A US Capitol police officer was killed and a second injured Friday after a vehicle rammed through security and crashed into a barrier at the Washington complex, forcing it into lockdown less than three months after a mob assault on Congress. Capitol Police shot dead the driver after he jumped out of the car and lunged at them with a knife, Acting Chief Yogananda Pittman told reporters. US media said officials had identified the attacker as Noah Green, a 25-year-old Black man from Indiana and an adherent of the Black nationalist Nation of Islam movement. Pittman said there was no immediate indication of his motivation or police file on him. “It does not appear to be terrorism-related, but obviously we will continue to investigate,” Washington Metropolitan Police Chief Robert Contee added. Some of Noah’s online postings in March suggested a level of despair and paranoia. He said he was unemployed and had health problems, and made references to biblical concepts of the end of times.

LinkedIn gives staff week

off for well-being

Professional social network LinkedIn is giving nearly all of its 15,900 full-time workers next week off as it seeks to avoid burnout and allow its employees to recharge, the company told AFP Friday. The Microsoft-owned firm said that the “RestUp!” week starting Monday is meant to give employees time for their own well-being. “There is something magical about the entire company taking a break at the same time,” LinkedIn said in reply to an AFP inquiry. “A core team of employees will continue to work for the week, but they will be able to schedule time off later,” LinkedIn said.

Argentine president tests

positive for Covid-19

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez, who has been vaccinated against Covid-19, announced late Friday that he had tested positive for the coronavirus. “At the end of today, after presenting a fever of 37.3 and a slight headache, I performed an antigen test, which was positive,” he tweeted, adding he was waiting for the results of a PCR test to confirm the diagnosis. The president, who turned 62 on Friday, was in isolation as a precaution but said he was “physically well.” Fernandez was inoculated with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine and had his second shot on February 11, sources in the presidency told AFP.

Al-Shabaab attacks two

key Somali bases: army

Al-Shabaab Islamist fighters attacked two key military bases in Somalia yesterday, detonating car bombs at both locations before engaging in an intense gun battle, an army official and witnesses said. The attacks happened in the southern region of Lower Shabelle on bases in the towns of Awdheegle and Bariire -- some 30 kilometres (17 miles) apart. Both are forward operating bases in the fight against the Islamist group. Army chief General Odowa Yusuf Rage told reporters that the attacks were over with dozens of insurgents dead of injured. Al-Shabaab claimed it had killed dozens and captured military vehicles and supplies in the attacks.