World
US offers Russia ‘substantial’ deal for release of Griner, Whelan
![US offers Russia ‘substantial’ deal for release of Griner, Whelan US offers Russia ‘substantial’ deal for release of Griner, Whelan](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/AP22208456302776.jpg?resize=1200,630)
Experiences point out that such an alternate may free Paul Whelan and Brittney Griner in alternate for Russian arms seller.
The USA has put a “substantial proposal on the desk” to facilitate the discharge of US residents Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan, each held by Russia in what the US has termed “wrongful detention”, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken mentioned.
Blinken mentioned on Wednesday that he expects to talk with Russian Overseas Minister Sergey Lavrov within the coming days to debate a “prime precedence” for the US: the discharge of Griner, a basketball star; and Whelan, a former marine.
“We put a considerable proposal on the desk weeks in the past to facilitate their launch. Our governments have communicated repeatedly and straight on that proposal, and I’ll use the dialog to observe up personally and, I hope, to maneuver us in direction of a decision,” Blinken advised reporters.
“My hope can be that in chatting with Overseas Minister Lavrov, I can advance the efforts to deliver them residence,” Blinken mentioned.
“We in fact need to see those that are wrongfully detained be launched and be capable to return residence. On the identical time, it’s essential that we be capable to implement the worldwide norm towards these arbitrary detentions.”
In accordance with a CNN report, the US has supplied Viktor Bout, a Russian arms seller referred to as the “Service provider of Dying” who was given a 25-year jail sentence by the US in 2012, in alternate for the discharge of Whelan and Griner.
The potential deal is the newest improvement in an ongoing US effort to acquire the discharge of Griner and Whelan, who the US alleges are being wrongfully detained by Russia as tensions develop extra strained following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February.
Griner was jailed in mid-February and has been charged with bringing medication into Russia after authorities discovered vape canisters with hashish oil in her baggage on the Moscow airport. For his half, Whelan was taken into custody in December 2018 and charged with espionage. He was convicted and sentenced to a 16-year jail sentence.
The US has acknowledged that each Whelan and Griner are being improperly detained, and have labored to safe their launch.
Griner is at present on trial and testified earlier than a Khimki District Court docket exterior of Moscow on Wednesday, stating that her rights weren’t learn to her when she was detained on the Moscow airport.
Griner, 31, mentioned she was advised to signal paperwork with none rationalization and a language interpreter relayed solely a portion of her detailed responses throughout interrogation following her arrest on the airport.
The WNBA All-Star has beforehand acknowledged that she introduced vape canisters with hashish oil into the nation, noting that she had approval from a physician to make use of them for an harm and packed them into her suitcase unintentionally. If that argument fails to persuade Russian officers, she may resist 10 years in jail. In a letter to Biden, Griner mentioned that she was “terrified” and urged him to safe her launch.
Six court docket classes have been held since Griner’s trial started on July 1, and Russia has prolonged her detainment till mid-December.
Russian officers have expressed displeasure with the US declare that the Russian judicial system isn’t neutral and that Griner and Whelan are “wrongfully detained” and have pushed again towards options that Griner’s detention was politically motivated.
Tensions between the US and Russia, lengthy strained, have additional deteriorated since Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine in February. The US has accused Russia of battle crimes, and has sought to bolster Ukraine with billions of {dollars} in weapons shipments and sanctions which have devastated the Russian financial system.
“What the world has heard just lately from Russia’s leaders is elevating new alarms,” Blinken mentioned throughout his remarks on Wednesday.
“Final week Overseas Minister Lavrov mentioned that the Kremlin’s objectives in Ukraine had expanded. Now they search to say extra Ukrainian territory past the Donbas. That is the newest in a sequence of evolving justifications and ever-shifting objectives.”
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World
Federal investigators start probe of bus crash in Mississippi that killed 7, injured dozens more
BOVINA, Miss. (AP) — Investigators with the National Transportation Safety Board on Sunday were at the scene of a bus crash in Mississippi that killed seven people and injured dozens of others.
They plan to look at how well the tires were maintained, NTSB member Todd Inman said at a news conference late Saturday. The NTSB previously said the crash was caused by tire failure.
The 2018 Volvo bus was traveling westbound on Interstate 20 near Bovina in Warren County early Saturday morning when it left the roadway and overturned, according to the Mississippi Highway Patrol. No other vehicle was involved.
Six people aboard were pronounced dead at the scene and another died at a hospital, according to a highway patrol news release. Thirty-six people were taken by ambulance to hospitals.
The highway patrol did not immediately have an update on their conditions Sunday.
The dead included a 6-year-old boy and his 16-year-old sister, according to Warren County Coroner Doug Huskey. They were identified by their mother. Authorities were working to identify the other victims, he said.
The bus was traveling from Atlanta to Dallas with 41 passengers and two drivers, the highway patrol said.
Inman said the NTSB will also look at the carrier’s safety record and protections for bus occupants.
The bus was operated by Autobuses Regiomontanos. A woman who answered the phone at its Laredo, Texas, office said it was aware of the crash, but she didn’t answer questions or provide her name.
The transit company says it has 20 years of experience providing cross-border trips between 100 destinations in Mexico and the U.S. Its website promotes “a modern fleet of buses that receive daily maintenance,” and offers “trips with a special price for workers.”
World
American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF
![American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 5 others 'brutally murdered' by Hamas right before rescue: IDF](https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/hersh.png)
Hamas terrorists killed six hostages Saturday, including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin, as Israel Defense Forces closed in for a rescue attempt in the tunnels deep below Gaza’s Rafah.
