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Oct. 19 (UPI) — An early Sunday shooting on the main campus of Oklahoma State University has left three people injured, only one a student, authorities said, as they continue to investigate.

The shooting occurred as a result of what the Oklahoma State University Police Department said in a statement was a “disagreement” that occurred outside of Carreker East hall, a three-story residential building on the northeast side of campus, in Stillwater, located about 64 miles northeast of Oklahoma City.

None of the victims were identified.

The one student injured in the shooting suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was airflighted to the OU Health University of Oklahoma Medical Center in Oklahoma City after being transported by private vehicle to the Stillwater Medical Center. The victim is listed in stable condition.

A second victim, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, was also driven to Stillwater and airflighted to the OU Medical Center and was listed as in stable condition.

The third victim has since left St. John’s Hospital in Tulsa after receiving treatment.

Police said their investigation indicates that there was a large off-campus party at the Payne County Expo Center, which ended around 2:30 a.m. CDT. A group of individuals who left the party then made their way to Carreker East for an after-party when the shooting erupted, according to police.

According to authorities, police arrived at the hall “within minutes” of the shooting, secured the scene and determined there was no ongoing threat to campus.

The Stillwater Police Department said in a separate statement that its officers responded to the shooting at 3:42 a.m. and that they had performed “life-saving measures” at the scene.

The investigation is ongoing, and OSUPD is asking for members of the public with information about the shooting to come forward.

No indication of who is responsible was mentioned. A statement from OSUPD at 11 a.m. stated “the suspect is no longer on campus. As the event happened, all parties left campus.”

“We are working diligently to bring this to a close with the assistance of Stillwater Police Department and OSBI,” OSUPD said on its Facebook page.

The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation is collaborating with the OSUPD in processing evidence.

Russian drone and missile strikes have wounded at least 20 people in Kyiv, damaged residential buildings and caused blackouts across swaths of Ukraine, authorities have said.

In the latest mass attack targeting the energy system as winter approaches, electricity was interrupted in nine regions, and more than a million households and businesses were temporarily without power across the country on Friday.

In southeastern Ukraine, a seven-year-old was killed when his home was hit, and at least 20 people were injured. In Kyiv, an apartment block in the city centre was damaged by a projectile, while on the left bank of the Dnipro River that divides the capital, crowds waited at bus stops with the metro out of action, and people filled water bottles at distribution points.

“We didn’t sleep at all,” said Liuba, a pensioner, as she collected water. “From 2:30am, there was so much noise. By 3:30, we had no electricity, no gas, no water. Nothing.”

According to Ukraine’s energy ministry, more than 800,000 customers temporarily lost power in Kyiv.

Moscow’s attack overnight and into Friday fell on the third anniversary of Russia’s first large-scale attack on energy facilities, months after Moscow invaded in February 2022, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russia’s latest strikes a “cynical and calculated attack”, and urged allies to respond with concrete measures.

“What’s needed is not window dressing but decisive action – from the United States, Europe, and the G7 – in delivering air defence systems and enforcing sanctions,” he said in a statement on X.

The Kremlin has escalated aerial attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities and rail systems over recent weeks, building on earlier bombing campaigns over the previous three winters that left millions without heating in frigid temperatures. Russia said its forces had hit energy sites supplying power to Ukraine’s defence industry.

The Ukrainian air force said the Russian barrage comprised 465 drones and 32 missiles, adding that 405 drones and 15 missiles were downed.

A source in Ukraine’s energy sector told the AFP news agency that the intensity of attacks was higher compared to last year, and that cloudy weather overnight had allowed drones to evade Ukrainian air defence systems.

Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said Russian forces had targeted “critical infrastructure”.

“This was one of the largest concentrated strikes against energy facilities,” Ukraine’s Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

It was the fourth attack in a week against the facilities of Ukraine’s biggest private electricity provider, DTEK, its CEO Maxim Timchenko said.

Late on Friday DTEK said it had restored power to at least 678,000 households and companies in Kyiv after the massive Russian aerial attack.

“DTEK power engineers continue to intensively restore electricity to Kyiv residents,” the company said on Telegram.

Children ‘rejoined’ with families

The Russian attack came as United States First Lady Melania Trump announced that eight children displaced by the war had been reunited with their families following negotiations between her team and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s.

