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Wednesday's Mini-Report, 4.8.15

Today's edition of quick hits.
Today's edition of quick hits:
 
* Tsarnaev trial: "Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has been convicted for his role in the April 15, 2013 bombings of the Boston Marathon, ending the first phase of a terror trial that will now continue with a penalty phase to determine whether he will be executed."
 
* Afghanistan: "An Afghan soldier opened fire at a group of U.S. troops in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, killing an American soldier and wounding at least two others before he was shot dead, a U.S. official said."
 
* Yemen: "Al Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen is seizing territory, exploiting the recent turmoil in the country to capture areas in what has become a broad expansion by the Sunni extremist group, Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter of the United States said on Wednesday."
 
* Related news: "Iran sent two warships to the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, state media reported, establishing a military presence off the coast of Yemen where Saudi Arabia is leading a bombing campaign to oust the Tehran-allied Houthi movement."
 
* The latest from North Charleston: "The mayor of the South Carolina town where a white officer was filmed fatally shooting an unarmed black man called the incident a 'horrible tragedy' as he announced that all patrol officers would be outfitted with body cameras." Also, Michael Slager has been fired from the local police department.
 
* An ongoing area of concern: "The murder charges filed on Tuesday against a white police officer after a video surfaced showing him shooting and killing an apparently unarmed black man while the man ran away have raised a question about policing that not even the Justice Department can answer: How often do officers across the country fire their weapons?"
 
* Russia: "U.S. officials said Tuesday that Russia was behind a cyberattack on an unclassified White House system last year. The conclusion that Russia was behind the hack was first reported by CNN. U.S. officials later confirmed to NBC News that Russia allegedly conducted the cyberattack. But the international hack allegedly did not impact any classified information, officials said."
 
* Brennan speaks: "The director of the Central Intelligence Agency has provided the first public glimpse of American intelligence assessments about why Iran's leadership agreed to the tentative nuclear accord last week, saying that Iran's president persuaded its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that their country's economy was 'destined to go down' unless he reached an understanding with the West."
 
* Watch this space: "It has been falsely predicted many times in the last year, but now it seems to be true: The federal investigation into the lane closings at the George Washington Bridge appears to be coming to a head, with an announcement of indictments as early as next week."
 
Anything to add? Consider this an open thread.