Egypt battles militants in Libya

Egypt battles militants in Libya

BENGHAZI, Libya

Egypt’s military involvement in Libya underlines Cairo’s concerns about the threat posed by Islamic militant groups operating near the two nations’ porous border, as well as home-grown jihadis who rely on their Libyan comrades for weapons. Above all, Egypt aims to prevent these groups from linking up.

As fighting continued for a second day Thursday in Benghazi, where residents reported Egyptian warplanes have been pounding Islamist militia positions, analysts warned that Cairo’s foray into the ongoing fighting in Libya could deepen the turmoil there.

Egyptian and Libyan officials have denied Egypt was carrying out airstrikes, while the United States, which maintains a naval force in the Mediterranean that includes surveillance aircraft, has not confirmed the aerial campaign.

Dukakis testifies in trial of bombing suspect’s friend

BOSTON

It was an odd moment in the trial of a friend of the man accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombing: Michael Dukakis, the former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, testifying for the defense.

Dukakis took the stand in federal court Thursday for Robel Phillipos, a friend of bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, to tell jurors about a conversation he had with Phillipos five days after the deadly bombing.

Phillipos, 20, is charged with lying to authorities about his movements three days after the April 15, 2013, attack that killed three people and injured more than 260.

Dukakis described himself as a longtime family friend of Phillipos and his mother. He said his wife, Kitty Dukakis, had worked as a social worker with Phillipos’ mother, and the two families remained friends.

Shots fired at police in 3 Wash. towns

MARYSVILLE, Wash.

Shots were fired into police stations and patrol cars in two towns before a suspect was arrested in a shooting with officers at a third city in an hourlong spree Wednesday night about 30 miles northeast of Seattle.

Police couldn’t say Thursday whether the suspect had a grudge or what may have motivated the gunfire. They were thankful no one was killed.

A Marysville police sergeant was wounded — either by a bullet or debris — as the suspect was arrested, Snohomish County sheriff’s spokeswoman Shari Ireton said. The 19-year veteran was treated at a hospital in Everett and released.

The suspect is a 43-year-old Granite Falls man who remained in a hospital Thursday with non-life-threatening injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

Hong Kong police clear protest zone

HONG KONG

Riot police cleared an offshoot Hong Kong pro-democracy protest zone in a dawn raid today, taking down barricades, tents and canopies that have blocked key streets for more than two weeks, but leaving the city’s main thoroughfare still in the hands of the activists.

Hundreds of officers, some in helmets and shields, descended in the early morning on the busy district of Mong Kok, a smaller protest zone across the Victoria Harbor from the main occupied area in the city’s financial district.

Associated Press