Trump said that Putin had responded to a letter sent via her husband, President Donald Trump, at a summit in Alaska in August.

“My representative has been working directly with President Putin’s team to ensure the safe reunification of children with their families between Russia and Ukraine. In fact, eight children have been rejoined with their families during the past 24 hours,” she said in a short, six-minute speech from the White House on Friday.

US President Trump’s own efforts to broker an end to Russia’s three-year war in Ukraine have stalled, as a series of direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian delegations this year ended.

Trump said on Thursday that Washington and NATO allies were “stepping up the pressure” to end the war in Ukraine.

But the Kremlin said that momentum towards reaching a peace deal had largely vanished.

Russian mercenaries of the Wagner Security Group have been accused of shooting at farmers from the air in the Central African Republic (CAR). The air raid happened on Monday, Sept. 29, in Lakata, a village 69 kilometres from Bouar in the Djotoua Banguerem council area.

Sources privy to details of the attack told HumAngle that the Russian mercenaries hovering in two helicopters opened fire on defenceless civilians, killing four and seriously wounding nine others. The sources asked not to be named in this report over fear of retribution, but reiterated that the air raiders unleashed heavy weapons on local farms and artisanal mining sites, shooting sporadically at the civilian population.

The sudden assault plunged the village into chaos. Farmers abandoned their tools mid-harvest, and miners fled their sites in terror. Survivors described the attack as “death from heaven,” a chilling escalation in Wagner’s operational tactics, which have previously relied on ground patrols and motorbike raids.

“The question we are asking now is why? What military objective justifies shooting at farmers and local miners? What ‘rebels’ were neutralised by Wagner and how many ‘terrorists’ were eliminated?” a local witness queried, insisting that the Russians have no tangible answers to these questions because there were neither rebels nor terrorists in Lakata on that day. “Those who were there were just poor Central Africans working to survive. The lives lost were those of Central Africans, which the Wagner mercenaries consider are of no value.” 

The local also stressed that this aerial attack against civilians constitutes a war crime, according to international humanitarian law. The utilisation of combat helicopters against unarmed civilian populations violates the Geneva Conventions and all the fundamental principles of war law. 

These killings mark a terrifying escalation in the methods of the Wagner operatives. The mercenaries have only been operating on the ground from village to village, and most of the time, on motorbikes. The Central African Republic government has made no statement about the attack, but the disquieting silence by the Bangui authorities has caused concerns. 

“The nine wounded in Lakata will probably not benefit from medical attention paid by the government. If they survive, they will do so with their wounds,  trauma, and injuries while abandoned by a state that has chosen to work to the advantage of Russian mercenaries rather than for their own people,” said Severin Dougouguele, who identified himself as an activist.

He is also concerned by the international community’s silence over the matter. 

“The United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilisation Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA), which is present in the country, seems overwhelmed to the point it hardly investigates reports of such killings, while international human rights organisations find it difficult to access the areas where such killings take place. The international media is also handicapped by a lack of the necessary means and resolve to penetrate the hinterlands where these atrocities take place,” Severin claimed. 

He also believes that the distance of these communities from civilisation makes news of these atrocities late reaching the authorities and international agencies that can intervene to curb their constant repetition.

The incident shows a broader pattern of abuse documented by Human Rights Watch (HRW). A 2022 report by the HRW details summary executions, torture, and arbitrary detentions by Russian-linked forces in CAR. Wagner operatives have been accused of targeting civilians under the guise of counterinsurgency, often with no accountability. As the crisis deepens, calls for independent investigations, medical aid, and international oversight grow louder.

The Battle of Wounded Knee, also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, took place in South Dakota in 1890.

The National Congress of American Indians has strongly condemned a Pentagon review that decided against revoking medals awarded to US soldiers at the 1890 Battle of Wounded Knee, an event which many historians consider a massacre.

“Celebrating war crimes is not patriotic. This decision undermines truth-telling, reconciliation, and the healing that Indian Country and the United States still need,” Larry Wright Jr, the Congress’s executive director, said in a statement issued on Saturday.

US President Donald Trump’s secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, said in a video posted on X late Thursday that a review panel had recommended allowing the soldiers to keep their medals, in a study completed last year, and that he followed that recommendation.

“We’re making it clear that they deserve those medals. This decision is now final, and their place in our nation’s history is no longer up for debate,” Hegseth said.

