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Biden will head to Israel, Jordan as concerns mount about Israel-Hamas conflict

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — President Joe Biden will travel to Israel and on to Jordan Wednesday to meet with both Israeli and Arab leadership, as concerns increase that the raging Israel-Hamas war could expand into a larger regional conflict.U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Biden’s travel to Israel as the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip grows more dire and as Israel prepares for a possible ground attack on the 141-square-mile (365-square-kilometer) territory to root out Hamas militants responsible for what U.S. and Israeli officials say was the most lethal assault against Jews since the Holocaust. FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox Biden is looking to send the strongest message yet that the U.S. is behind Israel. His Democratic administration has pledged military support, sending U.S. carriers and aid to the region. Officials have said they would ask Congress for upward of $2 billion in additional aid for both Israel and Ukrain...

Google keyword search warrant upheld in deadly arson

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

DENVER (AP) — Colorado’s highest court on Monday upheld the search of Google users' keyword history to identify suspects in a 2020 fatal arson fire, an approach that critics have called a digital dragnet that threatens to undermine people's privacy and their constitutional protections against unreasonable searches and seizures. What is Prop II? Colorado voters to decide on preschool and nicotine taxes However, the Colorado Supreme Court cautioned it was not making a “broad proclamation” on the constitutionality of such warrants and emphasized it was ruling on the facts of just this one case.At issue before the court was a search warrant from Denver police requiring Google to provide the IP addresses of anyone who had searched over 15 days for the address of the home that was set on fire, killing five immigrants from the West African nation of Senegal.The fire killed 29-year-old Djibril Diol; his wife, 23-year-old Adja Diol; their 2-year-old daughter Khadija; Djibril’s sister, 25-y...

Newly released surveillance video shows ex-condo president charged with arson attempting to set truck on fire, vandalizing vehicles in South Beach

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

Officials have questions after a man was caught on camera trying to set a pickup truck on fire.The suspect, 34-year-old Marc Maggisano, bonded out of jail Monday night and refused to speak to 7News. Surveillance video from April 29, showed Maggisano at 363 Washington Ave. breaking car windows, slashing tires and attempting to light a truck on fire.According to police, not only is Maggisano a resident of the building, he is also the former condominium association president.“It’s terrifying,” said a resident in a phone call. “We know that he is capable of committing violent acts and threatening.”Neighbors said that Maggisano is a menace, a wanna-be fire-starter and a criminal vandal who has a vendetta against his neighbors.“Attempted first-degree arson,” a judge said From the surveillance video exclusively obtained by 7News, he tried to set the truck on fire by lighting and stuffing a piece of cloth into it’s gas tank.Police arrested Mag...

Emotional reunions at MIA as South Floridans welcome home loved ones from Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

A heartfelt celebration unfolded at Miami International Airport as family members welcomed their loved ones home from a war-torn country. Among the reunions was the warm welcome for 18-year-old Shai-El, who cut short her nine-month trip of learning and volunteering due to the escalating situation. “I’m happy to be back, and I’m safe,” said Shai-El.During her time in Israel, she experienced a mix of emotions. While she says she felt secure in her location, many of her friends were living in fear amid ongoing conflict.“I’ve seen so many images that I can’t erase from my head,” Shai-El said. “Hearing from my friends, crying and being in bomb shelters, it’s really hard.”Shai-El’s nine-month trip was unexpectedly cut short by her parents’ decision to bring her back home. “When everything transpired on Saturday, my wife decided she’s going to come home,” Shai-El’s father said.Chazak Lipsz...

What Europe’s role should be in Israel-Hamas war

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

Julien Barnes-Dacey is the director of the Middle East and North Africa program at the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR). Hugh Lovatt is a senior policy fellow at ECFR.The brutal terror Hamas unleashed upon Israeli civilians on October 7 has rightly provoked full European solidarity. The scenes of horror have deservedly been condemned in the strongest terms, with the European Union backing Israel’s right to self-defense.As the bloc continues to provide strong political backing for Israel, it should also be using its diplomatic channels to prevent dangerous regional escalation. But it must be clear that this isn’t a blank check for a war of annihilation on Gaza — which all prior experience indicates would be counterproductive in addressing the threat posed by Hamas — and the collective punishment of all Palestinians.European leaders should use today’s extraordinary European Council meeting to unite behind this message, putting aside the divisions that have characterized th...

