S. federal court seeking to have Smith & Wesson and other signature manufacturers held accountable for the country's epidemic of shooting deaths. The uphill battle against the powerful gun lobby survived an appeals court challenge, but last week the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Mexico's lawsuit, ruling unanimously that federal law shields gunmakers from nearly all liability. Although the litigation stalled, advocates say the high-profile gambit did notch a significant achievement: Dramatizing the role of Made-in-U.S.A. arms in Mexico's daily drumbeat of assassinations, massacres and disappearances. 'Notwithstanding the Supreme Court ruling, Mexico's lawsuit has accomplished a great deal,' said Jonathan Lowy, president of Global Action on Gun Violence, a Washington-based advocacy group. 'It has put the issue of gun trafficking — and the industry's role in facilitating the gun pipeline — on the bilateral and international agenda,' said Lowy, who was co-counsel in Mexico's lawsuit. A few hours after the high court decision, Ronald Johnson, the U.S. ambassador in Mexico City, wrote on X that the White House was intent on working with Mexico 'to stop southbound arms trafficking and dismantle networks fueling cartel violence.' The comments mark the first time that Washington — which has strong-armed Mexico to cut down on the northbound traffic of fentanyl and other illicit drugs — has acknowledged a reciprocal responsibility to clamp down on southbound guns, said President Claudia Sheinbaum. She hailed it as a breakthrough, years in the making. 'This is not just about the passage of narcotics from Mexico to the United States,' Sheinbaum said Friday. 'But that there [must] also be no passage of arms from the United States to Mexico.' Mexico is mulling options after the Supreme Court rebuff, Sheinbaum said. Still pending is a separate lawsuit by Mexico in U.S. federal court accusing five gun dealers in Arizona of trafficking weapons and ammunition to the cartels. Meanwhile, U.S. officials say that the Trump administration's recent designation of six Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations means that weapons traffickers may face terrorism-related charges. 'In essence, the cartels that operate within Mexico and threaten the state are armed from weapons that are bought in the United States and shipped there,' U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told a congressional panel last month. 'We want to help stop that flow.' On Monday, federal agents gathered at an international bridge in Laredo, Texas, before an array of seized arms — from snub-nosed revolvers to mounted machine guns — to demonstrate what they insist is a newfound resolve to stop the illicit gun commerce. 'This isn't a weapon just going to Mexico,' Craig Larrabee, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio, told reporters. 'It's going to arm the cartels. It's going to fight police officers and create terror throughout Mexico.' In documents submitted to the Supreme Court, Mexican authorities charged that it defied credibility that U.S. gunmakers were unaware that their products were destined for Mexican cartels — a charge denied by manufacturers. The gun industry also disputed Mexico's argument that manufacturers deliberately produce military-style assault rifles and other weapons that, for both practical and aesthetic reasons, appeal to mobsters. Mexico cited several .38-caliber Colt offerings, including a gold-plated, Jefe de Jefes ('Boss of Bosses') pistol; and a handgun dubbed the 'Emiliano Zapata,' emblazoned with an image of the revered Mexican revolutionary hero and his celebrated motto: 'It is better to die standing than to live on your knees.' Compared with the United States, Mexico has a much more stringent approach to firearms. Like the 2nd Amendment, Mexico's Constitution guarantees the right to bear arms. But it also stipulates that federal law 'will determine the cases, conditions, requirements and places' of gun ownership. There are just two stores nationwide, both run by the military, where people can legally purchase guns. At the bigger store, in Mexico City, fewer than 50 guns are sold on average each day. Buyers are required to provide names, addresses and fingerprints in a process that can drag on for months. And unlike the United States, Mexico maintains a national registry. But the vast availability of U.S.