U.S. airman charged in Syria base blast
WASHINGTON -- The Air Force has filed criminal charges against an airman in connection with an April explosion that injured U.S. troops at a base in eastern Syria.
Tech. Sgt. David Dezwaan Jr., an explosive ordnance disposal specialist, is facing several charges including dereliction of duty, destroying military property, reckless endangerment and aggravated assault in the blast that injured four service members. He has been held in confinement by the Air Force since June.
The U.S. military initially reported that the injuries were caused by artillery or another form of indirect fire. But the Pentagon later said the April 7 attack was carried out by the "deliberate placement of explosive charges" by one or more individuals at an ammunition holding area and shower facility on the base, known as Green Village.
The Air Force, in a statement Thursday, said a preliminary hearing date has been set for Aug. 23 at Hill Air Force Base in Utah.
Dezwaan also was charged with accessing a government computer with an unauthorized purpose and obtaining classified information. The Air Force said Dezwaan joined the military in October 2007. He was assigned to the 775th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill.
The blasts hit two support buildings. Four service members were evaluated for minor injuries and possible traumatic brain injuries.
Israel sends more forces to Gaza Strip
JERUSALEM -- The Israeli military said Thursday it is sending additional forces to the area around the Gaza Strip as it braces for possible attacks after the arrest of a senior militant in the West Bank this week.
Authorities closed roads and other areas around Gaza after a raid Monday night, in which troops arrested a senior member of the Islamic Jihad militant group in the occupied West Bank town of Jenin. A Palestinian teenager, who Islamic Jihad claimed as a member, was killed during clashes with the Israeli forces.
Islamic Jihad, which rejects Israel's existence and has carried out scores of deadly attacks over the years, said it was going "on alert" and raising its readiness in response.
Gaza has been ruled by the Islamic militant group Hamas since it drove out rival Palestinian forces in 2007. Israel holds Hamas responsible for all attacks emanating from Gaza, and the two sides have fought four wars and dozens of smaller battles over the last 15 years.
"The security arrangements that we decided upon are necessary as temporary preparation measures," Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said after convening a security meeting on Thursday.
U.S. sets $25M in farm aid for Cambodia
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- The United States will give $25 million in agriculture development aid over five years to projects in Cambodia to help alleviate food insecurity, an issue made more urgent by Russia's war in Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday.
The new aid is part of a 12-year-old American food-security project in Cambodia and will fund an initiative called Harvest Three, in which the U.S. Agency for International Development will work with Cambodian farmers and others in the food industry to get products to more markets. The focus will include grains and fish, Blinken said.
"The needs are urgent," he added. "Far too many Cambodians still live in food insecurity. Far too many Cambodian children are malnourished."
There has been a shortage of grains in parts of the world because Russia's navy has blockaded ports in Ukraine, a critical exporter. On Monday, a ship loaded with corn sailed from Odesa, the first cargo vessel to do so in more than five months of war.
Chinese make kindergarten attack arrest
BEIJING -- Police in southern China have arrested a 47-year-old man suspected of an attack that killed three people and injured six others at a kindergarten in Jiangxi province.
Liu Xiaohui was arrested at 10:50 p.m. on Wednesday, about 12 hours after the morning attack, the Anfu county police said in a statement. He had fled and gone into hiding, the statement said.
Police did not provide any information on the identity and ages of the victims.
China's Global Times newspaper reported that at least one victim was a child and that the attacker is believed to have been armed with a knife.
China upgraded security at schools following a spate of of deadly attacks in recent years attributed largely to people bearing grudges against society or with mental illnesses.
China does not allow private gun ownership, so most such attacks are carried out with knives, homemade explosives or gasoline bombs.