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Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missile fired toward Riyadh; no reported casualties

December 20, 2017 by  
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RIYADH (Reuters) – Saudi air defenses shot down a ballistic missile fired by Yemen’s Houthi group toward Riyadh on Tuesday, the Saudi-led coalition said, in an attack that could escalate a proxy war between the kingdom and Iran.

There were no reports of casualties or damage. In contrast, a U.N. human rights spokesman said coalition air strikes had killed at least 136 non-combatants in wartorn Yemen since December 6.

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement said it had aimed the missile at the Saudi royal court at al-Yamama palace, where a meeting of Saudi leaders was under way. It described the attack as a new chapter in the conflict.

The Saudi-led coalition said the missile, the latest of several fired toward Riyadh, had been directed at residential areas and there had been no damage.

Quoting a statement from the coalition, Saudi state news agency SPA said Iranian-made missiles were a threat to regional and international security. It accused the Houthis of using humanitarian entry points into Yemen to smuggle in missiles from Saudi Arabia’s regional arch-foe Iran.

“Coalition forces confirm intercepting an Iranian-Houthi missile targeting (the) south of Riyadh. There are no reported casualties at this time,” the government-run Center for International Communication wrote on its Twitter account.

Saudi palaces, military and oil facilities are within range of such missiles, the Houthis said in a statement carried by the group’s Al-Masirah television.

In Washington, a Pentagon spokesman said the United States was aware of the reported missile attack.

“We are working closely with our Saudi partners … to ensure that our Saudi partners have the resources they need to defend their territory against indiscriminate attacks against civilian-inhabited areas,” he said.

THOUSANDS OF AIR STRIKES IN YEMEN

Saudi Arabia and Iran are locked in struggle for influence in the Middle East. The conflict in Saudi Arabia’s backyard Yemen has killed more than 10,000 people and displaced over two million.

The Houthis for their part have fired several missiles at the kingdom, but have not caused any serious damage.

The attack came as the Houthis marked 1,000 days since the Saudi-led coalition began military operations in Yemen in March 2015 after the Iran-aligned group drove Yemeni President Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi into exile.

“The enemies had their own mirage calculations … but over 1,000 days, there has been this great steadfastness,” said Abdel-Malek al-Houthi, a Houthi leader, in a speech on the group’s Al-Masirah TV.

The United Arab Emirates, a close ally of Saudi Arabia and part of its coalition, said the latest Houthi attack underscored the need to keep the military campaign in Yemen going.

“With every Iranian missile fired by the Houthi militia against civilian targets, the necessity of (Operation) Decisive Storm becomes clear,” United Arab Emirates minister of state for foreign affairs, Anwar Gargash, wrote on his Twitter account.

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri condemned the attack, saying such actions exacerbate divisions in the region.

Saudi Arabia and its foe Iran are also competing for influence in Iraq and Syria.

Reuters witnesses described hearing a blast and said they saw smoke in the northeast of Riyadh.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, has described what Riyadh says is Iran’s supply of rockets to the Houthis as “direct military aggression” that could be an act of war.

Iran has denied supplying such weaponry to the Houthis, who have taken over the Yemeni capital Sanaa and other parts of the country during its civil war.

Saudi Arabia said on Nov. 4 it had intercepted a ballistic missile over Riyadh’s King Khaled Airport, an attack that led the coalition to close Yemeni ports.

On Nov. 30 Saudi Arabia shot down another missile near its southwestern city of Khamis Mushait.

Last week the United States presented for the first time pieces of what it said were Iranian weapons supplied to the Houthis, describing it as conclusive evidence that Tehran was violating U.N. resolutions.

The arms included charred remnants of what the Pentagon said was an Iranian-made short-range ballistic missile fired from Yemen in the Nov. 4 attack, as well as a drone and an anti-tank weapon recovered in Yemen by the Saudis.

Additional reporting by Sylvia Westall in Dubai and Sarah Dadoush in Beirut; Writing by Sami Aboudi; Editing by Michael Georgy

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Track Palin, son of Sarah Palin, arrested on domestic violence charges against dad

December 19, 2017 by  
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The oldest son of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was arraigned Sunday on domestic violence charges against his father, according to online court records and sources.

Track Palin was charged with felony burglary, assault in the fourth degree and criminal mischief for causing property damage in Wasilla, Alaska, according to court records. The criminal mischief charge was for causing $250 to $999 in property damage.

The assault charge involved father Todd Palin as “the victim” and the burglary charge stems from an incident at the home of Sarah and Todd Palin, sources close to the Palin family told NBC News.

The alleged incident occurred on Saturday, according to the court records, which indicated that all charges were related to domestic violence.



Track Palin was arrested after his mother called 911 and later told police her son was “freaking out and was on some type of medication,” according to charging documents obtained by the Anchorage Daily News.

The dispute was over a truck that Track wanted to take, according to the documents. His father told him no because he was allegedly drinking and taking pain medicine, the report says.

“Track told him he was (going to) come anyway to beat his ass,” wrote Wasilla officer Adam LaPointe.

His father grabbed a pistol to “protect his family,” and the two got into a fight, the report says. Track broke a window and struck his father on the head, the report says. Todd Palin broke free and suffered injuries to his face and head, was bleeding and had liquid coming from his ear.

NBC News has not independently obtained the charging documents.

John Tiemessen, an attorney for Todd and Sarah Palin, said that, given the nature of the charges, they were unable to comment on the incident.

“They ask that the family’s privacy is respected during this challenging situation just as others dealing with a struggling family member would also request,” Tiemessen said in a statement.

A woman who answered the phone at Mat-Su Pretrial Facility in Palmer, Alaska, said Track Palin was listed as being held there as of Sunday evening. The woman would not give her name or title.

Palin was also arrested in January 2016 in Wasilla, on charges of assault, interfering with a domestic violence report and misconduct involving weapons.

An officer who responded to a 911 call at the Palin household in Wasilla during the 2016 incident wrote that when he met Track Palin in the driveway he was “uncooperative, belligerent and evasive with my initial line of questioning,” according to court documents.

Palin’s girlfriend told the officer that he “struck her on the left side of her head near her eye with a closed fist,” sending her to the ground, according to court documents. He then allegedly kicked his girlfriend, threw her cell phone and threatened suicide with his AR-15 rifle, according to the documents.

Palin pleaded guilty to misconduct involving weapons charge for possessing a weapon while intoxicated, online court records show. The assault charge and interfering with a report of domestic violence charge were dismissed by the prosecution.

Sarah Palin suggested at the time that her son’s arrest stemmed from post-traumatic stress disorder after a year-long military deployment in Iraq.

“My son, like so many others, they come back a bit different, they come back hardened, they come back wondering if there is that respect for what it is that their fellow soldiers and airmen every other member of the military so sacrificially have given to this country,” she said at the time after alluding to the arrest.

Palin ran unsuccessfully for vice president on the Republican Party’s ticket alongside Sen. John McCain of Arizona in 2008 against then-Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Joe Biden of Delaware.

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