U.S. raid in Syria captures ISIS operative
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. military said Monday it had captured an operator for the Islamic State extremist group during a helicopter raid in northern Syria.
The operator, Abu Halil al-Fad'ani, "was assessed to have relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region," U.S. Central Command said in a statement.
His capture Saturday increases the chance that U.S. counterterrorism operations there will be able to target additional members of the group, command spokesman Lt. Col. Troy Garlock said.
The U.S. has approximately 900 troops in Syria focused on countering the remnants of the Islamic State group, which had held a wide swath of Syria until 2019.
News of the capture came as U.S.-backed Kurdish-led forces imposed a curfew after continued skirmishes with rival Arab militiamen.
According to reports from Syrian media and activists, the Syrian Democratic Forces imposed the curfew Monday in several towns in Deir el-Zour province, including in Ziban, close to the Iraqi border where the Americans are based.
Hundreds of U.S. troops have been there since 2015. The oil-rich province has Syria's largest oil fields.
Syria remains in a bloody 12-year civil war that has killed 500,000 people.
Crude bomb thrown at Cuban Embassy
WASHINGTON -- At least one Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Cuban Embassy in Washington, but there was no significant damage and no one was injured. U.S. law enforcement officials were investigating.
Secret Service officers were called around 7 p.m. Sunday to respond to the attack on a busy street in the Adams-Morgan section of the city. Embassy officials reported that someone had thrown a "possible incendiary device" at the building, Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said on Monday.
There was no fire or significant damage to the building, he said. No arrests had been made.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on X that the Cuban Embassy "was the target of a terrorist attack by an individual who threw 2 Molotov cocktails," a type of crude grenade made from a bottle filled with flammable liquid and a wick lit just before it's thrown. He said no one was injured.
A spokesman for the Cuban Embassy did not immediately respond Monday to a request for additional information.
Cuba built the embassy in 1917. It closed in January 1961 as Cold War tensions between the two countries escalated, and it reopened as an "interests section" in 1977. In July 2015, it became an embassy again as the two countries restored relations under President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro.
Driver enters plea in Treat Williams crash
BENNINGTON, Vt. -- A Vermont driver Monday pleaded innocent to a charge in the June crash that killed actor Treat Williams.
Ryan Koss, 35, could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison if he's convicted of gross negligent operation with death resulting.
An investigation of the June 12 crash in Dorset concluded a vehicle pulled in front of Williams, who was riding a motorcycle and was unable to avoid a collision, Vermont State Police said.
Koss was turning left into a parking lot in a Honda SUV when he collided with Williams' oncoming motorcycle, police said. Williams, 71, of Manchester Center, was pronounced dead at Albany Medical Center in New York.
Richard Treat Williams appeared in more than 120 TV and film roles, including the movies "The Eagle Has Landed," "Prince of the City" and "Once Upon a Time in America."
Koss, the managing creative director of the Dorset Theatre Festival in Vermont, said he knew Williams for years as a member of the community, as well as a fellow theater member, and considered him a friend.
Walmart gunman agrees to $5M payment
AUSTIN, Texas -- A white Texas gunman who killed 23 people at a Walmart in 2019 after ranting about Hispanics taking over the government and economy has agreed to pay more than $5 million to victims of the racist attack, according to an order signed by a judge Monday.
Patrick Crusius was sentenced to 90 consecutive life sentences in July after pleading guilty to federal hate crime charges following one of the nation's worst mass killings. Court records show his attorneys and the Justice Department reached an agreement over the restitution amount, which was then approved by U.S. District Judge David Guaderrama.
There is no indication Crusius, 25, has significant assets. He was 21 years old and had dropped out of community college.
He once worked at a movie theater, a job that his attorneys have said Crusius was forced to leave because he was having violent thoughts.
Crusius pleaded guilty in February after federal prosecutors took the death penalty off the table. But Texas prosecutors have said they will try to put Crusius on death row when he stands trial in state court.
Under the agreement between the gunman and the government, Crusius will pay $5,557,005.55, according to court filings.
-- Compiled by Democrat-Gazette staff from wire reports