The defence secretary criticised his predecessor for not making the same decision, saying that the former Pentagon chief was more interested in being “politically correct than historically correct”.

The Wounded Knee Massacre

The Battle of Wounded Knee, also known as the Wounded Knee Massacre, took place on December 29, 1890, in South Dakota, when US soldiers killed and wounded more than 300 Lakota Sioux men, women, and children.

The events at Wounded Knee marked the end of the Indian Wars, during which Native Americans were coerced into ceding their lands and then forced onto reservations.

Lloyd Austin, who was defence secretary in the administration of US President Joe Biden, had ordered a review of the military honours, but had not made a final decision before leaving office in January.

In 1990, Congress passed a resolution expressed “deep regret” for the conflict.

“It is proper and timely for the Congress of the United States of America to acknowledge … the historic significance of the Massacre at Wounded Knee Creek, to express its deep regret to the Sioux people and in particular to the descendants of the victims and survivors for this terrible tragedy,” the resolution said.

Hegseth has taken aim at diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at the Pentagon since he took office.

The Pentagon has ended commemorations of identity month celebrations, like Native American History Month and Black History Month.

The Pentagon drew fire earlier this year for briefly erasing online references to the Navajo Code Talkers, who developed an unbreakable code that helped Allied forces win World War II.

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Emergency services say two people seriously injured in the southern Israeli city after failure to intercept.

Israel’s military says a drone launched from Yemen has struck the southern city of Eilat, and rescuers report that at least 20 people are wounded, including two in serious condition, as Israel conducts its genocidal war on Gaza.

A military statement said the drone “fell in the area of Eilat” on the Red Sea coast on Wednesday after air defences failed to intercept it.

“The public is requested to continue to follow the Home Front Command’s defensive guidelines and further guidelines issued,” it said on Telegram.

The Magen David Adom emergency medical service said two people were seriously injured while others sustained moderate to minor injuries.

Police said bomb disposal experts were examining the nature of the object and warned the public to avoid approaching the crash site or touching any remnants that may contain explosives.

Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut, reporting from Amman, Jordan, because Al Jazeera has been banned from Israel, said it was worth noting that this is not the first time Eilat has been struck or targeted. “In fact, just last week another drone launched by the Houthis made an impact,” she added, referring to the Yemeni group that has been targeting Israel in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

“In that instance, Israel said it was investigating why the interceptors did not go off. So surely there will be an investigation as to how the interceptors failed this time around.”

Since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, the Houthis have carried out drone and missile attacks against it. They have also targeted vessels linked to Israel in the Red Sea, disrupting maritime trade passing through the water channel.

Most of the dozens of missiles and drones launched have been intercepted or fallen short of Israeli territory.

Israel has carried out numerous attacks across Yemen, including on the capital, Sanaa. Earlier this week, Israel was accused of killing 31 journalists in Yemen.

Late last month, Israel assassinated Houthi Prime Minister Ahmed al-Rahawi in an air strike in Sanaa. The group promised “vengeance” for his death and the deaths of almost half of his cabinet.

US officials say the suspected shooter is dead from a ‘self-inflicted gunshot wound’

Three people have been wounded in a shooting at a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office in Dallas, Texas.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem confirmed the incident on Wednesday in a statement on X, saying there were “multiple injuries and fatalities” and that the suspected shooter was dead from a “self-inflicted gunshot wound”.

“There was a shooting this morning at the Dallas ICE Field Office. Details are still emerging but we can confirm there were multiple injuries and fatalities,” Noem said.

“While we don’t know motive yet, we know that our ICE law enforcement is facing unprecedented violence against them. It must stop. Please pray for the victims and their families.”

Local ABC affiliate WFAA reported that the shooter was found dead on the roof of a nearby building.

Police responded to the federal facility in northwest Dallas at about 7:30am (12:30 GMT).

“Preliminary information is a possible sniper,” ICE acting Director Todd Lyons told CNN.

Local media reports said the victims were in critical condition. ICE has not yet released an official statement.

US Vice President JD Vance says in a post on X that the “obsessive attack on law enforcement, particularly ICE, must stop”.

“I’m praying for everyone hurt in this attack and for their families,” he added.

ICE, a federal agency under the Department of Homeland Security, is tasked with enforcing immigration laws, and conducting criminal investigations.

