60 years after he was hanged, Israel recovers Syrian archive belonging to famous spy
On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared some of the 2,500 items from the Syrian archive relating to Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who infiltrated the political echelon in Syria, with Cohen's widow. Sunday marked 60 years since Cohen was hanged in a square in Damascus.
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Yahoo
16 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Iran sends a rocket designed to carry satellites into a suborbital test flight
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran tested one of its satellite carrying rockets with a suborbital flight on Monday, state media reported, the first such test since a ceasefire was reached after a 12-day war waged by Israel against Iran in June, which also saw the United States strike nuclear-related facilities in the Islamic Republic. The test was the latest for a program that the West says improves Tehran's ballistic missiles. A report by the official IRNA news agency said the Ghased satellite carrier test aimed at 'assessing some emerging new technologies in the country's space industry.' It said the test results will help improve the function of Iran's satellites and space systems. The report did not provide any further details on the test flight or from where the rocket was launched. Iran from time to time Iran launches satellite carriers to send its satellites to the space. Last September, Iran launched a satellite into space with a rocket built by the country's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. The Ghased, a solid and fluid fuel rocket, was first inaugurated in 2020 by the Guard when it put a military satellite in the orbit. The war in June killed nearly 1,100 Iranians, including senior military commanders and nuclear scientist. Retaliatory missile barrages by Iran killed 28 in Israel. The Associated Press
New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
US special envoy for hostage response says ‘Israel is going to take kinetic action' if Hamas rejects hostage deal
If Hamas does not take the proposal on offer to release the hostages in Gaza, 'Israel is going to take some kinetic action,' U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler warned in an interview with CNN on Sunday night. The envoy said he was 'optimistic' that a ceasefire agreement can be reached with the terrorist organization, 'because [U.S. Special Envoy for Peace Missions Steve Witkoff] has been leaning in really closely on a deal and he's done it with Israel.' Boehler went on to say that 'post-Israel winning [against] Iran there's a new sense of ability to get something done. The Israelis want something done.' 6 Israeli captive (center), who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, is escorted by Hamas fighters before being handed over to the Red Cross in Deir al-Balah. AP 6 Children looking at rifles displayed by Hamas fighters. AP 6 Israeli captive Eli Sharabi escorted by Hamas fighters. AP When asked what it would take for Hamas to agree to a hostages-for-prisoners-exchange deal, Boehler said that 'these are down to little details. … I would say that Israel at this point is bending over backward; they're redrawing maps. … at this point, what you do, is you say, 'Look, we're going to take this deal, we're going to let at least 10 hostages go…' 'We've got two dead Americans there [in Gaza]. We've got the Chens [referring to the family of U.S.-Israeli dual citizen Sgt. Itay Chen] and we have the Neutras [referring to the family of U.S.-Israeli dual citizen Capt. Omer Neutra]. We have to get those Americans out and we need to get the other hostages out.' The American negotiator further stated, 'Hamas is very hard-headed. They've been offered many things that they should take and it's time for Hamas to release the hostages. So I'm more optimistic than I was, because all those factors are there. We've got an A-team negotiating it. Now what I really want to see is Hamas take action.' Boehler stressed that the current offer is a 'firm pathway to negotiation and peace. That's the best [that Hamas is] going to get and they should take the deal on offer.' He noted that Gaza's Islamic dictatorship has not taken deals proposed in the past, warning that 'every single time they don't take it, it [the terms offered] goes down and goes down and goes down. 'So my recommendation to Hamas would be take the deal that Israel [and] the United States is offering you, let's get some people home, and let's move to end this conflict,' Boehler said. 6 Adam Boehler, senior advisor at the U.S. State Department, hugs Aviva Siegal. Getty Images 6 Boehler stressed that the current offer is a 'firm pathway to negotiation and peace. That's the best [that Hamas is] going to get and they should take the deal on offer.' AP 6 Boehler spoke to CNN on the backdrop of the release of 10 American hostages from Venezuela via a prisoner swap deal between the U.S., the South American country and El Salvador. MOHAMMED SABER/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Boehler spoke to CNN on the backdrop of the release of 10 American hostages from Venezuela via a prisoner swap deal between the U.S., the South American country and El Salvador. The special envoy said that the message conveyed by this latest proposal is that it is 'high time that every country realized that if you're holding an American, it's a real problem.' Every morning, the NY POSTcast offers a deep dive into the headlines with the Post's signature mix of politics, business, pop culture, true crime and everything in between. Subscribe here! Boehler emphasized that Washington will not pay hundreds of millions in ransom, but expects countries to release U.S. hostages unilaterally 'to get in America's good graces.' Fifty hostages remain in Gaza, 49 of whom were abducted to the Strip during the Hamas-led cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023. One body of an Israeli officer, Lt. Hadar Goldin, has been held in Gaza since 2014. According to Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the 50 being held in Gaza include 28 deceased abductees.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Judge weighs reality of Trump ‘ideological' deportation policy as activists crackdown trial ends
