Washington, D.C
Netanyahu visits Washington DC – The Iola Register
WASHINGTON (AP) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington this week is looming as a fraught one between the two allies, coming at a moment of extreme political flux in the United States and wariness among American leaders about Netanyahu’s history of interjecting himself into U.S. domestic politics.
The main purpose of Netanyahu’s visit is a speech to a joint meeting of Congress. But at stake, in meetings with administration officials, are hopes for progress in U.S.-led efforts to mediate an end to the nine-month Israel-Hamas war. The visit comes as the toll of Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza nears 40,000. It’s also in a week when new deaths were reported among the surviving hostages — who include Israelis, Americans and other nationalities — held by Hamas and other militants since the first hours of the war.
Netanyahu planned his trip weeks before the ground abruptly started heaving under U.S. politics this summer. That includes a July 13 assassination attempt against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and President Joe Biden’s decision Sunday to give up his faltering reelection campaign and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris for the presidency instead.
Protests are planned for Netanyahu’s planned speech to both houses of Congress on Wednesday.
A look at the visit:
Why Netanyahu is coming
The political aspect for Netanyahu is that his popularity has plummeted at home, and the visit — at least originally — was seen as giving him a chance to show himself as a global statesman, welcomed by the lawmakers and leaders of Israel’s closest ally and the world’s only superpower.
House Speaker Mike Johnson helped bring about Netanyahu’s address to lawmakers, highlighting firm Republican support for the Israeli leader. Netanyahu has had tense relations with Biden despite the administration’s military and diplomatic support for Israel’s war.
Biden and Netanyahu are expected to meet Thursday, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the White House announcement. Harris will also meet with Netanyahu separately that day. It was still uncertain Tuesday if he would meet with Trump.
Speaking for the White House side of things, national security adviser Jake Sullivan said at a security conference in Colorado last week that Biden planned to focus on working out what it will take for the United States, Israel and others to get a hostage-release and cease-fire deal done in the coming weeks.
Biden called in to a meeting of campaign staffers Monday, telling them, “I think we’re on the verge” of ending the war.
For his part, Netanyahu pointed to longer-term issues before flying out of Israel Monday. He said he wanted to talk to Biden about continuing the war against Hamas, and confronting other Iran-backed armed groups in the region, as well as freeing hostages.
Why Netanyahu’s visit is controversial
Israel’s war has been intensely divisive in the United States, spurring protests and resulting in arrests on college campuses, alienating some voters on both sides of the issue, and frustrating months of effort by Biden to bring the fighting to a close.
The trip is the first time Netanyahu has traveled abroad since the war broke out Oct. 7. It’s also his first since the International Criminal Court said it was seeking his arrest in what it said were possible war crimes in Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Israel denies wrongdoing, and the U.S. does not recognize the ICC.
WASHINGTON (7News) — A man was stabbed to death in Northwest D.C. early Saturday morning, according to D.C. police.
SEE ALSO | Police shoot knife-wielding individual at Fairfax Wawa
Officers responded to the 2900 block of 14th Street NW shortly before 1:00 a.m., where the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
SEE ALSO | Teen hospitalized following Friday night shooting in northeast D.C.
Anyone with information about the incident is urged to contact the police at (202) 727-9099 or text a tip to 50411.
Additional details were not immediately available.
4 things to know about the weather:
- Beneficial rain
- Muggy, warm temperatures to start the weekend
- Scattered afternoon showers & a few storms again Saturday
- Drier and nice for Sunday
There’s a 40% chance of showers and a few storms in the afternoon and evening Saturday.
Sunday looks like it will bring the best weather of the weekend. We’ll start to see some cooler, drier air come in.
Big-time heat may be coming right back to the D.C. area by Wednesday of next week.
Weather radar
Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to check the weather radar on the go.
10-day forecast
QuickCast
SATURDAY:
Partly sunny
Muggy
Scattered showers & storms (40% chance)
Highs: middle 80s
SUNDAY:
Decreasing clouds
Lower humidity
Highs: mid 80s
MONDAY:
Mostly sunny
Highs: upper 80s
SUNSET: 8:35 p.m.