Its operations have been the subject of controversy and protests in recent years, particularly since the re-election of President Donald Trump and the subsequent crackdown on immigrants and refugees which is a cornerstone of his administration’s policies. .

Human Rights Watch have previously said ICE detention officers and private contractor guards treat detainees in a “degrading and dehumanizing manner”.

Al Jazeera has contacted ICE for comment.

GERMANY’S army is preparing its forces to treat 1,000 injured troops a day as the prospect of a war between NATO and Russia looms ever larger.

Berlin’s war planning lays bare the scale of devastation that such a conflict would unleash upon the continent.

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The Kremlin denies that it wants a war against Russia’s Western rivals.

But recent incursions of military jets into NATO airspace has amplified fears that Putin has his sights on members of the alliance.

Since Russia‘s brutal invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Western countries have been forced to reckon with the prospect of a major war breaking out on European soil once again.

It has prompted military leaders to warn of the scale of casualties that could come if Moscow attacked the alliance.

Germany’s Surgeon General Ralf Hoffmann told Reuters that the exact number would depend on the intensity of fighting.

But he said: “Realistically, we are talking about a figure of around 1,000 wounded troops per day.”

Berlin is far from the only country to ramp up planning for mass casualties in the face of Russian sabre-rattling.

France has also placed its hospitals on a war-footing, with health bosses ordered to be ready for a “major engagement” by March 2026.

In anticipation of a large influx of wounded soldiers, Paris has ordered the country’s health centres to integrate the “specific needs of defence” into their planning.

They want French hospitals to be prepared to take in not only their own country’s injured troops, but also those of NATO allies.

Hoffmann added that Germany needs to look to the war in Ukraine to adapt how it approaches medical training for the battlefield.

“The Ukrainians often cannot evacuate their wounded fast enough because drones are buzzing overhead everywhere,” he warned.

Flexible transport options would be needed to get injured troops out of harm’s way, Hoffmann said, such as how Ukraine has used hospital trains.

Germany’s chief of defence General Carsten Breuer issued a stark warning this summer as to how soon a Russian attack could come.

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He told the BBC that Moscow’s increased military production represents a “a very serious threat” that could come as soon as 2029.

“This is what the analysts are assessing – in 2029. So we have to be ready by 2029,” he warned.

“If you ask me now, is this a guarantee that’s not earlier than 2029?

“I would say no, it’s not. So we must be able to fight tonight.”

In Britain, government officials are hurriedly updating decades-old contingency plans to protect the country in the event of Russian aggression.

Former NATO commander Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon previously told The Sun: “Britain is very much in the sights of Putin’s derision, and we are the ones likely to be attacked first.

“Britain really has got to dust off its contingency plans.

“Over 20 years of neglect, and we understand that’s exactly what this report is about at the moment.”

An assault on one NATO country by Russia would require all other member states to take up arms in their support.

This is because of the alliance’s Article 5 protection guarantee, which makes an attack on one an attack on all.

Fears of confrontation with Russia have spiked since Moscow’s air force launched incursions into NATO airspace in recent weeks.

Russian MiG-31 fighters entered the skies over Estonia earlier this month, prompting Western jets to be scrambled in response to shoo them away.

Moscow’s drones have also entered Polish and Romanian airspace over the past weeks.

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SIR WINSTON CHURCHILL said: “Courage is rightly regarded as the foremost of the virtues, for upon it all the others depend.”

The truth of those words is highlighted by the heroics of RAF Flight Lieutenant John Cruickshank, who has died at the age 105.

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It was 81 years ago that he performed an extraordinary act of sustained bravery, as he defied the agony of multiple severe injuries to bring home his badly damaged plane after a lethal encounter with a U-boat off the coast of Norway.

For this deed he was awarded the Victoria Cross.

He was one of four Coastal Command airmen to receive this award, but his case was unique.

The other three had died in action and were honoured posthumously.

He had survived but it was a mighty close-run thing.

It was appropriate that this Scotsman of rock-hard resilience should hail from Aberdeen, long known as “the Granite City”.

He had left school in 1938 to become an apprentice in banking.

But the drumbeat of war was echoing across Europe so he volunteered for the Territorial Army, enlisting in the Royal Artillery.

Called up for service with this regiment in 1939, he transferred to the RAF two years later then went through initial flight instruction in Canada and the US.

