The Latest: Funeral begins for opera star Jessye Norman

The Latest on the public funeral for international opera star Jessye Norman (all times local):

1:10 p.m.

The funeral for international opera icon Jessye Norman has begun in Augusta, Georgia, where the star grew up.

Deanna Brown Thomas, daughter of singer James Brown, greets Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority members outside Mt. Calvary Baptist Church before going in for the viewing of opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Michael HolahanThe Augusta Chronicle via AP)

A musical prelude began the ceremony Saturday in the William B. Bell Auditorium. Norman's family proceeded into the auditorium following the performance. The funeral is being livestreamed from Augusta.

Actor Laurence Fishburne, who is also from Augusta, will speak during the public service. Performers will include Wycliffe Gordon, J'Nai Bridges and students of Jessye Norman School of the Arts.

Norman died Sept. 30 at age 74. She was awarded the National Medal of Arts, the Kennedy Center Honor and four Grammy Awards.

This 1983 photo released by the Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Jessye Norman as Cassandre in Berlioz' "Les Troyens," the role of her Metropolitan Opera debut in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Metropolitan Opera via AP)

1:10 a.m.

World-famous performers, civil rights leaders and people who know her good works are gathering in international opera star Jessye Norman's Georgia hometown for her funeral.

Norman will be laid to rest Saturday afternoon at the William B. Bell Auditorium in Augusta, Georgia, with a private burial to follow.

This 1995-1996 image released by the Metropolitan Opera shows soprano Jessye Norman as Emilia Marty in Janáček's "The Makropulos Case," in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Erika DavidsonMetropolitan Opera via AP)

Actor Laurence Fishburne is expected to speak and musicians Wycliffe Gordon and J'Nai Bridges from the Metropolitan Opera will perform.

Norman's longtime friend and civil rights activist Vernon Jordan will talk about the singer's life at her family's church in Augusta, along with elders.

Norman died Sept. 30 at age 74. A trailblazing performer, she was one of the rare black singers to attain worldwide stardom in the opera world.

FILE - This Dec. 8, 2013 file photo shows Jessye Norman at the 2013 Kennedy Center Honors at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (Photo by Greg AllenInvisionAP, File)

FILE - This Dec. 5, 2010 file photo shows opera singer Jessye Norman at the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP PhotoJacquelyn Martin, File)

FILE - This Sept. 18, 2007 file photo shows soprano Jessye Norman performing during The Dream Concert at Radio City Music Hall in New York. Norman died, Monday, Sept. 30, 2019, at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York. She was 74. (AP PhotoJason DeCrow, File)

Mourners walk into the visitation for international opera star Jessye Norman at Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Augusta, Ga., on Friday, Oct. 11, 2019. Norman died on Sept. 30 at age 74. Norman’s passionate soprano voice won her four Grammy Awards, the National Medal of Arts and the Kennedy Center Honor. (AP PhotoJeffrey Collins)

Ladies from Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority line up outside Mt. Calvary Baptist Church for the viewing of opera star Jessye Norman in Augusta, Ga., Thursday, Oct. 10, 2019. (Michael HolahanThe Augusta Chronicle via AP)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Yemen's Houthi rebels on Saturday claimed shooting down another of the U.S. military's MQ-9 Reaper drones, airing footage of parts that corresponded to known pieces of the unmanned aircraft.

The Houthis said they shot down the Reaper with a surface-to-air missile, part of a renewed series of assaults this week by the rebels after a relative lull in their pressure campaign over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Bryon J. McGarry, a Defense Department spokesperson, acknowledged to The Associated Press on Saturday that “a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 drone crashed in Yemen.” He said an investigation was underway, without elaborating.

The Houthis described the downing as happening Thursday over their stronghold in the country's Saada province.

Footage released by the Houthis included what they described as the missile launch targeting the drone, with a man off-camera reciting the Houthi's slogan after it was hit: “God is the greatest; death to America; death to Israel; curse the Jews; victory to Islam.”

The footage included several close-ups on parts of the drone that included the logo of General Atomics, which manufactures the drone, and serial numbers corresponding with known parts made by the company.

Since the Houthis seized the country’s north and its capital of Sanaa in 2014, the U.S. military has lost at least five drones to the rebels counting Thursday's shootdown — in 2017, 2019, 2023 and this year.

Reapers, which cost around $30 million apiece, can fly at altitudes up to 50,000 feet and have an endurance of up to 24 hours before needing to land.

The drone shootdown comes as the Houthis launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, demanding Israel ends the war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians there. The war began after Hamas-led militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and taking some 250 others hostage.

The Houthis have launched more than 50 attacks on shipping, seized one vessel and sank another since November, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration.

Houthi attacks have dropped in recent weeks as the rebels have been targeted by a U.S.-led airstrike campaign in Yemen. Shipping through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden has declined because of the threat. American officials have speculated that the rebels may be running out of weapons as a result of the U.S.-led campaign against them and after firing drones and missiles steadily in the last months. However, the rebels have renewed their attacks in the last week.

A Houthi supporter raises a mock rocket during a rally against the U.S. and Israel and to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, in Sanaa, Yemen, Friday, April. 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Osamah Abdulrahman)