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DeSantis directs state division to coordinate chartered flights for Floridians stranded in Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is taking action to help Floridians who are stranded in Israel amid the conflict.The governor on Thursday said he is sending chartered flights to rescue these residents.“We’re leading in Florida. I just signed an executive order. We’re going to be sending our own planes, and we’re going to be bringing people right back to Florida from Israel,” he said.DeSantis has directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to coordinate the flights, and the website to request assistance is up and running. Those who qualify will fly for free.For more information, and to access the application form, click here.

A mother shielding her son, a 26-year-old attending a music festival and 2 brothers are among the Americans killed in Israel

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

(CNN) — A mother who shielded her son from gunfire, a “pro-peace” academic, young people who attended a musical festival and two brothers are among at least 27 Americans who have been killed in the warfare between Israel and Hamas, family members and officials say.Brothers Igal Wachs, 53, and Amit Wachs, 48, were killed when Hamas gunmen stormed their village of Netiv HaAsara, which borders Gaza, Igal’s ex-wife Liat Oren-Wachs told CNN.Both were dual Israeli-American citizens and members of the village’s security team, said Oren-Wachs, who believes the pair were killed trying to defend their community. Amit had lived in Netiv HaAsara all his life and leaves behind a wife, two daughters and a son, Oren-Wachs said.“They were both very family oriented,” she said.The brothers are among the US citizens who were killed after the Gaza-based militant group launched a devastating attack on Israel early Saturday that left at least 1,200 dead.The number of Am...

Deadly attacks on Israel and a bitter Polish election

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

Listen on Spotify Apple Music Google Play EN_Google_Podcasts_Badge Created with Sketch. Acast Amazon Music In this episode of EU Confidential, we discuss the EU’s muddled response to the heinous attack on Israel in which Hamas killed over a thousand civilians and took dozens of people hostage, sparking outrage and disbelief.Then we turn our focus to Poland. Host Suzanne Lynch brings...

Despite Washington chaos, Americans still want to support Ukraine

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

Ivo Daalder, former U.S. ambassador to NATO, is CEO of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and host of the weekly podcast “World Review with Ivo Daalder.”Europe is fearful that the United States will no longer provide military support to Ukraine — and its not alone. During a surprise visit to NATO headquarters early this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy voiced similar concerns.The immediate reason for this is Congress’ failure to include additional funding in a short-term bill to keep the U.S. government open last month. But the deeper worry is that America’s political dysfunction has reached a point where anything seems possible — even Donald Trump’s return to the presidency.There is plenty of material to justify these fears. Despite his legal woes, Trump remains the front-runner in the contest to secure the presidential nomination for the Republican Party. The House of Representatives voted to unseat its Speaker for the first time in its nearly 250-year history. And...

Blame Barbie! Glitter brings sparkle to Starmer and sadness to the EU

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

Welcome to Declassified, a weekly humor column.Spare a thought in these difficult times for glitter. A bunch of the shiny stuff (which is just microplastics wearing its fanciest going-out-on-a-Friday-night outfit) was dumped on Keir Starmer just as the U.K. Labour leader was about to give his big party conference speech in Liverpool. It was an odd choice from the protester, who was from a previously unheard-of group named People Demand Democracy. Hit someone in the face with a cream pie or bash them over the head with an egg and they look a bit foolish for a while afterward. Pour glitter on them and they look, well, glittering!And that’s particularly true if the politician in question is seen, as Starmer is, by many as being rather dull (for older readers, the Lighthouse Family of politics. Don’t Google that band, especially if you are about to operate heavy machinery). Police are looking for Barbie and/or Ken in connection with the glitter attack.Speaking of People Dema...