Back in Britain, having won his wings as a pilot, he continued his training until March 1943 when he was assigned to 210 Squadron in Coastal Command, based at Sullom Voe in the Shetland Islands.

Man of modesty

His squadron’s main duty was to protect Allied ships from U-boats and they were equipped with the rugged and reliable American-built twin-engine Catalina flying boat.

It was on July 17, 1944, soon after D-Day, that the incident occurred which lifted John Cruickshank into the record book, but almost killed him.

He was piloting an anti- submarine patrol off Norway when his radio operator John Appleton picked up a blip on the Catalina’s equipment.

John began to home in on the target, whose status as a U-boat was confirmed by fire from its 37 mm gun.

Appleton wrote in his memoir: “The skipper manoeuvred into a perfect attacking position astern of the submarine, just out of range of the enemy gunfire. He gave a blast on the klaxon and started the attack run-in from about two miles.”

As the plane got closer, flak from the U-boat intensified and was reinforced as its two pairs of 20mm cannon opened up.

The skipper manoeuvred into a perfect attacking position astern of the submarine, just out of range of the enemy gunfire. He gave a blast on the klaxon and started the attack run-in from about two miles

John Appleton

John flew on and appeared to have released the depth charges at the right moment.

But the bombs had hung up, so he then took the plane out of range of the U-boat, while his crew rearmed their own guns and checked the bomb-release mechanism.

“Everyone ready! Here we go again,” said John over the intercom.

Of the second attack, Appleton recalled: “This time all the flak was bursting much closer to us and I was surprised at how thick it could be.

“We seemed to be flying into a wall of black explosions.”

But again, John descended upon the target without hesitation.

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This time the depth charges hit their target with deadly accuracy. Seconds later, the U-boat began to sink. None of the 52 men on board had a chance of survival.

But by now John’s plane, caught by more enemy fire, was in serious trouble.

Flames and smoke began to fill the aircraft. The radar was wrecked and the nose canopy shattered.

One crewman was dead and four others were badly wounded, including John, who had been hit in his chest and legs and was bleeding heavily.

But all was not lost. With the use of extinguishers, some of the uninjured crewmen put out the fire.

As the co-pilot took over the controls, John was carried to the back of the plane.

Throughout, he set an example of determination, fortitude and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the service

Citation from Victoria Cross ceremony

Lapsing in and out of consciousness, he was in tremendous pain but refused any morphine from the emergency safety kit because he wanted to keep alert so he could help bring the Catalina boat plane home to Sullom Voe.

With almost superhuman fortitude, he returned to the cockpit to oversee the final descent just as dawn was breaking.

After landing successfully on the water, he ran the shattered plane on to the beach.

He had to be given an emergency blood transfusion before being taken to Lerwick Hospital, where he was found to have suffered 72 wounds.

Yet, by September, he was fit enough to receive the Victoria Cross from King George VI in Edinburgh, the first time Holyrood House had been used for an investiture since the reign of Queen Victoria.

His citation read: “Throughout, he set an example of determination, fortitude and devotion to duty in keeping with the highest traditions of the service.”

From a generation that never sought the spotlight

Barney Crockett

But he was a man of profound modesty who hated talking about his exploits.

Even at his investiture, he crept out of a side door afterwards to avoid the attention of the press and public.

In the same vein, when he had regained consciousness in the stricken Catalina, the first thing he said was: “How are my crew?”

Though he had recuperated imp-ressively in hospital, the legacy of his injuries was too severe to allow him to return to flying duties, so for the rest of the war he held a staff job at Coastal Command HQ.

Later, on demobilisation at the end of the war, he resumed his career in banking, eventually working in international finance before he retired in 1977.

Happily married, he lost his beloved wife Marion in 1985.

In his final years, in sheltered accommodation, he disliked any fuss, whether about his VC or his birthdays.

Barney Crockett, the former Lord Provost of his native Aberdeen, once said John was “from a generation that never sought the spotlight”.

But it was also the generation that saved the world from tyranny.

Aug. 10 (UPI) — One man was killed and 5 others injured in a shooting in Baltimore Saturday night, police said.

Victims ranged in age between 5 and 52 years, and a 5-year-old girl was shot in the hand. A 38-year-old man died from his injuries, police reported. The other victims received non life-threatening injuries.