Biden to travel to Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

President Joe Biden will travel to Israel on Wednesday in what is likely to be a dramatic show of solidarity with a nation reeling from Hamas’ deadly attack.The announcement of Biden’s impending trip was made by Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday. Blinken himself was in Israel, where he had held hours of meetings with the country’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.“The President will reaffirm the United States’ solidarity with Israel and our ironclad commitment to its security,” Blinken said.The trip by Biden could come on the cusp of Israel launching a ground invasion of Gaza, a backdrop that has left some administration officials worried. Biden will be going to Tel Aviv. But he will also stop in Amman, the capital of Jordan, where he will meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority, President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi of Egypt and King Abdullah II of Jordan.Netanyahu invited Biden to visit when the two men spoke on Saturday, officials said.Bi...

SNP conference: 5 things to watch in Humza Yousaf’s big speech

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

ABERDEEN, Scotland — Push back a resurgent Labour, define yourself and save Scottish independence. All in a day’s work, Humza Yousaf hopes.The embattled Scottish first minister will give his first annual conference address to the Scottish National Party as its leader on Tuesday afternoon. It comes as Yousaf is dealing with a painful personal crisis: Members of his family remain trapped in Gaza as Israel considers its response to deadly attacks by Hamas militants.The early stages of Yousaf’s leadership were largely overtaken by events. His predecessor at the helm of Scotland’s devolved government, Nicola Sturgeon, had abruptly resigned — and was among senior SNP figures caught up in a police probe into the party’s finances. More recent months have been dominated by concern over a Scottish Labour comeback in the polls — and a hearty dose of internal warfare, including an MP defection and continued grumbling about the party’s strategy for achieving its ult...

What happens next in Poland? 5 things you need to know after a landmark election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

WARSAW — After eight years of rule by the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party, Polish voters on Sunday chose change — giving three opposition democratic parties enough seats to form a new government.So now is the way is clear to bring Poland back into the European mainstream after dallying as an illiberal democracy?Not so fast.The country’s likely ruling coalition faces years of very hard political graft to undo the changes wrought by PiS since 2015.Here are five main takeaways from an election that will shake Poland and Europe.1. Job No. 1 — creating a new governmentThe result puts PiS in first place, with 36.1 percent, according to a preliminary vote count, and 196 seats, but that’s too few for a majority in the 460-member lower house of parliament.“We will definitely try to build a parliamentary majority,” said Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.The first move belongs to President Andrzej Duda, a former PiS member who has always been loyal to the party....

EU capitals fume at ‘Queen’ von der Leyen 

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

For many of her international allies, Ursula von der Leyen is Mrs Europe — a truly presidential figure who steered the bloc through the COVID-19 pandemic and kept it unified in the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine.But the German politician’s glowing reputation abroad is increasingly belied by a malaise within the central institutions and capitals of the 27-country European Union. In private conversations in Brussels, diplomats, lawmakers and her own European Commission staffers complain “VDL” is overstepping her job description, cutting EU governments out of her decision-making and ruling with a small group of advisers by decree.The criticism came to a head last weekend when she made an unscheduled trip to Israel, prompting a furious reaction from European diplomats.Several told POLITICO they were unhappy that von der Leyen, who voiced solidarity with the victims of the Hamas attacks, had not relayed their calls for Israel to respect international law in Gaza during ...

Police respond after 2-year-old boy found with mother near Mass. & Cass encampment in Boston

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:31:04 GMT

Boston police were called to the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Melnea Cass Boulevard last week after a 2-year-old boy was spotted with his mother in the area of a homeless encampment that is known as a problem area for drug use and crime.Police say the boy’s mother may have been doing drugs at the time he was spotted by outreach volunteers on Friday morning. The volunteers said it was about 45 degrees outside and he was not appropriately dressed for the weather.The two first encountered police when they were sleeping in a car in a nearby parking lot, according to a report. The car was later towed for having an expired registration sticker.Evelyn Abreu, Director of Miracle Mile Ministries, said never in her time on Mass. and Cass has she come across a child.“I’ve never heard of one being out there,” she said. “This is their little, their little town, their friends, their neighbors, I could see why she could feel like bringing in a child the people there...