In other news

Local

A Virginia man was sentenced to 100 years in prison for murder on Tuesday, Jan. 30. According to WSET, the incident happened in 2021 when Bazan Berhe killed his coworker, Hernan Leiva, in the parking lot of the Bailey’s Crossroads Target that they worked at. Berhe was issued a 100-year prison sentence which the judge suspended 30 years of. According to Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano, Berhe was upset at Leiva for taking his lunch that was in the workplace’s fridge on April 14, 2021. Berhe told detectives that he purchased a hammer and two knives, then trained the next day for premeditated murder. On April 17, 2021, Berhe traveled to work early and sat in the parking lot until Leiva arrived where he proceeded to stab and bludgeon him to death, then fleeing the scene. Berhe confessed and plead guilty to the murder October 2023.

National

Following the deadly drone strike in Jordan, President Joe Biden stated that the U.S. “shall respond” and lived up to that statement. After months of strikes by Iran-backed militias against American forces in the Middle East, these were the first fatalities of U.S. troops. According to AP News, there have been at least 150 strikes by Iranian-backed militias across the Middle East since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7. Using drones, rockets, mortars and ballistic missiles, the attacks have been constant in retaliation of the U.S. support of Israel in their war.  Despite the U.S. accusation of Iran’s support of the attacks, Iran foreign ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani stated that the “Islamic Republic of Iran has no role in decisions by resistance groups on how they support the Palestinian nation or defend their people.” Approximately 350 U.S. Army and Air Force personnel were deployed to the base; the three killed were Army soldiers. Additionally, there were at least 34 troops injured by the attack, eight of which were flown out of Jordan for further care. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. forces responded to the attacks on Feb. 2.

International

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan was convicted in a Pakistani court for revealing official secrets on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and Wednesday Jan. 31. Khan was sentenced to prison for 10 years on Jan. 30 and 14 years on Jan 31., just days before the parliamentary election. According to AP News, supporters of Khan think that the conviction is meant to unjustly eliminate the politician from the elections. Khan’s conviction was based on exposing state secrets when waving a confidential document at a rally, although Pakistan’s government has not made it public. Khan claims that the document was proof that he was being threatened. With 150 other cases still pending for anything from terrorism to inciting violence, Khan’s supporters are furious. Supporters are still urging each other to vote for candidates that are in alignment with Khan in the upcoming Feb. 8 election. This is not the first case of something like this happening prior to a Pakistani election as a similar situation took place concerning Nawaz Sharif in July 2018. Since then, Sharif reconciled with military personnel and has come back into power, expected to stroll to an easy victory in the coming election. 

Luke Bessire is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion. Follow him on X