Witnesses reported a block party taking place in the 5100 block of Queensbury Ave. blocks from Baltimore’s famous Pimlico horse racing track shortly before the shooting, which police said was reported about 8:45 p.m. EDT, according to local news reports.

“Once on scene, officers located six victims suffering from gunshot wounds, four males and two females,” Baltimore Police Commissioner Richard Worley said during a news conference. “One of the victims is a 5-year-old girl. All of the victims were transported to area hospitals for treatment.”

The strikes on Lebanon’s east came as its government endorsed a US-backed proposal for Hezbollah’s disarmament.

At least six people have been killed and 10 others wounded in two separate Israeli strikes on eastern Lebanon, according to media and government reports, in its latest near-daily violation of a US-brokered November ceasefire in a war with Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA), citing a Health Ministry statement, said a strike hit a vehicle on Thursday on the al-Masnaa international road in the Bekaa Valley, killing five people and injuring 10 others.

Another drone strike killed a Lebanese civilian in the town of Kfar Dan, west of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon.

According to the agency, the man was standing outside his home when he was targeted by the drone. No further details were immediately available.

The Israeli military has not commented on the attacks.

The reported strikes came as Lebanon’s government endorsed a US-backed proposal for Hezbollah to be disarmed by the end of the year.

A Syrian national was killed earlier and two others were injured in an overnight Israeli strike on the town of Deir Siryan in the Marjayoun district of southern Lebanon, the Ministry of Public Health reported.

The Israeli army also targeted the northern outskirts of Deir Siryan near the Litani River, as well as a garage and bulldozers near residential areas, according to NNA.

In a military statement, the Israeli army claimed to have struck Hezbollah infrastructure sites in the attacks.

The conflict between Israel and Hezbollah began on October 8, 2023, as the Lebanese group launched strikes in solidarity with the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, which was coming under Israeli attack. This escalated into a full-scale war by September 2024, killing more than 4,000 people and injuring approximately 17,000.

Although a ceasefire was reached last November, Israel has conducted near-daily attacks in southern Lebanon, claiming to target Hezbollah’s activities. It has threatened that it will continue to do so until the Lebanese group is disarmed.

Under the terms of the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to withdraw its fighters north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from the Israeli border. Israel, meanwhile, was meant to pull all of its troops out of Lebanon, but has kept them in five areas it deems strategic.

The ceasefire was based on a previous United Nations Security Council resolution that said only the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers should possess weapons in the country’s south, and that all non-state groups should be disarmed.

However, that resolution went unfulfilled for years, with the Iran-backed political party and armed group’s arsenal before the latest war seen as far superior to the army’s, and the group wielding extensive political influence.

Aug. 7 (UPI) — National Purple Heart Day will be celebrated on the seventh day of August after President Donald Trump signed a proclamation making it so on Thursday.

The president was joined by many Purple Heart recipients and their families during a signing ceremony honoring the nation’s military personnel at the White House.

“We’re here to honor and celebrate the unyielding patriotism and grit and devotion to America’s Purple Heart veterans with emotion and great love,” Trump told the audience.

He said Gen. George Washington created the Purple Heart on Aug. 7, 1782, when he presented a purple ribbon shaped like a heart to each of three soldiers for their gallantry in battle.

“Just as George Washington did 243 years ago, today we give our everlasting thanks to you and your unbelievable families,” Trump said while referencing the dozens of Purple Heart recipients in the audience.

While Washington was the first to bestow a Purple Heart to soldiers, it remained a footnote in U.S. military history until Gen. Douglas MacArthur and the War Department officially created the Purple Heart as a badge for military merit in 1932.

The award was narrowed to one solely for those wounded or killed in combat in 1944, and nearly 1.9 million service members have received the honor.

Three of the nearly 100 wounded warriors who attended Thursday’s signing ceremony last year gave their Purple Heart medals to Trump after he survived being shot in his right ear by a would-be assassin during a campaign rally in Butler, Penn., on July 13, 2024.

Those veterans are Thomas Matteo, Gerald Enter Jr., and John Ford.

“What a great honor to get those Purple Hearts,” Trump said while thanking the three men.

“In a certain way, it wasn’t that easy for me, either,” he added,” but you went through a lot more than I did, and I appreciate it all very much.”

The president also honored his 2024 campaign manager, Chris LaCivita, who is a Marine Corps veteran and received a Purple Heart in 1991 while serving in the Gulf War.

