Midwest
Ohio Air Force vet, brother sentenced to 4 months in 'notorious' Dubai prison after yacht drinking incident
Two Ohio brothers, one an Air Force veteran, were sentenced to spend four months in a Dubai prison after an incident involving drinking on a yacht in June, a crime in the United Arab Emirates.
Radha Stirling, CEO of human rights organization Detained in Dubai and an advocate for Joseph and Joshua Lopez, alleges the brothers were drugged and robbed on the same night as the drinking that landed them in jail, and they are calling on U.S. lawmakers, including Republican Ohio Sen. JD Vance, for help. The drugging allegations have yet to be officially confirmed.
“Sen. Vance’s office has been in constant communication with the State Department, the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in the United States and the constituents’ family,” Vance spokesperson Parker Magid told Fox News Digital. “Sen. Vance is monitoring the as-yet-unresolved legal proceedings carefully.”
Stirling said the Lopez brothers are appealing their sentence, alleging they were “targeted by scammers while on vacation in Dubai.”
WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO…AMERICANS DETAINED IN RUSSIA?
Joseph Lopez, an Ohio Air Force veteran and father, is detained in Dubai with his brother, Joshua, for drinking on a yacht. (Detained in Dubai)
“While local criminals target tourists with what appears to be the support of law enforcement, Dubai is far from the ‘safe tourist destination’ it’s marketed as,” Stirling said.
The State Department told Fox News Digital in a statement it is aware of the Lopez brothers’ recent arrests.
AMERICAN ARRESTED IN TURKS AND CAICOS SAYS IS ‘UNCLEAR’ IF STATE DEPT WAS ON ‘US SIDE’ OR ‘TURKS SIDE’
“We take our role in assisting U.S. citizens abroad seriously and are monitoring the situation,” a spokesperson said. “Due to privacy and other considerations, we have no further comment at this time. U.S. citizens are subject to the laws of the foreign countries they visit or reside in, even when those laws differ from U.S. law.”
The State Department told Fox News Digital in a statement it is aware of the Lopez brothers’ recent arrests. (Instagram/ Joshua Lopez)
Neither the UAE Embassy nor the UAE tourist police responded to inquiries from Fox News Digital.
The State Department has a Level 2 travel advisory listed for the UAE due to threats of terrorism. The State Department’s website for the UAE notes that alcohol is “very limited” in certain private areas, and “[p]ublic drunkenness and driving under the influence, regardless of one’s blood alcohol content level, are considered very serious offenses.”
Joseph Lopez, 24, has a baby at home in the United States. (Detained in Dubai)
“Persons arrested on alcohol-related offenses are regularly detained for many days as they await a court hearing. Penalties may include hefty jail sentences, substantial fines and, for Muslims (even those holding U.S. citizenship), lashings,” the website states.
The State Department also notes the country’s “strict” laws on drugs, public decency, photography, social media usage and LGBTQ-related activities or preferences.
OKLAHOMA MAN PRAISES GOD, US LAWMAKER IN RETURN HOME AFTER AMMO ARREST IN TURKS AND CAICOS
Stirling said if the brothers’ appeal is unsuccessful, Joseph, a veteran and 24-year-old father, and Joshua “face months in Dubai jails notorious for human rights abuses.”
Joshua and Joseph Lopez were sentenced to spend four months in a Dubai prison for drinking on a yacht, but the brothers alleged they were drugged. (Instagram/ Joshua Lopez)
“Visitors are flocking into Dubai and facing the most ridiculous charges for alleged crimes they haven’t even committed. Last year, we saw Tierra Allen targeted by a rental car company, Elizabeth de las Santos targeted by an immigration officer and Peter Clark detained for residual hashish found in his blood that he’d legally smoked in Las Vegas weeks before flying,” Stirling said.
She is pressing the United States to “increase travel warnings” for Americans going to Dubai.
“Not only will they be robbed and extorted, but they’ll usually end up in prison too,” she said.
Fox News’ Mollie Markowitz contributed to this report.
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Midwest
Elon Musk declares ‘war’ over perceived death threat by Somali TikToker
Elon Musk poised to return to political spotlight
Former Senate candidate Tiffany Smiley and former Biden White House official Meghan Hays discuss Elon Musk’s suggestion that he will resume funding GOP politicians ahead of the midterms on ‘America Reports.’
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Billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk gave a strong response to a perceived threat on his life by a Somali TikToker after she said on a livestream, “He [is] about to die.”
In a viral livestream posted by a since-deleted account, a Somali TikToker who went by the name “Dowza.z” said in reference to Musk, “I wouldn’t worry too much about him, he about to die.”
Though the streamer switched back and forth from speaking in Somali and English, her statement on Musk was said in English. She was discussing Musk’s recent criticisms of Somali-run businesses engaged in rampant fraud in Minnesota.
The comment prompted immediate backlash from conservatives who took the statement as a threat to Musk’s life.
FBI SURGES RESOURCES TO MINNESOTA AS PATEL CALLS $250M FRAUD SCHEME ‘TIP OF ICEBERG’
Elon Musk looks on in the Oval Office as President Donald Trump meets South African President Cyril Ramaphosa. (AP/Evan Vucci)
Musk himself appeared to take the statement as a threat, responding to the video in an X post in which he wrote, “Then it is war.”
