1 Iran Conflict: US Carries Out More Strikes On Iranian Military Site
The U.S. military carried out new airstrikes in southern Iran yesterday, targeting a military site that officials said posed a threat to American forces and commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. also intercepted and shot down multiple Iranian drones as part of the same defensive action. A U.S. official described the strikes as defensive, framing them within the ongoing ceasefire framework. On the diplomatic front, Iranian state television reported that a draft memorandum of understanding under negotiation would lift the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports in return for the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz and a 60-day window to negotiate nuclear matters. "Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. I'm doing that for the world," President Trump said during yesterday’s cabinet meeting, adding that the conflict could end "very quickly" if Iran agrees to give up its nuclear program.
2 Eleven Presumed Dead In Washington State Paper Mill Implosion
The death toll from the rupture of an 80,000-gallon chemical tank at the Nippon Dynawave paper mill in Longview, Washington, climbed to 11 yesterday as rescuers transitioned to a recovery operation with no hope of finding survivors. A second death was confirmed and nine more workers were presumed dead, making the disaster what Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson called "the deadliest industrial tragedy in modern Washington state history." Cowlitz County Fire Chief Scott Goldstein told reporters yesterday that crews had searched every area they could safely access and found no living victims. Fifty-two-year-old Gilbert Bernal was confirmed as one of the dead. His daughter Geovana said her father was taken to the hospital in critical condition but died shortly after.
3 Coast Guard Planning New Search For Michigan Woman Missing In Bahamas
New GPS data from electronic devices belonging to Brian Hooker has prompted U.S. investigators to seek permission to relaunch a dive search in the Bahamas for his missing wife, Lynette Hooker, who has been missing since April 4th. A U.S. official said yesterday that the GPS information appeared to contradict Brian Hooker's account of his whereabouts the night she disappeared, pointing to previously unsearched areas of the Sea of Abaco. The U.S. Coast Guard seized the couple's boat, which is now docked in Florida, and Brian Hooker, who was arrested and released without charges in April, has denied harming his wife. He has since returned to the United States, with his attorney citing a gravely ill mother. Lynette's daughter has publicly doubted her stepfather's account of events from the start.