Others mentioned during the signing ceremony include Kevin Willette and his son Brian Willette. Both he and his son received Purple Hearts while serving in Afghanistan.

Military specialist Kevin Brown also was honored for pulling Capt. Sam Brown from a Humvee that an explosive device had damaged.

Both men earned their Purple Hearts on that day, and the Senate last week confirmed Brown as the Military Affairs Department’s under-secretary for memorial affairs.

Trump said the Purple Heart “tells a story of courage, sacrifice and purpose” and “speaks of a price paid for the soldier beside you, the country behind you and the generations of Americans yet to come.”

He then signed the proclamation designating Aug. 7 as National Purple Heart Day.

July 24 (UPI) — Three Ohio police officers were shot when a gunman opened fire on two of while they were eating pizza in their patrol cars during their lunch break, authorities said, with the third being wounded while responding to the scene.

The shooting occurred shortly after 1 p.m. local time Wednesday in an undeveloped industrial park in the northeastern Ohio city of Lorain, located on the coast of Lake Erie.

Acting Lorain Police Chief Michael Failing told reporters during a press conference that the suspect had been “lying in wait” with an “arsenal of weapons” when he opened fire on officers Philip Wagner and Peter Gale, who were parked side by side eating pizza.

A third officer, Brent Payne, was also shot by the suspect when he arrived at the scene in response to his fellow officers’ call for assistance.

More officers responded, and the suspect was shot dead at the scene.

Failing said Payne suffered a gunshot wound to the hand at was treated at a local hospital, while Wagner and Gale were shot multiple times and were airlifted to a larger facility.

“They are currently undergoing medical treatment and if you could all pray for these officers,” Failing said.

The suspect has not been identified.

Elyria Police Chief James Welsh told reporters in a separate press conference that he could not confirm whether the suspect died from return fire from law enforcement or if he took his own life.

“This was an ambush situation,” he said.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said he had been briefed on the “horrible” shooting.

“Fran and I are praying for the three Lorain Police Department officers who were shot in the line of duty today, and our thoughts are also with their families, friends and fellow officers in northeast Ohio,” he said in a statement.

“This situation reminds us that those who work in law enforcement risk their lives every day for the safety of their communities. We are so very grateful for the men and women who willingly and bravely serve and protect.”

More details emerge on June assassination attempt on President Masoud Pezeshkian and other officials by Israel.

Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian suffered minor injuries in an Israeli air strike on a meeting of the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran on June 15, a senior Iranian official said.

The assassination attempt targeted the heads of the three branches of government in an effort to overthrow it, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“This attempt will not pass without Israel paying a price,” he told Al Jazeera.

The strike was carried out shortly before noon during a meeting attended by the heads of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of the government along with other senior officials.

The semiofficial Fars news agency also reported new details on the assassination attempt during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran, which was first announced by the Iranian president in an interview released on Monday.

The session was taking place in the lower level of a government facility in western Tehran when the attack started, Fars reported. The building’s entrances and exits were hit by six missiles to block escape routes and cut off air flow.

Electricity was severed following the explosions, but Iranian officials managed to escape through a pre-designated emergency hatch, including the president, who is said to have sustained minor leg injuries while evacuating.

The news agency said authorities launched an investigation into the possible presence of Israeli spies given the accuracy of the intelligence the “enemy” possessed.

‘They did try’

Last week, Pezeshkian said in an interview with US media figure Tucker Carlson that Israel attempted to assassinate him. “They did try, yes … but they failed,” he said.

“It was not the United States that was behind the attempt on my life. It was Israel. I was in a meeting… They tried to bombard the area in which we were holding that meeting.”

The comments come less than a month after Israel launched its unprecedented June 13 bombing campaign against Iran, killing top military commanders and nuclear scientists.

The Israeli attacks took place two days before Tehran and Washington were set to meet for a new round of nuclear talks, stalling negotiations aimed at reaching a deal over Iran’s atomic programme.

At least 1,060 people were killed in Iran during the conflict, according to Iran’s Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs.

The Israeli attacks drew waves of retaliatory drone and missile fire, killing 28 people in Israel, according to authorities.

Iran targeted Israeli military and intelligence headquarters with ballistic missiles and drones before the US brokered a ceasefire.