Popular conservative account Libs of TikTok also commented on the clip, saying the FBI “should definitely look into this.”
X account DogeDesigner wrote, “Protect Elon Musk at all costs.”
Conservative commentator Eric Daugherty wrote, “When fraud is exposed – it’s always the fraudsters who yell and complain the loudest. Their THEFT will come to an end.”
Utah Republican Sen. Mike Lee posted on his personal X account, “Deport her immediately,” adding, “She shouldn’t be here.”
The Trump administration and lawmakers have launched probes into Minnesota’s “Feeding Our Future” $250 million fraud scheme that allegedly targeted a children’s nutrition program the Department of Agriculture funded and that Minnesota oversaw during the COVID-19 pandemic.
FEDS LAUNCH ‘MASSIVE’ INVESTIGATION AFTER VIRAL VIDEO ALLEGES MINNESOTA DAYCARE FRAUD
Agents with the Department of Homeland Security in a Minneapolis store. The agency on Tuesday said it had launched an operation to identify, arrest and remove criminals who are suspected of fraud. (Department of Homeland Security)
At least 77 people have been charged in that scheme, which took advantage of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to waive certain Federal Child Nutrition Program requirements.
Likewise, another fraud scheme in the state stems from the Housing Stability Services Program, which offered Medicaid coverage for housing stabilization services in an attempt to help those with disabilities, mental illnesses and substance-use disorders receive housing.
The bulk of those charged are part of Minnesota’s Somali population, prompting Trump to announce in November that he was ending the Temporary Protected Status for Somali migrants in Minnesota that offers protection against deportation.
Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security announced Tuesday that it was spearheading a major operation to arrest and remove those involved in the fraud.
GOP LAWMAKER DEMANDS MINNESOTA FRAUD BE TREATED AS ‘ORGANIZED CRIME’ SCHEME
Elon Musk walks along the Colonnade after arriving with President Donald Trump on Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
Musk has been highly vocal about the fraud being uncovered in Minnesota, repeatedly calling attention to it on his official X account, which has over 230 million followers.
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In a post on Saturday, Musk said the fraud scheme going on in Minnesota is “one of many” and that while leading the Department of Government Efficiency under President Donald Trump, his team “found hundreds of fraud schemes.”
“There was massive fraud in every government program, especially Federal funds sent as block grants to the states,” said Musk.
Fox News Digital’s Diana Stancy contributed to this report.
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Detroit, MI
Police standoff continues in Ypsilanti neighborhood
A situation believed to involve a barricaded suspect in Ypsilanti has resulted in evacuations for some neighbors and shelter-in-place orders for others as authorities attempt to bring an end to the standoff.
Police were seen inside the home Monday morning, but the suspect involved has not left the building.
Neighbors told CBS Detroit the circumstances began with a wellness check around noon Sunday. Since then, multiple law enforcement vehicles, including a SWAT team, have been in the area.
The street is closed to traffic in the meantime.
CBS News Detroit has a crew on scene. Additional details will be provided on air and online when they are available.
Milwaukee, WI
These recently sold Milwaukee homes are more than 100 years old
Milwaukee’s real estate market likely ended 2025 in much the same place as 2024, real estate analysts say.
A report from the Greater Milwaukee Association of Realtors released in December estimated that total home sales in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Ozaukee and Washington counties will remain flat from 2024.
In Milwaukee County, home sales were down 9.2% in November 2025 compared to November 2024, according to the report.
Still, year-to-date home prices in the four-county Milwaukee metropolitan area rose 7.7% to an average of just over $431,000, the report says.
Here are a few of the oldest homes recently sold in Milwaukee, according to Milwaukee Metropolitan Multiple Listing Services data:
1913 Milwaukee bungalow sells for $365,000
A 113-year-old bungalow on South Wentworth Avenue in Milwaukee sold for $365,000 on Dec. 22.
The 1,500-square-foot home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, according to the listing from Tom Horigan with Realty Experts, and it sits on a 0.11-acre lot.
The home features hardwood floors, a built-in buffet and leaded glass windows but updated home and garage roofs, according to the listing. It also has an enclosed front porch.
19th-century Bay View home sells for $295,000
A 1,250-square-foot Milwaukee home built in 1890 sold for $295,000 on Dec. 22.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home is located on East Euclid Avenue in Milwaukee’s Bay View neighborhood, according to the listing from Alexis Ruzell with Coldwell Banker Realty. It sits on a 3,050-square-foot lot.
The home features wood flooring and a second-story bedroom leading to an elevated porch, according to the listing.
Another century-old bungalow sells for $475,000
A bungalow on North 39th Street in Milwaukee’s Roosevelt Grove neighborhood sold for $475,000 on Dec. 23.
The home was built in 1922 on a 0.96-acre lot with four bedrooms and two bathrooms, according to the listing from Kendrick Taylor with Keller Williams Realty. It spans 2,250 square feet.
The home features a modern kitchen with quartz countertops and a dry bar in the living room, according to the listing. It also includes a finished lower level.
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