A federal judge on Monday questioned the true nature of the Trump administration's crackdown on pro-Palestinian campus activists during closing arguments of a bench trial over the controversial arrests. U.S. District Judge William Young, an appointee of former President Reagan, must determine whether the so-called 'ideological deportation policy' exists, such that the administration singled out campus activists critical of Israel's war in Gaza unlawfully. The plaintiffs, who make up several university associations, argued that the administration's policy is to revoke the visas and green cards of noncitizens based on their pro-Palestinian advocacy in aim of chilling speech. 'It is stifling dissent, your honor,' said Alexandra Conlon, a lawyer for the plaintiffs. 'That's the goal.' But the Justice Department called the suggestion 'silly,' contending that the trial evidence demonstrated no such policy exists. 'This policy is a product of the imagination and creative conjuring of the plaintiffs,' said DOJ lawyer William Kanellis. The arguments cap a roughly two-week trial over the crackdown, namely the arrests of and efforts to deport foreign-born students and faculty members linked to campus demonstrations. It was the first major trial of President Trump's second administration. Across several days, green card-holding professors at U.S. universities took the stand to testify that the high-profile arrests of outspoken students, like former Columbia University pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and Tufts student Rümeysa Öztürk, made them fearful and stifled their speech. On Monday, Conlon argued that was the administration's goal. She referenced statements made by Trump and other officials lauding the arrests and said they were 'designed to terrorize' those who share the views of those who were arrested. She also pointed to testimony from a senior Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), official that 'most' names his team was directed to investigate in March came from Canary Mission, a pro-Israel online blacklist that is anonymously run. The site has been accused of doxxing people protesting Israel's war with Palestinian militant group Hamas but describes its mission as documenting individuals and organizations 'that promote hatred of the USA, Israel and Jews on North American college campuses and beyond.' Conlon called the group 'extremist.' 'The fact that's the pool of people the government started with shows you what the point of this policy was,' she said. Young questioned whether the trial evidence showed Canary Mission is 'extremist' and said it seems 'perfectly appropriate' for the government to take leads from any source, noting that leads frequently come from a 'wrongdoer' or 'rival gang.' But Conlon said those leads relate to alleged lawbreaking, where here, the leads amount only to criticism of Israel or the U.S. 'That's how you end up with someone like Ms. Ozturk being described as pro-Hamas,' she added, a reference to the student's arrest being publicly linked only to an op-ed urging her university's divestment from Israel. Secretary of State Marco Rubio deemed several of the campus demonstrators threats to the nation's foreign policy, invoking a statute that makes deportable any noncitizen whose 'presence and activities in the United States' is thought to have 'potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences.' In a memo explaining the apparent threat posed by Khalil, Rubio cited the student's beliefs as justification for his deportation. Young later expressed having 'trouble' with the apparent policy. Without making any formal findings, he said it seems to him that the new administration is implementing new foreign policy within the existing legal framework – efforts that fall squarely within executive powers. The Justice Department argued that's exactly right. Ethan Kanter, another DOJ lawyer, said that noncitizens do not have equivalent rights under the First Amendment. The nature of those rights are 'context dependent' and tied to 'competing government interests in play.' 'That is what these cases demonstrate,' Kanter said, though noting that the judge does not have to rule on that matter to decide the case in the government's favor. Young zeroed in on Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s use of masks as a cause of concern, saying he's not aware of any other law enforcement agencies in the U.S. that allow the practice. He signaled disbelief in the government's contention that the agents were protecting their identities, instead suggesting that the 'common sense' interpretation might be that their objective is to 'spread fear.' 'Perhaps they're afraid what they're being called upon to do is of concern,' the judge said. Kanter rejected that notion, asserting that those decisions came down to the 'judgment, experience and operational needs' of individual agents. Kanellis, the other DOJ lawyer, compared the plaintiffs' case to the fictional Don Quixote's fight with windmills. In the story, Quixote sees windmills and believes they are giants. He's flung off his horse while riding to 'fight' them and does not believe his squire who notes they are windmills, not giants, insisting they were changed. 'Plaintiffs in this case imagine lawful standards amount to some grand government conspiracy,' Kanellis said, adding the challengers have been 'knocked off their horse.' But Young said another historical reference better befits the case. He described King Henry II of England asking his court to rid him of a 'troublesome priest.' Two knights went out to 'hack down' the bishop. The president, Young said, has likewise raised various concerns about campus protests. 'He doesn't have errant knights, but he's got Stephen Miller,' the judge said, referencing the top White House adviser. Young said he will issue a written ruling deciding the case but gave no indication of when it can be expected.
