Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stresses U.S. commitment to Israel's security amid growing Iran tensions
11 April 2021
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin arrived for his first visit in Jerusalem amid nuclear talks in Vienna and growing tensions between Israel and Iran.
Why it matters: Austin met his counterpart Benny Gantz and will meet later with Prime Minister Netanyahu to discuss Iran and regional security issues.
- In recent weeks there have been a number of attacks between Israel and Iran in the Red Sea and the Gulf.
- Netanyahu has said Israel will not be bound by any new nuclear deal.
What they are saying: In press statements after the meeting, Gantz said Israel will work with the Biden administration to make sure any future nuclear deal preserves the interests of the world, prevent a nuclear arms race and protect Israel.
- Austin didn’t mention Iran in his statement and stressed the Biden administration’s commitment to Israel’s security.
Driving the news: Early Sunday, Iran announced “an accident” occurred at its uranium enrichment facility in Natanz.
- The spokesman of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran Behrouz Kamalvandi said the accident occurred in the electricity distribution system of the Natanz enrichment facility.
- He said the cause of the incident is under investigation but stressed there were no casualties and no pollution was caused by the accident.
- In recent hours, Israeli media speculated that it was not an accident and that the power outage could have been caused by a cyber-attack.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.