AVERAGE HIGH: 89° // AVERAGE low: 72°
Stay with Storm Team4 for the latest forecast. Download the NBC Washington app on iOS and Android to get severe weather alerts on your phone.
Washington, D.C., has been a popular spot this summer, especially since it’s the nation’s 250th anniversary. And it’s where many Grand Canyon University students have traveled, including the campus’s student body leaders.
Associated Students of GCU President Judah Floyd and Vice President Gracie Zimbardi traveled to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Campus Victory Forum conference and celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary of signing the Declaration of Independence.
“It was a humbling opportunity to be able to represent GCU and be poured into by so many admirable Christian leaders,” Floyd said. “It reminds me of the leader I want to be as a Christ follower and as someone who’s been put in a position to have influence on the students of GCU.”
The three-day conference was organized by Campus Victory, an organization empowering collegiate leaders to step into civic engagement. It featured workshops, sessions and activities that equipped students with practical tools to step into their leadership roles.
Roughly 250 student leaders from universities all around the country traveled to the nation’s capital for the conference, where they met and heard from politicians and community leaders, including U.S. Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona.
He addressed the young crowd with a personal testimony about his experience in public leadership and gave an empowering message from 1 Timothy 4:12, which reads, “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”
He encouraged students to boldly press on in their positions despite their young age.
Sharing a home state with Crane was made extra special to Floyd and Zimbardi when Crane invited all Arizona students backstage to meet and have conversations with him.
“He was phenomenal,” Zimbardi said. “He talked about how being firm in our faith is so important in this time, and though we are young leaders, we do have the knowledge, experience and people to look up to, so use it. It was so inspiring to hear from him.”
When sessions concluded, students explored significant landmarks, including memorials, museums, and federal and local government buildings.
Everything was decked out in red, white and blue, with flags and banners hanging everywhere to commemorate the milestone anniversary.
Celebratory events unfolded one after another on Independence Day, finishing with the largest fireworks show in history. Some 850,000 pyrotechnic effects were detonated over 40 minutes, with thousands gathered for the once-in-a-lifetime event.
Floyd waited five hours in line to attend Salute to America 250, which concluded yearlong celebratory festivities. The six-hour event on the National Mall featured presidential remarks, musical performances and military flyovers.
“President Donald Trump talked about how America is really a land of people of faith and people who overcome challenges time after time,” Floyd said. “It really rekindled in us the spirit of liberty that we all carry as Americans and the importance of defending that liberty for generations to come.”
Military veterans were brought onstage and honored for their commitment to serving the country. Flags from every generation of America were displayed, and singer Lee Greenwood led the crowd in singing “God Bless the U.S.A.”
The World Cup was happening at the same time. While Floyd and Zimbardi were in Washington, D.C., they witnessed another level of patriotism when a Team USA vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina watch party, complete with a projector screen, was organized in front of the U.S. Congress.
“Thousands of people all wearing U.S.A. jerseys were shouting and screaming and spraying water in the sky when we scored a goal. It was deafening,” Floyd said.
As the start of academic year approaches, Floyd and Zimbardi’s tenure as student body president and vice president will soon commence.
The duo said that participating in the Campus Victory Forum conference, networking with student body presidents and vice presidents from other universities, and witnessing everyone’s patriotism prepared them to lead with passion and boldness.
“It means a lot to me that someone in this organization thought of us, GCU, and said, ‘We need them there.’ Zimbardi said. “It was really unique hearing from other students about how they do things at other universities.
“We got to sit down and spitball back and forth. We talked about things like, ‘Wow, that’s what works for you? We are struggling in that area, do you mind if we try it?’ Having conversations like that is extremely helpful, and it is cool how unified we can all become.”
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Related content:
GCU News: Ingram Honors students visit nation’s capital in honor of its 250th anniversary
GCU News: Critical Mass in harmony with national jubilee of prayer in Washington, D.C.
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