一 | LOS ANGELES -- At the most harrowing of times, some Israeli citizens living overseas aren't running from the war at home, but to it. From Athens to New York, they're rushing to airports and diving into online chat groups for help, desperate to make their way to the country after Hamas militants attacked. Some of these Israelis abroad are yearning to serve, whether that means fighting in a military reserve unit or volunteering to shuttle supplies to those in need, even as the war has already claimed at least 1,800 lives and shows no signs of abating. On Tuesday, Israel's military expanded its mobilization of reservists to 360,000, according to the country’s media, as it ramped up its retaliation for the surprise attacks. Yaakov Swisa, a 42-year-old father of five, said nobody called and asked him to return to Israel to fight, but he feels he has no choice. He served for 15 years, and he said he learned his army roommate was among at least 260 killed at a music festival. Swisa wants to rejoin his reserve unit, even if that means leaving his family and his construction-business job in Los Angeles. “I’ve been crying for two, three days. Enough. That’s it. I am ready to fight," he said. “What else would I do ... while my friends are being buried in Israel?”Some of the Israelis living, working or just traveling abroad who were trying to make it back said their reserve units were among those called up. Others said they hadn't yet been called or couldn't reach their commanders but expected to be asked soon. In other cases, Israelis who are too young to serve in the military, as well as non-Israelis with close ties to the country, have been trying to travel to assist family members or volunteer.Adam Jacobs, an 18-year-old community college student in New Jersey, said he was born and raised in the U.S. and for years traveled every summer to visit family in Israel. He said he learned his cousin was among those killed, and he wants to make his way to Israel to take on volunteer work, possibly shuttling supplies.“I couldn’t live with myself if I stayed here,” Jacobs said. “It’s never been this bad.”Eric Fingerhut, a former U.S. congressman who now leads The Jewish Federations of North America, said he’s not surprised by how many people want to help.“As soon as we can possibly enable that, we certainly will,” he said from Tel Aviv, where he'd arrived just before the weekend attacks. “There are many Israeli reservists who are abroad. And so getting them back home to join the fight, you know, has been a priority. And it should be a priority. So people are just scrambling.”The war began after Hamas militants stormed into Israel Saturday during a major Jewish holiday, killing people and abducting others. In response, Israeli warplanes have hammered the Gaza Strip, destroying buildings and sending Palestinian residents scrambling to find safety in the tiny, sealed-off territory. Travel has been challenging, with major airlines suspending flights in and out of Israel. The U.S. State Department issued travel advisories for the region. Some reservists in the United States, home to more than 140,000 people born in Israel, were trying to get on charter flights.Ofer Cohen, a New York businessman, said he learned there were more than 200 reservists traveling through South America on vacation at the time of the attacks. They've been called back to base but unable to get there, thanks to canceled flights. So Cohen is trying to cobble together hundreds of thousands of dollars to hire a plane to pick them up, as WhatsApp messages describing their troubles keep rolling in. “I just saw one after another,” he said, “and I thought about this idea of getting a charter plane and get them back to Israel.”In Greece, hundreds of people waited hours to board emergency flights at Athens International Airport, many without a ticket and most traveling from other European destinations after cutting holiday and work trips short. As officers patrolled the area to provide security, volunteers handed travelers apples, bananas and bottled water. Nir Ekhouse, a 19-year old from near Nazareth, had been in the Maldives with family. They reached Athens via Istanbul as they tried to make it home. Once there, Ekhouse said, he plans to volunteer for an organization that supports the military.“This is the first time in the history of Israel that something like that has happened. It’s very shocking,” he said, standing in line with his parents and younger siblings.Israel Lawrence, 27, was born in Israel and grew up in London. He said that although he hasn't been formally called up, he's making the trip to join his fellow soldiers, many already on the front lines, and help his family members, who are living in terror and chaos.“I want to be honest with you, I’m scared," said Lawrence, a trained rifleman who was on his way to Israel via Cyprus. "All the guys I’m with are terrified, but we are trained, and we’ll do the best we can.” __Hadjicostis reported from Nicosia, Cyprus. Taxin reported from Santa Ana, California. Also contributing were: AP reporters Bobby Caina Calvan in New York, Lefteris Pitarakis and Derek Gatopoulos in Athens, John Leicester in Paris and Nicole Winfield and Patricia Thomas in Rome.。
Former President Donald Trump surrendered at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday evening and booked on more than a dozen charges stemming from what prosecutors say were efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state.