Goldberg-Polin’s family confirmed his death early Sunday. His body was one of six recovered on Saturday. The IDF revealed that Hamas killed the hostages, who had been held for nearly 11 months, just as they were on the brink of freedom.
“According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them,” IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement.
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack against the Jewish State. He lost part of his left arm to a grenade in the attack. His body was recovered Saturday in the tunnels under Rafah, along with Carmel Gat, Eden Yerushalmi, Alexander Lobanov, Almog Sarusi and Master Sergeant Ori Danino.
DEFENSE MINISTER SAYS ISRAEL MUST ‘WIDEN THE GOALS’ OF WAR TO RETURN RESIDENTS TO THE NORTH
Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin has been confirmed dead. (Israel’s Minister of Defense)
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said, “He who murders abductees – does not want a deal. We are in a difficult day. The heart of the entire nation was torn.”
“Along with all the citizens of Israel, I was shocked to the core by the terrible cold-blooded murder of six of our abductees.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he “embrace[s] their families with all my heart, and apologize[s] for failing to bring them home safely.”
A dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, Goldberg-Polin immigrated to Israel with his family in 2008 at the age of seven, according to a statement from his family. He leaves behind his parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg, and his two sisters.
Goldberg-Polin’s family and friends traveled the world demanding his release and met with world leaders, including officials in the Biden administration.
President Biden said he is “devastated and outraged” by the news of Goldberg-Polin’s death.
“It is as tragic as it is reprehensible,” he said. “Make no mistake, Hamas leaders will pay for these crimes. And we will keep working around the clock for a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages.”
Vice President Harris, also the Democratic nominee for president, said her prayers are with Goldberg-Polin’s loved ones as they mourn his loss.
“Hamas is an evil terrorist organization,” Harris said. “With these murders, Hamas has even more American blood on its hands. I strongly condemn Hamas’ continued brutality, and so must the entire world. From its massacre of 1,200 people to sexual violence, taking of hostages, and these murders, Hamas’ depravity is evident and horrifying.”
ISRAEL KILLS PALESTINIAN COMMANDER MUHAMMAD JABER ‘ABU SHUJAA’ AS FIGHTING INTENSIFIES: IDF
![Hersh Goldberg-Polin](https://a57.foxnews.com/static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2024/09/1200/675/polin.png?ve=1&tl=1)
Goldberg-Polin, 23, was abducted at a music festival in southern Israel during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. (IDF)
“The threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel — and American citizens in Israel — must be eliminated and Hamas cannot control Gaza,” she added. “The Palestinian people too have suffered under Hamas’ rule for nearly two decades.”
“A few hours ago, we informed the families that the bodies of their loved ones had been located by IDF troops in an underground tunnel in Rafah,” IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement. “According to our initial assessment, they were brutally murdered by Hamas terrorists shortly before we reached them.”
Fox News’ Yonat Friling contributed to this report.
World
Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes
![Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes Photos: Mass polio vaccination drive kicks off in Gaza amid Israeli strikes](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/AFP__20240901__36F32UL__v1__Preview__PalestinianIsraelConflictHealth-1725178114.jpg?resize=1200%2C630)
Palestinian health authorities and United Nations agencies on Sunday began a vaccination drive against polio in the Gaza Strip, hoping to prevent an outbreak in the territory ravaged by nearly 11 months of Israeli bombardment.
Authorities plan to vaccinate children in central Gaza until Wednesday before moving to the more devastated northern and southern parts of the Strip, aiming to inoculate about 640,000 children. On Saturday, a few children were vaccinated before the formal start of the campaign.
“This is the first few hours of the first phase of a massive campaign, one of the most complex in the world,” said Juliette Touma, communications director of UNRWA, the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency.
“Today is test time for parties to the conflict to respect these area pauses to allow the UNRWA teams and other medical workers to reach children with these very precious two drops. It’s a race against time,” Touma told the Reuters news agency.
Israel and Hamas, which have so far failed to conclude a deal to end the war, said they would cooperate to allow the campaign to succeed.
The World Health Organization said on Thursday that Israel has agreed to limited pauses in its military operations to facilitate the campaign. There were initial reports of Israeli strikes in central Gaza early on Sunday, but it was not immediately known if anyone was killed or wounded.
Hospitals in Deir el-Balah and Nuseirat confirmed that the campaign had begun on Sunday. Israel said on Saturday that the vaccination programme would continue through September 9 and last eight hours a day.
The vaccinations will be held at some 160 sites across the territory, including medical centres and schools. Children below 10 years of age will receive two drops of oral polio vaccine in two rounds, the second to be administered four weeks after the first.
Gaza recently reported its first polio case in 25 years – a 10-month-old boy, now paralysed in the leg. The WHO says the presence of a paralysis case indicates there could be hundreds more who have been infected but are not showing symptoms.
Most affected children do not experience symptoms and those who do usually recover in a week or so, the UN health agency said. There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented. When polio causes paralysis, it is usually permanent. The disease can be fatal if the paralysis affects breathing muscles.
The vaccination campaign faces a host of challenges, from ongoing war to devastated roads and hospitals shut down by the war. About 90 percent of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory, with hundreds of thousands crammed into squalid tent camps.
Health officials have expressed alarm about disease outbreaks as rubbish piles up and the bombing of critical infrastructure has sent putrid water flowing through the streets. Widespread hunger has left people even more vulnerable to illness.
“We escaped death with our children and fled from place to place for the sake of our children, and now we have these diseases,” said Wafaa Obaid, who brought her three children to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah for vaccination.
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