-origin, black-market weapons undermines Mexico's strict guidelines. According to Mexican officials, an estimated 200,000 to half a million guns are smuggled annually into Mexico. Data collected by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives illustrate where criminals in Mexico are obtaining their firepower. Of the 132,823 guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico from 2009 to 2018, fully 70% were found to have originated in the U.S. — mostly in Texas and other Southwest border states. In their lawsuit, Mexican authorities cited even higher numbers: Almost 90% of guns seized at crime scenes came from north of the border. Experts say most firearms in Mexico are bought legally at U.S. gun shows or retail outlets by so-called straw purchasers,who smuggle the weapons across the border. It's a surprisingly easy task: More than a million people and about $1.8 billion in goods cross the border legally each day, and Mexico rarely inspects vehicles heading south. In recent years, the flood of weapons from the United States has accelerated, fueling record levels of violence. Mexican organized crime groups have expanded their turf and moved into rackets beyond drug trafficking, including extortion, fuel-smuggling and the exploitation of timber, minerals and other natural resources. In 2004, guns accounted for one-quarter of Mexico's homicides. Today, guns are used in roughly three-quarters of killings. Mexican leaders have long been sounding alarms. Former President Felipe Calderón, who, with U.S. backing, launched what is now widely viewed as a catastrophic 'war' on Mexican drug traffickers in late 2006, personally pleaded with U.S. lawmakers to reinstate a congressional prohibition on purchases of high-powered assault rifles. The expiration of the ban in 2004 meant that any adult with a clean record could enter a store in most states and walk out with weapons that, in much of the world, are legally reserved for military use. 'Many of these guns are not going to honest American hands,' Calderon said in a 2010 address to the U.S. Congress. 'Instead, thousands are ending up in the hands of criminals.' It was Calderón who, near the end of his term, ventured to the northern border to unveil the massive billboard urging U.S. authorities to stop the weapons flow. His appeals, and those of subsequent Mexican leaders, went largely unheeded. The verdict is still out on whether Washington will follow up on its latest vows to throttle the gun traffic. 'The Trump administration has said very clearly that it wants to go after Mexican organized crime groups,' said David Shirk, a political scientist at San Diego University who studies violence in Mexico. 'And, if you're going to get serious about Mexican cartels, you have to take away their guns.' Special correspondent Cecilia Sánchez Vidal contributed to this report.
CNBC
7 hours ago
- CNBC
Taiwan coast guard, military drill to better face China's 'grey zone' threat
Taiwan's coast guard held drills with the military on Sunday to better practice joint operations in the face of what the government in Taipei says is a growing "grey zone" threat from China, which claims the island as its own territory. Democratically governed Taiwan has repeatedly complained about activities such as undersea cable cutting and sand dredging by China around the island, designed to pressure it without direct confrontation. It is often Taiwan's coast guard that scrambles first to respond. The drills in the southern port city of Kaohsiung, overseen by President Lai Ching-te, simulated the seizing of a ferry by "international terrorists". The coast guard worked with an interior ministry rescue helicopter and army medevac helicopter to board and take back control of the boat and evacuate casualties. A navy anti-submarine helicopter flew over the scene as the drill ended, along with the medevac and rescue helicopters, the first time they have flown together in such a scenario, the coast guard said. "Taiwan has been facing constant grey intrusion from China, but our coast guard colleagues have always been on the front line to enforce the law and protect the lives and safety of the people of Taiwan," Lai told the audience for the drills, which included the top U.S. diplomat in Kaohsiung, Neil Gibson. "The government will continue to consolidate the strength of all departments and strengthen the resilience of the entire society to defend national security and safeguard Taiwan's democracy and freedom," Lai said. Taiwan's coast guard, which would be pressed into military service in the event of war with China, is also routinely sent out to shadow Chinese ships during Beijing's war games around the island. The coast guard, like the navy, is in the midst of an expansion and modernisation programme. Its new Anping-class corvettes, which began being commissioned in 2020, are based on the navy's Tuo Chiang-class warships. They are state-of-the-art, highly manoeuvrable stealth vessels meant to take out larger warships while operating close to Taiwan's shores. The Anping-class ships, one of which took part in the drill, have space for launchers for the Taiwan-made Hsiung Feng anti-ship and sea-to-land missiles, as well as added equipment for rescue operations. Taiwan's government rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims, saying only the island's people can decide their future.