He arrived for his booking at 7:30pm, escorted by a Secret Service entourage at least a dozen black cars deep and a motorcade of law enforcement officials after traveling on his private jet from his residence in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Afterward, he made brief – and defiant – remarks.
“If you challenge an election, you should be able to challenge the election. I thought the election was a rigged election, a stolen election. And I should have every right to do that,” he said before boarding his plane. “What has taken place here is a travesty of justice. We did nothing wrong. I did nothing wrong.”
Throngs of Trump’s supporters and critics alike gathered early in the morning behind barricades in the parking lot across from the infamous jail ahead of the former president’s arrival, holding signs, shouting from megaphones and waving flags.
Converging with the heavy media presence and tight security, it was all but certainly the media circus Trump had hoped it would be in the wake of the first GOP presidential primary debate on Wednesday evening, which the former president chose to sit out, citing his record-setting lead in polling.
Trump and 18 of his closest allies are being charged in a sweeping racketeering scheme, which involved spreading conspiracy theories, pressuring elected officials and propping up fake electors to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia in a desperate effort to remain in power despite having lost the presidency in a free and fair vote.
The charges follow a two-year investigation by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
The indictment marks the fourth set of criminal charges against Trump, who now faces a cumulative 91 felony counts in New York state court for hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, in federal court in Florida for mishandling classified documents, in federal court in the District of Columbia for his efforts to prevent the peaceful transfer of power and incite a violent insurrection at the Capitol and now in Georgia.
Sheriff Pat Labat maintained that Trump would be treated like anyone else accused of a crime by a grand jury – and by all accounts he was. The booking process has become somewhat commonplace for Trump, even though it remains unprecedented among former presidents.
But unlike his other surrenders, this one included a photograph – a mugshot that became a part of American history the second the shutter clicked as the first former U.S. president was captured through the lens. The photo is set to be released by the county sheriff’s office on Friday.
Trump, who is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing in all the cases against him and continues to repeat unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged and stolen.” In reality, Trump lost the general election to Biden, and, in Georgia specifically, he lost by some 11,779 votes.
Trump, in his remarks, repeated claims that his indictments are an attempt by Democrats and the so-called “deep state” to undermine his candidacy for president.
“What they're doing is election interference. They're trying to interfere with an election,” he said. “There’s never been anything like it in our country before. This is their way of campaigning.”
The conditions for his release, which were set last week, include a $200,000 bond and strict conditions on his social media use. Among other things, he must not violate any laws in Georgia or elsewhere, he must appear in court as directed, he must not communicate about the facts of the case with fellow co-defendants – except through his legal team – and he must not intimidate co-defendants or witnesses.
Hours before his surrender, Trump replaced one of his leading attorneys, Drew Findling, with Steve Sadow, a widely respected criminal defense lawyer in Atlanta who recently defended a rapper in a racketeering case. Shadow has long criticized Georgia prosecutors for overusing the state’s RICO law.
The sudden change in defense came as a surprise – though not entirely out of character for Trump, who has been burning through attorneys in recent months as his legal challenges mount.
At least 12 of Trump’s 18 co-defendants have surrendered already, including Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, former U.S. acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark and Trump’s former personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani.
Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, had sought to delay his surrender date until a decision was made on his request to move his charges to federal court and dismiss the indictment altogether. But a federal judge on Wednesday denied him an extension.
The handful of other co-defendants who have yet to surrender have until noon on Friday before Willis issues warrants for their arrests.
Willis initially proposed that the trial begin on March 4 – adding to an already busy legal calendar for Trump heading into the 2024 election. But the former president is seeking to delay the case for as long as possible, including by lengthy pre-trial motions and a petition to move the charges to a federal court. Legal experts say Willis' timeline is likely untenable – though she did file a motion on Thursday to move up the timeline for the trial to Oct. 23 after one of the co-defendants filed a request for a speedy trial.
。
Current article:http://dvz63bf.tandianxiuzhutiaoshoudiamei.pics/a0w53/sonezhq.html