How to watch the Polish election like a pro

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

WARSAW — Poles vote Sunday to elect a new government in a race that could convulse the EU.Vying for dominance are the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and the opposition Civic Coalition, along with three smaller groups that could prove kingmakers.With PiS leading in the polls, critics say a third term for the euroskeptic conservatives will further strangle the independent judiciary, women’s and minority rights, and put the accelerator on Warsaw’s collision course with Brussels.The election has been overshadowed by concerns about media freedom and electoral fairness. As if that weren’t enough, the PiS government has thrown another curveball at the opposition by holding a controversial referendum on migration, national security and the retirement age on election day. Critics have called the plebiscite a politically motivated ploy to sway the electorate into casting their votes for PiS. Here’s what you need to know to watch the October 15 election like a pro:How doe...

Why Israel-Hamas is Erdoğan’s new ‘mission impossible’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been frustrated in his efforts to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine war. But after Hamas’ shock massacre in Israel he’s looking for another chance to play the peacemaker.As global powers including the U.S. and the Gulf countries seek behind the scenes to prevent the Israel-Hamas conflict from spreading, the Turkish president has been engaged in his own hectic brand of diplomacy.“I’m having talks with regional leaders … trying to figure out how we can mediate and stop this war,” he said this week, after conversations with, among others, U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin.He’s also spoken to Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Palestinian chief Mahmoud Abbas, as well as the Egyptian, Lebanese and Qatari leaders.Turkish state TV even said Wednesday night that Turkey had started a negotiation process for the release of prisoners held by Hamas in Gaza.Ther...

Parents sue Hyatt Hotels Corporation over wrongful death of 1-year-old son

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A local family is suing Hyatt Hotel Corporations, claiming the company is at fault for the death of their child.The family was vacationing at a resort in Mexico when Nico Carter fell from the ninth floor balcony."He was the most selfless, kind and giving and loving boy ever. He was my everything, he was my best friend,” mother Anastasia Duboshina said.The parents called it "a living nightmare," saying "you always hope you are going to wake up from it one day. We can’t accept he’s gone.”Now Nico’s parents are suing Hyatt Hotels Corporation over the death of their baby boy. The suit alleges Hyatt's “inexcusable negligence” caused “the tragic and entirely preventable death of Nico."“We feel like Hyatt let us down. We relied on them for a safe environment for our family and we feel like they let us down in the most horrific and tragic way,” Carter said.  The parents booked a stay at the Hyatt Ziva Puerto Vallarta in October 2021. On the third day of their vacation, Jam...

GOP’s Scalise ends his bid to become House speaker as Republican holdouts refuse to back the nominee

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican Steve Scalise ended his bid to become House speaker late Thursday after hardline holdouts refused to back the party’s nominee, throwing the GOP majority into deeper chaos and leaving the chamber still unable to function.Scalise told GOP colleagues at a closed-door evening meeting of his decision and pointedly declined to announce backing for anyone else, including his chief rival, Rep. Jim Jordan, the far-right Judiciary Committee chairman backed by Donald Trump who had already told colleagues he no longer would seek the job.Next steps are uncertain as the House is essentially closed while the Republican majority tries to elect a speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy from the job.“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee,” Scalise said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting at the Capitol.Scalise, R-La., said the Republican majority “still has to come together and is not there.”He had been worki...

Idaho’s longest-serving death row inmate is scheduled for a November execution by lethal injection

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 17:14:51 GMT

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge issued a death warrant on Thursday for the state’s longest-serving death row inmate, scheduling his execution for next month. Thomas Creech was convicted of killing two people in Valley County in 1974 and sentenced to death row. But after an appeal that sentence was reduced to life in prison. Less than 10 years later, however, he was convicted of beating a fellow inmate to death with a sock full of batteries, and he was again sentenced to death in 1983. The death warrant was issued by 4th District Judge Jason Scott Thursday afternoon, and the Idaho Department of Correction said Creech would be executed by lethal injection on Nov. 8. “The Department has secured the chemicals necessary to carry out an execution by lethal injection,” the department wrote in a press release. Idaho prison officials have previously had trouble obtaining the chemicals used in lethal injections. The state repeatedly scheduled and canceled another inmate’s plann...